#it was a dumb vision but it was MY vision

[nova-rogue]

The assumption that all production is a monolith is certainly a choice here. Two major things on cinematography:

Cinematographers are generally good at their job. They know way more than you could ever know about lighting a scene. Someone taking a screenshot and "brightening" it in software like photoshop is NEVER going to prove the point you think you're proving. Because lighting doesn't work that way and you're taking a 2D still of a 3D film that already has processing and compression and using a brightening tool. Like that's not how that works at all. This is a dumb comparison to make. You don't have the original captured image and all of its data. You cannot adjust the brightness with a screenshot: you need to be able to process the full image data.

A big downfall, though: Movies are lit specifically for the best case scenario of lighting and color nuance. Theater screens and projectors are supposed to be kept clean, working, and up to spec, and movies are lit for that purpose. A movie is rarely "too dark" it's just that you're watching it sub-optimally on a computer, phone, or TV, or god forbid on a movie projector that hasn't had its routine maintenance (something that notably got worse because of the pandemic!). This isn't your fault as a consumer btw, it's just a stupid disparity that exists.

Cinematographers light differently than you'd expect. White is meant to be seen as the BRIGHTEST thing on the screen. Every ounce of brightness is lit down based on that. Your computer screen? There are things just as bright as white because of the way brightness is done on computer monitors. Cinematographers use a system called False Color in order to identify and "visualize" brightness levels:

Note that Brightness has to do with literal light output and not hue or saturation. Those are different things.

Cinematographers use False Color overlays when adjusting for lighting on set in order to determine the appropriate levels based around pure white being the brightest thing ever on screen and pure black being the darkest possible thing.

Because of this: compression is a bitch. If you're watching on any at-home device your device is compressing the shit out of the bottom end of the spectrum! You are seeing LESS detail than intended. There will be artifacting there that's typically pretty visible. This doesn't happen with (maintained) projectors.

When you watch on an at-home device you are viewing with less color nuance than is actually captured on camera.

These cinematographers are not "lazy". They're not using "flat lighting" (jesus christ) and they rarely have to "fix things on set" like this post is implying. Their lights and lighting are often just fine. The bigger issue is the technology disparity between what Cinematographers are lighting for--for NUANCE and COLOR RANGE--versus what color range output the average person's device is capable of putting out.

Also, if you're ever watching a pirated movie or show, unfortunately it is highly likely it's in less quality than the original and the compression, artifacting, and overall quality is going to be worse. Not saying you're wrong for doing this (fuck the streaming service hell world), just making mention that pirating does sometimes affect quality.

See Also: VFX is absolutely a bitch too, but we do talk about it wrong. CGI tech is really good now, but I've seen VFX artists on twitter talk about how the biggest issues arise when the production team doesn't have a solid vision for what they want and keep changing their mind or making adjustments to what's needed. Less time to work on the CGI means less quality CGI. Sometimes the lighting and color grading of post-production is affected by this problem as well. If you watched either of Denis Villeneuve's DUNE films, it's worth watching any behind the scenes production stuff you can. You'll note that Villeneuve and Greig Fraser (my favorite cinematographer of all time btw) worked very hard with visual development, story boarding, and pre-production so that they had a clear vision for going into solving cinematography problems in advance, which also makes post-production go smoother. A lot of times it's not even the Director and Cinematographer's fault if they aren't given the time or budget to make things go as smoothly as DUNE.

So yeah, posts like this irritate me because a lot of assumptions are made by people who know very little about how cinematography works. There are little snippets here and there that are correct (like the rushed/lack of vision VFX stuff), but a lot of it gets pinned on either the director or cinematographer, which is often unfair. Someone doesn't get in Greig Fraser's position (or even lower!) by being bad at lighting on set. It's a job with an impossibly high skill ceiling. There is stuff with more mediocre cinematography, but the issues are rarely going to be "lazy lighting". It's usually something else.

OMG. Somebody said it out loud.

Disney is absolutely not the only studio doing this though.

It seems to have become standard practice across movies and series everywhere.

Anything that doesn't do it is like a breath of sunlight and fresh air inside a dank musty cave.

It's part of the 'fix it in post-production' epidemic sweeping through the studios. Fix it in post is often used as a time/money-saving measure - and is absolutely part of the same mess that the WGA is fighting against currently.

Rather than fixing things on-set - audio, lighting, something in-frame that shouldn't be, etc. (which is all handled by unionized crew) - they leave it for the CG folks (not unionized) to edit later.

(on ridiculously tight schedules that leave them scrambling, cutting corners, and working inhumane hours)

See also: that part where scripts aren't finished, because the studio won't fully staff the writers room, and won't pay to have writers on-set for day-of-filming script questions and fixes (which could resolve issues such as 'what kind of lighting do we need here?')

Anyway, all this shit we, as audiences, keep complaining about - bad lighting, bad sound, wonky visual effects, over-usage of not-great CGI, stilted acting on green-screen sets, scripts that seem not-quite-finished, costumes that look like they're cheap and flimsy, terrible hair and makeup, films and series that aren't as polished as they could be...

Plus the complaints we have about streaming services and their shenanigans...

All of that is enmeshed in the extreme capitalism that has taken over everything, including entertainment, to the point that studios are abusing their workforce and churning out material that - at best just doesn't live up to its potential - at worst, is just unwatchable shit.

[deesseshesca]

PAC What lesson is this situationship trying to slide into my DMs? (18+)

You are stuck giving all that you got ...

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PILE 1 

Y’all are POC. 

You use your love to destroy. Stop talking with me by using bad poetry. Enough is enough. Y’all should stick to math. Not everyone that loves Lana Del Rey is meant to be a big writer. Some are meant to be engineer and is ok pile 1. Your guys are gashlighter, manipulators, whore but never broke. Y’all will use love to eat something. I feel like y’all just get in a relationship to get free food. I just got a vision of somebody in their pj in their bed choosing from their roaster who is going to have the pleasure to pay for their food. Some of y’all are staying with your cheater of a partner because they always offer amazing gifts when they feel guilty. Designer bad, baecation and concert ticket. Y’all may be in a relationship and you still fucking on your boy bff. I just heard y’all say ‘’ You always need to keep an eater close (wink)’’. You felt so safe to share that with me … Anyways Pile 1 … stop being a red flag. (Hum .. hum before y’all retirer can u show me how ? (my spirit guys looking at me) What ? You would do it 2 for a check …) 

2. You need to stop being dumb. Y’all need to be more careful. You're out there with a restaurant name in your contact, you don’t delete text and nudes. When your partner finds out you stay defensive when you are caught on 4k. I just got a vision of your sex tape and we can see you clearly, giggle and  shit. Not y’all in your Kim K era. Babe you're not Future and a tower moment is coming your way. Yes. you will pay for all the heartbreak you did. So enjoy because what’s about to hit is inevitable. C’mon you did not think this playing around is going to last forever. 

What's their love language according to the cards – text, treats, or trauma bonding?

Text

The person you are currently messing with, they love to keep up with you. They love to text you throughout the day the most basic things. They love to send you memes, tiktoks, reels. Y’all may even still be doing Streaks. They love taking pictures of you without you knowing it. They love your face when you are focused on a task or doing your homework. They love sending you money. Unlike Pile 2, your person loves when you are asking them instead of them giving it to you. Is like they love to feel and hear in some shape way or form that they are needed in your life. Almost like they are in competition with other suitors and they think that they are winning. 

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PILE 2

I’m getting a very sinister vibe from y’all. Y’all are maybe worshipers of Lucifer or be very deep into the goth culture. Y’all may be self-harming or you are going through extreme depression . Y’all may have lost someone extremely close to you. 

This is a DUAL POV. Your partner came in  fucking strong and did not want to let me go. But I don’t ever feel like they are going to be reading this, that’s why for their POV, I still use ‘’ They’’. 

Feminine Energy. 

You need to learn to accept the love you give out. You have a heart full of love and you are not scared to pour it into other people's cups but when it comes to you, you are nowhere to be found. You keep everyone at arm length while genuinely being there for them. You will always be an open ear for them. You don’t mind tagging along to a very scary appointment if he needs it.  You don’t mind staying awake on the phone because they have night terrors. You don’t even mind giving your all in the bedroom. You always make sure they are pleased. You always make sure they know they are loved and their voice matters. They especially love when  you give them head. Your mouth feels amazing. They think you are gorgeous when you are going down on them. Your hair in a ponytail so they can truly enjoy the beauty of your face (Ok.. Pile 2 … Face cards never decline !). They love to see your eyes full of lust while your mouth is sweet like honey. I’m hearing:’’ Ok now I am going to suck. Baby you tell me if you need me to stop.’’ After you are done give them a handjob. In my vision they are still fully clothed (even have their coat on (Damm y’all not even going to take off the coat… Not y’all fucking in winter attire)). But when is their turn, no show. I’m hearing : ‘’ My turn now’’. You are still in your panties and a big t-shirt. ‘’ Nah … I’m ok…’’ you put yourself under the cover. That makes them feel like a piece of shit. I feel like y’all be doing that because you don’t think you have a pretty pussy. But babe… is more than sex. You refuse to admit that you care. You tell them the only reason you cuddle is because you are cold. You tell them the only reason you go on a drive at night is because you hate driving but love music. The only reason you help them study is to make sure you understand the subject enough. You give love while making sure he knows that it is not that deep. That kind of hurt. 

Stop making your partner feel useless. The person that you are dealing with doesn't feel needed in your life. You treat them like you can’t depend on them. Some of you even walk 45 minutes from your house to school (even in high heels from home to work) because your car broke down. Instead of calling them to pick you, they find out when you got there. It really wasn’t your intention to make them frustrated or scared for you. Some of you ignore them when life goes hard. When depression  hits a tap a bit too much and you are in bed incapable of communicating with the outside world. They would love you to at least text I am ok but can’t talk right now. Make them feel like shit that you don't think they are worth enough to open up. When you need help you don’t ask for them. When you want space you disappear. 

3. They hate the way you don’t defend yourself. It might be specific to people with abusive families. If your parents are physically abusive, I’m seeing : Both of y’all cuddle in his bedroom (he may have red cover) and he asks why you are shivering but you brush it off with ‘’ Oh, I’m cold’’. But really the contact of your clothes with the wounds hurt. They cuddle you but you don’t relax, actually you get stiffer. You try to not make them look under your shirt but they saw it all. I’m hearing y’all tell me; ‘’ It happened one time !’’. They are answering; ‘’ One to many fucking time.’’. You are not lying it was a one time type of shit but still it was fucking mess up. The one with the abusive verbal parents, I got a vision of them going through your phone. At first they thought it was a boy blowing up your phone (y’all have another name for your mom in your phone) but actually it was your mom telling the worst kind of shit. I hope you slowly, I should have never kept you, you are nothing but a useless slut. Then you walk in and you brush it off. ‘’ Until I found out it was because of some fucking dishes.’’ (Well thank you for the input, maybe soon to be bf). Anyways no matter the scenario, they fucking hate the fact that u refuse to anything because you know it will only get worse. They are in your life to show you that babe … this is the worst. You are trying to save yourself from the worst while living in it. 

What's their love language according to the cards – text, treats, or trauma bonding?

 Treats 

They love doing stuff for you. Especially with their hands. Some of you have verbally abusive and alcoholic mothers. One day she went in your room and mess it the fuck up. And your men re-purchase a vanity and build it for you. It was a mini (huge) surprise for you. They may have also helped you set up your bed frame. They also like to bake for you. They love to go pick up your Starbucks orders and bring it to your school (some of y’all may go to cosmetology school). They hate when you use your money and you hate using their money. They are so petty, they just say ‘’ Well your money is for everything your mom broke … my money is for you’’. Not them shutting you up on Tumblr, Sir…They love treating you like princess. The reason … is your smile. When you smile it is like a whole sun is on their phone (they may have your face as their lock screen),in their bedroom, in the car. LOOOOL ! You are like the sun in the teletubbies. 

Masculine energy. 

Not them asking for a whole reading for themself. Sir… please go book on Ko-fi. Out here making me work extra on an empty stomach (smh). 

They are going through a hard phase in their depression. 

They can’t imagine a future with you. HA ! Don’t be scared. I just saw someone holding their heart… Lol. ‘’ Well you could have worded it differently …’’ Sir, this is my blog … CAN A GIRL CLICKBAIT IN FUCKING PEACE ? Girl, come get your man, he is getting on my nerves. You can let go of your tits. What actually is happening is they don’t think they are going to make it past a certain age. Stop holding your tit … (I’m just clickbaiting rn … sometimes I enjoy being dramatic … what ? I am a writer after all). People around them  always seem to die at a specific age because of their mental health, substance abuse or misery. But there’s age in their family in which most don’t pass and in the state they are in … they don’t think they are going to be different. Maybe their bff ended their life and they think they are next. That destiny only enjoys torturing them. They see you old and gray with your teletubbies smile running around in your backyard (hum… weird…) but it is like from the bottom of their soul they think they will be there. 

They don’t know their light. You came into their life to show them that there’s more good in them than they think. Maybe they are from a family where there’s more people in jail than free. Or more people die more because of addiction than old age. So all their life nobody gives a damn about them. Why would they care for the mess up kid in the fucked up family ? Is like they are multiple generations of fucked up. You showed them their light. The fact that they always answer your call no matter the time, they also serve you, they also go to work for you. All those actions prove their love but also their commitment at being better than the rest. They know how to budget, keep a job, take care of their health, etc. They just need the right motivation. 

What's their love language according to the cards – text, treats, or trauma bonding?

 Trauma bonding

First they love you. Second, their intentions are pure. It is just that my question can give a bit of a clickbait vibe, y’all know that I live for the drama (rarely … I just hate basic questions …). You are their safe place. They love having sex with. They love seeing in red lingerie.  They love the push up bra, the extremely thin pantie, the stocking, the way you did your hair and makeup just to end up being a sucking them the fuck up. They also love when you are drooling with spit from how big they are. They love touching you. They love cuddling you. I don’t feel like y’all make love. Y’all are way more rough in between the sheets. They love aftercare. They love taking care of you. They love taking a towel and cleaning you up or running a bath for the both of y’all. They love taking a shower with you (it may be mandatory activity everytime y’all sleepover to their house). They love cuddling you. They just love you ! They hate any kind of space between y’all. You are the only person to whom they open up too. They love the fact that you never rush them. They love the fact that you try to give them tips to cope in a better way. They love the fact that you believe they can be a better man. 

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PILE 3

You guys are the children of divorce parents. They always took care of you. You always had the newest clothes and shoes. You always had the newest technology gadgets. They put you in private school and you had a luxurious car as a gift. Yet, you grew up watching your dad being abusive very severely to your mom physically. You swore you were going to be different … but  here we are….  I don’t think y’all are physically violent to anyone but your anger is something. Is not like is coming out of no where but the stuff y’all do when you are loosing it is fucking questionable. If it was not for your beauty and money … y’all would be in JAIL ! 

Y’all need to learn to what the fuck a patnership is. You don’t like when people tell you what to do. Well sometimes it is needed. Also I am getting that a person just stating their opinion can piss you off. But ruffling feathers is part of  a relationship. Is also the fault of your partner because how is he/she going to get mad at you because you attract attention. Like you are a pretty boy/girl so for sure you are going to attract isn’t how they got you. Getting mad at you because you are wearing a short skirt like they were not in the same instagram profile liking that very same picture of you in it. You can’t get mad at baddie consequences when you bag one. On the other hand the way you show that anger ain’t it. The screaming, the destroying or even the blocking his/her phone number no, no , no. Y’all need to create a safe place to communicate and allow opinions that hurt you. Because in a safe place every emotion is valuable even if it is not factual. Is for both of y’all to find a way to explain yourself with love and care. 

2. With kind intention ONLY…Y’all need therapy because that’s the reason you can’t keep nobody close. Is not just that person is a friend, coworker, or even family member. I know you want someone to see past all that anger because you are so much more than that. You are brilliant, you are pretty, you are elegant, you speak multiple languages, you are multi-talented, you are excellent at study, you have great life hygiene, you are kind and extremely giving but girl… that monster inside of you needs to be tame. There’s only so much that a rage room can do. I know it is not your fault … your parents made you that way. With the constant screaming, beating, and even choking. It’s so fuck up to be responsable for a healing from trauma we never ask for. But not doing it is going to cost you all the love you are meant to receive. 

3. Stop suppressing your emotions. This situationship makes you realize how bad your emotional state actually is. Because being in a relationship with someone put you in a situation where all your triggers are in the open. You can’t run away, you can’t act like nothing is going on, you can’t play it cool. Because everything is too much, you feel too much so act impulsively. From the exterior, you have that facade of the perfect child. That front is a huge source of stress. You wish it to be true but you know damn well that you are far from it. You are always one trigger away from breaking your protection. That’ s a fucking source of stress on it’s on. Admit that you are angry and mad. Being always happy is killing you slowly. Y’all make me think of the red hair in Desperate Housewive. 

4. Gradual numbness. Since reacting doesn't work for you. When you are mad all the people in your life tend to forget all the good you did to them and all the good living within you. You are slowly running in a hole of feeling nothing. Going from feeling too much to feeling nada. 

What's their love language according to the cards – text, treats, or trauma bonding? 

Text

They love texting you. Honestly I feel y’all recently broke up but even if it has been a while they still love you so much. They are rooting for you. They also love the fact that the only communication between y’all 2 is texting. They can’t handle all you are but that does not mean they don’t love all of you 2. They love staying on the phone talking about everything. They love how educated you are on many subjects. They love your voice. Damm do they love your voice. Y’all have a pretty voice. They would never admit it but they love your voice even when  you are yelling at them. They love your moan and they still masturbate to your voice audio. Y’all may still practice phone sex because they can’t have enough of you. You are genuinely the most perfect human they've ever seen. Rightfully so, y’all have a very proportionate body, beautiful brown eyes and full tits. They have flashbacks of touching you not in a sexual way but they miss having their hand on you. You have one of the softest skin. 

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[hms-no-fun]

Oh yeah the big pickups to work in an office job infuriate me to no end. A whole parking lot full of death machines that have never known the touch of a gravel road or hauled anything larger than a big Costco run. I have a nice lil electric hatchback tho.

the thing is, i always wanted a car. my parents took me on a lot of road trips when i was growing up (i remember a couple years before he died, my dad told me he was very proud to have shown me so much of the country when he himself had grown up poor and could only travel as far as the next job took him), so of course i have in me that quintessential American longing for The Road. in high school, i fantasized about getting into a car and disappearing into traffic, traveling to some distant corner where nobody lived and finding a situation to occupy. god help me, as a teen i bemoaned being born too late and longed for the naive vision of the 60s i'd received from my parents and pop culture and the rusted-over kitsch that dotted the remains of Route 66 (which my dad loved to talk about).

i hate car culture in part because i used to love car culture. it's a microcosm of indoctrinated American patriotism in general. they sell you on the dream, right? the freedom of travel, of expression. i wanted to be the millennial Jack Kerouac, whose work i did not actually read because i was young and dumb and drowning in dysphoria. but as i got older i saw how quickly little bumps and scratches can turn into massive financial burdens, to say nothing of cracked windshields or flat tires. then my mom died and i was given the responsibility of handling her car, a silver scion xb. i was 19, i did not have a license and had next to zero experience driving, nor had i ever had a job before. when i say "given the responsibility to handle her car" instead of "given her car," i mean that i didn't just get her car. like, i had it, i had the keys and no one was around to tell me not to drive it. but in order to get the title signed over to me, i had to go through an insane bureaucratic process of proving that my mom was dead, and that i was her kid, and that i should have the title to the car. this took months of back and forth miscommunication as dated notices were sent and bills piled up. because it wasn't just the car i got, but the debt as well. some $30,000 of it left unpaid by mom, which i was now expected to pay in her stead. my first job was working night shifts at a wal mart stocking the frozen food department, and that was the job where i rode my bike on the highway to get to work. i didn't drive because i didn't have a license, didn't have experience, was terrified of highway drivers, and knew very distinctly that if anything went wrong i'd instantly be in so much more debt (monetary and bureaucratic) than i already was. eventually my sister, a career nurse with three kids and a house, took over the car from me.

nobody understood why i didn't drive that car more. even my mom, when she was still alive, she said "when i was your age, i was dying to get out of the house." i was too! but for all that cars culturally represented freedom, in practice what they came to represent to me was the expected cost of participating in society. i was already sensitive to adults sneering at me for my perceived immaturity (the joys of being a millennial), which only compounded on learning that i didn't have a car or license, that i wasn't proactively joining Clubs or Organizations, that i wanted to pursue the arts of all things, that i wasn't Christian, etc etc etc. i never got out to see live music because i didn't have a car and didn't have money. i didn't get my first smart phone until late 2015. i spent a lot of my college years feeling alienated because i was at least two years older than everyone else (i already didn't want to go to college straight out of high school even before my mom died), still used a flip phone, and didn't have a car. which is to say i was a working class person trying to get by in a middle class institution. and i only got in because i was very good at peddling my sob story for sympathy points. FAFSA loves to finance the odd tragedy, i'm telling you (don't worry, i still had to take on a ton of student loan debt). when i expressed to family that i didn't want a car because i didn't feel safe as a driver, and felt that i shouldn't need to have a car in order to participate in society, they said "everyone feels that way at first, but you just have to get over it. or move to a big city. good luck affording that!" as a related aside, when i told those same people that i liked being in college for the pursuit of knowledge and wanted to graduate towards being a sort of generalist, they flatly insisted that that's not how college works anymore, and that i should instead put my energies towards a Useful Degree that would Get Me A Good Job.

of course they were sympathetic, at least on the surface. they told me these things in a kind tone, the way adults always do when what they're saying boils down to "it's not fair, but life ain't fair." and i've just never been able to accept that. before i knew anything about socialism or communism or materialist dialectics, when i was still very much under the thrall of post-Clinton liberalism, i still felt this deep-rooted conviction that when people said "life isn't fair," they were giving up something. that it was an excuse, an appeal to a higher power, a resignation to the status quo. my experience with cars, by the time i hit 25, was that you bought them for the freedom they promised, and then spent of your life driving that car between one of maybe five locations on the regular and doing very little else. the only time i ever felt free in a car was on a road trip, which happened with vanishing irregularity as all the associated costs skyrocketed in the 2000s. all the other time was spent driving in circles looking for parking, only to balk at how expensive it was. spent stuck in traffic for hours, amid concrete dunes of overpasses tangled with one another like a four-year-old's first try at tying their own shoes. spent angrily judging the poor driving conduct of other people, spent resenting anyone and everyone who inconvenienced their drive, spent rubbernecking at horrific accidents on the side of the road, spent worrying about car payments and insurance payments and how much it's gonna cost to get a tune-up, and then someone breaks in and steals all your stuff and your insurance doesn't want to pay for it, and then you get into an accident and you spend months haggling with your insurance and their insurance in the hopes that someone will maybe pay for the debt you've had to take on in getting your car repaired, because of course professional life doesn't take a break just because your mode of transportation got totaled.

and if i was applying for a job and the employer found out i didn't have a car, i was denied on the spot. i learned very quickly to lie about such things as often as possible. but i also learned that i could only bluff for so long before the lack of a car became a genuinely insurmountable hurdle. which fucked me up tremendously because at no point in my adult life, to this day, can i ever imagine being able to afford all the associated costs of having a car. in many respects, not having a car was the only reason i was able to survive the way i did. it meant i could work part-time while i was in school (with student loans making up the shortfall), share an apartment with two or three or four other people, and just barely have enough to eat the bare minimum and go see a movie sometimes. of course i wanted the freedom all my car-owning friends had, but mostly i wanted it so i could drive out into the middle of nowhere at night and be truly alone. i wanted a car so that i could escape from the frictional sandpaper bureaucracy of american existence... and i knew from experience by then that that's simply not how the world works.

it took me until 2020 to finally move to seattle, one of those mythical Big Cities with Actually Existing Public Transit. and holy shit, it's a revelation! i have better access the place where i live now than i ever have, and it's a freedom that costs SO MUCH LESS than the same would've cost me back home. but i've also lived here long enough now to see all the ways in which our transit system here is deeply flawed and run by the wrong people. i see many of the same forces at play here as i did back home. i see now how car owners and allies to the car dealership fiefdoms of the nation utilize car ownership and road maintenance as a tremendous lever of power. they've deliberately trapped us in this cycle of poverty and personal transportation reliance, and used the money they got from us buying their cars to then buy politicians so that they defund public transit and oppose any urbanist reforms. did you know that much of america used to be covered by street cars and rail lines? if you live in the midwest or on the west coast, your town very likely only exists the way it does because of mass public transit. they were necessary for bringing people into these remote places to create new markets for wealth extraction. once the population in those places was stable, and mass-produced personal vehicles became the norm, the capitalists of those areas deliberately allowed the transit networks to "go bankrupt" (ie they pretended transit is a business and not a utility that pretty much by definition can't turn a profit in a traditional manner) so they could be bought up and liquidated by future car dealers. this is what i think of when i remember my family telling me "that's just not the way the world works."

why? it used to be the way the world worked. why can't it be again? if the current status quo is the result of choices that created economic pressures which shaped the nature of society, why can't we do the same thing again but different? the way things are now is sick. it's unhealthy. the vast majority of microplastics come from car rubber, and what socioeconomic classes do you think are mostly likely to live close to high-traffic roads? it's not rich people, i'll tell you that. it's not the car dealers or the small city councils worried that a bus connection might bring the poors in. when i say "car owners need to be oppressed" i'm talking about these people. suburban supremacist dictators and their sycophantic liege lords whose biggest priorities in life are to keep gas prices low and to maintain their god-given right to never having to see a poor person. i hate these people because i've been sneered at by them my whole life, while they have been personally responsible for many of the same socioeconomic conditions which resulted in the deaths of both my parents, along with many other members of my extended family. i've long since stopped believing in the idea of "death by natural causes." only the rich live long enough to die old. the rest of us die by a thousand cuts borne of neglect. our healthcare is gatekept, our education is gatekept, our transportation is gatekept. freedom is a thing to be bought, and when you don't have money, the next best thing is your blood. you give it up for a piece of something and you convince yourself that it's enough for you. but it is only a piece, and its apportionment is the result of greed and avarice happening in broad daylight all around us. i fully believe that a genuine war will need to be waged against the car barons before this horrendous now can be toppled, and it will be a war because they are aligned with the cops and with capital. this, too, is a microcosm, and in it we see the nature of our struggle for socialism unburdened by neoliberal word salad.

people have made the world this way. and people will make it something else.

[daydaydayrk420]

Space for a third?

Logan Howlett X male reader X Ororo Munroe

⚠️ yet again, it turned out way longer than intended so I split it in two, and besides the start of this there's no porn all of the good stuff is in pt2, cursing, eating out, thirdwheel⚠️

🚨 Minors and girls do not interact 🚨

______________________________________________________________

"Logan" Ororo moans. The wolfish man smirks as he licks up every drop of slick that keeps pooling between Storm's legs. She's so close to the climax but the moment is ruined by a loud knock on the door.

"Hey guys! Open up it's movie night!" Y/n's voice called out from behind the door.

Logan and Ororo both facepalm. They forgot it's movie night. They quickly scattered their clothes and cleaned themselves up. They try to fix their hair before unlocking the door.

Y/n can't see them anyway. His view was blocked by a mountain of snacks and drinks.

The third wheel makes his way Into the room and drops everything onto the bed. "Bought your guy's favourite." He said proudly.

The moment his vision is clear he sees the flustered expressions on both Logan and Ororo. It'd be harder to tell because Ororo's dark skin hides any sigh of blushing. But he's not dumb. He can smell not only the hormones but also the smell of sex in the room.

And with the way Logan's hair isn't in his usual kitty ears style is also a good hint. But he acts dumb nonetheless. Somewhat.

"You guys playing hairdressers?" He jokes. The lovers look at each other embarrassed before brushing it off and digging through the snacks and drinks to distract themselves while y/n Scrolls through netflix.

"Feels like netflix took off every good movie what do we want to watch?" He asks as he looks at the two flushes faces. "Honestly anything comedic." Ororo suggests. Logan nods in agreement.

They both know y/n is the one who's more into comedy than them so they use that as a way to distract him because god knows how long it'll take him to decide.

It's always like that when the two lovers want to distract y/n for a bit. It's always hard to decide. Adam Sandler? Jim Carey? Jackie Chan? But in the end if they're using netflix and are really lazy to pirate they end up watching white chicks.

"Okay so I didn't show you guys this one yet but it's finally on netflix." The lovers are snapped out of their thoughts by y/n's sudden jump in the bed and the TV playing. That was only like a minute of him searching? He wasn't distracted like always. What's happening. They had zero time to calm down and collect their thoughts and put together their emotions.

That's what Logan's and Ororo's minds would sound like if you could hear them.

The third wheel is oblivious to that. He's already opening a bag of nachos as he watches Adam Sandler play another bad character. Aka, Zohan.

Ororo cuddles into Logan as she eats her reassess pieces while Logan wraps his arm around her shoulders and sips his beer.

They all focus on the TV and the movie. Y/n feels bad. He does. For multiple reasons.

One, he interrupted their sex time.

Two, it's not the first time he's done it but most of the time he does it on purpose. Who doesn't love interrupting couples when they're about to kiss?

Three, he feels bad for dragging them. For ruining their moments.

Four, he feels bad because he doesn't feel bad. It's their fault they don't set boundaries and say no.

Five, he feels bad because he's so fucking jealous. But not in the "oh my god I want a boyfriend/girlfriend so bad don't show off in front of me" way. Jealous in the "oh my god I wish I could kiss Ororo too" or "oh my god i Wish i could run my fingers through Logan's chest hair too" ways.

Like right now. They way they're holding each other. The way they steal pecks and hold each other's thighs. None of it goes unnoticed by y/n but he keeps playing dumb.

He uses the now empty bag of nachos as a bin bag and puts in the reassess paper and plastic. He looks at the pile of snacks. Usually he'd jump for the next snack immediately but not today. He focuses on the TV again.

Logan and Ororo look at each other worried. Ororo pulls back from Logan and grabs the other man to pull him closer.

"Wha-" Y/n is about to question what she's doing but the moment he's settled between storms legs, her chest against his chest, her arms around his chest, he feels like a teddy bear. He shuts up and focuses on the TV.

Logan puts his arm around Ororo's shoulders again. He doesn't question his girlfriend's actions. They've talked about having y/n join them. Into a poly relationship. But They're yet to talk to him about it.

They're not really sure if y/n would want it because whenever relationships are brought up he always brushes it off and says something like, I don't need it, relationships are overrated.

But maybe little hints of baby steps might tell if he wants it or not? So far, he seems happy in Ororo's arms.

They watch the TV for a bit before y/n speaks up for the first time since he got here. Which they also realise just now. He's always talkative even during a movie.

"He's about to fuck his mom." Y/n said as he leaned away from Ororo to get some snacks. The lovers laugh in surprise thinking he's just joking but suddenly they hear a bed hitting against a wall from the TV. They look at the screen in surprise as Zohan fucks his friends mom that's letting him live with them.

Y/n leans back getting comfortable in storms arms again as he eats his peanut mnms. His face is so nonchalant as he watches the TV.

"Sometimes I question your taste in movies" Logan jokes. They all laugh.

"Alright next movie you chose." Y/n teased. "Deal." Logan grins.

Current movie ends and now it's Logan's turn to pick.

Ororo and y/n both groan when they see predator pop up on the screen.

"What? It's a classic!" Logan said with defence. Of course it's a classic but y/n and ororo don't like action movies. Not as much as Logan anyway. They don't like them because they get enough action as X-Men they don't need to see a movie about it.

But they let the movie play nonetheless because they know Logan loves these.

They all sit cuddled together watching the movie. Ororo zones out and plays with y/n's hair. The said man closes his eyes and leans into the delicate fingers.

He fights the groan that wants to escape his lips so he doesn't interrupt Logan's deep focus on the movie.

Y/n wants to feel those hands in different places. Stop. He mentally cursed at himself for thinking such things. He tries to focus on the movie. But his hands move on their own and rest on storms things. She gasps quietly and looks at y/n's hands on her thighs.

They just rest there, from time to time his fingers trace the flesh beneath her clothes but she tries to stay still.

Eventually the movie ends and it's Ororo's turn to pick. Y/n removes his hands from her thighs before Logan can notice.

Both men search through the remaining snacks while the lady looks for a movie.

Eventually the familiar tone of beauty and the beast plays through the movie. The guys chuckle.

"Honestly I thought it'd take you less time to put it on." Y/n teased. They all laugh.

They watch and snack quietly. Some of them hum along the songs. Especially Ororo.

That's until Luke Evans shows on screen.

"Would," Y/n said bluntly. Ororo and Logan laugh. They knew that would happen.

Besides that they all sit quietly. All they say or do is talk about how some of these actions in the movie are stupid and such things.

Finally the beast reveals himself from the shadows. Ororo and Logan look at y/n knowingly.

The third wheel is still staring at the TV stuffing his mouth with snacks. "Would. All night. Every hour." There it is. The lovers chuckle and look at the TV again.

The movie comes to an end within a blink of an eye. And they're left staring at the titles. "...that felt... Short." Y/n looks at the ones behind him for confirmation. They both nod. "Yeah that went by with the speed of light"

"Let's watch one more movie." Storm suggested. The boys nod and scroll through Netflix. They put on a random movie that looked interesting.

.

..

...

[theburningeyeofdawn]

WHAT IS THERE IN THAT BACKWARDS DIMENSION THAT YOU COULD POSSIBLY LIKE, MINI ME? IT'S POPULATED BY IDIOT MEATSACKS WHO COULDN'T EVEN MAKE A PORTAL WITHOUT SOMEONE LIKE ME HAND-FEEDING THEM ALL THE DETAILS ABOUT IT AND THEN THEY HAVE THE NERVE TO COMPLAIN BECAUSE "OH, NO, YOU'RE AN EVIL PSYCHOPATH WHO WANTS TO DESTROY OUR DIMENSION". NO SHIT YA IDIOTS, WHAT'D YA EXPECT FROM SOMETHING YA SUMMONED FROM SKETCHY CAVE PAINTINGS BEGGING YA NOT TO PERFORM THE SUMMONING RITUAL. I SHOULDA WAITED LONGER BEFORE DESTROYING THAT NIGHTMARE REALM I FOUND YA IN, SHOULDA WAITED TILL I WAS CERTAIN I HAD YA WRAPPED AROUND MY PINKIE AS WELL AS THOSE PITIFUL FLESHSACKS YOU LOVE SO MUCH, SHOULDA WAITED TILL YA WERE TO FAR GONE TO GO RUNNIN TO AN IDIOT LIKE SIXER FOR HELP. AND I WAS SO CLOSE. SO CLOSE TO CONVINCIN YA THAT THOSE DUMB VISIONS OF YOURS WERE ACTUALLY OF THE FUTURE, THAT SOMETHING TRULY AWFUL WOULD HAPPEN TO YA FOR NOT FOLLOWING THEM, BUT THAT AIN'T WHAT THEY ARE, KID. THEY'RE JUST PEEPHOLES SHOWIN YA WHAT ALL THE OTHER BILLS IN THE MULTIVERSE ARE DOING. THOUGH YOU BARELY COUNT NOW SINCE YOU'RE WILLING TO ABANDON EVERYTHING YOU COULD HAVE BEEN SIMPLY CAUSE THAT HAG SIXER GAVE YA A SHOULDER TO SLEEP ON. WELL, OUR ARRANGEMENT IS OVER, MINI ME. HOPE YA DIE IN A FIRE LIKE THE REST OF YOUR SPECIES, YOU IGNORANT LITTLE IDIOT. I HOPE I CAN BE THERE TO WATCH YOUR FACE AS YOU REALIZE THAT I WAS THE ONLY ONE IN THE MULTIVERSE TRULY WILLING TO PUT UP WITH A MONSTER LIKE YOU. CAUSE THAT'S ALL YOU ARE, KID. YOU'RE NOTHING BUT A MONSTER WHO KILLED HIS ENTIRE SPECIES BECAUSE HE THOUGHT THE FUTURE VISIONS WERE TELLIN HIM TO. NEWS FLASH, KID. YOU DIDN'T DO IT FOR ANY REASON AT ALL. YOU'RE EVEN MORE OF A MONSTER THAN I AM. AT LEAST I HAD GOOD INTENTIONS. YOU JUST DID IT CAUSE YA COULD. OH, AND BY THE WAY, THE SIXER WHO'S "HELPING" YOU? HE VIVISECTS BILLS FOR FUN. HE'S GONNA KILL YA THE SECOND HE COMES TO HIS SENSES AND REMEMBERS WHAT SORT OF MONSTER HE'S HELPING. NO ONE LOVES YOU. EVERYONE WISHES YOU HAD BURNED WITH YOUR HOME. EVERYONE WANTS YOU TO ROT IN THERAPRISM FOR THE REST OF YOUR EXISTENCE. AND YOU DESERVE EVERY SINGLE DAMN SECOND OF IT.

... R'ev tlg hlnv evib yzw mvdh, Nrmr Nv ...

[He looks around groggily for a moment.]

... I was sleeping... ... ... er, bad news? Did I hear that right? What is it, big-me?

[littledemo0n]

Last night i was granted a vision

Bonus: its just the baby :]

[bixels]

I watched Starship Troopers tonight.

[abbeyofcyn]

[pr0cyon-lotor]

Au where Shen Yuan is the beast taming peak lord and trying to court Shen Jiu, Luo Binghe is a Bai Zhan disciple, and Ming Fan is just... just so so very tired.

Okay, so Shen Yuan, Yue Qi, and Shen Jiu all grew up as street rats. They were close and stuff. Once they're in Cang Qiong, Shen Yuan is the one to pull teeth and twist arms until Yue Qi and Shen Jiu end up talking about their problems.

Somewhere around becoming head disciple and ascension, Shen Yuan comes to terms with that his feelings towards Shen Jiu aren't so #platonic as he originally thought, so he starts trying to court him.

Shen Jiu is playing hard to get as revenge for him being an idiot.

This continues even as they become peak lords. And Ming Fan has in more than one occasion thrown out his shishu out of the peak because he's causing an interruption.

The poor guy's workload only worsens when Liu Qingge takes on a new disciple and the kid is instantly infatuated with him.

So now he has to deal with 5 things

A Bai Zhan brat clinging to his leg and crying when he tries to pry him off

His Shen-shishu trying to court his Shizun, who is playing hard to get

Liu Qingge trying to court his Shen-shishu while the man in question seems oblivious to it

Keeping his Shizun from killing Liu Qingge because he's not oblivious to Liu Qingge's (attempted) courting

Ning Yingying definitely planning something behind his back.

Somehow this leads to Luo Binghe not being thrown into the abyss after it being revealed he's half heavenly demon, his shishu and Shizun coming out of a storage closet with cartoon kiss marks covering their faces, and Liu Qingge and Shang Qinghua coming out of a different storage shed with bite marks and hickeys covering them both.

And almost nothing happened to Luo Binghe other than Liu Qingge giving him harder training.

Ming Fan says that life isn't fair and moves on. He still holds on to his sanity by a thread. That is until the sect leader announces that he has married the former demon king of the demon realm that had been presumed dead and was sealed under a mountain for years.

Ming Fan gives up, concludes life has a strange sense of humor, and lets Luo Binghe court him. Not like anything in the sect is making sense anymore.

Somewhere in the background Liu Mingyan gives Ning Yingying a limited edition novel about Shen Jiu and Shen Yuan because she won the bet they made.

[theminecraftbee]

it's fun because the things that appeal to me most about the three canonical evil clones/twins of hermitcraft are similar, but they're all different.

evil x appeals to me because he is very much Just Some Guy, for all that he's an evil force of nature; when he's sympathetic, it's because he's Just Some Guy who's been shackled to the terrible fate of being "evil", but when he's a villain (like in season eight!), the things that make him villainous also aren't the supernatural aesthetics, but the ways he is also the evil of being just some guy. for all the lightning and thunder and echo of xisuma's appearance, he isn't anyone special. (xisuma is.)

helsknight appeals to me for almost the opposite reason: this isn't just some guy, this is you, explicitly, a demon that possessed your clone and possesses all the things that are bad about you, magnified. he's a mirror, inherently, in his very creation. in the stories where he's a threat, he's menacing because he's a mirror of someone we should like; in the stories where he's sympathetic, we must confront how much of ourselves are also mirrors. (what happens if you don't like what you see in those mirrors, anyway?)

empires!false is somewhere in-between; she's not a mirror but she is the result. she's learning something you'd rather have forgotten about your past, and at her most sympathetic, we feel for the way she's been cast aside so false can 'fix her', the things done to her memory. at her least sympathetic, though, she's reflecting these pains onto others; violence begets violence, and even with it missing, the past begets her. there's no looking at empires!false without seeing the echoes of what false did to her. (there's no looking at false without it either.)

............then they also all appeal to me by being ridiculous failguys but like if you want to be DRAMATIC ABOUT IT, the ways they appeal to me are like the above,

[zaacoy]

Short freenoodles focused comic inspired in part by takakmimi's freenoodles post on twt!!

[haaam-guuuurl]

i don't know what this is either

[secrescaryat]

// pentiment spoilers (implied ig but still there)

more of these because i was inspired

[avephelis]

creature restored. do you understand my vision.

the actual r800 skin is made by sirvee (who did a wonderful job btw) BIG CREDIT!! i just missed the bald freak.

there's the like. skin thing btw. can't be assed to upload it to a website but for anyone who want it.

[cappurrccino]

[whumpitisthen]

Two whumpees who are scared of each other:

Neither of them want trouble

They are both so afraid of being near the other they avoid each other constantly

They flinch away at the slightest touch like one person and their mirror image

They are strangers, they do not trust each other, they have been burned too many times in the past and they will not be burned again

They stare at each other from a distance, not daring to actually interact

They want to avoid a fight so bad that they won't even say a word

Whumper loves seeing them together because it's amusing how similar they are

Their uneasiness around the other is promptly forgotten when Whumper arrives

Whumpee can't have friends; Whumper doesn't want them to, and we all know what happens when Whumper sees Whumpee doing something they don't like

If hungry enough, they can be bribed with food to spend time in the other's vicinity

Non-human whumpees?! Two puppy boys being very nervous with pulled back ears and big sad eyes hiding behind their owner's legs

One Whumpee lives here and in theory should be more confident than the other one, seeing as they aren't the one in a strange unknown place. That confidence flees as soon as the Other Whumpee takes even a single step in their direction. They do not want to fight, they just want to keep an eye on them at all times.

They flinch back and the other one flinches back too. They cannot stop doing this

Caretaker basically has to pretend with each of them that the other doesn't exist. If they mentioned that their counterpart is in the room right across from them, Whumpee would not be able to sleep.

They sleep as far away from each other as the room they are kept in allows, backs to the wall, staying awake until they can't anymore

I think Whumper should collar them and bind them together with a short length of chain. For enrichment purposes... For me

One of them starts to finally unwind and gently tries to connect with the other. The other does Not react well. They are both scared again

One Whumpee has a lot of scars — must be a fighter -> scary

The Other Whumpee has no scars — must be a Really Good fighter -> scary

Whumpee looks just like the Other — must be just as desperate and unpredictable/their whumper must be just as bad/they must be at a similar level of strength as them, no guarantee to win if fight breaks out -> scary

One whumpee is scared because they have been tortured into perpetual fearfulness — the other has never been tortured, but sees how bad Whumpee has it, and being the newest addition to Whumper's collection has them just as terrified

Whumper forces them to interact. The forceful, scary nature of their meetings sets back their otherwise slow natural warming up to each other by miles, having the worst kind of counter effect. Seeing the other reminds them of that time Whumper made them sit and hold hands for hours with the threat of punishment if they disobeyed

They both escape. They see each other across the street. They freeze and stare, thrust back in time, stuck in their old frightened and cautious headspace. Their caretakers are perplexed.