#its fine if you dont like it but dont get pissy at people just literally playing the game

[alexius-fr]

Rant in tags

People who get upset about other people buying their dragons at fodder price and then actually exalting them will never cease to amaze me.

[natjennie]

really pissed off at my sister for what I think are valid reasons that no one wants to address but me. and then I always become the asshole. what else is new.

[itsalwaysdark]

the difficulty of trying 2 explain to ppl that im Not being self deprecating or belittling my mental illnesses when i say something that could be perceived as overly critical towards myself but that thise things actually r true abt me. ppl did die.

[goth-oatmilk-latte]

last night i met a pick me girl who was such a pick me that it felt painfully cringe to be at the party, AND i also watched her actively try to cheat on her man with all his friends.

so first off, the friend group is all dudes. im used to being the only girl there and its fine. i was actually excited bc said pick me was coming and i hadnt met her and shes someones gf so i was like okay cool and i also thought another guys sister was comin too but she didnt. so anyway i walk in and shes immediately like WHOA ANOTHER GIRL I THOUGHT I WAS GONNA BE THE ONLY GIRL HERE...and then immediately told us she had just tried coke. and i was like okay and she asked me if id ever used or my experience with it and i was like i dont use anymore it made my eating disorder worse and she panicked like coke was gonna make her anorexic. lol??

anyway the entire night she got so fucking pissy that the guys were talking me, greeting me with hugs, etc she would just walk up and interrupt or like nuzzle on whoever i was talking to AGAIN WITH HER BF IN THE SAME ROOM HELLO????? and it made us all uncomfortable.

one of the guys regularly plays smash with us so we had our lil smash tourney and she decided she wanted to learn so we let her play a bit but the other guys who did play wanted in so theyd ask her if they could take her spot and she sat there on the couch and was like WHY DOES EVERYONE LIKE HER AND WANNA PLAY WITH HER IM RIGHT HERE TOO and i was like ....prob bc im their friend, they know me? and she got mad and went off to try and flirt with more people out of weird spite.

my lipgloss fell out of my pocket and of course she found it and picks it up and goes "butter gloss??? oh this must belong to the OTHER female...of course youre wearing lip gloss. i didnt wear makeup i dont do all that" like okay girl a simple "hey you dropped this" would have worked like??? for what reason?? also i told you my name lmfao.

okay so our other friend decided to actually kick them out bc she was annoying and her bf kept getting embarrassed by her and very upset by her blatant flirting. our friend was generous & got them a lyft. this girl tried to tell her bf he could go and she was staying here and it would be fine and literally all of us told her to gtfo 💀💀💀💀 like girlfriend posted up on the sofa and was like "you can go. im having fun. im staying. i like these guys a lot" and literally tried to nuzzle up with another guy while her bf was there and telling her she was way too intoxicated to be in public and she was embarrassing herself and him

and she asked why i got to stay and our friend who kicked them out just goes "BECAUSE WE FUCKING LIKE HER, GO."

the only person she didnt try with was my partner and everyone agreed it was probably bc she was intimidated by me. but like there was no fucking reason to do all that like????

WHY DO PEOPLE ACT LIKE THAT

[terraliensvent]

Seeing people already pissy about "illegal" terras existing is so funny to me. Why are you so mad that people don't wanna deal with species drama anymore and just enjoy the design concept for terras? As long as they aren't directly labeling them as a terralien or scamming people with them there is no issue whatsoever. Mods are fine with it and even encourage it. Closed species brainwash is wild lol

its absolutely insane to me, especially considering how so many people had fully created illegal terras ready to upload during the Reckoning. hypocrites, all of them.

it literally affects you in no way whatsoever if someone wants to make their own terrarium head furry, and it amazes me how protective people are over the concept considering it is quite literally a branch off of chams. you do not own the idea of terrarium heads, stop getting mad at people because they dont feel like following arbitrary rules and want to play with their toys how they feel like

[midnighteloquence]

watashi wa jisatsu shitaidesu

ignore whatever that means its a /nsrs

anyways! lets talk about why i no longer like friend d!

so im gonna split this rant into TWO PARTS!

Part A: things ive noticed myself/seen first hand

okay number one! they said that theyre diagnosed with bipolar, which THEY ARENT. first off, diagnosis are expensive asf no matter what youre trying to diagnose and im not being mean at all but just saying theyre on the free lunches plan soo, two diagnosis takes agessss and they just so happen to suddenly have one??

number two, theyll shit talk like everyone. i only started noticing recently that most of what comes out of their mouth is shit talk. and its fine if you have a lot to say about shitty people but then you immediately talk to them again as if you didnt just say you want to curb stomp them?? it gets confusing and ngl is really bitchy

number three! milked tf out of the fact that one of their friends said they might be autistic. which no. autism isnt something you should milk for attention!! and like the only symptoms they have are the depressive ones which USUALLY should lead you to believe that maybe you just have depression? idk im not a psychologist

on that note, they want to be a psychologist, yet doesnt understand why people act the way they do (like theyll shittalk people for things they cant fucking control) and also has rheir own problems? this would most likely be even more self destructive right? to have to solve others mental health before your own? idk im just thinking

also also they seem to care more about getting into relationships (AT THE AGE THEYRE AT) than grades which uh. yes i am literally on my knees yearning for a relationship but also at least im actually doing school and excelling academically ✌️

plus dont you gotta do good at school to be a psychologist?? thats like a really hard subject

Part B: things ive been told

this part is where it gets more blurry, since some isnt backed up (but most is dw!)

they dated C two years ago and used to do freaky shi to them at the back of the bus (make out, cuddle, touch thighs, etc), which a friend of ours i’ll call F saw first hand! um ew.

they trauma dumped on C first things first which uh

C and F would sit with each other a lot and talk alotttt because theyre both neurodivergent and nd people tend to go well and D got all pissy and like “me when my friends leave me out..” and so to shut them up (shut me up? by msi?) F told them that they might be autistic and they started milking tf out of it

told a bunch of people that C sa’d them which C did not! also told F that C’s sa story was fake and that C mentally and physically abused them (there are screenshot proof of D saying this btw!)

told people that im not autistic and that im faking it because im self diagnosed which THEY LITERALLY ARE + IVE DONE COUNTLESS HOURS OF RESEARCH ON AUTISM LEAVE ME ALONE

something ive noticed but isnt it weird that all their relationships lasted only a couple months? kinda says something

would manipulate people into taking their side by saying “oh dw its my fault not theirs!”

on that note their recent partner broke up with them AND GAVE A WHOLE ASS GOOGLE DOC ABOUT WHY WITH AMAZING EXPLANATIONS + SAYS A THOUSAND TIMES THAT IT ISNT THEIR FAULT, but C twisted it to make them the bad guy which tf he has the best moral compass of everyone ik stfu

jokes alot about substance abuse (which they do btw) but it just gets like “what am i supposed to say?”

ON THAT NOTE OF NOT KNOWING WHAT TO SAY they texted F that they tried killing themselves and F responded with an “oh” because tf are rhey supposed to say to that?? (F told me that they were literally crying when they saw that)

was a terrible friend to F, F noticed and cut off ties (good for them!! They have so much courage because i could legit never i love them for that 💪💪) and then they proceeded to send a lengthy apology which was all bs btw!

ive been told that they faked their trauma, substance abuse, and their eating disorders, but tbh im not sure if that’s true or not (considering ive seen texts theyve gotten from their mum about eating)

minor but they say theyre goth but dont even listen to the music which is the whole point! and also doesnt follow the political opinions of goth!

(did the same with punk, btw!)

not sure if true or if C said this to save their own ass but apparently D got C to shit talk me (i talked about in an earlier rant) which errr…

Secret Part C: small details

this section is in bullet points!

insulted F “jokingly” to the point they had huge gender dysphoria

thought F had a crush on their bf (at the time) when F’s literally a lesbian

not only a pathological liar but a inconsistent one!

okay this is kinda hypocritical but they follow sh blogs that show cvts

+ says the cuts are cute (which is something i dont do. i actually dont even follow them but from time to time i’ll scroll through and want to vomit /nav)

literally gave me a step by step tutorial on how to purge

not lying!

complained about their bf not kissing them in public (which is something you talk to your bf about not me! + boundaries fucking exist?)

very minor but alot of the stuff they like its mostly because it got popular on tt

will say shit like “ive only been catcalled like three times in this outfit!” which no ew + gave me a massive insecurity that im not pretty enough! choose your words wisely!

so to sum it all up theyre a terrible human being and im glad i dont talk to them anymore! thanks for reading this lengthy post!

[bisexual-werewolf]

AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH

[lustertherainwing]

Hi, I'm not in the fandom anymore but I used to love WoF! I've seen your posts about some of the problematic shit in the books, and I was wondering if you can elaborate? I don't see a lot of people talk about it but I really want to know more.

i dont have a ton of details about specifics, nor do i know the full extent of whats been going on in the books since arc 2, but i can mention a few things that are yucky

- portrayal of child abuse: especially with coral, the narrative of an abusive mother who neglects their children is not handled well at all. despite anemone having been strapped to her mother her entire life, forced to go to animus school with whirlpool [ie child predator who at the very least makes her uncomfortable], and even threatened to be muzzled when she argues with her mother, all of that is overlooked and essentially completely forgiven at the end of book 2 where coral does a pissy little “im sorry i just love you so much :((((” and even tsunami is like “oh well thats fine then :D”. portraying child abuse as something that is out of love and the harm should be forgiven is EXTREMELY HARMFUL TO AN AUDIENCE OF CHILDREN?????

- racism: god where do i even start. why did sutherland use the word “tribe” and “tribal” to describe the dragon races. glory literally gets abused extra bad because everyone is racist towards rainwings, this happens in like literally every scene glory is in with a new character. im not even going to TOUCH on the slavery arc because i think that is pretty. self explanatory. 

- genocide: darkstalker, because he is bitter about his dad, decides to send a magical plague to kill a shitload of icewings. but the jade winglet thinks that he deserves a second chance uwu.....

- trauma/abuse/etc: very yucky moment when darkstalker enchanted fierceteeth to literally become his ex against her will. i dont even know what to say about this. what the fuck. why is this okay

- lgbt rep: 0 trans character, 1 mlm character who is only mentioned as being gay because he has a crush on a dragon who is half his age [perhaps progressing the stereotype that gay men are child predators is a terrible idea?????????]. plenty of lesbians now because they are presumably more marketable. im glad theres lesbian rep but i cant even say theres lgbt rep in the books because its like literally Only Lesbians. 

i dont know what else there is but writing this up made me want to beat the author with a stick. casual reminder this is a kids series and perhaps we should handle this topics with care instead of [checks notes] teaching children that genocide is forgivable. 

[goldenfawnwriting]

Birds Of A Feather- Part 10 Hawks Fic

Summary: Finch is finally returning to work where she’s faced with a series of struggles, one being the infamous winged hero himself.

A/N: Here you go readers. Hope you enjoy

Warnings: Just angst lmao

Finch slid on her heels with a sigh. Today was the day, she had talked herself up over coffee all morning but, as she swung her purse up onto her shoulder she honestly wasn’t feeling any better. She was nervous, nervous to return to her job, nervous to see everyone again... Nervous to see him. 

That was what it really was, but she wouldn’t admit it. She was terrified to face him again after the blatant betrayal. She knew he didn’t see it that way or he would never do what he did. Or maybe he did and just didn’t care, maybe this was his way to get her off his back. She didn’t have the guts to ask him even if she did see him, which she would. It was inevitable. 

And so she locked her apartment door before heading off to work, walking a little slower into the building when she got there. Her wings bristled as she looked up to where his office would be. The windows gleamed in the light, the very top one open wide, as usual. It was getting warmer now, the air giving the feel of a new beginning. 

The elevator music was a little sickening but she endured it, walking into the office and setting her things down before heading to briefing. Her throat was tight with anxiety. She knew this would be when he saw her. Her wings brand new, not crippled anymore. 

She stood next to the boss, looking out at all the other workers there. Everyone was waiting for Hawks to show up but after a few more minutes of silence the boss cleared his throat. As he began talking Finch jotted down notes and grimaced. No sign of Hawks anywhere. Was he avoiding her? 

When she got back to the office she looked around and noticed Hawks’ seat was still pushed in, meaning he still hadn’t gotten here. So much for his schedule, she grumbled in her head. She clicked through his schedule on her computer, thankfully there were only a few things astray from her stand in. Beginning to take calls and fill in times she was beginning to worry. He still wasn’t here. It was going on an hour into the work day. 

She sighed, pulling out her phone to find his phone number, calling from the office phone so that maybe he’d actually answer. It rung twice before going to voicemail. He had done that, he had declined her call. She huffed angrily, calling again. After the third time, someone finally picked up, but it wasn’t the voice she wanted to hear. 

“Can I help you?”

A grumpy voice came over the line. Finch felt her stomach drop before she cleared her voice and put on her service voice. 

“Hi, this is Mr. Hawks secretary calling from his office, may I ask who I’m talking to this fine morning?”

“U-uh, it’s Amika...”

“Hello, Ms. Amika, pray tell, is Mr. Hawks available?”

“Y-ya, let me wake him up for you.”

There was rustling on the other end of the phone and Finch felt absolutely sick. This was ridiculous. If he could make her first day back any worse she would be surprised. There was a grumble from the other side before his voice rang through. 

“Hello?”

“Mr. Hawks, this is your secretary calling, it seems you’re late to work by- let me see- an hour and 20 minutes now.”

She gave in a grumpy tone. He gave a rushed reply.

“Oh uh- fuck, Finch, I’ll be there in 10, I am so, so sorry-”

She hung up on him. He looked at his phone with surprise, running a hand through his bed head. She was livid, he already knew it. 

Back at the office, Finch fixed her makeup in a compact, accidentally letting a few tears run, stress and a tiny bit of heartbreak finally squeezing it out of her. She was so tired of this. The dancing around her feelings, dealing with his bullshit. 

She was just pressing powder into her under eye, trying to rid the mascara, as he came in the window. She glanced at the time. 5 minutes, instead of 10, color her impressed. 

“Looks like someone finally decided to show up...”

She grumbled, he started to come towards her but she stopped him. 

“You have a meeting in 3 minutes with the chief, try not to be late this time.”

“H-have you been crying?”

“Can’t you find anything else to worry about?”

She snapped, closing the compact and stowing it away in her purse right as there was a knock on the door. It was the chief of commission, probably coming to save her ass by stealing him away.

“Hawks! I didn’t see you this morning, I was almost worried.”

“Haha, just taking an early morning fly to stretch my wings!”

Finch couldn’t help but roll her eyes dramatically. What a lame excuse. It seemed to have worked though, the chief laughing with him and throwing an arm around his shoulder as he lead Hawks off to the meeting room. Finch sighed. 

Today was going to be full of trial and tribulation, she already knew it. So far, not much was going to plan. While he was gone she answered phone calls and sent the usual emails, stretching and working out her fixed wing all the while. The PT didn’t end when she didn’t have anymore appointments sadly. She worked on it whenever she had time, wanting to fly more than anything and as fast as possible. 

It was maybe 30 minutes later and the door to the office busted open, catching Finch’s attention quickly. It was Hawks, sighing loudly as he brushed back his hair with his hand. She busied herself with another email, keeping her eyes glued to her computer screen. Her attempt at making herself invisible through sheer willpower seemed to not work though. 

“I’m glad you’re back...”

He started, looking at her from across the room. She ignored him, continuing to type quickly. 

“Are you mad at me?”

Her face was getting red with frustration. She wanted more than anything to tell him off but, she reminded herself that her feelings didn’t matter in the situation. He advanced, sitting on the edge of her desk. She grumpily pried a paper out from under his leg. 

“Why were you crying earlier?”

“I wasn’t.”

“Yes you were, you still have mascara on your jaw-”

He reached out to rub it away from her face but she jerked away from him quickly, turning to look at him.

“Don’t you have hero stuff to do?”

“Why are you acting like that?”

He confronted her, looking at her sharply. She looked away from him, his gaze penetrating. 

“I-uh-”

“You were crying this morning, you were pissy on the phone and now, what is going on with you, you’re never like this.”

“I just don’t want to talk about it ok?”

“Is everything going ok with your recovery?”

She blushed hard and fanned her wings in reaction to him mentioning them.

“Ya, they’re fine...”

He paused for a moment, looking them over. 

“Wow, birdie, your wings might just be bigger than mine.”

“N-no they aren’t!”

She stuttered, blushing even harder, the red contrasting with her freckles. He pulled her up  and spread his wings out to their full size.

“Spread your wings I wanna see.”

“H-hawks-”

“Aw come on dove, let me see them!”

She crossed her arms as she spread her wings. They just barely came short of his.

“Wow...”

He trailed off, looking them over. He circled her, like a shark, taking in his prey. She cleared her throat as he came behind her, running a delicate hand over her feathers making her shiver. 

“D-dont t-”

He ran his hand along the edge of them, feeling the silky brown feathers and the light speckles that adorned them. Her face reddened even more if it was possible, her body betraying her as she let out a small pant at the feeling.

“Doesn’t it feel good to stretch them out? Have you tried flying yet?”

Her wings bristled with the stimulation and she gave a small squeak in reply.

“N-no.”

“Really? I figured that would be the first thing on your mind-”

His fingers buried themselves into the tiny downy feathers where her wings connected with her back and she couldn’t help herself, moaning lowly at the feeling, electricity being sent all the way through her body, making her roll her eyes, her cheeks blazing.

He chuckled as he pulled away from her wings, walking across the room and side eyeing her coyly. He knew exactly what he was doing, his wings were just as sensitive.

“Someone’s a little worked up..”

She panted as she came back down from her slight high, looking over to him with her pupils resembling the head of a pin. 

“Take a breather birdie. Maybe in an hour or two we’ll try flying.”

She blinked away the rest of the fogginess and gave him a look.

“That was absolutely not fair Hawks.”

“Aw come on lovebird-”

“Stop calling me stupid nicknames, you have a girlfriend!”

She snapped, hugging herself to try and make herself seem smaller. She didn’t feel right with him acting like nothing happened. 

“What are you talking about?”

He asked lowly, furrowing his eyebrows. 

“The red head Hawks! Amika? It was all over!”

He ran a hand through his hair and sighed.

“Oh you saw that?”

She was getting increasingly angry.

“She isn’t really my girlfriend, more like an old friend of mine that came to visit...”

Finch snorted, trying to hold back laughter. 

“Are you kidding me? She literally answered your phone this morning.”

“Finch, she’s been staying in town is all, she’s an old friend of mine from back when I was in school-”

“Look I don’t care, have fun with her, I’m going to lunch.”

She grabbed her purse, storming off, and closing the elevator doors as Hawks tried to board it with her. She knew if he really wanted to he would just fly down but she almost wished he wouldn’t. As if the stubborn man wouldn’t.

“Why’d you close the doors on me?”

He asked as she walked out the front doors of the building. She ignored him as she made her way down to the line of booths selling street food. She got an order of roasted sweet potato before Hawks caught up to her again. 

“Finch you can’t seriously be mad-”

“Why did you stop coming to see me? You ignored all my calls.”

“Well I-”

She threw a hand up.

“Save it. You were with her. Asami didn’t even have the guts to tell me. You know its bad when she of all people hides something from you.”

He didn’t have a reply and Finch walked off, making her way back to the office as she ate silently. How ridiculous could he be?

It was silent for the rest of the day until they were about to get off, Finch shutting down her computer and grabbing her purse. 

“H-hey uh.. did you still want to go flying?”

Finch rolled her eyes silently. 

“I’m sure Amika is waiting for you at home.”

She replied, giving a sarcastic, tight lipped smile. She made her way out, the elevator dinging before she started on her way home. What a first day...

[artpop4eva]

longest fucking post ever warning but overview of my day below

ok so basicly i woke up this morning and was like here we fucking go again! like the picture and i get ready for college and on the way my mom screams at me for not understanding these street signs but honestly it was really funny anyway i have a fine day at college its literally fine theres a looming sense of misery the whole time because of david and jaden wasnt there either which made the day x10 less fun and more boring. then i get in the fucking car and im talking to my mom about my tutor and call her a cow and my mom has a fucking go at me fully like THATS DISRESPECTFUL IVE NEVER HEARD YOU CALL SOEMONE THAT BEFORE. and im like i LITERALLY say it all the fucking time about people i dont like but of course she has to be a cunt about it and says some shit about ~people at college being a bad influence~. anyway further on the drive home she stops for something and i decide to get out and hop in the back (car only has 2 doors so you have to move the seat forward to crawl into the back) because im fucking absolutely miserable thinking about david and i just want to be left the fuck alone so i get in the back and shes like you alright?? you ok?? xoxo?? what you doing?? and im like im getting in the back. and shes like ok but whta you doing?? and im like IM GETTING IN THE BACK. and thats it but couple minutes later she looks around and with this stupid fucking unconcerned vaguely pissed tone asks whats wrong and i dont really answer like i give a non answer like doesnt matter and she asks if its about me calling the tutor a bitch and her yelling at me or whatever and im like NO because i dont want to fucking talk to her about david i do not ever want to get into that because thats a whole situation that already has me wanting to kill myself like unironically and i DONT wnat to fucking talk to her about anything anyway so she gets this venom fucking tone she always does when im upset LITERALLY EVERY TIME AND is like “fucking whatever then keep it to yourself i really dont care” and im like THEN WHY DID YOU ASK. and she says some other bullshit i really dont care. get home she slams the front door while im still getting out of the car and i leave all my shit bar my phone in the car because i really dont fucking car anymore, i go upstairs nothing happens for a while and then i go and ask her if shes seen sock and i guess i wasnt fucking cheery enough about it because like 10 mins later after ive gone back to my room and am just lying on the bed trying to sleep she comes in like what you doing? you alright? and im like im trying to sleep. and she comes in like slowly creeping around the room like talking about my ONLY FUCKING FRIENDS like “im starting to think your little friends at college arent a good influence...blah blah blah im old and a fucking idiot” and says some shit like “are you upset because of ben?” ben  is one of my friends at college and i whip around like at this point id just been still lying ther with my eyes closed not fucking caring like “yeah. eyah. whatever cool. yeah.” but she says this and im like what the FUCK are you TALKING ABOUT. and shes like :) well every time youve come out recently youve been miserable and you were waiting with ben :)) /?!?!?!?!?!???! GIRL I WAS WAITING WITH BEN YESTERDAY AND I WAS LITERALLY FIIIIIIIIIINE I WAS FIIIIIIIIIIIINE THE WHOLE DAY AFTERWARDS GO BE AN ALCOHOLIC SOMEWHERE EEEEEEEEEEELSE. But no shes got that in her fucking head now so YAY!!! that fucking aside she starts talking to me like an ACTUAL BABY. and when i get pissy at her for that shes like “see this is what i mean xx” about my friends being a bad influence like DONT TALK TO ME LIKE IM 5 THEN??? ANYWAYYYYYYYYYYYY after that she leaves but comes back like 10 mins later WHEN IM ALMOST ASLEEP. and is like wheres your purse?:) and im like i dont know i didnt bring it with me today. and im really fucking pissed at this point and shes like i just want to see it because i think people are taking advantage of you. QWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWW YOUUUUUUUUUUUUUU THINK MY FRIENDS WHO ARE POOR AND KNOW HOW HARD FINANCIAL STABILITY IS ARE STEALING FROM ME OOOOOOKAYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY But fucking anyway shes like can you getup and look for it? and im like are you serious. and shes like yes and repeats her point and fucking. i get up and i am not joking i fully trash my fucking room looking for it, it looks like a bomb site in here. i dont do it aggressively but im not fucking cleaning any of this up. eventually i emptied out my bag and found my purse and threw it at her feet so NOW IVE HAD MY MONEY CONFISCATED TOO YAY!!!!! YAY!!!! YAY FOR MOLLY!!!!! and says some stupid fucking shit like “i dont think youre going in tomorrow.” and im like “whatever i dont care” and now im just sat here writing the worlds longest tubmblr pst. anwyay in come the cops they blowtorch the doors i start wailing the lion roars theres no good way to end this anyone can see theres just great big you and little old me. mecore this is a daily occurence btw this shit happens all the time today just happened ot be extra spicy

[wolf-stark]

You ask I deliver — both tfatws asks in one!

tfatws weekly ask 1

i finally saw ep1!! i wont be able to see ep2 until thursday at the earliest but i already have some Thots on this ep. here are the ones I remember

first is, and i'm so sorry for this, a grammar lesson. an appositive is when you stick an additional phrase in between commas, dashes, or the like. i actually just used one! the "and i'm so sorry for this" in the first sentence of this paragraph is an appositive. thing is, most english speakers don't normally use them when they speak, only in writing. so i'm always on high alert whenever i hear somebody in tv or movies use one. (it's generally a marker of bad screenwriting). anyway there was one right in the beginning of the episode. the white army guy yelling at sam wilson said "first lieutenant Torres, our intel officer, will be helping on the ground." yeah so. the writing of this series started out on the wrong foot for me. but the rest of the episode was obviously tons and tons better (every interview i see with malcolm spellman makes me love him more and more)

the contrast between the opening minutes (falcon action sequence) and the rest of the ep.... i would 100000/10 rather watch a series with just sam and bucky dealing with life. i dont give a single crap about the flag-smashers or any of that. i just want sam, sarah & fam getting their boating business back on the ground & yeeting racist dickwads, bucky going through therapy and making amends, sam and joaquin being bros, sambucky homoerotic tension, etc.

the cinnamontography! wandavision mostly used cinematography to signify era n stuff. tfatws doesn't have wv's premise to go off of, so here's some tricks i noticed:

with sam there's obviously all sorts of shots with the captain america iconography next to his face, but he hasn't totally claimed it. there's the mural of steve rogers in the background; there's sam staring into the shield like it's a spectre of steve's face; there's sam looking into the exhibit, the shield and sam separated by glass and a layer of camera focus. steve is a constant spectre, always there, an idea, a symbol himself. sam's relationship with this iconography is distanced. he is separated by glass exhibit walls. by painting canvases. he doesn't yet feel worthy to take on that iconography. this whole thing was pulled off quite well but also a bit on-the-nose if only in quantity. there's just sooooo much fancy iconography stuff

speaking of the exhibit, there's something that i get real pissy about. it's when like, there's an action going on you're supposed to be paying attention to but the cinematographer is like,,,, hey! check out this location! or this headline! or something! there was a lot of that in the exhibit. the camera was like, you could focus on sam and rhodey's convo (which was fine but could have been so much better with an extra like 10 minutes of deep character study talk) but noooo you want me to look at the symbol for the united nations and read all the text about bucky who hasn't even showed up yet. shut up i know the lore and ill watch the shot-by-shot breakdown yt vids you don't have to make the shot this long jkdsalcjklasejf

my fav trick was with bucky and the therapist. i had seen a clip of the scene with bucky and the therapist beforehand and i thought the cinnamontography was super obnoxious, but then i was like, oh duh. the shots frequently change the distance between the camera and its subject. sometimes it's uncomfortably close and sometimes it's really far. a clear allegory for the duality of therapy, esp for bucky! therapy is an invasive process wherein he is ruthlessly examined, picked apart, and berated for his trauma (this therapist is crap in every way btw, "mean therapist" works for greg house and greg house only). so the camera goes close. it makes the viewer claustrophobic like bucky. but when he's like "no i haven't had any nightmares" the camera suddenly goes really far. we see bucky as this tiny head in the center of the bottom of the frame. we are distanced from him. he has pushed us away. we cannot see him. he lies because he is vulnerable. so yeah, amazing work there. the therapy scene was hard to watch on purpose!

did bucky slip a note to yori inside the dollar bill? bucky stop making me emooooo. the suuper awkward fake smile has me 😭 (veteran trying to adjust!)

mark my worrrrds when sam asks someone y the govt picked john “white bread” walker they’re gonna say “we needed somebody everyone can get behind....someone uncontroversial, someone everyone can see themselves in” like that exact racist dog whistle

tfatws weekly ask 2

just saw ep2 so im taking advantage of the 2 seconds i can be on tumblr without worrying about tfatws spoilers before new episode drops

when isaiah said "your people put me in prison for being a hero" and bucky thought "your people" means hydra. 🤦‍♂️

speaking of racism, the interplay between sam being Black (anti-Black racism) and sam being the Falcon (negrophilia, "can i take a selfie w you as i deny you a loan?") and the intersection between the two (j*hn lichrally called sam "steve's wingman"! he takes the crypto out of crypto-racist in like 2 seconds!) !!!!!!!! a Black celebrity's Black experience, the separation of man and identity!!!! (thinking about vanessa bayer in snl in that skit "beyonce is black" telling her black friend "you're not black, you're...my girl!")

after sam gets racially profiled by cops we see j*hn standing in front of cop cars cinematic parallels turns out j*hn is racist who knew

this therapist sucks major ass but she got bucky and sam together in the same room and ready to collaborate...that's something ig. it was lichrally couple's therapy she said she used her miracle exercise with couples sambucky antis get blended

bucky says "he was wrong about you so maybe he was wrong about me"...that's not how people talk. when therapist asks bucky, the guy who doesn't talk at all about himself, "y do you hate sam", the last thing bucky's gonna do is actually connect his hatred of sam to his own self-worth issues. bucky generally refuses to talk about himself, so why would he talk about himself in the one context that nobody ever links back to their own neuroses: hatred of other people? one thing human beings hate most is admitting we're wrong. admitting you hate someone because of your own issues? that's a major therapeutic step. bucky would absolutely have to be prompted to do that. even like one or two lines of dialogue more would have set up that line better. but in terms of the actual thought? an amazing way to take the sam/bucky relationship. bucky bases his self-worth on steve believing in him, and if steve is wrong bucky has no self-worth, so 1) he has to develop self-worth disassociated from steve's assessment of him and 2) he has to love himself before he can love sam, and 3) he has to realize that sam giving up the shield is a sign of sam's humility not his unworthiness.

conversely, we don't get into why sam hates bucky? yeah sam has the right to hate a guy that has tried to kill him (albeit while brainwashed) multiple times, and now shows up in his life just to bash him but. everything happens so fast i cant follow their relationship

in fact i dont feel like i understood much of anything. like y did bucky and sam go on that mission together? how connected are sam/bucky/joaquin with the government? doesn't bucky just want to retire now? literally what is everyone doing/feeling and why???

if battlestar becomes a knowing commentary on the black best friend stereotype i'm gonna party, but i dont expect much of that

the interplay between man and symbol. captain america is obviously a symbol. the shield is obviously a symbol. but steve rogers? the. man behind the cowl? he too seems to become a symbol. a paragon of a good guy, so good he's unreachable. steve was just a guy stop idolizing him the last thing steve would want is to be idolized

as the resident musician/music nerd on mcublr, 1) that captain america rally music slaps, but 2) re: the song at the end of the ep, if you're just gonna rip off mozart's lacrymosa then at least play mozart's lacrymosa. we wont blame you the lacrymosa slaps (if you dont know what im talking about go on yt and search it up youll recognize it fo sho

look i love enfys nest as much as the next guy but if tfatws is gonna get erin kellyman to play another innocent little gurl blackmailed into the fakeout-villain position (her text seemed to suggest as such) then 😡 like why can't women just....be evil? young, freckly, innocent-looking women? girls are not untouchable pure objects but full of rage and resentment just as much as anyone can be

bonus ep1 comment: bucky says about that senator whose car he hijacked, "she continued to abuse the power i gave her." fictionaldarling on yt say that he says "i" because he can't disassociate himself from his winter soldier persona which begets endless and senseless guilt. like dude. can i not be emo for like 1 second.

OKay. First off, as much I enjoy your sending it to me, what made you decide to send me these??

-

TFATWS WA #1

Don't worry about getting this to me as early as possible. I usually don't watch the episode right away.

1. Cool writing lesson.

2. Everyone wants a comedy show [like Friends] about the MCU superheroes.

3. Cinematography is always a beautiful thing.

4. Sam definitely has to carve his own Captain America status for himself, outside of Steve's ya know everything.

5. They have to do that for people who was just now tuning in because they're in love with Sam Wilson or Sharon Carter.

6. I think the therapist was taking a 'tough love' approach for Bucky, because she likely has some very strong opinions about the literal assassin she's been assigned to give therapy too. She did not choose to talk to him, she was assigned that make that clear in the second episode.

And, Bucky isn't lying when he said it wasn't a nightmare. It wasn't a nightmare, it was a resurfaced memory. So, technically he wasn't lying - and yes, the camera does move away because while he's saying he didn't have a nightmare, he's not expanding on what actually happened - so, he's still pushing the therapist/us away.

7. Bucky, and Steve, have/had a TON to adjust to.

8. Yeah, I agree that will be the bullshit line they give. If they ever actually talk about it.

TFATW WA #2

Yeah, always got to take advantage of avoiding those spoilers lmfaoo.

1. Honestly, that line was double meaning. Both about White people and Hydra [which is made up of mostly white supremacists/nazis] So, the line is gesturing to both White People in general and Hydra assholes together. I think the terminology is “double edge sword”??

2. This whole paragraph structure confused me, ngl - so I'm going to answer it the best I can. I do like that they're not ignoring the fact that Sam being Black is 1000% the reason he's not the Official Captain America - because the gov't is racist as hell.

I also like the little lines about how they point out little things about Sam's Falcon persona, like that kid calling him 'Black Falcon' specifically and Sam's response show the split between Sam and Falcon itself.

John is a dick for calling Sam the wingman of Steve Rogers. Sam was a hero all on his own before Steve asked him to join up again. [Side note, it's lichrally??]

3. Exactly, the parallel of Sam being profiled and surrounded while just on the street and John being surrounded by fans and being able to spring Bucky with apparently only a few sentences shows a Loooooot

4. Honestly, at this point I wonder if she's not actually a therapist and is just an agent assigned to assess Bucky outside of an Official Building. I do know, however, that her 'look at each other and speak' exercise is actually a real therapy practice. It's just a little slower.

5. Actually, I think he would've blurted that out. That whole line. I don't think Bucky hates Sam. I think they could've done the scene better, but I think that had Sam prodded him/the therapist been more annoying Bucky would've lost control of his emotions and blurted out the whole "If he was wrong about you, he was wrong about me" but I feel like the writing for this show is just... not there. Sometimes you blurt shit when you get overemotional and I think that was what Bucky was supposed to be like.

6. I don't think Sam hates Bucky, I think he doesn't trust him though. I do wish they'd talked about that though. The whole 'talk to each other' scene should've been a LOT longer and a LOT slower.

7. Sam and Bucky's relationship is being fast tracked because they don't really know how to work the relationship out, writers-room-wise. Bucky is technically retired, but I feel like he's trying to live up to Steve's expectations and doing what Steve would've done and we all know that if Steve was there, Steve would've jumped on that plane with Sam. It looks like Sam/Bucky/Joaquin are a side-team based from Military services but as Sam says they're all free agents so...?

8. Sadly, They seem to just be propping up to be another stereotype.

9. Captain America is a symbol. Steve Rogers is a man. But now Steve Rogers is an idol because of all the shit he's been through and honestly, it's not a bad thing he's become an idol for people - it's using Steve as a reason to make White Bread Walker the next Captain that makes Steve's idolization so fucked.

10. I don't know anything about music so I have no opinion here, sorry.

11. Enfys?? Also, I think they did the whole Innocent Girl Thing as side commentary for Bucky lowering his guard about seeing a young girl rather than a guy.

12. Bucky is the Winter Solider. The Winter Solider is Bucky. That is how Bucky will always see it because although he was brainwashed, it was still him and he remembers all of it. When you have constant memories of something 'someone else' did, you tend to not be able to pull the two personas out of each other. I want Bucky to take up the title, White Wolf instead of Winter Soldier. Honest.

This is all my opinion, I’m honestly a little disappointed with the writing of TFATWS so far so... I’m not really optimistic about this.

[fuck-customers]

This one is long as fuck and kinda boring

Had a woman come in demanding a refund for a shoe that visibly got damaged because if wasnt the correct size for her (her feet were moving around inside the shoe, which shredded the heel lining).

As company policy (and local law) dictates, we send it to a third party independent quality examiner, who determined whether the fault lies with the company or the customer. As expected, the examination came back negative, meaning we were not at fault and do not have to give a refund, however the company does fix shoes for free with a really great shoemaker within 2 years of purchase.

The customer loses her shit at the result of the examination, writes multiple pissy emails to the store (saying shit like "lol" and "surprise surprise" in what is essentially a business email - yes, in english. No i do not live and work in an english speaking country), calling us to say the exact same things, telling us that the examination was "a joke" and that we "obviously pay off the examiner". She also says we accused her of deliberately damaging her shoes, which we did not. The examination report does say the damage was caused by "outside force" but in context it's obvious that that simply means the fault did not lie in the material itself, but rather the incorrect use.

We end up sending her shoes to be fixed, and the shoemaker ends up putting a leather panel at the heel part because that wont be worn out as easily as fabric would, and it's also thicker, thus helps with the size problem a bit. The leather piece is not visible from the outside, and even when you look at it, it just looks like it was made like that in the factory.

Customer comes to pick up her shoes, for which we need to ask for her copy of a form we fill out when we take the quality complaint. She literally throws it at me over the counter. I very leisurely read the info on it, get her shoes from the back, compare the form with the docket in the box of the shoes, etc. I show her the finished product, ask her if its alright (as is company procedure).

She flips her shit completely, saying it looks disgusting (it objectively did not), how she wants a refund right away, how she cant wear this lile that, what will people think of her, how we are disgusting thieves for doing this to her. I tell her i can take her shoes to be fixed differently (still for free), but she will have to tell me exactly what to write on the form on how she wants it to look, because thats what the shoemaker will follow. She keeps ranting in incomplete sentences that dont make any sense, contradict themselves, and just generally not being helpful at all. I wait for her to finish, then i ask her, with no patience left whatsoever, to tell me word for word what to write. "Make it aesthetically pleasing. Write that. Thats it." Im like..............maam. Obviously the shoemaker thought this looks fine, as he gave it to us as finished. Hell, I think it looks absolutely fine. You're gonna have to be more specific.

She looks at me and goes "WHAT DONT YOU UNDERSTAND, ARE YOU STUPID?"

Now. This might be an everyday happening in america, but in europe, you dont talk like that to cashiers. Not ever, because we're not quite that far in late capitalism, and the employees are very much allowed to ask for respect. I put down my pen, and tell her that if she doesnt start watching her tone and talking to me like a human being instead of a piece of dirt on her shoe, i will deny her service, and she can come back another day to talk to another person. She looks me in the eye and says "I TALK TO YOU THE WAY YOU DESERVE." So i give her her copy of the new form, and tell her we're done here, she can pick her shoes up when we send her an email, bye.

She storms out, only to come back 5 minutes later to ask for an official complaint form. We have a pen attached to it, but it hasnt been used in so long that it dried up, which she decides to let me know about by throwing the pen at me and demanding a new one. She fills out the form absolutely incomprehensibly, i couldnt read a word, and she also yells at another customer not to shop here, because we're thieves and scammers, then leaves again.

The next day we get an email from the lady who runs the company in the country, forwarding an email from the same customer that she sent to the customer service email, making up lies about how we treated her, how we lied to her, how we ruined her shoes. Our manager writes her back to come into the store to get a refund to "clear any confusions". When she comes in, our manager told her in no uncertain terms, that the only reason she's getting the refund is so she will stop harassing us and to never ever expect this to happen again. That her behavior is not tolerated in our store, and she is not welcome here.

Shitty story but at least the manager didnt let her believe she won.

[the--blackdahlia]

The Kidnapping of the Drummer

Title: The Kidnapping of the Drummer

Summary: Duff comes to Nikki for some help.

Warnings: Language, crack-ness

AN: Pairings are Tommy x Nikki and Duff x Steven.

It had been a few months since Vince had lost Tommy in a poker game, and Nikki never let him live it down. Every time Vince would argue with the bassist, Nikki would shoot back that with at least he didn't lose the drummer in a game, and it instantly shut the frontman up, instead making him huff and march off.

After that, Axl arranged to kidnap Tommy again just for the principal of the matter. It almost worked the first time, except Nikki came out to the pool of the hotel where Duff had been tasked to kidnap the drummer from.

One look at Nikki made Duff hold up his hands, say fuck it, and leave.

"What do you mean you just left him?" Axl growled when he found out.

"Bassist code man," Duff countered. "I ain't pissing off another bassist. Never know when I'll need some strings."

"Good idea babe," Steven smiled at the other blonde, and Axl rolled his eyes. 

"Shut up Steven." Axl snapped. Duff looked at the drummer and saw his shoulders slump. "Vince fucking needs to pay. We're going to get Tommy fucking Lee or so help me."

That led to the next few months of Axl trying to plan how to kidnap Tommy. And each time failed as miserably as the time before. Someone always foiled it,  and Axl stopped asking Duff to fetch. Duff noticed he never involved Steven in his plans though.

"You okay?" Duff asked, wrapping his arms around him and resting his head on his shoulder.

"Yeah I'm great," Steven replied. And he was smiling, but Duff could hear a hint of sadness in his voice. Steven had been struggling here recently, smiling less, wanting to sleep more, and not even really feeling like playing the drums. 

"You sure?" Duff asked, not really believing him. He knew Steven thought he was putting on a good face, but sometimes it would disappear, especially when Axl would yell at him, insult him, and Duff was about two seconds away from punching a certain redhead in his dick.

"Of course," Steven smiled and kissed his cheek before heading to the shower. Duff frowned. Steven had been struggling on and off with his mental health. Some days it was okay and he was smiley and happy, some days it was all he could do to get out of bed.

And it was later that Duff was starting to see why. Axl was pissy, because none of his plans had worked, so every little thing seemed to be setting him off.

"Fucking hell Steven!" Axl screamed. "Can't you do anything right?"

"But…" Steven started, but Axl stopped him.

"I don't want to hear any if your fucking excuses. You're literally this close to being out of this fucking band!"

"Axl, calm down," Slash tried to intervene, but Axl was already riled up.

"He cant even get a beat right! He's a fucking drummer! We get Lee, we're keeping him and sending Steven to them!" Duff looked over at Steven, who was looking down at his drums.

"Okay, that's enough. Back the fuck off," Duff growled. Axl rolled his eyes and went to talk to Slash and Izzy about some guitar riffs. Duff headed over to Steven. "Babe…"

"I gotta go," Steven quickly left the rehearsal area. Duff stood there, watching him leave.

"Where the fuck is he going?" Axl asked. Duff turned to glare at the singer. "Fine. Whatever. I have better things to do anyway." He grabbed Slash and they left. Duff wanted to go after Steven, but first, he had a stop to make.

****

"Hello?" Vince answered. Duff looked at the phone for a second.

"Vince? I thought I called Tommy and Nikki…"

"Yeah, I'm crashing here for a bit. Trouble in paradise and all that shit."

"Oh. Uh sorry man," Duff paused for a minute. "Well, can I talk to Nikki?"

"Him and Tommy went to Tower or something. I don't know." Vince sighed.

"Okay thanks." Duff hung up without even saying bye. He grabbed the keys to his car and headed out towards the strip. He figured that if the terror twins were shopping anywhere, it would be at the Tower on sunset. That's where everyone seemed to be going. 

And sure enough, as Duff made his way into the store, he saw two heads of dark hair towering over the bins of records.

"Yo, Sixx man," Duff made his way over to the two.

"Are you really trying to kidnap him now?" Nikki asked with a sigh. "He's so happy looking for vinyl."

"No. I come in peace," Duff explained. "In fact, I actually need a favor." Tommy looked up from the bin he was looking at and shared a glance with Nikki. "Can we talk? Please?"

****

"Okay, what's going on?" Nikki asked. The three of them went to the Rainbow for beers and burgers. Duff took a drink to calm himself before he started to call Axl every name in the book.

"I want you to kidnap Steven," Duff explained.

"What?" Tommy laughed.

"You guys are the kidnapping group. Not us," Nikki added.

"Axl keeps screaming at Steven all the time. And I'm afraid if he keeps it up…" Duff trailed off. Tommy and Nikki knew all about Steven's mental health issues. Tommy had went to pull a prank on the other drummer once. Walking into Steven and Duff's room, Tommy immediately changed his mind when he saw the normally happy blonde curled up in the middle of the bed, tears streaming down his face.

"So, you just want us to kidnap him and that's it?" Nikki asked.

"I'm coming with," Duff told him. "Steven and I need a couple nights together without Axl dictating when we can and cannot just be together. And maybe we could do a cool supergroup thing or something."

"I'm game, but we should probably talk to Vinnie and Micm," Tommy looked at Nikki.

"Vince is staying at our place. I'll call Mick and we'll all discuss it. Wanna come with?" Nikki asked.

"I really need to go check on Steven," Duff told them. "Call me when you guys come to a decision."

"We will," Tommy assured him.

"And trust me, I can be pretty persuasive." Nikki smirked at Duff. "I'm sure Vinnie will see it my way."

****

"You want to what?" Vince asked. Mick had a smirk on his face as Nikki and Tommy explained the plan.

"You had me at screwing with Axl," Mick nodded.

"So we're going to kidnap Steven, Duff's coming with him, and they would be willing to put out a song or two with us?" Vince asked. Nikki nodded. "Okay. Let's do it."

"I'm game," Mick nodded.

"You know I'm fucking stoked for this," Tommy laughed. Nikki smiled then went to call Duff to discuss the plan.

****

"I'll be late for practice," Duff told Steven with a kiss. "I have a few things I need to pick up. Just tell Axl to go fuck himself if he says anything."

"Oh, ok," Steven gave Duff a kiss back. "I'll see you in a bit?"

"Of course," he smiled as Steven got his keys and headed to practice. Once Steven was gone, Duff started to pack a couple of overnight bags for the two of them. He smiled to himself as he got everything ready.

He headed out of the house to where Nikki and Tommy were waiting in Nikki's car.

"Your chariot awaits fucker!" Tommy laughed. Duff flipped him off but had a smile on his face as he got in the backseat.

"Okay so Vince and Mick are waiting for us by the studio," Nikki explained. "Tommy and I are going in with them. You said Izzy knows, right?"

"Yeah. And if he told Slash, he won't say anything. They might be screwing but Slash wouldn't mind watching us piss Axl off."

"Then let's get this show on the mother fucking road!" Tommy laughed.

They pulled up in front of the studio. Vince and Mick were in Vince's car, arguing about something. Duff looked over at them then back at Nikki and Tommy.

"Vince probably turned Kiss on," Nikki explained. "It's a long story."

"What does he have against Kiss?" Duff asked.

"Its Mick. He hates things people like," Tommy laughed.

"Okay let's go get Steven," Nikki smiled at Tommy before giving him a kiss. The two got out of the car and motioned for the other two. "What were you two arguing about now?"

"Fucking Barbie played fucking Kiss," Mick grumbled. Nikki shook his head as they headed into the studio.

"Steven, where the fuck is Duff?" They heard Axl ask.

"He had to get something. I dont know…" the four looked at each other. The sadness was evident in his voice.

"Ok, let's go," Nikki commanded. He pushed open the doors to the room, causing Axl, Steven, Izzy, and Slash to look up. Izzy and Slash both started to smile. Axl started to laugh.

"You're  bringing him to me? That's awesome," he smiled.

"Eh, not quite." Nikki nodded. He watched as Slash and Izzy casually stepped in front of Axl, helping Tommy and Vince block him. Mick stood at the door. Nikki went to Steven. "Don't squirm." He grabbed the drummer and tossed him over his shoulder.

"Hey!" Axl called out.

"Nikki, what the fuck?" Steven asked.

"Just go with it dude," Nikki laughed. "Bye Izzy. Bye Slash."

"Bye fucker," Vince smirked at Axl before heading out with Tommy, Nikki, Mick, and Steven.

"Put me down," Steven tried wiggling.

"Chill out dude," Tommy laughed. He opened the back door of Nikki's car and Nikki deposited the drummer in the back.

"Hey babe," Duff laughed. Steven looked over at the bassist.

"What's going on?" Steven asked. "Why'd motley crue just kidnap me?"

"I asked them to," he waved at Mick and Vince as they walked away.

"Why?" Steven looked at Duff as Tommy and Nikki got back in the car.

"I'm sick and fucking tired of how Axl is treating you," Duff explained, cupping Steven's cheek. "I can't lose you. So if that means hanging out with the terror twins for a few days, so be it." He saw the tears in Steven's eyes  but the smile on his face. "I love you."

"I love you too." Duff leaned in and kissed Steven. Tommy and Nikki smiled at each other before Nikki drove them back to their house.

****

Axl was pacing in front of Izzy and Slash. The two guitarists were getting a little sea sick watching him.

"Why Steven?" Axl asked.

"What?" Izzy raised an eyebrow.

"He has nothing to do with this. Why take him? Like if anyone, they should've taken Slash...no offense."

"Uh huh. Sure," Slash grumbled.

"And where the fuck is Duff?" Axl asked.

"Maybe they grabbed him too?" Izzy suggested. "You know, go big or go home?"

"It makes no fucking sense!" Axl sighed.

"They'll escape on their own at some point," Slash shrugged. Him and Izzy looked at each other and smiled.

"Wait, do you two know something?" Axl asked.

"Nope," Izzy and Slash shook their heads.

"I don't believe you…" Axl shook his head. "But I'm too tired to figure it out."

****

"Why are we doing this again?" Steven asked as he stood with his head over the sink as Tommy rinsed his hair.

"Because it'll be funny," Tommy told him. "And this will come out the next time you shampoo."

"I gotta say, I'm pretty hot with black hair," Duff admired himself in a mirror.

"Is it going to make me permanently like this?" Steven dried his hair with the towel Nikki handed him.

"Nah. Might darken slightly for a bit, but that's it." Nikki told him. "But we're not guns, so we can only have one blonde bitch in our band."

"Someone will be very upset if we take his barbie title away from him," Tommy chimed in. Steven and Duff started laughing. Tommy and Nikki shared a look, happy to see Steven actually smiling and laughing.

"So I have a song that will sound really cool with dueling drums and bass," Nikki explained. "And I have a camera and want to take a new band picture."

"I can't believe we're members of motley crue," Duff laughed, wrapping an arm around Steven's waist. "Axl is going to die when he hears about that."

"Well, since we got the hair done, I think we can do our song tomorrow to piss Axl off," Nikki smiled at them. 

"Come on," Duff grabbed Steven's hand. "Because you're pretty fucking hot with dark hair." Steven laughed and followed Duff towards the guest room they would be staying in.

"Those two," Tommy shook his head. Nikki came up behind him and wrapped his arms around him.

"You know, you're hotter, right?" He kissed on Tommy's neck.

“Oh, you think so?” Tommy asked with a soft moan. Nikki nodded against him and smirked.

“Let’s go to our room,” Nikki told him. “We have some things we need to do.”

****

It was about three days later when Steven was washing the black out of his hair that Axl came knocking. Vince and Mick looked up from the game they were watching. Nikki patted Tommy’s leg, having the drummer stand up from where he was sitting on Nikki’s lap. Duff and Steven were still back in the guest room and bathroom. Nikki answered the door, seeing the redhead standing there with Slash and Izzy behind him.

“I give,” He sighed.

“Excuse me?” Nikki asked, trying to hide the smirk on his face.

“I give up. Let them go,” Axl sighed.

“We’re not keeping them here,” Nikki told him. “They want to be here.”

“Can I talk to them?” Axl asked. Nikki looked over at Tommy and nodded. The drummer went to get the two others. Soon, Tommy was coming back with Duff and Steven.

“Axl,” Duff crossed his arms over his chest. “What are you doing here?”

“Rescue,” Axl nodded. “Brought help.”

“We don’t want rescued,” Duff snapped. “In fact, I think we’re going to stay being apart of the Crue.”

“What? Why?” Axl asked.

“Well, for starters, you’ve been such a dick to Steven,” Duff pointed out.

“Isn’t he a dick all the time?” Vince piped up from the living room.

“Not helping!” Nikki called to the frontman.

“I’m sorry,” Axl sighed.

“I don’t believe you,” Duff shook his head. “I put his mental health and happiness over the band. You screw with him, you lose a bassist and probably a drummer, because I’m not letting him stay alone in the band with you.”

“I’m sorry I was such a dick to you Steven,” Axl looked at the drummer. “Will you guys please come back?” Steven looked over at Duff with a smile on his face.

“I never thought in a million years I’d live long enough to hear Axl Rose apologize,” Steven teased. “Yeah, we’ll come back.” Duff smiled and kissed Steven’s cheek.

“Hey Rose,” Vince walked up to Axl and slapped a picture against his chest. “Be on the lookout for our new single.” Axl pulled the photo back from his chest and his mouth hung open. Tommy and Steven were enveloped in a massive drumset, Steven with hair as dark as Tommy’s. And then, the two bassists, both with matching, feathered black hair, looked like they were annoying the ever loving shit out of Mick and Vince.

“What the fuck?” Axl asked.

“Yeah, that’s Motley Crue,” Nikki shrugged. “Got any guitarists that would want to join, we welcome them with open arms.” He looked over at Slash and Izzy. “In fact, I don’t even think we’d have to dye their hair.”

“No. No way. Let’s go,” Axl motioned for the band. Slash, Izzy, and Steven started to follow. Duff hung back and looked over at Nikki.

“Thanks again man,” Duff told him. “It’s great to see Steven happy.”

“Anytime,” Nikki smiled. Vince nodded.

“All you gotta do is say you want to screw with Axl, and we’re game,” He laughed. Duff smiled and followed the rest of his band out the door.

Forever Tags: @anathewierdo @dekahg @marvel-af-imagines @feelmyroarrrr @nanie5 @imboredsueme @gemini0410 @aiaranradnay @babypink224221 @mogarukes @xxwarhawk @sandlee44 @shatteredabby @caswinchester2000 @supernaturalwincestsblog @lauravic @mrsambroserollinsacklesmgk @teller258316 @horrorpxnk @tommyleeownsme @marvelismylifffe @mrslogansixxpixx

Motley Crue Tags: @primal-screamer @waywardprincess666 @twistnet @saint-of-los-angeles @vader-kai @motleyfuckingcruee @sharon6713 @kawennote09 @2dead2function @nikkisixxwiththebass @iamtiber-andtiberismusic @jayprettymuchomw @charlyallise @you-know-im-a-dreamer @sweet-dreams-on-butterfly-wings @estxxmotley @arianareirg @the-normal-potato @nikki-sixxtynine @jjjjjjjoshdun @just-a-normal-fangirl18 @stella20131991 @tarahell @wowilovenikkisixx @i-want-to-shoot-myself @motleycrueee @sams-serialkiller-fetish @getbackhonkycatt @are-you-reddie54321 @flamencodiva @deacyduck @scarecrowmax @major-tom-is-a-junky @anyasthoughts @bandaids-not-groupies @ilovetomkeiferslips @kaitieskidmore1 @useyourillusion @xpoisonousrosesx @slash-me-up

[flockofdoves]

maybe i am just being overly sensitive and all autistic with avpd and its not that bad but i swear one of my new coworkers has just automatically decided she hates me. i figured it was fair enough a couple days ago when i was so late and she was working alone in the morning i don’t blame her for being pissy about that and i still hope i can prove i’m better than that but in the meantime its difficult when like . this is a small job we’re the only two people here for most of the day when the trainers arent here but every single time i ask a question shes like ‘you’re just not looking hard enough you can find it/figure it out’ all irritated and even when i was expressing like . hey i literally have not been trained on this i’m sorry to bother you but i need help she still was like that. and with things i couldnt possibly have known needed to be done today we hadnt done them other days of the week she like?? waits til last minute to tell me but not like understandably shes working too and thats extra for her to remember bc she still phrases it like shes mad i havent done those things i didnt know i needed to do yet. i don’t wanna step on any more toes so i like . still don’t even understand my basic rights on this job with going on breaks and stuff. i’m kinda worried i misunderstood when i accepted this job (would have still accepted) about it being unionized maybe its just some are unionized and i’m not?? because like. i have not met any union reps yet only like this coworker, a trainer, and the lady who hired me

but yeah i’m sure its frustrating her having to do so much each day and i’m sure me being late wasnt a great impression on my third day but the fact that she didnt seem to treat the other new hire asking questions like . anywhere near with the same hostility i heard towards me?? and i feel the other new hire kinda noticed how she talked to me too. idk though. also a factor that honestly really really upset me and i feel could be a show of character is some kid (we’re in a middle school i think this kids just a 7th grader) was being a bit dumb and impulsive and jokingly grabbed pineapple from the serving dish with his hands which like . yeah thats gross and we have to throw out the rest (but there wasnt much left anyway) but being like ‘hey please dont do that again now no one else can get pineapple its unsanitary and a big waste’ would be fine. maybe he wouldn’t immediately take that to heart but it definitely has a lot more potential than what happened which was her screaming at him and then the principal coming over and them both ganging up on this kid like ‘you’re a bad kid you know we could have you arrested for that thats school property we’re going to call your mother and have her pay for all that you wasted that can of pineapple could be like $40’ (it literally at most was $3 what we threw out. who cares. that much gets wasted all the time) and just verbally berating him and both her and the principal were still talking about it the next day and calling him sociopathic and shit just for that. i really wish i knew a way to deescalate i felt so bad for him i want to do better if shit happens like that again. hate hate so much how many school officials are always fucking power tripping over the smallest thing type casting kids as bad with no room for growing and restricting them til they inevitably snap somewhat under that and give in. i do not trust adults in schools who do that shit at all from my own time in middle/high school and seeing that in this environment in a new position is really upsetting. i don’t know if theres much i can do but i feel i should have done more yesterday when that happened.

[roseamongroses]

Antithesis (6): “...”

Summary: For their Junior project, Roman is unceremoniously paired with Dmitri.

He’s hardly interacted with the guy, a strange occurrence since Virgil has had a weird/unexplained hate-hate relationship with him since middle-school. But it isn’t like he’s complaining. Dmitri’s cute, he compliments Roman, and damn can he paint.So Roman may or may not catch feelings, and he may not be wiling to uncatch them anytime soon.–Dmitri returns the sentiment.

[General Warnings:] Misgendering, Past Misgendering, Past Bullying, Mild Sexual Content,  implied emotional abuse, Cursing [Tags/mood:] highschool au, project troupe, fluff and angst but its all good, chat fic, teen stress, its flordia no snow we die like men [Pairing:] Roceit (Roman Sanders/ Deceit Sanders), hinted future/possible logince/roloceit/loceit [Characters] Roman Sanders/Deceit (Dmitri) Sanders, Virgil Sanders, Logan Sanders, Patton Sanders, Remy (Sleep) Sanders, Nate Sanders, Dragon Witch (Diana)

(1)(2)(3) (4) (5) (6) (7)

WhyHaventIFuckinBlockedYou: Dm you up for this weekend

WhyHaventIFuckinBlockedYou: Bro diane’s gunna be mad if you don’t

WhyHaventIFuckinBlockedYou: wow you really playing with fire

WhyHaventIFuckinBlockedYou: You still mad about that?

WhyHaventIFuckinBlockedYou:Fuck dude it's literally not that big of a deal??cmon it's not fun unless youre there to piss off

WhyHaventIFuckinBlockedYou: and dont just say it's cause youre stufying/ doing work cause thats bs, your just fcking around with that dude

WhyHaventIFuckinBlockedYou: it's been a straight up semester cmon

WhyHaventIFuckinBlockedYou: dmitri?

---

Dmitri scanned the bustle of the afterschool crowd, the dismissal bell still ringing in his ears. With the grace one would expect from a gangly teen, he caught up to the flash of red as easy as one with expect. Only a couple people scowled.

“Roman,” He said breathless, slowing to match their pace, “You free for valentines?”

Roman shifted the bag on his shoulder, “It’s still January, Dee,” He said, bemused, but eyes tired.

“Uh, well,” He glanced away, “Are you free though?”

“Well perhaps if I ask my secretary to reschedule th-” He blinked hard, nearly stumbling into a kid lugging a trombone case, “Fuck, I forgot,”

Dmitri’s eyebrow’s drew together with a frown, “Forgot what?”

“I,” He winched, “I fuckin forgot, every year we take my Mom out to dinner for valentine’s day, “ he said, voice adopting a somber tone, “It’s her wedding anniversary and god-- I’m a dumbass how did I forget-- sorry.”

“Roman, you’re not a dumbass,” Dmitri said, “A dumbass sure, but not a dumbass,”

“That actually makes no sense, I applaud you,” Roman rolled his eyes, mouth still pinched. They stopped to sit on the short brick wall lining the sidewalks to the parking lot, so Roman can wait for his ride.

Roman took the chance to groan into his hands.

Glancing around to see no administrators around that would care about a little PDA, Dmitri draped his around around Roman’s shoulders, pulling him into his chest with little protest.

“Hey are you…?”

Roman voice was muffled, him refusing to look up.

“Roman you aren’t stupid,” Dmitri said, softer, “Roman,” he pushed back Roman’s hair, searching their face. Roman blinked fast, eyebags blending effortlessly into his makeup.

“I fuckin forgot Dee, how is that not stupid.” Roman said, sour, “First I mixed up the deadlines, and just had to slack off, and now I’m behind. To top it all off, I’m a shit son. ”

“You’re doing your best and your grades can afford a hit, ”

“I could do better though,” Roman stressed, looking increasingly desperate, “And I shouldn’t deal with hits, I never see Logan deal with-” He shut his mouth, eyes bright and wide, “Forget that, It’s nothing.”

Dmitri studied him, “You don’t think it's fair.”

“That’s, that’s--” Roman sputtered, “That’s not what I said Dee, it's fair, he’s earned it.”

“He has earned it,” Dmitri agreed, “That doesn’t mean you don’t want it too.”

Roman squinted at that, “Y’know, maybe you getting into philosophy wasn’t such a good idea,” He mumbled, “I expect kisses, not accurate call out posts.”

“So, I’m right?” Dmitri laughed, pinching Roman’s cheek, much to their distress, “You know, you both are in mostly the same classes, it wouldn’t be strange to ask him to help you out and vice versa?” he idly suggested, “Y’all both are ride and die, so it’d be mutually beneficial.”

Roman patted his face with a pout, “No,” he sniffed.

“Why not, you’re friends, aren’t you?”

“Yeah, but he’s closer with Virgil then he is with me, “ Roman shrugged, “Otherwise I think we’d eat each other alive before sophomore year,” he then added, a bit quieter, “So I doubt he’d want to put up with me anymore then he has to.”

“I don’t think that’d be the case,” Dmitri said, “Teaching’s a form of studying, so It’s not like he’d be wasting time.” Someone shouted Roman’s name, and he looked up, finding Remy gesturing to the car that he assumed Virgil was already in. Roman shouldered his bag, “Maybe...I’ll talk to him,” He said, kissing Dmitri’s cheek and hopping to his feet.

“Oh and try to get some fucking rest,” Dmitri called out, grabbing his own keys.

“Sure, sure, sure, ” Roman called back with a wave.

---

Theactualdragonthatistillhaventblocked: bitchhhhhhhh

Theactualdragonthatistillhaventblocked: wtf dmitri? Can you take that stick up your ass out for one second??it wasnt even about you??

Theactualdragonthatistillhaventblocked: everybody's so sensitive nowadays fuckin hell??dude you missed my birthday. It shouldn't be that deep we've been friends for years??

---

Dmitri carefully gathered his freshly snipped roses into the vase, a small smile on his face. Roman had painted the vase earlier that week, the swirling blues and yellows of A Starry Night effortlessly covering up the vase’s cracked and abused exterior. All that was needed was the flowers, which Dmitri graciously volunteered.

He stood, tucking a smaller flower in his front pocket before brushing the dirt from his jeans As soon as he opened the screen door, he froze.

“Dmitri, get in here, we have company!” His aunt called from the other room. Sighing he readjusted the vase in his arms, thoughtlessly following her voice to the living room with a tight lipped smile.

His smile became painted as he realized who the company was, “Diana,” he greeted, her blue eyes narrowing on him pleasantly from behind her tea-cup.

“You didn’t tell me that red-head was Diana?” His aunt faux whispered, her hair piled limply on top of her head, lips a cherry red, and nails done, and she looked genuinely pleased to see him despite being covered in dirt and probably making tracks on her carpet. She must’ve made up with her boyfriend.

Diana batted her eyes pleasantly, “Oh he didn’t tell you?” She said, and his blood ran cold, “ We have a date today, but I guess he was embarrassed,” she leaned in close to hisaunt, “Afterall I had to make the plans, he is rather shy.” His aunt frowned at that, “Poor boy doesn’t have a proper father -figure,” she shook her head, “He was a… crier… when he was younger.” she finished, distaste clear.

It took more effort then he should’ve have to not retort with ‘he doesn’t have a proper mother figure,’ either, but he likes his evenings scream free.

Diana took that time to finish her tea cup, “But don’t worry ma’am, we’ll have a good time,” She stood, slinking to his side, too close for comfort, her arms linking with his.

“Hopefully not too good of a time,” His aunt winked, as Diana none too gently dragged him out the door. As soon as the door slammed behind him, Dmitri yanked his arm from her hold, readjusting his grip on the vase.

“What the fuck, Dmitri?” She spat, face inches from his, “You missed, my birthday, my birthday.”

“What do you want?” he said.

“I want a fuckin’ explaination,” She scowled, looking him up and down, “We want our friend back, not acting pissy and giving us the silent treatment of all things.”

“We?” Dmitri raised his eyebrow, “Nate isn’t even here.”

“Don’t be a smartass, he’s at work, I think. It's Nate, so who knows,” She flipped her hair, “Plus his heart’s too weak for direct action.”

“You mean invading my house?” Dmitri said, irritation rising, “Or perhaps your direct action was quite literally bullying Emile out of our school? You know, Emile who gave you his shoes because you stepped in dog shit, the Emile who baked us cookies for our birthdays? Ring a bell?”

“Your little girlfriend could never take a joke,” She scowled, before insisting, “It was just a joke!”

“It was not a joke,” Dmitri hissed, “You guys tried to fuck over him over for whatever god-awful reason and just laughed at the results.”

“Sure, fine, we’re bullies,” She shrugged, face pinched, “But you were there too, so pull that stick out your ass. You laughed when we laughed, hell, you don’t even defend yourself.”

“I-”

“‘I’ what? Sure you came out , introduced your little ‘boyfriend,” she bared her teeth, “But you still let that woman walk all over you, still smiled to our faces, then went to bitch about it elsewhere like we didn’t exist. You always fuckin cared more about little Emile, right? Right?” Diana’s voice was strangled, blinking rapidly, “Don't even bother to tell me to fuck off, just don’t. I get the message,”

She turned around, stiff, “You’re a two-faced bitch, Dmitri. ”

Dmitri didn’t say anything to that.

He never does.

!!!taglist!!!

@daflangstlairde

@ace-anx

[gammija]

The Hollow review/summary/rant/explanation of why i hate the ending I wasn’t sure whether I should post this, but I did enjoy reading others experiences watching this show, so here’s mine under the cut. Edited from a convo with a friend.

(Obviously, spoilers!)

Me: Okay so to properly express my disappointment i gotta take you through the major beats

The show starts with three teens waking up in an almost empty room, finding out they all have amnesia. They quickly solve a puzzle to escape the room, and just as quickly Adam and Mira realize they have superpowers (superstrength/agility and some weird 'speak to animals/know all languages' hybrid, respectively. also she can breathe underwater and swim really fast. its kind of vague)

Kai is already clearly a comic relief, discount Ron (from HP, the movies, no idea about the books) so me and sister correctly predict he'll get jealous of adam and miras relationship (even if there is none), gets pissy and jealous that he has no powers, but then finds out he has powers anyway he does, hes a fire bender. cant say im not bitter about that cause id put my money on invulnerability but eh its alright he has red hair after all hes still fun

Friend: Of course he is

I just feel bad is all aldjs

Me: adam gets a throwaway line of 'maybe were dead' and kai never lets it go

this food might be poisoned but im starving and hey were dead anyway! right, adam

Friend: I love him??

Me: i loved him as soon as he spoke his first dumb words also he puns but basically hes the only interesting char; adam and mira are just cookie cutter 'male lead 1' and 'female lead 1' i mean, he’s cookie cutter ‘jealous 3rd wheel’ but that has more going on than the first two still servicable though

anyway so the jokes are sometimes fun, and superpowers are always my jam. but the REAL reason to keep watching is just, whats going on? ARE they dead? or in some kind of weird gvnmt experiment? some weird magical vampire guide (dont ask) hints they wanted this themselves ooh, intrigue. and the world is very very quirky they start in a gravity falls-y woods and then get teleported to a desert with minotaurs and witches, then get invited for tea by the Grim Reaper and the rest of the 4 horsemen of the apocalypse

tbh Grim is the best part of the show but thats neither here nor there

anyway they have a magic map that updates once theyve been somewhere, and it shows them that the hot dry desert and the swampy wood bunker are like right next to each other

so you start thinking, how are they gonna explain that? this is too weird to be handwaved away. theyve gotta be going somewhere

they visit some other exotic locals, like what appears to be the set of Alien (complete with alien) and an abandoned old fair and a floating island with japanese inspired evildoers on it

the weird magic guide keeps showing up and being vague, dropping hints that there are other kids there etc

at some point Mira says "This is no time for games!" Weirdy: "Thats where youd be wrong~" me and sister: Aha! videogame! that connects all the dots, and also makes the tropes clear: small world with all kinds of different areas, quests, fights, superpowers, an updating map, fast travel Adam, a few eps later: guis i think we might be in a videogame me and sister: [high five]

Anyway in the meantime also the second predictable Kai (discount Ron) plot happens: they meet three other kids (boy boy girl) and they act shady but the girl takes an immediate and obvious interest in Kai so obviously theyre gonna manipulate him and have him betray his friends but in the end he'll see through their facade and kick their ass that more or less happens. The other teens also confirm that this is a game, and theyre trying to win. winning is done by bringing the MacGuffin to a tree fights over macguffin ensue situations are dire but our characters persevere

(also Mira kisses Adam and he acts very weird about it, almost as if hes gay and the only reason they didnt make it canon is censors) (no lingering gaze, just him going 'hehe yeah no thanks, its not you, its me', but in a very... he doesnt seem to be saying it with shall we say burning desire in his soul. hes literally just like 'eh youre a good friend.' Cool move, cartoon that made the two main boys have arguments over nothing cause of course the two main guys have constant dick measuring matches)

this all is not the offensive part btw it was all fun and games, its just a flash cartoon i wasnt expecting Shakespeare

anyway so theyre in a videogame, and apparently thats the answer to all the weirdness. A bit of a cop-out, cause thats a very easy answer, but eh, it works. it wasnt immediately obvious.

also something i hadnt mentioned yet: thisd be ideal for making (self-insert) OCs. Unique powers for each person, there are clearly more characters than shown, the world is your playground

and maybe the video game thing could be interesting on its own in the last few eps the game seems to be glitching out a lot they say its breaking apart so they really gotta hurry now maybe they were beta testers for a vr game gone wrong maybe this is part of it but its like a huge experience that you tell all your friends about anyway there are ways it could be cool, could be expanded to a season 2 despite having solved the mystery

but. last episode. our heroes get the MacGuffin, go to a final stage, and fight the Boss Battle (its a dragon). they enter the Castle....

...and the screen zooms out, into a sudden live action stage, where we see the cartoon (literally what you were just watching) on screen. there are 6 chairs, 3 with our heroes, 3 with the other teens, presumably. theres a host and hes dressed exactly like the weird guy (and that was already kind of a clashy outfit in the cartoon). it was all just a game show. but. the worst part is the live action

you. dont. go. from. animated. to. live. action.

other way around? fine, can work. But now? WHY itd still be dumb and dissapointing but if itd been animated too itd at least have been.... nice to look at but the acting.. oh god they didnt even say anything and it was all wrong clearly theyd just picked the first random teens that vaguely looked like the chars and put them in there cause they had no lines so who needs acting?!

the enemy teams girl had, in the cartoon, pink hair. Purple with pink highlights instead of stylizing that into something more realistic or painting the actual hair, they gave some 30-year old woman a wig and called it a day

keep in mind i binged this show in one go

purposely stayed up late to watch the last ep with my sis even tho we shouldve gone to bed and were disobeying our dad cause we Had to Know

and theres more i said they had no lines but i was lying. Kai did have a line. well, his voice actor did they dubbed him also the line was about him having to pee which is already not the most hilarious in animated version but a live action kid whose supposed to be this character you spent 3 hours with but looks nothing like him saying that in a voice that doesnt belong to his throat, as he stands bashfully in front of a live audience, the only words spoken by your main characters in the last moments...

*its actual hell*

oh oh one more thing at the end the six kids stand in a line and kai is next to other girl they glance at each other and as the eyes of this teen and 30 year old in wig cross, her eye glitches for a moment

dun dun duuun

bUT i dont care anymore, The Hollow. You overestimated your own premise. this wont be forgiven. your most interesting part was the mystery, and the answer  to that was "just a normal game show" (which also doesnt make sense on another level smh) soo if you think that im interested in what these two-dimensional (ha) characters will do now about the glitch in the eye of a bitch then i have news for u

i dont

...if they get a second season ill probably check it out though as long as its animated

Friend: Gammi I'm getting the real sinking suspicious feeling that what you saw isn't the real end but bad on purpose because there's more to it

Me: the show didnt seem good enough to be bad on purpose

and yet im still not done, if youll still hear me out

i mean, im an animation fan so ill still watch but if theyd wanted to be bad on purpose they really shouldve done a better job fleshing out the characters thats what people come back for that was a bit of a sidetrack BUT so i said why the live action itself was just terrible in overal quality

but the resolution that 'oh it was all in a game show' doesnt work on multiple levels

first of all, they show a short flashback of "About 5 hours earlier". The kids stand on the stage and are instructed to take their seats in the vr-chairs, and pick their superpower

2 things i dislike about that

1) there goes all the self-insert/oc potential. they werent teens in over their heads, they werent gvnmt experiments, or just some kids who wanted to play a game -they were in it to win it, from the start. thats very specific and not the most appealing to all kinds of characters (goodbye, all the 'im just an average girl whod never step into the spotlight like that' characters).

Also, all the expansion on lore is gone. maybe there were other games simultaneously? eh, maybe, but theyd be all gameshows. Maybe someone ended uo trapped there for way longer? nah its just a gameshow theyre not gonna let anything actually bad happen. Maybe there are other worlds, other areas, other weird creatures? unlikely, they finished the map and familiarity seemed to be a thing for the audience. Now every new idea has to be put not through a 'whats interesting for a player' but a 'whats interesting for a viewer' lens, and whats a selfinsert if not a player in another universe

2) HOW IS THIS A SUCCESSFUL GAME SHOW

who the hell watches a game show for 5 consecutive hours, some of which mustve been just them walking. also, we zoom out of the screen were watching, so implication is that everything up until then has been what the audience has seen. but... we only followed the one team. there were two? why didnt the audience want to see what they were up to? ~reality tv usually thrives on showinf the worst assholes so realistically they wouldve been the focus~

There are also way too many times *both* teams couldve failed, from early on till late in the game. Not a single game i can think of thats played for an audience is set up like that, and especially not a televised one (okay tbf idk if this was televised, i dont remember if i saw cameras, but. it mustve. monetary reasons.)

What r u gonna do if they all 'died' from the monsters in the first ep? Call it a day? boring for the audience. let them restart from scratch? boring for the audience. the existence of an audience messes with everything

AND THEN ANOTHER THING what do you mean, "5 hours ago?" you never get a time stamp to show how long theyve been in there but there are some cuts, when they travel and such. The actual show is a lil over 3 hours runtime. You mean to tell me you sat through 2 hours of the characters just walking?

okay last thing. so. they were clearly second season teasing with the glitching eye thing. i already said this but. theres nowhere to go from here that isnt worse that the first season. your mystery is dead. you clearly know your live action teens cant act so youd have to go back into the game - but why would they do that? how would that be in any way interesting? you explored all there was to explore.

The other, more out there option, is that as you said the 'real world' was a fake-out and theyre still in a game. but. how would- how would you even make that remotely convincing? if youd just left the 'real world' gameshow as animated too this wouldnt have been a problem. but there is absolutely no conceivable reason to justify, in universe, why another meta-level up is 2D animation again unless they were in a game, in a game, in a game. and thats just dumb. yall aint inception

Friend: HONESTLY if they just kept the whole deal animated it'd probably be okay. Not good, but better,

Me: ye me and my sister came to the same conclusion

i couldve lived with that. at least, i couldve just acknowledged the finales existence but chose to ignore it. now however im full phantom planet levels of denial. in fact i dont even know how the show ended anymore, suddenly

Friend: what finale? what show?

Me: also at least now we know why its called The Hollow

it leaves you feeling empty inside