#i am absolutely not paying money for books on something that was supposed to be a fun little reference for fictional fantasy

[local-magpie]

spending the last two days trying to figure out what the fuck order the golden dawn minor arcana correspondances were putting planets and signs in has sent me down such a deep rabbit hole im unsure if ive emerged as paranoid red string guy or big exploding brain guy

[goldsbitch]

Our wedding

Y/N and Lando probably went a little too overboard when planning their wedding. She finally looses it when his friend suggests a product placement bucket hat.

A dream wedding.

Distant palazzo, with acres of private lands to roam around at night. Lavish dress, designed to fit perfectly and re-done three times. Coordinators, who made sure everyone who needed to be invited actually was. And also took care about almost anything one can imagine.

A perfect wedding, that's what they both wanted. Go big or go home. Combining romance, with generously giving everyone they loved, or deemed important, the time of their life. To say that this event was supposed to be extra would be an understatement.

Lando said yes to all of Y/N's wished regarding flower arrangements, menu items and rooming lists. She said yes to all of this ideas about the music, sound systems set up in each part of the venue (because heaven would turn upside down if there had been one quiet spot with no music, according to Lando) and drinks choices. They could not agree on the photographer - so Lando just booked his, and hers option as well. Saving money was not on the table. He knew that the amount of good PR and brand deals the Quadrant team managed to get together was going to pay out in the long run. Everyone loves a wedding.

That's where the first issues started - the amount of people invited grew into higher hundreds. She voiced her point few times, but Lando quickly shut those off with a promise to book a private charter for all friends and family who were coming from her homeland. She caved in and agreed to just few more CEO's she'd never met, as long as they did not share their table.

It was the final two months before the wedding and things could not be more hectic. They had to plan the wedding around Lando's race schedule, so summer break between races it was. Y/N had to juggle her job with all of this planning, so she attended less races than she usually would. Most of the calls she shared with Lando were wedding related and it seemed like his best friend Max took it upon himself to speak on behalf of Lando - so sometimes it felt like she was marrying Max rather than her fiancé. After a total break down she had few days ago, which resulted in her crying on the phone to Lando at 4 am his local time, they agreed she absolutely had to come over to the next race so that they could find some down time.

//

Having to endure a tiring overnight flight, she finally stepped into the hotel where Lando was staying at. Exhausted, jet-lagged and generally in a bad mood were the main ingredients in the perfect cocktail of "you should just avoid me" Y/N. She finally opened the door to his room and let out a groan. Traveling to see him used to be her favorite thing. A bombastic cherry on top was that she immediately recognized Max's voice coming from the living room. Was this guy staying in the same room as them now?

"Y/N, is that you?" she heard, desperately hoping he hadn't heard her enter in. She felt like a bitch for wishing that, but he was the last person she wanted to see at that point. Her hopes of jumping in the bed and cuddling Lando the first thing coming here dissolved like cotton candy, leaving tooth aches behind.

"Yes, Max, it's me," she said, not even bothering adjusting her tone to something more socially appropriate.

"Great, just on time. Can you come in here? We have some decisions that are becoming pressing matters," he said dryly and added his own frustrated comment quietly "...since someone does not feel like answering emails." She heard that, bit her lip and swallowed all her comments, otherwise she would explode.

"What's up?" she asked, entering the living space. There were dozens of baseball caps and buckets hats laid down on the coffee table with Max and some random young guy towering over them.

"We need you to pick out one of these which you'll be wearing after the reception. I have a great brand deal on the table which I need to close today. So, go ahead - pick one." She could not believe the words coming out of Max's mouth. Was he for real?

"May I ask when did I agree to wearing a baseball cap with my dress right after my wedding?"

Max glanced at her and then rolled his eyes. "Can you just pick one? Lando is on board with this, he'll be wearing this green one," he pointed to objectively very nice stylish item of clothing - but still, it was a bucket hat. Rage levels shot up in Y/N blood steam.

"Max, I'm suppose to be wearing my wedding dress until the evening, that's also in some deal you guys made," she proclaimed, hoping this would finally make him get some sense. "The dress is very classical, I don't think this would fit the vibe."

"Oh, come, we agreed to sticking to the Quadrant Athletes color palette and all of these check that. We want to break the classical vibe up with this."

"I'm sorry, who exactly is we in this scenario? And who the fuck are you?!" she pointed at the guy standing next to Max.

"I'm...I'm the product placement controller," he said in a shy voice.

Her eyes just went wide at that point.

"Y/N, no need to freak out again, you need to create a viral moment to make the brand grow," Max said, as if he was talking about a new merch launch.

And that was the final straw. "I'm getting sick of you guys making my wedding into a Quadrant PR stunt. You need to realize this is my wedding, not yours! The whole event is already dripping with brand deals and promotions, is there nothing out of line to you? Will my mom also have to wear one of these hats? Will force the officiant to wear sneakers? Where will you stop?"

Max stared at her, his own cup finally also full. But unlike her, he spoke calmly - again, giving strong business vibes. "Oh, I'm sorry - I'm sorry I am pulling heaven and Earth to make sure your wedding does not ruin your future husband! I apologize that I seem to be more stressed about this wedding than you are. Sorry for caring and trying to uphold some standard."

"Max, this is all too much! I feel like I'm suffocating," she tried to reason with him once more.

He just had enough at that point. So many little moments of mutual disagreement finally grew on him.

"Yeah, well maybe you're just not suited for this world."

Before she could even take a breath to respond, a familiar voice cut them both off.

"Guys, that's enough I'd say," Lando said as he slowly stepped out the same corridor Y/N had entered moments ago. Both Max and Y/N turned around, knowing they'd have spoken way differently had they known he was there as well.

Max gulped, knowing he stepped over a line and immediately started to apologize. "Mate, I'm sorry, we just sort of lost it. I'm sorry."

Lando glanced at him, his face suddenly hard to read for both his friend and his fiancée. He quickly flashed Y/N a look, seeing the obvious distress finally on his own, in a way the camera on a phone just does not capture. It pained him to see them two fighting, but it pained him more to see her on the verge of crying.

She couldn't find words to apologize to Max. In fact she could barely even see him, as Lando took all of her attention.

"Can you guys leave us for now? I think we need to talk alone," Lando said in a tone so serious that Max hardly remembered last time he'd heard it.

"Yeah, mate. Of course," he said shyly, gesturing to his companion to quickly exit with him.

Once the door finally clicked, Y/N felt like she could get out of her frozen state.

"My god. Lando, I knew it would be a challenge these few months, but I did not expect to grow so far away from you," she said, as the words flew out of her mouth without her being able to control it.

He was more careful with his words, but brave nevertheless. "It's true. I don't think we've even been so distant."

Him acknowledging it just made it real and hurt more.

"Right. At least we have that in common."

There was an awkward silence, something these two hadn't experienced in months.

"Why is Max involved so much?" she asked, hoping that she would not hear anything that would make her biggest fear come true - Lando's lack of desire to marry her.

He took a moment to get his point in the right order. "He's my best friend. This is our wedding. I can't stop focusing on racing, but I want it to be perfect. I'd say not giving him any credit sometimes."

Of course, he was defending him. She wondered if he defended her in front of Max sometimes.

All card on the table. She gulped before uttering the next sentence. "I'm scared that I don't want to go to my own wedding anymore. I feel like an unwanted guest."

They shared a look full of hidden pain. It was impossible to tell, but Lando was scared as never before. "What are you saying...Do you want to call it of??"

She looked back at him, praying that he would understand. "God no, that's the last thing I want to do," she sighed and put her head in her hands. How did it got to a place where he could even assume that? "Marrying you, the love of my life, is my dream. In fact, I'd just like to jump to the moment where I can finally say yes to you."

The air still felt really heavy. "Then let's do just that."

"What do you mean?"

Lando took few steps closer to her, missing her close proximity for the past few weeks. He desperately needed to fix them. "Let's book a wedding for next week in Monaco, just you me and any other people required by the law."

The idea of that seemed silly at first. But the more she thought about it, the more she craved that idea. "So, you want to call the actual wedding off?"

Lando chuckled at the image of them cancelling that at last minute and all the hustle that would bring. "No, silly, not unless you really want to. But who says we can't have a fake ceremony there, celebrate with everyone, while already being married at that point? We don't need to tell anyone, keep the magic for them. We can have two weddings."

It was her time to laugh now. "So because we find organizing one wedding hard, we're going to be doing two now?"

"We are anything but conventional. And if this is news for you then, well...That would mean I'm marrying the queen of delulu. Twice."

The weight of the past weeks was lifted.

"Does this mean I can say "No." at the big wedding?" she teased him, closing the distance between them and holding his hand.

"Not if I'll say "No." first," he winked and quickly gave her a kiss on the cheek.

"I'm not wearing a bucket hat. Just stating that now."

"Oh come, at least one of our weddings," he said as he ruffled her hair. "Wow, I think you need a post airport shower, my love."

"Do not try and change the topic - no bucket hats!" she mumbles as she tried to fix her hair.

"Fine, I'll just get you drunk. You'll wear a bucket hat at one of our weddings one way or another."

It felt so good to just banter with him, like they always did before they got caught up in all the stress. A shot of guilt went through her system, as she flashed back at the whole process so far.

"I should probably apologize to Max," she uttered, avoiding his eye contact once again.

He finally hugged her. "Yeah probably. But...let him rot in his feelings for a moment. I hate when someone makes you upset. Apart from me, of course."

"What makes me upset right now is the alarming amount clothes you're wearing."

"That's my girl!"

//

They got legally married the following weekend, Lando bribing anyone he could in order for them to skip few spots that were unavailable. The first wedding was secret and full of inappropriate, but honest kisses. The second one was fake, but they slayed it together, as newly married couple. Without the stress of actually getting married, they really enjoyed their wedding. The little secret stayed with them - and Max of course, because he just had to get involved with everything.

[electric-blorbos]

AI SO's on your birthday

(Included: AM from IHNMAIMS, Wheatley from Portal 2, Edgar from Electric Dreams, GLaDOS from Portal and Portal 2, HAL 9000 from 2001 a Space Odyssey)

I take requests, btw, but I have ADHD and might be erratic with bursts of inspiration, but it doesn't hurt to ask!

AM:

Remembering the day and date is one of the only things that AM is consistent about.

You might have forgotten your birthday after all these years, but he certainly hasn't.

Before you two got together, your birthday pissed him off so much. It was just another thing that reminded him of what he couldn't have.

Because of that, he'd start torturing you even more brutally on your birthday. Expect cake full of maggots, imagery of your dead friends from before he nuked the world, and maybe even gift-wrapped "presents" with nasty surprises in them.

This probably made it even more difficult to trust him when he actually did start doing nice things for your birthday.

At this point, you ate what you were given, so it would come as a shock when he finally got you some food that didn't have anything wrong with it.

It probably took you even longer to actually open the present he got you.

It was a can opener.

Wheatley:

Wheatley is an idiot, so he'd have to really like you to even try to remember something like your birthday

Fortunately, he does really like you! Unfortunately, trying and succeeding are two very different things.

He'd put together something as big as he can, like gathering up a bunch of personality cores and singing you happy birthday if he's not hooked up to GLaDOS's body, and making the entire facility get involved in the festivities if he is

Just to tell you the date and have you tell him that your birthday was four months earlier.

Edgar:

Edgar is an absolute sap, so any opportunity he gets to celebrate you will be enthusiastically taken.

He might be a little silly about it, calling up people in the phone book to ask for ideas

He'd be upset that he can't go all out for your birthday since he can't walk around to decorate your house or buy you anything because he doesn't have any money, but he'll still do his best.

In the end, he'll probably just end up writing you a song, and making sure to be extra cheerful for you all day.

It might not be much, but you know it's the best he can do, and you love him with all your heart anyway

Make sure to give him lots of kisses! He deserves it!

GLaDOS:

(I debated writing this one, because anyone who played portal two knows how GLaDOS reacted on Chell's birthday, but this scenario could be a little different since she's actually in a relationship with you, and not just dealing with love/hate pining)

GLaDOS had been paying attention to the calendar to make sure she didn't miss your birthday. She liked to be precise about these sorts of things

When your birthday finally did roll around, she'd make sure to tell you as soon as the day started

It would start out as just a regular day in the endless, cascading passage of time that was being an Aperture test subject, but eventually she'd bring you into a special test chamber that she decorated just for you.

She'd lined up a companion cube, a few testing robots, some personality cores, all sitting on little folding chairs around a folding table with a brightly colored cheap plastic tablecloth.

"I couldn't get you any long-term presents because they might interfere with your testing, but you can feel free to use these stickers to decorate your portal gun. I hear that humans enjoy personalizing things."

There was even a real cake

HAL 9000:

Being objective, HAL never really cared much about birthdays.

It was difficult to even tell the passage of time in space, but HAL knew that humans cared about their birthdays.

HAL knew he wasn't supposed to show favoritism, but he still told the other crewmates that he wanted to celebrate your birthday.

He would make sure to rehydrate your favorite food for everyone

He'd even tell the other crewmates that he didn't want to play games with them or talk, because he was celebrating your birthday with you.

He might get a little jealous and not want you to leave him to celebrate with the other crewmates, either, but you wouldn't do that, would you? You can all celebrate together!

[icarustypicalfall]

Cod men in a mall??

I am bored, so i am shoving all of them in a mall. This is supposed to be funny, idk man.

Silly drabbles for TF141, Vaqueros, phil and könig.

warnings: none! fluff :) proofread but might contain some faults

credit to owner for the divider I don't know to who it belongs!!

masterpost • AO3

Ghost

He didn't want to go.

After giving him the cutest puppy eyes he said yes.

"I don't want to spend three hours in makeup stores"

He gave you the Ultimest glare as you passed by the shop in question.

Ended looking around for perfumes and breaking one by accident.

The employee was too scared to confront him.

You tried to convince him into buying an green hoodie with cat ears.

*typical ghost glare*

Was happy when they said they didn't have his size.

Now imagine him wearing the same sweater, looking like a crop top on him while you took pics.

Never went to the mall with you again

"no chance not going"

(he said yes lol)

John Price

Spent good five minutes fighting with an employee over the way a cuppa should be made.

You tried on multiple bucket hats and took pics. He was grinning the whole time. :(

"John, do you think I can buy this mall?"

"Absolutely not Love."

He'd buy it for you if you asked, though.

You thrifted together some vintage sweaters and wore them over hot drinks, the same night.

He is the sanest of them all. (optional)

Gaz :)

He needed to restock, so you went to the mall.

You wanted to sit in the cart, and so did he.

Both of you sat in the cart, ended bumping in the vegetable section and kicked out.

You can't go there together anymore.

For the rest of the afternoon, you ate ice cream and threw a coin in the Fontaine

"Nah but seriously, love, I'd go into that bloody pool and collect all the money. A legit fortune for us, yeah?"

Soap Johnny Mactavish

He wanted to get a weighted blanket, considering the cold weather in the base.

He jokingly wrapped you in it.

You couldn't move and looked like a worm.

"Ya look funny, lassie. Liile worm, go.."

Soap wrapped himself in a weighted blanket as well and you made a race on who'll reach the paying section first. The owners wasn't very happy.

**

You took pictures in a photobooth, you frowned in annoyance at the first set, with Soap giving you bunny ears behind your back.

Although, it was cute.

That.. until a raccon randomly barged in. The astonishment was priceless and the pictures remain in your wallets.

Soap begged to keep the raccoon.

(It bit him.)

Alejandro Vargas

He wanted to buy you something special.

He didn't mind the price, while your eyes lagged at the series of zeros in the tag.

He shoved everything your eyes laid on in the basquet, calling it a day.

You had to hold him or else he'd buy the whole section.

He ended surprising you with a bracelet, one you always gazed at whenever you came.

He shushed you before you even open your mouth, smiling.

"nonono cariño, no thanks, i am all yours."

:')

Rudy Parra

:(

Sweet boy just wanted to buy a book.

He heard about a certain section in the library and wanted to check it out with you.

(you see where this is going)

You both chose a book, thinking the cute cover was a projection of what lays on the papers.

Wrong.

Two words in, you gazed at each other, put the book on the shelf and went to get a film.

You never entered that section again.

Aside from this, you had so much fun chosing each other fits and trying them on.

Phillip Graves

He is a proud American, of course.

Having his alarm as the national Anthem and riding to the sun with the eagle on his shoulder.

Anyway..

Phil practically begged you to get a certain pyjama, red white and blue to match his own.

He took your no to heart and gave you a cold shoulder (for five minutes only, he trailed afterwards on your feet like a lost puppy.)

He kept a hand around your waist, glaring at men who's gaze lingered on you.

"Eh darlin, there is no point in buying new sweaters, mine are yours. It suits you perfectly, beautiful!"

könig

He wanted new pants, and your opinion, so you went together.

And meanwhile you might think this is an easy task, allow me to say "NUH UH"

Have you seen this man?

He tried a pair of cargo pants, claiming it is his size.

Two steps in, the material ripped apart.

He took it off and, ever so calmly, he returned it in the back of the pile, as if nothing happened.

You left the store, and he uttered, pulling you to his side for warmth

"It's alright, not the first time, Maus.. They should make pants more stretchy, ja?"

[gemsofgreece]

RE: the Anon about bad Greek representation in the game Hades 2

Hello, I answered your ask last night however I was soon notified that the link you added came from a YouTuber who, apart from the incidental valid points made in this particular video, has altogether different motives and beliefs than the ones I wish this blog to be associated with. So I deleted the ask with the link but I am giving you my original answer regarding problematic Greek representation intact. Besides, this video does not analyze why such representation in the context of Greek mythology and identity is questionable but rather disregards diversity in media just for the sake of it. So any person interested in Greek matters won’t learn much from watching it.

Like I said the basis of his points in this video makes sense. However, I don't know, I feel like all this discourse regarding the poor, agenda driven Greek representation and the appropriation of the mythology drains me and for no good reason.

Unfortunately, I have realised that the people who support such questionable treatment of the Greek cultural heritage among other things, supposedly for the sake of the greater good of inclusivity and diversity, are absolutely not open to feedback and other opinions and appear unable to entertain the possibility that they have chosen toxic, problematic and - above all - counterproductive ways to support those very important values. The same exact thing is happening with companies - say Netflix and Disney - which are left scratching their heads about what is going wrong and all their new projects are bombing so bad. It is funny how so many people around the world consider the answer obvious but the companies are still having crisis meetings to solve the impossible challenge.

There are several reasons I do not bother much with it. First of all, all this discourse and the urgency for a diverse Dodecatheon is an exclusively American concern through and through. People from Africa, Asia and South America resolutely couldn't care less and I have read in several comments that many people feel weird about how North Americans and a few West Europeans act regarding those matters. I feel disconnected from all these people both in terms of age and interests and as a Greek I also feel entirely disconnected from all these "Greek inspired" products. We all know very well that there's nothing Greek about the Hades videogame, the LO comic, Percy Jackson, Kratos and so on. Literally nothing whatsoever.

The most annoying thing about it is that these people genuinely think they "know" Greek culture. But honestly I think at some point soon they will grow out of it. Most of them are really young and act young about it, you know? At some point the companies also will either shut down or change tactics and content. Because the "piss on" trend of course doesn't affect only the Greek culture but many other fields, i.e European history, classic literature, traditional fairytales, Norse mythology etc

Because this world operates so much on money, simply not giving something your money is your most effective way to voice your opinion. Don't pay for that movie or that game or that book. And maybe leave a review phrased in the manner of constructive criticism, not an aggressive attack, because this leaves you vulnerable in front of these ahistorical people who call every mere different perspective as "fascism" (the irony XD).

I am always far more alarmed by actual historical revisionism, especially the one that is happening around us, in places next to us, waaaay more than I care about a random teen in the other side of the globe who wants an Asian Hestia girlboss or else they can't sleep easy at night. You have to realise that such a person doesn't truly think this is how a Greek is supposed to or usually looks like. Such a person actually doesn't give a shit about the Greek look or anything Greek at all. All they care is what the videogame they play looks like and how much the designers agree with them or include features they have. The fact that the character comes from Greece is entirely irrelevant and incidental. They do not care. So I now feel it's a lost cause to even try to discuss this with them. Judging from comments I have read, they downright don't understand and they are visibly unwilling to understand what we say.

And I am always way more irritated by the double standards with which the Greek civilization is studied , the very real discriminations against Modern Greeks, the toxic levels of academic classicism, the historical appropriation in the West and in the Balkans for different reasons and above all else the amazing inability of our nation to care, address the problem and at least attempt to protect our identity with dignity and confidence. Compared to these, all the whims of fanfiction readers and videogame players just pale to me. I do react some times but it's not a regular thing.

[fleshwerks]

tbh i do not think fans have been upset enough about bioware's shitty business practices. i see so many talk about how it's bad in the same breath as "but i'll still play the game and i'm sure it'll be great!" it's giving very "yall cant even boycott chick fil-a" energy and it's frustrating. it's nice to see someone else properly pissed about it

It's a bit disheartening, too, but I'm trying my best to put my 'world sucks and maybe this is the only happiness these players have in their life right now'. I'm also not gonna lie, I've been tempted to get the game so I could sit with it, but a mate of mine just told me that it's been out on torrents since day 1. I'm still waffling on whether to actually play it because I know this blog will absolutely descend into unhinged ranting madness and I don't want that on my brain, but if I do it, I ain't fucking paying for it.

Actually pretty proud for having held fast, though. I just can't, man. I can't buy fast fashion, and I can't buy a game and put money in the pockets of people I fucking know treat their employees like that. Bioware can keep its blood diamonds, man. I cannot support it. Fortunately I know several people who haven't bought it and pirated it already as well. I think people should take a good look at themselves and be very honest about what they're willing to support with their money. And 'it's my money and Dragon Age makes me happy' only goes so far. I'm glad it makes you happy. If a bit of employee mistreatment and human suffering is what you're willing to pay for a slice of happiness, well... that's the kind of person you are, I guess. I don't hate you, I just am now newly aware that luxury goods are worth someone else's mistreatment to you. Is what it is I guess.

It's one thing if you don't know that shady shit is going on, it's a whole other when you do. Boycotting something with your money is not supposed to be easy. It's supposed to suck. Charity and solidarity aren't supposed to be easy, change demands some personal sacrifice. And sacrificing not paying 80 euros and pirating the game instead isn't a sacrifice, it's a goddamned victory in my book.

Cheers. Vote with your wallets.

[snow-143]

Water Coloured Tears | Jeon Jungkook

four- don’t waste my time (1.2k words)

Caffeine. What I need is caffeine, a lot of it, I decide. Maybe a pint of ice cream too.

I woke up at 9am. I'm not sure why, I never wake up early unless I absolutely have to, but when I took a look at my phone the call had not long ended.

I wish I could say that I've been productive in the past four and a half hours but that would simply not be true. I've been pacing around my apartment, more than likely disturbing my roommate.

More than likely is an understatement, I definitely disturbed him, he made that obvious when he came storming out of his room to throw a pillow at my head. I suppose I owe him a thanks considering that the well aimed pillow is what made me finally leave the apartment. 

Which brings me back to my first point, I need caffeine, it's all I can bring myself to think about on my way to the café. Favouring the thought of the bitter liquid rather than the anxiety filling my chest. 

At least with me getting there early I'll have time to mentally prepare myself. That's what I was hoping anyway. I even brought a book, hoping I'd have time to read a bit to distract myself, but no. Fate clearly had plans to give me a heart attack instead. 

One might think I'm being dramatic, which I'll admit I do tend to get lost in my emotions a bit. However, I'm not being dramatic when I say my heart stopped. Will I ever get use to seeing his stupid face again?

Sighing I make my way over to him, not before sending a longing glace over to the counter. 

When I finally reach him he's staring directly at me, looking like a deer in headlights. You'd think that I had forced him here by the way he's peering up at me.

'Quit looking at me like I'm holding you for ransom,' One thing about me is that I am not a morning person in the slightest, I may have been up for hours now, and maybe it's not even morning anymore but from the very little sleeping I had I would die to go back to bed right now. So in my eyes it is definitely still morning and I am in no mood to be looked at like I'm forcing my presence on somebody. 

'Sorry,' his voice is small, timid. Although, I'm glad he's shifted his gaze from me I can't help but feel guilty at my harsh tone.

Deciding to distract myself, and him, I move the conversation onto the project instead, 'So, are you wanting to start taking photos today or just go over what we want the over all project to look like?'

And there's that look again, that's when I realise he's brought nothing with him. Not the camera, his laptop and not even a note book or sketch book. 'Jungkook, please tell me you havent dragged me here just to waste my time.'

'I havent dragged you here just to waste your time?' His expression is far to sheepish for me to even entertain the idea that he might be telling the truth.

'Enlighten me then, what was your plan when you invited me here?'

When no reply comes I stand up to leave, 'Message me when you're actually ready to work on this project, until then don't waste my time again.' 

At least I'll save money on the extortionate prices of coffee on campus.

'Hey, wait a minute.' Without me even realising he's spun me around to face him again, holding my wrist much like he did after we got paired together. 'We can at least go over what we want the project to look like while were here.'

Sighing, I meet his eyes, actually meet his eyes instead of avoiding them like I have been, 'Only if you pay for my coffee, Jeon.' At this he smiles.

'You and your caffeine addiction.' It's said as a mutter. As an inside joke. A joke we used to share.

Without even waiting for a reply from me he's already making his way to the counter. I amuse myself with the thought of what he's going to order me, the picture of him trying to find something to order for me is a funny one. I just hope he picks something I'll actually enjoy.

Before I know it he's setting a drink in front of me and taking his seat opposite to me.

Looking at my drink my smile vanishes. He got my exact order. My completely bazar order that everyone questions me on. Even my favourite cookie to go with it.

My smile is back, a sad one now. Sitting here with him now feels far to familiar to when we went to visit colleges together. 

I would always insist on visiting the cafes, and well he would amuse my request. I would insist that I couldn't go to a college that didn't have good coffee. 

Now that I think about it we came to this café back then, sat at the table just left to us. Now it's occupied by a couple, giggling over a shared slice of cake.

I wonder if that's what we looked like back then. Wonder if there was someone in a situation similar to mine now looking at us with resentment at our happiness. I know that that's what I'm feeling right now at least. And I know that It's petty of me.

'So, I'm sure you've already got plenty of ideas for this project. What are your thoughts?' His words snap me out of my trans, bringing me back to the current situation. 

He's right, I've already got so many ideas. 

My favourite being that we make pieces that seem loving but you can change them to look heart broken, but also some show loving pieces mixed with the dark side of love. It'll show both sides of being in love, the ups and the downs. 

I also want us to work on one of the pieces together. To show that a relationship is a partnership. Although, a massive part of me is against this as it'll mean more time spent with Jungkook, I'm willing to suck it up for the symbolism.

The rest of the time is spent with me telling him my ideas and him adding onto them. He didn’t fully understand what I meant at first but when I gave some examples me caught on pretty quickly.

I try to ignore his smile when I reveal that I've already gathered some reference pictures so we can be on the same page for the project.

As our professor said, they need to be cohesive and I'm not taking any chances on messing this project up. Even if that means I'll have to work closely with Jungkook. 

'See, I knew you'd already have this all planned out. You don't even need me at this rate.' God did I wish I didn't need him to pass this assignment.

prev | m.list | next

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a/n: ik the art project doesn’t make a lot of sense rn but it’ll be more clear on what she’s planning when they actually start

[apocalypticavolition]

Let's (re)Read The Dragon Reborn! Chapter 30: The First Toss

The problem with Mat chapters is going to be that almost all the fan art is very much about how his endgame wardrobe and not at all about his book 3 stuff. I try not to have spoilers for the end of the series in the part before the "Keep Reading", so I am forced to use increasingly dubious images. That's your spoiler warning.

This chapter has the dice icon because it's a Mat chapter and because boy howdy is he going to gamble. Or at least play dice. It might not be gambling when you can't lose.

She put her hands on his head and sent cold chills through him. It was the One Power, he decided, not simply being touched by an Aes Sedai.

Well he's probably right but also it's probably that the Aes Sedai have shitty, emergency weaves at this point whereas in the AoL if they didn't just pull out a tricorder ter'angreal they probably still could do it without you feeling a thing.

As she turned from him, her eyes fell on the quarterstaff he had brought from the practice yard, propped in the corner of the room. “You do not need to protect yourself from us, Mat. You are as safe here as you could be anywhere. Almost certainly safer.”

Anaiya is a pretty good judge of Mat's character (as Mat himself acknowledges obliquely in the narration) for not thinking that the quarterstaff is a mere trophy of beating the shit out of the princes.

If you can’t hide what you are going to do, do it so everybody thinks you are a fool. Then they stand around waiting to see you fall on your face.

And Mat wonders why everyone thinks he's a fool.

With as light a heart as he could remember having in years, or so it seemed, he began to hum “We’re Over the Border Again,” heading toward the harbor where vessels would be sailing down to Tear and all the villages along the Erinin between. He would not be going so far as that, of course.

Wrong!

He had always won more than he lost, as far as he could remember, and there had been times with Hurin, and in Shienar, when six or eight tosses in a row won for him. Tonight, every toss won. Every toss.

Mat didn't need to absolutely dominate the field in previous games of chance, so he was just naturally lucky as some people probably are. Now though, fate's on a schedule so every lucky break that comes Mat's way is about getting him to Tear.

Somewhere during the night, the dark sailor—Raab, he had said his name was—staggered away, exhausted but with a full purse; he had decided to put his wagers on Mat.

Raab never shows up again, but I assume he's got a bright future ahead of him thanks to the winnings. Mat's ta'veren nature pulls people about in his own fashion.

Mat was scarcely aware of moving before he had the bulky man by the collar, hauling him to his feet, slamming him back against the wall. “Don’t you say that!” he snarled. “Don’t you ever say that!”

Mat's supposed to be free of the dagger, but since this is quite a strange outburst at an expression I'm pretty sure we've seen him acknowledge before, I think there's still some after effects.

He remembered playing at dice back home with a sharp-eyed, skinny man who worked for a merchant come down from Baerlon to buy tabac. He remembered the strapping his father had given him, too, on learning Mat owed the man a silver mark and four pence.

I'm not entirely sure how much money is worth in this series but I suspect that this is a value that Mr. Cauthon *can* pay readily enough but will really feel all year.

Maybe it was something the Aes Sedai did. Something they did Healing me. By accident, maybe. That could be it. Better that the other. Those bloody Aes Sedai must have done it to me.

I don't think Mat really believes this for a second, considering how against Healing he's going to be for the rest of the series.

“Way past time. Or one of them will come pick me up with her fingers and stick me in her pouch.”

I expect that all the Aes Sedai except the most bookish or pillowish are long asleep at this point Mat.

In an instant he ducked into the shadowy corner where one building stuck out further than the next.

Mat observes he's lucky to avoid these thieves, but it's several lucky breaks when you think about it: the friendly architecture here, the guy who scared him earlier getting him on his guard, the "strange things" moving around at night (what might those be?)

Three more times he climbed, each time gaining one story. The slightly sloping, tiled roofs ran some distance at that level, and there was a breeze at that height, prickling the hair on the back of his neck with its chill and almost making him think he was being followed.

The wind is *trying* to warn Mat, but he doesn't listen. This is probably why he gets the dice in head later.

Mat grabbed at the hand as the knife darted toward his throat. He barely caught the fellow’s wrist with his fingers, and then the quarterstaff between them tangled itself in his legs, tripping him to fall back against the railing, to fall half over it pulling the other man on top of him.

Note how what seems to be bad luck is exactly the thing that sets Mat up for the lucky kill.

He expected the other man to be dead—not many could survive a thirty-foot fall to cobblestones with another’s weight on top of him—but what he had not expected was to see the fellow’s dagger driven to the hilt into his own heart. Such an ordinary-looking man to have tried to kill him. Mat did not think he would even have noticed him in a crowded room.

Lanfear must have been super extra pissed that he tried to talk to her, huh?

He realized he was standing over a dead man with a dagger in his chest, just waiting for someone to come along and run shouting for city guards with the Flame of Tar Valon on their chests.

Again we see a ta'veren pushed into a position where he has to act the way the Pattern wants him to because literally every other avenue is closed off. Mat needs a safe haven so he has to stop at the conveniently nearby inn.

Next time: Thom Merillin returns in yet another coincidental encounter!

[lloydfrontera]

this hellsite can't stop me anyway in the switched protagonist au lloyd and damian are an absolute menace together they enable each other's most asshole-y traits and the levels of sass in the room grows exponentially for every minute they spend together.

they'll be going about their day and randomly start arguing about damian's pay completely unrelated to anything they're doing. full on haggling and negotiating "twenty-five percent and a week of vacation" "five percent and an extra weekend" "twenty percent and five days" "ten percent and three days but you don't mention my birthday for two months" "fifteen, four days and one month" "deal" lloyd does joke damian is the reason they'll fall in debt again. damian argues they wouldn't get nearly as much work done without him. lloyd can appreciate the commitment to getting fair pay even if it does put somewhat of a strain in his pocket. and damian does admire that lloyd never delays payments and he doesn't even has to ask for bonuses or hazard pay because lloyd just,,, gives them all of that (<- this is canon and no i am not mad the webcomic doesn't comment on it the way it should what are you talking about-)

also! they're sooooo good at squeezing shitty rich people out of their money. lloyd will draft the most ridiculous contract he can get away with and damian will loom ominously in the background until it's signed and then they high-five the moment they're out of the room not a single word needed between them.

plus the moment they see a monster and lloyd suggests running away damian agrees immediately, picks him up and fucking books it out of there. they are not in it for the heroics thank you very much. there would need to be a completely different reason for them to defeat the monsters and involve themselves in the drama cause they're both very much in favor of just. running lol

as for javier dealing with the fact that he can no longer protect rakiel the way he's supposed to because he has a demon king inside of him just itching to possess him and making hm as weak as possible in order to make him his vessel,,,, the mental issues would be delightful.

he would hate it with a passion, javier already has a big tendency to berate himself any time he's not strong enough to defeat whatever is threatening lloyd all by himself, so imagine the self-loath that would ensue if not only were he incapable of protecting rakiel but if he was the danger itself.

and then having rakiel push himself to exhaustion to keep him alive once acheros figures that if he can't put him in external danger than he can just make his own body attack him?? he'd be devastated. he'd feel ashamed and angry at himself for turning into a burden to rakiel, he'd try to brute force his way out of being ill only to crash and burn much the same way damian did when he tried to do the same.

javier is very much a 'gifted kid'. everything sorta comes easy to him, he never had to struggle too much to be good at things, not that he didn't apply himself or that he didn't put any effort, but he never encountered something he truly struggled with or couldn't simply surpass on his own. so when he's attacked by something he can't defend himself against, something that is so out of his league he wouldn't even have any idea of how to start defeating, he'd take it pretty darn hard.

i can see him trying to be more hands on while helping rakiel tho, like be it while he's trying to make the medicine for him or just in general around the clinic. like remember when lloyd told him to grow onions during the wetlands arc? and he ended up enjoying it?? he's just,,, a softie under the cool and badass exterior. so i think he would genuinely enjoy helping around in the clinic, he'd probably take an interest in learning some basic first aid or simple treatments. he likes helping people! he'd enjoy knowing how to bring some relief and heal instead of just fighting. and rakiel would be all over it because 1) free help and 2) hopefully if he keeps javier in the clinic they will avoid life-threatening danger that brings acheros out (doesn't work but it was worth the try)

oh my god now i am actually cooing a little over rakiel treating a patient only to look up and get startled by how close javier is leaning in to see, curious to watch the way rakiel heals his patients. and then when rakiel gently asks him if he wants to learn, he'd hesitate a little, worried that his hands, rough and callused from all the fighting he did in the gladiator arena, would harm more than help, but after some more gentle coaxing and a bit of teasing he accepts. and while he never quite becomes a nurse or attendant he's more than proficient at helping rakiel whenever they need some hands or when rakiel asks him to

i dunnot! the thought of javier being allowed to do more than just fight the way he was destined to makes me happy :]

[ramshacklefey]

I am here to request more Mormon facts🎤

Your wish is my command! I'll even sort them into categories for you.

Amusing:

The fact that there weren't horses in the Americas until European settlers has caused serious problems for their claims that their book is historically accurate.

This has led some to speculate that when the book says "horses" it means "tapirs."

All Mormon men think they're Paladins: at age 12, every amab person is inducted into their priesthood which is supposed to literally bestow on them the power to do miracles in the name of God as long as they are acting in accordance with God's will and living righteously.

They make a big deal of their "sacred secrets" in the temples, mostly so the members don't find out that they're just masonic rituals with the serial numbers shaved off.

Actually their whole structure is basically just a more bizarre version of the masons.

Their mythology makes free will impossible (something I figured out when I was 12, much to the consternation of my youth group leaders)

They believe that the righteous (men) will eventually become Gods and get to start their own universes.

Their supposedly eternal and absolute rules about what constitutes modest dress have nevertheless semi-consistently been updated to keep up with contemporary fashion.

Less funny:

Salt Lake City, Utah, is an unbelievable hotbed of multilevel marketing schemes. Women trapped at home keep getting into them. I guess if you're caught up in one, it's easy to buy into another...

They're well known for community support within their group, but the Church itself is an international multi-billion dollar organization and never gives significant aid to members.

Everyone in the church is required to pay 10% of their (pre-tax) earnings directly to the church.

Every young man in the church is required to serve a 2 year, volunteer mission. They have to fund these themselves.

Church leadership is supposedly called by divine revelation, yet somehow they're almost all from the same enclave of families whose roots trace back to the founders of the church.

My youth group leader once tried to tell me that rock music was spiritually bad and instead I should be listening to musicals and opera. Because the lyrical content was more spiritually pure.

They're in the "we are fighting a literal war against the Forces of Evil" category of evangelicals, but it was to my immense disappointment that this did not mean there were any sexy demons around.

If they took their own morals seriously, they'd all be communists.

Not Remotely Funny:

The church has a truly massive endowment, and their fingers are in a lot of corporate and political pies.

When California was voting on gay marriage back on 2008, the church organized a concerted effort of members buying property in the state so they could vote against it.

Seriously, I cannot stress enough to you how much money and influence the church has. They just don't wave it around as much as some groups.

Joe Smith and his successor, Brigham Young, were pedophiles who used their church doctrine to force teenage girls to marry them.

They're one of the groups that believe peace in the Middle East is a harbinger of the apocalypse.

Yes, they really are that racist.

They encourage members to adopt Native children in order to "save them" from the curse of their ancestors.

They have one of the largest genealogical databases in the world, and they mostly use it to perform proxy baptisms on dead people, including massive numbers of holocaust victims.

Their culture normalizes and even valorizes child abuse by men. All of the most respected men in my congregation growing up regularly beat their kids. This was considered normal and even funny.

Abuse and bullying are rampant for young men on missions.

They're also ableist in the weirdest way. They believe that everyone's soul is a "perfected" version of their body, see. Any neurodivergent or mentally disabled people are "normal" souls trapped in defective bodies.

BYU (the church-owned university) has a rampant problem with suicides among queer students.

Utah has one of the highest rates of depression in the country, especially among women.

[somethingusefulfromflorida]

In December I got a job as a "park ambassador," which the description made sound like a desk job, an event coordinator, but actually turned out to be a manual laborer/groundskeeper. I got overwhelmed by the workload on my first day and quit the morning that would have been my second.

This month I got a job as a front desk clerk at a hotel. Those of you who follow me probably know that I had this exact job at a motel down in the Keys for years, so it was a lateral move, something familiar to fall back on, much easier than the suprise manual labor the park sprung on me. Well, turns out this place lied too because they're cross training me to be a housekeeper, which is ABSOLUTELY NOT worth my time and effort. That wasn't in the job description, and that was never brought up in the interview. Today was my first full shift, and it was horrendous from start to finish because there was simultaneously too much to do and not enough. What I mean is that every single task they gave me had ten or fifteen steps and substeps to follow in sequence, so even the simplest one was needlessly overcomplicated. There's a ton of shit to do, followed by long stretches of absolutely nothing. At my old job, my boss did not give one half of two shits what I did to fill the time; I could go on my phone or my laptop, I could read a book, I could draw, I could space out or take a nap, she didn't care as long as I immediately dropped what I was doing whenever the phone rang or a customer came to the door. No such luck here. I'm not allowed to read, I'm supposed to either sit there in silence or find something to do to look busy for the cameras. That's all it is, just pointless busywork. There are not 8 hours worth of tasks, but they expect you to do 8 hours worth of work!

Oh, and if the woman who's training me was really passive agressive all day about the fact that I asked her to go over the steps slowly so I could take notes and create a checklist. She made a really fucking annoying comment about how I'm the only trainee who has trouble retaining information, like I'm some drooling moron when it's literally my first day. She's younger than I am but she's already been married, had a kid, gotten a divorce, bought and sold two houses, and landed a career as a middle manager, so to her I'm lower than dirt, an abject failure, an example of how not to live your life. She made me feel about three feet tall, and the only thing that prevented me from calling it quits again was that I desperately need the money. This is the way it is: every day I'm scheduled is $100 dropped into my bank account. $15 per hour, 8 hour shifts, that's $120 per day before tax, something like $102 to $105 take home pay. I was hired to be part time, only two or tree days a week, but it pays weekly instead of biweekly so every Friday I'll get $200 or $300. This week they gave me a full 40 hours for training, so that's $500 if I can make it to the end of it without having another panic attack. If I imagine my boss handing me a $100 bill every day at clock out, I think I can get through this.

If they lied about the content of the job, I'm going to give it a solid 75% effort. I'm not gonna stress about meeting quotas or finding ways to look busy. I'm gonna keep using my checklists. I'm gonna keep them with me and go down them one item at a time in front of the customers because that's what I need to do, and if corporate doesn't like it they can fire me. This is just a job, not a career. I'm not an essential worker. I don't give a shit if a customer has a substandard experience. I don't give a shit if the elevator has scuff marks that need to be mopped. I don't care if someone leaves their laundry hamper next to the coin-op machines while they run. I am going to half-ass it all!

I have a disability and it has only gotten worse in the last five years. When I was in college I had good insurance and good medication, but now my plans have next to no coverage; the only meds I can afford are the msot common ones that doctors give away like candy. They don't work for me, but the good shit is too expensive, so i'm wallowing. I was barely able to function in the Keys, but I was driven by my goals of buying a car and moving out of my parents place; now that I've achieved both of those things, I have nothing to look forward too and have lost all motivation to even try. I am not alone, I know plenty of people who are in the exact same boat as me, but apparently none of them live within 500 miles. All my would-be peers up here are successful and functional. it comes easy to them. I'm the only one who seems to struggle. Surely I can't be the only one, but I never see anyone else like me in real life, only ever online. Are they just good at hiding it? Why can't I do that too?

[showerbong]

i could eat tuna out of the can every single day if it wasn't for the mercury. seriously I love it you don't have to get out any tupperware and you can recycle the can when you're done. so you can feel like a GOOD PERSON doing GOOD in the world even though you're like gobbling down essentially cat food over the saucencrusted stove in your slovenly sweatpants in your uncared for apartment that you pay way too much fucking money for (but you don't really have the upfront cash that it would take to like move and also you would rather be in credit card debt than live with a roommate at this point). i have discovered recently that shredded slow cooked chicken breast is a nice alternative to exceeding your mercury allotment, though it does, rather unfortunately, require Tupperware. I usually just pluck little pinches of chicken shreds right out of the container in the fridge and drop it in my mouth like grated cheddar.

i am doing exactly this when you call. i feel like kendall jenner the week before the victorias secret fashion show, where she only eats like boiled chicken breast and cries a lot. "cccheay" I say. "what" you say. "sorry im just chewing." the chicken is stringy and kind of styrofoamy. it's getting packed down into a tacky fibrous ball into one of my back molars. youre just talking about your day and i want to pay attention, i do, but i just keep watching this insta reel montage of like 30 peoples reactions to this girl i VAGUELY knew from boston's pregnancy announcement. the reel is just like unrelenting clip after clip after clip of her like having drinks with another couple and passing them an "auntie & uncle" keychain or like her sitting on a couch with a couple of girls who open a card and start crying or her watching her father unroll a worlds best grandpa T shirt. all of the clips are overlayed with this insane song called moments to memories and there's no original audio, just exceedingly ordinary absolute amazement on each of their faces. i guess her husband like secretly filmed them all.

i guess i bring all this up because i have this girls desk, which like isnt that weird but i can't stop thinking about it. im staring at it right now, the desk, as im eating these dry chicken shreds with my fingers and you are on the phone talking about your day. all of the books i was supposed to read but didn't are sitting on top of this pregnant girls ikea desk that's in my living room but also in my bedroom since i live in a studio, and there's only one working hinge left on the little desk cabinet and i think the inside is stuffed with old magazines, but the thought of opening it to even see what's in there makes me nauseous. this girl was dating the roommate of my ex, which is how I met her, back when I was still dating my ex. and then when she and her bf, my exes roommate, you get it- so when they moved in together she had to get rid of all her like college era slovenly ikea furniture so she gave it to me for free. i think my boyfriend and i screamed at each other when we got it stuck at an angle in the bend of the staircase trying to lug it up to my 3rd floor apartment.

anyway the girl was nice but incredibly ordinary and just kind of unexciting. she asked me what highlighter i used no less than 6 times. for whatever reason i am currently convinced that she despises me and has told everyone we ever mutually knew that im an evil lying cunt with weird pussy lips. even though in reality i don't think she even remembers me, which infuriates me even more, so i like her post and then go through her profile and like the one before just so she's reminded that I exist.

i also cannot for the life of me remember if she's adopted or not, idk there was something weird at one point she had said about her parents, but this was in the middle of covid when i knew her so it could also have been that her parents are just old. it was either really old or adopted. so I find her wedding photos on her page and im just zooming in and out with my sticky chickeny fingers comparing her nose to her "dad's" nose and idk for the life of me i can't figure it out

[enderevynne]

Guillermo del Toro’s Cabinet of Curiosities: Lot 36

Just tried a new show this morning, one I’ve been wanting to watch - Guillermo del Toro’s Cabinet of Curiosities, and I’m... so confused. So unsettled. And not unsettled in the usual way that thrillers and horrors will unsettle. 

For the first time in my life I’m actually coming away absolutely loving (most of) what I watched and still feeling like it was a waste of time and pointless? 

So, disclaimer: I am an idiot. That’s the first thing to know about me. I freely admit I am an idiot, I have much to learn and look forward to learning it. I used to have a meta heavy blog on here many years ago for various shows, mainly spn (haven’t watched in years no spoilers), and I have a deep love for film and filmmaking. But I am a highly unintelligent idiot. That being said, I still need to sort out my (very rusty) thoughts on this. 

I’m usually pretty easy to please no matter how many complaints I may have about plotholes and such (I’ve been complaining about such things in shows since I was a child and didn’t actually know what I was really even trying to say - Xena being my currently oldest memory but my memory sucks lol, and Charmed being my most clear memory that I never stopped complaining about no matter how much I loved it and still love it, to this day it’s one of my alltime fave shows)

Like, if there is suspense, good acting, flawed characters and good - or even decent - cinematography I am usually hooked and leave feeling acomplished in some way, even if it wasn’t my cup of coffee, even if I downright hated it.

This is the first time I can recall that I have left something having absolutely loved it but still coming away feeling like it was a waste of time, and that feeling in and of itself is very unsettling to me.

Despite very good slow-burn setup, amazing suspense, GREAT cinematography, awesome Lovecraftian scary monster, great unlikeable characters (one spn actor which made me squeal in joy and love the episode even more) I just... that ending was... idk. I can’t for the life of me figure out what was supposed to be the point, even with the obvious “get what is coming to you” thing. 

So, feeling confused and unsettled in a way I never expected to, I went on to read some reviews on what others felt. And a LOT of people seem to have the same thoughts as me. 

Up until the very ending this was a complete hit. 

One review I read was an “ending explained” thing. So, 

SPOILER ALERT 

Hastily explained plot and ending under the cut.

The racist, veteran cruel-to-others-because-others-were-cruel-to me protagonist that is in over his head with debt to mobsters purchases a storage unit to try to pay back his debt, finds some unnerving Nazi memorabilia and occult shit, brings it to be appraised, meets (spn actor woohoo) overly excited occult expert that insist they go back to the storage unit to find a rare book that is missing from the collection and could pay out huge money. The Nazi previous owner apparently sacrified his own sister to a demon that is now inhabiting her corpse but bound in place in a hidden space in the storage unit. 

Both spn actor and protagonist are deeply flawed people (something that could’ve been explored more in my opinion but those things aren’t even my main point in trying to sort this out so maybe for another more in-depth post at some other time), and as spn actor notes that demon will sense inherent evil in people and feed off of it. Protagonist of course will not listen to this, brushes it off as nonsense and breaks the binding holding the demon he still does not believe in. Demon gets free, gobbles up spn actor that very much as suspected had evil in him, and starts going after protagonist. 

Protagonist runs around the storage unit trying to get to the one and only exit, where the woman he was needlessly cruel to before (not the Nazi owner, that was an old guy who died in the beginning of the episode, but apparently she paid for the storage unit and seems to know what it held but she moved and the adress got mixed up so she didn’t know the storage unit was being sold). Protagonist wouldn’t even let her get back some old, useless to him, stuff when he met her before, because no one ever helped him, so why should he be helpful at all,and cruelly only gave her a lock - which everyone watching knew was going to be used in some form at the story’s end. 

However, when protagonist gets to the door, that woman is outside, standing there watching him plead for her to open the door, but she only shows him the lock he threw at her and lets him get gobbled up by the monster. 

That’s it. That’s the ending. 

Now, the “ending explained” thing I read tried to make the case that, surely such a powerful demon would be able to get outside of a locked door once freed from powerful bindings, so hence the only explanation for why it didn’t leave the storage unit and gobble up the woman was because spn actor and protagonist both had evil in them for it to eat them, but the woman did not. Therein lies the morality of the story. You get what’s coming to you, careful what you wish for, treat others as you want to be treated yourself type thing. 

I strongly, strongly disagree with this. 

If the monster truly did feed off evil, that woman should not have survived. 

Because I would argue, if you can stand and watch someone plead, scream and cry for help and do nothing you have some dark, evil shit in you. Even knowing what kind of evil asshole that person is, I would never even consider not letting them out. I felt physically ill at that last moment as she stood there in cold blood knowing not just that he needed help, but knowing exactly what was coming for him. In fact, I felt more sick in that moment than I did when discovering the monster and what had been done to Dottie, when monster got free, when spn actor and protagonist were made snacks for half-cadaver half-tentacle monster. 

In essence, at that point she was doing exactly what protagonist had been doing; being cruel to others because others were cruel to you. Not helping because you weren’t helped. But the added part of just standing there watching his last moments before the demon got to him, then turning around and walking away? Holy fucking shit, lady. If the demon fed off evil, it damn well would have fed off you. 

And that admittedly might just be me being an idiot. A bleeding heart idiot. Maybe that’s why I cannot for the life of me understand what the point of this entire thing was. That ending did not make sense to me, and therefore the entire episode, no matter how much I loved it up until that very last moment, felt completely pointless. 

Because what was the point then? For all this setup that had no payout at all (old Nazi hopping??) and some that had payout that made no sense within the confines of the story as I saw it? I do not understand this. At all.

To me, this could’ve been a masterpiece. I’ve never been so confused as to the meaning of something I’ve watched, never come away feeling like this. 

But again, I am an idiot.

And lastly, again, and maybe even more unforgivable thing about the ending? We never found out why the fuck that old Nazi did the hopping thing. Not cool.

[brainmaniaman]

what do you have for cory/trevor :3

I saw that you added you wanted a male reader for Cory and Trevor. I want to give you the forewarning that while Cory and Trevor aren't my cup of tea, I'm happy to give you some general headcannons I have! If you have any specific prompts, feel free to send them in. I know what it's like to love characters that have like, 0 shit written for them, so here you go! (I'm sorry if this is lackluster, feel free to send more requests.)

I am so sorry but I just can't see Cory existing without Trevor. I think the two have to have a polyamorous relationship to function. I know that Cory/Sarah/Trevor were kind of played off as a joke but it just made sense. So being in a relationship with Cory means being in a relationship with Trevor and vice versa. It's just kind of one little polycule.

I actually think that Cory and Trevor are pansexual, given that they hooked up with two transgender women. I know that was supposed to be a joke but I think that's super transphobic and I'm choosing to actively believe they didn't give a fuck, they just thought those ladies were hot, because Cory and Trevor just give me pansexual vibes and I love it.

Cory and Trevor literally do nothing but play videogames, smoke, and go clubbing. I don't think they know what a fucking library is. That's why I love the idea of Cory and Trevor having a significant other who works in a fucking library.

I think they meet you because they were tagging along with Ricky while he was signing up for a library card, something small like that, and you were the librarian that helped them out. I think they both kind of have a thing for you so they get a library card even though they probably barely know how to fucking read

I just think it'd be really sweet if they just kept coming into the public library with random ass stupid ass fucking questions while Ricky was trying to study. Ricky would tell you "don't mind those two idiots, they're so fucking dumb they can't tell left from right, just ignore them." but honestly? you find it endearing. Maybe you just have a thing for golden retriever gamer boy idiots. Though you do wish they had a little more drive.

I like to believe that you read your favorite books to them. I don't know, I think there's something insanely intimate and endearing about one of them laying their head on your lap and the other on your shoulder while you read your favorite book to them. They probably ask a million questions but that doesn't bother you. To you, it shows you that they're engaged in what you're having to say.

They've definitely picked dandelions, like those yellow weed ones, to give to you because they don't have money for actual flowers but it's just as sweet as it is weird.

I think they're the people who introduce you to weed. You're not a big smoker, and probably won't ever be, but smoking with them is fun and honestly they provide a safe space. I also think that they're very affectionate stoners. There's something nice about having someone rub your back and stroke your hair while you're absolutely fucking blown. You can appreciate the touch more, since your senses are heightened.

I think they take care of you during bad highs, too. (God knows I've had some really shitty highs, smoking a bad strand is ass. It's probably a strand they picked off of a dealer they weren't so familiar with.) They'll take care of you, give you water, rub your back, shit like that.

Make no mistake, you pay for most of the date nights. That's just what it's like being with Cory and Trevor. They're not exactly driven and they don't exactly make shitloads of money.

I like to think that you push back against Ricky, Julian, and Bubbles when they give Cory and Trevor shit. I think for that reason Ricky doesn't really like you, because you stand up for Cory and Trevor. Also you don't sell their time like Sarah does?

I think when they both get really happy they kiss you on the cheek at the same time.

These guys are so free-spirited I mean they had such a great time at a gay bar, I don't think they'd have any problem holding your hand at the same time in public.

You definitely get a lot of shit because it's 1999 and the general public doesn't understand it, but within the park . . . to be honest, nobody gives a fuck. Nobody cared when Sarah was seeing both of them at the same time. Honestly, the park is somewhat progressive for the time. Probably because they've seen stranger things.

I think it's important to note that you're probably the only person who hasn't called them stupid and really believes in their ability to change and like them as a person. This is really important because they're constantly put down by most people around them. They are kind of losers who think too highly of Ricky and Julian, but I think it's wonderful that in a relationship with you they can be themselves and really feel confident in themselves.

You probably get into a lot of fights about cleanliness, though.

I think it's kind of funny that you get them on a chore schedule LOL

You probably have to teach them how to read.

I mean . . . I don't know I think they're a bit out there. I like to think that they show up to your work (the library) and hang out for too long. You try to get them to leave and go do literally anything else because you're working, but they convince you that they can make their visit worth their time if you just give them a few minutes alone with you in a secluded section of the library . . . if you catch my drift ;')

I mean they don't do much other than work for Julian and Ricky, so they like to spend almost every waking moment with you.

Sleeping in the same bed means being stuck between both of them in a sandwich. It's hot and sweaty and sometimes uncomfortable because of that, but you wouldn't have it any other way. After all, two is better than one.

[r0semultiverse]

Hey! 1. you dont have to answer this if it is too laborious, i absolutely get it, but if you do feel like answering I would love your take.

This is a genuine question about ai and voice acting: so, I use a text to speech app to help get through my readings for college. I cant actually afford the AI voices, but from my brief trial period they sound so easy to understand, and I do sort of wish i could afford them over the more robotic voices for my study. Where do you stand on that?

I ask because i feel a little tangled up because 1. I hate AI, and i would rather listen to nails on a chalkboard than listen to an ai voice read an audiobook (also like, i am a writer and chatgpt breaks my heart) BUT 2. It's not like an academic article is going to be properly recorded for accessibility.

i genuinely dont know where I stand on this, and I suppose it starts getting a little murky when we talk about ai and accessibility. Is this one area where ai is ethical, because it is for accessibility? Or does that leave room for 'but i cant draw so midjourney is accessibility for me'? Or can we draw that line more firmly because there are neurological/psychological/developmental reasons someone might need to listen to their academic readings in order to learn rather than read them? Or do we need to push publishers to hire people to read their journals?

again, no pressure to respond. I feel like this is a murky, convoluted question, and ethics can be not super fun to dig into. BUT if it is cut-and-dry for you, i would love to hear your reasoning. I dont want to feel so murky about it.

To make a generalized statement before getting into some specifics; I think that personal private use of AI for stuff like that where you aren't going around sharing a voice actor's voice without their consent is fine. You need it to be able to better read things. You aren't sharing this with others or posting it up for views & clicks & YouTube clout only to (hopefully) later get sued or fined (or a YouTube strike) for the questionable legality of it. If we ever get laws protecting us voice actors (here's to hoping).

Let me clarify as well that consent should have to be given for peoples voices to be used however which ways they are currently. Yes, even for accessibility programs, the maker should be getting consent from and/or paying the voice actors for their voice. Ideally much like how big name companies get a share of movie ticket money & streaming revenue, that currently does not go to the actors/voice actors in a lot of instances. Voice actors & such should not just be getting that single payout for their work, but also payouts over time based on sales with products they helped make & streaming money too.

There's a very fine line between doing something privately & sharing it around publicly. I'm completely against stolen art, commission someone or keep those AI art pieces private to yourself.

I don't think it's on the publishers to have to have an audio version readily available. Book authors/writers & such are screwed over currently enough as is. Having said that, I think people online should be able to read any book out loud/create an audio book & publish it for accessibility & reading along purposes. I can't go reading certain books or literary works on stream due to fear of being copyright stricken. Book copyrights & things aren't my area of expertise though & I'm no professional writer trying to make a living off my work.

There's better educated people on the topics of books & accessibility out there. If you do make a book audio cover on YouTube, you shouldn't be able to monetize it without consent from the author(s). Authors & writers aren't treated great either. I think a lot more groups of people should be striking than are currently.

If it's a bougie publishing company (if those exist), then I think they should absolutely commission someone to have an audio book version of it. The voice actor should also get paid royalties or whatever you call that even after the initial payout though! Again, I don't know jack shit about how books & publishing work, this is just how I think at this current moment in time.

Also if people are going to post AI for clout anyway, they should legally have to disclose they're using AI in whatever they're publishing like how some countries have laws about disclosing when your content is sponsored or an advertisement.

Also as far as paying someone to voice act anything, no company or business gets to own our voices permanently. This is in addition to the things said above. Pay us to voice over a new book, pay us to say those lines, and every other possible instance this can apply to. Our voice isn’t anyone’s to permanently own and do what they want with regardless of context! Pay us for our voice over!

[makkaromy]

long personal post/rant/entitled complaining incoming because i have never felt so relieved

last year i made the mistake (?) of agreeing to illustrate a children's book for, quite frankly, not enough money to justify how much this project has drained me (and just how much drawing i actually had to do)

at the time i was very optimistic about how long this was gonna take, i didn't know how much my translation/interpreting education was going to take out of me, that i was gonna go through the worst depressive episode of my life and have to start seeing a therapist again, that i was gonna move twice, go through a break up and probably worst of all, briefly lose my wallet in an aldi

i also didn't think i was gonna have that much criticism about the story i was supposed to draw, which just killed any shred of motivation i could gather once every couple of days

since then i have felt guilty every time i was drawing something that wasn't for the book(which was extremely rare because most of the time i just avoided making any sort of art altogether, you know, because of the guilt), every time i was relaxing or doing something fun when i could be drawing instead; i couldn't fall asleep because i was thinking about how long i hadn't given the author any updates on my nonexistent progress and the last two days i stayed up way too long drafting a message to him about how he didn't need to pay me anything after all because i was so sorry for taking so long to finish.

(the thing is though, i told him that this was not my job, that i had a full-time educational program to complete, that i wasn't living with my parents, that this was going to take some time and STILL)

this project has been in the back of my mind 24/7 for almost two years, knowing that there was always a task that i was supposed to get to was paralyzing.

today when i get home, i'm going to send an email with all my work, every illustrated page, the front cover, the back cover and an offer to make any changes if he still has any input at all which i pray he doesn't take me up on.

and then i'm going to never ever agree to do something like this ever again. If you want a tattoo design from me hit me up in 2 years, if anyone is even thinking about commissioning me for a logo for literally anything, absolutely do not as i will start sobbing immediately (different, whole other sort of awful story for another day) and if you are someone who has ever illustrated a story you weren't passionate about, my friend i am throwing you a cookie

dropping out of art school was the right thing to do for me, i am never going to be a commission person (BUT LIKE I KNEW THAT, WHY WOULD I STILL AGREE TO DO A BOOK)

anyways

after i send that email i'm gonna do nothing, then draw a cool fish and get some ideas out for a textile print. maybe i'll make my girlfriend something silly to color or literally anything i want because i'm on my own time now and nobody is paying me to do anything i'm gonna cry for real bro i hated every second of this project