#kid with a retainer (jimmy)

[torra-and-the-toons]

I just had a thought that woke me in a cold sweat from a nap...

Since EEnE and KND technically exist in the same world, what if the adults from EEnE are always gone because they're busy terrorizing the KND?

This is not at all a serious headcanon, but it's funny to think about.

[somewhatidealname]

i love how your springtap is just a literal monster while scraptrap has the vibe of a kid's cartoon villian. if these two saw each other they'd be immensly confused as to how different they are in nature. literal apex predator vs jimmy neutrons grandfather 💀

scraptrap is from the timeline where william retains his braincells

[cyanityy]

One plot hole that really irks me in Bully is the Help Gary mission. After how Gary boasts about taking over the school in front of all the clique leaders, with a reputation of being sadistic and untrustworthy beyond that of the usual teenage banter, why the flippity is there no resistance against his rumours?? Anyway, my two cents on the ordeal:

First, scrap Gary as a guide throughout the entire mission. Why are we still in tutorial mode while navigating the basement I see literally zero purpose for that. We could easily resolve the mission's rigid direction by making the betrayal happen moments before, instead opting to chase Gary for revenge - a revenge that remains unsatisfied when we realise we’ve been set up to fight Russel. I think it would’ve been much more elaborate while still retaining the element of betrayal bc as it stands, Jimmy just. Ignores these kids filtering in during Gary’s dialogue?? Jimmy being punished for wanting revenge, his core value, would be a more interesting narrative. Gary should exploit his hotheaded, impulsive nature and anticipate Jimmy will chase him to lead him to the Hole for public humiliation.

Second, if the decision is that Jimmy will not be encountering Gary for the rest of the story until the climax then his absence should've been enforced. For most parts of the story, we do forget about Gary because the story explores each clique, the only other times we notice him is maybe in two mini cutscenes but after that, it boils down to what Gary's already done/said (Like when Dr Crabblesnitch says he's been saying some "interesting things" about him, or when Pinky tells Jimmy she's told he's "sexually confused"). despite the choice to design him as a 'sneaking puppeteer', it makes for a severely passive antagonist until chapter 5. NPC Gary could've been spawned into certain locations close to or in correlation to the story mission's location to remedy that and it's up to the player to pay close attention to what's going on around them. It would make him an active character without diverting too much from the deliberately under-wraps role that R* assigned him because it's Jimmy's perception that Gary's not an immediate concern but the players themselves can see something is brewing. It would also exempt Petey from having to remind us about Gary throughout the playthrough.

And as an extension to that last point, Gary's word against Jimmy's should not have been as one-sided as the story let itself be. We're informed pretty early that the school consensus is Gary is sadistic, sociopathic and scares the rest of the students so it should have very little weight that his manipulation works. I understand the idea that leading by fear over love is a motto integrated heavily into the game, but it's also extremely complex and not touched upon at all. Jocks are tight-knit and acknowledge they're the reigning clique (until Jimmy slapboxed them too) so it makes sense to think that Gary mindgamed them because that's their weakness, the same idea that bribery might've yielded better with the preps for their materialism. I don't see that making Gary exclusively spread gossip is as sufficient as the game makes it out to be. The point is that we should've been shown how Gary managed to turn the cliques against him, using what he's observed from Jimmy, along with what he knows best: Violence and Apathy.

[tubbytarchia]

Self indulgent Jimmy & Martyn & Netty Evo insanity thoughts sorry

I'm not usually into big grand storylines to explain away the connections of multiple SMPs, especially watchers, I care very little for them, but I can't stop thinking about what happened after Evo... Why was Jimmy so alone for so long afterward... where did Martyn and Netty go, and what took so long for Martyn to come back, and why didn't Netty...

Can't help but think about Martyn taking up responsibility. Of him being Jimmy's first friend, of them knowing each other when they were little wee kids. And then finding a creature in the woods (Netty). How Jimmy and Pearl were spared from whatever happened right after Evo and went on to be part of other Worlds shortly afterward. How Jimmy largely had no one - had to fend for himself, and told himself he could do it. And in the end of Legacy and X Life he died all alone. How much he must have missed Netty and Martyn and the stability they brought

Can't help thinking about where Martyn was and why he acted the way he did towards Jimmy in 3rd Life. Why he accused him of not caring for Property Police anymore, how he proclaimed they weren't "friends like that" anymore. Yet evidently he still felt some of that self-assigned responsibility to be the caretaker, evidently he still cares so much about Jimmy. What if he's thinking "why did I have to go through that, and not you?" (even though I never wanted you to), "you don't know what it was like, you don't know what I had to go through" (akin to the way Martyn also votes for Jimmy to stay in Southlands in Last Life even after making a big show of how Jimmy should be exiled). Whatever it was, that happened after Evo, that also seems to have just fucking taken people like Netty away from them, he doesn't want to tell Jimmy, for Jimmy's own good, because he cares about him. It can't be helped that Martyn sometimes treats him poorly or says insensitive things, it's for Jimmy's own good, even as Martyn has no one to talk to about it. He thinks things to have been unfair and they WERE unfair. He took on the role of caretaker, and he's not in the wrong to feel frustrated. Jimmy doesn't know how hard it was for Martyn, and Martyn doesn't know how hard it was for Jimmy. How much Jimmy waited for him, how much he needs Martyn right now. How much he needed Martyn when Martyn set the ground between them on fire, declaring his chance to have passed. How much he wanted to prove himself to be capable so Martyn could be proud when he returned

How Jimmy would always retain dwindling hope each new world even after 3L that Netty would be fine too, and come back. Martyn had, Martyn was there, but their early Evo trio is incomplete. If Netty returned, surely they'd be able to go back to how things were and Martyn could be happy too. But with the way Martyn treated him, would Jimmy, at any dwelling of the thought that Netty could still be out there, think that maybe Netty wouldn't want to see him again? Hasn't wanted to for a reason?

Sorry I'm. ailing. I fucking hate minecraft

[but-thats-its-own-story]

This episode man...

This is a damn good Superman series.

I all but stood up and cheered when the House of Zod and his Full-Blown Space Armada was 30 seconds away from straight-up invading Earth but were apparently so in denial about Jor-El's warning that the fricking origin story blew them straight to hell.

I love how they finally name dropped General Sam Lane, implied that he was about to or just had a kid on Zero Day, and had Waller confirm that Clark reminds him of Lois, but still won't actually reveal it until next weeks episode about Fathers.

They were already hinting he subverts the 'heartless general' archetype before, but the way his resolve just breaks when he sees the tears streaming down Clark's face...

The attention to detail with the subtle confirmation that Waller didn't miss Livewire realizing she retained her powers without the suit...

And then Deathstroke gets his trademark eyepatch when she fries his eye out of its socket...

The Kaiju Parasite is a bit excessive, and in a lesser series it would be the season finale villain, but overall it's a pretty cool design, and this isn't over yet.

More attention to detail with the fact that Clark immediately healed when the sun oh-so-symbolically rose, and the emphasis on the dropped bag as a cue to notice Jimmy would pick it up- these people know what they're doing.

I find it interesting that (presumably) Zod is already in superhuman aspect, leading me to believe that he, and by extension Clark, were in fact intentionally engineered as living weapons rather than gaining powers inadvertently from the sun (and to reassert the part of my theory that Clark looks just like him, likely due to being some form of clone.) But it probably is actually Zod rather than a Dark Clark if he was an adult on Zero Day.

So we're just gonna have the most awkward family dinner in the world, where Lois has to explain that The General is actually her dad, Ma and Pa Kent finally make *another* onscreen appearance, Jimmy and Lois collectively freak the hell out over the Dark Clark reveal, and then Zod is just gonna burst through the wall battered from having spent twenty years flying here the long way...

[regnigt]

Emily of New Moon, chapter 3: A Hop Out Of Kin

Feeling under the weather, but eager to go on with the next chapter, so just some quick and dirty thoughts:

-The chapter title appears to be some kind of set phrase, but it's not one I've encountered eleewhere

-I've read this so many times since I was a kid, it's actually become a major fictional example of "many first impressions at once" for me. Since I'm someone struggling to read people at first meeting in real life, kt was interesting to read it in narrative and then see how everyone turned out later on

-As a child I always felt bad for Emily, was indignant at rigid unfeeling adults unable to understand her...yet didn't like it when she made an unfavourable impression on the Murrays. I wanted her to be liked!

-As an adult I'm impressed by how much LMM can put the reader (especially the young reader) in Emily's shoes and let Emily have her own emotions. Uncle Wallace is wrong to kiss her cheek without permission! Aunt Ruth is wrong to be so ready to interpret everything unfavourably for Emily! This is not that unusual for the era, I think - E. Nesbit also lets her child protagonists be angry and sympathetic, as did LMM herself with Anne of Green Gables, of course, but Emily in this chapter is a little less fully in the right than the children in those other books, while still retaining our sympathies. I think.

-It's heartbreaking how utterly alone Emily feels, that she feels absolutely nobody has her back right now. (Aunt Laura and Cousin Jimmy and Uncle Oliver show some promise in Emily's eyes, but nothing to put her faith in when she's only just met them.)

-Which turns me to how Ellen Greene feels less sympathetic now than when she tried to give Emily extra food or step in, however clumsily, to tell her the truth she did need to know. Ellen seems so mired in conventional attitudes she's absolutely unwilling to offer Emily the slightest bit of support if it would go against convention. She's lived with them for two years, but she still feels that way. (Here's where I feel she differs from Rachel Lynde, also quite fond of the conventional outlook: I think Rachel Lynde would be at least a little bit more understanding towards a child she's lived with for that long. But maybe I'm viewing her too rosily...)

-The fact that Aunt Ruth is the Murray that Ellen Greene seems to respect the most is telling. Not the New Moon Murrays - they're Traditional, and respectable, but just a bit too old-fashioned and slightly eccentric for Ellen Greene's taste. She really does like everything to be as conventional as possible, it seems.

[practically-an-x-man]

Childhood asks for Jimmy because I'm really curious what it would've been like to grow up back then

2, 4, 8, 10

Ooooh thank you!!

OC Asks: Childhood Edition

2. Where did your muse grow up? What was their home like? Did they like where they grew up?

Jimmy grew up in New York City, right about when the city began to boom in industry and population. It was noisy, crowded, and more than a little unhygienic as the city hadn't quite sorted itself out yet.

His parents were lucky enough to own a floor in one of the apartment buildings, but usually leased out their extra rooms to immigrant families - a combination of generosity, as the welfare buildings got overcrowded and lots of people ended up on the street, and a means of getting a little extra cash for their working-class family. Jimmy's dad worked in iron manufacturing on the outskirts of the city, and his mother was a seamstress on commission. They had enough money to keep their home and put food on the table, and saved up so that Jimmy could have gone to college if he chose to, but it wasn't a luxury life by any means.

And even though he recognized all of the flaws in his childhood, Jimmy adores New York City and has never wanted to leave.

4. How was your muse's relationship with their childhood guardians? Has it changed over time, and if so, how? Do they keep in touch?

He and his parents had their ups and downs, but it was generally a good relationship. He never told them about his sexuality, but he was open about a lot of other things in his life (like his decision to work at the New York Zoo, at that time a low-paying position that didn't require much education, rather than going to college)

It would be pretty impossible for them to have kept in touch, given Jimmy himself is about a hundred and forty years old, but if he ran into them as ghosts he'd probably end up coming clean about the secrets he'd kept from them, just to get that off his chest. If they accepted it, that would be wonderful, but if they didn't, it's at least closure for him.

8. What did your muse do in their free time? How did they entertain themself as a kid?

His love of birds started early, even though there weren't many wild birds to be seen in central NYC. He spent a lot of time birdwatching in Central Park, and more time holed up in the library looking at books on ornithology. There weren't as many restrictions on kids just walking around on their own at that time, so when his parents were at work he tended just to wander until he found something interesting. And of course, he loved Coney Island - sometimes he'd buy a ticket and go with friends, other times he'd just sneak in and walk around for a while.

He was definitely the type of person to fall into his interests early and then stick with them. His love of birds led him to working in the New York Zoo, he first met his partner Robert by trading interactions at the zoo and at the library, and of course Coney Island plays into his death and much of his ghosthood. There's a reason for this - he needs to be linked strongly to his interests, because they have to be enough that he wants to keep living them.

My view on ghosts in the Ghostbusters universe is that they're effectively distilled versions of who the person was in their life, boiled down to the few traits, emotions, or roles that were the strongest. The librarian ghost, the ghostly miners, even a semihuman ghost like Slimer - their form as a ghost reflects their strongest traits or roles in their life. Jimmy retains so much of his humanity as a ghost partially because of how deeply he held onto his interests in his life.

10. What responsibilities did your muse have as a child? Chores? Babysitting? How good were they at fulfilling their responsibilities?

He had a lot of general chores around the house and around the neighborhood, and sometimes would sweep up around the neighborhood restaurants and other businesses for a little extra cash (child labor laws? what are those?). He was generally very good at keeping up with his responsibilities, but a few times he got so absorbed in whatever book he was reading that he ended up late to work.

[doubledyke]

your opinion on ''My Fair Ed''? everyone says edd was a dick in that episode, but I think ed and eddy are waaay worse, causing trouble freely and laughing at his friend's expense. And the kids just playing outright misplaced retribution too...

everyone was so unlikable in this one, I don't think we can't actually take side with someone.

oh ye of little faith. taking sides is one of my few talents. i'm just gonna watch it and write as i go.

i just have to start by saying that there are so many good gags in this episode. the eggplant coffin. ed running circles around the tree while eddy pretends to be chased. rolf's "husky boy masquerade" line. and one of my favorite of edd's drama queen moments with the pretzel boy soliloquy.

right off the bat, we don't talk about edd having to literally shop for his own groceries enough. that's my biggest take away from the first scene. that and he really loves bean pastes.

anyway, yeah ed and eddy are being... ed and eddy in this episode. to me it doesn't seem like they're causing any more damage than they do on any given day.

they've literally demolished jonny's house in the past. all they did this time was accidentally steal plank.

jimmy gets brutalized in nearly episode, it's kind of his thing - nothing new in my fair ed. considering he's not even in a full body cast, i'd say his injuries were mild this time around. and remember, the eds are the reason he wears a retainer.

kevin's bike gets busted all the time so that's also not shocking. plus shovel chin loves fixing his bike, so i'd almost consider it a favor 😂 maybe if he didn't have such a cheap ass bike...

and yes they destroyed rolf's eggplants. but rolf was way more affected by eddy throwing the sea cucumber ball, to the point that he literally challenged him to a duel.

finally, edd is the first person they annoy, and they've done and will do way worse to him. you could definitely argue that he reached a breaking point, and that very well may be. but if that's the case, why didn't he reach that point sooner? 🤔

the obvious difference is that edd is getting all the blame for their bullshit this time. kevin ties his hat in a knot, then threatens to do the same to his legs. plus he'll have to deal with a wrathful note from his father about the screen door being destroyed again.

side note: i really enjoy that as soon as eddy gives in to edd's blubbering - only after he brings up how eddy's scams would be negatively affected if he's relegated to the side show - the dramatics end and edd gleefully skips away. what a brat.

now we're on to the good stuff. i fucking love this part when edd raises a hand to eddy. it's just so absurd. granted, that's after eddy asks if he wants a knuckle sandwich, but still. then there's the classic frame of eddy putting 2 + 2 together.

some folks theorize that edd was taught his manners in a similar fashion and i think that's a pretty logical conclusion to draw. the alternative is that he came up with this sadistic lesson on his own which is kind of worse? regardless of which is true, he's knows that inflicting pain is effective at getting someone to do what you want. i gotta say, those tough-strip bandaids ain't no bitch. and that's coming from someone with a high pain threshold.

another side note, i love eddy's "polite" voice. he sounds like such a tool.

my conclusion: indeed everyone is the asshole in this episode.

i think it's really funny how ed and eddy get back at edd by pretending to be reformed. like i said, at the start of the episode, they're just being kids. kids that destroy everything they come into contact with, but they do that and much worse all the time. edd still chooses to hang out with them. i think edd got pissy that they busted his door and disrespected his groceries, then his pissiness was compounded by the kids wrongly pointing the finger at him. i think he took things too far with the bandaid thing. but he ends the episode by apologizing and learning his lesson. which if i'm not mistaken is one of, if not, the only time that happens with any character in the show.

if i had to rank everyone by asshole-ness it'd be the neighborhood kids at the top, edd in the middle, then tweedledee and tweedledum a hair below him at the bottom.

[internetcatholicism]

Also, Larry Nassar, Jerry Sandusky, Jimmy Savile. Not just Epstein and Maxwell. I haven't seen Sound of Freedom and don't plan to, but the media and random people who denounce the movie, o.u.r, and sex trafficking as a conspiracy are umm idk willfully ignorant and/or doing so simply because it's a "right-wing" piece of media or related to qanon (which I don't really know what this is and don't want to know more than "it's right-wing lol"). All 5 people listed above were wealthy, famous, and powerful with connections to someone who knows someone who knows someone, and a lot was at stake to keep them in their current position, which perpetuated the easy access to victims. Would the people who laughed at sound of freedom also laugh at 'Athlete A' about Nassar or tell any of the kids that Jimmy abused under the guise of his make-a-wish style TV show that they deserved the abuse because they thought they were lucky to be on the show? These people were never on 4chans /b/ in early 2000s when CSA was posted ALL hours of the day. It's sad that the prevailing opinion about this film is "it's bait for MAGA conspiracy theorists" when ... The people who repeat that rhetoric literally only have to look up those 5 people (3 of whom have mountains of evidence spanning decades from hundreds of victims EACH) and realize... Hey wow CSA is real and I'm a piece of garbage for laughing at it. Why is the powerful media trying to disparage something that is real and tragic? I get that the film might be more dramatic than reality (reproductions are often dramatized, reality tv is ultra-dramatic), but drama is how you make people emotionally connect with something! Ugh! Do they want CSA presented in sterile, 1950s medical diction that is so boring and arrogant you can't hope to retain anything? I hope this is ok to send. I'm so sad for you.

Let it out anon, let it out.

Just to respond to what you said near the end, I have some interesting news for you.

Before Sound of Freedom, there was a documentary made called "Triple Take" which is about THE SAME OPERATION as is in the movie. So if you're worried about it being dramatized, you can check the actual footage of it and see just how dramatic it really was. Here's the trailer for that documentary: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ESbg9TDZPzk

I agree that the reaction from the media and from the left has been a pretty horrific thing to take in. The fact that something came out and wasn't 100% left wing was enough for people to deny reality and disparage millions of child victims and heroes. It's disgusting. I wish I could fix it, but I can't, so I'm gonna do my best to get as many people in on the fight to end trafficking until all victims and stories are taken seriously. This is one of the most important problems the world is facing today and it needs to end.

[beautifulpersonpeach]

BPp do you think the western style promotions are still effective, especially for other k-pop acts? For BTS, the most standout appearance they’ve done so far (for local-> fan conversion) seems to be the James Corden car episode. Followed by, I think, the MTV cover for Fix You and the Jimmy Fallon BTS week. By that point, the locql is well into the rabbit hole lol. I think BTS is big enough that just their name alone sparks curiousity in locals to check them out.

I can’t say the same for the other acts??? I think for Seventeen their own show is still the biggest converter, and the other acts are still very much confined in the k-pop sphere where only fans of the genre are aware and there are comparatively still fewer fan conversions. I guess I’m asking if the western promos they do are worth it? I remember stans using Wonder Girls (or was is SNSD) going to Colbert to downplay BTS’ paving the way, but it really didn’t amount to anything more for the group and the industry, did it? I guess I’m wondering if the same will happen to the rest, if it’ll just continue to be appearances that don’t really make enough of a dent to push the industry forward???? Or are we reaching the ceiling when it comes to how much the western industry is willing to give to k-pop and how much the k-pop industry is going accomplish (outside of continued ‘fan’ achievements- like increased album sales and streams)?

Because I feel like the industry as a whole has already reached the ceiling when it comes to Korea. Their tried and true methods like having idols go on variety have shifted to groups doing their own shows (good for retaining fans but maybe bad for capturing the gp?) and doing those idol shows have been suffering these past few years. Korean GP seems to not care anymore except for the true breakouts like New Jeans and Aespa.

Im sorry I’m ESL, I dunno if I worded my point right 😭 Hipefully you understand what I’m trying to say

**

Hi Anon,

Your English is great and please don't ever apologize for it. 💜

You've said a lot so I'll try to keep my responses brief as I mostly agree with you.

"BPp do you think the western style promotions are still effective, especially for other k-pop acts?"

Yes. But not for all.

I think all your questions are related to the evergreen debate k-pop stans have on BTS 'paving the way' where a common rebuttal is that if BTS did indeed make it easier for k-pop to break out internationally and especially in the West, why aren't many groups achieving BTS-levels of success (or even anything close to it)? Why aren't many groups, despite doing US promotions, getting sizable exposure and a noticeable growth in committed fans the way BTS does?

The problem here is that, like clockwork, the k-pop industry wants to replicate BTS's success but misidentifies the cause of that success, so they try this gimmick after that tactic and then they wonder why they're not achieving the same results. To be blunt, there's no point going on a Western talk show if your music is shit to begin with or if the idols aren't good entertainers and performers.

BTS at their core, (1) actually make good music and (2) they're fantastic top class performers and (3) they have great interpersonal chemistry. (And this is before getting into world-building in their music which encourages people to dig deeper, their beautiful lyrical expression, just how oddly sweet the chemistry between the guys actually is, the fact that they write their own music and the sincerity that flows through their sound, and so on and so forth).

So, groups that have (1), (2), and (3) that go on to do Western promotions, will see more success in getting exposure that results in new fans, while groups that miss any or all of those three factors, will have less success doing Western promotions. Groups that have benefited from Western promotions include: TXT, Stray Kids, and Seventeen, and with those 3 factors, it's understandable why they're more successful.

Everything I've said above, apply to the rest of things you mentioned too. Meaning, there's little point making variety shows for idol groups, if those groups aren't all that entertaining or if they have poor chemistry anyway.

The long and short of it all is, the k-pop industry still relies a lot on marketing, fancy props, and mediaplay to promote their groups enough for those groups to survive the minimum 6-year group lifetime. But there comes a time when you cannot market and mediaplay your way out of bad music, bad performers, and/or bad chemistry. Most k-pop fans who have already bought into that culture might be fine with it, but gp and/or new converts need to be persuaded with actual quality. And there's no amount of pushing on Western platforms or individual variety shows, that will change that in the long run.

[starlightoffandoms]

I posted 10,976 times in 2022

23 posts created (0%)

10,953 posts reblogged (100%)

Blogs I reblogged the most:

@alleiradayne

@coffeebox62

@that-crazy-drummer-chick

@flock-of-paper-birds

@hanaaeri

I tagged 791 of my posts in 2022

#ofmd - 56 posts

#happy tag - 53 posts

#destiel - 46 posts

#the witcher - 37 posts

#write this way - 32 posts

#tora - 25 posts

#goncharov - 24 posts

#supernatural - 23 posts

#dean winchester - 22 posts

#the boys - 22 posts

Longest Tag: 138 characters

#i would love to see demon dean and collecting honey cas bc while completely unhinged demon dean would have been so careful & loving to him

My Top Posts in 2022:

#5

Me watching the Batman: *turn away for a second to check on the cat that's being real sneaky like*

Police Captain: *starts talking*

Me: *swings around almost hard enough to give myself whiplash* IS THAT IZZY HANDS?!!!!

Police Captain: *is Con O'Neill*

Me: it IS Izzy Hands!!!

Cat: *runs and hides from insane parent screaming about Izzy Hands*

12 notes - Posted April 20, 2022

#4

Looking for more Witcher blogs for me and my bestie @coffeebox62 to follow. I know I follow several of y'all and want to rec you to bestie but my brain doesn't retain blog names to share and I'm awful at tagging tbh. So if you post/reblog Witcher content please interact with this post. Thanks a bunch!

16 notes - Posted January 4, 2022

#3

I didn't have time to post Friday for the week's fics. Life happened but here we are! Hope you enjoy!

Day 15 – Smoke – Rated T – Sam and Dean retire from hunting and live their best versions of lives that work for them. Destiel and Salieen, Canon Divergence 

Day 16 – Red – Rated E – Serial killer boyfriends. Destiel AU

Day 17 – Muse – Rated T – Cas has performed as Jimmy Novak for years. The last few years have been rough and he hasn't been able to write any new music. To loosen up some, his friends take him out for a fun night. From that night forward he started to write as he'd never done before. Destiel AU

Day 18 – Tattoos – Rated T – Werewolf Dean hadn’t told Cas that he was a shapeshifter. Dean is forced to shift and Cas finds him. Destiel AU

Day 19 – Ladies – Rated G – Ladies night with a little extra. No ship, SPN ladies AU

Day 20 – Spa Day – Rated T – Eileen and Rowena set up a spa day for Cas with ulterior motives. Destiel Canon Divergence 

Day 21 – Haunted – Rated M – Dean remembered lost. Then the one day he had finally decided he'd had enough, the man he loved was back. Destiel Canon Divergence

Day 22 – Rain, Rain – Rated G - Kid Jack shows up on their doorstep. Destiel Canon Divergence

Day 23 – Sleepless Nights – Rated T – Dean and Cas welcome new additions to their family. Destiel Canon Divergence (I had accidentally tagged this as mcd, so if you skipped this I PROMISE it isn't mcd. that was my bad when I posted from my phone.)

Day 24- Fish – Rated T – Sam and Jack are up to no good but it has a happy ending. Destiel AU

Here is the series to stay up to date.

See the full post

18 notes - Posted October 26, 2022

#2

Week two coming at you!

Day 8 – Sober – Rated M - Cas was gone and Dean found himself at the bottom of too many bottles. He knew that he couldn't get the love of his life back if he didn't have a clear head. He'd do whatever it took to get him back. Destiel Canon Divergence

Day 9 – Vintage – Rated G – Cas explodes an ATM b/c it didn’t work properly. Destiel Canon Divergence 

Day 10 – Enchanted – Rated M – Dean buys an antique mirror at a flea market and gets more than he bargained for. Destiel AU

Day 11 – Drag – Rated M – Dean gets caught during a body dump. He is not a very good liar but Cas doesn't care. Two serial killers in the same area and Cas is just trying to protect his territory. Destiel AU Murder Boyfriends

Day 12 – Crossover – Rated T – Cas comes home one day and things are moved around. He checks his wards. They're all still in place. Over the next few days, things are moved, the TV randomly turns on, music plays out of nowhere, and the pie keeps getting removed from the fridge to the counter. Cas reinforces his warding. Then one day there is a man he doesn't know standing in the middle of his living room and he isn't quite corporal. Destiel AU

Day 13 – Morning After – Rated T – Sam wakes up not sure what the previous night after a huge hunt had held. Saileen Canon Divergence 

Day 14 – All for You – Rated M – Dean sees a flyer for an art project that paid $200 a day. Some doctorate student was in need of help with a project. He hoped that whoever Castiel was actually planned to pay. Destiel AU

Here is the series to stay up to date.

See the full post

19 notes - Posted October 15, 2022

My #1 post of 2022

Hey y'all! Back at it again this year. Here's the first week of fics!

Day 1 Maze/Maize – Rated T – Dean cooks Cas’ favorite foods. Destiel AU

Day 2 Pillow Talk – Not Rated – Aftercare. Destiel AU

Day 3 Digital – E – Dean is in heat and Cas is in another country. Destiel AU

Day 4 Wicked – T – Cas practices darker magic and the gov't doesn't like it. They do more than necessary inspections on his facility. Dean is being punished and gets assigned to difficult cases. Destiel AU

Day 5 A Perfect Disaster – M – Stubborn Dean didn't evacuate when he was told to. Luckily Cas has a safe house nearby. Destiel AU

Day 6 Parody – T – Dean had moved away as soon as he could from his abusive father. It doesn't mean he doesn't still end up dealing with bigoted assholes. Destiel AU

Day 7 Fine Wine – M – Dean and Cas had gone to high school together and occasionally ran in the same circles. It'd been over 20 years since they'd seen each other. They reconnect at a work event. Destiel AU

For some reason it's been all Destiel so far🤷🏾‍♀️. Was not the initial plan. We'll see how the rest of the month goes. Here is the series to stay up to date.

See the full post

28 notes - Posted October 8, 2022

Get your Tumblr 2022 Year in Review →

[paulagnewart]

Sonic the Oz-Hog Act 8/12: Journey's End!

Sonic Universe issue 16 AU Publication Date: 6th August 2010 Price: $6.50

(Alternate title: 'A Farewell to Khans!'.)

Sixteen. Six. Teen. Siiiiiiixteeeeen. A number by all rights like any other, yet harbors more than a few connotations in life. Songs written and movies made have abounded over the decades in dedication to this number. It can mark exciting new beginnings, a (at least theoretically) responsible coming of age, a formal debut ready to tackle the more "mature" world of driving cars and leaving school in favour of the local workforce. Or maybe not. The author of these posts can't remember their sixteenth birthday beyond being pretty sure it happened, it rained, and there was a new Transformers action figure involved.

But when it came to Aussies following their favourite hedgehog's monthly tri-coloured triumphs, sixteen marked a bitter end.

In comparison to the turmoil of 2010's political sphere, Sonic and his freedom fighting buddies' year-long battle against the Iron Dominion's wrath was a cakewalk. Having swept to power in November 2007 despite the best efforts of conservative media and racist fake pamphlets, the time had come for Kevin Rudd to resign. Labor's three year tenure of poll-topping high highs and scandalous low lows painted a divisive picture, and with the prospect of losing power on the back of a fatal home insulation program and increased taxes for mining non-renewables, Julia Gillard stepped up unopposed to succeed him on 24th June. Rudd agreed on 6th August to stay onboard for support, and within two weeks of this issue's publication, a federal election saw Gillard narrowly retain her mantle as Australia's first female Prime Minister.

Music lovers thrummed away to manufactured relationship angst of Eminem and Rihanna's collaboration Love the Way You Lie, which was halfway through its six week domination of the billboard charts. Christopher Nolan's brain-bender Inception had enjoyed its own three weeks leading the local box office, until Will Ferrell and Mark Wahlberg briefly blasted their way to the top in The Other Guys.

The glory days of analogue morning toon-tainment for kids were by this point faded memories. Having half an hour sliced off its slot beginning New Year's Day 2010, Toasted TV limped itself along offering viewers that day repeats of Huntik: Secrets & Seekers and Dinosaur King. The product of networks pushing for breakfast news programs and set top boxes becoming more prevalent (i.e. affordable) meant the future of children's television was well on its way to being all digital. Channel Seven's subsidiary 7TWO served up repeats of Avenger Penguins, Digimon Data Squad, Handy Manny and Power Rangers Jungle Fury. Not to be outclassed, Channel Nine's newly-minted 9GO! kicked off the day with new Out of Jimmy's Head before its own repeat cavalcade of Class of 3000, Chowder, Legion of Super Heroes, Ben 10, The Flintstones and The Jetsons.

Another far cry from the days of yore were fan reviews. Forums, groups and pages come and go. The regulars over at Sonic Stadium all but ignored the issue and instead focused on whether Mighty and Ray would get their own SegaSonic Arcade adaptation, while gushing over the impending Tails Adventure arc. Sonic HQ's once juggernaut now dustbowl Knothole Village had little to say beyond base pleasantries, as did PorpoiseMuffins' Saturday Morning Sonic message board.

For those hoping to dig deep into the comic proper, Ian Flynn's forum truly put the "King" in "BumbleKing". By that point in its life a thriving superpower, after 5 days and over 15 pages of speculation, residents of Archie Sonic's biggest watering hole considered it "without a doubt my favorite of the arc. It's mostly expostition with more or less no action but what exposition!" The good times rolled with "Good wrap-up to this arc in an arc. I enjoyed it. I liked Espio's backstory; thought it was handled well." and "I've said it before I'll say it again Ian gets Sonic's personality so right my favorite line has to be "'Careful'? So many foreign words today!" why cant SEGA write him like that.". Forum goers were excited to share their future speculations, notably the prospect of one character being the first in a series which, like Dimitri being the latest in a line of Enerjaks, began life as a fan theory shared on message boards during the late-90's.

Yet while fandom faces and places can change as time marches on, attitudes remain engrained. Even if they've never seen the character or read a comic, some people can (and will) criticize them, ranging from "not being accurate to other source material" or that incredibly tired buzzword of dismissing the series as "weird". When pressed to consider the extensive laundry list of Archie Sonic material going under the hammer of fickle fans, it's tough topping the decades of derision aimed at Mobius' own cybernetic simian, Monkey Khan.

The amalgamation of late writer/artist Frank Strom's admiration for Chinese literature hero Sun Wukong, Japanese actors in rubber monster suits, and 1970's Hong Kong martial art films, Khan found himself shackled among the swelling ranks of Geoffrey St. John, Nate Morgan and Mina Mongoose in the upper echelons of Archie Sonic's most reviled characters. Case in point, fans quickly booted up their modems as early as November 1997 to voice their displeasure online. Some remained optimistic, citing Khan "looks simply like a vessel for spouting chiche's and poor dialogue, but there's opportunity to make him more interesting (and more vital) to the story." Others took offence to the character's ancient roots, wondering if the coincidence "probably is, since this issue didn't seem very well thought out. If it was a reference, that would be the only excuse for the piece of Mass-Produced Crud".

As the years rolled on and Khan made a handful more cameos, this fan mentality never truly shook off. "I have come to NOT STAND Monkey Khan AND Frank Stroms writing and drawing skills…MK has ABSOLUTELY NOTHING TO DO WITH SONIC THE HEDGEHOG AND IF THE EDITOR HAD ANY SENSE HE'D FIRE STROM. The guy has done NOTHING to show that he can even write a Sonic story." readers openly whined. "it really ticks me off that Frank Strom's version of the Monkey King was so poor… in fact, I bet he hasn't heard of MK in his life, but rather, Dragon Ball. smirk. Frank Strom is probably the worst Archie-Sonic writer I've ever seen, with the possible exception of 75% of Mike Gallagher's works.". They compared Khan to the worst type of wish-fulfilment self-insert, and Strom himself often written into fanfics as a target of obsessive mockery. Even the efforts of Ian Flynn to flesh out his character during 2009-10 (complete with hatred lampshade on the first page of issue 203) came across mixed, further fueled at a time when Archie Comics openly baited fans into a staggeringly pointless shipping war.

Hm. Seeing how Khan, Geoffrey, Mina and Nate were frequently criticized for stealing the spotlights of Sonic, Antoine, Sally and Rotor respectively, maybe there's an alternate universe where someone capitalized of this and united them to strike out in their own team. It would certainly make for quite the fanfic. But enough digressing.

There's a bittersweet irony here. Locals who loathed Monkey Khan's exploits and hoped to see the back of him once and for all were about to get their wish. A World Under Constant Vigil marked the last appearance Khan would make in a starring role, one which in a fantastical coincidence was published exactly on Frank Strom's 46th birthday. Further blurring the lines between a true case of "Sixteen Khandles" and the Monkey's Paw myth, Sonic Universe issue 16 would ultimately be the final comic released at Australian retail.

After 17 years of constantly easily accessible comics, time was up. Issue 211 and Universe 14 were the last to be sold at retail for $5.50, a price increase from $4.95 which began with issue 198. The move to fancy new glossy paper, an arguably remarked improvement which brought the comic's quality closer in line with the free Bionicle, HeroScape, The Batman and Teen Titans centerpiece of 2005-6 meant coughing up another dollar. Was it this move to $6.50 a copy that made the bean counters at Gordon and Gotch drop the title? Were they too frustrated by enduring the excessive length of Iron Queen's tenure? Was it the moonlit kiss and chest stroking between Sally and Khan in issue 212 that broke the camel's back? Guess fans will never know, for when the writer of these posts questioned said distributors at the time, they responded curtly that both Sonic titles "have now ceased and are no longer in production". So much for that.

As anyone who's kept up with these will know, the story of Archie Sonic in Australia was far from being all over. It's hard to keep a good high speed hero down, and one day he shall come back. Yes, he shall come back. Until then, there must be no regrets, no tears, no anxieties. Just go forward in all your beliefs, and prove to Sonic that he is not mistaken in his.

Yet it would be a long, pained fifteen months before Aussies saw the blue blur triumphantly return to newsagent shelves.

[excusethequality]

31 Days of Spooky Movies 2023: Week 1

Every October I make it my mission to watch at least 1 spooky movie every day (without rewatching anything watched in a previous October).

In case anyone is looking for some ideas on what to watch this month, here's what I've watched so far, in the order I watched them.

Dumplings (2004)

A Hong Kong horror movie about a former actress who will go to any lengths to keep her looks so as to retain her position of wealth and power.

There's a lot of interesting themes in this one. Using consumption as a metaphor for how systems of power use and abuse those under them is a common theme in Chinese literature and it's deployed quite artfully here.

2. Skinamarink (2022)

An experimental art movie about two kids who wake up in the middle of the night to find all the doors and windows of the house have disappeared and that they're all alone.

You are either going to love this one or hate it. But if you give it a try I recommend committing to it. You've gotta go lights off, by yourself, phone off for this one to work. It's definitely an experimental arty movie so...umm, strap in for a weird experience. But at its heart it's trying to recreate in you that experience of being a little child and afraid of the dark and not quite sure if you're awake or still dreaming.

3. The Thing from Another World (1951)

Before there was John Carpenter's The Thing (1982) there was The Thing from Another World. Both adaptations of the 1938 novella Who Goes There? by John W. Campbell. Here a group of scientists and Air Force officials discover a crashed alien ship in the arctic ice. But things take a turn for the worse when they bring back the body of an extraterrestrial to study only to find it isn't actually dead.

This movie somehow manages to keep all the most boring bits from the novella while also throwing out all the parts of the story that are actually interesting. Gone is the shape shifting alien. Here we have a lurching plant based alien (aka a big dude in a weird costume) that looks more Frankenstein than Thing.

4. Dave of the Dead (2020)

A cheaply animated movie about a zombie who works in an outer space fast food restaurant who has to try and get the money back from Dracula after the count dines and dashes on him.

The animation on this movie is SO cheap. They honestly don't even try to animate facial expressions nor match dialogue to mouth flap. Not to mention there's only the semblance of a story here. But the worse thing about it is that it is aimed at kids and there's a weirdly strong anti-labor stance to the whole thing.

5. The She Beast (1966)

When her car plunges into a lake a woman becomes possessed by the spirit of the witch that had been drowned there in the 18th century and wants her revenge.

The movie is said to star Barbara Steele and while she is the best thing about the movie, she is barely in it. When they say "possessed" they mean replaced by someone else wearing a bizarre monster mask. So instead we are forced to follow her lame fiancee around. Also there's a really random attempted rape scene in the movie for some reason.

6. Bell, Book and Candle (1958)

A modern witch casts a lovespell on her neighbor in order to get back at his fiancee. But things get complicated when she starts to fall in love with him for real.

I'm sorry, but I have a huge bias against Jimmy Stewart. And here he is at age 50 starring against a 25 year old Kim Novak. That man is not a catch! I do not understand the hold he had over Hollywood. Anyways, as far as rom-coms go this a bit of a strange one. The cast is pretty fun (when you exclude Stewart) and it's got some interesting flair. But it's held back by the non-existent chemistry between the leads and the slight tinge of 50s misogyny.

P.S. Don't think I didn't notice their disdain for the oxford comma, the heathens.

7. Doll Shark (2022)

A kid's stuffed shark becomes possessed by the spirit of a killer shark and goes on a murder spree.

This is from one of those studios that specializes in making incredibly low budget junk films and it shows. It's umm...not good. If you insist on watching it be sure to have some drinks and/or some friends with you.

8. An American Werewolf in London (1981)

Two Americans are backpacking through England (as was the style at the time) when they are attacked by a werewolf. Now cursed and far from home, time is quickly running out for them.

The classic John Landis horror comedy! I used to catch this one on TV all the time as a kid. It's a lot of fun and an interesting piece of Jewish-American horror. I will admit that while I like every scene in the movie, as a whole it feels slightly disjointed to me? In any case there's a lot of memorable scenes, practical effects, and great performances. Jenny Agutter is especially charming.

9. Dr Jekyll & Sister Hyde (1971)

Dr Jekyll is trying to discover a secret to prolonging life and thinks the answer might be found in female hormones. But when his experience goes wrong he transforms into a woman. In order to keep their experiment going and perfect their elixir they need dead bodies, but what are you to do when supplies are running low?

I honestly do not know if this movie was trying to be this queer or if it was just a happy accident. I swear to god, Jekyll essentially invents HRT on accident, has a gender crisis, and then has to battle with wither they continue their life as they had or to embrace this new identity. It is fascinating. I don't think it was intentionally creating this theme, but by good golly, they make it really hard not to see it that way. Martine Beswick as Hyde is so, so good in this.

10. Puppet Shark (2023)

A puppet movie about two kids telling shark stories around a campfire.

Another of these super-low budget films. It has some charming moments early on. But quickly run out of ideas and it becomes a real slog to the finish.

11. Son of Dracula (1943)

A vampire who may or may not be Count Dracula is invited to Louisiana by an heiress. But he has his own fiendish plans for this new world.

Lon Chaney Jr. is, without a doubt, the worst Dracula I have ever seen. He is the we-have-Dracula-at-home Dracula. He feels like Dracula's loser brother-in-law or something. I don't even know. It has it's moments, but it's a bit all over the place.

12. Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (1920)

While trying to save his soul from sin, nice guy Dr. Jekyll creates the alternate persona of Mr. Hyde. But things get tough for Jekyll when Hyde's transgressions start to get out of hand.

In terms of filmmaking this is pretty impressive. But in terms of story they made a really weird change from the book. Originally Jekyll was ashamed of his vices and created Hyde as an alter-ego to hide behind and protect his image. But here Jekyll wants to be sure he doesn't slip into temptation by unleashing an unchecked evil force onto the streets? I thought he was supposed to be smart.

13. The Bewitched Inn (1897)

A man goes to an inn for a good night's sleep only to find the place is haunted.

Back from the days where movies were only a couple minutes long. They figured out how to hide action in the cuts and by gosh...they went for it. It's fun to see such early movies to see just how far we've come. Truly we stand on the backs of giants.

14. The X-Ray Fiend (1897)

When a couple is exposed to x-rays we can see their skeletons.

Another short one from the early years. Not only harnessing the power of the cut, but also tapping into the strange new power of the discovery of x-rays two years earlier.

15. Titane (2021)

A dancer who has a fetish for cars must pretend to be the lost son of a firefighter in order to hide from authorities.

A French body horror and psychological drama. Taps into the genre of body horror to investigate ideas of gender, pregnancy, and identity. I honestly can't describe it in a way to properly due it justice. It's an experience. If your stomach can handle the body horror you should definitely check it out.

16. The Girl from the Other Side (2022)

In a world where cursed creatures stalk the outside world as people hide in the cities. One creature comes across a young girl and together they create a haven for themselves.

A beautiful piece of Japanese animation and one of my favorite movies I've seen this year. Dark fantasy meets found family. The animation is absolutely gorgeous. It's like a fairy tale come to life.

17. Dr. Terror's House of Horrors (1965)

A group of strangers meet on a train. But when a fortuneteller begins to tell their futures to pass the time they start to realize that their futures are bleak.

To its credit it has some powerhouse actors in its roster. Peter Cushing, Donald Sutherland, friggin' Christopher Lee! But it is an anthology of stories and the stories are rather lackluster. They all just kinda...end. With much more thought being put into the setup than the ending.

18. Werewolf by Night (2022)

A group of monster hunters are assembled for a contest to see who will gain control of a powerful artifact.

I was not aware that this was a Marvel movie until it started. Wish I had known that before. I was in the mood for a modern take on old Universal horror, and it some ways it is, but in most ways it's just another sort of Marvel movie. I swear Gael García Bernal is in a Spanish language movie it will be fire. But if he's in an American movie it will probably be simple pop. fodder. Would've like more atmosphere and monsters than action set pieces.

19. I Blame Society (2020)

An out-of-work filmmaker decides to prove to those around her that she is capable of something bigger by finishing a project to make a movie about how she would commit the perfect murder.

I get why this movie won't be for everyone, but I loved it. It had me laughing out loud throughout. And some of the shots from this are burned into my brain forever. It's almost like a dark-comedy mockumentary of sorts. And its satire seeks out those in every level of the filmmaking process.

20. Bluebeard (1944)

A man tries to ditch his proclivity for murder by turning his artistic energies into puppets. But those around him continue to force his hand.

It's not terrible or anything. But the Bluebeard character just annoyed me to no end. I would have preferred if we were mostly following the leading lady, but we're stuck following him and he is not a particularly compelling fellow.

21. Escape Room (2017)

A group of rich friends take part in an exclusive escape room for a birthday celebration only to discover that the stakes are higher than they were expecting.

I was not aware until I had started this that there are actually multiple movies with this title and this is, in fact, not the one I had heard about. Umm...this seems like it would be a fun one to watch with drinks and friends and laugh at. But it is not a good movie by any stretch. You are left with so many questions as to why they did the things they did in this thing.

[mywifeleftme]

42: Aïcha Koné // Linda

Linda Aïcha Koné 1983, Shakara

Aïcha Koné has been a star in her native Côte d'Ivoire for over 40 years. Despite this, English-language info on her career is pretty sparse online—most of the top search results for her are from Ivorian columnists outraged in 2022 by her support for Assimi Goïta, who became president of neighbouring Mali following a series of coups d'état. If nothing else, she remains a significant enough local figure to get the Morrissey treatment. I can also tell you that she was the youngest of 15 (!) children born to a local aristocrat in Abidjan, the largest city in Côte d'Ivoire. Her father was Senufo, a West African ethnic group, and evidently Koné’s lyrics tend to be written in one of their languages. Online translators don’t have much support for Senufo, so my sense of what she’s singing about is minimal, but Senufo does borrow some words from Bambara, in which the word Linda translates to “wait for it,” so let’s go with that as the general vibe of this 1983 effort.

(As usual when reviewing African records, I end up reading a lot of sick ass lore that has very tenuous connections to the music, such as, “The Kulubele specialize as woodcarvers, the Fonombele specialize in blacksmith and basketry work, the Kpeembele specialize in brass casting, the Djelebele are renowned for leatherwork, the Tchedumbele are masters of gunsmith work, while Numu specialize in smithing and weaving,” or “Caryatid figures are seen as representations of the role of women as spiritual mediators and the Sandogo use them in ceremonies as symbols of this bilateral celestial discourse.” I’m so hungover right now I had to think about whether the ‘column’ in ‘newspaper column’ is spelled the same way as the architectural feature, so there’s no way I’ll retain any of this, and I’ve already played the album in full three times without getting to the music.)

Koné’s sound is an interesting one. Both sides of Linda open with joyous highlife-derived jams of the sort that swept northern and western Africa during the late-‘70s. “Djigui” (“hope” in Bambara) features some dazzling interplay between bassist Toure Aladji and guitarist N’Goran Jimmy Hyacinthe, and the sort of ebullient sax hits that would soon make Paul Simon and composers for cruise ship commercials an abominable amount of money. On the flip, the title track has a different flavour than the Ghanaian or Congolese highlife/soukous recordings I’ve heard thanks to the prominent sound of the kora, a stringed instrument that sounds like a harp played flamenco-style. In interviews, Koné has mentioned sensing a shared root between her own local Mandinka music and the mandolins of Greek dollar bin titan Nana Mouskouri, and those tastes show through particularly on “Linda” and the smooth tropical exotica of “Ile.”

Linda’s other ballads are sparse synth pop numbers not far off what American high school kids would’ve been slow dancing to at the time. ‘Pretty’ might be the best word for Koné’s voice—when she sings it’s easy to imagine the expression on her face. Most of the time that expression is the serene smile she flashes on the back cover of the LP, and it makes even the treacly “Mata” (the album’s dullest song and the only one Koné didn’t write) a perfectly soothing listen.

Linda’s an album I can happily flip over repeatedly as I putter around cooking or cleaning. The LP’s evidently scarce enough that until just recently Discogs only listed a 1990 cassette version (and only a couple of tracks are on YouTube), but it’s worth snagging if you’re into the style and come across it a fair price.

42/365

[tombeane-blog]

THE BATTLE OF THE SEXES IS OVER!

(March 2023)

Men Won!

That's right, males of my specimen have won the battle of the sexes.  It's over.  Put a pin in it.  We guys won, you gals lost.  

(Full Disclosure: Although I was born biologically male at a very early age, it is only recently that I made it legally binding in the United States by openly declaring that from this place and time I hereby identify exclusively as male.  You may continue to call me - he/him, Mr. Majestic, that hunk over there, frijoles, sir, seer or sensei - just as you always have.)

For untold millennia, possibly even billennia, nature has endowed us guys with more power and strength than you gals, which allowed us to rule unchallenged throughout the natural world.  Well, all except for being eaten by that evil female Praying Mantis.

Take the mighty male lion.  Lord of the jungle and master of all he surveys.  He sits back, concentrating on diddley squat while the gal lions do absolutely everything - hunting, having babies, nursing and raising more lions - the whole megillah.  When a pack of female lions brings down a water buffalo, the male stretches, yawns, slowly saunters over, shakes his magnificent mane and roars, "Get The F Back Ladies!".  Then proceeds to dine alone.  Only after satisfying his hunger do the females get to eat the scraps.  This natural and equitable distribution of effort and reward has always worked flawlessly.  

There was only one small problem i.e., when the male lion lost his female pride to another male lion.

But forget that.  

Over hundreds of thousands of years the lion learned to walk on his hind legs and slowly evolved into us guys. To this day we still retain our advantage in strength and power - guaranteeing that our well deserved lordly privileges stay in place.

In fact, there are only two significant differences between us modern guys and today's un-evolved lions.

One:

Today's King Of The Jungle never learned to ferment beer.  A serious oversight on his part.

Two: *(This is Rated R. You must be 18 or older to read this next salacious bit of science. No cheating kids.  Skip over it.)

Let's compare a male lion lounging on the Serengeti surveying the passing herds with today's male-male guy lounging on the beach with a beer in his hand.  Although they both will have the same exact thought, i.e., "Wowza! look at the gorgeous haunch on that sweet looking young hottie over there.  I'd love to take a bite of that!"... 

...only the lion means this literally - I'm pretty sure. 

(Rated R section ends.  Under 18 can resume reading.)

All throughout hysterical time this precarious balance of nature has existed.  Only in the last coupla' hundred years have you gals decided to upset all this.   Your birthing and your rules about marriage before(you know) and your cooking all our food and washing our clothes and your bikinis and your common sense and all those other feminine supremacies just weren't good enough for you were they?  

Nope.  First it was voting, then owning things, wearing pants, driving cars and even forming a female rock band.  Talk about a slippery slope... 

And then in the 60's you must have thought you were all but victorious when you threw off the last of society's cultural mores and brazenly assumed histrionic male privileges.  

You fell right into our trap.

We fought.  We clawed.  We scratched back.  We reclaimed our territory inch by inch.  

You want proof?  Go to the the finest restaurants.  All the great chefs are men.  Who's designing all of Hillary's pantsuits and bikinis?  Armeni, Klein, Lauren, Dior.  What about shoes?  Jimmy Choo.  Who developed Mustang Sally's 1965 baby blue convertible you gals seduced us into buying for you?  Lee Iacocca.

And now.  The final hill has been conquered.

Men are better at literally, as well as figuratively, everything.  Men are setting new records in women's swimming, women's running and women's weightlifting.  How long do you think you can keep us out of female mud wrestling? 

The writing is on the wall gals.  Modern high school guys who can't get a partial baseball scholarship to the all male, College of Winnebago Repair in Bugscuffle, Tennessee will jigger their gender and become PAC 12 Player Of The Year on the Stanford softball team.

(OK Vern, I'll admit I have to give up watching women's gymnastics and figure skating but that is a small price to pay.)

You gals may fight back and enact legislation mandating some sort of Made In America type label.  Like defining a maximum percentage of X and Y Chromosomals we are allowed to field in order to retain the designation of a 'Women's Team'. 

But.... it is a losing battle and you know it. 

Congress, the President and even the Supreme Court can no longer even define what a women is. (Unless it depends on what the meaning of the word is, is.)

According to our government, universities, schools, movies and mainstream news, males can now do everything a female can do - menstruate, give birth, nurse, have sympathy for others, ask for directions when lost, flirtatiously evade speeding tickets - you name it.  

You want more proof that the XY chromosome now dominates what used to be for XXs only? 

"Makeup companies, feminine hygiene companies, and clothing companies have all concluded that men are better than women at selling their products."

"Dylan Mulvaney, transgender influencer, is the big winner in all this, thanks in part to his being Joe Biden’s favorite girl."

Drew Barrymore kneels before the better woman.

The Battle Is Over.  

Men are now better women than women.

[muses-of-the-memory]

Tag Dump (Ed Edd n Eddy Edition)