#i realize that the speech mannerism meme has been going around and most have done it

[direwombat]

rolling some tag memes into one post for the sake of consolidation. tagged by @socially-awkward-skeleton​ and @harmonyowl​ to do both an oc nature vibes meme and an oc speech mannerisms meme -- thank you two so much for the tags! 

tagging (to do one, the other, or both, whichever y’all want/applies): @natesofrellis​, @thomrainer​, @aceghosts​, @confidentandgood​, @poeti-kat​, @schoute​, @funkypoacher​, and anyone else who wants to do them!

italics sometimes apply

bolds always apply

strikethroughs never applies

Types of People Naturecore Edition:

COTTAGECORE: homemade bread, throwing seeds out for the chickens, a tabby cat, patchwork quilts, puffy skirts, ceramic dishes, fresh flowers in a glass jar,  herbs hanging from the ceiling, freckles, grey eyes, Athena, old recipe books, a cookie tin filled with recipe cards from grandma, home-sewn  pillows, a plate of cookies, the smell of rosemary cooking in a pot of  water on the stove, a floral tea pot, salt and pepper shakers, pansies,  bartering with neighbors, biking to town, stained glass windows

ZEN GARDENCORE: rocks raked with precision, bonsai trees, holy temples, moss covering statues  of gods and godesses, reading ancient texts, being blessed by your  ancestors, trusting and family devotion, watercolors on paper, ink on  skin, poetry and art, hot springs, cherry blossoms, little flames  flickering behind paper curtains, the smell of incense burning,  figurines carved from jade and gold from centuries ago, rain, a mist  seeping around your ankles as you make your way to school, a chalkboard,  scraps of cloth made into art, origami, your father’s heirloom sword  you long to one day pick up like your favorite Disney Princess,  tranquility and peace, stubborn and proud

JUNGLECORE:  exotic animals, tree house, waterfalls, learning the calls of native  birds, bright colors and natural materials, bracelets made from wooden  beads and bones and feathers, collecting mushrooms, shirts with the  sleeves cut off, leaving plastic bottle caps out full of water for frogs  to soak in, cutting jeans to make them into shorts, wading in the  river, cutting your own hair, bamboo wind chimes, upcycled art, fish in  plastic jugs, air plants, climbing up trees using the vines, harvesting  your own fruit

FORESTCORE: deep  silences of the oldest trees, darkness, log cabins, deer antlers  mounted on the wall, rearticulated skeletons, hand-dried pelts, pots of  stew cooking over a fire, pancakes in a cast iron pan, brown boots worn  from hiking, an old walking stick, bonfires at night, roasting  marshmallows and making s’mores, strange markings carved into the bark  of trees, ferns that curl up when touched, hearing animals dart here and  there but never being able to catch more than a quick glimpse of them  out of the corner of your eye, finding half-eaten acorns and mushrooms,  large tracks from something you can’t identify, bow hunting

BEACHCORE:  seashell collection, model boats, jars of sand, windswept hair, the  feel of the wooden boardwalk on your bare feet, big sunglasses, light  blue walls, rope hammock, pillows with anchors embroidered on them, flip  flops, shining sun, fish tank, sea animal plushies, a steering wheel  from a boat on your wall, plates and mugs with seahorses on them,  bracelets with plastic shell and dolphin and turtle beads on them,  postcards from the ocean, wind chimes made of sea glass

MOUNTAIN/MEADOWCORE: watching  the rabbits down in the valley, reading a book in a window seat,  checking the sky for storms, knitting heavy quilts for the winter, many  layers of clothing, waking up to see the sunrise and sitting outside for  the sunset, enjoying the company of ones-self, mountain goats, clovers,  laying in the tall grass underneath the sun, field mice, crystal and  gemstone collection, a tin filled with buttons and sewing needles and  thread, fresh-brewed coffee in the morning, scones

SPEECH MANNERISMS 

NO. OF SPOKEN LANGUAGES: 1 / 2 / 3+ (english and cajun french)

TONE OF VOICE: high / average / deep

ACCENT: yes / no (she normally tones it down, but she has a pretty thick southern accent)

DEMEANOR: confident / shy / approachable / hostile / intimidating

POSTURE: slumped / straight / stiff / relaxed

HABITS - head tilting / swaying / fidgeting / stuttering / gesturing / arm crossing / strokes chin / er, um, or other interjections / plays with hair or clothing / hands at hips / inconsistent eye contact / maintains eye contact / frequent pausing / stands close / stands at a distance

COMPLEXITY:

VOCABULARY: ◼️◼️◼️◼️◻️

EMOTION: ◼️◼️◼️◻️◻️

SENTENCE STRUCTURE: ◼️◼️◼️◼️◻️

PROFANITY:

FREQUENCY: ◼️◼️◼️◻️◻️

CREATIVITY (in regards to profanity): ◼️◼️◼️◼️◻️ (most of her creativeness comes when she slips into cajun french)

BOLD ALL THAT APPLY - arse. ass. asshole. bastard. bitch. bloody. bugger. bollocks. chicken shit. crap. cunt. dick. frick. fuck. horseshit. motherfucker. piss. prick. screw. shit. shitass. son of a bitch. twat. wanker. pussy.

THIS OR THAT - straightforward or cryptic? / finding the right word or using the first word that comes to mind? / masculinity / neutrality / or femininity? / formalities or with abrasiveness? (the more polite she is, the more she hates you) / praise or equivocation? (depends on whether she likes someone and what she’s responding to)/ frankness or lies? / excessive or minimal hand gestures? / name-calling or magnanimity? / friendly or blunt? (she’s both!)

IMPORTANT QUESTIONS:

DO PEOPLE HAVE A HARD TIME HEARING OR UNDERSTANDING YOUR CHARACTER? - almost always / frequently / sometimes / rarely / never. (mostly due to her accent)

DOES YOUR CHARACTER’S POINT COME ACROSS EASILY WHEN THEY SPEAK? - almost always / frequently / sometimes / rarely / never.

WOULD YOUR CHARACTER INITIATE CONVERSATIONS? - almost always / frequently / sometimes / never.

WOULD YOUR CHARACTER BE THE ONE TO END CONVERSATIONS? - almost always / frequently / sometimes / rarely / never.

WOULD YOUR CHARACTER USE ‘WHOM’ IN A SENTENCE? yes / no / only ironically

YOUR CHARACTER WANTS TO MAKE A COUNTERPOINT. WHAT WORD DO THEY USE? - but / though / although / however / perhaps / mayhaps.

HOW DOES YOUR CHARACTER END CONVERSATIONS? - walk away / ask if that’s everything / say that’s everything / give a proper goodbye / tell their company they’re done here / remain quiet / they don’t.

WHAT SOCIAL CLASS WOULD OTHERS ASSUME YOUR CHARACTER BELONGS TO, HEARING THEM SPEAK? - upper / middle / lower. (she actually confuses people: her accent suggest lower class her vocabulary suggests she’s well educated/well-read)

IN WHAT WAYS DOES THE WAY YOUR CHARACTER SPEAK STAND OUT TO OTHERS? - accent / vocabulary / tone / level / politeness / brusqueness / it doesn’t.

[fireflysummers]

Mob Psycho 100 Fanfiction

Text to Speech Translation Error

Direct sequel to "And Maybe...Some Things Are That Simple"

After half a decade away from Seasoning City, Teru has a lot of catching up to do. Unfortunately, some people are less than welcoming. Turns out, there's a reason why.

Part of The World Keeps Turning series

When they meet again, it’s at Spirits and Such. The smell of stale cigarette smoke and incense that assaults him the minute the door opens brings with it such an intense nostalgia that it stops Teru in his tracks. It’s a feeling he’s never experienced before, but it brings with it a tide of memories of a lonely young boy, looking for anything to fill the emptiness of an afternoon, weekend, summer. Memories of being wanted. Memories of being safe.

Teru doesn’t realize that there are tears pricking at his eyes until he sees Reigen, clicking away on his laptop, as if he’d never once moved in all the years he’d been gone.

“Oh, hello Mob,” Reigen says, looking up as the door chime announces their arrival, “This is unexpected. Who’s your friend?”

Teru swears he feels his heart drop into his shoes, but the moment is short. The old con artist squints at him from behind a pair of square-rimmed glasses sitting on his nose, and Teru can visibly see the question shift into recognition. Warm relief spreads through him as Reigen pulls himself up, still squinting incredulously over the edge of his glasses.

“Hanazawa?” he asks, as Teru crosses the distance of the small room to greet his old father figure mentor, “What the hell did you do to your ears?  How many holes did you poke in them to get all those earrings in there?”

Teru can’t help but chuckle, clasping Reigen’s hand. Then, succumbing to instinct, Teru pulls the older man into a tight hug.

“Careful, careful now you youngster! You’re gonna break these old bones!” Reigen splutters, but leans into the contact, returning with a hug just as tight. Teru never quite reached Reigen’s height, but for once can’t bring himself to care. He instead revels in the smell of smoke and stale sweat, the feeling of hair tickling his face, the feeling of being safe.

“Welcome home, my boy,” Reigen says, after they break apart, “You planning on staying long?”

Teru swipes at his face with the palm of his hand, grinning despite the clear evidence of moisture on his cheeks. “Forever, Master Reigen. If I can.”

Behind them, he swears he can feel Kageyama smilling.

 The next time is in response to an open invitation from Kageyama, who offered to tour Teru around his office.  He jumps at the chance to tour around the halls of his alma mater, Paprika University, and make a few calls to former professors before going on to meet Kageyama at the designated rendezvous.

It’s incredible, he realizes, how little the halls mean to him. They had been just another stepping stone on this cyclical path of his, with no great affinity for any one location or person. Compared to his feelings upon returning to Spirits and Such, the entire campus feels…hollow.

Except not so much, because now it’s more than just a place he once attended. Now it’s Kageyama’s place, and he wonders if he would feel the other’s aura seeping into the brickwork, should he focus.

“Hey, Haystack!”

Teru startles, and turns to see a dark haired woman approaching him at breakneck pace. For a moment he struggles to place her, but there are a limited number of people who knew him from the haystack days, and even fewer who would dare ever mention it.

“Ah, hello there Kurata-san,” he says, trying to smile pleasantly as the woman bears down on him with the full weight of her personality.  She’s glowering at him, looking ready to spit nails.

“What the hell do you think you’re doing here?” she demands, but before Teru can open his mouth she continues, “And that’s Professor Kurata, to you, you no good air-headed bimbo.”

It takes Teru about a second and a half longer than it should have to recover from the verbal assault. Kurata continues to glare, and this combined with the fact that she has the gall to be taller than him by a couple centimeters, actually irks him. Despite this, Teru does his best to give a good-natured chuckle and grin up at her.

“I didn’t realize that the grounds of my alma mater were off-limits to me,” he says, giving one of his most blinding smiles. It, of course, fails to phase Kurata in the least bit.

“You know as well as I do that that’s not what I’m—”

“Hello Tome-chan.” Neither of them had heard Kageyama approach, and yet there he stands, looking entirely nonplussed at the way his two friends glare at each other.

“Oi, Mob,” Kurata says, placing a hand on Teru’s shoulder in what could have been a friendly gesture. “I just found this lost child wandering about and wanted to know if you needed me to escort him to his next class. Or like. Off the campus. Or to another planet. We have a mutual telepath friend with a record of alien contact, so I could get that arranged.”

Kageyama gives her a fond, albeit strained smile. “That won’t be necessary. Thank you though.”

“You’re sure about that?” Kurata prods, the grip on Teru’s shoulder tightening.

“Yes. Don’t worry, he’s my guest.”

The pair share a tense moment that leaves Teru drowning in the lack of context. Eventually, though, Kurata gives out a heavy sigh, shoulders slumping.

“’Kay, if you say so,” she mutters, releasing her grip on Teru, and patting him on the shoulder twice in a conciliatory manner. “But if you need anything, just holler.”

With that, she stomps off in search of her next victim, or so Teru assumes. At this point in his life, he has fought off all manner of evil spirits and megalomaniacal espers, but he can’t quite recall ever being that terrified.

“Did I do something wrong?” he asks, when he’s sure that she’s out of earshot.

“Oh, no, I don’t think so,” Kageyama replies, crow’s feet appearing between his eyebrows as he frowns slightly. “At least. Not anymore. We worked it out.”

Teru hums noncommittally in response, keenly aware that he’s missing a lot of context here. That said, he really isn’t in a place to demand to be filled in. After all, it seems that the good Professor Kurata has been looking out for Kageyama, while he’s been off doing whatever it is he’s been doing.  Still. The entire thing has left him off-kilter.

“Hanazawa-kun.” Kageyama interrupts his thoughts. “I have a little while before my next meeting, so I’d be happy to show you my lab now.”

Kageyama’s face is…precious. Teru can’t think of any other way to describe it, even as he feels his heart leap into his throat. There’s trepidation there, excitement and anxiety swirling just under the other’s calm façade.  It’s the kind of expression, Teru knows, that his old friend only wore when he was making himself especially vulnerable—sharing a piece of himself that was both precious and private.

The confusion that he’d felt towards Kurata fades away, leaving Teru only with a slight pang of jealousy. She has, after all, gotten to see this side of Kageyama for years.

But again, he doesn’t have anybody to blame but himself. He just hopes she knows how lucky she is.

 This time, Teru finds himself seated at the table in the kitchen of the Kageyama family home. Both brothers had lived away for some time, Kageyama had explained, but after establishing himself at the local university the parents had asked him to move back in. At the moment, they were off traveling, happy to know that their house was being cared for by their eldest son.

“It’s a bit lonely,” Kageyama concludes, “Which is why I’m glad that you and Ritsu were able to join me for dinner.”

“We don’t see each other enough, brother,” Ritsu replies, sincerely as far as Teru can tell. They’re seated across from each other, around the worn wooden table.

“It’s your home too, you know,” Kageyama chides. He’s in the kitchen, finishing whatever meal he’s worked to prepare for them. His request that guests remain seated is being honored, but not without a great deal of tension crackling between the two.  If Kageyama notices, he doesn’t mention it.

“So,” Teru says, grabbing hopelessly at conversation topics. He’d thought he and Ritsu had made their peace years ago, but clearly he’s done something to mess that up again. Despite his best efforts though, he can’t figure out exactly why the other man continues to glare at him whenever Kageyama’s turned back to cooking.

It’s disconcerting. But on the other hand, it’s kind of nice to see that the younger brother hasn’t changed all that much.  Sure, he’s taller (even moreso than his brother, which definitely makes Teru the shortest of the squad), has changed his haircut into something short and prickly, and has quite a few more worry lines, but he’s definitely the same middle school student that had challenged him in the street all those years ago.

Still. They make it to the actual dinner part without lighting anything on fire. That’s definitely a win.

However, the moment that Kageyama has finished setting the table with the variety of food that he’s prepared, a cell phone goes off. It’s an old meme song, high pitched and obnoxious, and Ritsu goes for his pocket with a sigh.  Kageyama doesn’t seem bothered at all that their dinner had been interrupted, waiting patiently as Ritsu grumbles into the phone.

(Seriously dude? I’m chilling with my brother today, I told you that. What do you mean an emergency, what the hell did you do? Okay, okay, just…try not to bleed out until I get there.)

By the time Ritsu is standing, heading for the door, Kageyama has already beat him there, offering his younger brother two portions of dinner to take with him.

“For little brother Shou, when you rescue him,” Kageyama says, words barely loud enough for Teru to hear. “Be safe, Ritsu.”

And then the younger brother is gone, vanishing out the door with his spiky aura flaring behind him.

And Teru is alone with Kageyama.

They sit quietly to eat, silence punctuated by the clack of chopsticks as Teru contemplates what to say next. When he’s absolutely certain that Kageyama is not trying to formulate words of his own, and that he won’t interrupt, Teru clears his throat.

“So…little brother’s job at the bank seems to have gotten more dangerous than I’d have thought.”

Kageyama cracks a worried smile. “Ah well. He hasn’t worked there for three years now. He’s running his own business.”

“Seriously?” Teru asks, flabbergasted. Business running is his shtick, after all. “With a sour disposition like his?”

“It’s not really his business,” Kageyama informs him with a chuckle, “It’s Suzuki’s. Ritsu just signed on as a partner.” He chews his food slowly. “Oh, ah. They’re consultants. For the government.”

Well. That is a bit more interesting than Teru had imagined. And it makes that phone call less mysterious but significantly more worrying.

He decides instead to change the topic.

“You’ve gotten better,” Teru muses. “At explaining things.”

“It’s a work in progress.” His friend is still frowning down at his food. “But you learn a lot, from being a teacher. I’m still not particularly good at it. If I was better, then I suppose you’d be having an easier time right now.”

“An easier time?” Teru asks, the words coming slowly as though he’s tiptoeing on thin ice.

“Mmhmm.” Kageyama finally looks up at him, brows drawn into an anxious frown. “I suppose I have to apologize for that. For the way that others are treating you, since you got back.”

“You mean that wasn’t just my charming personality?”

“No, although it is very charming,” Kageyama continues, “They just don’t believe me, when I tried to explain that you didn’t understand my confession to you, a couple months ago.”

It takes Teru three beats to realize he’s stopped breathing.

 (If anybody were to ask Hanazawa Teruki if he was in love with Kageyama Shigeo, he would tell them the truth: Of course.

But the fact was that nobody asked him. Sure, lots of people knew, given how much he failed in subtlety, but nobody asked. And so, Teru was content never to say a word.

It was too much of a risk, ruining the relationship they had over feelings that he was certain would never be returned.)

“What?” Teru manages to stammer. They’ve been sitting there, in awkward silence. The spoon in Kageyama’s hand is curling rapidly, twisting and untwisting while its owner looks away, ears tipped with pink.

(He’s rewinding now, rewinding to the text messages that he’d left unanswered for three solid months: Are you coming home after? I’ve missed you.)

“I know,” he says at length, still not looking at Teru, “It was a mistake, on my part. I’ve gotten better at communicating, but ah…well. I made a mess of things on my end. I misinterpreted your silence for a rejection, which was why I was so glad when you wanted to meet again.”

(A confession. That had been a confession. And Teru had left him hanging for literal months, thinking that he had been cut off.)

“I don’t…ahm. I don’t know if you would be interested, and if you’re not, then please disregard all this, but I thought it would be best if…” Kageyama swallows visibly, “Hanazawa, I really, really like you. Would you…would you go out with me?”

He’s left no room for the confession to be mistaken for anything else, Teru realizes as his brain finally catches up to the moment. And then that traitorous part of his mind follows it up with, he sounds like a high schooler.

Looks like one too. The nervous earnestness in Kageyama’s face, the way he clutches both hands together in front of him—for all that he’s grown in the past years, he’s still Kageyama.

The realization crashes down on Teru with a flood of relief.

“Kageyama-kun…” Teru says, then stops himself, “Shigeo. I…I’m…”

There are so many words bubbling to the surface right now, in the slurry of emotions that he hadn’t expected. And yet, in all the pomp and glitter that he uses to disguise his true persona, Teru manages to pull on the single truth he knows better than anything.

“I’m sorry.” The words form in a croaked whisper and hang in the kitchen. “I’m not good enough for you.”

He curls in on himself, arms wrapped tight around his middle, fighting off the feeling that he wants to be violently ill. The entire world feels like it’s swaying, turning on an axis and leaving him to try to find the middle ground. But there’s no battle strategy for this, the one outcome he never dared imagine. All there is, is honesty, because Shigeo deserves that much.

“Me too,” he manages to say, eyes screwed tight and blood pounding in his ears, “I fell in love with you…I don’t know. Forever ago? You changed my life. And I can’t…I can’t repay that. I don’t deserve anything else from you.”

There are hands on his face, gentle, so gentle, guiding it. Teru doesn’t dare open his eyes, terrified for what he’ll see. Terrified at the thought that Shigeo can see him—all his selfishness, ever ugly secret he’s ever tried to hide, ever appetite he’s ever tried to curb, and all the failures he’s experienced in the process. Terrified that once he’s seen for what he is, Shigeo will leave.

“It’s okay,” he hears Shigeo murmur, “I don’t think I’m that good either.  Do you think…do you think that perhaps we can try, though?”

Teru opens his eyes, and is greeted by Shigeo, crouching beside him, eyes so soft, so gentle…so hopeful.

And suddenly, Teru knows without a shadow of the a doubt, that Shigeo has always seen him. From their very first encounter, he has always seen Teru, and never recoiled in disgust. And he sees him now.

It’s more terrifying, Teru realizes belatedly, to be seen for who he really is, and be loved.

He knows what to do with rejection. This, however, is totally new.

Frighteningly new, and…exciting. Hopeful.

“Yes,” he croaks, “I would very much like that, Shigeo.”

[banjodanger]

X-Men 3:The Last Stand(2006). This Is The Worst One, Right?

Wow.

Like, this was bad. I knew it was going to be bad, like over the years when I revisited this movie it got worse. It was never as good as it was seeing it in the theatre, I knew that. I told myself this. But I was not prepared for how much my opinion would change.

I’m going to tear this movie apart pretty hard, but I’m going to be mature and admit that there were parts of this movie I liked, and that I thought worked, because there were things I enjoyed. I’m examining movies and not just shitting on them.

First off, Beast really struck a nostalgia chord with me. I’m not saying Kelsey Grammar turns in an Oscar-worthy performance, but man it touched that little kid part of my brain that used to light up when I watched the nineties cartoon. If you told me they ripped his character off of old episodes of Cheers, I’d believe you. The speech patterns, his mannerisms, every time he was on screen I was enjoying it. Nicholas Hoult is a great actor and he really made the character his own, but this Beast is ripped straight from the comics and it was a delight.

You know, in a dumb way, I enjoyed Vinnie Jones too, but in a different way. I don’t think he was a good Juggernaut, but he’s a specific actor who plays a specific role and I don’t think he tries to stretch beyond that. So this is basically Bullet-Tooth Tony running around smashing shit up. If it sounds like I’m struggling to find things to compliment, well, I am. But I’m nothing if not a raging masochist so let’s try for one more.

This film is called The Last Stand, and I don’t think this film lives up to that title, even a little. However, it does a pretty fair job of changing the team. Xavier and Cyclops are dead, Magneto, Rogue, and Mystique are all depowered, so in chronological order it sure looks like, whatever happens in the next movie, it’s going to be a different team and a different villain.

I guess if this post has a theme, it’s that time makes fools of us all.

There’s a lot wrong with this movie. That Juggernaut meme line, the way this movie introduces characters just to forget about them(go ahead, tell me how this movie would be any different without Angel.), the lab on Alcatraz. The X-men defend people that tried to cure them and then...nothing? There’s never a teaching moment, unless you count Angel saving his dad which...no. That’s not a teaching moment, the film practically treats this cure as a good thing. They’re keeping a mutant child under lock and key, distilling his power through god knows what means, and somehow they’re not the villains of this film. We’re just supposed to assume they stopped processing it, because now Leech is smiling next to Kitty instead of locked in what’s arguably a kinda rad room. Where the fuck did they get him? Is he an employee’s kid? They’re cool turning their kid out into a lab rat? I guess it doesn’t matter if they want that employee-sponsored health insurance.

Quick side-note, capitalism is destroying us all.

But what’s taking me so long to get at is I was struggling with this blog post for a while. I know this movie hates women. I’m not holding myself up as a paragon of feminism, not even close. I have a lot to learn and unlearn. But I think it is painfully clear that this movie treats just about every woman in this flick poorly. Take a gander.

Rogue: Despite that very emotional speech from Wolverine, Rogue takes that cure for a boy. She leaves after watching Bobby skate with Kitty, and he’s the first person she sees after she’s cured.

Kitty: Jesus, this movie might as well put a red A on everything she wears. She openly flirts with Bobby in front of Rogue, she argues for mutants being above morality with Xavier. Kitty Pryde in this movie is never anything more than a romantic rival. Oh, and I guess she gets called a bitch by Juggernaut. So there’s that.

Mystique: Here is a character that believes in mutant supremacy one hundred percent, she might even believe it more than Magneto. Her own family hated her so much they tried to kill her. She is a mutant and that is a huge part of her identity. It’s why she’s followed Magneto for years. She even takes a bullet(dart?) for the guy, and he thanks her by tossing her aside like garbage. He leves her naked and alone on a hijacked prison convoy and at least ten dead cops. So she wants revenge, and you know what? That’s absolutely in character, Mystique is not one to turn the other cheek, of course she’d go over and help the X-Men, they preach working with humans and surely they’d have sympathy-oh, she decides to work with the people that locked her up? The ones that arguably hold heavy responsibility for her current predicament? Well, that’s a decision too.

So this all leads us to Jean Grey. The Phoenix. They’ve been building up this transformation since the first movie. This is a plot that has been building up for six years. And this movie almost completely disregards it.

After Jean destroys her childhood home, a weird decision that I think only appears in this movie as a callback to the comics, or maybe because someone didn’t have enough confidence in that opening scene. She basically disappears until the movie is done cramming the cure plot down our throats. She threatens Magneto with a cure gun and Wolverine pays her a visit while apparently traveling across the entire contiguous United States in thirty minutes. Which is weird, because if the Phoenix is all “Pain and rage” like Xavier, then the wholesale slaughter that occurs directly in front of her should be driving her nuts. Hundreds of people are killed or depowered in front of her and her reaction is like watching paint dry. Just for the record, her reaction to making out with Cyclops is to evaporate all the water in a lake and disintegrate a human being. Her reaction to the collective agony of hundreds of humans and mutants and ripping up a major landmark is to wonder what is taking McDonalds so long to make a Big Mac. Her meltdown is literally timed to happen directly after Magneto is out of the way and Leech is safe.

But while all that is bad, and shows some definite plot holes, unfamiliarity with the source material, and maybe a knowledge that this movie was going to hit number one at the box office if they just filmed Hugh Jackman reading Wolverine fanfiction. But after giving this movie some thought, I realized what was really bothering me about this movie as a whole, but Jean Grey in particular.

Ok, so the whole thing about these X-Men movies up to this point is that they’re grounded in reality. They don’t wear colorful costumes and they call each other by their real names. They don’t have superhero names, they have nicknames. And, unlike the X-Men of the comic books, they don’t go to outer space. So it makes sense that they’re not going to make the Phoenix an immortal space bird from beyond the stars. Phoenix doesn’t eat planets in this movie, and honestly that’s a good decision. After two movies that more or less take place in our reality, why would you introduce a bunch of fantastical elements all of a sudden(Asking you, Spider-Man 3)? The answer is, you don’t. You make the Phoenix another, higher manifestation of Jean’s powers. The next step in her evolutionary process.

But, by doing that, isn’t the Phoenix a mental illness?

Follow my logic, Jean is losing control of her powers. Her powers are mind-related. Jean Grey is losing her grip on her abilities and her grip on reality, and as a result is a danger to herself, her friends and family, and others. Jean needs help.

Or she needs a guy that has an unrequited crush on her to stab her in the abdomen.

That’s how this movie solves mental illness. Violence. No real attempt to help their friend, just Wolverine saying a line that wouldn’t be out of place in bad romantic poetry and then stabbing her. Because she asked him to. In the comics, she kills herself as a heroic sacrifice. In the movie, a man has to do it, because even though she might be the most powerful mutant on the planet, she’s still got two xx chromosomes and according to Brett Ratner that means she’s weak.

I could talk about all the ways this movie fails its characters but honestly I feel like I’ve typed enough. Fuck this movie. Bring on X-Men Origins because I refuse to believe it is any worse than this.

(For the record, if you or a friend is suffering from a mental illness, please get them help. Don’t call the cops, call a doctor or a trained mental health professional.)

[theconservativebrief]

The list of prominent figures who have been sent pipe bombs this week expanded to include former Vice President Joe Biden and actor Robert De Niro on Thursday, intensifying the political firestorm around an ongoing federal investigation into who is responsible.

At least 10 suspicious packages containing explosive devices have been sent to well-known Democrats, including former President Barack Obama, former presidential candidate and secretary of state Hillary Clinton, and prominent liberal critics of President Donald Trump. Many of the intended recipients also happen to be frequent targets of the president and his supporters.

None of the devices exploded and no one was injured, but a manhunt is currently underway for the suspect or suspects. Federal law enforcement officials said the devices were all sent in similar packaging, and most were intercepted by screeners or investigators before they reached their intended targets.

In response to the news, Trump urged unity in a statement on Wednesday and condemned “acts or threats” of political violence — but on Twitter the next day, he blamed the media for inciting anger.

Though the story is still developing, the incidents have called into focus the heated political rhetoric consuming the country as it prepares for the approaching 2018 midterm elections.

Here’s what you need to know to get caught up.

On Monday, an employee at the Westchester, New York, home of billionaire philanthropist George Soros, a major donor to Democratic causes and a frequent target of right-wing conspiracy theorists, discovered a suspicious package in Soros’s mailbox. Law enforcement officials later confirmed it was a bomb.

Two days later, the FBI confirmed that packages containing bombs were sent to the home of former presidential candidate Hillary Clinton in Chappaqua, New York, and to the office of former President Barack Obama in Washington, DC.

Later that day, CNN’s offices in Manhattan were evacuated after a suspicious package was delivered to its studio. A dramatic scene played out as a fire alarm went off while the media outlet was broadcasting the news.

New York City Police Commissioner James O’Neill said at a press conference on Wednesday that the package sent to CNN contained what appeared to be “a live explosive device.” Investigators also discovered white powder inside the package found at CNN, but assistant FBI Director William Sweeney said Thursday at a press conference that authorities determined it “did not present a biological threat.”

Adding to the confusion, FBI officials later confirmed that the package sent to CNN had been addressed to former CIA Director John Brennan, who is a contributor to MSNBC and NBC. Brennan, whose security clearance was revoked by Trump in August, has been an outspoken critic of the president.

Another suspicious package was sent to Eric Holder, the US attorney general under Obama, but the parcel was misaddressed, and it was instead delivered to the office of Florida Democratic Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz — whose name was listed as the return address on all the packages.

The FBI also confirmed that two packages containing bombs had been mailed to California Democratic Rep. Maxine Waters, whom Trump routinely attacks at his rallies. One was intercepted at a congressional mail sorting facility outside of Washington, DC, and the other was uncovered at a mail sorting facility in South Los Angeles.

On Thursday morning, New York police received a call that a suspicious package had been sent to the production offices of actor Robert De Niro in Tribeca. De Niro had delivered an anti-Trump speech at the Tony Awards ceremony in June, which he punctuated with the statement, “Fuck Trump.”

John Miller, the NYPD’s deputy commissioner of intelligence and counterterrorism, said Thursday at a press conference that a retired detective was watching the news and saw an image of one of the devices sent to other officials, and he realized that it resembled a package that had been received at De Niro’s office on Tuesday. The retired detective contacted the NYPD, which found that the package contained a suspected pipe bomb.

That same day, investigators intercepted two packages at a Delaware mail facility that were intended for former Vice President Joe Biden. At least one of the packages addressed to Biden was in the process of being rerouted to Schultz’s office in Florida, according to the New York Times. The packages discovered Thursday “appeared similar” to those found earlier in the week, the FBI said.

All of the packages sent to prominent figures this week consisted of yellow manila envelopes lined with bubble wrap and plastered with half a dozen “Forever” postage stamps.

The address and return labels were printed, and the Schultz’s office was listed as the return address on all of the packages, though her name was misspelled “DEBBIE WASSERMAN SHULTZ.”

The bomb delivered to CNN was adorned with a parody of the ISIS flag, which included the phrase “Get Er Done,” according to NBC News. It’s a right-wing meme that has circulated on the internet for several years.

An image on the explosive device sent to former CIA Dir. John Brennan appears to be a parody of an ISIS flag taken from a meme that has been circulating on right-wing corners of the internet since 2014. https://t.co/Jt3PCUcLQb

— NBC News (@NBCNews) October 25, 2018

It’s not quite clear yet why the bombs did not explode; they could have been intended to go off but were intercepted, they could have malfunctioned, or they could have been dummies just sent as a threat. (The FBI has described the bombs as “potentially destructive devices.”)

All the packages will be analyzed for evidence in the FBI labs in Quantico, Virginia, and a national manhunt is on for the suspect or suspects. An unnamed federal law enforcement source told Reuters that the investigation is focusing on leads in Florida, but officials have not publicly confirmed.

The White House was quick to respond to early reports that suspicious packages had been sent to high-profile Democrats, including a former president and a former presidential candidate. Sarah Sanders, the White House press secretary, condemned the “attempted violent attacks” in a statement and called them “terrorizing acts” that are “despicable.”

Trump’s first comment on the packages came after Vice President Mike Pence issued a statement condemning the attempted attacks. Trump retweeted the veep’s statement with the comment, “I agree wholeheartedly!”

Later on Wednesday, at a signing for bipartisan opioid legislation at the White House, Trump addressed the incidents directly, calling for unity and saying that “acts of political violence of any kind have no place in the United States of America.” He did not mention by name any of the people who had received packages, however.

Trump also had a rally scheduled in Wisconsin on Wednesday night, which he kicked off in an uncharacteristically staid manner. “Any acts or threats of political violence are an attack on our democracy itself,” he told the crowd. “No nation can succeed that tolerates violence or the threat of violence as a method of political intimidation, coercion, or control.”

But it didn’t take long for Trump to veer back into campaign mode. After calling for unity, he unleashed an attack on the media. The press, he said, has a “responsibility to set a civil tone and to stop the endless hostility and constant negative and oftentimes false attacks and stories.”

Trump amplified his criticism Thursday morning with another, more pointed attack. He blamed journalists for fomenting anger and spreading “purposefully false” stories. “Mainstream Media must clean up its act, FAST!” he tweeted.

A very big part of the Anger we see today in our society is caused by the purposely false and inaccurate reporting of the Mainstream Media that I refer to as Fake News. It has gotten so bad and hateful that it is beyond description. Mainstream Media must clean up its act, FAST!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) October 25, 2018

Many of the intended recipients of these bombs have been vocal opponents of the president. They’ve also featured prominently in Trump’s relentless attacks on Democrats.

Cheers of “lock her up” or “Crooked Hillary” can still be heard at most of Trump’s rallies (and even happened on Wednesday night). Trump frequently bashes Rep. Waters, saying she has a “low IQ.” And he has peddled conspiracy theories about Soros financing anti-Brett Kavanaugh protesters.

However, Sanders, speaking to reporters outside the White House on Thursday, pushed back on the idea that Trump’s rhetoric may have instigated these attempted attacks.

“The president is certainly not responsible for sending suspicious packages to someone, no more than Bernie Sanders was responsible for a supporter of his shooting up a Republican baseball field practice last year,” she said.

Meanwhile, some of Trump’s most ardent right-wing supporters have peddled a “false flag” conspiracy theory — that these attempted attacks were somehow orchestrated by Democrats to sway the public against Trump.

But most Republican and Democratic officials and lawmakers roundly condemned the attempted attacks, renewed calls for civility in political discourse, and credited law enforcement for their quick responses.

Republicans have so far largely avoided chastising Trump for his incendiary rhetoric, though some Democratic leaders have. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer and House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi issued a statement saying that they held the president at least somewhat responsible. “Time and time again, the president has condoned physical violence and divided Americans with his words and his actions,” the statement said.

The attempted attacks, coming just two weeks before the midterm elections, have left politicians and the public on edge. How they will play in the elections, and how the president and politicians will respond, is still unclear — though unity seems far off.

Original Source -> The investigation into pipe bombs and the political fallout, explained

via The Conservative Brief

[young-kook]

To Seulgi:

@94kng​

Jungkook has Seulgi’s hand in his, firmly holding onto her, he guides her down the hallway of his apartment and arriving in front of his bedroom door. He stays quiet and opens the door allowing her inside, nudging her to go sit down on top of his bed. Jungkook turns around and walks towards his desk, searching through one of the drawers and pulls out a piece of paper. With his face completely turning into a shade of red, he turns around and faces Seulgi. Clearing his throat he pretends to read off the paper, his fingers fidgeting from the sudden nerve-wracking feeling crawling up his spine, he stands up straight and begins to speak.

“Ah.. No matter how many times I practice this, I still get nervous..”

He clears his throat once more and gives his usual bright grin, before he begins to speak in a loud manner.

“Dear Kang Seulgi! Today is YOUR day! Your special day! You may share this day with people all around the world, but they do not matter at this moment. Only you as of right now. I prepared this speech, one, to be extra; and two, to express how grateful I am for you to have entered my life. Today we are celebrating your 23rd birthday yeah? 23 years where you have grown to be the most brightest and beautiful-est woman whom I have ever met. I agree that this might be biased, but this is truly how I feel. When we first met, I feel like we connected at a point. To be honest I considered you one of my closest friends. Then when you disappeared, it faded a bit. But, immediately when you came back and I laid my eyes on you, I knew that this wasn’t a ‘friendly’ feeling. My heart jumped for you, in a way sorta? This is extra gay I know, but bare with me. Without our gayness, what are we?”

He laughs to himself as he speaks his words, slowly lowering his voice down, so she doesn’t complain about him being too loud, though he believes she knows he’s just being his normal silly self.

“Ever since I realized I was falling for you, I made a list. A To-do list, you know this. (ooh bars)  But, I generally want to put this list to use. We’ve done some stuff, like dance together, shower together, you’ve allowed me to play with your hair though I have no idea how to hairstyle, but you still let me do it anyway!! My list will continue to grow, as I grow with you. Basically, what I want to say to you today is, you make me feel like the luckiest and happiest guy around, and I hope you stick by my side for a little while longer, ne? I love you so much baby girl, Happy Birthday and enjoy your cake. I’m not good at hiding things right? You probably knew I was getting you a white cake with whipped cream and strawberries on top!”

 He can’t help but smile as he ends his speech, quickly running to the small fridge in his room and setting the cake on top of it. Then he walks over to his girlfriend and hands her the paper he was holding earlier during his ramble. On it, it had been a drawing of the two of them together, since Jungkook wasn’t an expert at drawing it was a drawing of the two of them as stick figures, with a speech bubble over his head telling Seulgi, “Happy Bi(s this how you Meme?)rthday, Seulgi! I Love You!”