#like I guess if you want to be really pedantic about it we were still in the Asian district

[meandmypagancrew]

I mean, let’s be honest

This would be Luffy if he got accepted into Hogwarts

[befuddledcinnamonroll]

We Are and the evolution of Thai BL tropes

The QL discord started a rewatch of My Engineer a few weeks ago, and damn, has it been an interesting experience. At the time I originally watched My Engineer, there was little that stuck out to me, because so much of what happened felt so incredibly common in a lot of the (admittedly rather limited) number of BLs being produced. It felt like pretty standard fare.

But going back and watching it in juxtaposition with We Are airing has been so fascinating. This genre has been evolving, y'all.

As much as we all joke about always getting more university BLs, there is something to be said for a format that can be used as something of a metric for the genre. And though there's only four years between My Engineer and We Are, seeing them both at once gives me such an incredible appreciation for the direction the genre is going in, the impact of having more queer voices involved in the creation of QLs, and how there's a lot of good we can find in seemingly simple spaces.

Obligatory disclaimer: This is just my perspective and subjective interpretation of what I have seen as a BL viewer of some time; also I don't have time to go in and do a university deep dive, so this isn't a real analysis, but more of a brief writeup of observations.

Trends are not black and white, of course, there is a spectrum. I'm sure we'll suffer through more Dinosaur Loves. At the same time, having such predominant production companies as GMMTV putting effort into hiring queer creatives and subverting old cliche tropes is an encouraging thing. (Especially as they were the creators of the original university trendsetting BL with Sotus).

Note: For newer QL viewers, I highly recommend @absolutebl for brushing up on trope history. For university BLs in particular, this post and this post are great starting primers.

Let's talk tropes!

Ok, one more note - some tropes are being what I would consider subverted, some more adapted to a newer framework, and some just played with - I'm going to talk about how they appear to me, but I'm not going to be super pedantic over it, because this is just for fun.

Trope: Bullying/hazing behavior

This did not age well in My Engineer, and I would guess hasn't aged well in a number of BLs (and other media, because the whole "he's mean to you because he likes you" bullshit has been around forever). Not just because the behavior was shitty, but because it was played off in the script as cute, and implied that it was completely justified for the seme to do whatever he wanted in his pursuit of his uke.

(There was also quite a strong tone of internalized homophobia, with the lead feeling more comfortable in expressing his interest through harassment than honest emotion, but the show never actually engaged with that in any meaningful way.)

We Are sets up a very traditional enemies to lovers/bullying start to the story, with Phum taking advantage of Peem's economic situation to make him his "slave".

And yet... there's some important elements here that make this more than the standard use of the trope.

Phum keeps it pretty light in his bullying behavior, and clearly is using it more to keep Peem around as company, versus the kind of bullying in My Engineer, where Duen is literally hit by a car, and yet still expected to keep jumping to Bohn's whims.

As soon as Phum realizes he really upset Peem by leaving him waiting at the mall, he genuinely feels awful about it. It's clear that his intent is not to cause harm, and that he has a conscience. He wrestles with his feelings on it quite a bit, and it ends up being the thing that gets Phum to finally express an honest emotion with Peem.

And most importantly, the script does not let him off the hook. His behavior is bad, and is identified as such by the writing. Peem pushes back and is shown to be right to do so, Beer openly says he disapproves.

So instead of a cliche story beat that's used just to start the action, or a seme who's allowed to do whatever he wants because "passion" (blech), we're seeing it used for characterization, giving us important beats about who both Phum and Peem are in how they engage with each other through the use of the trope.

Trope: Obsessive/jealous behavior

Oh, this one was painful in My Engineer. Duen couldn't even talk to another human being without Bohn getting jealous and angry and dragging him away.

Phum gets jealous, particularly around Kluen, but what makes it feel so subversive here are two key things.

Phum's jealousy has a purpose here, it's not just for drama's sake. It's not the cliche seme doing whatever he wants and being treated as justified. It's deliberately being used to explore his insecurities, and give him a challenge to overcome. Phum doesn't stomp over and drag Peem away, he retreats, he hides. When his jealousy causes him to lash out at Peem, he is immediately aware he fucked up.

And again, the script is making it clear that this behavior is not ok. Peem chides Phum when he acts unkind to Kluen, and Beer makes it clear that the solution is not petty behavior, but actually figuring out a way to communicate his feelings with Peem before he misses his chance. This is portrayed as a barrier for Phum to overcome in order to be with Peem, not an expected part of a romantic relationship.

Trope: Friendship group

There are not enough words to express how much I love the friendship group in We Are. To be fair, this is one of the better historical tropes. We've gotten a lot of amazing friend groups, even in mediocre BLs.

But it's still different in We Are, for one simple reason. In most university BLs, the friend group is a supporting structure. But here?

The story lines may be about the romance, but the point of We Are is the friendship.

I will die on this hill, y'all.

I don't have enough time to go into it fully here, but this show is a love letter to friends. It's a tribute to finding the people who see the real you and have your back unconditionally. Who cheer your successes and commiserate over your defeats, who pick you up when the world knocks you down, who call you out when you make mistakes, and push you to be better.

And romance is lovely, but all of these budding relationships are about being friends first, and then lovers, because that friendship is just as important as everything else, if not more.

Trope: Pink milk

Lol, ok, kinda kidding, kinda not. I know we all got mad over the drink wastage, but also check out these visuals - it's about diversity baby!!

TanFang speed round

My two little trope-busting bebes. These two are already so beautifully non-traditional in their composition, but I love how frequently they are used to make fun of and play with tropes just on their own.

Introduced as pining crush/friend's older brother pair, but actually secret enemies to lovers.

Grumpy/sunshine pairing, where the sunshine used to be a fighter, and grumpy smiles when he thinks no one is watching.

Wound-tending where they keep poking each other instead of acting soft.

Openly mocking the jealous boyfriend trope.

Setting up the possessive trope when Tan doesn't pick up Fang's calls, only to immediately have Fang question if he's being unreasonable.

Setting up their own cute eating scene for kicks.

"First time" sex scene making it clear this is anything but their first time.

Tan holding Fang down in the cliche possessive pose, only for Fang to take the agency of kissing Tan. (And overall saying eff off at the cliche top/bottom roles old BLs were such a fan of).

In Summary

I'm sure there are more tropes that will come to me, and we do still have 5 episodes left of We Are, so there are some potential trope uses that I am keeping an eye on. This is by no means an all-inclusive list.

But I wanted to write this, because I was genuinely shocked to realize how different my My Engineer watching experience was this time compared to my first time. How over the last few years I'd come to expect more thoughtfulness in my QL media, even in the ones that seem shallow on the surface.

Considering how fast and furious the QLs are coming these days, it's easy to forget how recent it was that we were much more starved of content. And I think sometimes we forget to take in the big picture, of how far we've come in just a few years.

Critique is always going to be important, of course, it's part of what helps us make progress. At the same time, it doesn't hurt to take a moment to look around and see some good in where we are.

@sailorbryant thanks for the push to get this written! Feel free to add thoughts!

[pikahlua]

I hope this will be short.

I guess this line is the fandom drama of the chapter?

I understand a lot of you are really passionate about the accuracy of the English translation. I just want to encourage you to try to engage with the official translation in good faith.

Ojama shimasu literally means "I am disturbing you/I will get in your way." It's often spoken as a greeting where the "apology" is implied (hence the brackets in my translation), but as usual context is everything in Japanese. Izuku is saying this line in defiance of Tomura's wishes. It basically comes across as Izuku plugging his fingers in his ears.

Me personally? If I were the official translator, I'd have strongly considered translating the line as "I'm coming in whether you like it or not."

The purpose in my pointing out the "common greeting" nature of this line was to demonstrate Izuku's sassiness. This is Izuku doing his "meddling where you don't technically have to" thing. The level of formality in Izuku's speech doesn't necessarily translate to actual politeness (check out @bakuhatsufallinlove's excellent post on that here).

Does "You will let me in," mean the exact same thing? Technically no, but it's the sentiment that counts. From an official translator's point of view, "You will let me in," is shorter, punchier, fits in the speech bubble a lot easier, and still conveys the general idea of what's happening in the scene.

I don't know. I wanted to talk about this because I guess a lot of people are concerned about Izuku's characterization and how it reflects on Japanese culture and how the official translation may be misrepresenting Japanese culture to the English-reading audience, and I just...can I ask that everyone take a step back a minute? Horikoshi isn't writing his story for an English-reading audience. He's not considering at all how any of this sounds to English speakers. That's the translator's job, not just to translate what is said but to translate that into the context of who is reading it. Localization is not a dirty word--it's an important aspect of translation. And the notion that Izuku is being polite and respectful here as a Japanese person is just such a...take. Izuku is being hella rude here lol. Japan itself, not just the MHA Japan but REAL WORLD Japan, notoriously has a bystander problem where people will ignore others who are being harassed because they don't wanna get involved. They won't step in to help nor will they even testify as a witness against others for fear of what it means to speak out and break from the pack. Izuku is quite obviously Horikoshi's direct answer to that phenomenon. He's meant to be an example of the morally correct thing to do, which is to be "rude" in these cases.

So I mean, sure, we can talk about what is lost in translation by the line, "You will let me in." But to me what's lost may just be grammatical and pedantic (like the passive voice that switches the onus of action onto Tomura instead of Izuku and what that may do to the focus on Izuku's rise to action here). In any case, it's not a BAD translation that changes Izuku's perceived politeness, just one that may prompt new discussion--and I don't think that's a bad thing.

[thewebcomicsreview]

Hamsteak!

CALLIOPE: er, technically, the machine stabilizing The Plot Point. CALLIOPE: the actUal Point is that ominoUs looking bit in the middle!

Letting everyone spend two weeks speculating on why the plot point looks like the hiveswap portal only to reveal this is a great meta joke.

CALLIOPE: the reason we broUght yoU *here*, specifically, is becaUse The Plot Point over there corresponds to the singUlarity at the exact center of oUr aforementioned plot prison! CALLIOPE: important bit of info, that!

Noted, noted. The Plot Point is the singularity at the heart of the black hole. Also noted: They want to bring the whole of Earth-C with them. A lot of people have been assuming a SBURB game was going to happen as the human players sacrificed Candyland to save themselves/their kids. That's still on the table, but it's apparently not Roxy's plan.

VRISKA: It's time to kick off the training wheels and do what I do 8est: VRISKA: Figure shit out myself.

Vriska is bored of this exposition and is going to just hit the machine. That's our Vriska!

!

A flash! Or, well, an HTML5 animation in an iframe. Technology marches on! Also marching on: Vriska, who touches the singularity and gets immediately sucked into it. The music here is also very similar to the music that plays for the Hiveswap portal cutscene, but I'm not sure if it's literally the same song. I don't think it is? I was kind of expecting the first [S] to be a huge "We're back bitches!" thing designed to make Tumblr pop off, but I guess it's better to start small.

ROXY: callie CALLIOPE: yes dear? ROXY: is vriska right CALLIOPE: right aboUt what, dear? ROXY: about the fact that u dont actually know wtf we were supposed to be gettin up to here CALLIOPE: well... CALLIOPE: Um, more or less, yes. ROXY: bb are you srs

It doesn't reflect super well on Roxy that she apparently never figured this out herself.

ROXY: you said you were being compelled by like hella visions n premonishes n mysterious psychic spatiotemporal intuitions n i kinda figured that meant you had this shit all ttly comprehended!

This is one of those lines you're meant to maybe pass over without realizing how big it is. Someone is manipulating Callie here! Perhaps its related to the mysterious GavageCunctation, who I'm still calling as being the 5th Omega kid, to match the 5-letter names they all have.

CALLIOPE: yoU remember how we got so wrapped Up in the initial excitement of finding the singUlarity and the rUined jUjU arch, and sUbseqUently stabilizing it with oUr sUper cool cherUbic-lalondian tech... ROXY: its true our tech really is so fkn cool...

So the "Juju Arch" is the portal, which was previously called a "Skaian Artifact". Presumably put there by the same person giving Calliope the dreams. I'm guessing it's GC-related, but it could also be Skaia itself. Homestuck 1 kind of forgot about Skaia as an antagonistic force.

CALLIOPE: well, i sUppose i might have implied a more complete knowledge of the a to zed of all this then i actUally... possessed. CALLIOPE: and continUe to possess. JOHN: well, but you don't possess it.

John is such a pedantic shit at the most random times, it's great.

JOHN: feels kinda nice not being the one getting chastised, for a change! ROXY: john shut ur insensitive blabhole or im gonna chastise the shit out of u JOHN: jeez! JOHN: it was fun while it lasted, i guess.

People forget John has a personality, but it's true! He's kind of an asshole!

Al intervenes to show us-

Well that's the update. I like the shorter, more frequent updates, but it's kind of killing the liveblog idea when they come out a few pages at time.

[july-19th-club]

Fic writer interview

@goingsparebutwithprecision tagged me in this one and then i had it in my drafts for six or eight months so now it is out of the drafts and into the queue

How many works do you have on AO3? a grand NINE

What's your total AO3 word count? 82,429, which is almost the length of a short novel.

What are your top 5 fics by kudos?

Grace (SPN), Between Friends (Magnus Archives), Yellow Asters (SPN), In the Valley of the Ever Young (Umbrella Academy), and The Steward (Discworld)

I guess i'd hoped Another Journey (The Untamed) would do better - but I'm not at all surprised that my quick and dirty post-finale (by like a DAY) Game of Thrones thing didn't do well. On the other end of the spectrum, my quick and dirty post-finale-by-eleven-hours SPN thing did great it's my top seller. That's 600ish kudos so we're not talking phenomenal, but still. Goes to show I think the difference between how game of thrones fans handled the ending (buried heads in sand, wept and gnashed teeth, rent hair and clothing, ranted for hours on a slow monday worknight shift to me while i listened, horrified and enraptured) versus how spn fans, who never had expectations to gradually and then all at once disappointing, handled the ending (shrug, make some jokes, cry not because it's ending but because it happened, and then crack open the laptops for some quality writing about the whole thing). We were already prepared for things to be bad, so when they were even more bad than all THAT? We were actually, I think, in a way kind of pleased and satisfied. If it had ended well i think it would've been a bit of anticlimax after all that time. Whereas in Game of Thrones there was still the slim chance that they might turn it all around at the eleventh hour, so when they didn't the viewers just wanted to hide and lick their wounds. Produced much less immediate fic.

Do you respond to comments? Why or why not? It really totally depends on the comment and my mood honestly. If it's especially long and glowing I try to give it at least a little bit of attention but it might not be right away.

What’s the fic you’ve written with the angstiest ending? Tie between Another Journey and In the Valley - In the Valley ends RIGHT before a character death in canon, Another Journey ends right after a non-canonical character death. So take your pic. I don't tend to do death for death's sake, but for these two stories it felt cheap to avoid it.

What's the fic you've written with the happiest ending? FINISHED fic? That people can SEE the ending of? Grace, which I now don't like because it's not complex enough and I completely mischaracterized Jack, but that's what Wishes Were Horses is for. Whenever I get around to it. You know.

Do you write crossovers? Not really. I love worldbuilding but trying to marry two disparate worlds is too much for me, I don't like having to do all the logistics. Probably a less pedantic writer would just not care about the logistics but I also don't READ crossovers because the logistics or lack thereof is such an issue for me, so.

Have you ever received hate on a fic? No but back when I was regularly updating Book of Gold (which I'm linking even though I'm probably going to retire that version at some point and start working on a better rewrite) I had a reader who REALLY liked Steve, a character I had no plans to write from the perspective of because I barely remembered him and did not care about him, and still don't really, and that reader would constantly ask me with waning hope if I was gonna do anything Steve related. And I'd avoid saying a definitive no.

Do you write smut? If so, what kind? Prev apparently has some good Cyrano de Bergerac smut which I now want to read. I personally have never posted any sex in fics, but not for lack of hoping someday to tastefully get it all out there. I just was raised catholic so if I say anything sexual where people can see it i get embarrassed.

Have you ever had a fic stolen? I hope not I haven't checked lol but I only have nine and they're not well known so who give a shit

Have you ever had a fic translated? No.

Have you ever co-written a fic before? Nah. When it comes to writing I don't think I could ever split the work I'd want too much control.

What’s your all-time favorite ship? I do not have favorites because the other ones might get sad . this extends to foods, stuffed childhood animals, and books in my reading stack . also fountain pens

What’s a WIP that you want to finish but don’t think you ever will? At this point any of them lkajslkdjfasdf but i really REALLY doubt the immediate future of the Book of Gold, which is a shame because I have all the major beats mapped out in my head. It's just so much more ambitious than even the other long fics I have in my documents files, the scope is years instead of days or months, and it's a lot of planning and prep work that I can't help but feel I should instead spend on either quicker-to-finish stories or original ones.

What are your writing strengths? I think I have a strong voice, a good turn of phrase, that sort of thing. I also think that after years of trying I have gotten good at realistic dialogue that's not TOO realistic as to be unreadable, and I've learned how to be funny. Worldbuilding.

What are your writing weaknesses? Complex plotting, which sucks because I love complex plotting and want to do more of it. Also punctuality, which is not a writing weakness so much as a regular one, and the really big one is character relationships and consistency over time. I struggle to fit all those pieces together/remember whether they fit together when I started. This probably has to do with my social struggles in real life lol it's very hard for me to write characters thinking/believing/philosophizing/reacting differently than I would, at least without falling back into the 'everybody is me' mode that risks them coming off flat. I think my way around this for most of my writing life has been to write from one person's first-person perspective, which helps alleviate that problem, but I'm trying to do different things and expand my skill set/comfort zone.

What are your thoughts on writing dialogue in other languages in a fic? It's cool and I like it but I only know one other language than the one I speak and I speak it at a second grade level. So I don't do this much but I enjoy reading it. Love to copy and paste the language I don't know into a dictionary of words and parse it out it's like a fun secret treat.

What was the first fandom you wrote for? Discworld TECHNICALLY . but really The Outsiders and really really even before that I have an unnamed undescribed thing that I hope to turn into a short story that is almost not at all like the fic. so i will not discuss it

What’s a fandom/ship you haven’t written for yet but want to? Star Trek (I've written for it but haven't finished and posted yet). Perhaps True Blood. I have some ideas.

What’s your favorite fic you’ve written? Again I cant play favorites BUT. It's probably Another Journey. It just came together so easily and the structure fell right into place and I managed to do a lot of stuff that was challenging in a way that felt successful. Book of Gold is next to my heart so close that I'm sure it's not actually GOOD and I don't wanna call it 'favorite' because it's a different thing. It's a sibling.

@whileyoureinschoolidothisallday do you want to do a tag game? and any of the other writing mutuals on here who've plied their hands

[autistic-danieljackson]

Questions I have about Atlantis that don't really matter but I think about all the time because I'm kind of pedantic:

How do they wash their clothes? They're definitely not washing out all that blood and gunk by hand. Were there Ancient washing machines? Did they bring their own through and just hope they would work? What's the situation?

Speaking of just hoping things work, how is any of their Earth technology powered? I'm guessing if there are outlets they're not the same as Earth ones. Did they have to jerry-rig some kind of adapter like when you go abroad? How are their Earth things working?

What kind of stuff did they bring through? I'm guessing most of those crate were full of medical and scientific supplies or food. But were all the quarters furnished with furniture and bedding? Even so, after thousands of years that stuff would've started to deteriorate. And Elizabeth's office has decorations all over even though expedition members were only allowed to bring one personal item through. Plus they really didn't know if they were going to find the lost city on the other side. Did they really pack up a bunch of furniture and bring it through the gate?

On the note of not knowing if they'd really be stepping into Atlantis or not, I'm guessing they really only brought essential personnel. Doctors, scientists, soldiers, etc. Are there any cooks or janitors? That's a big city and they get into tons of trouble, who's cleaning up and feeding them? Do they just rotate taking turns? Are they expected to do it themselves? I want to see an episode of John's team as cafeteria workers.

What's the bathroom situation? I just always wonder that. You never see bathrooms in shows, I want to know

It looks like each character has a backpack when they go through the Stargate and we know that they were allowed to bring one personal item. Are all their clothes in there too? Were they never allowed to go back to Earth but could only bring a backpack of clothes? Are there just boxes of clothes they have to go through while unpacking? Again, I am just so curious about the sort of things they brought.

Not a question but I want more information about the first few nights in Atlantis, while the city was still sunk. Everyone was confined to the control room to conserve energy but there was really only so much they could be doing. Most of them were probably just hanging out, really having a big slumber party in this far away galaxy. I mean probably there was a fair amount of panic but I just think the idea of the whole expedition having a big slumber party is really cute.

Are any of these questions important at all? No. Do I overthink everything when I have a hyperfixation and then try to figure out all the details? Yes, absolutely. If anyone has answers to any of these questions or just also thinks way too much about the little details of things, I would love to hear your thoughts!

[simonlynch]

drabblecember day #21 - a walk down memory lane

ship: dewmav

word count: 1097

summary: dewey and maverick reminisce.

“‘Member when we met?”

“Course I do.”

The bar is loud, crowded, but clearing out quickly after the show. Dewey shoves his guitar into the back of the van, playing his own roadie as he fits everything with pedantic precision into its place, drumkit, bass, shit he was sure the band hadn't even used in five years, all loaded up and raring to go.

Go home, that is. He sighs, leaning against the doors as he slams them shut, closes his eyes, imagines a future where people are begging, pleading to be able to shove all this shit back into the tour bus for him, “Sign my guitar! Sign me!” and a crowd cheering his name as he walks off stage…

But when he opens his eyes to the back of an empty lot of a dive bar, his smile becomes longing. Everyone else had already hiked it out, either with their one-night stand, or just so they wouldn't have to assist him, he figures.

A drink would be more help than them, anyways.

He trudges back into the bar, pulling the hoodie he'd changed into closer to his shoulders. He walks the clear path to the counter, and slides onto one of the peeling leather stools; He turns his head towards one of the mounted TVs, a replay of some college football game that he couldn't care less about being still the most interesting thing in the room.

A voice draws his attention. It's smooth, calm, even over the ambient chatter and blown out jukebox speakers, quiet somehow above it all. That's the first thing he notices, and not them asking him if “Hey, you're the guitarist that played tonight, right?”

When he turns his head, then it's their eyes. The way their makeup emphasizes them, dark eyeliner making the pale green pop, jet black hair and vibrant ombré mesmerizing him for the moment before they speak again.

“You looked pretty cute on stage, earlier.”

“Uhh…” he trails off, pauses, blinks slowly. He tries very hard not to notice the tight leather and lace that hugs the bartender's skin so tight, surely they weren't talking to him? He realizes then he has to say something, anything -- No way they were talking to him, right? His brain’s a scrambled mess of panic and awe as he dumbfoundedly stares back at them, and what a sight he probably was, mouth slightly agape as whoever they were began to worry. Just ask them if they liked the show! Ask them if they really noticed you! Literally anything!

One thought in his head screams out over the other clutter, "For fuck’s sake, Finn, answer them!"

His words come out in a jumbled mess, some mangled combination of every question he actually wanted to ask, but before he could stop it he was already speaking:

“Do you like me?”

Well that's not what he meant to say. Holy shit, you dumbass.

They tilt their head, unsure if they'd heard him right. Probably not over the crowd.

“What?” they ask with a laugh.

“Did you like the show?” Dewey quickly corrects his tongue-tied thoughts, and confidently raises his voice to beat the noise.

“Oh! Yeah, I did.”

Dewey tries to hide his chuckle in a cough, playing it cool as he crosses his arms and leans into the bartop. He looks them over again, and as his eyes meet their gaze he realizes their stare -- it's a hard kind of stare, analyzing him, squinting in contemplation.

“I know you!” they finally relent, pointing towards him with the hand they weren't leaning on across from him, “You work at the record shop down on Barrett, don't you?”

He nods, “Just a dayjob. I prefer this to that any day.”

“Playing a show? Or chatting up the wait staff after?”

“Well, if they were all as hot as you, I guess it'd be hard to say.”

They share a laugh, and Dewey takes in the way they toss their hair gently over their shoulder, eyes flicking up towards him after.

“But...I did mean playing. Nothing beats it.”

“Well, you look good doing it, too.”

They crack open a drink behind the bar, and pass it over, “On me, for putting on such a great show.”

Dewey grins, lingering his hand over theirs on the bottle before pulling it towards himself, “Do I get a name to go along with that pretty face?”

“Maverick.”

“Maverick…Different. I like that.”

“And what can I call you, Rockstar?”

“Dewey.”

“Mm, fits you, I think.”

He takes a sip from his beer, watching carefully as they wipe down the metal countertop. In a rushed urge to keep the conversation going, he clears his throat. Maverick beats him to it.

“What happened to the rest of the band?”

“Probably all headed home…Or, out.”

“Left you behind, huh?”

“Nah, I mean -- you know how it is. Play a show, go home with a groupie…”

“And leave you behind to clean up the mess. I get the feeling.”

Dewey takes a glance around the bar, and notices the distinct lack of servers. Maybe they weren't so different. There was something comforting about the idea.

“I’d, uh, ask if you come here often, but I think I know the answer already.”

Maverick giggles, tossing the towel they hold over their (bare, as Dewey was very much aware of now) shoulder. 

“Too much, maybe.”

“I know a couple different gigs we can hit. Real lowkey places, maybe I can show you around sometime, if you like.”

“I’d like that,” Maverick grabs two small glasses next, pouring a shot for either of them.

“To a great show?”

“I’ve played better, but…” Dewey shrugs coolly, “Sure. What the hell.”

They both take the drink, both of them taking it in stride, despite the strong stinging flavor of the tequila.

“Can't do too many of those, or else my ass will never make it down the sidewalk.”

“No way you're walking home,” Dewey states matter-of-factly.

“I do every night.”

“Not today.”

“I’m off in thirty,” Maverick replies without hesitation, “If that's an offer.”

Dewey panics for a second, exhaling slowly to calm his anxiety. He feels the warmth of the alcohol dull his nerves well enough despite being clear-headed still, and he takes another drink to hide the way his lips curl into a smile. 

Well, that was certainly one way to get a pretty girl to agree to go home with you.

“I made you breakfast the next day, too.”

“Mhm,” Dewey presses a kiss to their forehead, “Think I fell in love with you right then.”

[not-so-superheroine]

Some Black Community of Christ/RLDS History as I write this Article

Joseph Smith III is so funny because what is this. (probably funny bc i experience racism. none the less it is history)

At General Conference, he’s like. “A colored congregation down the road from here has started meeting nearby. They reached out to us to send a speaker when they realized we’re friendly (not virulently racist, ig)”

and like. good. okay. cool. you are all reorganized saints and should totally do that. it’s their space tho. D&C 116 implicates segregation but ALSO means colored congregations don’t need white oversight. You are in their home. 

the first Brother remembers this.

JS III sends Brother Shippely  over to the Black congregation and they hit it off. According to JS III, a pleasant time for all.

Because of this, one of the founders of the Reorganization (then the New Organization) Brother Zenas H. Gurley, takes it upon himself to go visit and speak to them.

JS III writes that Brother Gurley gave a sermon so “long-winded and pedantic” that it “so disgusted our colored friends that they gave us no further opportunity to address them.”

What did Bro, Gurely say??? I can only think that it was racist. But it also could have been a very bad and very long talk on a topic that had little to do with their lives mixed in with ignorant microaggression (because there had to be racism imo. even if only subconsciously). I really want to know but that is lost to time.

Poor Black congregation of saints in Iowa. I’ve been there and I am sorry because it had to be worse then. and dang, they be in IOWA at that.

Like, what did he do to make the Black people say “forget it” after trying to form a relationship with the white parts of the church. I have had my “dis too much” moments. And this sounds like one of them.

Back to JS III, he is so blasé. Like. “well, it was a commendable effort. this shows positive intentions among the saints (summarized).” 

Mr. Prophet please. I… I can’t take this. So darn familiar to me. The church even says that to marginalized people, this will happen, as others learn and grow. It’s right there in the text of the Enduring Principles. So I got a warning. So I guess I can take it. But I also have a duty to make it better.

I would say, maybe he should have proof-read their work. Extemporaneous speech was more common back then. But the guy JS III sent had his things together. Brother Gurley just went and blew it up on his own, rip.

I wonder if/when they made peace.

Now, I have made similar apologetic responses for JS III and the church like he makes for the church here. Like, not bad for a white man/white church in the 1800s.

But oh my goodness, i swear this happened to me when I went to a more white congregation one sunday. They were trying to talk about racial justice but i was the only person of color around, i swear, and i had nothing to do with the presentation. I will say that they tried real hard.

Or when the white man on the pastoral team preaches. It’s a brace yourself moment. He means well, but God help him and us some sundays please. I couldn’t kick him out but I walked out. (i still love him).

i miss some things about my Black church growing up. But I had other issues there that played a similar role. I am healthier where I am. my congregation is like 50% Black and has been integrated for a while. though not so long ago that i don’t personally know the person who integrated it. i do, we speak and sit in adjacent pews from each other every sunday.

[paldean-ranger-brandy]

//I'm going to send this 2 days early because I don't know if I'm free tomorrow

Can I request a ficlet of Safrina video calling Brandy(cause she's still in bed) and showing her ranger in training duties around galar? You can pick what duties it is, Safrina's just happy she can talk to a ranger that's willing to talk to her

//Hihi we dm'ed so you already know but for the other readers' sakes saf's mod is in a totally different time zone so I was fine with the early submission!

First fic, hot n ready and full of fluff! Under a readmore for length. Saf n Brandy have a lil video chat.

@safrina-shards

It was a quiet night. Or rather, if you want to be pedantic, a quiet morning. A quiet 1:16 in the morning, if you want to be both specific and pedantic. Brandy was sprawled out on her bed, her good leg hanging off the side and her face alight with the dull blue glow of her phone as she aimlessly scrolled. She knew she should be asleep. Sleep was important for proper healing, and the recently stitched up gash on her leg needed all the healing it could get. But she had been on strict bedrest for the past few days, and barely able to hobble around even her own apartment in the cast they had set her leg in to keep it immobilized. The first day the immobility left them fidgety, and they spent the day bouncing between trying (and failing) to learn how to crochet, reading, talking with her poochyena, and texting anyone who might text her back. That energy evaporated over the next few days, leaving Brandy with a dull headache and the urge to do nothing other than lay in her bed, cycling between restless sleep and scrolling through her phone.

Their scrolling was suddenly interrupted by an incoming video call. Brandy furrowed their brow at the number, which caller ID did not recognize, and which seemed to be coming from outside Paldea. Probably a telemarketer, given the time. Although telemarketers didn’t typically try to videocall people. Confused, Brandy accepted the call.

“Hi, Ms. Brandy!” A familiar face popped up on screen. Safrina, described by Brandy as “the only child I will ever interact with” was smiling brightly and waving at the camera. She appeared to be outside, a backdrop of snow complimented her bright red winter jacket. The bright sun confused Brandy for a moment, before she remembered that the two of them were in completely separate time zones.

“Whoa, hey Saf. Was wondering what that phone number was. One sec, you probably can’t see me, let me turn on a lamp.” Brandy pushed herself up, careful to not jostle her wounded leg. Michael and Macaroon, who were both sleeping with her in the bed, huffed slightly in annoyance. Brandy clicked her bedside lamp on and leaned back against the wall. “There we go.”

“Wow, I’ve never seen you before! You look…” Safrina paused, taking in the face that was looking back at her from her phone. Brandy looked, in a word, bad. Dark bags hung from dull, red eyes and her dark hair had clearly not been washed in a good long while. “…Kinda like papa! A bit.”

“Yeah I guess I don’t…really…post pictures of myself-“ Brandy started to respond, speaking slowly as she took in what Safrina was saying, “-wait, what do you mean I look like your papa?”

“I found your number in the ranger database! Raixu showed me how.” Safrina brightly plowed on, ignoring Brandy’s question.

“…Guess that makes sense. Is something up? You need advice?”

“Um, sort of? I thought that since you’re sad about not being able to go outside that I could call you and bring you on patrol with me. Like a virtual patrol! So maybe you won’t feel so stuck inside and so you can tell me stuff about how you patrol.”

‘Little scamp’s tryna get free training out of me.’ Brandy thought, a small smile briefly pulling at the corner of her lips. “Sure, kiddo. Sounds nice. Let’s rock and/or roll. Flip that camera around so I can see what you see.”

Safrina beamed, and seemed to bounce slightly on the spot in excitement judging by the sudden shakiness of the camera. The camera flips around, and Brandy is shown a view of the snow-covered hills surrounding Circhester.

“I’m not too far from the base today, since I’m by myself. They wanted me to take a look around and just look for anything weird or out of the ordinary. They tell me to do that a lot, but I don’t actually know what’s supposed to be weird, really. Oh, and there’s a bergmite! We get lots of those guys…” Safrina happily rambled on as she started marching through the snow, being careful to hold the camera up and point it at whatever she was looking at. Every now and again she would steal glances at Brandy’s face in the camera, trying to gage the older ranger’s reaction. Brandy’s face, however, gave next to nothing away. She continued to show almost no expression, looking almost bored as Safrina chatted away.

‘Maybe that’s just what she always looks like.’ Safrina tried to console herself, her stomach clenching in nervousness at Brandy’s continually bored stare. She lifted her water bottle to her lips for a drink, trying to figure out how to keep the conversation going.

“Oh, hey. Piece of advice. Staying hydrated is important or whatever, but you don’t want to be too hydrated.”

“So I…shouldn’t drink lots of water when I’m working?” Safrina asked, somewhat confused.

“Nope. If something happens and you get knocked out or badly injured you do not want to have a full bladder.” Brandy rolled her eyes to the side, clearly remembering something unpleasant. “Trust me.”

“Oh…okay.” Safrina replaced the bottle of water into her bag, clearly still conflicted about this particular piece of advice.

Finally, after a few minutes of trekking through the tundra, Brandy’s expression shifted from neutral to inquisitive, her eyes narrowing as she leaned in far too close to her screen, giving Safrina a great view of her greasy, pillow-creased forehead.

“Hey, Saf, what’s that plant over there?” They asked, still squinting at the screen. “I think like 20 meters ahead and slightly to the left, about a foot tall. The little clump.”

“Oh, that?” Safrina spotted the plant Brandy was looking at, stomping over to it through the snow and crouching down. “Um, I’m not really sure. Raixu told me about some of the edible plants and berries around here, but he didn’t mention this one. I think it’s really common, I see it around a lot.”

“Oh, hell yeah. I don’t know it either, we can go through how to identify it together.” A proper smile appeared on Brandy’s face, and her apparent excitement eased some of Safrina’s nervousness. “Do you have a field guide? Also, do you know what to look for when identifying plants?”

“Um, there’s a field guide back at the base, but it’s supposed to stay there. And I think, kind of? You gotta look at what it looks like, right?”

“Yup, visual appearance is definitely an important piece. What shape are the leaves? Are they toothed or smooth? What colour is it? Is the stem hairy, or thorny, or smooth?” Brandy propped herself up further, going into full lecturing mode. “There are other things you want to look at too. Like, what state is it in at this time of year? Is it blooming yet? Also, what kind of conditions is it growing in – is it in direct sunlight, shade, on a hard or soft surface, what kind of elevation is it at, that kind of thing. And then also, what else is growing around it? Is it mostly others of the same species, is it growing next to a particular type of tree or bush, is it growing in a clump or more spread out? Getting the whole context of where and how it’s growing is super important.”

“O-okay! That’s a lot, let’s see…” Safrina crouched down, getting a better look at the plant she had seen a hundred times before. She furrowed her brow, trying to remember the long list of questions Brandy had just rattled off. “It’s got long, thin leaves, kinda like grass. And um, the stem is green and smooth. It’s got a big white fluff on the top, it looks like a cute little buneary tail. It’s in a big clump of itself, and there isn’t much else nearby. Oh, there’s a couple trees way over there.” Safrina points the camera away for a moment so that Brandy could get a look at 2 trees visible in the middle distance. “I think they’re pine trees.”

“Yup, those are white pine. Good eye, kiddo. White pine has nice, long, soft needles that act as a natural dewormer for wild pokemon, and the fallen branches and stumps make for a great fire starter. And they smell amazing. Great trees, white pines.”

“Okay! The plant is also in direct light, and the ground underneath it is pretty hard, and we’re up in the mountains so I guess the elevation is…a lot?”

“Got it. Good stuff.” Brandy was visibly excited now, smiling as she scrolled through whatever it was she was using to look up the plant using the details Safrina had provided. “Looks like that’s probably fluff grass, as you said it’s pretty common in that area. The cottony fluff breaks apart in the wind to spread its seeds, and is sometimes used as stuffing. It’s got lots of medicinal properties – the leaves can be used to treat diarrhea – must be high in fibre – and the stem can be used to treat tapeworms in humans and pokemon. It prefers high elevations with more acidic soil – which the falling needles from the pines would provide. That would make them a great litmus test for the overall health of your area. If they start to wilt out of nowhere there might be something wrong with the acidity of your soil, which could point to something wrong with the pines.”

“Oh, wow!” Safrina blinked, pulling out a blue, sparkly notebook to write down everything Brandy had just told her. “They can do so much, I thought it was just normal grass!”

“That’s the amazing thing about trees and plants and stuff.” Brandy was beaming now, clearly happy to have learned about a new plant alongside Safrina. “Everything is so much more complicated and cool and intertwined than they look. There isn’t a single plant out there that isn’t worth learning about. And once you learn about one it tells you so much about everything else around it.”

Brandy’s excitement was clearly contagious. Safrina’s eyes were practically sparkling as she looked around eagerly for more plants to show Brandy. “There’s some bushes over that hill over there, can we learn about those too?”

“Fuck yeah we can! Look at you, knowing immediately what’s in your area. You’re killing it as a ranger, Saf. Let’s go look at those bushes.”

Safrina beamed at the compliment, and shot off over a nearby hill to find the bush she had mentioned to Brandy. The two of them spent the next couple of hours hunting down as many plants, bushes, trees, and lichen as they could find, both of them equally delighted at every new fact they discovered about the world around Safrina’s base. It wasn’t long before Safrina’s notebook was filled with notes and drawings of everything they found. It wasn’t until a notification came through on Safrina’s phone that they finally stopped.

“Aw, I just got a message telling me to head back to the base,” Safrina said, clearly disappointed.

“Yeah, I guess we have been at this for a while. That’s fine, that gives you a chance to cross reference everything we found with the field guide that’s at your station.”

“Oh yeah, that’s true! I’ll do that. Thanks for teaching me how to look up plants! I had lots of fun.”

“Same here, kiddo. Hold onto that sense of wonder, it’s what makes this job worthwhile. Thanks for the call, Saf. It was super helpful.” And indeed, even though she remained greased up, unwashed, and eye-bagged Brandy looked leagues more alive than she had at the start of the call.

Safrina beamed, pleased that her plan to cheer Brandy up had worked out so well. “I’m glad! Byyyyye, Ms. Brandy!”

“See ya, kiddo.”

The two of them hung up. Safrina started heading back towards her base, a spring in her step as she walked. And Brandy put down her phone and finally, blessedly, was able to catch some real, actual sleep.

[the-06]

'Mac the Knifed

First off, don't call the schmaltz police on me but I want to thank everyone who's liked/reblogged etc. my silly MK1 posts. They were a catharsis of sorts during last month that was the absolute shits for me. After giving the finger to the trainwreck that was MK11 (and my account having been inactive for a long time with also so many of my Tumblr buddies leaving), I've liked most of the bits and pieces of the MK1 story I've seen so far. The game's been out for almost a month now and we all naturally have opinions galore on how our beloved character(s) were treated (Rep fans, raise a glass). The last time I've actually played an MK game was 1999, so for me it's all about the story.

On to the topic at hand. Discussion of our Man of the Hour is under the cut.

For me the biggest revelation, naturally, was the surprising role that Ermac played in the story mode. Yes, he's still suppressed by NRS Brand Plot Armor™, but after nearly two entire decades Boon and company FINALLY got the damn message that fans still fondly remember his Deception storyline to this day.

And did they throw us a bone. The connection again with Kenshi and the resulting TK Bros moment with the rockslide, him again taking out five characters without breaking a sweat (including hand-to-hand combat; yes!!), and him again fighting Ashrah.

Most of all, he was actually important to the plot this time around, FINALLY making Jerrod frickin' relevant and — call it guilt by association if you will — made characters that I've never really cared for like Sindel and Mileena actually likable (and Ms. Useless herself, Tanya, a bit more tolerable), and this is coming from someone who was never a fan of his MK9 ending. I did have an issue with the large gap between chapters in which he appears, which in turn made his revelation as Jerrod seem somewhat rushed, but it's — to use a favorite expression of mine — complaining about the color of the couch in the mansion. Definitely a 9/10.

And despite all this...it's gone relatively ignored so far because people still won't quit bitching about his design.

Well, get the hell over it. His MK11 look is not happening. He's not a ninja anymore. And it's now clear as crystal why he's not masked. (I guess I'll be pedantic myself and say maybe he should've been masked after his creation and then taken it off when Jerrod took over.) It's already been three months since it was revealed, it was ONE shot in a trailer, and it looks far better in action. The same people constantly griping about Ermac looking like a mummy back in MKX are now going completely apeshit because more of his skin is showing this time around. Pick one or the other, folks. Can't we just put this crap aside and focus on his having a strong role in an NRS-era MK story mode for the first time?

Veering off topic a bit, but I've realized something else recently. Ermac went from a nonexistent glitch to having a badass distinctive symbol (his Deception chest design that's a mainstay to this day) and an iconic catchphrase. Other than Scorpion, who the hell else in MK can boast that? Maybe one or the other, but not both. (Plus, the telekinesis will never not be sexy.)

That's so much marketing potential for NRS but since Ermac is not either of The Big Two, they've elected to sit on their hands. What a damn shame. Hell, a spinoff game featuring the Outworld Six based on Kotal Kahn's ending (the best in MKX), with them squaring off against a maniacal Raiden to reclaim their realm, would've done wonders for their characters and been the GREATEST thing ever. It of course had a snowball's chance of happening but just as a fan of these guys it literally hurts thinking about the wasted potential.

Thank you for listening. The collection plate will now be passed around.

[benzedrine-calmstheitch]

just saw some troubling posts in a discord server I’m in but I don’t have the brain power left to engage in direct conversation re: interpreting another person’s text and responding so I’m just gonna throw my thoughts here :

you cannot, CANNOT, let your anger and fury at Greg Abbott’s heinous policies and positions transmutate into any position that blames him for being paralyzed, argues he should not receive financial compensation for getting paralyzed, or any other form of ableism against him. I mean, I guess you can, arguably, but I find it an inherently unethical stance, and it also undermines any sort of argument one could make to be in favor of universal healthcare and UBI (which I also find to be baseline ethical things to be for, more or less).

Yes, he supported the tort reforms in Texas that put limits on damages plaintiffs can receive, which makes it very unlikely a future Texan unfortunate enough to be in a similar situation that he was in will be able to have the same level of financial security via a settlement (although I do think it’s worth noting that he had no direct involvement in the passing of these reforms - both of these were done by Legislature). And it is fucking garbage that he doesn’t think other Texans deserve financial security in the face of injury and loss! And yes, there are nine million other awful awful stances he has, and having him in a position of leadership is not just abhorrent on principle but incredibly dangerous. These things ARE infuriating and terrible! He sucks really!

But the thing about universal healthcare is that it is universal. The principle behind it is that no one should have to worry about healthcare costs for any reason. To be in favor of healthcare for all, you must, must recognize that, short of unconditional access to healthcare (as well as related accessibility needs, such as equipment, renovated housing, in-home health care, mobility aids, etc etc), anyone suffering such a devastating and life-altering injury at least getting a settlement that takes care of these ongoing costs, is a good thing. and to be in favor of, again, universal, health care, is to sincerely want that for anyone. no conditions!

Being furious at him is, frankly, how we should feel right now. But that fury simply cannot mean deciding he is to blame in any way for his paralysis. First of all and most importantly, because conceptualizing disability in terms of “blame” just feels like a really, really dangerous thought. This tie back in to the fundamental idea that universal healthcare means exactly that, universal, but is a bit deeper also. Even if the actions Abbott took that led to his injury were ill-advised (and I’m not saying they were, more on that in a moment), he still should have full access to care, because the idea that someone can become unworthy of access to care through their actions is troubling! When we draw lines, someone always has to decide where it is, and if we can draw it once, someone else can redraw it later, and this time you might find yourself on the wrong side of it. We must, must, refuse to allow “fault” to determine access.

Also, and this is just me being pedantic, but I have seen some variance in the recounts of what exactly happened, and I have also seen folks taking those summations and shifting them, just a bit, to make it easier to find him at fault and thus deserving of his disability (this also touches on the whole other concept of disability itself being considered Less Than, which is ofc gross, but I’m not going to dive into that aspect). This is something we all need to be so, so careful about these days. Yes, it does fit your emotional response better if he was out jogging under a big tree while it was actually storming, which I think we can all agree is a Silly Idea. But the little bit I have read says he was jogging after it had stormed; ok, maybe a small difference, but are you telling me you don’t know a single person who would take a run the morning after it had stormed because it was still too dangerous? Suddenly his actions seems less silly and more everyday. Also I read that the homeowner (who himself was a wealthy attorney, which also complicates things!) had been made aware the tree was rotting a year and a half beforehand, and the inspector who told him this recommended the wrong treatment for it. So we have gone from “god this dodo went jogging during a storm under big trees well yeah of course one fell on him” to “oh actually he was just out for a run the day after a storm and a rotten tree that had been improperly treated happened to fall on him in a very bizarre coincidence.” and for the record, I have almost been taken tf out by a tree randomly splitting in two and falling while I was on my daily walk on a sunny day. no idea why and it scared the bejesus out of me, but like. it weirdly happens!

but my point in being pedantic is this : facts fucking matter! changing them, no matter how slightly, to fit the narrative that matches your emotions, is not the route to take, because you end up taking a kind of fucked up stance in the process. this is what we as a culture are fighting so, so much right now. it’s so hard to hold on to nuance, to contextualize and allow for complexity, when we have all been trained by twitter and tiktok and fucking clickbait to be sensational and brief. but my friends, we have to retrain ourselves. we have to do better. We cannot paint in broad strokes, because we will lose the ability to focus on any one thing we can push back on and fight for.

So yes, be angry at Greg Abbott. Be fucking FURIOUS, really. But please, please, know why, and stay focused on that.

[t1gerlilly]

I mean, “cancel culture” is just the basics of reputation. The ability to create social networks and exclude people who behave unethically from them is fundamental to our evolution and success as a species. Recent studies have shown that long term memory of positive past associations is better in bonobos and chimps (our closest relatives) than other primates. Our ability to work together cooperatively is our one big advantage. Tigers are bigger, faster, have teeth and claws - but humans can capture them - together. No one person can do that alone. And people can’t work together if some of them are being terrorized.

I bring this up because ‘cancel culture’ as a term was coined to discredit women’s outrage as part of the ‘metoo’ movement. It was backlash intended to distract and muddle the waters from people wanting to punish powerful men for toxic sexual behavior. Some of those men were later convicted of rape or sexual assault, all of whom were behaving badly enough that when most normal people heard about it, they no longer wanted to give them their money or support them. Many of these men were in the entertainment industry, so they had to ‘cancel’ their shows or projects. That’s where the term came from.

Like, I understand what the posters above are saying- they’re talking about mechanisms of social control that have existed forever. We’re actually pretty nice, historically speaking. I mean, between getting nasty messages on twitter or getting put in the stocks and pelted with rotten fruit, mud and dog shit - I know which one I’d pick. And I work for a company with policies that are insanely stupid around some things, so I understand just how nonsensical and picayune some of the social policing around this is. I have to watch every word I say to keep my livelihood.

But I still think of ‘cancel culture’ in its original context, where ‘victim of cancel culture’ = rapist. If you reread the posters above and make that replacement, you can see that their logic gets very weird very quickly. There are plenty of bad actors who know what they’re doing hurts people and they aren’t going to stop if you’re nice to them or try to educate them or whatever. Maybe they’ll grow, but it’s not our responsibility to make that happen. Truth is; actions have consequences. That’s just the way it is.

And I think that’s a sign that the original tactic was successful, and that the waters have been muddied sufficiently that we equate crimes with people being overly harsh and judgmental. We make no distinction between actions that cause real harm to real people and people who use terminology or take positions that others dislike.

So if I could ask folks to be really clear about what actions they’re talking about, and maybe talk about more universal and possibly more old fashioned words, like ‘pay your debt to society’, penance, redemption, make amends, acknowledge responsibility, etc.

Though I do admit I wish we had a word like ‘litigious’ or ‘pedant’ or ‘zealot’ or ‘self-righteous’ to describe how some people use taking offense as a power play. It’s a bit like the Salem witch trials. Social media exacerbates social panics and algorithmically amplifies them. But it’s fundamentally just jerks that are behind the phenomenon that the earlier posters describe. I just don’t know quite the right word for them. Other than ‘asshole’, I guess.

the thing about "callout/cancel culture" that convinced me it's rotten to the core is the dehumanisation you face once you become the subject of a campaign like that. a lot of criticisms of callout/cancellation attempts appeal to the humanity of the subject, pointing out that it's unfair and unproductive to treat a person, a fellow human being, regardless of how much harm they've caused and how genuinely unlikable they are, like that. but unfortunately the reality of being the target of a mob mentality often means facing the very isolating and traumatising experience of realising that you've ceased to exist as a person in their eyes. you're a representation of your transgressions, an embodiment of harm that needs to be erased like a blemish, a spectacle for entertainment, a means of earning social approval by publicly condemning and humiliating you in what quickly becomes a competition to see who can strike the blow that knocks you down so you never get up again. nobody cares about who you are outside of what you did. people make mistakes and hurt one another, but there is always the capacity for change, for regret and reparations. you are an irredeemable monster. you can't change. the only way to make sure you can't cause harm ever again is to neutralise you entirely. to drive you off and hurt you so badly that you never consider coming back. and it often succeeds. but it doesn't make the world a better or safer place. it just tells everyone that certain behaviours will be punished, so you should conceal them, and harshly condemn them in others so that everyone knows where you stand; nobody will stand up for you if you're accused and brought out for judgement, so you shouldn't trust anyone, and always be on the lookout to take them down before they can do the same to you. you're not creating a safe, welcoming community. you're creating a panopticon built on fear and punishment.

[pesterloglog]

Jade Harley

Page 147-150

JADE: are you talking to me?

JADE: because if you are i would like to remind you that i hate!! orange juice!!

JADE: well i guess i never really had a strong opinion on it before

JADE: but now i cant stand it!!

JADE: its all you drink!

JADE: its my body and i dont want orange juice!

JADE: i hate pulp, and i didnt just make that up to spite you

JADE: who wants strings in their juice?

JADE: ughhhhhhhhh

JADE: fuck you rude calliope inside my head!

JADE: from a 'characterization' standpoint, i think you are pedantic

JADE: annoying

JADE: and just a general huge drag to be around!

JADE: why dont you try being possessed by the spirit of some other version of a good friend of yours, and floated around a spaceship full of people you love

JADE: unable to affect anything or say hello to anyone!

JADE: then tell me about whiners!

JADE: sounds like a you problem

JADE: well i had to watch my boyfriend and my brother die in front of me on a tiny scaled version of a world that i shrunk for them!

JADE: and then spend the next three years talking to myself, wracked with guilt that id killed them!

JADE: youre a member of a species designed for long periods of isolation

JADE: im a human!

JADE: or at least, i started out that way

JADE: even if i had the powers of a first guardian, my brain still worked in modules of human pattern recognition!

JADE: three years is a long time for a human teenager, i dont care how many of her molecules are made of a god!

JADE: OH MY GOD STOP NARRATING!

JADE: who are you even talking to?

JADE: audience?

JADE: ugh, this is so annoying, i cant tell if youre being serious

JADE: your voice is impossible to read and i cant see your face

JADE: oh

JADE: well thanks

JADE: thats better

JADE: youre right that i am being silly, and i didnt mean to start a slap fight over who has suffered more

JADE: clearly you have been through a lot more than i could ever possibly imagine

JADE: youre the same callie who talked to me and jane when we were unconscious back in the game, right?

JADE: theres just a lot of everybody running around and i guess i havent been keeping the internal tally that i should have

JADE: but i think it is a very natural thing to be silly when you are used to being able to control your own body, but now cant

JADE: so i will stop yelling at you

JADE: but i reserve the right to start yelling again in the future if i have a good reason

JADE: ...okay?

JADE: do you actually know that?

JADE: do you actually know that im doomed to pine over dave and karkat across every iteration of reality?

JADE: like, can you actually see that?

JADE: because youre a space player, like i am.

JADE: i know that you are more powerful than me, but i dont think you can see other timelines any better than i can

JADE: so i think you are just being dramatic

JADE: for the “audience”, whatever the heck that means

JADE: heheh

JADE: i have never been particularly tamable, and my consciousness is huge!

[benis-chillin]

A Mania Hater's quick thoughts on Sonic Superstars

Hello, I'm Benis, and I hate Sonic Mania.

If you want my detailed reasons why, refer to this video.

If you just want a quick version, though, here's some bullet points:

It feels inauthentic to the Classics in general, from the physics to the "story."

Said story is poorly told, even for the style of Classic Sonic, and doesn't really make any sense in places.

It fetishizes 3&K to the point where it copies elements of its level design without consideration of how they ACTUALLY worked, or DIDN'T work and should've been omitted in some cases(two boss battles per zone is bad no matter what you tell me)

Most bosses are incredibly pedantic and annoying.

The visuals are Sonic Colors Ultimate levels of bloom for sprites, with some places being so shiny that it feels like everything is made out of marble and balloons.

And overall, the game just acts like there were no Sonic games made outside of the 4 main Genesis games, even though THOSE games had some ideas that would've been neat to see in a more faithful Classic game.

So, did Superstars exceed expectations? Or did I end up buying Mania 2 after all?

The Story

In Sonic Superstars, shit happens.

Okay, to be more detailed, Eggman recruits Fang the Hunter, a character whose only interesting trait is that Sega forgot he existed for a bit there, to hunt down a bunch of giant animals on the Northstar Islands, to power Badnik Bosses that…Imma be real here, he's powered with regular animals before, so idk why he's bothering with all this.

To help him, Fang recruits this armored character named Trip the Sungazer, who is apparently the guardian of the Northstar Islands, so why did she agree to capture animals, exactly?

I mean, in 3&K, Knuckles was tricked by Eggman saying that Sonic was evil and seeking the emeralds. This made sense, as you could then conceive that Knuckles somehow missed Eggman putting animals into Badniks, and just went along with his ideas to trap this "evildoer" in his eyes(even ignoring manual lore). But here? Why did she agree to this?

Anyway, in a very jankily animated cutscene(the 2D animated cutscenes are just very weirdly drawn and animated in this game, I'm sorry), we see Sonic and Tails approaching in the Tornado, and other cutscenes depict Knuckles and Amy joining the fun if you start with them. And so, we're off to the races!

Along our journey, we find the 7 Chaos Emeralds with new powers unlocked by the islands(though I think we had to learn that through Bumblekast or a Twitter Takeover), and Trip is convinced by the power of friendship to strip off her armor and use the emeralds to become a dragon in order to defeat Fang in a cutscene.

Then we eventually end up in space to defeat a final Eggman robot, Trip has an entire journey in hard mode to do that all over again with Fang, and we then have to seal a dragon away with barely any build-up.

So yeah, the story is not good.

It's quite clear that a TON of lore was made, but never received any explanation(not even in that manual you have to basically seek out), thus leaving us with a shell of a story. To be fair to it, what I'm GUESSING was supposed to make up the story makes sense outside of the aforementioned Trip questions, but how am I supposed to get into the world of a game if that world isn't given what I need to draw me into it? On top of that, it robs Trip of her opportunity to make a strong impression. I played her whole campaign, and I still don't really care about her that much, while characters like Knuckles hooked me in before I even played as them. Okay, she's shy. That's nice. What else is there to her besides that and a charming design?

The Visuals

I like them…In theory.

You see, to me, polygons are Sonic's true form. Even back in the Genesis days, they were always trying effects that bent the traditional 2D perspective, to the point where a central design point on the 3&K sprite is them attempting to make him more 3-dimensional. Dimps finally achieved this with the Rush and Sonic 4 duologies, along with Sonic Colors and Generations on DS and 3DS respectively. IDK if Rivals got close, but cool on them if they did. And while Superstars does this stuff fairly minimally, it is nice to see.

There is something to be said of them possibly using old models from a known bigot(I don't care about this personally, since it was apparently paid work, but maybe would've been wise to add some distance on those main characters), but otherwise I'm cool with them going in this style. The only cost seems to be any sense of identity for the Northstar Islands, which could be any damn place in the Sonic universe. They're rendered well enough, even on Switch, but they're a bit generic.

Though speaking of Switch, very glitchy, this game. I'll link a playlist with a bunch of the ones I captured, but a notable one is the fact that Trip's nose is permanently black on my title screen. Weird.

The Gameplay.

Aight, here's the big one: How does it play?

It plays fine. Better than Mania, for sure, but it ain't perfect.

Sonic has his usual spindash and spin jump, along with the drop dash ability that Mania introduced, but other games actually use better. Nobody's momentum is exactly 1-to-1 with the Genesis days, but it only really comes up in boss battles. However, he ended up being the least used character for my first playthrough, which is quite unusual for me in a Classic Sonic game, so make of that what you will.

Tails is his usual 2D self, which works, but I REALLY wish they've bring his SA1 elevation controls over. That would come so handy…Probably the character I played the most while I was emerald hunting.

Controversial opinion, but this is probably the best 2D Knuckles I've played in an official game. I still think we need his SA2 glide controls in 2D for it to be REALLY good, but this ain't half bad. Glide was a lot smoother than 3&K and Mania, so it was a lot more enjoyable to use(Though I still didn't favor him that much).

Amy is perfectly good, but her hammer only really comes in handy for her designated level.

Trip is fun to play as, too, and I like that her abilities feel tailored to the hard mode she inhabits. Her abilities are kinda OP, which tailors them to said hard mode for the most part. I think a drop dash would've really completed her moveset overall, but this is perfectly acceptable.

And since I almost forgot to note them, the specials stages are fairly alright, but some are way more difficult than they should be, and I wish they did that thing where finding one after you've got all of the Emeralds gives you 50 rings. That always came in handy.

As for the levels themselves…They're fine, I guess? Not quite at Sonic 4 levels of forgettable, but not quite at Advance quality. Tbh, I'm just glad they're original levels using various old themes instead of us like, literally going back to Green Hill again.

There are a lot more instant deaths and bottomless pits than you'd think, but this is mostly negated by the wise decision to not include a lives system, so these little hiccups get a BIT more grace. Heck, one of them indirectly uses the Sandopolis light switch gimmick in a new context that actually fits the zone they put it in! Take THAT one, Mania!

I'm not a fan of their numbering not be even, with some zones having as many as 3 acts, or as little as 1, but overall, a decent showing, and having Trip's story as a bit of a hard mode was kinda fun…

Until you get to those final few bosses.

Okay, so now we get to the part of the review where y'all can call me a lil' bitch, because I did not actually finish Trip's story, or this game as a whole. Why?

BECAUSE OF SOME OF THESE FUCKING BOSSES!

Starting with the second match against Fang, all of the final bosses for each zone get REALLY long, boring, and cheap. The bosses up until this point were engaging, but simple, like Sonic 2's bosses, but then this sudden difficulty spike happens. You have these long, tedious sections where just NOTHING happens while you wait until you can hit a boss with more hit points than they need, rings are very weirdly doled out, and every hit is hard to do without getting hit yourself, which can often result in death from a one-hit kill. And with many of these offering no way to go Super beforehand, that is a MAJOR problem.

Additionally, they have FAR too many one-hit kills, no matter how many rings you stock up on, and THERE ARE NO CHECKPOINTS BETWEEN SECTIONS, meaning if you die during one of the MANY easy kill windows, you have to start ALL OVER AGAIN, which is extra frustrating on Switch, where my cartridge copy has load times longer than my PS3 copy of Sonic 06. They're pure padding since the developers didn't have enough budget to make it worth $60, and it doesn't even help that much!

These bosses COULD work with less hit points, a few more rings, and some damn checkpoints so I don't have to keep on doing the same parts over and over again from an incredibly cheap hit that I can't avoid, but as is, they are downright shameful, and the reason I am, for the moment, not finishing this game. I have had enough of the developers wasting my time.

So if this game had a sequel, would I buy it? Maybe. But the developers would need to get a grip on certain things(ban one-hit kills and bottomless pits from that office), but I feel like a sequel could REALLY shine. If the story was told more competently, if the levels just had a bit more to them, and they tell Jun Senoue to aim for the SA1 sound style instead of whatever the hell he thinks the Genesis sounded like, we could have a real hit on our hands.

But for the moment, we return to the dream, my friends.

P.S. In terms of objective timeline, I place this during the original 1991-1997 time frame before the Generations time split. Kinda have to if elements of them are going to appear elsewhere. Mania is still contained to its hell dimension in Objective Canon Zone, so the creator's statements about timeline are being ignored. My fanfictions will place it in the split timeline after Mania for now since I plan to do some in-universe adjustments later, though.

6/10

[ramblesinshamblesgreenbus]

Et thinks his soulmate is this woman, 17 years older than him and married - Jeanne. I read him the part of my bad hetalia fanfic where France is talking towards the sky, looking for God, mourning Joan of Arc - it’s stupid, I excused it after. Relatable, he called it.

he’s too much like Macron isn’t he. so progressive, though - proudly calls his persona “fuckboy” and keeps up with texts from like a dozen girls. when do you know you’re in a relationship, i asked him. like, a monogamous one. “i renounce myself for us”.

that’s what i wanted to do, i say. not wanted to, i guess. felt like i had to want to. convoluted, but he got it. i like when people get it. i’d like to get back to the point of my life when i could tell ppl i loved them without any of us finding it romantic - not even loved them, but loved something they did. i love how you understand me. i love that you try to.

anyway, he said - you felt like you had to want to renounce yourself for him. i would have renounced myself for us - me and Jeanne. that was a really subtle way of saying things were unilateral, and i complimented as much. “Choupette needs her iddah” - I asked him if i resemble Lagerfeld’s cat that much. escaped me that choupette just means sweetie.

i asked him if i should get my instagram back, he just laughed. “i hate when MEUFS go through breakups and need to act like they’re fine - they’re radio silent when they heal”. i want to be radio silent. i want to heal. i want to be heard - you are. “the person you want to hear you does not want to listen, so maybe stop shouting”.

i told him, i think you were groomed. i think that middle-aged woman is not your soulmate. he said “the only people that leave a lasting impact are those we deem better than us - someone can’t be my age and better than me”. bit pedantic, but it stuck with me. he said he reduced what he feels in relation to her to a simple word i seem to find comfort in. i said, it brings more pain than comfort - it’ll bring comfort again. he thinks soulmates are in an everchanging state, that relationships can’t fulfill you forever, that you just grow out of people and that’s the moment when you’re supposed to say bye and look for someone to suit the new you. i asked him if there aren’t exceptions - i must have looked pretty down in the dumps because he gave me a shaky smile - it’s always weird to see people react to my feelings, make me feel so real. anyway. exceptions. he said there must be some, but not this one.

i wasn’t referring to this one when i asked him, i don’t think. it just sounded like such a bleak conclusion for my hopeless romantic self. there are exceptions, he said again, and i started crying.

G told me something once, before the violence started, and i shooed it away back then but i circle back to it now - i liked you so much that i tried to be the right fit for you. it invariably got exhausting.

i told Et about it, tried not to make it sound like humble bragging - do you think that’s valid. he said yes, it is. a lot of people play the part, and apparently i have something that makes people think it’s worth it to try their hands at acting.

i want someone not pretending. or at least someone that’s really bad at it, so i can see past. didn’t cry today (there’s still time but i’m not trying to shoot myself in the foot).

[melanieph321]

Ugh, imagine Enea taking you on a first date at a carnival 🫠🫠

Enea Bastianini x Reader - First Date Part 1/3

Summary - Enea takes Reader, a tourist, on a first date at a carnival. And later tells her that he is a MotoGP rider.

Enjoy!

You were on the verge of throwing up, making it the worst first date in your life. However the guy was hot, so fucking hot. Who could blame you for sticking the night out.

"There you are?"

You were crouching down behind a cotton candy booth in a desperate need to collect yourself as a pair of sneakers appeared on the ground before you.

"Where did you go?"

You tilted your head up, meeting the brown eyes and charming smile of your hot date.

"Enea!" You jumped to your feet, brushing the dust of your dress.

He chuckled. "We're we playing hide an seek or something?"

"No. I was just....just...."

He cocked his head to the side, a curl irritating his eyes as he did.

"I just had to tie my shoes." You lied. God, he was attractive, and the night was still young.

"Cool. Do you wanna go on the ferris wheel?"

"Again?" You could feel it, the burger you ate an hour ago. It was coming in hot, back up your throat.

"You're right. I guess we should try something else." He said.

Thank god.

"How about the sling shot?"

"How about paintball?" You suggested, directing Enea towards the game booths.

You never enjoyed carnivals as a child and being forced to ride the ferris wheel three times over just confrimes as to why.

"I guess we should make use of the tickets we bought." Enea said, handing over three of them to the guy working in the booth. The guy then handed you two painball guns and stepped aside for you and Enea to have a go at the soda cans behind him. You'd think Enea would take it easy on you, considering that the two of you were on a date. However, he went all out, hitting his cans like a bounty hunter on a mission. Apparently, he really wanted to get his hands on one of those giant plushies. In this case, a giant penguin, which he chucked under his arm as the two of you made your way through the carnival.

"So, are you just in Rimini for the summer holidays or...?" Enea made an effort to match your pace, walking slowly beside you.

"Exactly. I came here with my family." But decided to ditch them for a guy you matched with on Raya. However, babysitting your little brothers sounded more and more fun the longer the date went on. "How about you?"

"Me?" He frowned.

"Yes, you? Are you from Rimini, or are you just visiting?" The people from the east coast of Italy were usually exposed by their Emilia-Romagnian accent. It was joyful yet pedant. Just like this date.

"I was born here." He nodded. My parents have a house here in Rimini, near Misano, actually.

"Oh, so you're here visiting your parents?"

"Something like that." He chuckled.

You stopped walking. "What? Did I say something funny?"

"Not really, it's just that...." He stopped and stared at you, searching your eyes as if to read your mind. "You really don't know who I am, do you?"

"Erm...should I?"

"No. Not necessarily."

"Well, now I'm curious. Are you someone famous or something?" After all you matched on Raya, a lot of celebrities used the app to meet people.

"Well, I'd say that a lot of people from Rimini know of me."

"Because you're from here?"

"Exactly."

Okay..." You pressed a finger to your mouth, visibly trying to guess who this guy thought he was. Frankly, to you, he dressed like any other italian you've seen walking up and down the beach. If he wasn't another local flirting with another tourist, then who was he?

"Maybe I should show you?"

"Show me?"

"Yes, come on."

You promised your parents not to leave the beach where the carnival was. However, there was something about a guy with a  motorcycle that drove you crazy. Enea assured you that he wasn't planning on kidnapping you. The opposite, he was taking you to see where he worked, which was out in the countryside somewhere. Needless to say, you held on for your dear life as the speed of Enea's motorcycle slapped the wind against your helmet and blew your dress behind you. Something told you that you were truly in for a ride.

I am the cameraman