#for reasons that make sense to fucking nobody might I add

[fuiru]

A 44 year old man goes to a K-Pop Concert

I promised you a report on the K-pop concert that I, a 44-year-old accountant, went to a couple of weeks ago with my wife and daughter in Toronto. So here it is.

The band we saw were Ateez. They're my daughter's favourite band and my wife's second favourite. I know most of my mutuals are similarly aged like me and may not be familiar with them so let me give you a brief primer on Ateez.

Imagine the most attractive eight men you can think of, just unfathomably beautiful specimens of aesthetic perfection, and make them sing songs that somehow combine the subjects of 'dancing like nobody is watching' with 'we live in a dystopian hellscape that we must all work together to overthrow'. Give them an ongoing music video story lore that literally nobody - not even the band themselves - understand, so that online discussion of their visual motifs looks more like the fevered rantings of a conspiracy theorist, complete with speculation about alternate realities and time being a Moebius strip. There is also a giant sand timer, for some reason.

That's Ateez. That's what you need to know.

Now, K-pop concerts are very different to the gigs I've been going to for the last 28 (!) years. There's no support act, for a start. Also the band perform for like, three hours, with breaks for costume changes and interpretive dance. Furthermore, hanging above everything is the constant looming threat of mandatory military service.

So this being my first such concert, I wasn't sure what to expect. What happened was difficult to explain, but I will try as I am already six paragraphs into this write-up and I'm too invested to stop now. Here goes:

In his Wicked + Divine comics series, Kieron Gillen places modern pop icons as deities, feeding upon and gaining strength from the worship of their fans at the altar of musical performance. I thought I understood that metaphor. I thought I understood it AS a metaphor. I was wrong, because that night Ateez WERE Gods with a capital G and we were their worshippers, a crowd emanating adoration (in the religious and non-religious senses), bestowing strength upon them and gaining their strength in return.

If that sounds weird, it probably is. But as pointed out above, I have lived over four decades and never yet experienced anything like the overwhelming passion of that crowd, the utter abandon with which they conveyed their love for the band.

"But Fuiru, what of the actual music?" you ask. Thinking back, there was a moment in one of their songs - I can't remember which - where I watched the stage, and the people around me, taking it in, and I thought, "Man, I just love Music". But that doesn't answer your question, sorry.

Ateez's music is bloody great. As a tiresome indie/rock/metal kid I'm resisting the urge to add the usual tiresome indie/rock/metal caveat of "...for pop music" because honestly that does it a disservice. They have some genuinely amazing songs. Halazia is an absolute fucking masterpiece that descends into furious hardcore breakbeat. Bouncy is a big, brash racket that somehow is also a perfect pop song. Utopia, Wonderland, and Guerrilla are similarly superb. The obligatory boy band slow number is represented by Dancing Like Butterfly Wings which will make you cry because you will forever associate it with your twelve year old daughter being pointed to and waved at by her favourite Ateez member (Seonghwa) because of her Seonghwa-branded lightstick.

That might just be me, though.

So in summary: being a 44 year old dad at his first K-pop concert rules and you should endeavour to partake in the experience if the opportunity arises.

Finally, for any Atiny reading this: my bias would be San or Seonghwa but my wife and daughter said they were taken so it’s Mingi. My concert outfit (designed and created by my offspring) reflects this.

[thr0wnawayy]

Hi l, I absolutely love your takes and I want to ask smth...I never saw anyone ask before....what was the point of Izu?

Maybe you are confused with this question, after all, in the first chapter we see (the first signal of delulu) he wanted to be a hero and became one ...

And got suffering

Suffering

And oh yes sure, suffering.

Like ...what this helps in the narrative?

"he is there to cheer for abusers" something Izu haters say but ... honestly, that isn't correct as many people in this story cheer for Endy or Aizawa. Izu is not even needed for that.

I know we can't read Hori's mind to know what was the point....and we do know he doesn't hide his disdain for Izu....but like, in canon, he is just there to suffer and his suffering adds nothing.

"to show how corrupt the hero society is"

We have plenty of examples like that...Izu is really not needed.

So...again, why?

It's just tiring seeing him feeling worthless and people all validating this feeling. Why? No one knows nor cares.

The problem with Midoriya is it feels like he never actually works for anything.

Excluding for a moment the very real possibility of 'learned helplessnes'.

After Gran Torino, when do we see Midoriya work for anything? What does he accomplish?

Nothing, he gets nothing and he works for nothing.

Sure he worked for OFA but after that, he kind of stagnates. But admittedly it's not his fault entirely, The (very small) world of MHA seemed intent on screwing him over at every given opportunity.

Aizawa and the rest of UA is fucking useless as an institution. Throwing untrained child soldiers out on patrol and seeing what sticks. How nobody has died yet, idk.

One Ao3 commenter said it best:

"UA is a horrible learning environment where I wouldn't be able to trust anyone and would very quickly grow paranoid and grow/hold grudges against "stronger" students because every loses against them could mean my expulsion for being "too weak".

"Also, he uses his quirk all willy-nilly without caring about the potential lethality of such usage (you have a quirk like Denki's that stockpiled something like electricity, he uses his quirk on you, the stockpiled electricity goes haywire and kill you and several other people nearby or you risk losing years of accumulated energy.) OFA could have lost all it's accumulated energy.)"

Everything Midoriya does feels pointless because there's no reward. Midoriya receives zero acknowledgement or recognition and the viewers are given no payoff.

His classmates ignore him, or make some comment on his failings/pain but never act.

Aizawa seems to single him out constantly, while the rest of the staff, even All Might seem content to twiddling their thumbs as Aizawa continuously tramples over the rules of student-teacher conduct.

(no aggressive physical contact, no verbal abuse, etc)

Midoriya is the centerpiece and that's precisely why Hori tried to use him to prop up the abusive cash cows. It's narrative gaslighting 101.

"If the protagonist says it, then it must be correct"

I'm going to be honest, Midoriya was always a vessel for the plot but he at least had character. That's why so many people jumped ship when the Dark Deku are turned out to be a total bust.

Because there was no reason go engage in story that can't respect it's roots (original premise)

He was given power up after power up with no thought on what came before

By the logic of OFA being a stockpiler, Flight should be the strongest quirk out of all of them. Gearshift should be the weakest. It makes no sense until you account for Hori's "subtle" sexism *and I have no idea if it's intended or borne of ignorance.

It was supposed to be "This was how I became the greatest hero"

Not "How we repeated the sins of the father"

That's why Midoriya fails as a protagonist, as a character. Because MHA doesn't have a protagonist, it doesnt have a hero. Just a bunch of super-powered SWAT celebrities covering eachothers asses.

Mha was a story about focusing on the victims .

And ended as a story about the abusers.

[scoobydoodean]

A Fic About Dean's 45th Birthday

~3k words | slight angst with a happy ending

Dean never says anything about his birthday.

Sam has weird hang ups about holidays like Halloween and Christmas, and January 24th isn't just Dean's birthday—it was Jess's birthday too. So Dean's never made a fuss. He's asked for Christmas, but he's never asked to have his birthday celebrated. There are many years he can think of where he wouldn't have even wanted to celebrate his birthday anyway—where the idea of it would have felt hollow.

He's said before in front of Sam and Bobby, "I don't like being singled out at birthday parties, much less by God" and he figures maybe Sam has always remembered that, and probably told Cas too (if Cas ever asked).

Right. It all makes sense.

So he has no reason to expect Sam to realize that Dean actually wants to celebrate his birthday now—that he has wanted to for... the last three years, ever since Mrs. Butters insisted they throw a birthday party for Sam.

He can't stop thinking about Mrs. Butters saying they shouldn't celebrate Dean's birthday—or... rather, that she thought he wouldn't want to celebrate his birthday because he's old... and just... fuck that.

The truth is, the older Dean gets, the more his birthday feels... important. For one, he's officially spent more time not in Hell now than he spent in it. For another, 45 just feels... important somehow. It isn't 50—but it's another half a decade? He thought he'd be dead by now (well—he supposes he has been—but it hasn't stuck yet) and he doesn't know—it just feels like... like something to celebrate. He's 45 years old, and he isn't dead. He's alive, and he's happy, and things have been good lately.

He keeps thinking about it every year that passes better than the last. He keeps wondering every year. He keeps hoping every year—even though he knows it isn't rational when he hasn't said anything. He hasn't asked. He hasn't told anyone that anything's changed. He can't expect a birthday party if he doesn't communicate that he wants one. At the same time, asking for one feels weird. It feels... whiney. Nobody else is asking.

Dean's done birthday meals for Sam the past couple of years without Sam asking (stooped to making a caesar salad with grilled chicken for Sam's birthday last year with minimal grumbling) but it doesn't seem to make much of an impression. Sam is just... not much of a birthday guy. He's quiet, and to be honest, Dean's pretty sure he prefers celebrating with Eileen if he's going to do anything. She usually swings into town around Sam's birthday to take him out drinking. Well. He'll be celebrated whether he likes it or not—at least a little—at least with a meal.

Dean doesn't know when to celebrate Cas. He's asked before and Cas said something about being created before humans or their methods of marking the passage of time existed and... yeah, okay. Dean's favorite local diner sells good pie, and has a nice selection of milkshakes, including a PB&J flavored one. For the last few years, once a year, on September 18th, Dean tries to either take Cas out for one of those milkshakes, or pick one up for him. The date just feels right.

Dean puts the most effort in for Jack, with a full on cake ever since Mrs. Butters. Sometimes, he adds a bag full of Three Musketeers candy bars. Cas and Sam certainly don't raise a fuss. They all silently agree that the kid should get the birthday experience even if the rest of them are too old and jaded to care.

42, 43, 44... every time January 24th rolls around, it's always just like any other day. He thinks maybe when he turned 43, Sam might have wandered into The Dean Cave at night when Dean was watching a movie with Cas and sat for a while, then belatedly said, "Oh. Uh, happy birthday, man," while staring down at his cell phone. That was it.

Dean had brushed him off with a grunt—probably only reinforced for Sam and Cas both that Dean doesn't care just like they don't seem to care. So it isn't rational. It isn't fair. It isn't reasonable for Dean to get upset. But maybe it starts to sting a little, okay? And yeah that makes Dean feel a little embarrassed—sue him. He hasn't said anything... and he shouldn't. It's stupid. It doesn't matter. Mrs. Butters said he's too old for birthdays.

Still, despite his best efforts, Dean goes to bed on January 23rd 2024 wondering if someone will remember—if maybe, this time, they'll do something... because... he's 45. Something simple is all he imagines. They go out to eat, or... someone else makes breakfast (or tries). Sam give him a stupid gag gift. Cas picks up a pie.

As Dean falls asleep, he stupidly imagines the library decorated with a tiny "Happy Birthday" banner. He imagines a stack of pancakes for breakfast with a stupid candle in them. He imagines party hats and Rice Krispie treats. He imagines someone just... wishing him a happy birthday. Just... acknowledge it—that he's 45. That it's important.

Dean wanders into the library in the morning and it's empty and dark. He goes into the kitchen, and Sam is illuminated by his laptop screen. Dean flicks on the light and Sam barely flinches. "Hey," He says, keeping his gaze on his work... and that's it. That's how January 24th 2024 is going to be.

Dean shakes himself out of it—doesn't reply—just wanders over to the coffee pot to pour in grounds and get a drip brew going. Who knows if Sam has even slept—he's been deeply fixated on a cataloguing project for two weeks straight now. It's entirely possible he pulled an all-nighter. He might not even know what day it is anyway.

Dean opens the fridge and drags out the bacon. He considers toast too, but then decides that... well—he can celebrate his own birthday at least by making it special himself. He goes to the pantry and pulls out a boxed pancake mix he picked up who knows how long ago.

Just add milk and eggs.

Dean eyes the half-burnt-out pack of birthday candles in the junk drawer, stored there last May 18th. He closes the drawer, rolling his eyes at himself, and flips his pancakes as they start to bubble.

When breakfast is finished cooking (enough for Sam and Cas and Jack too, of course) Dean makes himself a plate and plops down across from Sam at the kitchen table.

"Big stack of pancakes," Sam murmurs—and Dean could swear there's a vaguely judgmental lilt to it.

Dean's eyes burn, which is stupid. He cuts through all five pancakes and shoves a huge bite in his mouth, staring at Sam across the table stonily as he chews.

Sam glances up and makes a bitch face, but doesn't say anything, returning his focus to his laptop

"What are you doing that's so damn interesting anyway?" Dean grumbles.

"Still cataloguing. Actually, Eileen is coming over to help me. We're gonna drag that last shelf of books into the library from the archive room and scan it all—finally have everything digitized."

Dean's heart sinks. It's gotta be at least 1,000 books.

Sam gets up from his chair. "I was gonna wheel everything in from down there and stack it on the tables before she gets here. You wanna help me?"

"Uhh..."

"Right," Sam scoffs lightly, making his way over to the coffee pot. "No problem."

"Look—I'm glad you enjoy that shit," Dean poorly pronounces through a mouthful of chewed food, stabbing another bite before he's finished this one. "Because someone has to—but moving and cataloguing books is the last thing I wanna do on my birthday."

It slips out without Dean really meaning for it to. He feels like the pancakes he's eaten are crowding his throat. He grabs his glass of water and swallows quickly, watching Sam over the rim of his glass.

"Oh," is all Sam says though—glancing at Dean, then his watch, before pouring his coffee into a mug. "Uh... happy birthday."

Dean looks down at his plate. "Thanks."

Sam clears his throat unusually loudly. "You know—I'm gonna be busy, but maybe... you ought to make a day of it," He suggests suddenly, leaning against the counter with his mug in a way that does not look comfortable or natural.

Dean immediately smells deceit, the hairs on the back of his neck rising. "What do you mean?"

Sam opens his mouth then closes it—shrugs. "You know—go out on the town... see if Cas or Jack wants to do something together. I mean—I can't go—can't back out on Eileen, but..." He interrupts himself with a sip of coffee.

Dean narrows his eyes. "Are you... trying to get me out of the bunker right now?"

"What? No!" Sam has always been terrible at lying to Dean—always seems too indignant. "I just—maybe you should celebrate. You're like, 46 or something, right?"

"45!" Dean's voice goes up a whole octave, suspicion momentarily forgotten.

"Whatever," Sam waves him off. "Go get a nice drink somewhere or go see a movie."

Dean glowers.

Sam stares back at him, before opening his mouth and looking up at the ceiling. "Okay, fine. Me and Eileen uh... need the library."

Dean cocks his head to the side a little, processing, before the realization hits. A big grin spreads over his face. "Sammy, you sly dog..." Dean chuckles. "I know what this is."

"Uh...?"

"Yeah you and Eileen are gonna catalogue some books, huh? Heheh..."

Sam scowls and rolls his eyes. "Gross, Dean."

Dean raises his hands in surrender. "Message received. I will uh... clear outta here..." Dean gets up, collecting his empty plate. "And... make myself scarce until say....?" He looks at Sam expectantly.

Sam looks at the floor, the wall, the ceiling—anywhere but Dean, before saying, "...6:30?"

"I'll make it 7:00!" Dean declares, setting his dishes in the sink then striding out.

Jack turns out eager to go do something in town, which bolsters Dean's spirits. When they go looking for Cas though, and find him brushing his teeth in the bathroom, a towel wrapped around his waist, he says gruffly, "I have judo practice."

Cas has run through a stream of contact sports over the last three years, and so far, he's stuck with judo the longest. He's very good at it, and he takes it very seriously. It's kind of funny but also kinda... well—adorable at the same time.

"Why the fuck did you take a shower right before judo practice?"

Cas spits into the sink. "There is a man attending now whose gi is off white. Off white, Dean. Not because that is the color of the fabric, but because he never seems to bathe or wash his clothing."

Dean stares at him.

Cas shakes his head, seething at his own reflection in the mirror. "I know what he's doing... It's a strategy. He and I are enemies... and I will defeat him without stooping to his level."

"You are bathing before practice as a 'fuck you' to a smelly guy?" Dean clarifies. Suddenly Dean feels offended. "Wait a minute—how come this is the first time I'm hearing about this?"

"He's new," Cas grumbles. "He just moved here, and he smells, and he tries to tell the instructors they're doing things wrong. He's annoying and I hate him. Defeating him at this practice is very important, Dean. I'm sorry. Perhaps I could join you later."

"But it's Dean's birthday," Jack pipes up.

Dean looks at Jack, surprised, but also... touched.

Jack gives Cas a pleading look. Cas looks... put upon. He's giving Jack an almost... warning look, which is weird, but... bad day for Cas, maybe.

"No no—it's fine," Dean waves Cas off, and puts on an excited smile on for Jack. "You know what, Jack? All this means is that the two of us can go fishing."

"I hate fishing..." Cas grumbles.

"Exactly," Dean says. "So you won't miss out. Join us after your practice or whatever if you want. Sam wants the bunker to himself 'cause Eileen's coming over."

Cas tilts his head at him in confusion. "What? What does that have to do with anything?"

Dean gives him a look.

Cas stares back, then realization comes over his face. "...Oh," He says, glancing between Dean and Jack. "Uh... yes... so. Perhaps I'll join you after... fishing."

Jack seems eager to do a lot of activities. It makes Dean feel kind of good that Jack seems to appreciate birthdays, because Dean is the one who made sure they kept celebrating Jack's.

They pack sandwiches and eat them by the river while they fish, and then Jack says he wants to see a movie so they go to the theater, and even though it doesn't matter because it's all the same cash at the end of the day, Jack insists on buying the popcorn when Dean reaches for his wallet.

They still haven't heard from Cas by the time they get out of the movie. His practice should have ended hours ago.

"....What if we go see the world's largest ball of twine?" Jack asks. So okay. They do. Then after that, they go play mini-golf. Dean keeps checking his phone, hoping maybe Cas will call or text for their whereabouts and join them, but a message never comes.

Dean feels not only a little stung, but also kind of worried. He ends up texting Cas.

Dean: Just checking in.

Cas replies about 20 minutes later.

Cas: I apologize, Dean. Sam has roped me into actual research.

However much he doesn't want it to, it puts a damper on things—makes it hard for Dean to keep smiling. Sam just... didn't want he and Jack underfoot? Is that it? He thought they'd... get in the way? It kind of offends Dean. He and Jack are both perfectly competent at researching and Sam knows that. Dean just doesn't like this kind of project. At worst, he would have stayed out of the way—holed up in The Dean Cave or in his room to watch movies. If Sam's goal was getting them out of the bunker so they wouldn't bother him, it doesn't feel fair. It seems... mean.

Dean's throat feels tight. He puts his phone on silent before they get to the burger joint in the evening—tells himself he's jumping to conclusions—he isn't being fair.

At least... at least Jack is having a good time—smiling ear to ear. It's good to see him happy—especially after that upsetting stint as God. The responsibility of it... the weight... thinking about it had twisted Dean's stomach in knots some nights so bad he could hardly breathe, even if he never spoke to anyone about it.

Dean pulls into the garage right about 7PM, determined not to let any disappointment or hurt toward Sam or Cas show—reminding himself again that it's his own fault that they didn't know this day was important to him.

He decided on the drive home he'll say something about celebrating birthdays from now on... around late April, right before Sam's birthday so no one catches on that he's hurt. That'll... it'll make it easier to get it out anyway, Dean thinks—that this is something he wants—if it's first in the context of Sam's birthday instead of his own. He'll say he'd like to start making celebrating everyone's birthday a habit—say it's important to him. He'll ask, and plan a party for Sam, then they'll do one for Jack, then Cas... then, when Dean turns 46... maybe they can celebrate Dean's birthday all together then. Everyone being celebrated... it just feels right. It's something Dean just... wants.

He's also cooled off on Sam—convinced himself that Sam probably just didn't want Dean to feel obligated to help on his birthday while Sam was determined to be a bore—thought he'd have more fun getting out of the house. He just wishes Sam had the sense not to rope Cas in too.

Jack pushes open the stairs that lead down into the map room, and Dean nearly jumps out of his skin as he hears a very loud chorus of voices exclaiming, "SURPRISE!"

Jack grins widely then, and says, "Come on, Dean!" He races to the bottom of the stairs, motioning for Dean behind him.

Dean can hardly believe it when the library comes into view.

His family is there. Not just Sam and Cas, but Eileen, and Rowena, Donna, Jody, Garth and Bess and their boys, Claire and Patience and Alex. Some of them are wearing party hats, others just smiling. Donna scoops him into a hug first, then Jody.

Dean is overwhelmed by the attention as he trades hugs with so many of their friends. His eyes are drawn to actual decorations. There are streamers hang from the ceiling, attached to brown balloons. There's a banner attached to a wall that says "It Is Your Birthday!"

"Alright—so I left Cas in charge of the decorating while I went to get the cake," Sam admits as he walks up and places a cup of punch in Dean's hand.

"I already told you—the balloons are the color of Scooby Doo!" Cas scowls.

"Oh yeah? And why are they so under-filled?" Sam says back, but he's laughing.

"They're perfect, Cas," Dean chokes, looking at all the effort Cas put in—overwhelmed.

A cake in the shape of Scooby Doo's face is laid out on one of the tables, surrounded by paper party plates and napkins with The Scooby Gang on them. There are... there are actual wrapped presents sitting on the the table further back. Like... a lot of presents.

"You... you did all of this for me?" Dean asks, looking at Cas and Sam.

"We lied so we could stay here and prepare," Cas admits. "Jack was supposed to keep you out of the house while we worked."

Dean glances at Jack then, who beams.

"I'll be honest though. I really thought you had me figured out this morning in the kitchen, Dean," Sam shakes his head, grinning.

Dean's eyes well up with tears. "You're still a bad liar," He croaks.

He doesn't even know if it's him or someone else who starts it, but suddenly they're all in a group hug.

"Happy 45th birthday, Dean."

"You deserve it."

[profounddefendorcrusade-blog]

Starlo apologist speaks again

this picture right here.. i hate it sm.

TIME TO DEBUNK EVERYTHIN', YEEHAW!

#1 Starlo's name is uncool on purpose might literally mean 'Starloser' It fits his character arc. In other words, he's not the cool, badass sheriff he pretends to be (he's not 'North Star'), but a kind, friendly farmer inside

#2 He definitely DOES care about Clover. Why else would he keep saying he's proud of them, praise them, believe in them, get worried about their safety, send them a warning letter, immediately run to check what's going on with them, get angry at Clover for not staying HOME (yeah he really did consider the Wild East their home) tell Martlet to bring Clover to safety, and jump at Ceroba to try and protect them? don't question the love of star daddy

#3 Undyne actually IS a badass. Starlo isn't. He's a softie who cares about pretending to be cool bc he's insecure, even when in a situation where he could die. He wants to be a hero. He wants to be SOMEBODY, not a NOBODY. Maybe he also cared about his own status more than his town, friends and family (which could be the reason he brought a bb gun). Or he just wanted to buy time so the others could hide. Now that I think about it, it's the latter. Why else would Dina say this in genocide after you kill Ceroba: "He was more of a hero than you'll ever be." That's the whole point of his geno fight that, and a lil bit of angst when roba finds him dying IT'S CALLED CHARACTERIZATION

#4 He kidnaps Clover bc they're a human. The only human who's ever set foot on the sands of the Wild East. He's obsessed with human culture. His whole life ARE westerns. Why? Whether it's the sense of justice cowboys represent, the exciting lives they live, or both, Starlo feels like he matters thanks to this nerdy interest, like he can contribute to his community

#5 i see Martlet as a big sis not a mom bc of how young she is, despite that one joke in bits & bites, but to each their own Star jails Martlet bc of the potential of the Wild East getting shut down. She did threaten to report them to Asgore and well... according to him, better safe than sorry. He even admitted he doesn't feel right doing it

#6 It WAS wrong of him to blame and attack Clover like that, all for his own status and ego (and to get his friends back) It's called a flawed character making a fucking mistake. Or did you expect someone perfect, with no room to grow and develop throughout the piece of media? Also, Clover is not an infant, they're a child. If it was meant to be a joke, it ain't funny bucko

#7 he either actually forgot about the fact he himself kidnapped Clover bc he wasn't in the right mindset (understandable), or purposefully ignored the information to avoid responsibility for his actions & shift the blame onto Clover (he IS flawed and thats more than ok)

#8 in neutral, he doesn't apologize bc Ceroba doesn't come and snap him out of his fantasy & mindset

#9 he did his best with the apology. you can't blame starlo. He's not very good with expressing himself and emotions in general (that he has been avoiding for so long via escapism; he also uses escapism to help Ceroba instead of talking openly with her)

#10 he doesn't know how the ceroba & clover interaction played out bc he was unconscious. Maybe he thought Clover had managed to talk her outta fighting. He says in true pacifist "Yall had a fight?? and the deputy won??" In other words he didnt know they had even fought. To add fuel to the fire, his bff just died and star, being the forgiving sweetheart he is, had wanted to give her a chance at redemption, but never got the chance to. He never got the chance to say goodbye, either.

#11 just bc starlo's an adult doesn't mean he can't have these flaws/behaviors. Every individual is unique. Starlo is deff deeply insecure and most likely autistic, too. Please think about that in the future, thank you

my current feelings can best be described by good old Axis

[neko-loogi]

Heeeyy, I'm back with a new Helluva Boss opinion post thingy

Okay so, the Mammon episode- it was alright I guess? Tbh it didn't strike me as super awesome or anything, it's just kinda there?

Anyway, let's talk about it a little bit!

So I wanted to start off with Mammon himself, I'm gonna be honest I don't hate him but I don't like him either. I'll admit I do actually like his voice, I'm sure y'all might find it annoying but I dunno, I like his accent and the way he talks is kinda funny. His design tho? Eh, it could use some work.

For instance, his eyes are weird, like every time he was on screen my first thought was always: "Wow, he looks like Robin from TTG". I also hate how he's shaped like your typical "fat" character from cartoons. But for some reason they decided to give him skinny arms but a round body. He's weirdly disproportionate, which is disappointing because they definitely could make a better plus sized character design. But oh well, knowing Viv, she wouldn't even try.

I will admit his true demon form is kinda cool, except that I actually thought he was going to be a caterpillar or something but he's a spider? I swear, Viv has some weird design choices.

Moving on, the episode was cluttered as hell. It had way too much stuff in it, which made the episode feel eternal. Not only that but the episode has 4 songs.. FOUR FUCKING SONGS- When will Viv realize that not every HB episode needs a song? Like is this shit an animated series or a fucking musical? Make up your mind Viv-

Anyway, I'm glad this episode focuses on Fizz, but his character did feel a bit off in certain scenes, but aside from that everything else was fine. (I found that scene of Fizz talking to the deaf imp child while using sign language to be very endearing).

Alright, I'mma point out a few other things real quick:

Ozzie's relationship with Fizz is absolutely adorable and I love them so much. However I don't understand why they portray their relationship as a bad thing? Like, fucking Queen Bee is dating Vortex (who's a hellhound, and they are a lower class than imps) and nobody says anything and she's a sin- so why can't Ozzie do the same??

I also happen to noticed that Fizz and Mammon's relationship is similar to Angel Dust and Valentino's- I just hope they don't completely butcher my boy Fizz, because he's the ONLY character I genuinely like from this god awful series.

Edit: I find it outrageous that Fizz apologized to Blitzo in the previous episode for the accident and claims that yes, he was affected by it but he's gotten over it. Yet here, he's super insecure about it and seeks approval from Mammon. It doesn't make sense- I swear it's like the characters are evolving backwards (as in the character development just resets and they act like nothing happened).

I also just wanted to say that this character made me feel super uncomfortable throughout the episode (which I guess is the point, but honestly they didn't need to add him.) Like, was it really necessary to include this Reddit mod, Discord user incel with an obsessive personality to the episode? He doesn't really contribute much other than to probably trigger people who have dealt with some form of harassment like this, and to make Fizz look super helpless so that Blitzo can defend him.

Blitzo didn't contribute anything to the episode, they didn't need to add him either. Like we get it he's the main character but that doesn't mean he has to be in every fucking episode doing absolutely nothing other than saying a bunch of curse words or shooting someone.

In conclusion, I didn't like this episode that much. I was expecting more to be completely honest.

Sorry if this post was a little long- I wanted to write more stuff but I don't want to burden y'all with reading a lot of shit lmao. Anyway, that's all, love ya <3

[deconstructthesoup]

Analyzing "The Web I Spin For You"

Okay, so... THIS FUCKING SONG is one of the most interesting and compelling songs in the Nightmare Time saga, and nobody ever talks about it---unless they're praising Mariah's voice, which is something you should be doing regardless. Outside of "The Summoning," this is the only song sung by one of the gods of the Black & White, and unlike "The Summoning," which is just vibes, villain chaos, and dealing out some Faustian bargains with the NPMD gang, this song actually provides lore. It shows us a deeper look into Webby's psyche and motivations, something that the Lords in Black have yet to be gifted. It gives us a hint as to how brothers and sister split apart... and I think it might be our very first---and so far, only---look into the parent of these eldritch beings.

Okay, let's start.

"Why do you haunt me like a ghost? / You're supposed to love me the most"

Right off the bat, we have emotional depth. Webby is singing about someone who has hurt her, someone who was supposed to love her but instead used her and continues to haunt her life. Who is this person, and what did they do?

"Got me in the spell you cast / The iris of your eye is black / Weren't you the one to watch my back / Unlike the witches you summon?"

This is where it ties into the episode, with "witches you summon." You get the clear sense that Webby is talking about a family member---maybe her brothers, but it has to be one in particular, and it doesn't really feel like she's talking about Wiggly... if nothing more than the fact that his irises are very clearly not black, at least if the doll is anything to go by.

"Have you noticed that my trust has turned / You may have taught me, but now I've learned / Gotta catch you before I'm burned / In the web I spin for you"

Now, here is where it starts to make sense. I think this song is about the father of the Lords in Black and Webby---someone who taught them how to be gods of chaos. Maybe once upon a time, Webby believed in what her father was teaching her, maybe he even kept the truth secret from her, but she grew up, saw through it, decided that she didn't want to participate in the evil, and left.

At this point in the song, the phrase "the web I spin for you" seems to refer to something Webby made for her family's benefit, and based on the lyrics, it eventually became a curse for her. I saw someone mention the theory that Webby created the split timeline... and you know what? Maybe that is the web she made. A blessing, because nothing is ever permanent and nobody ever truly dies, but a curse, because she watches her brothers succeed again and again, and even when she wins, there's no guarantee that the people she helped will be happy. In fact, the episode this comes from has the only ending in the Hatchetfield universe---nobody dies, Hannah makes it out with Miss Holloway's help, Lex and Ethan get out of jail. And honestly... it hits harder that way, because I think there's enough evidence to suggest that The Witch In The Web is in the same timeline as Nightmare Time 2. And we all know how that ended.

"You used to keep me at your side / (Have you given that up? Have you given that up? Have you given that up?) / I suppose you'd have me empathize"

The way I'm interpreting it now, this could add fuel to the fire as to why the LiB resent Webby. Maybe back when she still believed in her family, she was her father's favorite. But something happened---maybe nothing more than the fact that she was kind---that changed all that. In the very next line, she says that the person she's singing about stabbed her in the back. Maybe she was lied to, maybe she was betrayed---whatever the reason, this could be why she left.

"Have you noticed that my trust has turned / You may have taught me, but now I've learned / I'll enjoy it as I watch you squirm / In the web I spin for you"

Here is where "the web I spin for you" shifts from being something Webby made to help to something she made to trap. The web she made---maybe it's the timeline, maybe it's something else---benefits nobody, but especially not the people who hurt her. She doesn't trust them anymore, so she's turned her web into something that can hurt them back.

"What's the point of giving love and trust for / I thought it something that was worth the fight for / And now I wonder what I worked so hard for / I even thought that I could give my life for you"

God. Damn. There's so much I can say, but the first thing that comes to mind is... poor Webby. Based on these lyrics alone, she has been hurt, she's been betrayed, she's likely been lied to or mislead about the purpose of what she was doing, and it's a miracle that she's still her loving and caring self. And speaking of which...

"I was the only one that loved and cared for / Have you noticed that I have it in for / As I grew older that I have no need for / The web I spin for you"

This one is actually pretty straightforward, and it lends credence to the theory that Webby truly is the only Queen in White---the only good entity in her family. The next line could either indicate that she's grown to the point where she's too powerful for the web she made, or she's outright rejecting her family and the purpose they gave her---either way, it's still cool.

"If I'm-a trust, I'm gonna trust in me / You may have taught me, but I'm now learning / All this time, I've been untangling / The web I spin for you"

And THIS RIGHT HERE is where the "gotta take it back, take it back" refrain all throughout the song makes sense. Webby is now attempting to undo her actions, now that she knows that she can't trust her family and that she's learning on her own. She's untangling the web she made, and in doing so, turning the tide.

"No doubt that if I drop dead / You'll find me tangled up / In the web I spin for you"

Full disclosure---I always have to look up those last two lyrics to know what they are, and they're very bone-chilling. My only thought to what this might mean is that... Webby's saying that the web she made might kill her. And she's either trying to guilt the person she's singing to, or she's furious at the fact that they made her create such a thing, and... yeah. I don't know what's more hard-hitting.

ANYWAYS, this song is supremely underrated

[adanmwere]

hear me out. Transfem sam

Below is me rambling about shit that did not happen idk if there's any spoilers just my dumbass

Okay so there are a lot of reasons why this doesn't make any sense, speaking canonically and as close to the show as possible unlike with dean, small details can add up to him being a trans man but can also not, then again 90% of the time it's just people having fun / making characters they relate to. More relatable, but some (the voices in my heas) might think some hc as transfem because he has long hair which isn't the case (my source is I made it the fuck up) a lot of reasons for dean being hc'd as transmasc is most commonly in the first few seasons; mainly how he presents himself. he is very masc focused unlike his brother, he does everything in his power to be presented as a man (I could be wrong on this nobody fact check me pls it's been a hot minute). In the later seasons he doesn't seem to do this as much, and you can't forget that one dude calling him "daddy's little girl" which I know in hinde sight he was just trying to mock dean. okay enough dean this is about SAMMY. but mostly I find comfort in sam identifying with that title. and Jared doesn't gaf what we say sam is, in that sense I think transfem sam should be more common (I am half awake someone shut me UPPP) but I just feel like with the amount of trauma the boys have went through (sam more then often) would've at least once questioned their gender identities at least once in their life. maybe there isn't a reason behind any hc's and people are just having fun. at the end of the day who fucking cares they're fictional nonetheless where am I going with this? I have no clue gonna be so fr. I had this whole thing thought out and lost half my thoughts so I'm just rambling. Anyways gifs that make me think the Winchesters are transgender;

I can't find any good sam gifs to get my point across... but look at me in my eyes and tell em that is not the most trans woman you've ever trans woman'd

YOUR BOOBS? yeah buddy THE ONES YOU NO LO NGER HAVE?

CALLING SAM GAY? could he have just been in dental himself??? tune in for more at 9

Tahnk you for coming to my Ted talk that isn't evensbout what I said it was so sorry

[just7frogsinapeoplesuit]

I just watched the second Dune movie since it's been out of theaters for a bit and wow it was. Bad. The first one was unnecessarily long and showy but it at least stuck to the plot of the book. This one felt like someone read summaries of the main plot points and just made up a bunch of stuff to go in between, and the editing was really really bad. It's actually entirely possible it might have been a decent movie in script form, but whoever pieced it together did it like a total amateur. There was no sense of time or pacing, scenes happened almost at random with no explanation, and on many occasions someone says or does something that clearly is supposed to go somewhere important or add to the scene and then it just. Doesn't.

I need to vent so, things I can remember off the top of my head:

- There is almost no suspense in the (very large number of) fight scenes simply because it is not entirely clear what is happening, why it's happening, and what we are supposed to be rooting for.

- The acting is mostly bad. Nobody sounds genuine, except when they are suddenly so genuine it's jarring.

- The choice to have half the Fremen not really believe in their culture's religion immediately undermines the entire core of the tensions in the plot and adds a really weird inconsistency to the tone to the film.

- At one point the camera briefly shows a wholeass eclipse occurring in the middle of an otherwise normal scene of people talking. It does not affect the lighting or dialogue in any way.

- The scene where Jessica becomes a reverend mother is just sad. It was probably the most profound, gripping scene in the book and instead she's behind a random rock surrounded by people who think the ceremony is bullshit and then just foams at the mouth a little and goes "ok I know things now and also my baby is a little fucked up"

- There is not, at any point, a drug-induced orgy or even a reference to one, which is just cowardice on the part of the writers

- Actually, aside from the foaming at the mouth nobody really does drugs at all. In Dune.

- Despite the enormous CGI and costuming budgets, they decided to make people's eyes blue by just adding a (highly inconsistent and sometimes barely noticeable) tint to them in post. I'm sure this was done for Acting reasons (fully blue eyes can't convey emotion as well) but it looks really cheap.

- It is never mentioned that all of the protagonists (and some of the most necessary people in the empire) are physically dependent on spice to stay alive. This feels like a ridiculous oversight given how important it is.

- At one point we pan across the hold of a harkonnen ship before a battle (not during!) and one of the soldiers is projectile vomiting across the whole screen for absolutely no reason. I did audibly laugh at this one.

- They barely explain any of the politics behind what's happening, despite that being necessary to understand half the scenes they included. I am assuming this is because CGI explosions get better ratings than making sense.

- Stilgar's only function in the entire film is to act religious and yell "lisan al gaib" every time Paul does anything. He's also the only major character with an accent, which is supposedly due to him being from the overly-religious south. That's not even subtle racism, guys, because you purposely drew attention to it.

- We are never shown anything that explains why the Fremen believe in Paul so much, other than that he can fight ok. The concept of strategy is mentioned only for the final battle, and even then barely

- Merit points for removing the homophobia from baron harkonnen's character, but docked again because they kept him as the only fat person. Not surprised here, just disappointed.

- Paul mentioning that people close to him died is treated like a "gotcha!" that makes some Fremen feel bad for him. At this point I'm pretty sure the writers did not read Dune at all.

- Most of the exposition about the water of life is done as Desert Voices Paul is hearing, except they just plainly state what he has to do in English. If you're going to have him hear magic voices at least make them slightly mysterious, this just felt lazy especially considering how vague and non-literal all of his visions are.

- The camera regularly lingers on completely unimportant things for way longer than needed. Whoever did the editing probably thought it made the film more ~artistic~. It did not. It just made things even more bumpy.

- Alia stays a fetus for the whole film and communicates with Jessica telepathically from the womb? I'm assuming they didn't want to CGI a talking baby and they're going to use her in a future film so they couldn't leave her out. It's probably less weird for people who haven't read the book, but it also speeds up the entire timeline by multiple years which is its own host of issues.

- They have a perfect opportunity to explain what the water storage is for and the Fremen's end goal (sustainable ecology), but just leave it at "the water is needed for our salvation"?? So people who haven't read the books have no idea what the goal is?? I swear they did this because they didn't want Stilgar to say anything that sounded smart

- As far as I could tell there is not a single chrysknife in the whole film.

- During the final feyd rautha fight, we clearly see Paul get stabbed in the abdomen. When he removes the knife after we wins, it's in his shoulder. Unless he got stabbed with two knives and I didn't notice because the editing was so bad.

There is way more but I am tired. Not even going to touch on all the other unnecessary changes to basic plot points. A few of them made sense, but not most.

[zeondraws]

So, every game gets patched at some point right

Each version changes something inside the game and when the option exists- you can switch back to an older version of the game to check for stuff that got removed.

Unfortunately for Still Wakes The Deep there is only ONE previous public version you can switch to.

(basically you need to type in a command inside the steam console, grab app id, build id and manifest id and let it download and you manually replace your current files with those downloaded ones- ofc making a backup of your files before you do. There is a very easy to understand guide on youtube on how to do it)

The previous version is 1.2, in comparison to 1.3 (the current version which was released on the 16th of July, judging the steamdb page) has minimal differences.

I did notice the previous version had more soundfiles in the media folder. Roughly 83 of them, but most of those are Rennick body sounds, helicopter blade sounds, gloves rubbing while sitting near the heater and some environment sounds. It also includes one Trots voiceline, but it's one we already know. But these files got removed in 1.3 (the patch doesn't mention this I think, which means there could be differences inside the game files nobody knows about. But I don't know what else it could be)

Main reason I was suddenly sooooo interested to check for previous versions... is because Axol found a video on YouTube from a person called Mkiceandfire- and this person plays the game in version 1.0 which bewildered me a ton. Apparently a few folks already saw this video awhile ago. I somehow didn't?

But this game has quite a few differences inside the dialogue. Like Caz even says something when Roper grabs him with the tendrils "AAARGHH Get the fuck away from me! Aargh fuck!" for example.

Or the infamous Davros on the deck subtitle. The McLurg talking to Bruce was once titled Davros, which in turn got killed by Muir on the deck. And if you remember, Davros would later call you on the phone saying he's near the lifeboats. So it makes a lot of sense, that the name got changed. Otherwise you would have a random plot hole, or Davros is so strong and survived the attack for some reason-

However they may have forgotten, that there is already a McLurg with Boyd, so no clue why he's there twice.

I know the "McLurg/Davros" model is named Bruce so it's like... Bruce talking to Bruce which gives me a total ANEURYSM.

Trots even had a different VOICELINE before he gets crushed by debris!! And while Caz walks up to Accomm roof he still seems to be alive like, huh.

I haven't noticed any other major differences aside from different subtitles and some alternative voicelines. Which I found interesting, in version 1.0 Caz seemed more angry towards the infected (even getting pissed at tendrils grabbing him in Admin). But there must've been some early version where he was more sympathetic towards them, judging gamefiles. And currently he seems more "neutral"

I have no clue when the new patch comes out (the new patch will include an edit to the credits, which finally adds Innes' VA), on the steamdb page it seems there are tons of private patches done this month. The page even lists other builds, but normal people don't have access to those. But it lists beta, alpha and developer versions for example. God imagine seeing those, the story must've been so different in beta. Or maybe these soundfiles are from alpha, I don't knowwww.

I might need to check everything inside the files of 1.2 in hopes of finding something that got removed. But at first glance, it all seems the same.

But before I even do that, I want to finish listening to the soundfiles this weekend (I am over 12000 now). I discovered an interesting soundfile from Admin too. It's probably Archie's voice?? I'm not sure, either him or Scooby. But he's saying "Get off him" before screaming (it triggers when you leave the room with the flickering TV).

I really wanna finish this Muir video, I want to focus on other stuff. I started fleshing out another drawing for the AU too.

Thanks for coming to my Ted Talk.

[autistic-sidestep]

OH ALSO FOR THE SHIP BINGO. Sura and Mortum because i KNOW that's brewing in your brain rn and I want to hear more about them 👀👀

suramortum!!!!!1 fuck it took me 5 months to answer this anyways throws this under the cut (it gets slowly more incoherent towards the end because i am very tired)

so suramortum. i hadnt considered them as a thing when i first played but gradually through codediving and exploring more of mortum's route i really liked the new dimensions it showed of sidestep + how multifaceted the good doctor was. I’ve been fiddling a lot with sura + made it more ruthless + calculated, therefore nudging itself further away from ricardo/heroic persona, and mortum represents a lot more present/future thinking whereas ric’s looking back at the past.

to me i think sura did earnestly first fall for mortum all the way back in rebirth at the cape scene:

You watch the image of the armor rotating in the air as Dr. Mortum adds a variety of capes to the sleek image. There's a look of almost childish joy on her face that makes it hard not to smile in return. "I didn't know you were so fond of capes," you tease. "I'm not." There's a pause, and a sheepish shrug. "Alright, maybe I am. It adds a sense of style that I feel most people these days lack."

someone else who also enjoys design and knows there's power in appearances and genuinely just being able to collaborate with a fellow artist was really nice for sura

Besides the t4t they’re both lonely people starved/desperate for connection and that juxtaposition w/ the fronts they maintain to keep themselves safe, and mortum's route really hits the heart of sura’s issues. eg at the gala:

"It's an interesting feeling, isn't it?" Dr. Mortum looks around the crowd for a moment before returning ${mhis} gaze to you. "To look back and realize how much you've changed. How far you've come." "I suppose." You snort a little in amusement. For a moment, you can see your younger self, standing in a party not unlike this one, feeling completely overwhelmed for very different reasons. "Never thought I'd end up like this." "For people like us, the first time stepping out of line means stepping into our own. I recognized a kindred spirit in you from our first meeting." You turn to look at the good doctor, frowning a little as you try to decide how you are supposed to handle this conversation. $!{mhe} has turned out to be more perceptive than you bargained for.

  #I'm curious about what ${mhe} thinks of me, so I will let ${mhim} continue leading the conversation.     "Really? What kind of a kindred spirit is that?" You smile a little coyly, pushing back your nervous twitch about being investigated like this.     "Someone who is in the process of reinventing themselves." $!{mhe} rubs ${mhis} chin a little, looking you over. "Into what, I'm not sure."     "Isn't that true for everybody, though?"     "Sadly, no. Most people are satisfied with what life has given them. They might whine and complain, but they will make no attempt to change their circumstances."     "But I am?"     "Are you telling me that I'm wrong?" Dr. Mortum looks honestly puzzled, as if nobody had ever dared to do that before.     "Not exactly…." You drag out the pause a little too long. "Just that I'm uncomfortable with being scrutinized this closely."     "I'm not your enemy, ${title}." $!{mhe} smiles a little as ${mhe} looks into your eyes. "Quite the opposite, in fact."

the transtalk during the lovers scene route (which i am always at least a little irritated that sura can’t reach naturally because being intersex and trans are mutually exclusive so i edit the savefile just for that) and the (good) reveal scene really cemented junomortum/suramortum for me though.

Sura’s always masking and acting and lying because it’s an ingrained habit from the Farm and a defense mechanism (and we also can’t forget those identity issues). mortum is one of the few people that's perceptive enough (and that's allowed) to see through some of sura's facades (partly because there's none of the baggage of knowing what sura Used to be like the way it is with chen and ortega)

trans lovers talk:

"I'm sorry," you say [...] "I didn't mean to touch a nerve." "You didn't." She pats you on the back, pulling you a little closer. "Some people…they do. There's this morbid curiosity I can't stand. Like I'm a slab of meat they are trying to find fault with. But you, ma cherie, you…" This time she looks you straight in the eye. "I what?" You are the one turning away your gaze this time. "I get the feeling you understand." "Maybe I do." You can't hide your sigh because you do. Not in a way you can explain to her, but you do. "I wasn't sure at first. You look rather…comfortable with yourself for…" She doesn't say it out loud, but you know what she implies. Juno comes across as so confident, it must be hard for someone else to imagine how much of a mess you are. "I'm good at keeping up appearances," you say, and it's not even much of a lie. Layer the masks thick enough, and they become armor. <- sura's motto right here

"You are," Dr. Mortum admits, but she keeps looking at you with the faintest of frowns. "A little too much for your own good, I think." "No, I like being inscrutable." You slide from her grip, giving her a pat on her shoulder. "Roll over. You're looking at me too much." "Even to me, ma cherie?" But she follows your command, rolling over on her stomach. "Do you still need to hide who you really are around here?" "Yes." You slide on top of her, starting to massage her shoulders. A little rougher than you need to, but she deserves it. "You don't have to," she gently suggests. "I don't judge." "That's what everybody says." You lean into your hands, finding a particularly tense muscle. "Right before they judge you." "I can understand your paranoia, but…" "If you do, then drop this subject, and I'll think about it." That's a lie, but she doesn't need to know that. Your mask is the only thing keeping you safe, no matter how much she claims she would understand. Agh. How did you end up getting caught in another anxiety loop brought on by your own damnable curiosity?

i just. [clenches fist]

also the post-confession stuff! since sura gets stuck in juno (puppetcrash + puppetstuck) i love that mortum even as justifiably upset as she is still cares enough to rescue puppetstuck sura after they'd assumed all bridges between them had been burned (outside scar w/ a lot of self loathing and a self-destructive streak whoops). it's so messy and complicated and i just love them being able to pick through the mess and slowly progress forward (with a lot of apologies, effort and reconcilliation on sura's part). they're not good people but they can still find solace in eachother.

(i think sura's probably headed for a bad ending but mortum might be able to change the trajectory with a bit of luck)

also mortum's audhd and sura's autism ! neurodivergent couple :3 i love that mortum's always checking for consent and how much she cares.

also!!! mortum and sura being the hottest villain powercouple on the west coast is very hot. im thinking about coordinated costumes for annual halloween villain galas and just massively ruthless competence. they can cover eachothers blindspots since mortum's the tech person and sura's got the contacts and the charisma as argos.

sura's down just. horrendously bad for the good doctor. i've likened them to an aloof/hissy housecat with everyone else but a very affectionate lapcat with Only mortum. i'm picturing all kinds of silly domesticity in the lab. in a good end au sura gets its cat back from elena's place and the three live together :'3

[tw1stedthicket]

You know, what? I feel super fucking salty. About kinda everything related to my former time in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. But in this moment in particular, salty that there isn't quite a developed way in their system to address people who wish not be contacted unless those people pursue the legal process of having their names removed off the legal church records and petitioning the help of them to "undo a contract of religious affliation". I've told people a few times before that I do not wish to be contacted, but I still am, and I know the reason is because there's not really a way for them to have a continuity of records that demonstrate lack of membership. Right? Like that makes no sense. If you don't wanna be part of it, then your name oughta be removed. But they have to keep it on there. I wish there was a way to like, "inactivate" it in some way. Maybe add a note with some days of correspondence where I stated I wished not to be contacted. Maybe that's the part of me that works administrative stuff in healthcare talking? Or the part of me preparing to document every note as a counselor? But I have enough sympathy for these people who contact me that like, they don't know any better. Especially because most of the people contacting me are new to the area. Also, me personally, I feel like my deconstruction would have been impossible had I not had people around me who showed me the clear dichotomy over time of people who were grounded in reality, accepting of the broader world, and legitimately intended to do so for the sake of unconditional love and friendship, and how irreverent it was but in the best, most authentic and fun way, and that was holy all on its own.

So I just kinda feel like, what the fuck is the point of targeting my hurt or anger at people still members. It's just gonna come across to them as mean-spirited and bitter. Nobody deserves harrassment either I might add, which sucks ass already because missionaries do get that from people; and although I believe in my heart that they're doing fucked up shit by audaciously trying to convince people to move from their own convictions to believe a con by a dude from the Second Great Awakening of American history that ended up spawning a church that functions mostly like a corporation (rich ppl at the top getting paid and making investments and people at the bottom earnestly trying their best to achieve worthiness) - I do also believe in my heart these people think they're motivated by love, that would have them leave their family if asked and tell other people that they can be with their families "forever" because of the restoration of the ability for us to "seal" families together in our church and by our authority from on heaven, and they would only be hurt because they are too mired in mind control right now. I've been waffling on about my desire to remove my records from church membership whilst still living at home and what PR shit that might cause for my TBM father and brother, but. I can't honestly say that being contacted every once in a while is like, all that offensive. It's a different story for others who have people try to "bear their testimony" at them or show up at their house unannounced. But I did kinda think of something.

I've tried to imagine what I might say to people a million times over, but. I think if the opportunity comes. I'm gonna flip the script. I won't shun them away like others. I won't invite them to try to argue the ins and outs of books of scripture, or answer for things they have been trained to just default to "I know it's true blah, blah, blah." I'm just gonna meet them on their level. Earnestly tell them I feel compelled by the Spirit to say that God loves all his children. I won't get into the weeds of belief or disbelief, because who the fuck knows and who the fuck cares anyway - live and let live, to me. But I'll say, God loves all his children. He loves you, missionaries. He loves me too. He made us all in His image. And I'll come out to them right there. "I'm a lesbian. And I know God loves all of his lesbian children." "I know God loves me enough that He wants to see me again with my wife, and my kids, and my family, in heaven with him throughout the eternities."

Let them sit with that. Sit with the notion that no, actually, God doesn't love you enough to save you, and you seeing him again isn't actually part of his plan. His plan is for you to prove yourself through perfection to be worthy to even stand in his presence. Let them try to find a way to worm around the fact that my future wife and kids *aren't* a family. Let them try to say that this vision of love and how clearly I feel it isn't actually love, that God actually hates sin, oh - but we don't hate gay people! Let them try to wrestle in their mind why their God has damned some people He made that there's no way they couldn't just...change the temple ceremony, right? There's no way they won't ever allow gay people who earnestly want to fall in love with people a way into the church and into heaven, right? That anybody gay they know who has a heart and wants to love, technically loves *different* than them, and it's a love that God can't stand to be in the presence of...but what if they can? What about how they can stand in my presence and feel that I am human? Will they reject that? That will be a question for their spirit and conscience.

I have a lot of quandries about why I left. But it will never happen until it touches your heart, your sense of humanity, your love for others, your integrity, your conscience, your deeply held idea of "choose the right" -- even "choose the harder right". I believe they feel it. I once did. Not my job to do anything for them. But I'll meet them where we are and let them chew on that, if ever given the chance, I think. Until one day I remove my records. And then one day, if they get married in the temple, and they decide to have kids, and their kid grows up, and one day their kid comes out to them, hey. They might think of me. Think of my love for my family and my future family. And I hope they'll realize it's the same.

[rulerzreachf4n7]

I ABSOLUTELY FUCKING HATE THOSE ANNOYING ASS PARENTS (SPECIFICALLY CHRISTIAN ONES, no offense to y'all, just learn TO FUCKING MIND UR BUSINESS AND USE COMMON SENSE) SAYING AND YAPPING ABOUT "erm guys, you uhm, shouldn't take ur kids to watch inside out 2 🤓👆" LIKE SHUT THE FUCK UP KAREN AND LISTEN TO MY DAMN REASONS NOBODY GIVES A SHIT ABOUT

Reason number one- you're five year olds aren't the targated demographic for this movie

Yes come at me all you fucking want but this isn't like the first movie where it's much more innocent and doesn't handle heavy topics like having an anxiety attack and puberty, I'm sorry Karen but you're two six year old kids won't be needing to learn about what puberty is, TRUST ME THAT IS GOING TO SAVED FOR ANOTHER TIME, and it was obvious this movie is targated for teens, especially the ones born in 2010 cause like half of y'all (including me) are 12/13 years old already, and just because it's a Pixar film doesn't mean it can't be mature it was definitely not targated for people under puberty

Reason number two- take a fucking hint and stop being homophobic

Personally me, RILEY X VAL IS A HILL I AM WILLING TO DIE ON, I WILL DEFEND THAT SHIP LIKE MY LIFE DEPENDS ON IT, but from a more...different view...just because two girls are interacting and holding hands DOES NOT FUCKING MEAN THEY'RE DATING TAKE A FUCKING HINT YOU TRUMP SUPPORTER, sure Riley x val may not be canon due to obvious homophobic people complaining, and a kinda underrated one where people think the age gap is too big given that Riley is a freshman but I think Val might be a sophomore? Not sure it's never like mentioned but calling val a super senior is fucking weeeird bro, and also Disney is a SHIT at writing gay couples and probably would stereotype them is more to add of how bad it'll make them look

Number three- surprisingly there's racism???

Not really a big one but I've heard some people complaining about Val's hockey team, saying it's "too diverse"...BITCH WHAT THE FUCK DO YOU MEAN " TOO DIVERSE " YOU WANT EVERYONE TO BE AS WHITE AS RILEY??? not much to speak on here but it truly is infuriating

Number four- Riley's belief system makes her a bad person??

Another small one but still very annoying people complaining that Riley's not a good person and has a bad belief system but even though she considers herself a good person but makes mistakes it doesn't matter because God isn't in it and that alone apparently makes her a bad person...SHUT THE FUCK UP, I'M ALL FOR RESPECTING RELIGIONS BUT THE PEOPLE I HATE MOST ON EARTH ARE FUCKING CHRISTIANS LIKE TAKE A FUCKING HINT WHAT HAPPENED TO LOVE THY NEIGHBOR??? SHIT WENT OUT THE WINDOW SINCE ADAM AND EVE SINNED

And number five- peoples ever decreasing media literacy

Every since the movie came out people have been complaining over Anxiety and saying she's "the villain"...im going to take your hand while I'm saying this...DO Y'ALL NOT KNOW WHAT FUCKING ANXIETY IS SHE LITERALLY EXPLAINS IT HER FUCKING SELF WHEN SHE'S FIRST INTRODUCED YOU DUMB BITCHES, " B-But she made Riley have a panic attack🥺🥺 " first of all It's an ANXIETY ATTACK second, people were saying "w-why was anxiety making Riley over think and worry so much? 🥺🥺" TAKE A LONG WILD GUESS IT'S IN HER FUCKING NAME, I'm convinced people who went to watch it, saw thirty minutes of it then left cause they didn't even know what anxiety is and what it causes, half of the people watching don't understand anxiety's motives CAUSE Y'ALL HAVE NEVER HAD ANXIETY, coming from someone who has anxiety and social anxiety I get where she's coming from (and maybe secretly rooting for her at the end, like fr let her cook) and y'all wouldn't have acted like this in the first movie cause everyone HAS experienced sadness, everyone HAS HAD sad moments so it's no difference with anxiety, except this time only a certain amount of people will get it

Also am I the only but I fucking HATED Riley's friends like they were SO GODDAMN ANNOYING 💀💀

[catchyhuh]

How about Jigen and Goemon?

LET’S GO JIGOE these motherfuckers are popular for a reason! also i promised i’d start putting these under a cut again to save space and not clog up the tags so here we go

the thing i love about these two is like, romantic or not, nobody quite understands them the way they understand each other, and that includes lupin too. there’s a quiet, almost unspoken connection that they have about what annoys the other, what the other prefers, simple things that add up to what honestly might be the closest thing resembling a relationship between normal people in the franchise. not that the individuals themselves are normal lmao BUT THE WAY THEY TREAT EACH OTHER. LIKE COMPARATIVELY

lemme elaborate a lil here: when lupin or fujiko or even zenigata do something that annoys jigen or goemon, it’s because they wanted to do that thing anyway, they were GONNA do that thing anyway, and it just happened to annoy these guys. when jigen or goemon annoy the other, it’s because they first recognize this is something moderately annoying, think it’s funny, and THEN act. like the specific grin goemon gets on his face making an unfunny joke or jigen pausing and thinking out his exact steps before he gets into goemon’s personal space. there’s intent before action here. isn’t that so special!

it’s just so. nice. sorry i know i say that too much but really how else do i phrase it! they seem so comfortable with each other. you really get the sense that no matter what the circumstances or what universe they’re in, they would turn to each other. which, yeah, could be argued for a chunk of these guys, but this specific like. warmth. the reassurance in having the other. again, platonic or not, they’re just so close and it’s so sincere! like, it’s beyond a trust of the other’s abilities, or even just “i trust you” it’s like. dying for you isn’t even a question. living for you is a necessity. do i sound nuts? whatever autism be damned my boy can work a complex and yet nothing is more easy and natural to them relationship!!

i think it’s just a default response rather than a conscious action for them to sit beside each other like. everywhere. they’re like magnets. if i had a nickel for every time these two were just hip to hip on the couch or whatever the hell jigen’s doing when he sticks his leg out over goemon’s lap i’d have like. i’d have enough money to get my dream lupin merch basically (which is really simple. its just the monchhichi zenigata) but if they’ve got someone inbetween them it’s DEFINITELY because someone either butted in or jigen said “hold on itll be really annoying if we make this guy sit between us on an 8hr flight and just talk over him. let’s do it”

no yknow what let’s fully commit to this skewed domesticity. can you imagine the notes they leave for each other in the hideout. like sticky notes scattered around “we got home at 4 am if you wake me up before 1:30 i’m making you eat publix sushi -j” (and he draws like a fucked up hat next to it) and like “i am out training. i will be passing by a ‘dunkin donuts’ on the way back. send me a Text if you want something. i will not respond, but i will see it -goemon” lupin collects these like trading cards when he finds them

SORRY. WE GOT A LITTLE LIKE SAPPY HERE DIDN'T WE. OOPS

[lurksunderthebed]

I remember one yt comment assuming that Ghost both OG and reboot had a family of his own as in wife and kids just because he was throwing around dad jokes with Soap back and forth.

It got me thinking then; how? like sure i guess people could assume it's because he wears a mask to stay anonymous but even then it doesn't add up? He's a nobody essentially, a Ghost, he has nothing, no picture on his file, like NOTHING. It is strongly implied that he's hiding his identity for a much bigger and most likely fucked up reason. Also people in the military or undercover covert ops don't wear masks for the sake of protecting their family/loved ones only, we have to remember that not every of these guys are actually good, and this is further reinforced in the MW and other CoD franchises, so yeah, not exactly a GhostSoap topic but more about Ghost himself. Have any thoughts? Feel free to share with us, i love your analyses and interpretations!

The assumption about Ghost having a wife and kids just because he likes dad jokes is well... It's a take.

The fun thing about these sorts of headcanons is that Ghost is just as likely to have a HUSBAND and kids as well. Again it's one of those things where you can think up all sorts of secret "xyz" that Ghost could be hiding. There's nothing proving it isn't wrong, but there's also no real factual basis behind it.

When it comes to spec ops like 141 is and really any SAS/delta aligned operatives is that there's a general OPSEC on these guys already (if we're gonna use the American terminology for this). Meaning that any general public picture/info of these guys working/in uniform etc is already usually scrubbed.

The fact that Ghost is going out of his way to hide his identity means a lot more I think than just hiding love ones away. I mean there's also nothing stopping Price, Gaz or Soap to be hiding loved ones as well and they even mention it in Alejandro's case. And yet none of these guys wear a mask habitually.

Add in Ghost's obvious trust issues, how much he stands apart from people, his hesitance on being a Team and the implication he got betrayed (by someone close, prob teammates), it all paints something a bit different than just hiding an identity purely because some bad men might hunt down your secret family.

Granted, Ghost might be embroiled in some very horrible shit, so maybe the stakes are higher for him. But I think the same could be said of Price. And Price seems far more likely to have a random family cause he's actually approachable/sociable.

But again who knows.

What I can say is that Ghost cares about his appearance standing out. I agree that him wearing a mask just to stay anon actually doesn't make sense. Ghost is very memorable. If he wanted to be discreet, his get up is 'quite the opposite'. There's a mythos behind him.

His very appearance is well thought out; the guy has the most different outfits/setups out of any of the team. The skull mask is painted and hand sewn on. He accessorizes with SKELETON GLOVES too.

Ghost also had a teammate in the past that also currently wears a skull mask. It's possible that 'Ghost' might actually mean more than hiding himself, but perhaps an identity to be used for intimidation.

Perhaps like Cod: Ghost's there's a unit of Ghosts that all wore 09 ghost balaclavas in the past who were famed for being the John wicks of the codmw reboot universe?

There are so many possibilities with the inclusion of Mace and that one statement we got from the Game Dev.

But eh who knows. I could be very wrong too 🤣.

Thanks again for enjoying my analysis! 💞 And I hope this somewhat answered your question. Questions like this always take me awhile to think it through lol. But I love it 💕😅

[svtskneecaps]

my biological peer reviewer (sibling) called this theory “fun” and said i should send it, so here goes

my personal theory is the feds ((”federation”)) created the eggs because they decided the best way to enforce “you can never leave” was to give the people something they couldn’t lose, like in the post by tumblr user alexaloraetheris (no relation to the smp) where their friend who might be a deity had said,

"When you die you descend to the underworld with nothing to lose. To keep you, they give you something to lose. When you want to return, they will demand it back. That's why nobody ever leaves. The only way out is to never enter."

i’m thinkin that on egg D-Day, at the end of the countdown, the feds weren’t gonna give the eggs back. they were just gonna hide them forever, or do something else, anything else, just keep them away from their surrogate parents, because then the people would just be STUCK, because people could theoretically take their eggs and leave, but if the eggs are missing, gone without a trace, then the residents CAN’T LEAVE, because presumably the eggs are STILL THERE, SOMEWHERE, IN NEED OF HELP AND RESCUE, if only the residents could find them ON THE ISLAND. if they leave the island while the eggs are missing, they are abandoning these things that have become their children.

but then in came the brazilians. and shit went south. because see, the spenglish (spanish / english) streamers were INVITED, but the brazilians CRASHED; the feds didn’t INVITE THEM, they weren’t EXPECTING THEM, but they can’t let these guys leave either, so they PANIC, and they scramble to give the brazilians the same thing--something to lose. the new egg had a brazilian jersey, homie was TAILOR MADE for them to pack bond with. the feds didn’t have time to send out multiple eggs, it was all or nothing, so they picked something they could reasonably assume all five of them would find endearing because they don’t know shit about these guys--they had a week to observe the OG batch, but all they know about these newbies is the brazilian flag on their boat--and so they sent the little egg out to become THEIR THING, the thing they couldn’t afford to lose.

it leaves open why the eggs are cracked too, bc idk what’s going on there lol, either 1: the eggs cracked because they’re hatching and the feds picked that date bc they wanted to yoink the eggs before they got Too Powerful, or 2: the feds were the ones to crack the eggs as an excuse for why they vanished--returning the eggs untouched would open too many questions the feds don’t want them asking; this way, instead of being concerned specifically with “why were the eggs missing”, the residents presume they know the answer--the cracks.

but yea i’m just gonna add as an aside that personally i think cucurucho / osito bimbo / the white fucker is way more active again because the feds are still scrambling to keep up with the brazilians (which, again, the feds weren’t expecting), and the binary fuckwad came in to put the fear of god into the newbies--maybe so they didn’t get too focused on the morse code transmissions; iirc max was theorizing that both osito and binary were part of the federation ? and if so it does make sense that the binary entity went to fuck with cellbit immediately after cellbit was introduced to the conspiracies of the island, yknow, a warning shot. i think they want them to be focused on the eggs.

BUT THAT’S JUST A THEOr

[emofreakks]

Hey there,

I'm not the same person who sent the ask about mistagging posts but I just want to let you know that it's actually against Tumblrs community guidelines seen here

"Spam. Don't spam people. Don't make spammy posts, don't post spammy replies, don't send people spammy messages. Be a regular human. Don't put tags on your posts that will mislead or deceive searchers. For example, don't tag a photo of your cat with "doctor who" unless the name of your cat is actually Doctor Who, and don't overload your posts with #barely #relevant #tags. Of course, meaningful uses of tags are always fine (for example, ironic "punchline" tags that add meaning or context to a post). Don't put dubious code in your posts, like using JavaScript to cause redirects or inject unwanted ads in blogs. Don't use deceptive means to generate revenue or traffic, or create blogs with the primary purpose of affiliate marketing. Spam doesn't belong on Tumblr."

While your followers probably won't report you for spam, people scrolling through the tags you use will of you tag text posts that have nothing to do with emo and scene core might, and it won't do you any favours in gaining visibility. If you're incorrectly tagging text posts you're more likely to get blocked than gain a follower

What makes you think I care.

I don’t care weather or not someone blocks me ok?

And I’m not on social fucking media to fucking impress a bunch of people over a bullshit excuse tag

If you don’t like me then block me I don’t fucking care I’m not on the internet to be liked by everyone

If you don’t like what I do then just ignore me you don’t get to decide for me how I do things this is probably the reason why nobody really uses tumblr is because people like you care so much and is so sensitive about what others post that you feel like bringing another person down over something completely bullshit

If you care so much about tags and other bullshit then just block me

Nobody is trying to be liked by a bunch of people nor does the world work like that you can’t keep everyone happy no matter what this is a great example of I mean when I say you can’t make everyone happy some people are gonna be upset with what you do in life including in social media

Weather this is true I don’t care it’s a ridiculous rule I’ve ever heard

Telling people to not put tags that they feel appreciated on and that feels “personal” to them right is fucking ridiculous

If people aren’t allowed to put a tag. A tag that’s personal to them then WHATS THE FUCKING POINT IN HAVING TAGS

IN THE FIRST PLACE

wtf is the point in expressing yourself through an app or a site when

Your not allowed to use a tag of a certain name that you consider a sense of belonging or even home

It’s not about the tag itself but the community inside of it

Behind every tag there’s a community inside of it what’s so fucking harmful to use a tag

That you are apart of, like omg I’m not allowed to use a tag that describes what my blog is about and what makes me who I am

all because i posted an opinion omg

Like what’s the point in having tags if your not allowed to put a tag that describes your identity as a person and what makes you who are through your account all because you have an opinion

It’s such a crime to put your identity or your blog idenity in a tag