#let’s all agree to stop hating on people’s human bills

[vi3w-monst3rr]

When did the gravity falls fandom become such a no fun zone, I see so many people saying how they hate AUs that make bill ooc, and they don’t like human designs cuz “bill would never look like that” and it’s like just let people have FUN. Who cares if someone’s bill is ooc, that’s their au and they’re having fun. Who cares if you think someone has a “twink bill” design, they have a reason for making him that way and that’s their choice. Just let people have fun man

[tip-top-cloud-surfer]

Left at the Altar - Hangman (Epilogue)

Pairing: Hangman / Wife!Reader

Word Count: 1.7k

Warnings: Pregnancy and Kids; Suggestive Content; References to Sex; Second Person POV ("You"), Fem!Reader, No Y/N, No Defined Description of Physical Appearances of Reader; OC Baby is Referred to as Looking like “You”

This work, all of my other works, and my entire blog are 18+ Only.

MINORS DO NOT INTERACT

Summary: About three and a half years after you visit Jake in San Diego, you take in the reality of this new stage of your life.

Links: Master List Part 1 Part 2 Part 3

You should have known that you would not be the most important girl in Jake Seresin’s life forever.

Despite the fact that you moved all the way to California for him only three months after he surprised you on your wedding day, married him three months after that, and the two of you just celebrated your three-year wedding anniversary, you were not the most important girl in Jake Seresin’s life.

Not anymore. No, you lost that position about a year and a half ago.

It didn’t matter that the other girl was somewhat bald, constantly crying and napping, unable to feed herself, and drooled constantly; she was undoubtedly the most important girl in Jake’s life. But she was also the most important girl in your life, so you couldn’t be mad at him for that.

The second that Jake saw your daughter he was absolutely enamored with her. And the second that he held her in his arms for the first time, the deal was sealed. Little Rose, or Rosie, Seresin was the most important girl in Jake Seresin’s life.

Rosie just seemed to bring out the best in him by simply being born and existing as she did. He was softer and more understanding with people, especially the personnel under his command. He was more relaxed and smiled a lot more than before. Frankly, he just became more like the Jake you always knew instead of the Hangman persona.

And Jake credited you and your daughter for his promotion because of those changes.

“Dada,” Rosie called, making grabby motions with her hands when Jake walked across the stage.

“Yes, that’s Dada, sweetheart,” you agreed, pressing a kiss to her head. “He’ll be here soon, but you have to stay quiet right now, okay?”

You leaned over and pulled out your daughter’s favorite stuffed animal from your bag to settle her for a little longer. She was so attached to the toy that you literally wrote it on any packing list that you ever made these days. And what stuffed animal was your daughter’s favorite?

A phoenix. Well, it said ‘fire bird’ on the label, but it was a phoenix. It was given to you at your baby shower by Human Phoenix, who became very smug about the fact. Especially when Jake couldn’t soothe your daughter to stop crying but her stuffed phoenix toy did in a second.

He pouted about it for at least five hours before you told him to get over it. The alternative was your daughter crying and while your husband hated losing, especially to Phoenix, he hated his daughter being upset even more. So, he got over it. Phoenix still liked to poke him about it once in a while though.

You handed your daughter her toy and brushed her hair down to soothe her so that you could listen in on the ceremony. When Jake was officially announced as Commander Jacob “Hangman” Seresin, you clapped proudly along with the rest of the crowd.

After the ceremony wrapped up, you slowly stood up and set your daughter on the ground. She happily took off as soon as she spotted her dad walking over. Letting out a squeal that caught quite a few amused looks from the other attendees, Rosie hurried towards Jake. He happily leaned down and scooped her up into his arms.

“Hey, Princess,” Jake greeted her, pressing a kiss to her cheek. Placing her on his hip, he fixed the bow in her hair and smiled proudly. “Were you a good girl for Mommy?”

“Yeah,” she stated, grabbing at the bill of his dress white cap.

Jake pulled his hat off and placed it on top og Rosie’s head. It was far too big for her little head, but the giggle that she let out as she tried to see under it was absolutely adorable. You shook your head as Jake purposefully kept covering her eyes with it.

“Really setting a high standard there, Commander,” you teased, causing Jake to turn to you.

“I try, Wife.”

Jake wrapped his arm around your waist and pulled you in for a quick peck. You knew that it was just a preamble to the celebrations that you would enjoy later in the safety of your own home, but Jake had to at least try and look like an upstanding commanding officer right now.

“How’s the wizzo doing?” Jake asked, spreading his fingers along your growing bump.

When you brought up the subject of having a second baby, you couldn’t even finish your little speech before Jake just simply started stripping in the middle of the living room. And the man took the job of knocking you up very seriously.

So, here you were: just a few weeks into your second trimester with your second baby.

Jake started referring to your baby as ‘the wizzo’ even though your baby wasn’t quite a backseater. And sometimes the nickname was ‘the BOB’ instead. Either way, there was no shortage of aviation-related jokes in your household.

“They’re fine,” you replied with a small smile. “But they’re not that big yet, so there’s still plenty of time for the Seresin genes to kick in.”

“You say that like Rosie isn’t your mini me,” Jake quipped, gently pulling his hat off of Rosie’s head. He placed it back on top of his own head and pressed another kiss to her cheek. “I mean, look at her. She’s all you. So beautiful.”

And well, Jake wasn’t exaggerating too much. Rosie did look a lot like you did when you were a baby. Your mom provided the evidence by sending you a bunch of old photos. There were a few bits of Jake here and there in Rosie, but the biggest evidence of her Seresin heritage was her attitude. She was a sassy little girl who was not afraid to say what was on her mind.

Jake thought that it was hilarious. You were just waiting until she got a little older.

“Is that how you got this promotion so quickly?” you cooed, cupping your husband’s cheek. “Because you’re such a good kiss up.”

“One of my many talents,” he replied with a wink, pressing a kiss to your palm. “I’d be happy to show you some of my other talents later, Mrs. Seresin.”

“You already knocked me up, Jake.”

“No harm in practicing,” he responded, smirking proudly.

The two of you moved on to greet and chat with all the different people at the ceremony. Rosie was never detached from her dad’s hip and you were rarely further than an arm’s length away from him either. It was like Jake assumed that everyone was here to celebrate how successful he was in his personal life and not his professional one.

But your daughter was only going to happily sit on her dad’s hip for so long.

It always started subtly. She would wiggle more and let out an occasional whine. Then she would get grabby if she wasn’t given attention. Rosie grabbed at Jake’s uniform, his medals, and his hat again. And when Jake patiently pulled her hand away every time, she got more frustrated. Grabbing at his ear and his nose, Rose whined again. Louder this time.

“What’s the matter, Princess?” Jake asked softly, grabbing her hand.

Rosie pouted, tired and cranky, and flopped against her dad dramatically. Burying her face into his shoulder, she whined again and curled up against him. All it took was a quick check of his watch to know that it was past Rosie’s usual nap time.

“It’s alright, sweetheart, I’ll get you home. Just give me a moment, okay?”

Jake rubbed Rose’s back and pressed a kiss to her hair before turning to the other officers that he had been talking with since the ceremony finished up.

“I’m sorry, but I have to go,” Jake apologized, trying to rock Rose a bit.

“We’ve all been there,” an older officer informed Jake with a knowing smile. “Take care.”

Excusing himself from his conversation, Jake walked a few steps over to where you were talking with a few other civilians. Gently calling your name, Jake leaned towards you to speak softly.

“I think that Rosie’s ready to go,” he stated, rubbing your daughter’s back to try and soothe her some more.

You quickly agreed and the two of you said your polite goodbyes before making your way to the car. Jake put Rosie into her car seat and placed her phoenix plushie in her lap to soothe her. Then he walked around to double check on you as you climbed into the passenger seat.

“Jake,” you sighed as he reached around to do your seat belt for you, “I would have gotten it.”

“You’re carrying precious cargo,” Jake insisted, clipping your seatbelt in place.

You gave him a kiss in thanks before he walked around and got into the driver’s seat. The drive back to your home was enough to settle Rosie to sleep, which you were very thankful for.

Jake carried her inside and put her down for her nap before heading into your bedroom. You stood in front of your mirror, wiping the makeup that you put on away.

“She stayed asleep?” you asked, glancing over at your husband.

“She’s asleep,” Jake echoed, placing the baby monitor down on the dresser. He placed his dress hat down as well before walking over to you. “Let me help you out of that.”

You shook your head with amusement as Jake started to undo your dress for you. But despite your show of pretend annoyance, you still helped Jake out with the process. Pulling your arms out of your dress and stepping out of it when it pooled on the ground, you pressed a kiss to your husband’s lips. Jake went and hung up your dress while you fixed your hair. But it wasn’t long before Jake returned and moved to unhook your bra.

“You haven’t even taken your coat off yet,” you huffed, even if you complied.

“You like it when I’m wearing my dress whites,” Jake reminded you, tossing your bra away.

He leaned over and pressed a series of kisses to your neck that quickly muddled your brain. It didn’t help that your pregnancy brain always seemed to short-circuit whenever your husband touched you. And, well, Jake was well-versed in how to get you riled up as evidenced by how confidently his hands moved to those particular spots.

“May I remind you of the night that we spent in that honeymoon suite in Texas?” he mused, nipping at the sensitive skin behind your ear

“Yes,” you breathed out, as Jake’s fingers slipped underneath the band of your underwear.

“You’re a little overdressed for a repeat of that night, Mrs. Seresin. Don’t you think?”

You lightly smacked your husband on the arm for that remark, earning a deep chuckle from your husband.

“You’re annoying, you know that?” you sighed, turning your head to lock eyes with him.

“You love me, Mrs. Seresin,” Jake insisted confidently. He pressed another soft kiss to your lips before smiling proudly. “I know you do.”

“Yeah, I guess I do,” you replied with a genuine smile. “Commander Ser—”

You didn’t even get to finish your sentence before Jake’s lips were back on yours. And that was a good thing because you probably would have risked waking your daughter up with the sound that you made when Jake’s fingers started moving just right.

Well, at least you were already pregnant.

A.N. Thank you to everyone who read this little series! I'm glad that you guys enjoyed it so much!

Master List Part 1 Part 2 Part 3

Tag List (First 50 since there's a limit):

@djs8891 @avengers-fixation @dreamsofouterspace @maverick-wingman @rosiahills22 @bethabear12 @laneylovesglen @blue-aconite @mercurio23 @awildewit @caitsymichelle13 @mamaskillerqueen @emorychase @the-romanian-is-bae @novagreen04 @gigisimsonmars @olliepig @laneyspaulding19 @clancycucumber230 @eli2447 @luckyladycreator2 @marantha @ashbatz @emilyoflanternhill @riri-is-agirlie @goslytherin @phantomxoxo @imaginecrushes @hotch-meeeeeuppppp @mizzzpink @miss-i-ship-it @topaz125 @healanette @sarahsmi13s @buckysdollforlife @looneylikesbooks @fighterpilothoe @lunamoonbby @fav-fanficssss @lorilane33 @angelbabyange @swanqueens-blog @ilovewriting06 @linkpk88 @mallerz @sky0401 @lunamooncole @potterheadandsherlocked @rogersbarnesxx @iammirrorball

[tanukitsuneko-suki]

build episode 1 thoughts:

- spaceship intro and talking about mars... if the title is build, then is this going to be a sci-fi story??

- rough guesses i wanna throw out for funsies: the anonymous guy with a cap that touched pandora's box is the mc and is somehow revealed to be a martian/from a different space race, trying to retrieve this unknown power he is sure humans can't handle

- the "sky wall tragedy" being an actual wall. i do not know what i expected

- they're gonna 'build' walls to reach the sky and meet people on the other side that they haven't seen in years(???)

- distilling countries into a singular trait that is necessary in all nations for them to run smoothly... i see this trope has long been in play even before kingohger

- he's got a fucking drill. is that related to being build?? construction? i have tears in my eyes

- DUAL COLORED EYES WE ARE SO BACK

- sento-kun... another genius i see. i wonder, are all titular kamen rider characters already op geniuses from the beginning of the story?? i hate that it works. they're so cool

- handsome

- WHAT ARE THOSE PANTSSSSSSSS

- adding this in my "sento's a foreign lifeform/alien from which the pandora's box technology came from" evidence folder

- i'm too stupid for him. i won't take chances, i'm giving up. goodbye sento-kun, my crush on you was a fleeting 4 minutes

- potential rider? he looks a little too spunky for me... i like cool guys...

- more advanced than earth... sento's skills match the bill, clearly. he's a martian i'm telling you

- he really is the aggressive character. probably honest to a fault and with a heart of gold. would be a pretty good foil to the mysterious sento if he's part of the main cast. but i'm hoping they release a bitchy mysterious brooding archetype because i have a need LOL

- a guy like him really is needed because assuming there's an arc where sento gets discriminated for his unknown past, unwavering belief from a simple and honest friend like ryuuga is what would turn the tide of opinion. i think so anyway

- oh GOD lol (i'm weak to gangster types when they look like a pathetic wet dog like this)

- two eye colors when he wears his suit??? two toned shoes of distinctly different colors???

- bicolored theming is how you know they have two sides

- "i'll take it from here" i need my delusions to stop but my brain isn't behaving

- "now, let's begin the experiment" even his catchphrase sounds insane

- though i guess those (the red and blue colors) are a reference to chemical reactions too... since he's a physicist and all

- oh, the transformation thing reminds me a lot of gotchard

- omfg...i agree

- i'm attached to this particular wet dog. i'm sorry. god.

- i'm keeping him omfg

- HE DIDN'T EVEN LAST ONE DAY ON THE JOB LMFAO

- "why did you save me?" "because i believed in you" i just know they're gonna make a callback to this to ruin me somehow

[lovevalley45]

#fictober24 - day nineteen

"This is getting ridiculous."

fandom: dc's legends of tomorrow

word count: 760

At first, it had been tame. Astra offering to cover the bill at dinner, or buying him gifts. Behrad hadn’t minded that. But now-

“She paid your rent?” Zari scoffed, looking up from her phone. “This is getting ridiculous, B. She really is your sugar mama.” 

Behrad shot his sister a look. He had been expecting slightly more sympathy. “She’s not my sugar mama.” 

“Sounds like it to me,” she said. “I mean, how different is it from when you let Maman and Baba pay your rent when you were ‘attending’ Wharton?” 

“One, I did attend Wharton. I just dropped out after a semester,” he said, going back to wiping down the kitchen counter. “And two, having my girlfriend pay for my apartment is much different than our parents doing it. It’s… weirder.”

She sat up from her spot on the couch. “I know I was skeptical of Astra.”

“You said she was gonna break my heart.” Though, given his past relationships, she’d been right to think that. But, for once- 

“I was wrong, okay! It’s my duty as an older sister to be wary of who might be messing around with my little bro.” 

Behrad repressed a shudder. He didn’t need his sister thinking about who he “messed around” with. Not like he was immune to such intrusiveness himself. They maybe shared the same penchant for people who were willing to use them and break their hearts. At least Zee had better standards. 

“So why are you taking her side?” he asked, resting his palms on the counter. 

Zari placed a hand over her heart. “Are there sides here?” 

“Yeah, kinda,” he said. 

She took a deep breath, folding her hands onto her lap. “All I’m saying is that you never, ever ask me for help. The only reason you let Maman and Baba pay your rent was because they thought you were a poor college student and they were - are still guilty about the reality show thing-”

While she was making a few good points, Behrad still stopped her to say, “Okay, we’re saving that for therapy.” He frowned. “Actually, this is sounding a lot like therapy. Are you therapizing me right now?” 

“Therapizing is not a word,” Zari told him. 

“It should be.” 

“What I’m saying is that it is weird. But it’s not the end of the world.” 

Behrad sighed. “So, at least we can agree on that.”

“Maybe paying bills is her love language,” she said. 

He picked up the towel he’d been using and slung it over his shoulder. “Love languages were invented by some random dude to reinforce Christian, heteronormative relationship norms.” 

“Yeah, okay, maybe bad metaphor,” Zari said. 

“It just makes me feel-” Behrad reached out a hand, trying to think of the words. “Used? You know. I don’t like-”

“Feeling like a kept man?” 

“That.” 

He joined his sister on the couch. Why she’d come over to his place when she had a mansion all her own continued to baffle him. But he supposed that was how willing she was to hear about his relationship issues. 

Zari rested a hand on his arm. “Trust me, B, if Astra wanted to make you her kept man, she’d be much more obvious about it.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?” 

“Well, first off, she wouldn’t let you stay in this crappy stoner cave.” She gestured to the apartment. 

“It’s not-” Behrad looked around, finding the way he lived hard to defend. “It’s not crappy.” 

“Sure.” She patted him reassuringly. “You hate feeling beholden to people. In the risk that someone look past that chill vibe of you and see that you’re a human being with lots of emotions under there. I feel that too.” Zari crossed her arms against her stomach. “Let the mask slip, and-” 

“Yeah.” He leaned back. “Damn. We’re messed up, huh?” 

She chuckled. “A little.” But she turned to look at him, face deathly serious. “Just talk to her. The way that she reacted… she didn’t mean it like that. And maybe learn to take someone’s help for once. It won’t kill you.” 

Behrad hated to admit when his sister was right. But, if he hated it so bad, he wouldn’t ask her for advice. 

“Thanks, Z.” He stood up. “But I’m kicking you out before Astra gets here.” 

As she stood, she brushed off her skirt. “Thank God. I’m going to shower off the smell of marijuana.” She rested her hands on her hips. “Maybe you should let her get you a new place.” 

“One step at a time.”

[bookishtheaterlover7]

Random anon here, we’ll to those who are mad at Chris, let me ask you all, what should he have done?

It’s easy to say not gotten into This mess, duh, but he’s in it and deep in it.

It’s easy on the outside looking in to say just leave but umm like the marketing anon stated….it’s a business and one thing you don’t fuck with is people’s money especially those with more power and influence than you.

See I’m not making any excuses for Chris but I see people ragging on him but never stopping to realize we don’t have the full scope of this, huge missing pieces are left out and many are inserting their opinions and speculation as facts.

Be mad sure, but had Chris said no who’s to say this man wouldn’t have ended up blacklisted, lost everything he’s worked for etc. also he’s human and the pandemic scared at lot of people, even Scott stated Chris was worried about money during a podcast in 2020, Scott laughed but I never forgot that. Pr is easy money I’m sure. Things start out looking simple and then go left, again it’s easy to say well he would have said no, at least he’d had his integrity and morals, okay…..but if he ends up on a where are they now and homeless, severe drug addiction or mental issues due to losing everything then what.

My point is we don’t know shit and it’s easy to act like we do. Chris isn’t an idiot so I assume there’s more to this and he’s stuck because no way in hell things would be playing out the way they have nor would he be looking like a shell of his former self if he had power to end this or if this were real.

He’s human, be mad but don’t act like you haven’t ever fucked up in life either. I hate the high and mighty bullshit posts from people over shit you have no knowledge of.

Hollywood is a fucked up place and let me drop a bomb on you all, majority of the shit people sit online discussing is purposely created to keep people engaged from random headlines to bs from tv shows, news stories, movies, celeb drama, we’re all entangled in the web.

Example: Marketing is creating a story about two celebs fighting or dating and in reality the celebs never met but the rumor is now out there and they test to see the reactions.

Many feel Chris image is fake due to this mess but was it? I’m sure he would have revealed himself years before this mess if this was who he truly is.

Use your brains people, don’t fall for bullshit and don’t waste time fussing and cursing Chris everyday because you think this is some simple PR stunt he chose to do or that he’s actually with her.

Truth always come to light so don’t take anything personal and sit back and just watch until it all explodes. Lies can only last so long. 💅

An🫶n, you make an excellent point. And I wholeheartedly agree with you.

Chris may be a celebrity, but he's also a guy who needs to keep money flowing in order to live.

A big possibility, purely speculation, but the PR contract must have been tied to a lot of money. Money that post pandemic, he definitely needs. So, he's selling this, failing, but selling to get the check. And as shallow as that is, he definitely needs the money like any other grown up with bills.

So, let's cut Chris a little slack. And let's not wish him harm, because I heard from the grapevine that someone in the Fandom has wished him harm.

Not naming names. But that's fucked up, and you're no better than the people on the other side, whoever you are.

As for the fans that only want the best for Chris, let's ride the waves, hang in there, and continue to call 'em out! Or ignore certain tantrum-like antics. Whatever the occasion calls for 😌

[bleedingcoffee42]

Some secrets will stay secrets. SIGH.

Especially, if you dig a little harder and read stuff from other Screaming Eagles like memories of Donald R. Burgett from A Company (I think) and George Koskimaki's antology of memories of people from whole division, Speirs shooting POWs seems to be nothing unusual and a lot of worse things has happened (as sad at it is). Bill was not a saint and did similar stuff and absolutely no one is bitching about him. What I want to say is, Winters saying he would have put Speirs on court martial - when I read it I was like, Dick? Seriously?. No one would have shot prisoners if there was no order and Speirs, imo, acted rather according to the rules not against them.

It just shows how communicating orders SUCKED in American army that time.

You know... looking at Sparky's popularity and the amount of time he was on screen and comparing it to Winters.... it shows that people prefer ambiguous characters? As much as I love Winters he is not my top five, because he is simply too GOOD. I think I like his fandom version a lot more than his show/book version, because people dig out his flaws and made him more human. That's why I immediately liked Nix more, then Harry and Sparky. Dick just suffers from, dunno, being the perfect main, I guess.

And well, Sparky in the show is a perfect example of an amazing character's journey, it's something people LOVE. We agreed already that you can love him or hate him, but you can't have no feelings and opinions about him. While Dick is, I think?, generally loved and you hardly can find anything negative or even neutral about him.

...Speirs could steal even spotlight, huh?

I think I had a point when I started writing but have no freaking idea what was it, lol. SORRY

MORE GRANT, BLESS.

Well, the power of Nix :D

I absolutely understand you and all I have is undying admiration and gratitude for the whole research work you SHARE with us. Some of the stuff is fucking amazing and I have no idea how you find it but that's some university level research. But I enjoy every little piece. Thank you so so sooooo much for it.

(Fingers crossed for watching GK in some future.)

Even the first layer of stories, there are a lot of admissions later on of things that were seen and done. War is hell, it happens. I agree it's interesting that Speirs becomes THE poster boy for it though. It's interesting when we have someone like Lieb who Dick was like 'He was rough with prisoners' but then he still sends him with the prisoners! Ambrose makes a point of saying "Winters and Lipton both said Speirs was the cruelest man they ever met" but nobody expands on that. Idk if its because admitting they saw and didn't stop implicates them or what.

I think what gets overlooked is it's little over 20 years from the last world war and a lot of these guys had relatives lost to that. A lot of these guys were kids of immigrants and were Leary of letting people know they spoke German more or less were German. (Muck spoke it but never told anyone and let people believe he was another nationality.) Malarkey repeatedly mentions Uncles who were still dealing with being gassed in WW1 and suffering because of it. It breeds a 'We wouldn't be here if we got rid of you last time' mentality. But I think that's just me applying some ghetto logic, someone comes at you who you know is going to make you keep watching your back for retaliation...you make sure they don't get back up.

Speirs has the draw of being the enigma and backs it up with bonafide bad-assery and hero of Foy. I don't think Lip's POV was overplayed, I think that Breaking Point ep was spot on with how they all felt they were going to get slaughtered following Dike's orders and out comes Speirs and just bing-bang-boom Let's go.

Dick is very squeaky clean in the show and I think that's great for the show.....but it really does crack you in the face when you get into his letters and stuff and you're confronted with him being more human than the show allowed. I love the show, I really do. I love that we have a book, a series, more books and letters and more letters and interviews and we're still finding stuff. It does kinda make him too much of a Boy Scout for personal tastes though, I get you.

I'm enjoying the search, a lot. It's adding a bunch of dimension to already intriguing people. I'd like to get my hands on the Craver appeal that probably explains WHY he was let out of prison 20 years after the war.

[batboyblog]

trans people are allowed to be frustrated with the state of the world what the fuck are you on. how are trans policies in michigan supposed to help trans kids in florida. do you see what im saying here. and bidens words arwnt worth shit if he doesnt actually do anything

Of course they should be frustrated I'm frustrated, who wouldn't be frustrated?

this is not about that, it's fine to say "the world really sucks right now" "this is shit" yes I totally fucking agree

it's when it goes off into "and there's nothing to be done" "no one else cares" "we are without friends and allies" "no one is doing anything" LIES! LIES! from the mouth of hell! lies that give aid and comfort to the enemy! PLAGUE! WE ARE IN THE MIDDLE OF A PLAGUE AND YOU BEHAVE LIKE THIS!

this ask is full of so much horseshit that needs to get unpacked I almost didn't but fuck it someone might read what I say.

First off I brought up Michigan because it was claimed no straight allies were useful or doing "fuck all" clearly untrue if we look at Michigan (and else where but lets stay focused) and as Harvey Milk taught us, hopelessness is the ally of oppression, if people don't believe it can get better they stop fighting, gotta give 'em hope. So clearly right now at a time when trans rights are under attack, in some places they're also making gains and that can happen in your state too.

You see Michigan had a Republican governor till 2019, but in 2018 after years of organizing and working (and voting) progressive forces managed to elect Gretchen Whitmer. In 2022 She was up for re-election against a woman named Tudor Dixon who made attacking LGBT people, trans kids in sports, and drag show central parts of her platform, she was defeated. But what's more till the 2022 election Republicans had a majority in both the MI Senate and State House. Hard work lead to Democrats flipping a handful of seats to get a majority in both and now they can pass things like expanding trans civil rights.

My point is Michigan could EASILY be passing its own "Don't Say Gay" bill, could easily be banning trans health care for minors, easily EASILY, those are the policies Michigan Republicans ran on last year, and they were the majority before the election. Hard work, organizing, showing up, beat them and we get the reverse of all that hate.

flipping a whole state government is a lot, and in some Red States that might not be doable. But take Nebraska, where state Senator Machaela Cavanaugh's heroic filibuster looks like it's gonna derail anti-trans legislation, she's only able to do that filibuster because the Republican majority is one seat shy of a super majority. They need 33 votes to end her filibuster, there are 32 Republicans. Because all the Democrats have her back the Republicans can't shut her down and the bill will die because the Democrats can filibuster it to death.

In Kansas the Democratic governor has vetoed an anti-trans law, in Kentucky the Democratic governor is expected to veto their anti-trans laws. In Utah in March 2022 the Republican Governor Spencer Cox vetoed an anti-trans sports bill (he's since supported an anti-trans bill this year) Now I bring these up because in each state Republicans have a super majority that can override the veto, they over turned Cox's 2022 veto, and are expected to in Kentucky. So if you live in a red state and you think "oh we can't flip the whole state!" you can flip one or two or 3 state house seats and make ALL the difference.

Finally on trans kids in Florida right now not after some future election. Four organizations are suing the state of Florida to block its hateful anti-trans health care rule, Southern Legal Counsel, GLBTQ Legal Advocates & Defenders, the National Center for Lesbian Rights, and the Human Rights Campaign. Again the charge was "trans allies fucking suck at their job" well one of these orgs isn't even an LGBT organization at all (Southern Legal Counsel) the others are LGBT groups supported by thousands (millions in the case of HRC) of dollars from allies across the country. These are the groups leading the fight in Florida right now to block this shit in court right now, trans allies.

FINALLY FINALLY on Biden, you can't say "basically the only people who has gotten upset over this are trans people" and claim that no one else said anything when the President of the United States of America did a WHITE HOUSE interview and called transphobia evil and transphobic laws "close to a sin". Either you want people talking about this problem or talking about it is meaningless which is it?

besides which Joe Biden is the most aggressively pro-trans President America has ever ever had and is most likely the most pro-trans head of state on earth right now, he's head and shoulders ahead of most European left wing parties on this issue rn. Don't take my word for it, let's see what America's largest LGBTQ rights org has to say and they're careful to point out more can be done, always more can be done. But people telling you Biden does nothing or only does bad things are not your friend they are giving aid and comfort to the enemy. Did you know Joe Biden is the first President to EVER appoint a trans person to a senate confirmed position? That he was an early endorser and supporter of the first openly trans person elected to state government Danica Roem? that the first trans state Senator, Sarah McBride got her start in politics working in the White House for Vice-President Biden? Biden is a historic friend and ally of trans people he's boosted trans people into office and supported trans polices. Change is possible progress is possible don't give in to defeatism and cynical both sides bullshit.

[thearoaceshark]

Disenchanted x TMNT.

•○•

◇•○•◇

•○•

There was a small red demon and a human in an orange tunic in the Heaven. They had just killed God and were looking at His reserve light bulbs, probably if they put one in Him He will revive.

"Look, Mikey, light bulbs. Stacks of 'em. Brand-new hardward-store-fresh light bulbs" the demon said to his half-sibling "Where's your other nunchuck?" He asked and the youngest took out another nunchaku "Hand it over"

Mikey was going to give it to him but they backed away.

"Wait a minute. What are you gonna do?" they asked.

"Smash the light bulbs"

"Okay, then" they was going to give it to him but "Wait a minute"

"What?" The demon was getting angry.

"If you smash the light bulbs, God can never come back" they said worriedly.

"We took a vote and everyone agreed I would become the new God, and you would be my number two. My butler. Cool butler Mikey. Now butle-up, Miks" he try to persuade them.

"But we don't have no proof you could become God anyway. You yourself pointed out everything is slowin' down and fadin' out. That's what's gonna happen"

"Aghh. Look, Miks, I need this. I had a very traumatic childhood. I never told you this, but my drinking buddy stiffed me on the bill multiple times"

"But Raph, why not for once in your life... Choose love?"

"Okay, let me tell you about love, buddy. Love is a scam. Same people who proclaim love are the ones who pollute the air, join love cults, kills animals, spill oil, hates homosexuals, read bargabe on the beaches even if they have a stack of garbage next to them, make fun of feminine things, they make spelling mistakes, make bad and offensive jokes about others, promote insane vaccine conspiracies––"

"You're right. Take the nunchuck" they said this time handing him the weapon once and for all.

Raphael entered the light bulb warehouse, and Mikey prepared to hear him destroy the hundreds of them. But instead nothing was heard, and they saw their half-brother dragging out a gigant light bubl.

"All right, come on, Miks. Give me a hand with this thing. I don't wanna drop it," he said, concentrating on his work, putting on that blank expression he always got when his feelings were disconcerting to him and he just wanted to ignore them and concentrate on what he was doing.

"Aw gee, Raph! You're the best" they said happily helping him carry it.

"And don't forget it. Now let's screw this into God's gaping neck hole and see what happens"

And so they did, they went to the body of God and removed the broken light bulb to place the new one. Waoh, blurring and twisting the light bulbs reminded Raph of when he was decapitated and brought back to life but his body and his head didn't join together and he had to be twisting it every time he fell. They were bad times, Casey and Donnie let his headless body fall into a puddle of their vomit once, the damn ones.

"Inka. Dinka. Binka. Bonka. Boom!" He recited while they screwed in the new light bulb and it began to flicker, until it finished turning on, giving God life again. Before the resurrection of the great creator, Heaven began to shine again, the River of Joy returned to its heavenly glory and the angels stopped crying.

"Aghhh. Ah! What a refreshing nap" said God rising from His ancient eternal resting place "I didn't have any of my usual recurring nightmares. Did I snore?"

"No, God, you were dead" responded His most beloved creation whose life He let be a shit, Michelangelo.

"Daed tired, that is. I hope you rested well, Lordy" the red demon lied and laughed nervously.

"Why is you being so modest, Raph? God, I'm the one who killed you. Raph is the one who brung you back to life" but those in the orange tunic decided to tell the truth. And God started laughing, that laugh He makes when He "already knows," because of course He knew.

"I know all that, Mikey. I was just testing you" because of course the bastard did. "I was going to smite you. Maybe even mega smite you. But for your honesty about killing me, I forgive you" decree the deity. He grabbed the nunchaku that killed Him. "So, this is the murder weapon. Hmmm." He dropped it from the sky and said smilingly, "Look out below."

Yes, that brick was probably going to kill someone, or ruin someone's life, or both. Or maybe its just killed some annoying guy complaining about the happy ending and the holes in the plot that no one cares about, but no one is going to miss him.

"Now, Raphael, I'd like to know why you were so modest about bringing me back to life"

"Pfft. Ah, geez, man. When you're a dirty, dark demon, and you don't allow God to just die, it's bad for your reputation" he explained his point seriously "I'll never live this down" God laughed at his words.

"Haha, such integrity from one of Hell's tiniest flunkies. I would never have thunk it" He reached out to pat the little demon's head "Raph, I don't usually do this, but I really like you, and you did save my life" He said, leaving the caresses "Maybe that's why I like you. Huhuhu. Here's what I'm going to do. I'm going to give you a single wish. Right now, no holds barred, anything you want" Mikey just watched the conversation unfold.

"Anything at all?"

"Do you want wealth? Fame? Success? You wanna be a big shot?" He began to name everything he could ask for "Would you like to lose weight? Eat endless pies? Maybe total enlishtenment? Pick one thing. It's hard, isn't it?" Raphael thought about it.

"...Does the wish have to be for me?" he asked.

"Strange. No one has ever asked that" God said "The answer is the wish can be for anyone you want"

"Well, than my wish is for Leona the Mermaid to come back alive. For Cass"

"Interesting. May I ask why?"

"Why? Because Cass has tried so hard and done so much" he began to explain, letting his emotions come out "Because Cass deserves love. Because the love of Cass's life is Leona, and because..."

"Because what?"

"...Because I love Casey, and I want them to be happy once and for all" he confessed, shit, that toothy human had stolen his heart... They were and are the best friend he has ever had.

"Aww, that's beautiful, dude" said Mikey.

"Yeah, yeah, leave alone" said the demon, he wasn't going to let his feelings out again for at least the next nine hundred years.

"I'm going to give you a big huge" they said approaching and taking the red one in a hug, he left and snuggled into the chest of his younger sibling "Do I feel tears on my tunic? Are you cryin', "Raphie?" they said borrowed and surprised.

"I'm not crying. I'm not crying. I... That was me laughing" he said and faked a laugh "Hihi. I'm a clown. I just... I have no feelings, you know me. I'm all like, bibbidi-bobbidi bibbidi..." he was heard sobbing "Boop!" The demon took a deep breath. "Skippity-skoppity skip... Sewer apples."

"I hereby grant Raphael's wish" God proclaimed "Leona the Mermaid comes back to life for Cass. Clap!" He exclaimed as He gave a great applause, a roar was heard and divine waves were formed. He had done His thing.

○

•○•

◇•○•◇

•○•

○

In the land of the living and mortal, a person with black hair and squirrel, rabbit, beaver, all the nicknames you can think of, teeth, was sitting on the rocks on the beach mourning the loss of their beloved mermaid. They was resting on a large rock behind her, so beautiful, until she began to decompose.

"I hate this. Everything sucks," said the queen, although that was just a title, they wouldn't feel like a queen, and they certainly weren't fit to rule. "My crazy mom finally died, and yet, where is the glory? And what is that smell? My boots or Leona's rotting fish body?... Sorry Leona"

"Apology accepted, Cass" they heard behind them say "By the way, what reeks are your boots"

They turned around and saw the mermaid alive. Alive and smiling at them.

"Leona? You're alive?" They jumped over the stones and went to their beloved who received them in her arms.

They both looked into each other's eyes, happy about this miracle, and kissed. There is finally peace and happiness in Casey's life.

"Just don't stab me anymore, okay? There's other ways to get to my heart" their girlfriend told them when they separated from their kiss. And they kissed again.

The end.

○

◇•○•◇

○

"What?!" said a man coming out of his window "Why does it end so quickly?! You didn't even rewrite the entire chapter, and why did you only copy what it said in the English subtitles and barely adapt the dialogues to how the TMNT characters would say it?! You know so little about English? You live in America and you still watch shows in Spanish and that's why you don't know how to reinterpret it because you've only seen the Latin dub? What an idiot. And why didn't you write the scene of them fuck–? Agh" a brick fell on his head and he died.

End

○

"Oh, a fun fact. Did you guys know that Leona the Mermaid is your half-sister?" God told to Mikey and Raph

"WHAT?!!"

Now, thats the end. By.

[ivygorgon]

Sharing Women's March open letters and petitions. Please sign and share!

14 states have already banned abortion, and more restrictions are on the way. Here are a few of the latest GOP proposals:

⚫ A 12-week abortion ban in Nebraska

⚫ A 6-week ban (because GOP attempts at a full ban failed three times) in South Carolina

⚫ A bill that charges abortion patients with MURDER in Alabama

We HAVE to fight back.

Our state-level mobilizations *are working.* We helped elect a pro-choice state Supreme Court justice in WI and brought national attention to the abortion pill case that started in TX. But we CANNOT stop now.

TY! -Women's March

SIGN ON: TELL THE COURTS TO STAY OUT OF FDA APPROVAL OF ABORTION MEDICATION Medication abortion is safe and effective, and it should be readily available everywhere. Add your name right now to DEMAND the courts stay out of FDA approvals >>>

SIGN ON: TELL THE JUDICIAL SYSTEM TO STAY OUT OF FOOD & DRUG ADMINISTRATION APPROVALS! A Trump-appointed judge may strike down the FDA’s approval of a critical abortion medication later this month. The ruling would set a dangerous precedent that radical right-wingers can challenge the approval of ANY medication they don’t approve of — like the birth control pill or emergency contraception (aka Plan B). We need you to take action to tell the courts to stay OUT of FDA approvals!

ATTN: SOUTH CAROLINA LEGISLATIVE REPUBLICANS Check out our letter to the South Carolina GOP below, then sign it as is or add your own spin:

Make your voice heard

As you well know, abortion bans will not end abortion. Instead, you propose penalties so extreme – so draconian – that they will terrify women into compliance. Your goal was never to “protect life.” It is to control our bodies. You should know: We won’t go back. We’ll fight back. I’m signing this letter to voice my ongoing commitment to opposing any rollback of our human right to reproductive freedom.

ATTN: RON DESANTIS, FLORIDA REPUBLICANS, & THE STATE BOARD OF EDUCATION Sign our open letter condemning the Don’t Say Gay law in Florida! Make your voice heard The cruel “Don’t Say Gay” law is harming Florida students, teachers, and families. Instead of expanding it, you should be repealing this attack on LGBTQ+ Floridians! Despite your fear and hate-mongering, LGBTQ+ people — including kids — always have existed and always will. We will keep fighting for them to be treated with the respect and dignity they deserve. We know that more of us are in solidarity with the LGBTQ+ community than agree with your regressive and cruel legislation. Women’s Marchers and our allies WON’T stop fighting for a world where all of us can be safe as our authentic selves. We WON’T let your hateful legislation stop us from supporting LGBTQ+ Floridians, and we condemn the “Don’t Say Gay” law.

ADD YOUR NAME TO OUR DEMANDS TO PROTECT REPRODUCTIVE HEALTH CARE ACCESS! We demand reform of our broken judicial system. We demand that state and local leaders defend access to mifepristone despite this illegitimate ruling. We demand the FDA issue guidance to disregard the decision. We demand the Biden administration implement a whole-of-government response to this public health crisis. We demand pharmacies execute their mandate faithfully and with the health of their patients rather than the personal ideologies of a few politicians in mind. Sign on to sponsor our demands >>>

REMOVE CLARENCE THOMAS FROM THE SUPREME COURT Congress must impeach Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas now! Justice Clarence Thomas has violated his oath and broken the law by failing to disclose decades of luxury vacations and private jet travel from billionaire and GOP megadonor Harlan Crow. Crow also paid the private school tuition for a Thomas family member. Sign our petition, stating loud and clear: No one is above the law, and Justice Thomas must be held accountable and removed from his position of power.

[welcometomypov]

I hope you’re okay. I’m probably not the kind of person you talk to often in your day to day life. I’m a leftist organizer and volunteer.

I know liberals out there are like “enjoy the handmaidens tale.” And wishing ill on you and I know they’re telling republican women that they hope Trump “grabs them by the pussy.”

but I want to extend an olive branch here. As an actual leftist I hate liberals so I’m gunna look for common ground with you.

Conservative people say that some of the moral decline in America can be contributed to losing faith. I actually kind of agree to an extent. (Communists can believe in god I don’t think the average conservative has ever actually met a real card carrying communist)

But here’s the thing: they’ll cite fewer people in church as proof that America is losing faith. I’d argue that actually the main reason people stopped going to church is because more and more people started having to work on Sunday. Wages haven’t increased in nearly 45 years adjusting for inflation.

Did you know that Americans who are so poor that they live in apartments aren’t allowed to do ANY basic repairs?

In every single apartment that I have ever lived in if I even tried to patch drywall I’d lose my deposit?

In every single lease I’ve ever signed I also had to agree not to do any repairs in my own car. NOT EVEN AN OIL OR TIRE CHANGE.

(They don’t want people to improperly dispose of oil or getting hurt on their property)

the end result of this is that you get a lot of liberal city folks who can’t even change a tire. You get people that don’t know how the world works.

But here’s the thing conservatives don’t understand:

Renters and poor people who’s only exposure to the world is TV and advertising and public school are now MOST of America. During the time of the founding fathers 9/10 families were RURAL farmers or fishermen or some other necessary trade.

It is now 1/10. Completely flipped.

When a commie says “you don’t understand America you stupid conservative”

yes they are being assholes but also on a literal level you DONT understand America because America is a nation of 360 million people. If the only way to understand someone is to try and get in their shoes you will literally never be able to do that for most of America unless you could live for a thousand years.

Conservative politicians like Trump SAY they’ll fight to keep god in America. But what they really want to do is make money.

Why is it that the only party that openly defends Christian and family values is the party that cuts Bill gates taxes and lets George Soros buy all the land? Deregulation sounds great until there’s no law that says The Rothschilds can’t buy literally every home and force your children to rent until they die.

Stock market does better under republicans no doubt. But the stock market isn’t a “human quality of life” market. Technically slavery was AMAZING for stocks.

Would you rather invest in a company that literally doesn’t pay a dime in labor? A company that is sheer profit? Or would you invest in the company that’s gunna unionize?

If you’re a normal human with a conscience maybe you’d invest in the company that has less money to return on your investment.

But Jeffery Epstein proved that being successful on Wall Street doesn’t make you a good person.

I’m begging you to vote for and support candidates that want to help your family. The ones who want to give you the freedom to choose. The ones who want to put in free breakfast programs.

God himself gave humans the freedom to do terrible things.

If a politician wants to give you free healthcare like Bernie but also wants you to have the choice to have an abortion.. you have the moral guidance of god to make the decision to keep the baby.

Here’s the thing tho: yes you can make it so that nobody can ever kill an any baby ever again.

But the cost is higher teen pregnancies and premarital sex.

The cost is more people working overtime on a Sunday skipping church and beating their families in an alcoholic rampage.

The price is, like I mentioned earlier, losing the ability to buy a home and being forced to rent.

The price is more women being forced to stay with the men who raped them because the baby needs income and rapists don’t make money in jail so they get to go to work and come home to (an often underage) wife.

The price is ironically more abortions but just by taking poisonous herbs.

(There’s actually a verse in numbers in the Bible on how to induce a miscarriage if your wife cheats on you but conservatives do ignore that part of the Bible.)

The price is more meat recalls and price increases because the government won’t be able to investigate price gouging.

I guess the bottom line is that economic leftism is not bad. Being for universal healthcare is not turning your back on god.

Democrats are evil but if you pay attention there are some democrats that the party leadership hates.

These democrats actually want to fight for you. The good democrats that JFK died for are still there.

You don’t have to like Bernie and I have my problems with him but look at what he ran on in his campaign.

Banning landlords from buying up all the good houses and forcing Americans to rent them.

Free breakfast at schools.

Better subsidies for farmers.

Better drinking water.

Sure he’s a tree hugger but like. Is that really the end of the world?

Weren’t we told anytime we went out in nature not to litter?

Why not hold big companies to the same standard?

I’m not asking you to abandon your conservative values . You can still believe that illegal immigration needs to be dealt with and promote a nuclear family but please please stop voting economically conservatively. It’s genuinely going to hurt America.

Remember ELECTED democrats and republicans are both evil. The rest of republicans and democrats are just American.

Plus Trump is like definitely a rapist. Like there are so many pics of him with both Epstein and Diddy, Trump refused to release all the Epstein info while he was in office, and Jeffery mysteriously killed himself while Trump was in office. Before he could stand trial.

Like democrats are definitely pedos but I don’t think that Kamala is one of them, she’s stupid sure but at least her platform would’ve forced corporate America to pay better overtime and let more people go to church on Sunday. I promise you America is not weak enough for a cop like Kamala to destroy it.

As the first probably real leftist you have ever talked to I really really do hope you have a good night and chew over some of the stuff I said.

If you have any questions or think I’m being unfair I’d love to have a dialogue with you. But really do think about the fact that there are democrats that Obama and Clinton and Nancy Pelosi hate. Just like how I know not every conservative agrees with every little dumb thing Trump said. You can work with us. We have to.

Thank you for this!!

I actually do talk to leftist people! Not as often as I'd like considering how anxious talking to any person makes me, but I love hovering near leftist booths or tables on my Democrat campus to listen to them discuss issues with the passerbys. It's interesting to listen to anothers' perspective or to a fellow Republican's, even.

(Except for abortion booths, but only because I've been harassed by abortionists trying to make me to sign their petition and now I can't break the wall of anxiety that comes with seeing them on campus).

(There’s actually a verse in numbers in the Bible on how to induce a miscarriage if your wife cheats on you but conservatives do ignore that part of the Bible.)

There is a favorable explanation about that part of Numbers that I've heard before, but I can't remember what the explanation was. I may ask some other Catholics or my parish's priest about it.

I disagree with the notion that Trump is 'definitely' a rapist, but I concede that it's possible that he could be a rapist.

I appreciate how much thought was put into this! You've given me a ton to think over and look into. I really appreciate the neural consideration that you put into this.

I can tell supporting this economics stance means a lot to you and I want to give it real thought instead of just spewing answers and arguments off the top of my head.

Again, thank you for this!

[biblicallyaccuratepigeons]

so

i deliberately looked for and screenshot a few anti-ford comments on that poll

because i hate myself ig

anyways i'm gonna be ventin so dldr ig (i voted stan btw)

here we go

hey fuck you? fuck you personally? we don't know that. we can't know that. and hey? it also wouldn't've taken him thirty years, just for the record.

dude what. the fuck. is your problem. you fucking symptom.

rude?? he's literally not a smartass. 20 years of being intellectually ahead of stan; ten years after that of being around college students and professors in his multiple advanced-as-fuck fucking phd programs; thirty years of a personally driven revenge quest to destroy his ex-boyfriend who would otherwise destroy everything he cared about and laugh about it; coming home to find that his life had been taken over so thoroughly that he thought it was another parallel universe; seeing his greatest fear realized; trying to stop it anyway; failing horrendously because he got startled; being tortured with enough electricity to kill a person and that's just what was PG enough to show - and all he did that could otherwise be interpreted as smartassy was to calmly correct his brother-who-had-ruined-his-chances-to-go-to-a-good-university-then-denied-his-one-imperative-request-and-pushed-him-into-the-portal-just-to-open-it-back-up-despite-the-danger's grammar. For fuck's sake, let him be a fucking human you bitch

it's not a complex dude. he is literally both more intelligent and more educated in more fields than about 99% of people, especially of his generation. sorry

As if Stan didn't do the exact same thing on the roadtrip? He would've ended up food if the kids weren't there - hell, he even went back to Darlene after she had already attempted to eat him using the exact same flattery. Did Ford ever go back to Bill? No.

ford... was also doing the most for his family? like it was pretty clear that he was trying to save the world from bill; even before that, he was doing everything so he wouldn't let his dad down and also be disowned

hey can someone tell me what "everything" is because what the actual fuck

i feel like. those two things are incompatible? but either way, in the wake of my bruised ego, this genuinely confounds me bc. like the only thing i can think of that would make someone say that is his pre-portal relationship with bill, as portrayed by bill. and. idk. that story was more sad to me than anything because i've been there. the only thing he did wrong was trust too much.

ok the funnier bit i totally agree with but WHAT THE FUCK WHY DOES EVERYONE THINK FORD'S MORE SELFISH AND HATES THE KIDS LIKE ACTUALLY LIKE THE FIRST THING HE EVER SAID ABOUT MABEL WAS THAT HE LIKED HOW WEIRD SHE WAS AND HE SPENT 30 YEARS TRYING TO KILL THE UNKILLABLE THING THAT HAD DESTROYED AND WOULD DESTROY MULTIPLE DIMENSIONS GET THE FUCK OVER YOURSELVES

wh-what the fuck did he do. what the fuck did he do.

ok now this is just a case of envy. you gonna go home to your negative gpa? gonna cry because you can't find anything special about yourself? we have no idea what ford went through while he was on the other side of that damn portal, but we do know that stan never had to be afraid of sleeping because of what he, himself, would do while he wasn't looking. he never had to worry about who was in charge of his own mind. he never had to be afraid of children on the street, or his own brother. fuck you personally and get a fucking hobby.

he was 17/18 with an abusive father and scared?? also. ford was also going through it in the events leading up to the portal. like i know he was financially comfortable and shit but he was very much not okay

i'm not gonna say he was right not to forgive nor thank stan because he absolutely wasn't, but for the record: ford did also go insane. like that was a very significant thing that happened. also: see the smartass rant. and let him be human please i am begging you.

okay one fuck you because he wasn't "playing" anything. he was trying to get shit done and enjoy life at the same time and that's not a moral failing. two you're being unfair, he didn't "start punching" stan, he punched him once and then when stan tried to punch back he stopped him. he also had thirty years of nonstop action and fear and revenge quest on his mind, with literally no time to work through his hurt because he was too busy surviving, and then stan started the portal right as he'd almost succeeded in his thirty-year revenge quest. he should've forgiven him sooner, but it's not like it doesn't make sense, even from a moral standpoint.

i'm sensing envy and ableism here. sorry you have different strengths than ford; hope you recover soon.

he's like not though? at all?

and this last one made me smile so i wanted to put it at the end for a light ending

And we were all like, "We know, but heyy!"

[hummingbee-lievable]

Song of the Day #15:

'Coming Down' by Five Finger Death Punch (released 2012).

It's caving in around me

What I thought was solid ground

I tried to look the other way

But I couldn't turn around

It's okay for you to hate me

For all the things I've done

I've made a few mistakes

But I'm not the only one

Step away from the ledge

I'm coming down

Track 4 of 'American Capitalist'.

Fun fact: This song is a clear and poignant message against suicide, and about suicide awareness. Five Finger Death Punch in particular is known for their allusions to mental illness in their music, from PTSD (in 'Wrong Side of Heaven') to child/human/sex trafficking (in 'Judgement Day') and child abuse and neglect ('Remember Everything').

Ivan Moody, the lead singer, when asked to audition for the band, had to perform with his back turned to them because he was so shy.

The name of the band started as a joke reference to the homonymous (having the same name) move in Quentin Tarantino's 'Kill Bill'.

Personal blurb: I heard this song performed at a coffee house in high school and fell in love with it. I watched the video so many times; it really resonated with how I was feeling at the time. Because of their investment in mental health awareness and support, and because of Moody's voice, this is my favourite metal band ever. I listen to them whenever I need to scream in the car.

(If you need a strange method of catharsis, screaming with your windows down at a stupid amount of miles per hour sometimes fits the bill. I haven't done it a lot, but when I did, it felt like I was letting go. I immediately wanted to cry afterwards, so be warned that that's a possibility. Anger is such a terrifying aspect of being. And it shouldn't be. Anger is okay to feel. But I think often of Lia Marie Johnson's 'DNA' lyrics:

When I erupt

Just like you do

They look at me

Like I look at you

For obvious reasons, that song is in my 'Progress' playlist.

I know it shouldn't be an issue, to be angry. I've had a couple of experiences lately where my anger was elicited and I felt so weak afterwards. (One was in response to two kids goading another kid into killing a living creature with a large rock, which I stopped by yelling at them instinctually, before I had a second to think about it, and the other was this horrible (white) woman's bullying of a homeless (black) vet and I exploded at her.) I feel like the Hulk. I'm always angry, and operate in constant suppression of it. I'm always afraid, which is where the anger stems from, I think.

Isn't that fun? When you can see the threads that lead to you feeling a certain way and can do nothing about it?

I keep being told that my anger was justified and the best option available to me, but I play things out like that in my mind all the time. And in my mind, I'm poised and empathetic and able to reach around my instincts in a way that actually helps others. To show them where they're doing wrong without making them feel like a monster.

There's a story about a bet between the sun and the wind: they each claim that they can convince a passing stranger to take off their coat. The wind goes first, huffing and puffing (no houses to blow down, at least) but the man only gathers his coat around him tighter and tighter. The sun takes a turn, beaming gently and exuding warmth; the person removes their coat.

I love this story. I think about it in terms of political conversion, or any conversation in which people are inclined to get wrapped up in disagreeing with each other. When you don't agree with someone, their getting upset with you is just going to make your dig your feet into the ground and stand by your beliefs all the more. But if you just explain why you see things the way you do, and listen to why they believe what they do, you can either have your mind changed or at least walk away with an acknowledgement that while you did not agree, you understood each other.

Forgo the harsh wind for the gentle sun.

I want to be the way; I'm not giving up on it. Being forced to realise that instinct trumps fantasy has been a wake-up call. I have to forgive myself and move on.

In a perfect world, I'll be angry, and that will be okay. I'll be able to acknowledge it without letting it take me over.

I'm sorry. I've had two hours of sleep each night for the last week or so. I have gained newfound empathy for the homeless in this humid heat. I never realised how much I loved the cold until morning after morning, I would wake up in my car after a few hours of restless sleep, drenched. This long text spiral is my brain flopping around like a dead fish and hoping it finds water.

Thank you for listening anyway (Tumblr bot that glances this way on occasion).

On a far more positive note: I'm dedicating this post to my sister. Actually, all of my music posts. And my poetry posts. She is a beacon of light for me on a daily basis, despite constant and excruciating pain. We visited each other recently and one of the highlights was being in the car with her and my two brothers when 'Jekyll and Hyde' came on. We both reacted really enthusiastically and there was this funny moment where we turned to look at each other in surprise, like 'You too???' while our brothers looked on in amused disgust. It's so fun to find out new things about someone you're close to. Sometimes you just need a metal moment, brotherly condescension be danged.

I digress. She has been my most constant and avid supporter of these posts (and she doesn't even have a Tumblr), always giving lovely feedback and encouraging my writing in general. I do not know who I would be without her.

These are for you, Smalls. Guacker Smalls, that is. (She is a full foot taller than me, which adds to the amusement of the nickname.) We have decided that murderous geese with knives that encourage us to be gay and do crime are called 'guackers'. Just trust us on this one.

[colorful-white-ideas]

Being introverted doesn't mean Bill has to stay alone at home with depression and hate people so much! I'm introverted, and I keep my friend's circle close, I'm a dentist and have to do so much with people, I definitely go out and talk with them. To that anon who says Bill has 2 sides and he likes to keep his things private, so that means he's pretentious:

1. He has the right to keep his life private. He doesn't owe us anything, and we certainly don't have the right to complain about it!

2. Bill's not Roman Godfrey, Bill is Bill, that's who he is, stop reading fan fics cause ur words show u r coming from the story world.

3. Talking to people and hanging out doesn't mean he's not introverted, but the fact that he keeps his circle close even with some bad people means he's INTROVERTED in a way! I do the same! I hate some, but I have the fear to lose them!

4. Introverted people don't stay everywhere alone and don't hate communicating with others. That's depression darling. Bill's not depressed love.

So first of all, learn what it means to be an introverted person, then come out of the fanfics world, and at the end come and complain about Bill, hon. As I said, him not talking about his privacy is his choice! He's not an attention seeker like some celebs. We all know he has the money to make himself a show like Kardashians and show his rich life and vacations. I love him for being private! Him staying away from the drama is good. If u don't like it and don't enjoy it, then leave the fandom and go find yourself an extrovert, attention seeker celeb.

Im sorry, I might sound rude or cky but the fact that some people think celebs have to talk about their private lives and say everything annoys me a little. I think the less we know about the people we love, the better we can stan them! After all, they're humans like us! Let them have their lives. Thanks for reading my request 💙

I never thought that this debate on "Bill personality" could get this heated 😅😅... But I guess we all agree that his last video with showed him behaving different, more confident and talkative although he was very nervous about some topics ( the crow)

Let's leave it there.

[embracingdiversity]

Embrace Diversity, End Discrimination

In today’s society, the LGBTQIA+ (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, questioning, intersex, or asexual) community is growing in every country as many people gain the courage to let their true identities out in public. The LGBT Pride survey conducted by the Independent Polling System Of Society (IPSOS) showed that an average of 3% of the participants from 27 countries aged 16-74 were part of the LGBTQIA+ community. In 2023, IPSOS stated that an average of 9% of the participants interviewed in the recently conducted LGBT Pride survey were part of the LGBTQIA+ community, thus increasing its members by 6% in two years. Because of the growing population of this community, many people think that they should be accepted in the society. As of 2019, 73% of 38,000 people in 34 countries agreed to accept homosexuality according to a Pew Research report.

Although the LGBTQIA+ community is becoming accepted and respected, some people still do not accept them. In the same Pew Research report, 24% of the people surveyed did not agree to accept homosexuality. This results in discrimination and hate crimes towards them. According to the Social Weather Stations survey in 2019, 60% of Filipinos believe that members of the LGBTQIA+ experience discrimination.  Additionally, according to a report published by Statista Research Department, being a member of LGBTQIA+ is considered a crime in 71 countries, especially in the Middle East, Africa, and Asia. In some countries, like Saudi Arabia and Iran, the members of the LGBTQIA+ community are given the death penalty. Because of this, some people cannot let their true selves out.

Some forms of discrimination that the LGBTQIA+ community experiences are: rejection in job applications or employment, and/or discrimination in the workplace, insults, humiliation, bullying especially in students, not letting them inside establishments, harassment, or even murder. An article published by Human Rights Watch in 2017 narrated the experiences of some LGBTQIA+ students who experienced discrimination. For example, Carlos M., who at that time was a 19-year-old gay student at Olongapo City, experienced verbal and physical bullying at his school, saying that when he went in and out of the school, his schoolmates would push him, punch him, and call him things like gay or faggot. Marisol D., a 21-year-old student at Manila and a transgender woman, shared her experience when she was in high school, her teacher humiliated her by calling her in front and cutting her hair in front of the class.

A news report by ABS-CBN showed that members of the LGBTQIA+ community held a rally for the reason that they still experience discrimination. Val Evangelista and Harry Serrano are among the people who joined the rally due to their personal experiences of discrimination such as people asking unnecessary questions that feel insulting, still being called by their biological gender, and/or discriminatory stares of other people. LAGABLAB network stated that discrimination against LGBTQIA+ communities continue to happen because there are no official laws that protect their rights.

Because of this, it is be necessary to provide laws that protect the rights of the LGBTQIA+ community. For example, the Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity or Expression (SOGIE) Bill must be given attention by the Senate to help stop LGBTQIA+ discrimination in the soonest possible time. But for now, we must do something to stop discrimination and violence for all genders. The specific things we can do are to educate ourselves about sexuality and sexual violence, then we can educate others about this through social media especially through TikTok, or by simply opening up the topic to others. Next is to educate ourselves and others on how to stop sexual violence such as not tolerating sexually offensive jokes or rape jokes, speaking up against sexual violence, never tolerating any form of disrespect to all sexualities, and encouraging people to be open-minded about the fact that some people are just born into a male or female body but their gender is the opposite of the body that they are in. We can do this in the form of advocacies through blogs, especially in social media, we can create content about the concept of sexual violence and say NO to sexual violence, especially in TikTok. Also, we can let them know about the religious perspectives regarding the prohibition of rejection and violence of certain sexualities (because some people use religion as a reason for them to discriminate against some sexualities). For example, the Pope of the Catholic Church says that what Christianity teaches is to always welcome everyone in the Church, so we, as members of the Church, should always welcome, and we have no right to reject anyone or kick anybody out, even the Pope, as he said.  These are some ways that I think we can do to stop sexual violence.

Written by: Samantha Gabrielle Tirana

Pubmat by: Samantha Gabrielle Tirana

References

ABS-CBN News. (2023, June 2). Ilang Pinoy na LGBTQ community members idinaing ang diskriminasyon | TV Patrol [Video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aDMs3HzjEQQ

Topic: LGBTQ+ worldwide. (2023, August 31). Statista. https://www.statista.com/topics/8579/lgbtq-worldwide/#topicOverview

Abad, M. (2020, June 25). 73% of Filipinos think ‘homosexuality should be accepted by society’ – report. RAPPLER. https://www.rappler.com/nation/264862-filipinos-acceptance-homosexuality-2019-pew-research-report/

Thoreson, R. (2023). “Just let us be.” In Human Rights Watch. https://www.hrw.org/report/2017/06/22/just-let-us-be/discrimination-against-lgbt-students-philippines

[lastoneout]

"Ok, what will happen when people won't be able to support them?"

That's on them to figure out. Every new venture is a risk, but as it stands based on the tone of the video they are at a point where they can either keep making content that caters to the algorithm/advertisers for pennies or eventually burn out and stop making videos at all. They wouldn't do something like this out of greed, it's a move to ensure they can keep actually making videos they are excited about while paying everyone involved a living wage. Is it a risk? Yes, but if I was in their shoes I'd rather take a risk on behalf of my employees and my own life and energy than just keep doing stuff that is sanitized, full of ads, and potentially burn out and give up creating all together.

Some people are happy to keep making art on their own for pennies, sacrificing their own time and energy while holding down a job, but you can't do that and also treat everyone involved, INCLUDING YOURSELF, like a human being. Like, I thought we all agreed that humane working conditions even for self-employed people are a good thing?

2. "They've launched their WEBSITE AT THE SAME TIME THEY'RE TELLING US GOODBYE- like… Thank you, now let me walk away from the platform and sell you this."

I will at least agree that this announcement wasn't handled as well as it could have been, and the silly countdown + the actual announcement being somber is obviously gonna feel like a rug pull. I also don't think there's anything wrong with feeling upset about this or being disappointed that you will no longer be able to watch their new shows. That's understandable and you are not a monster for having emotions.

However, sometimes you just can't have things. It sucks, but as someone who is disabled and gluten intolerant and who grew up poor, I have become intimately aware with the process of accepting that sometimes you just can't have something you want. I wish we didn't live in that sort of world, but we do. I can drool all over Texas Roadhouse buns all I want, but that doesn't change the fact that eating them would be bad for me. I can cry because I miss hiking while still recognizing that actually doing it would destroy my joints. We can mourn Watcher uploading their stuff for free while still recognizing this move is a good(or at LEAST neutral) one, that will allow them to make more content that they're actually passionate about while treating themselves and their employees like people.

3. "People can't afford 10$ to watch something in a world where some have to choose between this and bills."

I mean this as kindly as I can, but you not being able to afford something is not the fault of artists who sell the things you want. You, and everyone else who are making this argument, are legit saying it's more ethical for artists to sell their creations for dirt cheap and live in poverty than for them to ask for fair wages for their work. Like this is legit just "ugh I can't believe [x artist] is charging $500 for a full 3D model and vtuber rig, don't they know people are starving??" with a fresh coat of paint, and it's not an argument I'm willing to continue to entertain. It is not the fault of indie/freelance artists that the world sucks, and they deserve to eat and work under humane conditions just as much as you do. If you think what they put out isn't worth your money, then by all means, don't buy it. They aren't forcing anyone to join, and I doubt they'd ever suggest people are obligated to sign up, especially if it would mean those people would have to go without food, medicine, and shelter.

They're just asking to be paid so they can continue to create without doing it at the expense of their creative freedom and their employees. There's literally nothing wrong with that.

4. "...I have YET to see people showing their discontentment in a hateful manner, most of them are literally just saying, I'm sorry I won't be able to follow you for the rest of this journey and that it was a bad move."

The last time I checked, the second reply on their tumblr post is someone telling them to fuck off, but lets go check again rn to see what people are saying!

Yeah, sounds like everyone's being super chill and reasonable about this. (And I checked, the youtube comments are more of the same.) The people being chill are outliers. 90% of commenters are acting like this means Shane, Ryan, and Steven are all greedy billionaires who just want us poors to pay for their vacations, not fucking indie creators who want to stop having to kneel before the almighty algorithm, youtube's bullshit inconsistent content guidelines that fuck over creators every single day, and the whims of ACTUAL billion dollar companies who run ads on their videos.

Also like, not to keep dragging this out, but everyone is aware that their Dropout money also goes to paying for vacations, right?? A solid 30% of Game Changer eps involve prizes like large sums of money, expensive home-goods and game consoles, and vacations. You think all of that comes out of Sam's pocket?? You think he's a billionaire or something?? But anyway, Watcher has never done anything like that. Why is them just asking for $6 every month that they will reinvest in their content and the people they employ a problem now??

5. "It's fine if you can afford it, go support them, but for the rest of us, disliking their approach doesn't make them less of a fan..."

I'm being a bit petty here, but imo reacting with vitriol DOES make you less of a fan, or at least less of a good person. Not paying because you can't is fine--NO ONE IS SAYING THAT'S NOT FINE, and fucking Shane LITERALLY said in the video they don't give a shit if you account share with as many people as you want, and I doubt Mr. "it's ethical to steal from rich people" Madej gives a shit about piracy either--but the people above? Who are acting like *checks notes* the people who make these shows wanting to be paid a living wage and not have to deal with huge levels of creativity killing oversight are selfish, greedy monsters who hate their fans are proving what they care about is being given free art, not about the people who make it.

Tbh, I'm pro-piracy, I think it's fine to shoplift from Walmart and Target, you should account share on Netflix, like hell I give Crunchyroll my money, and I do believe every single person deserves to have enough money to live comfortably with money left over for vacations and non-essential purchases. Hell, I think money is fucking evil tbh and we should get rid of it. Everyone deserves shelter and food and comfort and medical care purely for existing.

But Watcher isn't Netflix. It isn't Crunchyroll, it isn't Target or Walmart. They're making their own company and streaming service because they don't want to have massive corporations breathing down their neck and telling them what to do. (And like, I figured we all understood this after the James Somerton thing but you can't just apply to be part of Nebula, you get scouted, and according to creators on there if you want Nebula money to make new shows and movies you have to pitch them(Abigail Thorn and Jessie Gender have both talked about having to pitch their films/plays to Nebula, and the JetLag guys have talked about how getting people to sign up with your link helps Nebula see you as a worthwhile investment), which means there's a chance they say no, which I can understand them wanting to avoid. And joining Dropout?? Which produces improv-focused comedy game-shows?? The ONLY Watcher shows that comes even close to matching that tone is Puppet History and maybe Too Many Spirits, I can't imagine that's a merger what would go over well, and again, they'd still have to ask permission for every single show they want to make.) Watcher is made up of pretty successful indie creators who took a big fucking risk leaving a nightmare of a company who claimed full control over their content while forcing them to work in inhumane conditions, and they're taking another risk because they want to be able to offer bigger and better things while still making enough money for themselves and their employees to live off of.

Tbh, that's anti-capitalist, or at least anti-monopoly. The reason Dropout and Nebula exist is because if you want a good YouTube alternative that doesn't suck you have to make it yourself. Everything being consolidated under one company, be it YouTube or Netflix, or even Nebula or Dropout imo, is fucking bad actually. Monopolies are bad. I want to live in a world where creators who want to branch out can without losing their livelihoods. I want loads of different services so if I don't vibe with one I have another option. I would MUCH rather give Watcher and Dropout and Nebula my money than have to give it all to YouTube, which the creators barely get a fraction of. (I see people insisting channels like the Watcher make bank but they have 2mil subscribers, which is a lot, but that's not Mr. Beast numbers or anything. It's enough to get by without too many staff members and without doing anything flashy. Swell Entertainment also legit did a whole video about what a 1mil view count video makes and it's like $1000 USD at most without taking a sponsorship on top of running ads. Nowhere NEAR enough for even ONE person to live off of, and most watcher videos DON'T even clear 1mil views. Like this is why it makes me think the people complaining have no idea what they're talking about. They just assume if you're even a little popular you must be fuckin' rolling in it when that's simply not the case.)

But anyway, sorry for the rant. This is just pissing me off beyond reason because I cannot standing seeing the 'Dropout-fanclub "support your fave artists on bandcamp so they get paid!" employees deserve a living wage and artists deserve to get paid support the writers strike and don't shop at Starbucks even if you want it because you can't always have what you want' webbed site flip it's fucking lid over the Watcher taking a risk so they can keep paying their employees and making the kind of content they want to make which is the SAME shit so many groups have done before them. It's ridiculous, entitled, and tells me none of them respect artists or grew out of their "what do you mean this commission is $70 or this handmade dress cost $200, I deserve it for cheaper because I'm poor clearly the artist is an entitled rich asshole who doesn't care about poor people" mentality and understandably, as an artist, it's pissing me the fuck off.

Sorry I'm just so fucking sick of people online recognizing that ads and algorithms suck and it's best to find ways you can support creators directly, how every website is sanitizing the internet and fucking over anyone who wants to do anything different is awful and evil, and how if you get money from selling out(often against your will) to corporations said corperation might just randomly decide to nuke you and everything you've ever made off the face of the earth to save on taxes or w/e like what happened to Rooster Teeth and College Humor and The Escapist, but then throwing a fucking fit when the answer to that is "yeah well it costs money to make stuff because we don't live in a post scarcity utopia, so like maybe try, you know, financially supporting the creators you love if you want them to not get driven away by said enshittifcation of the internet or sold to and then deleted by rich corporations to make their shareholders more money".

I'm sorry, you can't have it both ways. Shit costs money, and your favorite creators asking you to support them so they don't have to stop making the stuff they AND we love(or sanitizing it and filling it with ads just to pay the bills, or begging for money from investors who will demand constant growth and retain insane control over what gets made and might decide to just delete everything to save a quick buck) doesn't make them monsters. Being broke sucks but like, christ. There's a difference between YouTube and Netflix price gouging and being greedy capitalists and your favorite indie creators asking for a little money so they can keep making stuff.

(And if you can understand why Dropout and Nebula are paid services and A03 has donation drives, then you can understand why Watcher is going the same route. We're trying to save the shows you love in the forms you love while challenging Google's damn near monopoly on online video sharing and continuing to not give corporations the power to delete massive chunks of media history.)

Just like fuck man, needing money to make things/keep your favorite websites up isn't inherently evil. Asking viewers for support is the GOOD ending for stuff like Watcher. I'd rather pay to watch than watch them sell out to W.B. or die off on YouTube.

[sonicenvy]

deeply hate how goddamn confusing medical billing is. like, it feels like they intentionally did that to make you give up and pay out the claims that they don't want to pay out. idk. i hate how difficult it is sometimes to find out whether or not a service is even fucking covered, or how they will bill your service because that will also effect whether or not you get coverage. literally hate it here.

I have learned from my mistakes and I will no longer get medical care without first getting ALL of the CPTs (and how they are billed) for every single fucking billable thing so i can then drive myself insane by calling my insurance company to check whether or not they will cover that CPT under that billing department. i hate it here in america btw. y'all smarmy single payer health country foreigners have no goddamn idea how lucky y'all are. It's not just the actual cost of the care that you are not having to pay, it's the every goddamn other thing that is worse. The mazes and phone calls, and confusing jargon, and the intentional lack of transparency, and the run arounds that any person who actually needs medical care in this country has to deal with is insane. Everyone from providers to insurers to pharmacies to pharma companies is trying to get paid the highest rates for services and products. also there is relatively little nationwide comprehensive regulation and organization of non federally funded or subsidized health plans because the fuckers who created this system decided to make it worse and more complicated by "leaving it up to the states".

Actually we should stop leaving shit that everyone in the entire country has to deal with "up to the states". fuck that noise. all that leaves is rep*blican fuckers making anti-human legislation state by state.

Like these are actual things that can happen to you (and have happened to me or others i know):

oh we can't tell you how much this care will cost until you receive it and a claim is filed.

we can't tell you which pharmacies you can use under this insurance plan until you buy the plan and try to bill through one of them.

oh we can't give you any estimates about how much this medication will cost under this plan until you buy it, send the prescription to a pharmacy and they file a claim. same goes for standard types of medical services.

oh this service cpt could be billed under department a where it is a non-excluded service or under department b where it is an excluded service but guess what that's a secret for you don't get to know until you get hammered with high bills from denied claims. (which you will have to pay out if you don't want to be sent to collections and have your credit score tanked).

oh you can't see any providers at hospital A because your plan and our hospital can't come to a contract that we can agree on, because we (insurance) want to pay the lowest standard rates where YOU get the highest deductibles, but the hospital wants to bill us higher rates so you don't get to go there. even if it's the closer hospital to you. sorry not sorry.

oh you can't see any providers in xyz specialty because our plan says you're not eligible. die in a hole.

oh you and your doctor can't choose which medication you can take, because we've decided that the offered contract rate for the one you want is actually too high for us, so here are some alternatives (where we pay less and you pay more. also they are less effective treatments :) )

oh you don't have the resources, time, energy or health to constantly have to be contacting us over shit? too bad. fuck you. die in debt.

I would absolutely take "longer waiting times for providers" or whatever bullshit rep*blicans claim is the consequence of single payer health in exchange for this bullshit. whoever designed this system and let it be regulated at the state level instead of the federal level can rot in hell. people die because of this bullshit.

being surprised because your insurance company decides not to pay out on a claim that you were told IS covered by the provider is so fun. /s in case that wasn't clear. i literally hate that i am in this 1000000000th circle of hell.