#like in theory i could do this on tiktok like a normal person

[sophsicle]

OKAY question

i wanna reread choices and edit it but i can never make myself do it cause im like "ugh wow so long i simply cannot"

but also, every time i do reread parts of it i have like *thoughts* like SO many thoughts about it and about what i was thinking at the time and how that has or hasn't changed and what i was trying to do and what i love and what i hate and blah blah blah

SO the question: if i did like a lil read-a-long with soph thing, would anyone be interested? like maybe in the form of small podcast episodes where i discuss the chapters as i edit them and you guys can like tell me the different stuff you want me to talk about etc etc and then i will have the motivation to actually do this and also somewhere to dump all of my *thoughts*

or is that like, a stupid idea that no one asked for? i cannot decide whether this is leaning more on the fun cute side or the annoying keep this to yourself side, Y'KNOW????? so i ask

[rad-batson]

Headcanons of Tim and Damian’s Love/Hate/But-Mostly-Begrudging-Love Relationship (They’re My Babies)

They will take EVERY opportunity to be a little bitch to one another

Tim: “Don’t get too close to me. You probably have rabies.” Damian: *actually bites him*

Damian tripped Tim once, which started an all out prank war that lasted several months. It only ended when Bruce walked into a glue trap and couldn’t reach his phone to call for help. But he couldn’t figure out who put it there so they were both grounded. (It was Tim.)

Tim teaches Damian to finish his vine references when Bruce tells them they need to “bond.” They proceed to try and speak in exclusively vine references and TikTok sounds during patrol. Bruce benches them for his own sanity.

Damian: “I’m not touching you” *gets pushed down the stairs*

Tim: “I’m not in your room” *gets hit in the face with a book*

Tim calls Damian short even tho he’s only like two inches taller for quite a bit of time (and Damian never hears the end of it after Tim’s growth spurt)

Family Game Night could go in one of two ways: they’re opponents and spend the whole night one-upping each other OR they team up and wipe the floor with everyone else’s pieces

Damian: “Just trust me.” Tim: *remembering that one time Damian tried to kill him* “Okay.”

Tim: “Don’t ask questions.” Damian: *recalling the multiple genocidal Tim variants* “Whatever.”

During one Wayne Gala, they make up this game called Freestyle Checkers where they choose guests as their “pieces” then subtly manipulate them into walking to their opponent’s side of the ballroom without talking to someone from the other team or they’re out. No one can know that they’re part of a game or their opponent wins by default.

Bruce is proud of them at first for being more sociable during galas until he realizes what’s going on and immediately loses five years from his lifespan.

Both have attempted to fake their deaths to get out of the same school project

They’re both notorious for stalking people to get information instead of just…ya know…asking like a normal person. So they’re bound to team up one day.

Like maybe it’s Bruce’s birthday soon and both are like “No, I’m getting him the better present,” but then they run into each other in the vents trying to find out what he wants and they end up trading secrets. Just brotherly things

Tim: “I need you to follow this guy for me. I think he’s our culprit.” Damian: “I would rather die than take orders from you.” Tim: “I’ll buy you that fancy oil painting kit you want.” Damian: *already changing into his Robin gear* “Where is he?”

Tim makes Damian play the dumb, helpless kid in all of their covert operations, which pisses Damian off until he gets so good at it that he uses it to his advantage and annoys the hell out of Tim when they’re paired up for public appearances

“God, he’s so annoying.” “Yeah, totally.” “What the fuck did you say about my brother?”

Damian is the only person who can get Tim to actually sleep for once. No one knows how he does it, but the strongest theory so far is blackmail

Tim “I’m ignoring Bruce’s instructions because they failed the vibe check” Drake and Damian “I can totally do this mission that requires four people on my own” Wayne teaming up behind Bruce’s back and immediately getting into deep shit but somehow making it out alive with the bad guys behind bars.

During one of said missions, they thought they were going to die and said “I love you” to one another. After they survived, they silently agreed to never mention it again.

Damian gifts Tim a new board that he designed for his birthday. It took weeks. Tim cries

[hauntedhopeghost]

An incomplete timeline of Green’s posts because I wanted to prove a theory

Note: BTW, if you reblog this, I want you to know that this post will be continuously updated and edited as long as Green posts, so your reblogged version will be outdated unless you do it when the arc ends, and when that's when this will stop updating.

ALSO, AS A SIDE NOTE: I live in the U.S., so that may affect the days, this is the day where I live and when it's posted.

September 1st, 2024. Wild Trick Shots is uploaded. And Green creates his channel.

September 4th. Super Orange vs. Greenzilla uploads.

September 6th. Alan announces the series, though it’s called an arc. The Green channel is discovered by a good chunk of people.

September 7th. The first episode, Green’s Channel is released.

September 10th. Super Orange vs. Flaming Red & Freezing Blue is uploaded. Still fairly normal. Posts a pic on his instagram with his friends, no tags.

September 12th. Green posts a BTS pic on instagram about the making of (presumably) Super Orange vs. Greenzilla.

September 13th. Vlog Through Minecraft is uploaded. This is when things start to go downhill. The cow makes an appearance.

September 14th. Another pic from Green. About the BTS of Super Orange vs. Flaming Red & Freezing Blue. Still fairly normal with the tags.

September 16th. Green posts a YouTube short with him thanking the fans for the milestone. He’s wearing the orange sunglasses as seen in A Special Song. Also posts on his instagram about a “not motivational” quote. That’s when the tagging plague started.

September 17th. Community tab post. Everyone wants to be named the grasshoppers for some stupid reason.

September 18th. Green gets Tiktok, posts his first dance Tiktok, abandons his friends for a cow, and updates his YouTube banner and bio. (He’s wearing sunglasses) Oh yeah, this also happens to be my brother’s birthday. (Happy Birthday!)

September 19th. Alleged Twitter incident. Also I ate grass and cried in the bathroom while Green posted a TikTok of him dancing Gangnam style.

September 20th. Green posts an instagram post with pictures of his new studio. He’s still wearing the glasses. New tiktok with him… what? I have no idea at this point.

September 21st. Green posts a video reacting and reading our comments. Unfortunately, he doesn't eat the grass. We get confirmation that the Color Gang have been 'acting weird' lately. (He's still wearing Orange glasses, my theory is looking more and more likely by the day) ...A somewhat interesting comment about Yellow that is bound to hurt, even though it was a couple days ago it's discovered by the people now. (Varying interpretations on it that we may not have gotten an answer yet.)

September 22nd. Green posts a YouTube short announcing he has a Tiktok. Not much happening... so far. A tiktok featuring Blue dancing is posted. Might be prerecorded but we don't know. It could be recorded at any time. But his friends are still here! ...right?

September 23rd. New tiktok of Red dancing this time! It seems like he's going to have everyone dance, apparently. It's really really fun though, watching the goober. (I'll try not to let my personal biases get through this I swear-)

September 25th. Green makes a community QnA post (I haven’t read the questions) and we get Yellow dancing.

September 26th. Orange dancing! (I don’t have tiktok I’m just going off of everyone’s posts lol) New Green instagram post where he definitely wants to eat grass and uhh idk he’s feeling cute. (HE HAS THE GLASSES) Oh yeah a tiktok of him dancing on a red background, still working on that.

September 27th. Tiktok pov: the fanbase wants Green to eat grass and I don’t think the Becker Team anticipated that. (Orange Glasses still on…)

September 28th. Surviving on the Couch for 24 hours, and he does manage to complete the challenge, though it appears rather boring from the perspective of the audience. No one is there. (🕶️) New Blue tiktok in which they are dancing in what's seemingly Adobe Premiere, I could be mistaken though. Instagram post of where Green (most likely) might be eating grass soon. Or teasing a video about it.

September 29th. So Green eats grass. Yeah. He does. He throws it up afterward so does it count? (🕶️) New dance tiktok, and the fandom somewhat goes insane over grass. (no context provided)

September 30th. Instagram post with a picnic next to cherry blossoms, presumably he’s pulling a prank… OH NOOOOOO (🕶️)

October 1st. Yay first day of October! … NO PRANK VIDEO- Green dumps all of his friends in lava as a “totally funny prank” … yeah. no. (🕶️) The fandom is currently combusting. Posts a new tiktok video hours later, it appears he’s in the same place where he reacted to people’s comments. Dancing.

October 2nd. … I have literally nothing to say. Green’s instagram post with him “cutting off toxic influences and fake friends.” It’s Second’s birthday. (And Dark’s) AND THIS HAPPENS- (🕶️)

October 4th. Green attempts a reaction video: Try not to laugh challenge. He gets a sponsor from NORD VPN, and there’s an ofd explosion at the end. (🕶️)

October 5th. The 2nd episode, "IS GREEN OKAY!?" is released. Spoiler alert: nobody is okay. (At this point, it hits way too close to home.) Later, he releases a video really late (in my time) titled, REACTING TO MY FRIENDS HAVING FUN WITHOUT ME. It might be from the recycling bin, we don’t know. (🕶️)

October 6th. Green releases a home tour video. With no one. He might be hearing something coming from upstairs, and he can’t find his friends anywhere. Later, a tiktok of him pointing out five things he can see while lying in bed. Apparently, he’s still fueled on comments, but also lonely. (Sidenote: Happy birthday, Mom!)

October 7th. Green’s picnic isn’t going so well, is it? His friends are behind the camera! Right…? (🕶️) (Picture of Green eating a sandwich next to cherry blossoms)

October 8th. A tiktok of Green, he might’ve been wiping away his tears at the beginning. “It’s okay to be sad, I’m always sad.” … I have nothing to say. “Mental health checkup.” (where is everyone?) (🕶️)

October 9th. Green is taking a break. Instagram post with no tags, and with just a picture of the sun.

October 10th. Green announces on YouTube that he's taking a break. The video is simply titled that. (OH MY GOSH GUYS HE LOST THE GLASSES)

October 11th. Multiple clips are uploaded, including the deleted orange tiktok dances, a blooper reel, Yellow doing a flip, Green cheating in the couch challenge, Red presenting something offscreen, and the original (with lots of effects) Super Orange vs. Greenzilla

October 14th. It’s confirmed: Influencer arc ep 3 is releasing this Saturday, or the 19th. It’s also confirmed that other channels such as ItsMeYellow are all fanmade.

October 19th. Burnout releases. Episode three. I will not be spoiling it, but WOW. YEIADHSHDHAHASGBABSJSJQSJ

:3

[welivetodream]

✨ My BSD hot takes/unpopular opinions ✨:

1. Identifying BSD characters as Queer, is not problematic. STOP being so Heteronormative. Gay characters are not gonna kill you.

If I see another "BuT tHe ChArAcTeRs nEvEr SaId tHeY aRe GaY" I would bomb you 💣/j

2. Skk/SSKK/Fyolai/other popular ships, exist because people like it. If you don't ship them, don't engage with their content. Not all shippers act crazy and toxic. Stop blaming everything on shippers.

3. Atsushi/Kyouka is problematic, stop justifying it with "only 4 year age gap". Kyouka is a CHILD, ship her with Kenji if you want. Atsushi, like a normal 18 year old would never look at a highschool freshman and date her. Even if they date in the future, he knew her when she was younger and they had a sibling like dynamic. Lucy is a way better love interest to Atsushi (Don't know if this is an unpopular opinion tho, but I saw some people justifying it 😐😐😐)

4. DAZAI IS NOT EVIL. HE IS FAR FROM EVIL. He is, despite being super popular and the face of BSD, the most mischaracterized and villified character. Morally grey characters exist??!!!

5. Mori is a way worse person than Dazai ever was.

6. PM members get a free pass for any heinous crime they commit by being hot or babygirl-ified (still love them tho, we do not often discuss how bad their actions have been, you can like criminals and acknowledge they are criminals in fiction. I would add DoA to this too, but it's worse with the PM)

7. Akutagawa's abuse of Kyouka shouldn't be forgotten just because Dazai abused Akutagawa.

8. Mori emotionally manipulated and abused Dazai when he was a teen. Just because it wasn't physical, doesn't mean it was nothing.

9. Atsushi is NOT a soft boy, he is way bitter, salty and sarcastic than we give him credit

10. Poe is important to Ranpo and their friendship/relationship is wholesome as hell

11. Ranpo and Yosano's friendship is way better than them being in a relationship in the future

12. FukuFuku is better than Fukumori (imo!!!!)

13. Buying real authors work after watching BSD is actually a really good thing, since more Gen z kids (or other people) will read classics

14. There are layers to Atsushi and Akutagawa relationship/rivalry, and they have the MOST important relationship (not meaning romantic, just in general) in the entire canon.

15. Kunikida and Yosano could be a power couple

16. Fyodor is not a great villain (yet)

17. Nikolai CARRIES the DoA

18. Sigma shouldn't be in the ADA, he needs a happy home, family and some time to adjust to normal life

19. Q and Elise are both underused characters and could become a great dynamic

20. Ango deserves more love, the amount of pressure and stress he deals with is INSANE

21. It's OKAY if everyone joins the fandom for Dazai or skk (I did at first too!!)

22. Higuchi is annoying as hell. I do not get her hype, I like her but not as much as most people (just personal opinion, do not flame me 😭)

23. Everyone in The Guild is forgettable or boring (except Fitzgerald, Poe and Lucy. I like Louisa, but I forget her all the time)

24. Hetero ships are just not that great/interesting in BSD to me 🤷🏻‍♀️ (except maybe AtsuLucy or rare pairs) and female characters are not best utilised, I wish they play more major roles (can't wait for Agatha to arrive!!)

25. Some fan theories/arts get the story better than "canon" stuff at times. Fanon is NOT always the worst (sometimes enjoyable when the canon gets too dark or sad)

26. Toxic ships are okay in fiction as long as they are legal. Humans like toxic things, we consume it like junk food 💅🏻

(These are all personal opinions of mine and do not matter. Feel free to disagree. But, do not hate or be toxic!!!! 😇😇😇😇)

(PS: I compiled all these because of posts I have seen in, Reddit, Pinterest, Twitter and sometimes Tiktok. These aren't really abt you Tumblr folks. I meant to post this on reddit but did not have the courage or mental strength lol)

[teakoxd]

EEEYYYY I JUST GOT A THOUGHT! well, many thoughts!!

There was one person thay I saw on Tumblr who said that maybe victim was so brutal towards TCO because he and TDL were the ones who destroyed that farm village where victim was, burned his people etc, And I was thinking about it since then.

BECAUSE MAYBE WE'LL GET TO SEE CHOSEN AND DARK AGAIN, AND MAYBE FROM DIFFERENT SIDE THIS TIME?! Cuz you know, we saw only some pics of the cyberattacks thay happenned, in the flashback ep. We never got to see one actually happenning, you know, in fully animated version. IF the theory about those two guys destroying that village was correct, we could see Chosen from completly other perspective, not as a cool, stoic older stick with powers, not as a small, tamed, aggressive stick, But from the perspective of his prey, as an overpowered terrorist. I feel like many people just straight up ignored or forgot that Chosen was a terrorist too, and simply accepted that fact with Dark because we saw him killing sticks anyways, he looks like he was able to do it unlike Chosen. I feel like this could turn the tables around Chosen and victim, since you know, They thought victim did that just for the sake of feeling strong, in control, or just for fun. Just for the same reason Chosen did his part in the rampages, atleast at the beginning. Only to feel in control after five years of enslavement. Powerless, just like victim did. We'd see him "coping", just like we propably saw victim do in "The Box".

Well, If that's what happenned (I mean the fact of them destroying the village, not my Choseny theory yapping), We still don't know when that would happen. It could be one of the late ones, and then Chosen wouldn’t be so happy to take part in killing and destroying, atleast not as much as Dark did. Let's remember that ONLY between AvA 8 (The Showdown) and AvA 9 (Wanted) we have around FIVE years to fill up with something

And the last flashback, from the Newgrounds, was...who knows when. It's still a big time hole, so that's why I think that this theory is right haha. I don't know how many time takes to build company THIS BIG as victim did, but we're talking about the time around 2011 to 2023(but imo, 2021 max, I was taking the "Wanted" ep. date) so 12 years.

(I feel kinda like I started to write an Essay on a totally different topic now, but I'm too lazy to delete that part so deal with me.)

IF THAT THEORY WAS CORRECT, THERE'S A CHANCE WE GET TO SEE DARK AGAIN!!! YIPPIEEE!!!!

Only in some form of a flashback, destroying stuff, BUT STILL! I can already see people making edits from new clips of him on tiktok, real. I think he'd act...like he normally does. Killing, blowing up, no super cool theory or analisis if you want to call it like that like I did with Chosen. BUT. ONLY BUT. MAYBE WE'LL GET TO SEE HIM INTERACTING WITH CHOSEN!! In good or bad bad way depending on the time period (If they were still in a friendly fire hehe or nah). If that would happen, I'd finally have new content to obsess over.

SORRAY FOR THIS BEING SO LONG, I CAN'T HOLD IT IN IM WAY TO TALKATIVE

[theflatpackangel]

Percabeth headcanons because I’m insane;

- Percy gets Annabeth book shaped earrings one time because I say so

- Annabeth has a PRINTED photo album of the bad/odd photos she has of Percy (featuring several of him sleeping in odd places and one of him perched at the edge of a lake having an apparently very interesting conversation with a fish)

- they’re both as obsessed as eachother

- if they’re watching a show and the other person watches a single second without them, it’s going to end poorly

- they make the long drive to visit sally all the time, Estelle adores Annabeth and Percy is both flabbergasted and planning out the future

- I feel like their wedding would be at camp half blood, or just like, on a cliff somewhere, because it feels right

- Annabeth is (obviously) an architect but Percy either works in teaching people to swim or the olympics, and in his free time is basically just Annabeths stay at home husband (think someone said this before??)

- they share a YouTube account, so their feed is just: horror games and doll re roots (Percy; he finds them satisfying) conspiracy theories and book bindings (Annabeth; self explanatory)

- their apartment complex sees them all the time in the first few weeks and thinks “oh they seem like a nice, normal, friendly couple” but then they swear they see the two of them carrying a strangely sword like looking object and a helmet

- Annabeth watches documentaries whilst she designs things, occasionally one about the ocean will come on, and she’ll just hear Percy laugh from where ever he is (the bed, the couch, sat next to her whatever) and she’s like “what?” And he’s just like “that crab has a foul mouth” (I’m pretty sure this is someone else’s headcanon but I don’t remember)

- Percy ‘worlds most distracting boyfriend’ Jackson will do crazy shit whilst Annabeth’s in a zoom call, she’ll be asked to unmute but Percy is too busy performing the grease soundtrack to the entirety of the street so she can’t

- Annabeth likes to get him back, so whilst he’s doing his Percy things™️ she’ll just flop down on him and either be reading or just doing nothing, and he’ll just be like, writing a letter to Grover or smth (can you tell I didn’t know what he could be doing?) whilst she’s just sat on him with no care in the world

- they have a Spotify blend titled “hoe shit+annabeth” courtesy of Percy and his respect for women (it’s the most chaotic blend ever, but it works)

- they planned to propose to eachother on the same night and it essentially looked like that one Spider-Man meme

This was inspired by a TikTok I saw about book shaped earrings, it clearly escalated

[thetraingotsetonfireonmidnight]

Do u know the ”i chose my path you chose the way of a hero. And they found you amusing for a while…” etc tiktok sound. Or it’s from spiderman originally.

So. What if someone has a quirk that they can show the futute to class 1a and maybe all might. And they see y/n actually saying it to someone. Maybe deku?So he has turned to villain. What would class 1a/teachers think? And what would be the reason y/n did it?🫣

If you want to do character x reader you can choose who.

Interesting prompt! Hope this suits your needs:

𝔈𝔫𝔦𝔤𝔪𝔞

[Class 1-A x reader (no romance)]

Warning: mentions of blood and injury.

Enigma.

He was a mysterious villain that showed up out of no where years ago.

Many theorized that he was the man behind strange and sudden disappearances of random civilians. None of them had anything in common, but they were all killed in a similar fashion. Quick and painless.

More so you.

No one knew who he was or what kind of quirk he possessed, but what they did know was that he wanted Deku and you dead.

You were his main target.

You had to have body guards follow you around everywhere you went.

You were unable to attend your normal classes.

There had been multiple times in the last few weeks when you'd hear a loud bang and immediately duck to hide. You didn't wonder where the shooting was coming from, you knew it was Enigma, trying to take you out from wherever he hid.

The only person you had was Deku, as you two decided to stay close and support each other. It wasn't easy, but you both tried to be as positive as you could.

You'd often catch Deku muttering to himself possible theories as of to why you two could possibly be the main targets. If you had stopped villains that he had connections with, if there was something of yours he'd want...so many theories, not enough answers.

He never seemed to get anywhere.

Eventually, the pros caught Enigma. It was all over the news. Reporters immediately rushed to the scene to get answers. Everyone wanted an explanation.

Though students weren't authoritized to witness villain questioning, they made an exception for your class. You all stood safely behind pro heroes such as All Might, Aizawa, and Present Mic.

There he sat, tied up in a chair. Though he studied everyone in the room, he refused to make eye contact with you or Deku. Almost like he was disgusted by you.

Aizawa was the first one to speak, "Do you want to try to explain yourself?"

Enigma stayed silent.

Beside you, Iida stepped forward, "Are you not going to say anything? You can't back out now! Explain why you tried to kill my classmates!"

"It's not about what they've done." His voice was low and gravely. He spoke quietly, yet that one sentence alone managed to silence everyone.

Ochaco tried to calm Iida down, but all it did was fire him up more, "You've stalked them, terrorized them, and tried to murder them, yet when confronted you can't at least speak to them? Explain yourself villain! What could they possibly have done to deserve this?!"

"You are all doomed if you don't let me kill them...doomed, I tell you."

Enigma didn't respond.

"Why would we be doomed?" Aizawa's voice was calm. He didn't seem to take Enigma's words seriously.

"Yeah, is there something we don't know?" Present Mic pushed.

Aizawa tried a different approach, "What's your quirk?"

"Honest eye...whenever I look at someone, I know exactly who they are and what they'll become."

"Is that why you kill?"

"You should thank me. I cleared out the majority of potential future villains."

If Enigma only killed people who would grow to become terrible people, then...

A chill ran down your spine. Could it really have been true? Had this man been saving everyone?

There had been a popular question that had always been debated; If you could go back in time and kill an evil person while they were just a baby, would you?

The whole idea behind it was that there was no real right answer.

Some saying they would to save everyone.

Some saying they wouldn't because they fear the consequences it could bring.

Thankfully, no one ever had to think about it for too long because it was impossible to do. No one ever had to make that decision.

But Enigma did.

He faced that decision everytime he looked at someone.

You wondered what his victims would've grown up to do had he not stopped them.

Had he made the right choice?

As you wondered about his past targets, you began to wonder about yourself.

"You're doomed," Enigma sang, "doomed, doomed, doomed."

"What did you see in your vision?" Aizawa asked. For the first time during this whole questioning, your mentor actually seemed...slightly worried.

"Cities destroyed. Lives lost. All at the hands of two of your students."

"Young Y/N and Midoryia?" All Might gasped. "No, that's impossible."

A few chuckles were heard, followed by amused whispers.

"Oh please, as if Deku could do any of that." Bakugou scoffed, "He'd break all of his bones, blow up, and die before he'd ever get the chance to kill anyone."

"Very helpful, Kacchan." Deku muttered.

"Do you think this is a joke?"

Everyone went silent.

"Do you think this is funny? The sights I've seen? Oh yes, let's laugh at the crazy man. None of you ever listen." Enigma writhed in his seat, "Let's see if you all start laughing once you see this."

A giant eye materialized before you. Aizawa went to use his quirk, but All Might stopped him.

"Look..."

The eye blinked, and inside you could all see a vision. Enigma's vision.

You circled him, looking at him as if he were a kicked puppy, "Oh get up, Deku. Don't tell me you're already tapped out."

Crumbling buildings, foggy skies. At the center of this horror landscape, lied you and Deku.

Deku sat, his back rested against a rock. He held onto his side in pain, blood spilling from between his fingers as he tried to even out his breathing.

Deku tried to stand on his wobbly feet, his breaths short and shallow. "It's not too late to change. You don't have to keep doing this."

"I chose my path and you chose yours. There's no going back. Why do you even bother? Isn't it tiring always having to be the good guy?" You swept a foot underneath Deku's, and he fell to the floor. "Poor little hero...all alone... with no love or support. The people you're saving aren't even greatful."

"You don't know that."

"Oh but I do. I'm sure your fans found you amusing for awhile...but the one thing they love more than a hero, is to see a hero fall."

"That's not true–" You kicked him in the stomach.

"You've seen how quickly the crowd turns against the heroes. How easily their minds can be changed. What makes you the exception?" You kneeled down, grabbing a fistful of Deku's messy hair. You lifted his head, staring him dead in the eyes, "In spite of everything you've done for them, eventually they'll hate you. Remember that." You dropped his head, letting it land against the cement.

You stepped away, off to who knows where before Deku spoke up, "Will the League...really...make things better?"

You smiled, "Of course."

"I'm in."

The vision ended.

Silence.

"Not so funny now, is it?" Enigma laughed. And he laughed. And he laughed. And he laughed so loud that it was all you could focus on.

You don't remember being pushed out of the room.

You don't remember all of your friends arguing about whether or not the vision was true.

You don't remember Deku avoiding you for the rest of the day.

You just remember Enigma's laughs,

And his promises of the inevitable doom you would bring.

[houseofbrat]

Something like this was always coming down the pipeline. Whatever the reason Middleton’s disappearance from public life eventually turned out to be, it was never going to be something fun. And now we know the precise shape of that darker reality. This video was followed by commentary from journalists and online mouthpieces that anybody who speculated about her whereabouts ought to be ashamed of themselves. Helen Lewis wrote a piece for the Atlantic headlined “I Hope You All Feel Terrible Now.” But it’s not guilt the public ought to be feeling. It’s a more wide-ranging kind of disgust about monarchy in general. I don’t blame Middleton for any of this. She knew what she was signing up for in joining the royal family, sure, but I think it’s right and human to feel sorry for a mother of young children who has received a cancer diagnosis. That said, turning the blame on the public at large is disingenuous. Yes, the speculation online has been insane. People undoubtedly took it too far, with the TikTok sleuthing, the prurience with which many engaged in conspiracy theories about where she had gone. The jokes look in very poor taste now. But it didn’t have to be like this. The manner in which the palace went about handling this situation produced that situation. We’re in the odd but useful position of being able to compare what happened with Kate Middleton’s cancer directly with the cancer of another royal at the same moment, King Charles. There, the palace announced enough information to keep nosy hordes at bay, and they did it promptly. What the palace apparently decided to do here was to allow speculation to reach fever pitch over a period of weeks, release an obviously doctored photo of Middleton, blame her for the editing job, approve a grainy piece of bystander footage of her leaving a farm shop, and patch all of this up by trotting out a woman fighting cancer to sit alone on a bench and tell us, in the kindest words they could write for her, to leave her alone. So, a big part of why this feels bad is that massive public relations failure by the palace. But it is also, to a large degree, an inevitable consequence of the fact of whom the royals position themselves to be, and the friction produced by their status in Britain. It’s important to remember that Middleton is not a celebrity in any normal sense. The Kardashians, people of perhaps equivalent fame, do not owe anybody any information about themselves, although they choose to give out a lot of it. But the royals do owe the public, in order to justify their existence. Middleton is a person whom the palace deemed it appropriate to parade out in front of the world media just hours after giving birth to each of her children, hair done, makeup applied. A person whose job, that which she earns taxpayer money for, is to appear in public: to shake hands, to be photographed, to grace schools and businesses with her presence. And she has to do this in strict accordance with the palace’s idea of what a princess ought to be. Polite, modestly dressed, humble, uncomplaining, smoothed of any rough edges that might constitute a personality. The idea that a person like that could just disappear, and people wouldn’t wonder where she was, is ludicrous. The royal family turns its members into figures who exist purely as spectacle, as glossy, likable ciphers for monarchical power. They have taught the public that they exist for us to see. That’s a hard lesson for people to unlearn.

Imogen West-Knights, "The Hideous Circus of the Monarchy," Slate

[acourtofthought]

My friend is an E/riel and she sent me a TikTok video about the theory that Elucien’s mating bond is fake because of the similarities it has with *TOG spoilers* rowan’s first mating bond.

What I don’t understand is why do they think SJM would do the same story again? It even has similar characters and I do give it to them that a lot of the language used is similar to Elucien, but I just dont understand why/for what reason SJM would copy and paste a story she has already written and explored.

Also, we really don’t have anyone in Acotar that would be obviously benefiting from the fake bond, like in TOG. I think this are just E/riels trying to grab into anything they can.

It disturbed me, what do you think?

Hi @bettdraws!!

It's interesting because I personally see no similarities between Rowan's fake bond and it's setup and Elucien's bond, E/riels just want there to be so it frees Elain up to have her one "real" bond with Az.

Maeve tricked Rowan into thinking he was Lyria's mate so that he would fall in love with Lyria and once Maeve orchestrated her death in order to break him, she trapped Rowan into swearing fealty to her. Then when Aelin was eventually born, Maeve had Rowan as a bargaining chip to force Aelin to do what she wanted.

If Elucien's bond is fake in order to keep Elain away from her true mate or use her real mate against her then hasn't that plan backfired? Elain and Lucien haven't been tricked into falling in love so it's not like their bond is forcing them to do something they wouldn't normally do, Elain is currently paying more attention to Az and Lucien is living with Vassa. So.......what exactly is the benefit to a a fake Elucien bond?

Rowan once said this of his bond with Aelin:

[Part of him had known that Aelin was his mate. And had turned away from that knowledge, again and again, out of respect for Lyria, out of terror for what it'd meant.]

"out of respect for Lyria, out of terror for what it'd meant". Doesn't that sound a lot like how Lucien was feeling about Jesminda in his POV (when Feyre slipped into his mind)? How Feyre notes he hasn't tried to bridge the gap in the novella?

Lucien is fully aware that Elain is his mate but his struggle comes from the knowledge that he believed for centuries that Jesminda was his mate, that she lost her life for loving him and that he'd never emotionally moved beyond that because of the guilt and sorrow of that loss. If Lucien was ready to run right into Elain's arms (regardless of what his instincts are telling him to do), that means he'd have to come to terms with the fact that Jesminda probably lost her life for nothing. If he had met Elain while Jesminda was alive, he may have given things a shot with Elain and Jesminda may have never been murdered because of him. There is probably a very big part of Lucien that feels he doesn't deserve to have his mate because Jesminda will never have the opportunity to have that happiness and it could cause some of his reluctance to try and connect with Elain (despite longing for her).

It also doesn't make sense for SJM to write a story where he was convinced Jesminda was his mate for centuries....only to reveal in book 2 that Elain is his actual mate.....only to reveal 3 books later that neither Jesminda OR Elain were his mates....he's got a third person being added into the mix!

E/riels try to pile so many tropes onto Elain and Lucien when they already have a super angsty setup (mating bond snaps into place while he thought he had a mate and lost her and she was currently engaged to and in love with someone else). That's a big story on all it's own but instead they want to tack on fake bond, rejected bond, etc on top of it. It's extremely unnecessary.

Rowan said this of Aelin (his real mate):

He'd leapt in front of her at Skull's Bay knowing it, deep down. Knowing mates aware of the bond could not bear to harm each other.

Lucien said this of Elain:

"I would never hurt her." A bleak sort of honesty in his words.

Aelin had known, though. That he was her mate. And she had not pushed it, or demanded he face it / because she'd rather carve out her own heart than cause him pain or distress.

That sounds a lot like Lucien right now doesn't it? He knows Elain is his mate not forcing her to demand she face it, he's not pushing her to give an answer, he's basically letting his own heart be ripped out so that she can take the time she needs.

Maeve said this of Rowan's fake bond:

"It was so easy to tug on the right psychic thread that day"

Feyre said this of her bond with Rhys:

I was pulled from sleep by something tugging at my middle, a thread deep inside."

Elain and Lucien said this of their bond:

"Like you pulled on thread tied to a rib."

"There's a bond - it's a real thread"

Psychic thread (mental) is not the same as the physical thread Feyre, Elain, and Lucien felt.

Also, we never met Lyria so finding out Rowan had a fake mating bond with her doesn't impact the reader, she's not anyone the readers connected with.

Elain and Lucien have been on page since book 1 so their story does impact readers.

Having the author tell us that Elucien's bond is fake after 2.5 books would be along the lines of the question someone asked her about Danika in her last live interview.

Someone asked if she was really dead and SJM said that yes, she is dead. That to have her come back to life would minimize the suffering that Bryce has been through because of losing her.

We don't know Elain's thoughts but the bond clearly affects her. She wasn't eating, drinking, or sleeping for weeks / months until Lucien arrived at the HOW. Within 2 days she came out of her room for the first time. She knew who he was and could hear his heart (not just his heartbeat). A day after she began eating, drinking, sleeping again.

She left her room to stand at the top of the stairs as Lucien left for the Human Lands, not saying anything but taking a step towards him after he turned away. She invited him back to Velaris after the war then suddenly freaked out and stopped talking to him.

With Lucien, we KNOW he's affected. He left his home to make sure she was safe. He traveled through Autumn without his magic, risking his life to make sure she was safe. He entered what he thought was enemy territory in the NC, where the most powerful High Lord in Prythian history lived (a HL who allowed others to believe he tortured and was cruel) to make sure she was safe. He spent weeks devastated to see her despair, how thin she was, thinking of ways he could help her. He went on a dangerous mission by himself to support her vision. He fought in the war then RAN from the shore to make sure she wasn't harmed. SJM had Lucien get to know her father before his death. She has Lucien still longing for Elain 2 years after their bond snapped despite living with Vassa and Jurian.

Having their bond revealed as fake would completely diminish how much Lucien has been through for Elain and the struggles Elain has been dealing with as a result of the bond snapping (I mean, one of the reasons her fiance no longer wanted her was because she had a mate). Of course neither Elain or Lucien have been truly ready to get to know one another for about a hundred reasons and that's ok (I'd rather see that in their book) but I think people forget what a huge storyline this has been for not only Elain and Lucien but everyone else as well. The sisters worrying about what the death of Lucien could do to Elain after he left for the continent, Rhys and Feyre using Elain as a pawn (Feyre's words) in order to gain Lucien's cooperation, Nesta going from screaming at Lucien and pushing him as he held Elain in his arms to her finally beginning to accept him, calling Elain a wretch for sitting far away from him, and making conversation with him in SF.

I think if E/riels would read the book out of the E/riel moments, they would realize that the Elucien setup has been one of the major storylines from book 2 (way more page time given to it than any setup that was given for E/riel) and understand why it makes absolutely no sense for it to be fake.

[areinageishisbiggestfan]

Why I personally believe Whit could be the chapter 2 blackened

I'm not entirely sure how to start this, but I'd like to mention that I am in no way claiming this theory is canon. It was originally created and put together on my TikTok (@ areinageishi_) back in May, and I've planned to cover all the details since then, only getting around to doing so now.

I can't say the name of the Ultimate Chemist for personal reasons, so his name will be avoided, and he will be referred to in alternative ways when needed.

My evidence, in order;

To start with the most important evidence, in Chapter 2, Episode 7, Whit, Teruko, and one other person are all seen in the computer lab, until Whit makes the sudden decision to ask to get food. Teruko declines the offer, but both others convince her to follow them to the kitchen, where they meet up with David.

David walks in, has a short conversation with Whit, but within this, he makes two important claims: "I didn't expect people to be in the kitchen at this time", and "I'm not really in the mood to socialise".

This may seem normal, especially considering we found out in episode 11 that David clearly doesn't enjoy socialising, however there's a piece of evidence that completely denies this: either there's no door, or the door to the kitchen is constantly open.

In Chapter 1, Episode 3, Eden and two others are seen baking in the kitchen. Teruko hears this and goes to investigate, being invited to join them, however Eden makes a statement here that she's "inviting anyone who comes by". This directly means the kitchen door is either open or nonexistent, as the door wouldn't stay open without being forced to with a door stop or something of that nature.

By this logic, David would've been aware Teruko and Whit were in the kitchen, but still entered and claimed he's not up to socialising - and there's even more to this scene that I've already explained, that being Whit's responses.

David claimed that "he didn't think anyone would be in the kitchen at this time" - but that would also mean that most likely very few people were in the cafeteria, along with other places such as the bedrooms on the same floor. So why did Whit immediately direct him to the relaxation room?

My answer to that is simple - I believe David is an accomplice in this situation, due to the relaxation room's importance in the murder, and not because of the fish. Instead, it's his very last argument of Chapter 2, Episode 11: "I was near the place her body was found, and during the time she was killed".

If it wasn't for Whit directing him to the relaxation room, David would not have been in there (keep in mind the relaxation room is directly across from the playground) at the time of Arei's murder, leading me to believe that the whole conversation was planned. Whit choosing that specific time to go to the kitchen, David walking in and claiming he didn't want to socialise, Whit's immediate response of directing him to the relaxation room - all of these things point to Whit having choreographed this with David in advance.

You may question why Whit would have sent David there while he was eating, but we don't know that for sure. The only other person with Whit was very close with him (that'll be important later), and Teruko actually left soon after David, making that the end of what Teruko saw, meaning Whit could've left at any time. Along with this, the other person with him reacted in a certain way to David's argument at the end of Chapter 2 Episode 11, making Whit even more suspicious.

There's three other scenes where this sprite/very similar sprites were seen, those being investigating where Levi was injured, witnessing Xander's eye, and obviously seeing Teruko's dying body.

He hasn't shown this sprite when he's just mildly uncomfortable as far as I'm aware, only in extremely traumatic events, and there's two things which could cause that: witnessing death/blood, or even the thought of such happening to someone close to him - and we know he hasn't just witnessed blood or death, leading me to believe the second option.

Now, he doesn't care too much about the majority of the cast. Admittedly he cares a lot more than he did in chapter 1, but the thought of just anyone being executed wouldn't do that to him, but know what would? If the person being executed was the person who helped him through the first time he felt that way in this game, that being Whit.

We all know he's one of the smarter people in this game's cast, making it completely believable that he would be the first to realise it's Whit, especially considering he replied to David's claims about being near the body. Him and Teruko are the only ones who witnessed that conversation (not including Whit), meaning only those two could make the connection to why David was near the body.

Now, there is one claim a lot of people have made as to why it couldn't be Whit: he helped discover the body. However, the rules are worded in a certain way, which makes me believe Whit being the murderer to this case is still a possibility.

There is nothing in this rule to say that they had to discover the body at the same time, infact chapter 1 proves this as Veronika and Arturo discovered the body before anyone else.

This means that if we assume the murder occurred at 7:00pm the previous day, and David would've gone to the relaxation room shortly before this, as long as Whit committed the murder while he was still there (or, if the theory about a mechanism being used is true, David would've been there shortly after if it was activated from the computer lab), this means David would've seen Arei's body the day before the discovery, therefore only two people would've needed to see it (Teruko and Eden).

The secrets are also very important to this, infact it's all the proof I need that David was the perfect accomplice for Whit, and that's the fact that Whit received David's secret. He's known since Chapter 2 Episode 1 that David is a manipulator, and considering he claims he has the perfect intuition for telling other people's feelings, he'd likely be able to tell when he's manipulating people too. That would make David the perfect candidate for an accomplice to Arei's murder.

I'm still unsure how the murder occurred, I do feel that the theory of the murderer using a mechanism to hang the body is interesting and convincing, but I've not investigated too much into that yet - I personally find it a lot more interesting figuring out the culprit by analysing each person's actions.

I'm also not trying to claim Whit is 100% the murderer, I'm simply presenting my evidence, and I believe that if he's not a murderer, he could easily have some relation to the mastermind.

[transsexual-dandelions]

Weekly tag Wednesday !!

Thank u for the tags @spookygingerr and @especially-fuk-u !!

Name: dean :D

Age: 18

Your time zone: EST

What do you do for work: I’m in school right now so nothing, but this summer (probably in a couple weeks) I’m working at a pool store and maybe an ice cream shop

Do you have any pets?: yes!! I have a calico cat named Salem, she’s my best friend and so cute I love her so much

What first drew you to the fandom: I kept seeing clips of shameless on TikTok, I finally caved and started watching it over the summer, and I got hooked ever since (averaged a season and a half in a day), lurked around the fandom for a while but then started majorly interacting. I’ve never been normal about anything I’ve ever consumed, this is no exception (autism goes brrrr)

Morning person or night owl?: night owl baby!! Earliest you’ll get me up is 10am, I’ll go to sleep around 3-4 am (I also have insomnia)

What are your hobbies?: any type of art or craft, I paint, sew, draw, bookbind and just random miscellaneous stuff, my last art project was making spikes for my jacket from soda cans. I also read, like, a lot, mainly fanfiction bc special interest, but also I love non fiction (essays, memoirs, political theory) and some fiction (I love love love horror), I’m a major Jack of all trades, just constantly looking for something new to try

How tall are you?: 5’6” baby!

If you could live anywhere in the world, where would you live?: anywhere warm and with a beach, I love summer and I’m built for it, I’ve considered New Orleans a lot for some reason, maybe California but I also hate west coast culture so um there’s that

Favorite color: yellow !! My and my siblings were color coded to prevent fights, and yellow was my color as a kid and it’s just stayed my favorite, and people always unanimously agree yellow is a color that Suits Me, saying i have yellow and sunshine energy, it also just best on me compared to other colors

Favorite book: this is such a hard choice, im going to say the perks of being a wallflower I think, ultimate comfort book really, but I also love to talk and think about Song of Solomon by Toni Morrison

Favorite movie?: it’s a horror movie called the empty man, it’s SO weird and SO fucked up with the most normal and sane horror protagonist

Favorite fic: I could never choose, one I’ve been thinking about A Lot is the origins of girldadism, but I also love meanest hunk of woman and enemy lines I’ll recommend them till the day I die

Favorite musical artist: I love love love Green Day i could talk abt them forever I’m going to see them in concert this summer and I’m SO freaking excited, honorable mentions are Noah kahan and old dominion

What is your average screen time so far this week?: 8 hours and 10 minutes. Higher than I was expecting considering all I’ve been doing is studying

What’s the first app you open in the morning: Spotify! I need music all the time ever, it helps me get going in the morning on weekdays, and on weekends either tumblr, discord, or Instagram depending on who’s texted me

How long have you been on tumblr: I think this summer will be 6 years?

finally (and i know this one is hard) tell me a fun fact about yourself: I’m learning my third language (Ukrainian) and planning a fourth (French, probably in college (I’m so done with Spanish bffr)) I also make my own recycled paper! I think that’s always fun to mention

I’m tagging:

@mickeym4ndy @astaraels @em-harlsnow @mickittotheman @transmickey

@transmurderbug

@atthedugouts @jademickian @liza420

And anyone else who wants to !! Ur welcome to do so !! And no pressure, you can otherwise consider this a friendly hello, fist bump, dap, and/or an “I’m thinking of you”

[not-goldy]

Dear Goldy - Not - Goldy, I didn't want to disturb you, but you are probably the only person whose opinion I would like to know about JK's TIK TOK account. When Jung Kook deleted his IG account, I was shocked, I admit. I thought: this man is wonderfully unpredictable, uncompromising.

I enthusiastically told my friend about it, leaving out all the context, just the fact that a BTS guy deleted an account that had over 40 million followers. A friend who works in marketing immediately said "they must have told him". Literally: agency. I was outraged. After some time, information appeared in SM that the head of tik tok invites JK to tik tok. I was hoping it was just a joke. and yet not. Shouldn't we consider it likely that the JK's rebel image is a marketing ploy? And that someone taught from a teenager to follow the expectations of others will do it, because the rebellion gene would be nipped in the bud?

"They must have told him- to delete his IG you mean?

Jeon Jungkook was told to delete his Instagram and he did??? Scratching my head on that really. By that i disagree with that assertion. Why would they ask him to delete his IG and not ask the members to delete theirs too?

So he can promote tiktok instead is that it??? Or that's not what you implying with the whole he went to see tiktok big brains part??? If that's the argument, then I recall Instagram messaging him too asking him if he needed assistance restoring his account🤷🏾

He's a huge brand and these platforms want him that's for facts. I wager they'd want to pay hefty commissions to him to keep him on there- but the fact that this was his burner account and not his official account kinda means he sneaked under company and tiktok noses.

He probably doesn't want the attention. His eye 👁 pfp reminds me of my header- it also reminds me of his eye tattoo. Weird.

It's not at all surprising he has a secret tiktok account. We've always said they are among us on secret accounts, engaging with us, seeing, reading and hearing everything. They did it with Twitter, IG, YT, Tiktok, Tumblr- wherever there's army there's BTS. They are watching.

So I wouldn't want to read too much into this or treat it as some conspiracy theory out there- but that's me. I could be wrong so to each their own.

But really what does the company stand to gain from him deleting his IG and losing all that followers. Some people have 1m followers and do you know how much money that translates into for them????

Platforms like IG is often negotiated as part of their brand deals. Brands are not only paying you to use your face and image to promote their Brands, they pay these celebs EXTRA cash to post branded content on their personal platforms.

Jungkook is the only member who hasn't monetized his platform. He is on tiktok yes, but it isn't monetized. I think he enjoys his freedom too much. He deleted ig because he said there was no point in having it if he couldn't do whatever he wanted with it- if I recall correctly. And he said he has no intentions of going back there. He keeps saying that in spite of the financial opportunities that exist on there for him- and remember this is the same dude who risked lawsuits to promote his brother's brand. You'd think a platform such as IG would come in handy if he wants to help himself and others as well.

His rebellious image as a marketing ploy- at this point I squint in confusion. A ploy means its fake and not at all real. Well, it's a marketing ploy if the year is 2009 and Jungkook can't see past Namjoon's thick thighs to stay in the group lol.

Personally I think his "rebellious image" if we should call it that, is not at act. He is in fact strong willed and assertive. The rebelliousness it stems from a lot of things- Namjoon mentioned he went through a teenage rebellious phase which i think is very much normal. Sometimes he becomes rebellious if his values conflict with others. Eg if hybe and the brands' policies conflicts with his personal values. It's not all an act, or persona or marketing- it's him unable to conform his values unto theirs and reconcile those. He has said this over and over. Remember how he said he went with Calvin Klein because their values matched his? They probably aren't breathing down his neck and threatening to cut ties with him if he breaks his family friendly image or gets involved in a scandal. These companies can be so brutal.

He is not a sell out. He stays true to himself always and he's being driven by a strong inner sense of self and a strong moral compass.

He would go with the company's plans and strategies if he thinks it suits him or if he wants to do it. If he don't then he won't- no one can mke him do what he don't like. It's that simple.

the only way he would do something he doesn't want to do is if it's for love i'd assume or if he were contractually obligated to do so.

There's also a recurring theme with him which is that HE IS A FREE BIRD can't cage him, won't tame him, he does and will do whatever he damn pleases. That makes him come off as rebellious. It's what we mean when we say he's Jeon Jungkook. Kinda admire him on that score

Could this persona have been carved for him in the early days? Sure. BUT THEY ALL SAID THEY STOPPED GOING WITH THE COMPANY SCRIPT BECAUSE IT DIDN'T SUIT THEM. Jin even talked about this too.

Recently he asked someone on his live whether they were child- safe to say he's grown up himself no? While in the group he always wanted to be respected and treated as an adult. I'm sorry but I don't think he would avail his strings to be pulled on like a puppet by anyone.

Plus this is his Solo phase. Those personas were fashioned to keep the group interesting. He's not in a group anymore and dont need these tactics. He's outgrown them. and the only persona that sells for him is if he is himself. HE IS THE BRAND. HIM. NOBODY ELSE.

I for one I'm more interested in Jeon Jungkook than any facade anyone wants him to put on.

Also their solo phase certainly impacts the power dynamics between the company and the boys. He can decide be don't want to do solo or music any more and the company won't have anything to say about that. Of course there's still contracts with brands, and record labels and food delivery and he has to fulfill his obligations under those but it's pretty much his way or the high way these days 🥴

I like to think he has more control over his career and life in general now compared to when he was part of a group and just a child pursuing a career in an industry such as kpop. As a member of a team his identity was tied to the groups. Whatever he said and did affected everyone's career and reputation in the group, and in turn affected their brand deals so there was so much pressure to conform and so much censorship of his actions and words whereas now whatever he does dont affects them. just him and his brand.

You can see his marketing strategies though. Participating in challenges, going on live shows to promote his music, sharing links on weverse, filming with members- I don't even think he's leaning so much into his ships as a means of pushing his song. Trust me, he's not compromising himself and his values just to sell a song. He's doing everything by the books. Nothing shady going on here🥴

As usual it's just my opinion. Time will tell if he's doing all this as some marketing ploy.

Now about his Tiktok-

I know I said I won't make fun of him but...

Ian, sir????? KWEN-KWENCHENA SIR??🤣🤣🤣🤣

Why, was Shawn McGregor taken??🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣

Ian Elordi Jackson I'm dead🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣

Please if I hear someone call him Mathew I'm finished

And here I thought him popping out of a coffin was the most white boy thing he's ever done🤣🤣🤣🤣

He's finished. Haters are going to drag the shit out of him for this. They always after him claiming he's trynna be white lmho.

It's gonna get bloody this week prepare for battle guys. We have a captain to protect- Captain Ian Kook

[jewishbarbies]

I may not be a leftist anymore due to their fuckery but I'm still voting for Biden. I will never understand voting against your own interests, Leftists have become just like those right wingers who are poor but vote in ways that shoot themselves in the foot and make things even more difficult. Self sabotaging politics are some of the worst.

they’re so busy looking at other countries and the problems there instead of what’s happening right in front of them and i genuinely think at least some part of it is a trauma-like response.

we’re so terrified because it feels like it’s almost completely out of our control and rights/freedoms keep getting taken away, every day is another waking hell, and it’s just easier emotionally to avoid it as much as possible than to focus on it and freak out. so we cope by busying ourselves with other people’s problems, we say “all eyes on rafah” while republicans sneak anti abortion clauses into relatively normal bills, and we just avoid avoid avoid.

we refuse to vote for Biden because we think it’s the right thing to do for the thing we’ve been focusing on instead, unable to accept that our own reality hinders on this one election. everything we have left will be taken from us if trump wins. it’s another stressor, another sob in the bathroom at work, another reason why we dissociate all day, and our rage for other causes is our only safe way to engage in anything happening in the world right now. because if we look at what’s happening to us in our own country for too long, it all falls apart and the hopelessness takes us over completely.

that theory being said, there are obviously plenty of people who simply don’t care. there was a guy on tiktok who broke it down, i wish i could find it again so i could get the numbers, but basically the amount of people who simply don’t vote in elections is so high that you cannot say in good conscience say that voting doesn’t work because we’ve (democrats) never actually tried it. the times when democrats have actually shown up in full force (like the “red wave” that was supposed to happen that didn’t last midterms) has absolutely destroyed the idea that there’s no point in voting even with a 2 party system. it works. overwhelmingly. but so many people have this idea, like people who drive by a wreck and think “oh someone’s probably already called 911” and keep driving, that there’ll be enough people even if they personally don’t show up. if even half the internet activism we see today translated to votes, there’d never be another republican president ever again. it’s fear, ignorance, and sheer laziness.

[stardustviolet]

“I was at the supermarket, picking up some little pre-mixed martinis to enjoy in the sun, when I sensed the store manager hovering behind me. “Got any ID for that?” he asked, sighing protractedly. I didn’t. “But I’m 30 years old,” I said, motioning towards my face. “See? 30.” He laughed as if I were an over-confident sixth grader trying my luck. “Yeah, I don’t think so,” he said, scooping up the cans. “Sorry, no can do.”

Right then I felt like kicking over a nearby cereal display, spilling Shreddies everywhere. Think I’m a teenager? Watch me act like one, then. But I’m 30, so…my impulse control kicked in.

People love to say “consider it a compliment!” when you get mistaken for someone a lot younger, but I don’t at this point. I graduated from college nearly 10 years ago. I’ve worked as a journalist and editor for almost as long, been in multiple relationships, and navigated intense life experiences. I own a Hetty hoover. I’ve published a book. I remember AOL! When someone says I look younger than I am, what I really hear is: None of that counts. I still don’t take you seriously. Not that people in their 20s don’t get taken seriously, but I’m a different person to who I was at 24, 25, even 26. I want that to show, externally.

I don’t think I actually look physically younger than 30. But—like other millennials—I possibly give off a younger “energy.” My arms are covered in stick ’n’ pokes from my 20s. I look at ease in a cozy hoodie and low-slung jeans. Plus, I barely scrape 5’2”. The way I speak and hold myself hasn’t changed much in the past few years. And I’m not alone in this: my friends, who are broadly the same age as me, could easily be five years younger. My fiancée is a full-time musician with bleached blonde hair and a penchant for motocross jackets. As a kid, I didn’t picture 30 looking like this. My high school teachers were 30. We definitely look different from them. We act differently from them, too.

Much has already been said about millennials’ inability to “grow up.” We’re lambasted for not owning homes or having kids soon enough (who can do either of those things unless you have a hefty two-income household and/or an inheritance?). We’re living with friends and roommates like overgrown students for a lot longer (plenty of my single friends can’t afford to live alone). And things like marriage, or toiling away in the same career, appear to have lost their shine for many. Even so, that doesn’t explain why we don’t always look like the 30-somethings of yesteryear—or why I can’t get served a pink martini in my local supermarket.

I’m not the only person to be mulling this over. TikTok is overrun with videos about why millennials don’t seem to be aging “normally” (“why don’t millennials age?” currently has around 19.4 million views on TikTok). Some have hypothesized that it’s because “tweakments” like filler and botox are cheaper and more widely available now. Others have joked that it’s because millennials “have depression, so we’re indoors all day, and we don’t let the sunlight age our skin.” Still others have wondered whether it’s due to camera phones, and the fact that we see ourselves more often than ever before, meaning we pay more attention to our looks and outfits. Or maybe we are aging normally, we just don’t think we are, so we don’t act like it.

There are likely countless reasons for this time-body-mind warp. One of my personal theories is that our image of a “real adult” is simply outdated, and fails to take more recent style and culture shifts into account. Your parents and grandparents didn’t post photo dumps, wear athleisure in the workplace, or DM their colleagues “lmao” in their 30s. But frames of reference evolve constantly, and that’s what 30-somethings are like now. You don’t just suddenly get a cropped haircut and start saying the word “trendy” as you age. We’re stuck with an image of a 30-something that is no longer relevant. I’m sure Gen X—the Britpop kids, the ravers—didn’t always resemble dads. It must have taken a moment to catch up.

Before I continue, I must add: I’m well aware that age is mostly meaningless, and that attaching labels to a person based on an arbitrary yearly marker is a disservice to their individualism. I know that most people don’t actually “feel” their age, because they just feel like themselves (same here). And I am so much more interested in a person’s mind than how old they are. But that doesn’t mean I am not intrigued and curious about how I appear to others now that I’m in my 30s. I find myself fearful of becoming a Benjamin Button-like character—like when you google a child actor and they look the same as an adult, just weird and with facial hair. Are millennials like child actors? Stuck, and frozen in time, forever?

One of the most frightening things about existing is that the world keeps spinning and time keeps hurtling onwards. Stop, you feel like protesting, I’m not ready yet, I’m not ready. But the universe does not hear you, and it doesn’t care anyway. That’s the great tragedy and gift of living. We all move forward. And one day soon, Gen Z will wake up and they will be middle-aged, and Gen Alpha will have children of their own, and their grandparents will not be wearing slacks and cardigans and taping money to Christmas cards. They’ll be wearing Juicy Couture and Post Malone Crocs and sending skull emoji reacts to their grandkids’ messages.“

[blanketforcas]

A guide to real-person shipping and tinhatting

Most of this can be applied to general tinhatting but I will mainly be focusing on RPS and using examples from cockles fandom. This is based on my experience and what I’ve personally come across. Examples I use are merely illustrative and not meant as shade to anyone.

Let’s get some ethics of rps out of the way first

*disclaimer: this is what I would advise, I know opinions on this do vary

Try to keep it off main as much as possible (ie twitter, tiktok). You can’t always escape the algorithm, some stuff does get seen by the actors. Every actor’s comfort level with this is different, but as a general rule let's say tinhatting stays on tumblr or group chats

Try to avoid stating something as truth unless you’re quoting the actors

This goes without saying, but don’t ever mention the ship to the actors and if they bring it up themselves, don’t forget that’s not a free pass to just say whatever

Now, moving on to some pitfalls and tips

Do some basic research

Is this tweet/post reflecting the truth? Do multiple sources confirm this? Is there video? What was the context? What is happening right before and right after this particular moment? Does that change how you think about it?

When you see a picture you haven’t seen before, are you sure it’s not a manip? Use reverse image search and if nothing comes up, try to look up the event using key words to see if you can find the picture. If it’s hard to find and friends can’t help you either, it’s probably a manip. Obviously also look for signs within the picture itself (strange lines/different lighting on one person/missing limbs etc)

Are you projecting?

We all do it! It’s normal, just try to be aware when you’re doing it. Sometimes actors might indeed be similar to you when it comes to [whatever your theory is about], sometimes not at all. Fact remains you’re more likely to run with it when it’s something you do or feel yourself. Try to ask some friends what they would do/how they would react and maybe you’ll find out it’s less common or obvious than you think.

Confirmation bias is one hell of a drug

It’s surprising how easily a pattern can be found if you actively try to find one. Try to keep thinking critically: do I too quickly add something to the list of evidence because I really want my theory to be true? Does it really belong in that pile or could there be another reason why X happened the way it did?

The more effort it requires to make your theory sound plausible, the less likely it is to be true

Does it need a lot of explanation? Are you having to find a lot of excuses when an alternative explanation is presented? Are there inconsistencies in your theory that are difficult to explain away?

These are all red flags and should make you question the validity of your theory.

You as a fan are always going to be far more invested than any of these actors will ever be

Whether it’s about the show they are on or their social media behaviour, you will always care more and inevitably find details that weren’t put there intentionally.

No, the actors aren’t constantly leaving clues about the show you love (“you’re not crazy” tweets aside) in their everyday posts, they are just living their lives and sharing it.

And no, actors aren’t hiding secret and very obscure messages in their posts about how their relationship is real. They will simply quote Casablanca on the other person’s birthday and assume you get the memo

Remember they aren’t as obsessed with us as we are with them

This ties into the previous point about hiding secret messages. It’s a consequence of parasocialising which is something I talk about later in this guide.

Actors may or may not care a lot about us as people/as a fandom, and sometimes they do like to play with us in a general lowkey sense, but they aren’t looking for a “special” group of people who Get It. They aren’t putting in the time and effort to find a way to communicate with us on some secret code level. An example within cockles fandom I’ve seen is the stoplight system (if you don’t know what I’m talking about, this was an idea proposed by a fan via text messages that Misha could use red/yellow/green to communicate how loud we could be about cockles – the day after, the official Gish account’s activity was seen as possible confirmation Misha actually adopted the method).

Which leads me to my last point:

Watch out for conspiracy thinking

I know, I know. It’s kind of in the name. Tinhatting implies some sort of conspiracy, but this is a bit too simple when it comes to RPS and especially cockles – where you have two people who make a lot of references themselves and like to have fun with it. There’s different levels of tinhatting one can do, my goal is just to try to make you more aware of some of the red flags and pitfalls that I’ve mentioned throughout this post.

Okay maybe one final point about mental health

You’re more susceptible to falling for some of these things if you’re parasocialising hard. It’s something we are all familiar with because how else did we end up in this dumpster in the first place?

It doesn’t need to be problematic – it’s almost inevitable and comes with being a fan. With tinhatting It’s important to check in with yourself from time to time how much you care about a particular theory and why you find it so important.

More generally when you find yourself spending more and more time in these fandom spaces – ask yourself if there’s something else you’re avoiding or feelings you’re repressing that need to be dealt with. Reach out to friends (those can and do include the people you spend all that time discussing RPS with), try to distance yourself a bit etc. Take a step back if needed.

With all that being said, you can still do whatever you want and make your own judgement. I just hope this can help at least one person to be more cognizant of how they engage with RPS. I know I’ve personally fallen for some of the traps and I learned and still learn along the way.

Yes, this is a little bit silly, it’s a silly subject matter. The reason I care so much and wrote this guide anyway, is not just because I like tinhatting to be believable (cause I do, I can’t deny that) but also because a lot of these critical thinking skills are helpful in for example preventing people from falling for actually dangerous conspiracy theories, cults and cult-like group structures, and toxic relationships.

Now I feel like I ended on such a serious note but I want to emphasise of course the most important part of RPS is to have fun – and this is hopefully just a tiny toolbox for when you want to do more of a deep dive.

Happy rps'ing!

[tallcrishorror]

WK10

THE STRIGOI: A Vampire, a Ghost, or Just an Undead Nightmare?

Okay, so this week I went full vampire mode and researched the strigoi, one of the creepiest creatures from Romanian folklore. If you thought vampires were scary, just wait—this thing makes Dracula look like a cuddly bat.

The strigoi is like a hybrid between a vampire and a restless spirit. In Romanian legends, they’re basically undead people who rise from their graves to terrorize the living. They can suck your blood (classic vampire vibes), but they’re also known to drain your energy or even torment you in your dreams. Some strigoi don’t even wait until they’re dead to start wreaking havoc—if a person is born with something “weird” (like a tail, apparently), they could be accused of already being a strigoi. Harsh, right?

Strigoi in Pop Culture

So, the strigoi hasn’t blown up as much as Dracula in the media, but it still has some cool references. If you’ve ever seen The Strain (2014), that entire show is based on strigoi lore, but Guillermo del Toro gave them a modern, parasitic twist. These things are gross—they have stingers, spread a virus, and don’t sparkle (sorry, Twilight fans). Another big reference is in The Witcher universe, where strigoi and similar creatures pop up as monsters you have to fight.

Oh, and how could I forget Castlevania? While they don’t explicitly call out the strigoi, you can tell the creators were pulling from a lot of Eastern European myths, and strigoi vibes are all over the place.

TikTok also loves a good strigoi story. There are all these videos of people claiming they’ve seen glowing eyes in the woods or heard strange voices calling their name. Like, sure, it’s probably just a fox… but what if it’s not?

Are Strigoi Real or Just a Scary Story?

Now, do I think strigoi are real? Honestly, it’s hard to say. Back in the day, a lot of strigoi legends came from stuff people didn’t understand, like diseases or decomposition. For example, when bodies didn’t decay “normally,” people would freak out and think the corpse was sneaking out at night to cause trouble. There are even records of people digging up graves to stab the bodies or burn them because they thought they were strigoi!

If strigoi aren’t literal undead monsters, I think they could’ve been a way to explain weird or scary things people couldn’t make sense of—like sleep paralysis, sudden deaths, or even just nightmares. That whole “draining your energy” thing? Sounds a lot like sleep paralysis demons to me.

But at the same time… what if? I mean, Romania is full of dark forests, creepy castles, and old superstitions. Who’s to say there isn’t something out there that inspired these stories?

Final Thoughts

The strigoi is such a wild mix of vampire, ghost, and zombie, which is why I think it’s way scarier than your basic “I vant to suck your blood” vampire. Whether it’s real or just a way to explain the unexplainable, it’s definitely a creature I wouldn’t want to meet at night (or ever).

So, what do you guys think? Is the strigoi just an old-timey ghost story, or is there a chance something like this could exist? Drop your theories, and let’s talk about it!

Stay spooky, my friends. 👻🦇