#i will personally be using this because when i hear the not-stolen version of this song i will cry

[jade-jupiter]

haven’t made an edit like this in a while, but 3 hours till 1989tv, so here’s a very basic wallpaper with the Clean umbrella design

[ninyard]

Nicky: yeah he slept with a chair in his room and a knife nearby so we think he’s just insane

Neil: ……

No but rlly, no matter how you feel about Nicky, on one hand I am an outside observer so reading this exchange I’m like “oh ffs obviously that’s not why! That makes no sense!” But then I think about it more and it’s actually probably really realistic? Nicky doesn’t know what andrew went through, he probably didn’t think his life in foster care was that bad, that kind of abuse just isn’t on his radar bc he’s had different experiences and exposures, so the possibility of anything else just doesn’t cross his mind, plus he’s already biased to think andrew is just naturally “like that” bc that’s the assumption he’s already been operating under, plus the natural inclination of ppl to not want to see awful things. It makes sense for him and Aaron that that’s the conclusion they come to, and that makes me so mad at the world for reasons I can’t quite articulate

Sorry for hitting you with this out of nowhere I actually meant to say something else but idr what bc I clicked the ask button and this is what came out instead xD

Oh 100%. I GET it. I understand why everyone has this perception of Andrew that he’s, in their own words, a monster. That he’s a loveless, emotionless sociopath. Imagine Aaron, excited to meet the twin he didn’t even know he had, and the first thing he says to you is fuck off, fuck you, leave me the fuck alone?

Imagine you meet the cousin you didn’t even know you had, and for some reason you don’t know about, he’s been in your house for how long? He’s been there for how long before he’s made an enemy out of your father, out of your aunt, he won’t talk to the cousin you did know about, he’s angry and depressed and he keeps knives under these arm bands he refuses to take off? He’s like Aaron in a different shade, like the dark version of a person already dark and destroyed. But he won’t talk to you. Why won’t you talk to us, Andrew? And all you get in response is a knife, or a blank stare, or a fuck off, fuck you, leave me the fuck alone?

Then your aunt is dead, and he’s alive, and the cousin you did know about is grieving and angry, and you, Nicky, who has fought so hard to keep the peace in your household, are now surrounded by negativity, and anger, and past problems that nobody fucking wants to deal with?

I get it.

Then they’re at Eden’s, and he hears it over his shoulder, the shouted slur. And then Andrew, who barely even talks to him anyway when they’re out drinking is on top of this stranger in a flash. And there’s blood, and the stranger stops fighting back. But Andrew’s fists keep coming back, and keep coming back, and keep coming back.

He nearly kills him. He nearly kills him. He nearly kills him. For you. Because you don’t know that he’s gay. You don’t know the weight of the word shouted your way. He’s protecting you. He’s protecting you.

You’re scared of him. He gets locked up. Whatever the timeline is pre-tfc. You’re scared of the cousin you didn’t know you had.

I get it.

But imagine being Andrew. They don’t ask what happened. They take the courts word for it when they say you’re a danger to society. They take the courts word for it when they say your depressive episodes are a danger to yourself. You tried. You tried to tell someone, but it’s a misunderstanding, and god’s intention, and your fault. So why bother trying again?

You spend all this time on this medication that makes you feel worse than anything you’ve ever been on - you spend years of your life in this haze, a mixture derealisation and constant and unending mania. You’re sick without it. You’re sick on it. You don’t remember who you are without it. You don’t want to know who you will be without it.

And imagine being Andrew, and it takes being violated in your cousins childhood bedroom, or just a room in his childhood home, for them to finally get it? Your autonomy stolen from you. Your secrets exposed without permission, again. Your consent is never your own choice. It never has been.

Oh and then let’s think about Nicky. And all that’s in his head is ANDREW IS WORSE WITHOUT HIS MEDS.

Maybe he hears the laugh from the bottom of the stairs. Maybe he only hears Neil talking about it. ANDREW WAS LAUGHING. HE WAS LAUGHING. HE WAS VIOLATED AND DESTROYED AND COVERED IN BLOOD AND HE WAS LAUGHING.

And this has happened before?

And Drake was not the only one?

Does it make sense now?

Is he a sociopath or was he made to be that way? Is he crazy or was this someone else’s fault? Does he protect his family because nobody protected him?

Why didn’t he tell me? Why did this happen under the roof of my family home?

In theory I hate how they don’t know what Andrew is really like. How they’re afraid of him off his meds. But it makes sense why. I get it. Why the fuck would they not think that?

But I think they understand how wrong they were eventually. I think they see how he might not smile anymore - but he is much happier now.

[johnslittlespoon]

i have been dealing with the brainrot of twink college student john and biker gale but then the other half of the post jumped me in a dark alley and all i can think about is john's friend who is used to their friends having crushes on their dad but it's whatever. weird, but whatever, as long as they don't get vocal about it they can just use it as something to tease them about at the worse. john looking up at gale with big doe eyes isn't the first time they've seen a friend do that, they've seen other people who are considered more age appropriate do worse when faced with the gale cleven effect. only it never occurs to them gale feels like he can't breathe right and like is organs are too big for chest whenever he looks at john and feels like he's something too soft than he should allow himself to be but around john it doesn't feel bad, maybe it's a good thing he can unapologetically be soft for someone.

cue the ladies who thought they might be able to win over the quiet, intimating and rugged dilf biker seeing that his heart was stolen by none other than john clarence egan, the son of mr and mrs egan who everyone is sure are moments away from a heart attack.

the au post | GOD same it has notttt left my mind. and you GET ITTT you captured the vibe i was picturing for that version perfectly ugh.

literally 1k+ words of brainrot below the cut... deeply sorry. any excuse to talk about them and i'm spinning in my chair apparently LOL <3

like john takes one look at gale and knows he's not the only one who swoons over him, spends an ungodly amount of time pining from day one. but any fantasies are only fantasies, because he knows (thinks he knows) he doesn't stand a chance, both for the fact that he's his son's friend, and that gale probably thinks he's too immature, and that he's, y'know, not a girl.

but gale is gone too from their first meeting, he's just a lot better at hiding it (and finds it so endearing how bad john is at hiding it despite how well john thinks he's doing lol.) once he and john start tentatively feeling things out, and even before that really, the way he feels when he looks at the doe–eyed boy scares him– a vulnerable softness and urge to protect that he's been just fine with not feeling.

of course there's the conflict when he tries to shove down these feelings at first, because he knows how mad his son (who i headcanon as ken because he and leaving!john would be precious dorky besties) would be if he were to ever indulge in them, regardless of how much john wants it. and there's the guilt of feeling like john would be happier with someone his age, but john is the most persistent, stubborn person he's ever met, and the way he folds so quickly for him is terrifying.

and yet he falls for the attentive softhearted absolute puppy dog of a boy that john is, finds himself as fond of his moments of angsty bite and bristle as he is when he's docile at his side, melting under gale's gaze. there's no proper confirmation ever made to others about their status, no reason to need one, because they're attached at the hip and people learn quickly not to so much as look at john the wrong way, because gale's never far behind him.

and the angsttt of john's parent's disapproval– yeah, he's an adult and he's independent and is off doing college and all, but his parents aren't chill with "that gay shit" and he gets the classic "so long as you're living under our roof, you're not to see that man" talk, and what's an angsty rebellious lovesick john to do but get better at sneaking out of his window and jogging down the street to meet gale at his motorcycle so his parents don't hear it pull up?

i'm sure eventually it would come to a head because they'd find out he's been going behind their back when they catch him sneaking back inside late one night, and he's given the good old "stop seeing him or pack your bags" ultimatum. it takes gale a wild amount of self control to not storm into the house and chew out john's parents when he picks up the phone to a sniffling terrified john at two in the morning less than an hour after he'd dropped him off down the street.

it takes even more self control when he sees the angry red of a handprint on john's cheek when he pulls up and finds him sat on the curb with a hastily stuffed backpack, and his heart shatters when john starts apologizing, as if he'd ever be upset with him. but then, cue domesticity (and a different kind of sneaking around) as john temporarily moves in with him and ken. all ken is told is that john's parents kicked him out and he knows how badly they treat him so he doesn't ask many questions, so shitty circumstances aside, he's over the moon at getting to have his best friend stay with him.

john promises to find someplace to rent a room in as soon as he can because he feels awful for intruding, but gale finds that he really likes having john around, insists he stays with the two of them at least till he's done with his semester so he doesn't have to worry about paying rent. lots of nuance to sort out there but you get the gist. <3

also. john wearing gale's leather jacket sighhh. finding any excuse he can to steal it, face going all pink when gale drapes it over his shoulders when they're out on dates, beaming when gale lets him wear it home with the promise that he'll return it the next day, falling asleep with his face pressed to it, drowning in the smell of gale's aftershave and cigarettes and diesel.

+ slight tangent but the things that could come about from the sneaking around?? minor spoilers for anyone who hasn't seen callum's show 'leaving' that his character in this au is loosely based off of, but there's a scene where he and his milf not–gf are fooling around in his room and his parents get home early.

i have this scene in my head where john thinks he's meant to have the house to himself for the night, invites gale over, they end up in the shower and they hear the front door slam mid–fuck. there's a moment of panic, both of them freezing, john whispers that "dad's probably forgot his wallet or something," assumes gale will stay unmoving until they hear the door slam again.

only gale suddenly rolls his hips forward, and john chokes on a moan, gale's hand coming up to quickly cover his mouth, his other hand squeezing john's hip as he kisses his shoulder and murmurs "you can be quiet, can't you, sweetheart?"

anyway. yeah, this au has me in a chokehold so hard still, i'm 100% still planning on writing it post–dog fic <3 i do love this whole cliche best friend's dad route of this au, but i'm also not sure i feel like tackling the conflict of john having his friend find out about the two of them, and i feel like that would be kinda inevitable to have to write about if i took that route for the fic lol </3 so i think that version of the au will be limited to brainrot like this and when i write the actual fic it'll just be the college student x bikerider vibe, but honestly there's so much overlap with the two concepts anyway that it won't make too much of a difference!

thx for unintentionally encouraging my yapping i love this version of these two so much and i am apologizing in advance for the person i will become when i see the bikeriders in theatres xoxo

[scrapyardboyfriends]

Decided to catch up on the Aaron scenes from the past couple weeks (aside from today's)...

It was nice to hear Aaron talk about Seb and mention Robert.

It also does feel like a very meta plotdale kind of thing when Aaron's there going "Ah yes...remember when my life made sense and I was a real character". Because it's like the producers remember too but can't seem to figure out a way to flesh out his character again with new things for some insane reason (again it's not that hard).

And John...yeah...he's just so dull. I don't know that I was really getting sinister vibes from him. He's more just so boring and badly written. Just the whole "we don't do that" about like "having an actual conversation with the person you're allegedly dating that's not just about illegal boxing or a prelude to sex" is so ridiculous. It's been 3 fucking months. Why have they not had any kind of real conversation about anything? Why has he not asked about Robert before. That's literally your half brother and he was literally married to your current situationship...twice. Like what do you mean you didn't know it was so deep??

I just don't understand the reason for this story being so weird and so bad. Because no matter what story they're telling here, there's no need for it to be like this.

If it's just a straightforward story, then they need to make it a lot more convincing that they actually like each other and they should have already had at least some kind of conversation about Robert due to the situation they created by bringing in his long lost gay half brother and putting him with Aaron. Even if they were waiting for Ross to come back to bring up the Seb thing. Robert should have been discussed at least a little. And they should have been shown to at least talk about other things or have a single thing in common. Aaron saying he wants this to work....like...why?!? Also, I'm still completely baffled that the whole stupid Aiden Moore thing was used as a bonding moment for him and Vic and not him and Aaron. That was right there and they didn't use it. Does Aaron even know about that? Is it relevant? I'm so confused. And where do they even go from here if they are just meant to be a couple?

And then if this is all leading to Robert coming back then it's still super weird. I would think they'd want Aaron to be properly moving on, for their relationship to actually be something even if it's not what he had with Robert. I feel like the trope is, have Aaron get serious with someone new and then bring back his soul mate and let chaos ensue. But that's not what they're doing. It's just...strange...and empty. Because what's the story if Robert does come back? Aaron forces himself stubbornly to stay with John and tries to resist Robert and fails? While Robert deals with post prison trauma and getting Seb back and thinking he doesn't deserve Aaron? I mean...sure...fine but again, I feel like the Aaron/John relationship should be at least at Dr Alex levels and it's not even at that. And what is the dynamic meant to be between John and Robert? I don't know. Is it going to be Andy/Rob 2.0 or a flipped version of that? I just don't have a read on that at all if that's where they're going because John is still such an empty character.

And then if there is a sinister side to John, if we are heading into future serial killer or stolen identity stalker territory here then....I don't feel like they're really telling that story either. Because I feel like there should be a slightly more concrete hint right now rather than people just wondering why their relationship is so empty or wondering if Nate's exit really was that bad or if there might be something more to it.

I don't know...there's just no real excuse for the "story" and I use that term very loosely here...to be what it is.

[batsplat]

do you have a favorite bit of motogp gossip that you either want to know is it’s true, or you just enjoy as a stand alone piece, no need for further investigation?

one of those where I initially stared at and like. lost all motogp knowledge in my brain. and then stuff did come back to me. this is all very much low hanging fruit and I'll add to it when I remember more interesting/quirky ones. BUT here are some things I want to know:

y'know how casey randomly suggests in his autobiography that valentino was sabotaged in the 2006 title decider? so, personally, I don't really buy this, because 'why' and also 'casey girl you are SO paranoid' - though, sure, if given the option I'd like to double check if valentino had a dud tyre (completely plausible) and also if somebody really deliberately gave him one (?? casey idk about this one). but what I'm REALLY curious about is... there's a change in his autobiography?? like I've seen this book excerpt float around online and the text is different from what's in my book!! mine's from the paperback version so I assume there may have been some edits for that, so that would make it the newer version... but like. this is a real editorial change. check this out:

version posted on the internet, from the hard cover edition???

version in my book, first paragraph is the same

But as soon as the lights went out Valentino was in trouble. I was one of six riders to pass him on the first lap and if you watch the footage you can see how much he is struggling to even keep up with us. His rear and front tyres were just not working together and on lap five the front inexplicably folded and he went down, right behind me. I couldn't help but wonder how he could be having such problems with his tyres. Could he really have been stitched up? It seemed so improbable, but I remember watching that race back in the motorhome that evening and thinking, Welcome to my world, mate.

this isn't 'gossip' because I haven't found anyone else who has spotted this, but like? that's a substantive change? if my one really is the newer one? ...?

let's set aside the fascinating insight you get into casey's knotty and at times bizarre valentino rossi complex with him adding the line "welcome to my world, mate" (oh my god. please just take him to dinner. I will crowd fund this I literally just need to be able to listen in. casey come on CALL him I NEED you to do the dinner thing, YOU suggested it not me). like we're not going to even touch that. but if my version really is the updated one, then he's kinda softened his stance, no?? "convinced he was stitched up" to "could he really have been stitched up"

what happened?? who wanted this change? casey? an editor? did dorna give casey a call? did some poor bloke from pr have to politely ask whether casey could please not state in his autobiography that the most popular rider ever had had a title stolen from him by the establishment?

(casey was talking about valentino's stolen tenth BEFORE it was popular. he did it even before valentino did, bless)

"there are a lot of commercial interests in the sport" also didn't make the jump to the 'new version', mind you. did Big America get to casey

come on you guys have to admit this is an odd change?? does nobody else thing this is weird??

okay fine moving on

Did Valentino Literally Curse Sete

(like. not literally as in did he curse curse sete, literally as in did he say it)

(though if he did literally literally curse curse sete, I suppose I'd also like to know that bit)

the commentators in 2003 brno say so and I'm inclined to believe them, but I need to double check whether sete and valentino really were partying on ibiza together right after that very painful valentino loss at the sachsenring. such a fascinating little detail, that's not something post-2004 valentino does I reckon

I mean, look, obviously a bunch of things from that time period I want to have fact checked. including valentino's friend hearing sete say in late 2003 that valentino wasn't going to be smiling so much after joining yamaha. classic bit of gossip, did it actually happen though

I've referenced this a few times before, but y'know how valentino said that marc's manager alzamora told him after sepang 2015 that marc had been angry at valentino for killing his title charge? I just want. to know. if this conversation actually happened. I don't think valentino would pluck a lie like that out of thin air, especially something so specific about somebody on marc's team, and he has known alzamora for decades but like. maybe almazora just said something valentino misinterpreted? I just find this such a bonkers thing from alzamora if it's true that I would like it confirmed for my own sanity, you know?

yeah look I would like to know if marc really did get casey kicked out of honda, obviously I've discussed this before and it's very he said she said but yeah it'd be fun to know the truth

this is literally peak gossip because I can't find a source for it but I swear a journalist did say it: the rumour is that marc blocked joan mir from joining honda in 2019. like, I'm only including this because I was explicitly asked for gossip as I just cannot find where it was said... but it is something that is. out there. and... again, just curious. like I buy it, but also it could be bullshit!

on a similar note, did he ever make clear to honda he didn't want either vinales or rinsy on his team circa 2016? was it just a vibe in the paddock or was this an actual demand from marc?

speaking of!! the whole thing about alzamora basically rigging the moto3 teammate situation between rinsy and alex marquez to ensure the latter won the title that year. what was that all about, how far did they go there

switching to valentino now. this doesn't quite fit the remit of the question because it IS something I've investigated. and my conclusion is basically a big *shrug*

did valentino block casey from joining yamaha in either 2005 or 2006, and did he attempt to block jorge?

there are completely contradictory sources on the timeline here that do make me feel like there's a chance yamaha was just fucking with casey at the very least in 2006 and valentino had fuck all to do with it, which a recent interview from casey did actually hint at too... he made it sound like maybe yamaha was just using him to try to drive down the price of another rider (which would then presumably be jorge)

I just want to know! and the thing is, it was a matter of open paddock discussion that valentino blocked casey (jorge explicitly references it in in 2007), but something doesn't quite add up between what jorge, casey, colin edwards, articles from the time and lin jarvis have said on the subject! my current pet theory is that valentino blocked casey in 2005 from joining the satellite yamaha team in 2006 (weirdly casey doesn't really imply valentino was responsible for this one in his autobiography, but whatever) but NOT in 2006 (casey does imply valentino was responsible here, you see my problem). and yamaha was fucking around with all four of valentino, casey, jorge and edwards in late 2006/2007. but. yeah. I have unanswered questions

the entire 'alex marquez blocked from yamaha' situation.... again. something is off there. you know the story from late last year about how he was blocked in 2019 from joining the petronas team in 2021? this completely threw me, because there was an entirely different story about this YEARS back in 2018!! I initially assumed the two stories were about the same event, but it can't have been! one's him being blocked in 2019 for 2021, one's him being blocked in 2018 for 2019

from the descriptions of both there's also no confusing them. the 2018 story has to be about the 2018 contract cycle because that's quite literally when it was published, and the 2023 story has to be about the 2019 contract cycle because it explicitly references the space fabio would create by moving to the factory team for 2021, which obviously wouldn't make sense before fabio's actual rookie season. like they have to be about different stories

and in that same 2018 story, marc said that back in 2016 lin jarvis told him no marquez would be joining yamaha:

again, this was in 2018!!

plus, he did say back in 2016 that he'd spoken to jarvis, which kinda backs up this is a conversation that did happen and marc isn't just misremembering the timeline/lying (the notion of marc joining yamaha in 2017 is fantastic, what an absolutely horrendous idea):

now what marc says in 2018 about his conversation with lin jarvis is very similar to petronas yamaha boss razali saying in 2023 that he'd been told by yamaha no marquez was allowed at yamaha. suggests that this is a thing that did happen!!

but again... razali was told that in 2019... after marc had already been told the same thing three years before that, and the exact same deal had already been blocked one year earlier... does nobody else think this is weird?? like, I'm not saying yamaha hq covered themselves in glory here, but is it not a little strange the satellite yamaha squad had basically almost signed a contract with the younger marquez again without checking in with yamaha, just ONE YEAR after this same contract had already been blocked???

again this isn't actually gossip because I'm apparently the only person going ?? about this but I'll say it: ??

kinda been annoying me since december last year, like I know it doesn't matter but I'm just curious about it! why's nobody else talking about the 2018 story!

idk my best guess here is that petronas yamaha was faffing about and playing weird games with the factory team, that the deal was never as likely to happen as they made it sound to the marquez camp. zero proof, that's me spreading rumours yeah... time to create some of my own unfounded gossip

(also of course I'm curious if valentino did have any actual involvement in this. like if lin jarvis was telling marc this in the year of our lord 2016, I'm assuming valentino didn't have to explicitly say to jarvis that 'inviting marc to the team for 2017' wasn't exactly high on his christmas wish list. it is interesting that marc frames it as jarvis making this about. like. all the marquez's way back in 2016, and again, would this really have been on valentino's radar at the time? that feels a bit...? alex marquez was thirteenth in that moto2 season? would certainly be very... thorough for valentino to already have had that particular talk with jarvis)

(mind u there's a fun moment in a 2019 presser where valentino is sitting between the two marquez brothers and the younger marquez is being asked about his contract situation, the implication being he'd had a motogp deal and no longer had a motogp deal. and he's answering and marc's doing his freak stare and valentino is Right There sitting between them... I <3 mess)

man did valentino actually ever fucking block anyone from joining his manufacturer #notmygoat. I still think he didn't know about jorge until the deal was basically done, had nothing to do with the younger marquez, at most blocked casey the one time but then yamaha wasn't actually seriously intending on signing casey in 2006 and was just using it as a play in their jorge negotiations, which.... idk. bit disappointing if true icl. I hope he blocked someone, I'll say it

(also. okay. I don't want to sound awful here because I do have a lot of sympathy for baby!casey but. ignoring the morality for a second, I do LOVE the idea that valentino blocked casey from getting a satellite yamaha seat fresh off his 250cc runner up season because it would conclusively prove valentino did ABSOLUTELY rate casey!! like he didn't even want casey to come close to being his teammate!! not even a sniff at his data!!) (genuinely this is the rumour I'm choosing to believe, I know there's a chance valentino didn't successfully block anyone and was just a complete flop but I want the 2005 one to be true. it really adds something to the rivalry idk... like ugh valentino saw how dangerous casey was proper early when much of the paddock wasn't yet convinced... cute)

moving on

there was a rumour in 2015 that valentino approached dani after aragon to complain about how sturdy his defence was, like moaning about denying him points and shit. now, there's exactly one article about this in marca that is the sole origin point for the rumour, and it says that valentino also interrupted a honda party after phillip island to complain to marc. this does not match up at all with anything either marc or valentino have said since then - and would mean you have to believe that marc wasn't actually blindsided by that presser... also feels a bit unlikely we would have heard NOTHING from any other source if vale was really gatecrashing a honda party

of course, neither dani nor valentino have spoken about this supposed post-aragon 2015 meeting either, not even when dani was kinda accusing valentino of hypocrisy during sepang 2015, but I suppose you could say maybe dani's just not the type of guy to bring it up again. however.... I do reckon occam's razor kinda applies here and if one of these stories is bullshit then they probably both are, plus it's not like marca is exactly a neutral source. still would love to be certain!! instinctively I don't really think that's valentino's style at all, but of course it'd be intriguing if the story were true because it'd be a sign of how 2015 kinda messed with him. but I still feel 2015 is more about him falling back on past tools he'd mostly discarded - rather than, like, acting wildly out of character, which again... well, this brings us back to how that kind of behaviour isn't really valentino's style. basically, I don't buy it, but that's kinda why I am so curious about it? because I feel like it would be really interesting and quirky if he had actually done that. does this make any sense

speaking of, again this doesn't really count because I did kinda investigate it last year.... but you know when valentino in that podcast referenced a conversation with marc around the time of sepang 2015, where marc stared blankly at him? I have a hunch about when that conversation happened, want to know if it's right. this also isn't really 'gossip' because this is a conversation I'm having with myself but

y'know when bez was injured on the ranch late-ish last year? a bunch of journalists pointed out how hush hush they were about what actually happened to bez - like they repeatedly drew attention to that because god knows THEY love some gossip lol. which probably means nothing, but I'm curious what the journalists' theory here is, like do they think it was an embarrassing injury?? OR. look. I suppose the conspiracy theory would be that pecco caused it (obviously accidentally!!) and everyone at the ranch knew it'd be a terrible look if they admitted that because of the whole title fight situation. call me casey stoner because those dots are not real and definitely have not been connected

okay, you know how there were rumours in the spanish tabloids bez said some real ugly stuff to marc at valencia last year, and bez didn't directly address it but freaked a little and did a sort of blanket denial that he'd said anything that bad? I don't actually think he did tbh, but again. would just like to check!

while we're already on bez, there was one report that the switch to aprilia was partly motivated by marc to factory ducati. again, not entirely sure I buy that this would factor into his thinking beyond the obvious 'this means the route to that factory ducati seat looks even more closed than it already did' angle'.... it's very much down my list of priorities but I'd quickly confirm/deny it if given the chance yeah

that's all for now lol

[doublejango]

A multimuse RP blog, primarily for Blitz from Helluva Boss, along with a smattering of other muses. Please take a moment to check out my Rules, which you can find below the cut. .

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No baby/pregnancy plots, and no stolen grimoire/crystal plots. I am finally adding this to my rules to make it official because I feel like a monster when I have to say No to it in IMs. I have no doubt that those plots would be a lot of fun, but they're not the plot for me.

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I try to always tag for content that seems likely to be triggering. I’ll use the tags example tw or example cw for those. I don’t anticipate there being a whole lot of that on my blog, but when it’s there, I’ll do my best to tag.

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About following… I am going to be more selective this time around. My blog is mutuals only, although I am always open to new mutuals. When it comes to sideblogs, I'll only write with them if you have your hub blog clearly listed on said side-blog. I also probably won't follow people who rapid-fire post a lot of images, mini replies, etc. I know we all do that once in a while, but when it appears to be all you do, or the majority of what you do, it's just a little too overwhelming for me. I like to be able to see more than one mutual on the dash, you know? I strongly prefer blogs that write multi-para content, even if we're all as slow as molasses.

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I don't RP with direct portrayals of the Abrahamic God. While I myself am not religious, and am actually kind of anti-Christianity given how many times, and how deeply, I've been hurt by Christians. But. I deeply believe in respecting people's faiths and needs. I don't need to share someone's faith to support them in it, and just because I've had bad experiences doesn't mean I believe they're all awful and don't deserve some consideration. A friend has requested people avoid putting RP posts with God or Jesus as a character (especially being shipped) onto their dash, and I think that's a completely fair request. Blacklisting and tag filtering doesn't always work, I get it.

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When it comes to activity... I am very, very slow, but I generally don't lose interest in plots. Just because it has been a long time in between replies doesn't mean that I suddenly don't care anymore. I have a loooong attention span, even if I only have two brain cells. Please respect that I am slow, and I will respect if you need to be, too <3

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I respect Dead Dove Do Not Eat and will fight for people’s right to write it. 'Nasty', awful, twisted, broken, and villainous messes are always welcome on this blog <3 I will always do my best to tag with what applies, either NSFT (as in Not Safe for Tumblr) or DDDNE.  I don’t necessarily write a lot of DDDNE, but I am willing to, and I will not judge you if that’s something you enjoy. I have some personal hard limits for it & am happy to discuss if we start going down that path, and will gladly hear yours!

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If you have a lot of sideblogs, I probably won’t follow them until we are writing on them. I am trying to keep my dashboard a relatively chill place.

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Don’t try to bully or guilt-trip me into writing smut, please. I can and will write it. I’ll write filthy, explicit smut (tagged and under a read-more). I’ll write soft vanilla stuff. I’ll write fade to black, whatever my RP partner prefers–I’ll do my best to match your vibe. But if you mock me for the fact that I prefer to let smut happen organically? I’m out. Additionally, I am ace. What interests me about smut is how it affects the characters or the stories. If all you want is just to write filth because it's hot... I'm probably not the writer for you just because we will never be on the same page/have the same vibes, and I've learned that just kind of wears me out.

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I am not interested in writing with characters who feel like they stepped out of a videogame. Personal preference, not open to negotiation.

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And on a last note... Personal ethics are actually important to me. I spent almost a year on this blog buying into the general RPC culture of "always look the other way, smile even if someone punches you down, never care too deeply, enable everyone to keep on getting off, whatever they need." But the thing is... that's not me. As I said in an answered ask: " It's easy to keep on partying and rolling with it all and having fun if you don't worry about who gets hurt along the way, if you expect the person you knocked down to play the game and pretend that nothing happened... But that's not a game I want to play--and the people who do want it like that aren't ones I want to be close with. I've never been one to party with anyone who places gratification above consideration. I don't want to start now."

I believe in standing up for yourself and your friends, but doing it in a mature way that doesn't involve witch-hunts or callouts. I believe in fighting back against censorship and fascism, and in (respectfully) pushing back against cruelty.

I'm ace, queer, and trans; I'm not going quietly into that good night.

[lamperts-rokea]

It's headcanon time y'all (except I forgot to post them in a while so have the long list of Kas/fected hcs)

Kas/fected is the person to send un-tagged bouquets of flowers to his love interests

He eats a ton of sugar. Like, lethal amounts of pastriez especially eclairs and donuts and ice cream and SUGAR. He probably gulps down straight up sugar occasionally.

He's definitely stolen some of Lamperts possessions and keeps them in a small box in an undisclosed location in his home

He has a to do list on his fridge that he'll never get done (it's all just groceries)

He's used to noise so whenever he tries to go to sleep(WHEN he sleeps) he listens to music, rain or fan noise or he WILL NOT sleep.

Whenever his headphones die he does rage and break things

He has the Macarena dance memorized.

He has a lot more than just one picture of Lampert that are ALSO in the box. He has a **small** lamp onsessyoin/silly

He occasionally smokes out his blun7s on the elevator but not nearly as often as he used to because he was ridiculed for it being rude.

His favorite hangout spots apart from his apartment is the train station, the ROKEA, the Happy Home Party and the alleyway..

His least favorite spot is anywhere Unpleasant/MR is

If he were to main a character in Dandy's world it would be Vee(wowzers reference)

He's slightly lactose intolerant and gets bad stomachaches after eating such. He also can't eat seafood because he fucking vomitz

He got his drug addiction because he stole 'brownies' from Poob one time

Speaking of, yeah hes a fucking stoner

His favorite number is 93 for absolutely no fucking reason, it just is :3:3:3

One time he got a shipment of a fucking Lampert body pillow from an unknown deliverer. He doesn't use it but he hid it (it's probably in the box)

Infected wears tons of Kandi on his wrists always. Some of them are from Lampert, and he obviously doesn't know. But Lampert knows (:

Lampert n Kas had overnight calls at least once a week. Their longest record is 3 consecutive days and 6 hours before Lampetz phone turned off and imploded.

Kas/fected snores. Like, pretty loudly.

Kas tried to start a band one point.. it didn't work out though since he's not a professional electric guitar player.

He also tried to become a famous skateboarder, which also didn't work.

He has 729 subs on YouTube.

When he wakes up in the morning, he sounds like a heavy smoker that has been smoking for 53 years. (He technically has)

He usues ":3" unironically

He gets REALLLLYYY overstimulated easily and sometimes he breaks down doors to help himself... He's a bit violent

He watches a lot of those weird slime tutorials on YouTube when he's stressed, either that or he bullies kids online then says sorry afterwards

Despite him being the son of a FUCKING GOD, Wallter scares the shit out of him.

He bought an exact replica of MR and burned it in the alleyway X3

One of his main vocal stims is "orange cheesecake"

His favorite FNAF character is Nightmare Bonnie and his Halloween version.

He listened to ONE Taylor Swift song and decided that she's annoying and never listened to another one of her songs.

He's attempted to make those old animation memes, but it failed terribly.

His favorite old animation meme sounds are Opinions, Red Lips, and Cuz you Got That (please look them up plzplzplz)

He unironically watches Blues Clues for no reason except the nostalgia

Hello Kitty boy. He owns at least 7 hello kitty things.

If Kasper hears "the store is now closed, please exit" one more time from the 'employees', he will probably lose his shit.

If the book doesn't have pictures in it, Kas/fected will not read it.

[geese-cheese]

Ok no huge story spoilers being posted but. I just beat the new life is strange game and I really want to hear other people's ending because I can't figure out if I somehow got the worst ending, if all the endings are just Like That, or (and I genuinely had the thought) if I somehow got a version where the last episode is specifically targeted to blue ball you and take away everything and seemingly intentionally make Max more miserable than either of season 1's endings.

Gonna try to keep spoilers light if I can!

First off. I got the deluxe edition, in large part because I fell for the "exclusive cat content" promise. From what I can tell the paid DLC (which was 30 dollars) gives you a quite cute cat that you get one short interaction with per episode for 3 of the 5 episodes, and then in the last episode apparently off screen you give the cat away to a friend. Also in a weird hallucination/dream type sequence he texts you and blocks you, which was both extremely funny but surprisingly devastating. Overall way too little content for a paid dlc and I can't help but feel like I paid to get attached to a fake cat and then have it given away suddenly with no real reason.

Now next weird feeling choice. I didn’t romance Amanda because personally I didn't fond her very interesting, and I got the kiss scene with Vinh (questionable taste ik but I found his flamboyant vibes and dialogue entertaining. Plus was tormented by Chloe seeming to flirt with Victoria on social media nonstop). Again I have no idea if anything I did in my game got me this endings or if this is the intended result, but at the very end of the game Amanda, who I was clear I only liked as a friend, declared how happy she is for us not dating since she wouldn't want to be involved in Max's drama which felt oddly rude and unnecessary. Amanda please understand I just had my beloved cat stolen don't be mean to me. And Vinh propositioned Max for a threesome with a gay guy over text and in person made no hint of acknowledgement of literally ant sort of flirtation or anything, and idk what feels worse being dumped by someone I wasn't pursuing or ignored by someone I was. Did you guys get dumped at the end at well? It feels very weird to create 2 love interest characters that lead you on for 5 episodes only for in the last scene you get dumped. Again maybe I somehow fucked it up but if I did I saw nothing indicating it.

Just a short one because I want to avoid major spoilers but. Safi. Did any of you like her? I feel like I felt neutral most of the game due to not knowing her well, and once I got to know her better I just liked her less and less, which made the game frustrating because I keep being told how much I (Max) cares about her and Max seems incapable of being upset with her or calling her out (which frankly I feel was EXTREMELY deserved the further in game you get), not to mention she seems to have no empathy for anyone. To me she feels like who people who hated Chloe in LIS1 talked about Chloe being, but worse. And for a game where the main focus is trying to save Safi, me finding nothing to like about her makes it very irritating when I am not given any options to be like "hey what the actual fuck"

And last one. I was naturally upset to start the game and find out Chloe and Max broke up. But the reason I accepted enough and the frequent references to Chloe and hearing lines from the original made me at least content that she wasn't just axed from existence. I figured she would make a cameo or at least we would get a call or a text from her. The last episode is the biggest most painful blueballing I have ever seen. Through the overly long dream sequence there are tons of references to and assets from the original, and there is a section where Max goes through several motel rooms, every single one covered in Chloe's stuff with Max missing her nonstop and the rooms clearly being from when Max and Chloe were dating and road tripping. Every single room I opened I got more sure we would see Chloe, but nada. At the very end for the first time in the whole game you get a message from Chloe, which roughly was something like "hey I heard where you live now went through some stuff, hope you are ok" and you don't have the option to reply. But the worst and honestly most malicious feeling one is in the last scene of the game, when Max and a few of her friends are in the bar. In your last conversation with Moses he brings Chloe up by name and asks Max what she is going to do, and Max says she isn't going to run away anymore which to me implies some sort of attempt at reconnecting with Chloe. And as soon as she says that, both characters and the camera look at the entrance to the bar..... and nothing. Nothing happens. I really don't understand this scene as anything other than a set up to finally see Chloe which it very obviously seems to be, just to instantly disappoint the player. Why else would both characters look at the door so suddenly like someone walked in? Why bother having the camera change to the door? I'm almost thinking maybe Chloe is supposed to show up here, but somehow I fucked it up and don't get to see her.(maybe the key is not having any interest in the new love interests? But that seems unfair to be punished for giving someone else a chance when Chloe herself seems to be flirting with and potentially dating new people as well.)

Idk to me it feels really strangely unsatisfying and lonely, I never got to see or even have the shortest chat with my boo Chloe, both love interests suddenly seem to toss me aside or unnecessarily voice that they don't want me, and on top of that MOSES STOLE MY FUCKING CAT. I CAN'T EVEN TAKE SOLACE IN MY 30 DOLLAR DLC CAT. The ending genuinely felt unnecessarily bleak and lonely and strangely punishing for Max, which left me feeling really put off and not satisfied once credits rolled and I have no idea how that ending could feel remotely good for anyone. Like I am thinking I must have somehow gotten the bad ending but I have no idea what I did.

Much more aside is it just me or was the detective treated real fucking weird? Like just a decent enough guy doing his job who is understandably freaked out by impossible things that ruin his understanding of reality, and then he gets not only killed but ERASED from history in what seems to be an extremely painful death?? And the weird paradox that killed him is never explained or brought up again and the only real mention of him after he is essentially eviscerated is a journal note saying he was "eaten by the crime scene" and got "literally yeeted from existence." LIKE...this innocent man just got the most unexplained and brutal ending I can recall in all LIS and it's forgotten about pretty quick and is nearly treated like a joke?? It genuinely feels like the writers have got a weirdly personal vendetta against a guy who did literally nothing. If you fully remove him from the story he really has no actual impact on anything. This man was literally created only to suffer a painful and extremely dark fate, and the thing that kills him then leaves a weird plot hole that is never explained or brought up again. Just thought it was a very odd and interesting choice of the writers.

Ok this turned into a much bigger and rambley thing than I meant it to just have a lot of thoughts rn but

TLDR: did all of this happen in your game? How did the ending make you feel? Did I accidentally land Max in an extremely depressing timeline and if so where did I go wrong?? Really curious to hear!

[th3-c0ll3ct3r]

Go support Vtuber Froot

TLDR IN COMMENTS

And before I see the comments about her allegedly cheating I just locked into it on my Twitter and the person who claims she cheated has publicly stated before this she hate Froot, was found to be editing screenshots, putting racist and allowing racist things to happen in her discord server, starting deleting nudes of vtubers for no reason, made up the "everybody makes mistakes" story by editing together out of context clips and creating a narrative and their only defence was that their edgy.

https://youtu.be/ulT3URmd5-g?si=c7X4wFXJ1UHMaTGD

https://youtu.be/jXRHToTzOuY?si=cu6e9pMJe_TMAe5_

People taking the story that face value is wild. I'd like to tell people that's saying that she cheated was a cover up because it's a manipulation tactic used by abusers and people who don't like you to basically get the first word in before something happens so it can be used as defense in the long run.

Like you do one thing someone takes it out of context and now you're at fault, and you can't say anything anymore because of it.

It is clear, Amt-hme (hime??) Did not like Froot. It's clear when her discord server and it's clear everywhere else. So for her to go out of her to scrap together alleged screenshots and alleged accounts then editing them together to make it seem as something it was not is the exact thing that I predicted would happen. Because now she's got little thing out and it was copyright striked and taken down people thought they were trying to silence the truth in actuality there was no truth there. I've linked someone who found some edited screenshots from the now apparently deleted documentary (another version is up but I do not know what this the original), it's clear most of it is not true, people don't even know if that's actually her discord, and Froot addressed it because the clips of her addressing it were edited together out of context. The only person who says anything about it is Ironmouse, who says that it's weird people are harassing her over something she didn't do and then taking pictures of themselves next to her leaked nudes, stolen off of a Google Cloud.

Ex husband, has not said a single thing. I thought he did but I was wrong. He has never in the entire history of the abusive relationship called around for allegedly cheating on him with five men from discord. He tried to claim she was cheating for other reasons which was disproven by her and you can check the timelines. The only person to have everything about her cheating is someone who would publicly hates her guts, and has edited screenshots in her favor.

Those accounts from those people who say "yeah she did", do not sound confident. You can hear them agreeing with what ant-hme says and it's almost like they're reading a script and then putting it into that own words, they are also been on her discord long enough to know that ant-hme (who I'll be calling AH not bc it's funny but bc it's shorter) that she despises Froot.

She literally came in with a point and no evidence. You can dislike someone but making a whole two hour documentary with edited screenshots and alleged Witnesses who do not know what they're doing is something that goes beyond the level of shady.

[corallapis]

Hi <3 No obligation to answer, I know dw lore is really convoluted and there's a lot of expanded universe material, but you've mentioned a few times that you think the War Chief is the Master. I'm also a War Chief/Master truther because I think that makes the contents of The War Games more fun and interesting (& also could count as another time the Master got the Doctor killed <3 romance <3) but I wanted to know if you had more reasons/examples from canon that supports that idea

ETA: i have made an updated version of this post here!!!

anon i’d be delighted to talk abt the war chief!!! he’s My Guy <3 and (dare i say it?) possibly even one of my favorite incarnations of the master. i’ve got lots of quotes for you under the cut, but to give a short summary of So Why Do People Think the War Chief is the Master, Anyway?:

the war chief was introduced in the war games, written by malcolm hulke and terrance dicks. (dicks, it should be mentioned, was also co-creator of the master, with barry letts.) when hulke & dicks novelized the serials colony in space, terror of the autons, and the war games, they dropped several hints that the war chief and the master were the same man. so, the creators of the characters were the first to suggest a connection between them.

but, i hear you cry, didn’t dicks go on to write timewyrm: exodus, which shows us a future incarnation of the war chief that isn’t the master? yes, because the official editorial line for the vmas & vnas was that the war chief & the master were two distinct characters. this caused more than one writer that personally believed them to be the same to write otherwise professionally. however, i think dicks still dropped hints linking the two despite this editorial limitation.

and what about magnus, the guy who’s well-known in current fandom as the “academy era” version of the war chief? conceived of by gary russell, magnus was originally written as a young incarnation of the master, not the war chief. in flashback, goth opera and invasion of the cat-people, the character of magnus is a young master. so why did russell retcon his own character in divided loyalties to be the war chief instead? he did so out of respect for david mcintee, who had recently written a different backstory for the master in the dark path, using the name koschei. despite divided loyalties’ portrayal of magnus and koschei as separate characters, it actually in large part serves to conflate the two further, due to said retconning.

in faction paradox lore, the war king is a version of the master (i don’t need to make a post on that, do i?) that also was once the war chief.

and now we’re really getting murky canon-wise, but craig hinton’s rejected pda time’s champion (ultimately completed & published after his death, by chris mckeon) explicitly depicts the war chief as an incarnation as the master, as well as reasserting that magnus was the name the master used at the academy.

even with all this Evidence, i’m like you, anon — i just think it’s Fun. i mean, just look at the guy lmao. if you can’t see the way that future incarnations are riffing off him, idk what to tell you. and ultimately, it just makes the most sense to me. three & delgado’s first meeting doesn’t really strike me as a First Time Seeing You Since You Left kind of affair, but the way two & the war chief react to seeing each other? and the conversation they have abt it…? yeah. love it.

the ‘70s target novelizations

doctor who and the doomsday weapon (aka colony in space) was the first novelization to feature the master, and was written by malcolm hulke in 1974. it begins with a scene that doesn’t occur in the tv story, where a senile old time lord tells his apprentice about the theft of two tardises by a pair of time lords now calling themselves the doctor & the master:

“There have been two stolen, you know.” The younger Time Lord didn’t know. “By our enemies?” he asked. “No. By Time Lords. They both became bored with this place. It was too peaceful for them, not enough happening.” The old Keeper smiled to himself, as though remembering with some glee all the fuss when two TARDISes were stolen. “One of them nowadays calls himself ‘the Doctor.’ The other says he is ‘the Master.’”

if there have been only two tardises stolen (at this point), then where does that leave the other renegades we've seen on tv? well, the answer to that is that the target novelizations were meant to be self-contained, without prior knowledge of the show needed or past episodes taken into account. it’s easier and cleaner to present the doctor & the master as the only two renegades. except the older time lord continues, and a little further on says:

“There were tens of thousands of humans from the planet Earth, stranded on another planet where they thought they were re-fighting all the wars of Earth’s terrible history. The Doctor” — he interrupted himself — “I told you about him, didn’t I?” “Yes,” said the young Time Lord, now used to the old Keeper forgetting what he had already said. “You mentioned the Doctor and the Master.” “No, it wasn’t the Master,” said the old Keeper in his confused way. “The Master never does anything good for anyone. He’s thoroughly evil. Now what was I saying?”

despite the self-contained nature of the novelizations, the events of the war games (which had yet to be novelized, when this was written) have occurred and are specifically brought up in relation to the doctor & the master. what does ‘it wasn't the master’ mean? the keeper’s confusion leaves it open to interpretation, but the fact that it’s brought up at all is quite a hint.

terrance dicks then wrote doctor who and the terror of the autons in 1975. additional info is added to the scene between the doctor and the time lord who comes to warn him about the master’s arrival on earth:

“As a matter of fact, I’ve come to bring you a warning. An old friend of yours has arrived on Earth.” “One of our people? Who is it?” The Time Lord pronounced a string of mellifluous syllables — one of the strange Time Lord names that are never disclosed to outsiders. Then he added, “These days he calls himself the Master.”

he uses the master’s gallifreyan name first, as if the doctor doesn’t know the name he’s now going by yet. then, we’re given a description of the master, including:

Already he had been behind several Interplanetary Wars, always disappearing from the scene before he could be caught. If ever he were caught, his fate would be far worse than the Doctor’s exile. Once captured by the Time Lords, the Master’s life-stream would be thrown into reverse. Not only would he no longer exist, he would never have existed. It was the severest punishment in the Time Lords’ power.

which brings to mind the war games, as the punishment described here is exactly what the time lords did to the war lord & what they would have done to the war chief, if he hadn’t died/escaped. and, speaking of that escape, the doctor asks:

“Is his TARDIS still working?” “I’m afraid so. He got away before it could be de-energised.” “Then he was luckier than I,” said the Doctor sadly. He had never really got used to his exile.

unlike the doctor, who was unable to get away from the time lords at the end of the war games, the master was ‘luckier.’ this could, of course, mean a more general escape from the time lords by the master, but i’d say all the hints here are pointing in the same direction.

in 1979, malcolm hulke wrote doctor who and the war games. the first conversation between the doctor and the war chief is slightly changed, and again it’s reiterated that there have only been two tardises stolen. first, the war chief teases the doctor about who he must be:

The War Chief took the Doctor into his private office just off the war room and told his bodyguards to leave. “Now,” he said, “a traveller in a time-space machine. There is only one person you can be.” “I had every right to leave,” said the Doctor. “And to steal a TARDIS?” The War Chief smiled. “Not that I am criticising you. I left our people too. We are two of a kind.”

and later, he summarizes that their empire (their empire <3) will be secure because, again, they’re the only two with stolen tardises:

“Now I understand,” said the Doctor. “It’s my TARDIS that you want. But surely you have one of your own?” The War Chief smiled. “No more mine than yours is really yours! We are both thieves, Doctor. Yes, I do have a TARDIS hidden away. But are not two better than one? While I rest and enjoy the spoils of victory, you can patrol our empire. And I shall do the same for you.” “Our empire?” “We shall rule the galaxy without fear of opposition,’ the War Chief said confidently. “For we shall be the only two who can travel through both space and time.”

this (very romantic imo) proposal is also, of course, very reminiscent of delgado’s ‘half-share in the universe’ proposal to three.

timewyrm: exodus by terrance dicks

in 1991, terrance dicks wrote a vna, timewyrm: exodus. in this novel, the war chief appears as a botched two-bodied regeneration after his death at the end of the war games, called dr. kriegslieter. no mention of the master is made. as i said before, i think this is down to virgin’s editorial policy, and i think there are hints connecting the two nonetheless. like when the doctor realizes who kriegslieter is:

And behind them, aiding them, manipulating them, giving them the time technology they needed, the Time Lord renegade who called himself the War Chief. Or, in German, der kriegslieter. “Well, he couldn’t have spelled it out for me much more plainly,” muttered the Doctor.

like, c’mon. it’s just classic master shenanigans to have your alias be an extremely obvious translation of your name. and then there's also kriegslieter’s plan, which is to steal the doctor's body to use as his own (complete with sexual innuendo):

“Once I have wrested from it the secret of the TARDIS, your mind will be of no further interest to me. But your body…” “Please,” said the Doctor, looking embarrassed. “Ladies present.” “We are both Time Lords, Doctor, our brains and our bodies are compatible. Regeneration therapy is far beyond the War Lord’s scientists, but even they can manage a simple brain transplant.” Kriegslieter studied the Doctor with detached, clinical interest. “To be honest, it isn’t the body I would have chosen but it’s infinitely superior to the one I have. When all this is over Doctor, I shall be you — and you, or whatever shattered gibbering remnant of you is left, will be me. Appropriate, don’t you think? A crippled mind in a crippled body…”

how many times have we seen the master do that? maybe only once when this book was written (in the keeper of traken, of course) but at least three more times since then, by my count. in addition ‘we are both time lords’ is an echo of both two & the war chief's conversation and three & delgado’s (in the mind of evil, the claws of axos, and colony in space).

kriegslieter also calls seven ‘my dear doctor’ throughout, which is not a quirk of speech that the war chief has been ever shown to have. i can't claim it's unique to the master, but i think there's a certain history there. (did you know ainley says it five times in one 50 min long serial?)

magnus, as the master

as said before, the character of magnus was introduced in comic flashback, which appeared in the doctor who magazine winter special for 1992 and was commissioned and edited by gary russell (& written by warwick gray). it depicts seven and benny viewing a scene from the doctor’s past, where two old friends, thete and magnus, are at odds.

magnus was, at the time of this comic's creation, meant to be the master. there is no connection to the war chief in this story. which is why when goth opera, written by paul cornell, is published in 1994, magnus is the name used for the young master when listing out the doctor's school friends:

“That was when I was young and wild, Doctor. My contemporaries and I grew up to take our responsibilities seriously.” “Ah…” The Doctor nodded. “Unlike my year. I begin to see.” “Yes.” Ruath warmed to her subject, sipping from the goblet. Her eyes never left the Doctor’s. “Mortimus, the Rani, that idiot Magnus. And you, Doctor. All graduates of Borusa’s Academy for scoundrels.”

and, in 1995, when gary russell wrote invasion of the cat-people, he again used magnus as a name for the young master, referencing the master running out of lives far more quickly than the doctor by the time of the deadly assassin:

Polly smiled. “I’m glad you’re completely recovered, Doctor. You had us worried, you know.” “Regeneration’s a tricky thing,” he said. “And it was my first one. Always the trickiest. They’re supposed to get better as they go on, so long as you don’t flitter them. Always used to say to my academy chum Magnus, ‘Magnus,’ I’d say, ‘Magnus, don’t throw old bodies away like you would a suit. They don’t grow on trees.’ Or something like that. Never listened though.”

when gary russell wrote divided loyalties in 1999, he followed mcintee’s lead in using koschei as the name for a young master, and instead retconned magnus a younger war chief, showing the two of them interacting during the doctor’s academy days — the final nail in the coffin of our lil theory, right? well, all i’m going to say to that is that all the academy era stuff we see is actually a nightmare the fifth doctor is having. so who’s to say he didn't dream his best friend as two different people? (he forgot which one of them killed a guy with a rock, after all...)

the war chief king

in the book of the war, the 2002 faction paradox ‘encyclopedia’ edited by lawrence miles, the entry on the war king states:

His personal assistant notes that his office is brimming with official business, but devoid of decoration. The only concession he makes to sentimentality are the components of a hypercube, twelve white squares stacked neatly on his desk. Its significance is unclear, but it’s thought to be the War King’s last remaining link with his unfortunate past.

the very first use of a hypercube was, of course, at the end of the war games, when the second doctor called the time lords in. if that's not concrete enough for you, the war king spells it out even more clearly in the 2021 audio sabbath and the king:

THE WAR KING: I have failed to introduce myself. I am— ah, but as we have just seen: names have power. I do not think I shall grace you with one of my true names, Sabbath, no, not yet. Let’s see. The Deathless? Oh, let us not get ahead of ourselves just yet. Chief and Master, Minister and Magistrate, President and King… I have been many things.

time’s champion

and finally we have time’s champion, originally written in the '80s(?) by craig hinton, completed and published by chris mckeon in 2008. first, we have mel stumbling upon a corridor of portraits in the tardis:

Her first impression was that the Doctor was at the end of a long, thin corridor. And then she realised what the corridor was. An art gallery, the length hung with paintings, from the doorway to the far distance. As she started padding silently along the corridor, she looked at the paintings, and saw they were all portraits. Portraits painted in a variety of styles, from photo-realistic to impressionist, and everything in between. And she recognised some of the subjects. […] Moving on, Mel had hoped for something a little less depressing, but it wasn’t to be. The atmosphere had changed again: it was still cold, but a sterile light was now bathing the area. Then she realised why: the sterility, the coldness — trademarks of the Time Lords. This must be the Doctor’s own people. Pride of place was given to the Master — or rather the Masters: the familiar, music-hall villain in his velvet penguin suit had been captured in all his melodramatic glory, but there was also a suave, older man, his eyes radiating a fierce, evil intelligence wrapped in charm, next to which was positioned the portrait of a young, satanically handsome man with long, sharp sideburns and a thin, beard-length moustache, whose hand vainly clutched at a strange medallion hanging around his neck, as if clinging to the only power in his possession. And then there was an image of the cadaver, that rotting corpse that Mel knew was all that remained of the Doctor’s oldest friend and oldest enemy, animated by nothing but pure malice and spite.

the description of the ‘satanically handsome man’ is obviously the war chief. and then, the doctor remembers events from his past:

The night time vanished into the shadows of light, as new images, all familiar, threw themselves past the Doctor’s eyes: his tedious years at the Academy, his rise in the Time Lord hierarchy, his flight from Gallifrey, the early years of his exile, the planet of the War Games and his reunion with the Master, the lost years of imposed servitude to the Time Lords, all his memories and so many more impressed their way across the Doctor’s vision, even up to the moment of the present day. Then, abruptly, the vision ended. The Keeper began to speak again.

his reunion with the master occurs during the war games and precedes his exile (which is when his meeting with delgado’s master occurs). and magnus is once again used as a name for the young master:

The Doctor and Benton managed to glimpse him as he raced past. He was young, with a curving moustache and a dark, haughty face accustomed to obedience but now shadowed and twisted by fear. He ran onwards without even pausing to acknowledge their presence. He seemed desperate to outrun something. Moments later, a group of well-armed and uniformed men rounded the corridor and also hurried past the Doctor’s party, following the fleeing man in their wake. Steadying himself against the cool stone wall at his side, the Doctor watched the squad pass, recognising them as members of the Chancellery Guard, but clothed in armour and dress from the long departed era of his days in the Academy. The Doctor paused, wondering where he had seen that face before. “Magnus?” the Doctor whispered. Benton stepped over to the Doctor. “Who was that bloke those boys were chasing after, Doc? He looked a bit like the Master.” The Doctor gazed into the distance. “That he did, and for good reason.”

[dr-tonytonychopper]

BATFAMILY AS FOLKLORE SONGS

i’m honestly shocked i’ve haven’t done this one. this one is a little different tbh, usually i just do characters and maybe lyrics but this time i did actually did explanations and i was watching the long pond sessions so i could get accurate notes on each song. DISCLAIMER there’s a lot of run on sentences and i hope it all makes sense, peace and love-ssb✌️🫶

the 1: steph and tim, i see this as being from both of their povs. i think a relationship between them wouldn’t work long term it would’ve been fun if you would’ve been the one

cardigan: dick/babs, i know that all writers have their own opinions on who is the “other woman” but timeline wise it’s kori so i see this as being from babs pov bc she goes back to him no matter what

the last great american dynasty: The Wayne’s, i feel that after Bruce adopts his kids and starts collecting others he starts kinda shifting what the wayne’s are where as when he grew up it was about image, poise and galas he starts to change and all he cares abt is if his kids are comfortable i had a marvelous time ruining everything

exile: jason and bruce, even though this song is like two lovers fighting i think it can be interpreted as jason being upset after tim becomes robin and it took you five whole minutes to pack us up and leave me with it and i can see bruce’s pov of being fed up with giving jason the chance to do the right thing but him not doing it like you’d get your knuckles bloody for me second, third and hundredth chances balancing on breaking bridges, i couldn’t turn things around you never turned things around

my tears ricochet: damian and talia, “it’s a song about greed. it’s a song about how somebody could be your best friend and your companion and your most trusted person in your life and then they could go and become your worst enemy who knows how to hurt you because they were once your most trusted person.” Taylor Swift long pond sessions you had to kill me but it killed you just the same this whole song and specifically this part and the quote reminds me of when talia made and had a clone of damian kill him i didn’t have it in me to go with grace and you’re the hero flying around saving face you hear my stolen lullabies

mirrorball: Stephanie, i’ve never been a natural all i do is try i know everyone is like this is dicks songs it’s not he’s the natural however i feel stephanie is put on this pedestal for being independent but she’s not and i feel like she morphs herself into a different version of herself depending on who she’s with “we have mirror balls in the middle of a dance floor because they reflect light they are broken a million times and that’s what makes them so shiny. we have people like that in society. they hang there and everytime they break it entertains us” Taylor Swift long pond sessions

seven: damian and jon, it’s a song abt besties idk 🤷🏻‍♀️ past down like folk songs the love lasts so long

august: kori/dick, IM SORRY DICKORI/ KORI STANS! to me when writers write this love triangle they write babs as the one, she’s smart and sensible and someone to settle down with while kori is written as a fling and something that is just someone who’s there in the moment and that’s what august is about it’s about this girl who was seen by this guy as a fling while she is truly falling for him and from everybody’s pov she’s this bad girl and temptress while all she wants is to love and to be loved

this is me trying: tim, they told me all my cages were mental so i got wasted like all my potential, tim is often now written as this happy go lucky character and i think that in red robin he’s fighting some real demons but in the newer runs he’s fighting to make it through the day or insecurities about his position in the family or as a superhero or even as bernard’s boyfriend and i feel like it’s just so real like no other character is going to compare to me when it comes to that and when it comes to his position in everyday life he is the definition as wasted potential he is crazy smart and charismatic but he just hates school and hates studying i was so ahead the curve that the curve became a sphere

illicit affairs: bruce/ talia, bruce and talias relationship is not healthy but i do believe that they both or at least bruce loved the other person and i feel like it shouldn’t even be described as an relationship because it seems like a means to an end

invisible string: the entire batfamily, definition of right place at the right time

mad woman: cass, in the comics and fics cass is often written to be a crazy, feral woman and i think that it’s a narrative constantly written about women and i feel like men are written as traumatized while women are not written or perceived with that tone they are written as vindictive or crazy

epiphany: babs and jim gordon, epiphany is written paralleling WWII to the pandemic and i think the perfect parallel in comic book history is babs and commissioner gordon fighting the same fight but taking different paths or routes and aaron dessner describes the song as comparing taylor’s family history and hero’s of today and i feel like that’s the perfect way to describe it

betty: babs/dick/kori, i already described my thoughts twice but i feel like dick would maybe take more accountability

peace: bruce/selina, imma be honest i don’t know if it’s canon that bruce doesn’t do relationships bc of batman but it’s fitting and i feel like it’s probably that even in relationships with other heroes is a conversation to be had bruce truly can’t give selina peace, he cannot promise stability or a promise of staying alive or not being over tabloids as he’s the richest man alive all these people think loves for show but i would die for you in secret

hoax: duke, duke is the one character that i can’t really get a read on but as the newest member of the batfamily i feel like there’s still this feeling in him that’s like i have this new family and i love them but at the end of the day i want my parents my parents that raised me at the end of the day he’s a boy who wants his parents. i also feel like he’s still trusting of people and he reaps what he sowed everytime

the lakes: tim/bernard: tim always has an exit plan and it’s always escaping by himself to be by himself and i feel like it’s the same no matter who he’s with but when he met and started dating bernard he finally found someone to escape with and exit the hero world for im setting off, but not without my muse

batfam (taylor’s version) is coming so lmk what albums you guys want next🤭🤭

[katkalis-the-horror-fanartist]

AWW I JUST SAW THE ASK FOR MUSIC MAN

I’d love to hear some of your headcanons for him!

I personally have stolen a headcanon from NTLS that Music Man is trans-fem and uses she/her pronouns-

But I’d love to think of what you think of Music Man! What’s his personality like? What would he think of his prototypes?? (The windups) Does he think they’re cute? Or just weird because they are little versions of him??

What kind of performances do you think he does?

I like to think he sings a lot, based off of how MicTheMatt has a bunch of videos with Music Man singing covers of songs tee hee 😁😁💖

What would he think if I asked him out on a date??🤭

So 👏MY MUSIC MAN👏:

He/him, sees himself as better than other animatronics actually, and hes honestly sometimes a tiny bit annoying if his talent and/or shows are bashed or criticized. He takes tons of pride in his songs because that IS his main gig! He always loves meeting the occasional patron that finds his multi-toned voice appealing too! Anyone that complains, sometimes children depending, inwardly clip his straws.

His arrogance isnt always super out there, but it can show when he's around anyone that he may see as better than himself. Any animatronic mutual that garners more attention than he does. Despite this, he's not much of a fighter.

He's super kind and gentle to those that sincerely enjoy him though. Besides his singing, he may perform small dances and jigs, usually involving his legs moving his body around and his arms moving in different patterns. Also, a few times, he has sung songs to lull children to sleep if they seem cranky due to being tired. (A good few of the MicTheMatt vids are good ones he sings to them! Hush a Bye Mountain, We're Walking in the Air, and Pure Imagination are good for restless children!)

As for the mini music men, he...he's slowly but surely liking them.

And last but not least...

He's all ready to enhance your time eating in the pizzeria!

[immortal-raine]

More on Mylo :D (Op Oc)

(Posting things from notes, normally throw text notes in her doc or the all blue, figured I’d start posting it here even without any art)

Mylo never meant for anyone to underestimate her, it just happens naturally. Almost no one realized Mylo had other skills besides Haruta, Izo, And Rhea (@liliaceaae‘s Oc)

Mylo was seen as airheaded little kid, until Haruta realized she actually had good memory if it didn’t pertain to herself, so she was his reluctant secretary forced to organize paperwork and deal information when she was caught. It was his version of sibling bonding time. (Based on personal headcanons for him)

Growing up in the back hand of water 7, they didn’t have the strength to survive so they had to use their head. Mylo lost fights constantly, they survived purely out of spite and pettiness.

Mean shop owners who’d chase away the kids on the streets would later find themselves with a bad rat problem or older kids who’d bully the younger ones could be found the next week over scratching skin until red because of an unexpected flea infestation in their homes.

From paying people back with broken or stolen items, ripped clothes, false rumors, or just continuous minor inconveniences everyday Mylo always gave back what was served. (A veerrry petty 8 yro)

Besides childish pranks, though funny, Mylo still had to learn how to fight somehow. Mylo learned a way to tell people’s weak spots and attack them there rather it be kicking, punching, elbowing, or/and biting Mylo made a way.

This technique only got worse after she equipped a mallet.

Later after joining the whitebeards Izo got her to learn the basics of using a pistol from him, even tho at the time she was shit at it, Izo still thought it would be a useful skill to have.

Mylo largely relies on brute strength on pin point spots to take her opponent down (like pts chopper) so having a pistol on hand for enemies she cant get close to would come in handy. (It did in her Rev days)

———

Back to being an air headed little kid, Mylo only became that way in the security of the whitebeards.

Survival mode on —> has the mind of a tactician (still silly tho)

Survival mode off —> no thoughts head empty

Using their wits sparingly mainly for pranks, got Thatch saying “So a few things do fly by in that empty little head of yours”

Also because of these moments Haruta caught on.

———

Rhea on the other hand probably never thought much of it, Mylo was just very helpful when she forgot stuff

From lost items to events, chores and even what was possibly on the menu that day, Mylo was a walking reminder app.

Besides Mylo’s memory (I think) Rhea liked the things Mylo would carve out of wood.

She carved out small nesting doll-like wooden versions of themselves to play with in their hide out, later making little versions of a few crew members as well, that ended up hidden away in their small hiding spaces.

She’d catch Mylo carving out birds or fish, nicking her fingers in the process…Rhea is probably one of the many voices she hears in the future telling her to “stop being careless, put some gloves on”

———

I imagine little Rhea and Mylo sitting next to each other as Mylo carves out designs on her small ship model, and Rhea watches as the cut wood slowly curls and falls (it’s like watching those satisfying videos of wood cutting lmao) She fiddles with those fragile fallen pieces as she continues watching. Once Mylo is done, Rhea gets to paint it with Mylo watching and fiddling with the semi dry paint left on Rhea’s art tools. afterwards they test it’s floating ability with a stolen mop bucket and water. (Did it float? idk)

[soda-gremlin]

Thea Sisters Book Reviews: Part 8

Tropical Treasure, Hollywood Hoax, and Madagascar Madness

Tropical Treasure:

6/10, I actually didn’t mind it! There were some parts that I did like. The girls agree to volunteer at a wildlife center for a research internship, which is in the Bahamas. When they get there and talk for a bit with their new friends, they find out the center is on the verge of closing due to lack of funding. They tend to a flamingo, yadda yadda, then they go to a pirate reenactment show. There, they learn the story of Annabel, a rich, fierce pirate captain who abducted the son of a governor, whom she fell in love with. They find a jacket that could have possibly belonged to Annabel, a map slipping out of it. With that map, they go hunt for her hidden treasure. But it looks like someone else is after the fortune as well. 

One big thing that I liked about this story, or rather the potential that it has, is the love story between Annabel and James, the governor’s son. I think it’s cute, and I would love to see a flashback. But anyways, enough about my hopes and dreams, I also liked that the painfully obvious candidate for the villain turned out to be a red herring and that he was actually relevant, unlike Rob from Niagara Splash. The person who actually ended up being the villain was fine. Nothing special. I do appreciate that this book deviated from the usual pattern of mediocrity, but it’s still not the best book in the series. Everything else still felt pretty humdrum.

Hey, this book isn’t a bad read, so if you wanna check it out, go ahead. But you’re not missing anything if you don’t. 

Hollywood Hoax:

This is the one, the only, the 1/10 out of all of these original books. Good ol’ IRRELEWOOD HOAX. BECAUSE IT'S THAT IRRELEVANT. So basically the girls are in Hollywood with their friend and her sister, who works at a movie studio. And coincidentally, at the same time, a princess from the royal family has gone missing. And uhhhhh something something shit happens, the film reel for the entire movie the sister was working on was stolen something something private detective protecting the princess’ (who is in Hollywood. Go figure.) identity.

I’m sure you can tell by my enthusiastic summary of the plot that I really love this book. The number one reason I DESPISE Irrelewood Hoax, is that it had SO. MUCH. POTENTIAL. I THOUGHT IT WAS GONNA BE COOL. I THOUGHT IT WAS GONNA BE ANOTHER WHODUNNIT LIKE THE OLDER BOOKS. I THOUGHT IT WAS GONNA USE COSTUMES AND SPECIAL EFFECTS BUT NO. NO. The culprit. Was a fucking detective. That we never even see before the reveal. And why did he do it you ask?? Because of the FUCKING PRINCESS. GOD I HATE THE ROYAL FAMILY STORYLINE. IT'S SO BORING AND HUMDRUM, AND IT'S LITERALLY THE MOST UNCREATIVE WAY THEY COULD HAVE INCORPORATED IT. Or hear me out, they could have made the book actually about Hollywood, and NOT about some rich white girl who’s sick of being rich. There were no cool concepts, no good characters, no chase scenes or gimmicks or dialogue to give this book a SHRED of quality writing.

Don’t read it unless you don’t believe me about how bad it is. If you wanna read an actual interesting book about a royal hiding among normal people, read Royal Ball from the Mouseford books, it's way better, and it doesn’t have to lead you on in order to get you to read it.

Madagascar Madness:

4/10, Madagascar Madness? More like MIDAGASCAR MIDNESS. Because everything about this book is MID. So basically Nicky and Paulina are invited along with the Thea Sisters by their friends Michael and Emma in the organization of Green Mice to a survival contest. They meet the other competitors, including Ed and Lisa, basically the Goodwill version of Vic and Vanilla, and Lisa’s just as bitchy. Now they have to survive in the wilderness and deal with these snooty ass de Vissen knockoffs. Then they start finding some strange equipment around, even when technology was forbidden, as well as other strange things. Turns out there’s two poachers capturing animals all around the forest, and all the teams left, yes including the bitch twins, have to work together to stop them.

Okay, so as much as I’m gonna hate on this book, I did give it a few extra points for deviating from the usual pattern, which was nice, and gave us antagonists besides the villains, which was also nice. That being said though, the villains sucked ASS. They had zero personality, zero intimidation factor, I don’t even know if they have names. And also, in the big confrontation where the whole group faced against the poachers, they got FUCKING CAPTURED. ALL NINE OF THEM. BY TWO REGULAR ASS DUDES. THEY DIDN’T EVEN HAVE ANY GUNS OR ANYTHING. 

I generally have the same complaints for this book as the other modern books. More forgettable side characters, the book being a complete bore, so on and so forth. Which sucks because the concept isn’t bad at all. But every single character, yes, including the Thea Sisters, is bland and only serves to move the plot forward. Even the antagonists are very one note, until they do a complete 180 off-screen (figuratively of course).

In conclusion, don’t bother. Just read Mouselets in Danger. It's literally this but better.

[reyrey11]

Nameless (4)

Your text is well-written and engaging, but I’ve made some minor edits to improve grammar, word choice, and clarity without altering the tone or meaning. Here’s the revised version:

Rachel left the tower and wandered through the city streets. A nauseating smell wafted from the narrow, dark alleys, and she preferred not to know its source. On the streets, many men and women were dying because they couldn’t afford substances, but Rachel had to admit she didn’t care if these people passed on due to their endless mistakes. In her view, anyone who made a mistake they knew they couldn’t bear the consequences of deserved to face the full weight of their actions. Despite her mischievous and carefree demeanor, Rachel was strict when it came to her beliefs and values.

She turned into a side alley and, after walking through the filth on the ground for a while, stopped in front of a building that looked slightly better than the other houses in southern Luaris. She glanced at the brown door and knocked on it four times with the back of her hand. A beautiful yet slightly irritated feminine voice called from inside, “Come in, troublemaker.”

As Rachel entered, she growled at the girl, “Look who’s talking...”

Esmini raised her head from the countless papers scattered around her, adjusted her glasses, and frowned theatrically when she saw Rachel.

Sitting on a chair, Rachel crossed her arms and asked, “So, the news travels fast?”

Esmini let out a weary sigh. “News about the most annoying thief in Luaris spreads very quickly.”

Rachel snapped, “Don’t call me that, especially here!”

Esmini shrugged and bent back over the papers on the floor, muttering thoughtfully, “You’re brave to steal from one of the ministers.”

Rachel said mischievously, “That was a minister? What a pity.”

Esmini quickly lifted her head, anger flashing in her eyes. “You damn well knew it was a minister, and you still stole from him? Damn you. Do you even realize what kind of trouble you’ve dragged us into?”

Rachel leaned forward in her chair, casting a sly glance at Esmini. “I was wearing a cloak. No one saw me. They don’t even know they should be looking for a woman.” None of this was true—Rachel had used her feminine charm to seduce the target.

But her words didn’t calm Esmini. Instead, they fueled her anger. “You knew he was a minister, didn’t you? That’s why you stole from him,” she said, her tone icy, a stark contrast to the usual fervor Rachel was accustomed to hearing from her.

Rachel gave a slight nod, and Esmini rubbed her temples slowly. That made two people rubbing their temples because of Rachel today.

After regaining her composure, Esmini asked, “Nick doesn’t know, does he?”

“Of course not. If he did, I wouldn’t be sitting here now.”

Esmini removed her glasses and said wearily, “Your actions get stranger and stranger every day. I’m afraid tomorrow someone will tell me you’ve stolen from the king himself.”

Rachel straightened up, crossing her arms. “First, I’m not reckless enough to steal from the most powerful and influential person in the country. Second, has anyone even seen Lucifer up close?”

Esmini shrugged and returned her focus to the papers.

After a few moments, Rachel rose from her chair, walked toward Esmini and the scattered papers, and asked quietly, “Did you sort out what I asked for?”

Esmini hesitated and, staring at the ground, replied, “I’m nowhere near done.”

Rachel was sure she could hear traces of fear in Esmini’s voice.

With a sigh, Rachel began to rub her temples. “If it’s this difficult... maybe I should handle it myself.”

Esmini shook her head firmly. “That’s not a wise move. Too many people could figure out your true profession. A lot of them would burn their entire fortune for just a hint about you.”

Rachel held her head in her hands and said impatiently, “This double life is becoming a big problem for me.” Of course, Rachel had more than just two identities and preferred to keep each role strictly separate.

“I’ll deal with it myself. Just make sure you don’t interfere. Your involvement would give away too much to too many people.”

Rachel walked to the small kitchen, picked up a red apple from the table, and took a bite. Esmini stood up, walked over to Rachel, and stared at her with her blue eyes. After a moment, Esmini said softly, “Hide for a few days. Don’t leave the house, and stay close to Nick. Let the fire you’ve started die down.” Her suggestion carried a commanding tone Rachel couldn’t refuse.

“What fire?” Rachel sneered, enjoying the sight of Esmini’s flushed face.

Esmini’s bright blue eyes burned with anger. “I don’t get you, Rae. You’re smart—smarter than anyone out there—so why do you do things you know are so wrong and reckless?”

Rachel’s small, delicate body stiffened, and after a moment, a cold, emotionless voice—one Esmini found terrifying—replied, “Don’t question my decisions. Just do what I asked, and don’t forget your place.”

Esmini settled for a quiet “Alright,” and Rachel, still in her icy demeanor, left her friend’s house.

Esmini was right—Rachel had made a bold, dangerous move that morning and was now nonchalantly walking the streets. But all of Rachel’s risky actions led to outcomes she found incredibly satisfying, outcomes she couldn’t share with anyone. Rachel was used to achieving whatever she wanted through cunning and deceit. Her actions were steps toward her goal, and she had no interest in discussing her ambitions or daring moves with anyone but herself.

Esmini had often been frustrated by Rachel’s boldness and the high stakes involved. And rightly so—if even one of Rachel’s high-risk moves failed, it was likely that both of them would lose their lives.

While Esmini had ordered her to stay home for a while, Rachel had never been one to give her friend’s advice much attention.

A short growl of hunger caught her attention.

In a quiet alley, a small boy was huddled, his stomach growling louder than he was. The boy was filthy and painfully thin, clearly having gone days without a proper meal.

Rachel reached into her pocket and pulled out a sandwich—one Esmini had probably intended to eat for lunch but Rachel had expertly swiped from the kitchen—and handed it to the boy. He snatched it from her hands and began devouring it. Rachel thought to herself that the boy had likely forgotten he needed to chew before swallowing.

As she watched the boy eat, Rachel contemplated her next move, considering how to eliminate her enemies, properly use her allies, and secure what she desired. Rachel had a goal, and now she had a plan to achieve it.

[hiiragi7]

Since it's still somehow being argued that "nobody can explain the harm a word does", let's go through cultural appropriation 101.

Cultural appropriation is the act of taking things that aren't yours from another culture, without respect or permission from the original culture. This is not limited to just negative imitation of a culture, but also things such as taking from a culture due to fixating on the "cool foreign" aspects, which feeds into racism and stereotyping.

This is what Alexandra David-Néel did in creating the word "Tulpa". Many things she did are horrifically appropriative and orientalist, but I will stick to just talking about the word Tulpa in this post.

First, what harm does cultural appropriation in general do? Let's talk about it.

Cultural appropriation is a part of a much larger racism issue - And while specific acts of appropriation may seem small to the ones that are not being appropriated from, it is often very painful to the people of the cultures that things are being taken from, and it is everywhere. It is a far bigger picture than most people ever really grasp. It is not just about the colorful dreamcatcher you see sold at the gas station, or someone cosplaying as another culture for Halloween; No, it is an entire movement, and in many places, it is embedded so deep that it seems impossible to ever be rid of it.

I was raised with a wide variety of different cultures. Each act of appropriation I see from those outside these cultures feels like a mockery.

It hurts to see things we call sacred be white washed and then sold for profit to other whites. It hurts to constantly feel on guard when you see items from your culture out in public spaces, because you do not know whether they are genuine or whether they are something a white person made because they thought it was "cool" without understanding or respecting it. It hurts to hear others use words that they do not know the meaning of. It hurts to watch movies with people not of your culture wearing a poorly made version of your culture's clothes. It hurts to be told you're the oversensitive one for "making everything about race".

Cultural appropriation is not solely about the act itself; it is a symptom of a far larger issue, one which every small appropriation seems to scream "Look how much I don't care about you or your culture. Look at how much I have taken from you."

When you walk into a store and see a mockery of your culture being mass-produced and sold to people who have no right to it, when you hear songs casually mention words they should never use, when you see social media trends taking entire concepts from your culture and completely changing it until it's unrecognizable - This shit hurts, and it's everywhere.

Now, let's talk briefly about Tulpa.

Tulpa is not as widespread a term as some more well-known cultural appropriation examples are. However, to pretend as though the harm done is somehow excusable due to that is really to say you do not know much about racism. Each "small" act of racism, things which you may not even think twice about, can be a painful reminder of oppression. "Tulpa" is no exception.

Tulpa, as a term, is harmful because it is appropriation. To call it non-harmful is to either say that cultural appropriation is not harmful or that Alexandra David-Néel did not appropriate it, both points which would require a lot of stretching of the truth and racism in order to make.

As a western term, Tulpa is itself a reminder of how Asian cultures and religions are stolen from, and how little people care so long as it benefits them personally. It is a representation of orientalism and lack of racial awareness in plural spaces.

I'd also like to talk about how the pro-Tulpa terminology side reinforces racism in other ways in its attempts to defend the word Tulpa.

A lot of pro-Tulpa terminology folk seem to misunderstand that the argument is not "Tulpa is the main source of racism in the plural community, and changing the word will make the racism go away."

No. The usage of the word "Tulpa" is a symptom, not the cause. It is a symbol of appropriation, of lack of care and respect, of racial issues that were already there and which will remain there until an active effort is made to change it.

The outrage from the anti-Tulpa terminology side comes not solely from the use of the word itself, but also from the lack of willingness to change or to even entertain a conversation which ends in anything other than "The western use of Tulpa isn't racist, and I should be allowed to keep using it."

The argument of the anti- side is not "Changing the word will solve racism". Rather, it is that changing the word is a symbol representing promised change in the community, of an active and intentional move towards racial awareness and safety. That is what we mean by "this is a bigger issue than syscourse". When you refuse to change, it is a spit in the face of all the ones who have been stolen from and who you ignore or argue with when they speak out.

It is declaring, "You are wrong about your own culture, and the harm done to you is not real."

This is what this debate is truly about. It is not petty drama, it is not about "winning", it is not even really about syscourse. What it is about is being spoken over, having the damage of racism downplayed, being insulted and having your intentions called into question, it is about white people deciding whether you're the "right kind" of minority or not to speak on these topics while they get to say whatever they want. It is all these much larger issues that this discourse has brought into the spotlight, it is not just about the word "Tulpa".

While the term Tulpa is very much appropriative and should change, it is also an incredibly large issue that the word is being made out to be the sole problem in this discourse. It isn't, and never was, the only problem.

Long post, but I had a lot of words.