#like to be a conspiracy theorist something feels so wrong and off and it’s TOO QUIET

[bioswear]

Not to be some conspiracy theorist liberal hippie piece of shit but like… anyone else feeling like something is Off about the election tho

And before anyone who doesn’t have online media literacy goes “so yOu DoNt care that people JjuSt lost their rights” no I do bc I’m one of those people (proud triple minority), and I hate Trump and the American ChristoFascist plague that’s sweeping the nation and the deep rooted misogyny that American men hold for women and minorities. I very much care I’m also just coping lmao

But also something is wayyyyy too quiet about this election

[hyuuukais]

⋆.˚𖦹°‧✮‧°𖦹˚.⋆ ERROR 404

pairing ~ yang jeongin x fem reader

synopsis ~ y/n starts getting messages from an unknown number after buying a used phone for cheap. as she finds out more about the boy she's talking to, it turns out there's much more to this than a wrong number --- he died, and she's talking to his spirit, yet he has no idea what happened to him. will y/n have what it takes to solve the mystery of his death? or will the boy's spirit remained trapped in his phone?

warnings ~ gen, death, blood/injury, implied child abuse

MASTERLIST | PREVIOUS | NEXT

CH 2 ~ THE PLAYGROUND (wc: 2.9k, 2 screenshots)

Nothing you find online even hints at foul play, or at least, nothing official. There's a blog you come across called Souls of Seoul, a conspiracy theorist obsessed with fishy deaths citywide, and they just so happen to have classified the death of Yang Jeongin, a 23-year-old actor about to snatch his breakout role, fishy. She has multiple posts dedicated to it, but you skim most of them as they repeat information or add details that are a little... out there. You finally reach the final post where she writes an in-depth analysis and theory of what she thinks really happened.

"And then his rival and best friend... ah," you click the continue reading button, wanting to learn as much as you can, but the page refreshes to find nothing, a big, red message screaming at you.

ERROR 404 : PAGE NOT FOUND !

You refresh the page again, but the same words flash at you. Weird. There's contact info at the bottom of the page, but when you try and text the number, your messages don't go through, almost like the universe is trying to stop you from uncovering the truth. At first, you weren't really sure if you believed Jeongin's death was something deeper than the story told, but evidence keeps piling up, making you become suspicious.

On the bus ride to work, you can't help but ponder the strange dream you had last night. You can still feel the breeze on your cheeks and hear the breath in your ear. Something isn't quite right, the air around you too still when the bus is stopped too long at a red light. The bus lights flicker, then turn off completely. You're sitting near the back by the door, watching a man walk onto the bus and gasp at the sight of him.

There's a large butcher's knife digging into his neck, wet blood slick around the site of the wound, soaking his shirt and beige coat red. He pays the fare, sitting down in a seat closer to the front. No one else seems to notice, but no one else is moving either. People around you are frozen in their seats, paused mid-movement. A girl across from you has one earbud in her hand, centimetres away from her ear. Another passenger beside her has just dropped their water bottle, the object half way to the floor. You hand covers your mouth as you take everyone else in, eyes finally landing on the man again.

He's looking at you, seemingly just as shocked that you can see him too. His eyebrows furrow, mouth shut in a tight line as he gets up and moves to sit next to you.

"You're not dead," his voice is raspy.

"I'm not," you whisper, hand falling away from your mouth to grip the pole beside you, fighting the urge to run off this bus.

For all you know, the bus is still moving and this is another lucid dream. The last thing you need right now is to try and leave, ending up in the hospital for leaping off a moving bus. Although this doesn't feel like a dream, you can always tell, you won't risk it.

"How are you not dead?" His fingers brush up your jaw, cold and dry. "What are you doing here?"

"Trying to get to work," you reply, voice shaky.

His eyes snap down to yours and his hand drops. "Oh."

Then the lights come back on, there's a clang of metal hitting the floor, and the man is gone, leaving you with a raging headache.

-

You're distracted all day as you help Changbin catch up on client orders, mind wandering to the man you saw on the bus when you're alone in the back of the shop. Changbin left to watch the front of the store, leaving you to work on a bouquet someone ordered last minute yesterday, thanking you both immensely for doing it on such short notice. The arrangement consisted of white and black roses tied with a simple ribbon, and you wonder what, or who, they were for. Of course, you never asked personal questions, always left creating your own story for each client.

When you prick yourself on a thorn, the blood has you back on the bus in an instant, letting the red liquid drip onto the table. The air is thick, and you shut your eyes to regain focus, bringing your finger up to your lips until you can find a bandaid. There's one in your apron pocket; you really should stock up again and soon.

The question of this man bothers you, and the way he's affected you bothers you more. Why could you see him? Why did time seem to stop? What's happening? You think, Jeongin might know; you should text him.

Y/N : Why can I see other ghosts and not you?

"You can see other ghosts?" You jump, dropping a pair of scissors to the floor with a clang.

"What the fuck!" You whisper-shout, backing against the table.

In front of you stands Jeongin, dark black hair nearly covering his eyes. He's wearing the same clothes as he did in your dream, a blue sweater and black jeans, but they aren't worn or tattered. They look brand new, actually, like he had just bought them. There are no signs of death on him at all, the bleeding and matted hair gone.

"Y/n?" You hear Changbin call from the front. "Everything okay?"

"Everything is fine!" You shout back, not wanting him to come back and see Jeongin- that is, if he can. "Just dropped scissors."

"Listen, I need to bring you somewhere." Jeongin steps back into your view, blocking the hallway Changbin's voice drifted down.

"Can't you see I'm working?" You gesture behind you. "Whatever it is, it's gonna have to wait. I'm busy."

"Please, I think this could help," he pleads, his hand about to grab your arm, but he sees how you flinch back and stops himself. "C'mon, you only die once, and I'd really like to know how it happened. I know you do too."

"You don't know shit about me," you scoff.

"Really? Well-" he huffs. "You're right, but I know enough, otherwise we wouldn't be having this conversation at all right now."

"Ugh, fine, let me tell Changbin-"

"Just text him! Let's go!"

As you sit down on the playground swing, you send a quick heart emoji back to Changbin. Part of you feels bad lying to him, but a bigger part is wrapped up in the mystery of the man sitting next to you. You wonder what other people at the park might see, if there were any people here. It's weirdly deserted, but then again it is pretty overcast. Would they see a girl and a boy talking on the swings? Or would they only see the girl, talking to an imaginary entity?

When you look over at Jeongin, he's focused on the monkey bars with a sad smile on his face. Following his gaze, you see two little boys, one sitting at the end waiting for his friend who's seconds away from slipping. If you were to stand underneath, you could touch the bar with the tips of your fingers, maybe even wrap your hand around one without much effort, but you know for this kid the ground seems a million feet away.

"Hyunjin! Hyunjin!" The kid's feet are starting to kick wildly, panic present in his voice. "I'm scared!"

"You're fine! If you freak out now, your palms will sweat and then you'll fall," the other kid stands, leaning against the pole connecting the bars to the landing. "C'mooooon, I thought you said you could do this."

"I can," the boy, who you know assume is Jeongin, huffs and reaches for another bar. His fingers slip and his body swings back with a twist, the hand still on the equipment slipping as well. "Owwww!"

Little Hyunjin jumps down to his new friend, little Jeongin clutching his red knee with tears welling in his eyes. He's trying hard not to cry as Hyunjin assesses his scrapes, running over to his bag by the edge of the sand and pulling out a band-aid and a water bottle. Jeongin's tears have fallen by the time Hyunjin returns with the supplies, instructing him to stretch his leg out.

"If you don't wanna look like you peed yourself, you'll do it. Then all the water will fall on the sand and not you." Jeongin does as he's told, wincing as he straightens his leg. "Okay, this might sting, but I don't know cause it's just water, so it might not."

"Okay."

The water runs over his knee and flushes the blood away, leaving damp skin and red marks. After patting the area dry with his sleeve, Hyunjin sticks the band-aid diagonally across the wound.

"See? Not so bad." Hyunjin sits next to Jeongin in the sand shoulder to shoulder. "You need to practice landing on your feet."

"I wasn't trying to fall," Jeongin pouts. "I could have made it if-"

"Hwang Hyunjin!" A deeper, male voice calls out, and you jump a little when a man appears in the corner of your eye. "What happened to no wandering?"

"Sorry dad," Hyunjin mutters, standing up and moving away from Jeongin quickly.

"What's that?"

With a side glance to Jeongin, Hyunjin hangs his head. "Sorry sir."

"Better. Now, how about we head home?" It's only now that you hear the slurring of his words, and your chest tightens with empathy for the small boy. "We can... I'll put on that show you like, have some family time, quality time. Let's go."

When Hyunjin doesn't move, his dad sighs, throwing his head up to the sky and placing his hands on his hips.

"Don't be difficult, c'mere." He still doesn't move. "Have it your way."

His dad is tense as he walks over, grabbing Hyunjin's upper arm and practically dragging him over to a rusty car parked in a driveway not too far away. The whole time little Jeongin had been watching intently, taking in the way Hyunjin's cool-guy attitude changed once his dad showed up, the way he flinched when his dad started walking over. Present day Jeongin is watching them walk away with his lips pulled tight.

"That's when I decided to make Hyunjin my best friend," he says, eyes glued to the scene. "Make an excuse for him to be home as little as possible, and it worked. He was almost always at my house on the weekends. We only made plans to go over to his occasionally when my parents would start to question why we didn't."

"Was he really that bad?" Jeongin finally looks at you again with sad eyes, and you already know the answer.

"You have no idea."

-

"Hwang Hyunjin, where are you now?" You're typing his name into the search bar on your laptop, Jeongin looking over your shoulder.

Jeongin disappeared shortly after the memory, leaving you to go home and do your own research. One thing bothered you- how familiar Hyunjin felt. You've never met him, not properly at least. Looking at his photo you realize he's the same guy you ran into at the café, but other than that? Nothing. You shrug off the feeling and continue digging.

"Oh- look here, Hwang Hyunjin hits the big screens this summer with new movie Side Effects, a look into a man's life as he navigates adulthood after the tragic death of his twin sister. Could this be his breakout role... read more... hm," you lean back in your chair. "You both were actors?"

"Y-yeah, we were..." Jeongin slides into a chair beside you.

You're sitting in your dining room with your laptop open on the table. It's getting late, so you know Changbin will be here soon and you'll have to wrap up what you're doing quickly, but there's so much more you want- no, need, to know. There's an itch you can't scratch in the back of your mind saying there's more to this than two best friends with tragic tales.

"We were both auditioning for that movie," he starts, looking away from you and places a palm flat on the table, long fingers outstretched. "I guess he got the role then. I'm proud of him."

"Did he ever get away from his dad?" You ask, too curious not to.

"I..." Jeongin squints, shaking his head. "I don't remember."

With a frustrated sigh, Jeongin puts his head in his hands, elbows on the table. His fingers run through his hair as he tries and tries to remember, but nothing is coming to mind. The problem is he knows there's something- something important, but it's just gone.

"It's okay-"

You're interrupted by a loud knock on your door, the sound of your door opening behind you catching your attention. Closing your laptop, you notice Jeongin is gone again. You wish there was more you could do for him, to help him remember; you can't begin to imagine how aggravating it is for him to have everything just beyond reach.

Changbin is politely toeing his shoes off onto the rack by your door, his hands full with bags of takeout and snacks. Wrapping your sweater around you tightly, you shut the door for him.

"Thanks for coming by," you take a bag from him. "I'll bring this to my room, meet me there?"

"Where else will I go?" Changbin laughs.

Sitting down on your bed, you gently place a wooden tray down for the food to keep it stable. As you're waiting for Changbin, a million questions race through your mind. Something doesn't sit right with you about what you've learned tonight, but you also don't know enough to form a proper theory either.

"What's on your mind?" Changbin sits next to you, shaking the tray just a bit. You put a hand on the edge to keep things from spilling. "Or is it just pain? Oh! Where's your heating pad? Let me-"

"I lied."

"What? About what?"

"I lied about the cramps," you admit, avoiding his eyes. You can feel his stare on you. "I need to tell you something, but I might sound crazy. Remember how I asked if you believed in ghosts?"

"Y/n, where are you going with this?" Changbin's voice is low. "Why would you lie to me? Ditch me at the store during our busiest time-"

"There's a boy I've been seeing-"

"You ditched me for a boy?! Y/n!"

"No! Just- just let me finish!" You snap. "There's a boy who I've been seeing named Yang Jeongin, and he's dead. The phone I bought used to belong to him and we both think that's our connection. For some reason, it didn't work for anyone else, but it worked for me and then I started communicating with him."

Changbin is silent, taking in your words and waiting for you to finish.

"We think there's more to his death than what people say, which is suicide. He can't remember much."

"Is..." Changbin is glancing around your room. "Is Jeongin in the room with us...?"

You snort at his reaction. "No, but I was with him right before you got here. It's like, he just shows up sometimes. I have no way of contacting him outside of texting, but even then he doesn't always reply. Look, I'll try now."

Picking up your phone from your nightstand, you click Jeongin's contact and press call. It's silent when there should be ringing, a robotic voice telling you after a few seconds that the service has been disconnected. Tossing your phone to the end of your bed, you're about to complain about that when it starts to ring. The phone is lying face down, but you already have a feeling you know who's calling. Flipping it over, you accept the call.

"Jeongin," you breathe.

"Y/n."

"What do you want?"

"Who's that guy you're with? Wh- wait, can he hear me?"

You look over to Changbin, who is staring at the phone warily. "Um, I guess so. He's my best friend. His name is Changbin-"

"Yah! Don't tell the ghost my name!" Changbin slaps your arm lightly.

"What? You don't want me to haunt you?" Jeongin taunts. "Listen, I can't talk for long. I needed to let you know that I think other spirits are catching onto your ability."

"Don't phrase it like that! Ah, that makes me sound like some kind of psychic..." you frown. "It's freaky."

Without a reply, the call disconnects and you roll your eyes.

"See what I mean? Unreliable!" You groan, but catch the look on Changbin's face. "That's your thinking face."

"I have this friend who used to be a private investigator," Changbin blurts, looking over at you. "He doesn't do it anymore, but this might just be interesting enough for him to pick up. I'll give you his number later. And not to question you, but how do I know you're not pranking me right now?"

Reaching forward to grab your phone, you pull up a few videos of Jeongin for Changbin to hear his voice. There aren't many out there that you could find, a few audition tapes and personal videos on his socials, but that's it. After, you search for a news article about his death and show him the photo of him they used, one of his headshot right before his death.

"Okay, I believe you," Changbin exhales. "Minho might too."

~

notes ~ i seriously can't wait for the lino storyline u have no idea

taglist ~ @chaeryred @toplinelix @channie-143 @bloomingstay @sona1800 @dollschan @defnotfertilizedtoesw @thisisnotjacinta @kayleigh-28 @kayleefriedchicken @lailac13 @linocvp1d @ilov3jeong1n @mooseung

reply or send an ask to be added (18+)^^^ green means i can't tag you

[tua-five]

Season 2 Episode 10

Today's episode starts off sad. A painful reminder that Ben is gone.

Reginald was cruel enough to blame it on the kids, but at least had the decency to let them have the day off.

I also love it shows that each and every one of them affected the timeline. Even Klaus. How he was named and knew the connection (probably through last name), I don't know. And of course, they think Five was being held hostage and then Five says he does feel like it sometimes.

Which brings another thing to attention. The news specified "hostage" not kidnapped. Kidnapped requires moving the victim, whereas hostage does not. However, that has nothing to do with my point. Hostage also requires the attention of a 3rd party. So they believed that they held Five hostage in order to do something or get something. What exactly did they think that was? I really want to know how far the conspiracy theorists went.

The siblings all had a lot of balls to tell [Viktor] that they won't help [him] and Harlan. For the first time, [he's] asking for help. Admitting that [he's] scared. And they tell [him] they have other priorities. They tell the one who literally keeps ending the world no. Good choice. Also, little do they know that it literally WILL be their priority in just a few measly hours. They make up for it by all joining in the car. That was really sweet.

And wow, I forgot that Ben told [Viktor] to tell Klaus that he was too scared to go into the light. That it wasn't his fault. I almost started crying again.

The only thing I can think of, is Diego should've shut his dang mouth. I mean, I know it would've happened anyway, but still. Diego saying there's 7 of the siblings and 2 of them. Oh yeah, you're right. See what I can do? Boom. A billion commissioners. Idiot.

I am proud of Diego, however, with the bullets. He's never done anything like that (assumably), and it's a lot at once, too. He did it to save his dumb brother that everyone believes got themselves into this mess.

There's a lot going on here, and I'm writing as I watch, so it's a little difficult to find the words to voice my thoughts on this. I'll try my best.

[Viktor] being able to calm Harlan, being able to go into the little bubble that was created, is impressive. It might not seem like it, but it actually really is. That I'd such a huge energy force. Anyone else would probably be dead.

Lila being able to mimic everyone's powers is way too overpowered. And somehow, without practice with any of the powers, she's already stronger and can master them. Despite Five being too tired to blink, Lila was still able to.

Klaus being about to hit the ground, but being caught by ghosts. Another show of his powers and how great they can be.

And of course, Five being the dumbest most idiotic person and pushing a 300-pound Luther out of the way of falling bricks. Luther literally survived a chandelier being dropped on him without a scratch. However, I do know that Five doesn't truly know that, so fine. But still. His love for his siblings makes him dumb.

Another thing about Five. He was too tired to blink with Diego, but then he goes and fights Lila, blinking around the room. There's 2 logical reasons he's able to do this. 1 being, he's had enough rest that he isn't tired anymore (though 2 minutes barely feels like enough time), or 2, he's running on adrenaline now. Out of fear. For himself and his family. He sees Allison dying, thought Luther was going to die (supposedly) by the bricks, etc. He's mad and confused, and he's afraid. He won't admit it, but he is. I'd like to believe it's the latter. That he's running on adrenaline. It just makes more sense.

Okay, hold on..

It seems I have remembered things wrong..?

The siblings are just now figuring out that Lila is "one of them". Klaus says, "Eh, but there were only 7 of us." Somenwhere somehow, my brain went to the hargreeves siblings knows that they are 7 of 43 gifted children born on the 1st of October 1989 from women who were not pregnant when the day began. I assumed that Reginald Hargreeves told them so. However, here, the siblings say that he never told the full truth. That they should consider the possibility of there being more of them out there. Meaning they didn't know about the other 36 children.

I went back to the first episode. To rewatch Sir Reginald's speech after the bank heist. And he says, "Our world is changing. Has changed. There are some among us lifted with abilities far beyond the ordinary. I have adopted six such children. I give you the inaugural class of The Umbrella Academy." So here, he hints that there are more "powered" people out there. However, the siblings now seem to not know that. So Reginald, either gaslit them, and/or they blocked that out. They're kids, so right now, all they're thinking about is the hundreds of people in front of them. The news cameras. The people they just saved and those they killed. The victory of their assumed first mission.

Can we talk about the amazing lines in just 30 seconds?

Luther saying "Love shouldn't hurt this much." Diego saying "I know what it's like to love dangerous people. Difference is... they love me back." Him saying that they can be her family if she let's them. Lila pausing to look at the others, and they all smile at her!! Like they truly will!!?

And then, dang, I did not remember The Handler just killing everyone so quick.

What's so sweet is Lila saying, "They're my real family." To the one she's called mom for so long. She's calling them family after she just tried killing all of them.

It's also sad how I'm sure Five is using his very last energy to go back in time. "Seconds. Not decades." He's dying, a gun pointed st his face, and his father's words echo in his head. And he uses that.

So much can change in a matter of seconds.

He saves his family with the last ounce of hope and will he has. Successfully.

Oh, and may I just say. With how accident prone and apocalypse prone, the siblings are, they should've known to take an extra briefcase. Just in case, ya know?

Cause yeah. "Shit" is right.

Gif collection!

[louisisalarrie]

Am I the only one wondering why we all of a sudden gets so many unseens of Louis and almost all of them being from New Years in Doncaster?

You know, the New Years his kid spend in Doncaster, but Louis went to a bar and left the kid with his sisters 😉

hehehehe yeah nah you’re not the only one. so far, we have gotten these:

(And a couple other louis ones) and no one really knows where they’re coming from. sure, one of them is from a dude’s hinge, and the other we know of a woman on fb who posted the similar photo with the dog, but Harry’s? wtf is happening lol

I think the dads know we are easily distracted, hell the whole fandom knows if a new photo comes out it’s the first thing we all reblog/post about, but it’s weird it’s all appearing at once. if we get more I’ll not be able to put it down to coincidence I don’t think lol. also update accounts are often tipped off with new material too, soooooooo yeah

On this note:

A lot of people have been talking about this line in particular from the 1d post

“When everyone is able to, there will be more to say”

Now, excuse me if im wrong, but im pretty sure they posted their statements preeeettyyy shortly after this dropped. the phrasing of “when everyone is able to” makes sense when you look at it from the way of like… people can say more when they feel like they can after they’re grieving, but idk. when I first read that post, I was like… oh? ok… this looks like it is going somewhere else. they’re gearing up to out something - like breaking contracts and coming out and exposing everything or something. idk… it’s just been really weird, and I can understand why people feel… eerie. I truly don’t know what’s going on.

so combining the unreleased photos and that statement and how MIA the boys are, it’s just giving us all a weird feeling. idk, im getting the kind of feeling I got back in the day when things had been a little too quiet and BAM we got something major all of a sudden. so idk… not tryna be a conspiracy theorist here (LOL) but I do think there’s gonna be a huge shift from this. and I’ll call it now, saying it’s gonna be louis.

while all boys are very industry savvy and very media trained, I reckon louis is fucking distraught and he’ll push for justice. I reckon some really wild stuff is gonna start dropping and while they’re not on tour, all 4 of them (bar Zayn who is going on a short tour in January), it’s kind of a perfect time. It’s when I was theorising bbg to finish anyway, so idk, I’d love to see louis throw some very public hands at SC. but I hope whatever is about to happen is good.

[avillanappears]

godzilla x kong: the new empire

"For most of human civilization, we believed that life could only exist on the surface of our planet. What else were we wrong about?"

okay, I kind of fell off doing this, but we’re back! the best ever tumblr review series that’s written by avillanappears.tumblr.com! I came in not expecting much, but it turns out I really, really liked it, actually! I’m more pleasantly surprised than anyone, godzilla vs kong rubbed me very much the wrong way. godzilla and kong beating the ever-loving tar out of each other was fun, sure, but I have WORDS for the human stuff. I could fill a whole post with those, probably, but we’re not talking about that! we’re thinking good thoughts, about the one I liked!

it’s definitely a fun adventure film. hollow earth was a much more fleshed out setting this time, I loved the varieties of locales and creatures. giant, flying flamingo fish that shoot electricity? kong crossing a rickety bridge made out of the spine of a monster so massive, that it’s kaiju sized compared to him? this is exactly the sort of thing I wanted to see! it was fascinating seeing kaiju sort of “on their level”, in a whole giant sized ecosystem made for them. we got some of that in the atomic time of monsters by @tyrantisterror, and I think it’s such fertile ground to explore. godzilla’s flirted with the idea before in both its netflix animes, but this is them really committing to it. it makes my worldbuilding and specbio freak heart happy. we even got to see more hellhawks! I love those guys.

lookit that face

okay this is going pretty long, but anyhoo, I liked the character stuff too. kong was as lovable as always, you really feel for the big lug. even though he’s a living god the size of a mountain, there’s a real vulnerability to him. he’s just a sad, lonely guy who wants purpose and belonging.

he and suko had some kind of fast, but still very nice bonding. the human side was fun too, they fixed a lot about what I didn’t like from the last movie. jia had more of an arc going instead of just being “the one kong talks to”, bernie was a lot more enjoyable since they cut out the weird conspiracy theorist stuff, trapper was a fun guy. it was nice just seeing someone who loves monsters and weird nature stuff.

skar king surprised me with how personal of a threat he is, they really let him feel like a horrid, nasty piece of work. he’s more than just a big evil overlord, he’s a bullying control freak who wants everything his way, and it makes his wretchedness more tangible in a way.

shimo didn’t get all that much, but I love shimo. I love her, and I can barely even tell why, there’s just some kind of Vibe to her I resonate with. I think it’s how mythical she feels. the oldest of a line of gods, a great being of ice, controlled by a wicked devil….in fact it all felt very mythic. I appreciate that, I love it when kaiju works play out like weird mythological epics.

probably the most tangible complaint I can think of right now is that the godzilla stuff was pretty underwritten. it honestly felt like he was just….doing video game sidequests or something. like, it didn’t have Impact up until the very end when he finally meets kong and SPOILERS SPOILERS. and it feels a shame to kill scylla and tiamat off this early, I liked those two as unpredictable wildcards. with rodan and the others still mia, and two titans unceremoniously dead, it’s starting to feel like the monsterverse is sorta….flattening itself? now that kongs arc is done, I think we need to get back to a godzilla solo or two, flesh things back out a bit. but that’s for future peter to talk about, today we’re leaving things off on a high note. fun characters, dynamic locales, some great monster brawling, this one was a good’un!

godzilla cast monkeys into hell for their sins

[flubnuggetpurple]

Dove Cameron’s Alchemical album is so fucking bat coded I feel like a conspiracy theorist.

(This went off the rails at one point, so WARNING: vague mentions of sexual assault and being drugged without consent)

First song: Lethal Woman.

Cass, all over, right? The bridge is “she walks like a saint, floats like an angel, sharp like a knife under the table”

c o m e o n

Second song: Still.

“Man on the screen, they only see whatever you want them to see” and “Supernova self-erasing, hourglass is always draining”

Could be either Tim or Bruce, but I lean toward Tim because of “how dare you, dare me to love you, if you jump I will too” because whenever Tim decides he loves someone, he’s the ride or die, ends of the earth type, even if they don’t even know who he is. A) how and why he became Robin in the first place, B) The Cloning Thing, C) an argument could be made for the Captain Boomerang thing (but now that I think of it, I think I’m mostly basing this off fanon oh well ontotgenextone).

Song Three: Breakfast.

I will admit out the gate that this one’s a reach, so I’m just going to leave Selina here.

Song Four: Sand.

For this I’m thinking Tim or Jason, for different reasons.

For Tim;

“I saw the end when we began, you couldn’t love the way I can, I tried to bargain with the stars, for more than half your heart but you have more pieces of me than the dessert has sand, and I have less pieces of you than I could hold in my hand” and “our love’s misaligned, ‘cause you’re on my mind every night, I stretch out the time, and now I know why.”

I’m just making it obvious I read the Red Robin run, aren’t I?

For Jason:

“What's worse, being wanted but not loved, or loved but not wanted? What's worse, hearing what you wanna hear, or hearing what's honest?” And “What hurts, is the one thing that you wanna do, is the one thing that you shouldn’t do”

Pre-death Jason, but like, right after the Garzonas thing.

Song five: White Glove.

Okay hear me out.

This is part one of the Dick Grayson saga; the persona he shows to the public. This is Richie Wayne. This is every honeypot mission he went on too young, every woman he’s had to seduce for information (it’s one hundred percent happened before don’t fight me) every source of sexual trauma (that one I’m ninety percent sure is canon) that keeps him up at night.

And this guy’s been a vigilante for over twenty years, he can absolutely recognize drugs by sight, smell, and how they feel when he’s too late to notice something slipped in his drink. He’s felt nearly every strain of fear toxin and every one of Ivy’s pollens. If anyone knows their drugs it’s pretty boy Richie Wayne and Robin.

Song six: God’s Game

This one I’m definitely taking some lines out of context, but for Jason, “Just a boy with a man's face, playin' God's game” is when he’s taking over Crime Alley, pit-mad and trigger happy. “I prepare with so much care, I was runnin', it was stunnin', I am desperate from delusions, not much of a solution, never knowin' what the truth is, oh, God” is when hid plans start to fall apart, when Bruce slits his throat with a batarang, when eventually the pit-madness eventually starts to wear off and he realizes what all he did to Tim, who was a child at the time, not to mention Robin.

He nearly became what the Joker was to him to the next Robin, and I feel like at some point that would occur to him.

Song seven: Boyfriend.

(…Admittedly, I don’t think this one has any grounding in canon and if it does, feel free to educate me.)

So, obviously I could mention Kate Kane at this point, but I know basically nothing about her, so instead I’m going to talk about Steph.

So Steph has definitely had some shitty experiences with guys, right? Like, her dad to begin with, but also the guy who got her pregnant (at like fourteen? Maybe I’m just sheltered, but I don’t think anything about that relationship was heathy—again, I haven’t read many of the comics, so correct me if I’m wrong), then Tim, which, I love him as a character, but didn’t he date her in the mask for like, months, and I have some vague recollections of some dickish things he said (i know i know i need to read more comics)—whatever. Men are shitty.

I have a scene in my head. Like, Steph’s in college, at a bar with friends or something, maybe it’s an under cover op, idk, and there’s this girl she’s been lowkey watching all night. She doesn’t quite know why, but she just keeps catching her eye, and okay, it’s not like she’s never questioned her sexuality, she knows Cass. There have been Extensive conversations with Babs on the subject.

Anyway, so at some point, there’s obviously some sort of argument between the girl and the guy she came with and the girl’s crying, and Steph just Can’t Handle That.

She goes up to her, comforts her, makes a new friend, listens to the whole story.

And at some point, she has the thought.

“I could be a better boyfriend than him.”

She doesn’t necessarily do anything about it that night, but now that she’s had the thought, it won’t leave her alone.

Yeah. So. Maybe I’ll write that story later.

Song eight (last song): FRAGILE THINGS.

Dick Grayson part two; So your mentor (dad) just died, leaving you an angry murder child, another one hanging on by a thread after losing eighty percent of his support system, a grieving butler (grandfather), and a mantle the size of the Most Dangerous City in America. Any direction you move is going to hurt someone, and one kid is more likely to snap and murder people than the other, and hey, if you have to be Batman anyway, might as well let your brilliant kid brother be Nightwing, right? Except, whoops, you forgot to mention that last part and now Timmy thinks you just replaced him without telling him and fuck you knew you were forgetting something and now there’s a goddamned imposter Bruce and—

“Love is like a house of fragile things, where hearts can be broken as easy as antiques, and now there’s glass all shattered at my feet, what we built together, you left in smithereens.”

Anyway. This got kind of incoherent (or maybe it was from the start?)

I accidentally added a poll at the bottom and can’t figure out how to remove it, so.

[thesiouxzy]

Clearly a lot of men are extremely uncomfortable with the thought of a woman President. F*cking idi0ts! 🤬

Trump, Musk, Rogan, Cruz, Vance and any bro type males can all burn! 🔥

I LOATHE them! 🤮 They're disgusting women/LGBTQ haters. They're obsessed with how we live OUR lives & what we do with OUR bodies

"Mind your own damn business!"

We had a chance to make America kind again with Harris Walz but America blew it! 🫠 They reelected a total POS who is an absolute disgrace & embarrassment. WTF is wrong with some people?! 🤦🏼‍♀️

Not to be like “them” but something isn’t right. I’m no conspiracy theorist but something is definitely fishy! The election numbers don’t add up. How can the map be almost all red & republicans take over the house and senate based on all the hope & hype that was going around? Too many were outspoken against Trump yet he wins the race AND the popular vote? 🤔 No way!

I really hope they dig into this because as we know, Trump cannot be trusted. I definitely wouldn’t put it past him to rig/interfere with an election. Remember, liars & cheaters always accuse others of lying & cheating

Here’s my post on how this mess happened imo:

I saw this posted by someone & it’s true:

"The dumbest people you know are going to be celebrating today. Be prepared" 😑

It never occurs to them at what cost to others did they "win"? This isn't a sports game, this is real people's lives. Rights & freedoms are at stake. So many Americans lack empathy. If it doesn’t affect them or someone they love directly, they don’t care. It’s disgraceful & it’s what’s wrong with this country

I highly recommend staying off the internet, especially social media for the next 48 hours. Put on music that makes you feel good, spend time with someone who makes you happy (human and/or animal), go outside & spend time in nature or get cozy & watch a show/movie that makes you happy

Hang in there! You are not alone in your disappointment 💗

I post the majority of my shower thoughts, political & other on Threads, Tumblr, Insta & FB so if you’re interested, I’m “TheSiouxzy” on all social media. Links:

[mosneakers]

Brick: Sorry if this is, uh... what's the word...

Selene: Presumptuous?

Brick: No, I just mean I'm sorry if I'm asking questions that sound like I'm assuming things without knowing much about you. But you said you're used to werewolf stuff 'cause you're around it everyday. I know I caught you off guard at the lake that night but your reaction seemed a little...

Selene: Excessive?

Brick: No, just like... really really intense. I feel like there's gotta be a story behind that reaction, tell me I'm wrong. Selene: No, you're not wrong. But it is a little traumatic. I haven't shared it with many others. I do feel like I can trust you though. Brick: Bro, I got you.

Selene: So it started when I was in high school. I'm not from around here, not really. I come from divorced parents. I grew up in Strangerville living with my mom. My dad lives here in Moonwood Mill. I'd spend every summer with him. I went to Strangerville High-

Brick: Strangerville? No shit, my little brother has a girlfriend who's from Strangerville. I think she went to Strangerville High, too. Do you know Coni Breeder? Hot brunette, but kinda small? Selene: Coni Breeder? Know her? She was my best friend in high school! She's changed a lot since then, she was a hot blonde at the time. I can't believe you know her! So Sunglo is your brother, then? Brick: Yep. That little dweeb. Don't know how he landed her, but they're happy.

Selene: He's a cutie, I see why she went for him. Coni was looking for an intellectual. The boys from our school... well, they were either paranoid conspiracy theorists or meathead jocks who never had any real ambition other than joining the military. We were so bored of them.

Brick: L. Losers. Selene: Totally. [Rolls eyes] I mean, some of them were hot but they offered nothing. I wanted something different. One Summer, I was here in Moonwood Mill visiting my dad, and I got exactly what I wanted; when I met Lou…

[someidiotwithalaptop]

Alright: What the FUCK happened to Summer???

Because something sure did, and every new thing we hear about her gets more disturbing, and it haunts me.

So, I'll start with stuff that's fairly certain and like, small leaps of logic before I go full tinfoil hat conspiracy theorist. We have very little actual info about Summer, nearly all of it from different characters talking about her.

From Yang we get the basic facts from her family's perspective: Summer was a Huntress who went out on a mission and never came back. We also get the characterization of, "Super-Mom: Baker of cookies and slayer of giant monsters."

From Qrow, we learn that 1. She was a brat, which like, honestly STRQ was probably just "oops! all brats" 2. He thinks she would have pressed on if she knew the truth, which, uh, she almost definitely did. "We don't have to kill you to stop you," is not the sort of thing you say to Salem if you don't know she's immortal, that's all I'm saying. 3. Whatever her final mission was, she didn't tell him or Tai or Ozpin. I'm inclined to believe Ozpin when he says he genuinely doesn't know what happened to Summer, since his biggest secret is already out—plus he's been genuinely repentent about the mess his lying caused in Volume 6 and is taking steps to do better in the future. It would feel really weird thematically if he knew and was keeping yet another giant bomb of a secret. So Summer went on her final mission alone, or at the very least, she didn't tell any of Ozpin's inner circle where she was going.

We'll get to speculating about why not later, but I think this point is probably going to be important in Ruby's character arc—whatever Summer's ultimate fate, she got there because she tried to save the world alone, and we've seen Ruby do something similar. Like she's not running off after Salem by herself, but she's definitely trying to shoulder the burden of leading and inspiring everyone to keep going all on her own, without asking for help as that responsibility has been slowly yet systematically destroying her mental health. I mean ffs she's been literally carrying her team on her shoulders for two episodes now.

HOWEVER: Oz, Tai, and Qrow don't know anything about what happened to Summer, but it's possible that Raven might. When Ruby tries to reach out to her and convince her to work together, because they'll have a better chance than if they try to do it alone, Raven says, "You sound just like your mother," in truly the most bitter, disdainful-ass tone I have ever heard. And then she opens a portal for Cinder to throw a fireball at her. Whether this is about a more generalized friction that maybe contributed to Raven leaving, or a specific moment when Summer tried to get her on board with whatever she was doing on that final mission, is kind of uncertain. Or it could be both!

(And it might also be she married my ex bitterness but, admitting my biases here, I hate that fucking trope with a fiery passion and I think it's more interesting if her anger at Summer is actually about Summer.)

Regardless, if Summer did ask her for help, then based on how Raven reacted to Ruby I don't think she got it lmao

And then. Oh, and then. We get Salem!

"Your mother said those words to me. She was wrong too."

"Her again?"

So like. Salem definitely met her. Had a whole-ass conversation with her, even.

And that fucking smile??? Salem did some shit to Summer. It's just a question of what, exactly?

Right. Okay. So after they kill the Hound and realize WHOOPS that was a person and he looks an awful lot like Ruby! and everyone reunites, Ruby says this:

"When I saw its eyes, I knew. Salem used to kill people with Silver Eyes, like Maria. But she’s always wanted me alive. Why would that change unless, when she met Mom, she learned she could do something new?"

Timeline-wise, this seems accurate! But I'd like to also insert TR into the equation. It's a little hard to tell given the uhh, body horror of it all, but he definitely looks younger than Qrow (which is maybe not saying a lot given that Raven looks at least ten years younger than Qrow and she's his twin lmao) and, more to the point, like he's probably younger than Summer.

Like, yeah, hard to tell, but I don't think this man is past forty. And even if he is, it doesn't seem like Salem's had him for very long, seeing as she never sent him after Ruby or the relics in previous volumes. So he's probably an example of what Salem's been doing to SEWs after Summer.

Also, Salem calls him an experiment, and says that so far she's pleased with the results. Meaning Summer isn't exactly a Hound, though I wouldn't say that puts grimmification off the table. Just that it's not in the exact same way he is. And it's worth pointing out that the way TR has been grimmified, it's left him completely without agency and unable to disobey Salem. Even after Ruby blasts the Grimm off his head, he's still left repeating "Take The Girl" over and over without any sign of whoever he used to be coming back to the surface. It's possible that is what Salem is referring to when she calls him a successful experiment.

So the way Salem has dealt with people with silver eyes has gone:

Maria (kill her) > Summer (?!?!) > TR (an... experiment) > Ruby (bring her to me alive)

Adding TR into the mix, it seems unlikely that the "something new" Salem learned she could do from Summer Rose would actually have been, y'know, a Hound. Plus from a narrative perspective, I don't think we're going to have Ruby literally saying exactly what happened to Summer into the camera only for her to turn up, Hound-ified just as expected, a couple volumes later. So, some possibilities:

Ruby is actually exactly correct about what happened to Summer, but she's not going to show up later so there's no reason not to just tell us. Personally I doubt it's this, given the way the mystery has been unfolding over eight volumes and counting. It'd be kind of weird to just tell us instead of showing us, or indeed having the Hound literally be Summer. Also, if Summer is a Hound too then why is TR an experiment?

Summer was Grimmified but didn't survive the process, so she gave Salem the idea but she's not actually a Hound. This also seems a bit odd to me given that would mean she's basically just dead like we assumed, but with extra steps. Like it's upsetting but it doesn't represent the kind of dramatic upheaval to the sisters' worldviews that it feels like this is building towards. It doesn't explain how fucking smug Salem is about the whole thing.

Summer was Grimmified, but didn't actually lose any agency. This would explain why Salem is still experimenting, and why she's so pleased with TR—he's even more singleminded in carrying out her goals than Tyrian is. It also fits with the way the Grimmification worked on Salem. Even after she jumped into the goop, she was still very much herself—it's possible it influenced her, but she was definitely capable of showing love and affection to both Ozma and her daughters. She just, uhh,,, was also willing to try and murder them. But it's unclear to me how much of that was Evil Goo and how much was just that there's no way a human being spends any significant length of time as the Last Woman Alive without some unpleasant side effects. We're social creatures and we do not generally do well when completely deprived of company.

Summer wasn't Grimmified at all, the whole Hound thing is a red herring.

In either 3 or 4, regardless of how much body horror happened, Ruby is wrong about what happened to Summer. And in order to not undercut that moment of utter despair at what probably happened to Summer... I feel like what actually did happen has to be. like. worse.

AND IT'S A TAD DIFFICULT TO GET WORSE THAN THE HOUND.

So. Time to put our tinfoil hats on: what if we add an element of horrible betrayal?

Yes this is a Summer-joined-Salem conspiracy post.

But hear me out okay! Circling back a bit, why wouldn't Summer tell any of the inner circle where she was going? If she talked to anyone, it was Raven, who had already noped the fuck out by the time Summer went on her final mission. Now, if it was just Tai and Qrow I'd say she might've kept it from them for the same reason everyone always keeps that secret—she didn't want them to lose hope. But... Ozpin already knows. There'd be no reason not to tell him what she was doing, unless she knew he'd try to stop her.

Now: my goal here is to make all this make sense, without altering the first foundational piece of characterization we get for Summer. Namely, "Super-Mom: Baker of cookies and slayer of giant monsters." I'm not saying Summer learned the truth and went, welp, if you can't beat 'em join 'em. Because both Summer and Raven tend to act as foils to Ruby and Yang, and "gave up immediately" doesn't feel like an interesting foil to Ruby's perserverence. But, if you find out that there's an existential threat to the entire world, and she can't be killed...

Isn't it worth trying to negotiate?

Especially if, say, you were absolutely desperate to end this war in your lifetime. Because Summer knows that if it's really impossible, if Salem can't be stopped, then Ruby will get dragged in whether she likes it or not. All because of a trait that Summer passed down to her.

Salem's been killing people with silver eyes, probably for millenia. It's easily possible that Summer had her own visit from someone like Tock, or noticed the same thing Maria's father did, that there's a suspicious lack of people with silver eyes considering how useful they are against the Grimm. As long as Salem is a threat, Ruby is going to be in that same danger. Forever.

So she has to do something, right? If there's even the tiniest chance she can end this now, before Ruby will ever have to suffer for it, before she gets pulled into an impossible war and Yang comes charging in after her, because of course she's going to try to help her sister... isn't that a chance worth taking?

This is why I think Raven knows some shit, by the by—when she's telling Yang about Salem, she actually kind of indirectly drops the same bomb that went off in Volume 6, it's just that she didn't do it in the same explicit terms that Jinn did. "She can't be stopped, she can't be reasoned with, and she will not rest until Humanity crumbles at her feet."

"Can't be stopped" is Raven's translation of can't be killed, since "We don't have to kill you to stop you" seems to be a flavor of terrifying exclusive to Ruby and apparently Summer. But "can't be reasoned with" implies that somebody tried. And like, let's be honest. Do we really think Raven was the one who decided to give diplomacy a go?

Not to mention this line, which I'm like 90% sure is referring to Summer:

"Or... you can go back to Qrow and join Ozpin's impossible war against Salem, and meet the same fate as so many others."

It really seems like Raven knows something she's not telling us. Like, if that is a reference to Summer's fate, does that mean Raven knows what it is, or is she just speculating like everyone else? Does she have a portal to Summer, and is that giving her information the others don't have? All that, combined with the fact that she's also way more bitter about Summer than everyone else, seems signficant.

Anyways. Let's say Summer decides to have a chat with Salem.

She can't tell Ozpin. He'd try to stop her, because he'd see it as a suicide mission. Qrow or Tai both might tell him, or agree with him and get in her way, so she keeps it from them too. Maybe she goes off completely by herself—or maybe she goes to Raven, because she's the only one who might be able to help who Summer knows won't breathe a word of it to Ozpin. Either way, Raven doesn't help her. She's not getting anywhere near Salem.

And then... well. Salem got here by manipulating people, by swaying them to her cause. Summer asks her what she actually wants out of all this. Isn't there some way they could resolve this without this endless war, all this endless death?

Important to note, I don't think we've heard Salem's motivation in her own words. At least, not since the Lost Fable, when she wanted to rule with Ozpin as the new gods of Remnant. I think it's safe to say at least a few things have changed since then. Closest I can think of is what she says to Cinder in Volume 8, "In pursuit of a new world, no cost is too great." Which is ominous, but also quite vague, and says nothing about what she plans to do with the relics.

Instead, we get a whole lot of people guessing. Ozpin thinks she wants to die. Tyrian thinks she wants to destroy the world. Hazel and Mercury think she wants to remake it, with no Huntsman Academies, with them as the new top dogs.

There's a pattern here—Salem never actually says what she wants, and other people have a habit of projecting their own motives onto her actions. Ozpin wants to die, Hazel wants to destroy the Huntsmen Academies, Mercury wants to be the one with the power so he's not getting hurt, and Tyrian's just in it for the chaos.

And it's not like Salem hasn't done stuff like that on purpose. By the time she started growing her army against the gods and telling people they would all steal immortality like she did, she'd already tried to kill herself. She didn't want immortality. She just let people think she did, because it was more convenient for her.

So if this agent of Ozpin's comes to her, absolutely desperate for a way to end the fight before it can come for her daughters, well... why not just tell her about the gods? About how Ozpin plans to one day reunite the relics, and submit Remnant to their judgment? About what might happen if he does?

(TBH I don't think Oz will ever do that, not because I think he's decided not to or anything like that, but because I doubt he'll ever see a humanity united enough for it to be worth trying. We're an argumentative bunch.)

But like. To Summer, all of a sudden there's this other, even bigger existential threat. And Salem isn't like Ozpin. She does have a plan! She wants to destroy the relics, so that the gods can never be resummoned, because of course she hates them and so she would never want them to come back!

(Again, not saying this is actually true, my best guess is that she's trying to bring them back so she can fight them again slkdfjlskdj)

And then, if they succeed, not only will the gods not be a threat anymore, Salem won't be a threat either. She'll have gotten what she wants!

"This can all... be... over..."

Summer has to finish this. There has to be a way for her to do this by herself, to save everyone, to put a stop to it all in time to protect her children! (Raven can't be right, it can't just be hopeless!)

From there, all Salem really needs to do is be a bit careful how much she tells her other followers about what she plans to do—which it seems like she has—and eventually find a way to either hide what relics she has or convince Summer that she's trying really hard to destroy them, definitely, pinky promise!

(And, as an aside: if true, it's very possible that the reason Salem's so insistent on keeping Ruby alive isn't that she wants to turn her into another Hound, but rather that was one of Summer's conditions.)

All this, of course, may or may not come with a sprinkle of Grimmification. Because why not add some body horror to the good old-fashioned betrayal horror! Though, if I'm right and not going completely off the wall here, I suspect it's probably more in the vein of Cinder than TR. Namely, like, consensual.

Regardless, it definitely feels like Summer has been idealized to a point that's just sort of... begging for trouble. She's the perfect Huntress. The best of us. The one who would have pressed on. And like, historically putting people on pedestals like that has not gone well in this show (see: Pyrrha). Not to mention the way trying to be the perfect Huntress that Summer was has been affecting Ruby over the years.

Also, definitely totally unrelated to all of the above: I think paragons that turn to evil despite or indeed because of all their wonderful paragon qualities FUCK SEVERELY and I would like to see it.

[moriarty1234]

T*LC Refutation (but decidedly NOT Johnlock refutation, because that definitely was a thing.)

Part- 1: Introduction.

[Note: I love and ship johnlock because I saw it for myself in the show when I watched it and was part of the general audience in the past. I even want it to become canon in some Holmes adaption in the future. But T*lc needs to get sucked into obscurity and forgotten. Other fandoms like Good Omens, etc., are following the same rhetoric in their "meta" posts, and that needs to go. This is crucial for our basic critical thinking skills and objectivity.]

Alright, folks. Let's talk about the logical fallacies, and how most of the t*lc metas are flawed to their core.

Not to beat the dead horse here, but I entered the fandom in late 2021 (after having watched BBC Sherlock a year ago). I'd started to ship Johnlock as soon as I entered the fandom (because that's what I saw on the show independently, as part of the general audience in the past, even though it was on a subconscious level at first).

I discovered T*LC in December, watched and read metas about it, became a T*LCer myself (albeit briefly - for like a month or two), and then I grew out of it.

I grew out of T*LC because while the meta posts were seemingly clever, I always thought there was something off with most of them. I didn't have much vocabulary related to critical thinking skills back then (because English is not my first language), so I couldn't put my finger on exactly what was wrong with them.

I reluctantly and falsely assumed they must be right just because I couldn't come up with effective counter-arguments then (what a flawed way of thinking). I just thought that this thing (t*lc) was not my cup of tea (ha!).

I continued to ship Johnlock though. I still do it wholeheartedly. I'm no longer part of the BBC Sherlock fandom, but I do still ship Holmes/Watson enthusiastically in various other Sherlock Holmes adaptations.

In the meantime (i.e., from when I dropped the idea of t*lc like a hot potato to the day I decided to exit this fandom for good), I did a lot of research.

Research related to what the fandom used to be like throughout different eras when the show was still on air (through sources such as old posts on Tumblr/other social media platforms, Sarah Z and hbomberguy's videos on t*lc and the actual show criticism respectively), and also research about how the rhetoric of most conspiracy theorists looks and sounds. I've read about articles on science vs pseudo-science as well (I come from a science background myself, so those articles were helpful as a refresher for me).

I also read a lot about cult psychology and how it can be used effectively to lure anyone in.

T*lc checks all the boxes of flawed ways of thinking, various logical fallacies used to prove or disprove something, pseudoscience, a typical conspiracy theorist's rhetoric, and a cult group's way of thinking in real life.

When I use these terms, I do not throw them around lightly. I've read a lot about this along with my friend, let's call them Kim. For context, Kim also comes from a science background. They ship johnlock too.

I know the comparison of T*lc with a religious cult in real life has been done to death, and same is the case with the comparison of t*lc with any other outlandish conspiracy theory out there. It's just that I've been bottling up my thoughts and feelings on this thing for way too long. I can't do that anymore. Just bear with me if you find something repetitive.

Kim and I read about all these things on the internet, had a lot of long discussions for months altogether, and now I've personally decided to share our conclusions with anyone out there who stumbles upon this post.

This blog is a few days old, and I'm the only person behind this, so I don't have many followers just yet. I'm not even expecting anything from anyone. If you see this post, I just want you to read it with an open mind and act according to your judgement afterwards.

Now that we have the whole context with us, let's begin.

Part- 2 : What's wrong with their actual meta posts?

T*LC (but NOT Johnlock as a whole) refutation master post.

[milfbrainrot]

ramblingg

reblogged a post earlier from a historiany person about how distrust in historians online is really fucked up and how standing against it makes actual historians come off as killjoys and they are so right. "historians don't want you to know this" or blanket "historians will say they were just friends" sentiments are harmful, esp in the rise of people opting to believe conspiracy theories over institutional research. of course biases seep through, of course some historians are going to go the "they were friends" bs because all people within a field of study are going to be varied, but we wouldn't know there's anything to """lie""" about in the first place if other historians weren't educating on opposing takes or evidence.

anywayyy i added some tags tho about how historian attitudes while making these corrections can sometimes... end up causing a loop of hostility when done too rudely, then deleted bc i figured it was not the time or place lol. and without the context of my own history almost becoming a humanities girlie it probably wouldn't have not come off right. but also. i do think about it a lot. not just historians, but i suppose i have the most examples for it.

when you go into a specialized field of study you are going to become more knowledgeable on it than the average person. that is the point. it becomes your job to hold this knowledge because not everyone in the world can hold it, and there is knowledge you aren't going to hold because you opted to study this thing instead. it has to realistically be a community effort to help keep facts alive. we need to be cognizant of not spreading misinfo or chase gut feelings about not having all the facts, but a lot of times there's no reason for someone to realize they're wrong about certain things.

so i think it is reasonable to expect people to make mistakes like equating heiroglyphs to emojis or calling baroque composition renaissance. when those posts or term misuses become super widespread i'm sure that is frustrating and it does need to be corrected if there's an opportunity to. and it can put a damper on the fun to have someone come in and shift things, but hey if the basis of a joke isn't true then we deserve to move onto jokes that are grounded in more accurate comparisons. it's great to learn more.

us being receptive to that teaching is just one side of the coin. historians or whatever specialist is coming in to correct have to understand that a well-intentioned misunderstanding or misuse of a term from an average person, who by definition of being average would not have learned this specialized knowledge, is not a personal attack on them. you are not your field. so if you do jump onto a post swinging about how annoying it is to see misconceptions pushed like this, people are going to get annoyed lol. you are, in that setting, being a killjoy because you're being a dick to people who have no reason to have known otherwise that they were wrong about something that is, frankly, a low risk thing to be wrong about typically.

malicious history rewrites or more overtly harmful skewed facts deserve outrage, of course, but when most of the interactions the average person on here sees from historians might be hostile attacks about how stupid we all are for not knowing renaissance isn't baroque, it doesn't inspire much desire to learn more... and you aren't really representing yourself or your field very well. you are not doing a very good job of being humanity's communal knowledge holder here if you're alienating people from knowledge when delivering it.

again, it is also up to us to do what we can to curb misinfo and to understand that one person does not represent the entire field. critical thought, etc. it is just a two-way street too.

basically i just wish people could understand "historians/scientists/whatever are lying to you!!!!!" bullshit IS a personal attack, or some conspiracy theorist positioning themselves as more of an authority than scientists does deserve outrage because that's so harmful! but "omg isn't it crazy that emojis are like modern day hieroglyphics" is... not a personal attack nor is it all that harmful on its own, and it is kind of weird to treat it with the same offense as the prior examples when understandably stepping in to correct or elaborate lol. if anything you'd think those would be opportunities to talk about what you're passionate about.

[peachviz]

I finished Picard so you know what that means. It’s a Picard wrap up post:

(this one may contain hot takes bc ik the series is split on mixed reviews)

Season 1 - beautiful. Made me ugly cry. Sucks that i saw Data die twice (but if i had a nickel for every time that happened…)

- Picard still dealing with PTSD of being Borg i love that continuity

- Seven is a badass but seven did not have to have character development at the risk of killing Icheb. Out of all the deaths in Season 1, that one was so pointless. But given the previous actor of Icheb’s conduct i think that may have been a benefactor idk im not a conspiracy theorist

- Data has daughters??? We love to see it

- Narek was useless we could have done without the male manipulation

- Riker being a happy dad (idk wtf was going on in season 3. We didn’t have to forget him making pizza. He and Deanna always have a kiss and makeup storyline can’t we just have the Riker that makes pizza and smiles)

- I cried the most with this season, out the gate just full on ugly cried. Data getting a beautiful ending, Picard overcoming death, Seven returning, good elements

So then why was Season 2 lowkey a clusterfuck. Random and confusing at times

- seven is still a badass, but oh no Star Trek is starting to suffering from Star Wars syndrome. It’s the one where they overcorrect their wrongs by making women bad asses, but then that’s all they are, badasses with suffering

- Q dying was dumb sorry im with de lancie on this one they could have involved Q without the weird dying storyline just kiss and make up, Picard “you matter” “all gods have favorites, and you’re one of mine” too much yapping not enough hugging like come on (i did love that line)

- Seven and Raffi are the couple of the season

- Elnor dying almost made me turn it off

- I found Rios boring sorry

- Wesley is in his River Song era, really didn’t understand it but ok I’ll bite

- Laris and alter ego not Laris was also boring really don’t understand it and did not see chemistry with Picard and clearly pointless bc she never shows up again at the end of s3 (once again too many cooks in the kitchen with too many characters. Star Trek is still suffering from that thing they do where they introduce a character and then phase them out or quit talking about them abruptly)

- Jurarti showing the Borg queen the power of friendship and love…….just for the Borg queen to retcon all that in season 3 but I had to sit through that was unbearable

Idk overall I didn’t really like Season 2. I thought it was the weakest season with the weakest storylines and characters. And as much as it pains me to say this, Beltran was right (just threw up in my mouth a little) in rejecting a Chakotay involvement. It’s just unnecessary fascism and he was right Prodigy is the superior storyline for Chakotay

Lastly, Season 3

- I just want to start out by saying I liked it I genuinely thought it was gonna be a lot worse than it was bc of the way people were so split on it

- I’m not mad about Soji not being in this season. While I feel like it is necessary for her and Data to connect and finally have that interaction, it would have been overshadowed by everything else going on in this season. Same with Elnor. There wasn’t really a place for them.

- Sidney and Jack are kinda cute af a Picard/LaForge pairing would be something to see

- They lowkey sidelined Seven, but once again she was getting overshadowed

- Not really thrilled with what happened with Ro Laren. I’m not even gonna get into it bc I’ll just get pissed off.

- Jack did read as a self insert at times BUT I found him compelling. I don’t really find him a Mary sue, people said the same thing about Wesley way back when too. Idk Beverly is just blessed with arrogant perfect children

- His storyline was the finale after all the show was about Picard and Picard passing on the baton and what he learned. The theme was constant, it made sense with the whole Locutus storyline. Maybe that’s controversial but idc I liked it. Picard would have been a good father.

- There wasn’t enough focus on anyone else, but I think that’s was at the request of Patrick Stewart. There were terms he agreed on to return it’s in his book. He withheld on having the entire TNG cast return because he wanted something fresh and something focused on Picard. And honestly? There wasn’t room, everything was overshadowed by this storyline.

- After this, we don’t have to touch the Borg. We are so fed on Borg shit we don’t ever have to come back to the Borg. I’m so over the Borg

- Wish the changelings had kept their old form. It was cooler. I miss Odo. Rip René

- We are still underutilizing Worf but I forgot he can’t have too many scenes when Riker’s around.

- I know it hurts to see something change from what you used to know and love. I just don’t want to deal with the same discourse as I do in the Star Wars fandom. It’s exhausting and I miss civil discourse. There are some critiques to be had for new Trek but I’m always wanting new content. Maybe it’s time to explore a new ship and crew. No callbacks to old characters idk. There’s an edge to starfleet that has changed over time that I find interesting, that I found interesting in DS9.

Overall, it brings interesting concepts. It’s not all perfect, but it’s starting a conversation. Some of the gore was unnecessary and there were a few deaths that didn’t have to happen as a literary device. Im really hoping once the Picard movie is off the ground, we can have a lighthearted mission or something bc bro yall clowned insurrection saying it was “just another TNG episode” like we don’t need that rn

As much as I love the Janeway content and mentions, and appreciate that voyager fans are finally being fed there is so much untapped content in DS9. I just don’t understand why we can’t incorporate it. I’m begging you on my hands and knees, writers, please please please everyone wants it give the people what they want please please I need to see Kira I need to see Bashir I need to see Garak like come onnnnnn

Most of this is pretty scrambled bc it’s a lot to process bc each season is its own storyline.

Current Captain ranking:

1. Sisko

2. Janeway

3. Picard

4. Pike

5. Seven of Nine

6. Kirk

7. Freeman

8. Riker

9. Shaw

Current Series Rankings

1. DS9

2. TOS

3. SNW

4. TNG

5. PICARD

6. LOWER DECKS

7. VOYAGER

Some changes in the rankings for both. Picard brought the TNG ranking up from last place. Voyager sank lower for me because the longer I sat with it, the more I realized I didn’t connect with it like I did the others.

(THESE RATINGS WILL CHANGE SIGNIFICANTLY ONCE I FINISH PRODIGY)

now to finish prodigy, start discovery and then take a break before enterprise

[religion-is-a-mental-illness]

By: Adam B. Coleman

Published: Sep 1, 2021

Our black intellectual elite has embraced a white supremacy conspiracy theory

Why are people attracted to conspiracy theories? What makes them so intriguing that usually rational-minded individuals will suspend all disbelief to embrace an embellishment? For myself, it was the absence of information that made the conspiracy plausible. For a brief period of time in my 20s, I embraced 9/11 conspiracy theories. I felt that there were too many coincidences about odd events and that there were too many unanswered questions. I was certain that it was an inside job in order to kick off endless wars in the Middle East to forcibly seize oil for profit.

Today, I don’t believe in these conspiracy theories for multiple reasons. For one, I believe that most negative actions on a grand scale are not necessarily done out of malice but out of incompetence or carelessness. Just because there is a pattern does not mean that it is intentional. Even if I have unresolved questions about the pattern, this does not mean that there aren’t legitimate answers to explain it. 

The pattern aspect of this is extremely important to home in on because the human brain is designed to notice patterns and these patterns are highly salient to the mind in its information processing. However, what happens if someone presents information that is flawed in a pattern format? I believe that most people will choose to believe the pattern instead of questioning the information. This is how conspiracy theories flourish throughout our society, because once you see the pattern, it’s hard to unsee it.

The image of the conspiracy theorist staring at their bedroom wall with strings connecting one document to another is supposed to illustrate that they are using their logical brain, problem-solving by moving from facts to a pattern, but it is just as likely that they are working their way backwards, because they already have their conclusion—they’re just looking for any available links to the conclusion.

Much the same can be said for the people we hail as our intellectual black elite in academia. The people who show up on television shows and podcasts, giving the impression that they are intellectually sound by flaunting the institution they teach at or graduated from. Why would I, the average simpleton, dare to question their credentials when they’re using theoretical academic jargon? At times, it feels as though they’re intellectually bullying us, but it’s more likely that our own academic insecurity causes us to accept uncritically or to let slide whatever these people say.

Because we tend to feel insecure when someone shows up with an erudite vocabulary, we let them command the room. We stay silent as they speak for everyone else, or worse, we believe them regardless of what theories they’re pushing. Even if, instinctually, we feel that their reasoning sounds wrong, we still give them the benefit of the doubt because of their credentials.

Over the past few years, I’ve soured on being impressed simply by someone’s academic status, and now I care more about the content of their rhetoric. I’ve personally pushed back on black intellectuals’ narratives, ideas, and theoretical presumptions about reality. I’ve realized that there is a possibility of overthinking something to the point of having your theory escape reality. Many of these people have an Empire State Building-sized hubris, so once they adopt a theory, they ignore any challenging counterargument, much like the conspiracy theorists that I mentioned earlier.

The majority of our black intellectual elite has embraced the white supremacy conspiracy theory without challenge and without nuance. They’re sure there is no other explanation and they take any challenge to their conspiracy theories as evidence that you are working on behalf of the conspiracy. If you’re attempting to disprove the 9/11 conspiracy, you’re assumed to be an agent of the state. If you attempt to disprove the white supremacy conspiracy, you’re assumed to be an agent of ‘whiteness.’

The white supremacy conspiracy theory claims that everything in American society was created for the benefit of white people, and as such, any disparity between white people and minorities is due to that racist system. This conspiracy is a catch-all for any social issue, any historical event, and any negative outcome for black Americans.

The black intellectual elite are now officially the conspiracy theorists of the black community. They have the intellect to understand the complexities of social conditioning and human behavior, but they lack the willingness to accept that they might be wrong. When you spend your entire academic career believing in one particular concept, you will fight tooth and nail to ward off common-sense arguments against it. 

The black intellectual elite of the past used to be secluded in lecture halls across the country, but now the American public are their new students to indoctrinate. We are now unwilling auditors of their conspiracy theorizing, and we are aware of the elephant in the room that prevents us from pushing back—their race. If you are white and point out their flawed logic, you will be cast as a racist for challenging a black intellectual. If you are black and point out missteps in their thought process, you are accused of simping for the white man. For these black intellectuals, their race is used as a defense mechanism to protect their ego, fame, and profits.

These black elites don’t like to explain how they were able to make it to such great heights in this allegedly unfair white supremacist society. They never disclose their net worth while preaching about how they are victims. I’ve become very aware of the irony of these buttoned-up, wealthy black intellectuals telling lower class black people that because of white supremacy, they can’t do what they, the intellectuals themselves, did. Many of them wag their finger at white people as a whole as they are literally going to bed with a white person every night. They are walking contradictions because their conspiracy has no teeth—certainly white supremacy isn’t biting them. 

They are able to get away with espousing their conspiracy theory because there is a kernel of truth in it. No one could ever say that racism never existed or that the American government during part of our history didn’t have racist laws. But the trick of any conspiracy is that it is based on a truth, but one that is exaggerated to the point where it becomes untruth. Conspiracy theories overlook all the nuances of a particular situation in favor of apparent patterns. When such patterns rule, facts and nuance die.

[papirouge]

NEVER forget despite what pathological liars say, mainstream medias were in their vast majority, pro Amber.

Social media/the people, on the other hand, was siding with Johnny.

That's why so many pro Amber freaked out at the actual hate movement against Amber : they simply cannot stomach the fact that media don't control people anymore and that the common citizen can now make their own voice heard (no pun intended) loud and clear.

It was very interesting to see pro Heard complain about "the media circus" surrounding this case, as if the "society of spectacle" wasn't already a well documented observation of modern communications dynamics for the last few decades - and most importantly, not exclusive to the Depp v Heard case or society's (alleged) rampant misogyny.....

They precisely act like legacy medias which, feeling their power & influence significantly lowering by the time, attempt to remove any credibility to grassroot reinfo movement, calling them conspiracy theorists, fake news, etc.

... this reminds you of something? Pro Heard obsessively called the movement in support of Johnny "PR smear campaign" or bots. It wouldn't remotely occur to them that Johnny Depp overwhelming support in the general public was genuine, and could be rationally explained by the fact he's been one of Hollywood's most popular actor for decades with iconic roles (Edward Scissorhands, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, Sleepy Hollow, Cry Baby, etc.) and mostly importantly interpreted one of Disney live action movie most beloved character: Jack Sparrow. Heard was a literally a 'who' next to him, which explains why she would never be able to leverage support in such a conflicting case (so no, it doesn't necessarily has to be misogyny)

They are obsessed in controlling the narrative, even if that means lying consistently about factual reality.

Look at them obsessively keeping tabs on whoever liked Johnny Depp first post trial Instagram post, and making entire lists off of them to be canceled....

Unsurprisingly they also suddenly started cussing out popular jury who aren't "law professionals" just because the court decision didn't give the ruling they expected... Those activists pretending to care about the people are actually the biggest elitists.

Their coping about "the tide is turning" or "I can't wait for the documentary exposing how we all wronged Amber Heard" never fails making me wonder: "who's the we?" Mainstream media were and are still in their vast majority pro Heard. The general public? They mostly moved on and rejoiced at Depp winning his case. They will never apologize or feel sorry for Heard because they don't think she deserves any apology. People don't owe nothing to celebrities. Crime of thought or opinion isn't a thing.

This is the internet: Amber Heard is not the first, last, or the only laughing stock it collectively decided to pick on for any season. And the internet will never feel sorry. Deal with it.

Tbh I also blame the #freebritney movement that made too many of you believe that TMZ and paparazzi harassing celebrities represented regular citizens and that people actively sought out to ruin her... Zoomers don't seem to grasp early 00s people were much more removed from "field reportreport" as we are today, which means they had a more apathetic perspective on celebrity struggles. If media decided to milk this repentance shtick regarding their collective coverage of Britney antics back then to revamp their image, that's on them, but expecting this dynamic onto random people (not media news) who didn't have any say on media narrative is wishful thinking....

Amber Heard is none of your friend, sister, wife or mother. None of you know her. None of you talked to her, and never will. So it's weird to me how some of you are hellbent acting like we owed anything to her.

Why elevating your parasocial involvement in a millionaire celebrity civil case as a cautionary tale for ALL women?

[obsessivelollipoplalala]

hey, how do you know that? "One of Brian’s main traits is that he defends people he likes to the death and that won’t change. He’s been that way his entire life. He’s loyal to a fault and is pretty gullible in a lot of ways, honestly." Not being mean I just wanted some examples??

Lol it's simply something I've observed over the years. There are examples I can name off the top of my head, such as him excusing Freddie being outright rude to fans with "oh but he had to rest his throat, you see <3 that's why he told them to fuck off <3 Freddie threw away a whole box of gifts from Japanese fans because he doesn't like clutter in his life <3" (side note: compare that action to the current drama lmao). Honestly, that is so, so simpy, it's hilarious. I don't have the links to the interviews where he's said this handy (I'm pretty sure he's talked about it more than once), but let's be real: Freddie was rude a lot! But Brian swoops in like "b-b-but he was actually focused on recording!!!"

I can't find it right now, but there was a time back in Brian's twitter days when he publicly snapped at someone for insulting Anita's singing, and then apologized (I think he initially called the person a "bitchy little worm" lol). Anita was on this competition show in 2011, Strictly Come Dancing, and she was actually worried that Brian would get big mad and intervene if the judges got too harsh on her:

Now, vehemently defending his wife and Freddie are to be expected, and unsurprisingly, this extends to Queen. Brian is very defensive of the band and their work, and anything closely associated with it; that's why I think he's defended the film so much, because the project meant a lot to him and he thought it was a net good for Queen and Freddie, so he wasn't interested in accepting much criticism of the film and defended it publicly on more than one occasion.

He's shown this behavior towards other people he likes yet doesn't know as well, especially colleagues in the industry or, more recently, scientific colleagues like Walt Cunningham, who just died and got a nice little tribute post by Brian despite being a jackass climate change denier (and Brian very obviously feels strongly about climate change, so for him to like the man despite his flat-out wrong view on something Brian cares about a lot says something). Back in the movie days, Brian even got into hot water by still following Bryan Singer on instagram and snapping at someone who commented on his profile and told him to unfollow--again, I think this is because Singer was associated with a project that meant a lot to Brian, but to his credit, he actually issued a lengthy public apology that seemed genuine to me, who at the time, was not a fan of Brian lol. This goes to show how this trait is a double-edged sword, because it's sweet when he defends Freddie and Anita, but it's bad when he defends people who shouldn't be defended (although, I do believe him when he says he didn't realize following Singer on social media would be seen as supporting him. People do need to remember we're talking about a senior citizen here).

And so, I think Brian's defensive nature leads him to assume the best of people because he really doesn't want to think people he likes have done wrong or are bad. It's also a mindset he seems to have about people in general; after the 2020 US election, he made a video talking about how shocked he was that so many people still voted for Trump. Brian more or less came to the conclusion that Trump voters must be seeing something different, their news sources must be wrong and leading them astray, and we should create some kind of independent truth council. I could not believe how naïve he was with this post. Like...obviously, even if you could create a totally unbiased source of truth, morons and political conspiracy theorists just wouldn't believe it! Lol. And in general, I think Brian has a difficult time believing that there could really be a large amount of bad people in the world (I think this influenced his political campaign to appeal to people's supposed "common decency" too), but it's like...as someone who has lived in America her whole life and is extremely political invested, I can confidently say that no, Trump voters really are just awful fucking people. They're not led astray, they willingly walk off the cliff because the GOP tells them what they want to hear about women and minorities. I swear, I'm not going on a tangent lol. The point is, Brian wouldn't accept my conclusion here. I think it's genuinely hard for him to accept that there are a lot of people who are simply bad actors in this world, and that's about people in general--apply that to people he actually likes? Yeah. No. You'd have to tell Brian someone committed murder and show him the body before he'd accept that they're bad.

This is also why I think it's incredibly telling that Brian has held ill feelings towards Paul and Barbara for the rest of his life, because he's not a spiteful, angry person who writes people off easily, he actually defends people too much a lot of times, but that's getting off topic lol.

Does this all make sense?

[luckybyrdrobyn]

Okay, start of something I might actually write at some point if it gets enough love:

Rated T for swearing and horror

Sam had been working with the Magnus institute in artefact storage for long enough that most things others would find creepy or worrying barely phase them. They had seen snow globes that sent the viewer spiralling like a snowflake for eternity, and a wooden doll that always seemed to have a different face when you looked at. Hell, there was a whole section dedicated to different cursed books that were a death sentence to read.

So it wasn’t too surprising when the man cam crashing down from what was presumably the ceiling, although it was currently closer to what a child might describe as a wormhole. The man lay still face-down on the floor, salt and pepper hair fanned out around his head like a dusty halo. Upon further inspection, Sam determined that, yes, he was still breathing and should probably be woken before anything went wrong.

Any other day they might have been apprehensive about interacting with a potentially dangerous individual, but there was something about the clearly handmade sweater and old jeans that eased any worries.

The man stirred slowly, lifting his head and blinking.

80 pairs of eyes blinked in tandem.

And then the man was groaning and carefully pulling himself to his feet, cursing something along the lines of “heaven a late paths smith the viral.”

If Sam had looked back up they would have seen the maw on the ceiling slowly blink closed as the man began to dust himself off.

“Hello, that was quite a fall you had there, you doing okay? Any pain?”

The man finally seemed to notice Sam as they spoke, and gave a brief shake of his head before wincing slightly. Sam debated their options before calmly trying to find out how this person hand landed themselves (literally) in the middle of artefact storage.

“If you don’t mind, who are you? Are you here to give a statement? The archives are further down I’m afraid.”

The man looked around for a second as if he was aware of his location for the first time before turning his eyes back to Sam.

And they were back.

They weren’t eyes in the sense that a collection of human eyeballs were floating around the man’s head, but closer to the drawn eyes one would see in context of a children’s book or a conspiracy theorist’s notes. There were thousands of these 2d eyes watching him, now blinking individually so the oppressive feeling of being seen never lifted.

The man spoke, his voice had a static whir to it that reminded Sam of old movie tapes.

“I am the Archive.”

And then the man, the archive, was gone. Between one blink and the next Sam found themselves once again alone.