#meanwhile the more recent pics

[insanityclause]

And he's seemingly using it as a jacket (which it can be considered, too...)— I noticed that too… I think they are calling these, shakets? Lol… shirt jackets , cool concept, I’m seeing these around a bit more☺️

Yeah, it's technically a "chore jacket" or a "French workers jacket". Here's a variation on it, where it's called a "Worker Jacket". Also called a "Railway Jacket" here.

https://www.ssense.com/en-ca/men/product/nudie-jeans/blue-barney-worker-jacket/11589681

[unproduciblesmackdown]

going "why'd i feel like it was monday for a sec" earlier & immediately answering it with "oh yeah b/c the summer stock performances 'weekend' is mondays & tuesdays off" and going Whoah just now refreshing myself on the exact schedule when this is the first wednesda & thursday of performances, like, kicking off both days w/2 pm matinees

[astraystayyh]

We recently learned in our media class about the four indicators that reveal a country's use of propaganda to justify its actions/build a national and international consensus over its stance. This is exactly what Israel is doing now. Please read this to learn more about the Israeli propaganda (with sources) :

i. Establishing a distinct "us" versus "them"/"the others" divide: The Israeli media has been actively engaged in crafting a narrative that portrays Palestinians as sub-humans and animals, that deserve to be killed, butchered, and deprived of essential resources such as water, electricity and fuel. This dehumanizing narrative serves to rationalize the grave atrocities committed against Palestinians, reducing them to mere statistics, rather than acknowledging them as fellow human beings who have the right to be protected as well.

A recent example of this dehumanization (that encompasses children as well) is Israel's Prime Minister's words in a now-deleted tweet, on Oct 16, stating: "This is a struggle between the children of light and the children of darkness, between humanity and the law of the jungle."

This is also a common practice in Western media as a whole. In the context of conflict, the choice of words plays a significant role: Israelis are often described as "killed," and Palestinians are referred to as having "died" (example of BBC). The distinction can be seen as a way to omit Israeli responsibility, portraying the deaths of nearly 10,000 Palestinians as a result of circumstances beyond its control, rather than the outcome of deliberate and targeted actions.

ii. Use of emotion instead of logic: a stark example would be the whole international outrage that was first sparked due to the false claim that Hamas had beheaded 40 babies. This fake news was confidently shared by U.S. President Joe Biden, who later admitted that he had never actually seen any pictures of such events, neither did anyone in the IDF because there was never any instance of 40 beheaded babies (source) (also trust me if Israel did have any pictures of killed children they would not hesitate to share it)

CNN journalist who first shared this fake news has later apologized for being "misled." (which isn't the case that was a conscious choice of the news agency but that's another conversation)

Israel knew what it was doing by sharing this particular false information, they knew that the simple imagery of such a horrifying notion, even without concrete proof, would be a strategic tool to garner international support through emotional manipulation.

They are still trying to use emotion when it comes to children particularly to sway the public opinion : Israeli government spokesman has shared images of "fallen teeth of burnt children." This post has been debunked by dentists, pointing out many contradictions in the pics that conclude that these are props and not the teeth of actual children found in rubbles. (source)

(Meanwhile, there are factual documented videos and pictures of dead Palestinian kids and babies, decapitated, injured beyond belief, tangible proof of the war crimes Israel commits and yet the public outrage isn't the same, because Israel has already established that Palestinians are lesser people)

iii. Attempting to Influence Both Elites and Ordinary Citizens: In addition to their efforts to secure international support from world leaders, Israel has employed a multifaceted approach by spreading advertisements that regular civilians view. These ads serve to rationalize their actions, and they are strategically placed ahead of unrelated programming, including children's shows or games.

This tactic aims to integrate their ideology into various aspects of our lives, in order to promote their agenda and inundate us with recurrent pro-Israel messages. This strategy capitalizes on the psychological principle that the mind tends to retain information it encounters most frequently. (a more detailed video explanation)

iv. media manipulation tactics : For example, the night before Israel bombed the Baptist hospital in Gaza killing more than 1000 people, BBC published an article with the headline "Does Hamas build tunnels under schools and hospitals?" giving way to a "justification" for the heinous, war crime act that is bombing a hospital, under the guise of targeting Hamas hidden bases.

The use of the Israel-Gaza war as a headline for the news leads us to believe that this is a war with two equal (or slightly disproportionate) parties who are both able to defend themselves. Whereas this is a genocide led by Israel (a powerful military with international backing by the world's most powerful nations- U.S, U.K, France, Germany.. to cite a few) and CIVILIANS. Because those are the people that Israel is targeting, by bombing hospitals, schools, mosques, churches, refugee camps.

It is a genocide, an ethnical cleansing, an attempt to eradicate entire families, then to relocate the survivors out of Gaza, making it impossible for them to reclaim their land, and resulting in a total takeover of Palestine by Israel.

Another manipulation example (because there are so many) is the first and most prominent question that many Western journalists ask their guests: "Do you condemn the attacks of Hamas on Oct 7?"

This question completely disregards the root of this entire conflict, which is the 75-year ongoing colonization of Palestine. By omitting all the previous crimes against Palestinians that led to the attack (the killings, the wrongful imprisonments, the torture, the stealing of land…) these 'journalists' actively manipulate the public opinion, portraying the Hamas attack as unprovoked, when you cannot possibly expect a colonization to have 0 resistance.

And an honorable mention to the zionists who are trying to morph the anti-Israel stance into an anti-Jew one. This isn't about religion, I've said this once and I will say it again, Jews around the world are condemning the actions of their government. Just recently, Jews were arrested in NYC for standing against Israel. (source)

This is a humanitarian cause. We're humans, this is the one denominator factor that unites all. We read about previous genocides in history. We wondered how people could support the killings of innocent people, men and women, and children and babies. It is happening right now again, and media propaganda plays a significant role in shaping public perceptions.

I couldn't include everything here but please, I urge you to use your critical thinking. Don't believe everything the media tells you, and this is coming from a graduated journalist. We learn about propaganda and how to counter it, which also means we learn about how to manufacture it.

So don't be gullible, boycott the companies who support Israel (mainly HP, Siemens, AXA, Puma, Israeli fruits and vegetables, Sodastream, Ahava, Sabra. check BDS for more information) and urge your governments to support the ceasefire. We have a voice and we should use it, even if we're uncomfortable, even if we're scared. Do it. By staying silent you become complicit in genocide.

[survivalove]

ATLA fandom and removing Katara’s agency and POV

Recently, I came across the following thread where OP proceeded to uplift the following ships to diminish Kataang, on the supposed basis of Katara’s agency and pov (or lack thereof).

I decided to keep all their points and pictures to show a holistic analysis of the show, which they themselves fail to do.

Firstly, on the topic of loss, Kataang has multiple moments where they connect over their losses.

At first, Katara tries to tell Aang that his people may be lost by opening up about her mother, but he is obviously in denial. It is only when he sees Gyatso’s body (like Katara did when her mom passed) that he accepts the loss of his people and her comfort.

I also want to note that this is a recurring pattern of Aang struggling to accept Katara’s comfort at first, despite these shippers’ claims that he easily accepts her “coddling/mothering”.

Kataang as seen in Katara’s pov:

This is easily the most inaccurate part of the thread and shows how shippers fail to acknowledge Katara as a character unless she is with their preferred love interest.

Kataang’s relationship is framed in Katara’s point of view multiple times, especially in these episodes.

Next, Katara’s boundaries:

Once again, they exclude the frames where Katara exercises her agency — pushing him away and telling him off, removing her pov from the scene all on their own. Furthermore on the issue of being violated, what is her point of view when she’s tied to a tree, or when her grandmother is being roughed up and tossed around?

This is part of a greater issue where shippers genuinely believe the misogyny in the writing room is exclusive to a single ship and would somehow be resolved if the female character ended up with… another man.

On Katara’s grief,

Honestly, this has to be the second most dishonest and laughable part of the thread (don’t worry we’ll strike gold soon), so I’m not even going to validate it with more than these pics:

Lastly, the ship in question:

I just find the lightning pic so funny in this context like what?? Like I said earlier, Kataang is shown from Katara’s pov multiple times, but here’s more pics because when your ship has the material!

Aang has seen Katara at her worst multiple times, either stepping in, comforting her or giving her advice (just like Katara has done for him many times, unprompted I might add) because he knows her and has seen her very hostile reactions towards Jet and Hama when they tried to use her as a tool for their revenge. Mind you, this same advice her literal brother and eventually Zuko himself agree with.

Also I always found it pretty weird how Zuko (ahem the writers) set this up so that she can forgive him right after he failed to understand why she was the last one to do so in the beginning of the episode, but anyway…

Lastly, both Aang and Katara have opened to each other in incredibly significant ways. Aang opens up to Katara about the monks and why he disappeared. She is the only person to know this side of him. Meanwhile, Katara tells him about her mother and opens up her family to him, and even in the most platonic interpretations, how is that not the most significant way to open up to someone?

[bylrlve]

Warning! Potential Spoilers for Stranger Things Season 5! Exciting for Bylers!

Total confirmed M*leven scenes so far: kiss in a field in episode one, and rooftop conversation, also likely in episode one. There is a staggered time skip through episode one - unclear if chronological, or through flashbacks, but it means we have no idea when this kiss actually takes place in the chronology of the show.

Despite what Alex insinuates, that is literally it, as far as leakers know, until episode 3. Everyone is at the mansion set in that episode for at least one scene, prior to splitting off into groups and venturing into the upside down in episode 4. One presumes they may interact in the mansion scene, but even that is unknown. That literally is it up to episode 6, which is what they’re filming now - as far as leakers are aware, but it’s pretty clear when you look at Finn’s schedule vs Millie’s.

(Gifs from a video by @byler-endgayme)

Meanwhile, this is what has leaked about Byler so far:

Episode 2; the bike ride. Ep 2 according to the Twitter stranger things update account. If this is a school run in the morning, Will may be living at the Wheelers - supported by the bts pic with seven chairs at the table. If not, he’s likely just visiting Mike at the house - but it still shows that Will is part of Mike’s domestic routine, and that he occupies a partner role.

A lot happens for/to the wheelers in episode 2: karen possibly gets injured here, holly gets taken here apparently, Mike gets hurt at the hospital along with several other people (confirmed) and Will shows up crying and blaming himself. Rovickie, jancy, and byler are there: Will is there for Mike, El is not.

Episode 3: everyone is at the mansion set before breaking off into UD groups. This includes Mike, Will, El, and it’s notable that, from context, it seems like it dovetails into Mike and Will choosing each other as partners for… (life) the Upside Down.

Episode 4: the flashback with 8yo Will, 8yo Mike, and 13yo Jonathan. Will and Jon don’t speak, Mike does.

Episode 6: a scene at a church covered in vines with just Mike and Will.

The scenes at the farm with Mike, Robin, Will, and apparently Vickie happen around 503-4, and Mike a and Will are wearing the same clothes in the hand-stack picture as in the leaked Duffer birthday video from early February - see @will80sbyers and @justmy-account’s excellent production masterposts. Mike apparently has his own subplot with Robin, and we know Robin and Will have 1:1 scenes…

There’s been some kerfuffle over a an actor named Jacob Moran being followed on Instagram by Noah recently - but he’s followed Noah, Caleb, and Jamie for years, and as he was working on a project in Atlanta until recently, it seems more likely that he’s a friend of Noah’s than that he’s Will’s NPC Love Interest. Once again, that trail goes cold…

Speaking of, it’s amusing and frustrating to me that when some random acc on Twitter says Will has an NPC Love Interest people pay attention, but when Mytimetoshinehello, a reliable enough leak account, first says in May that he has a love interest and then privately DMS people saying it’s a new character, only to privately tweet to paid subscribers (ie not for attention) saying that they hear it is Mike, people don’t pick up on it. Of course, the UpsideDownScoops account did delete their tweet and proceed to bullshit about why it’s not Mike, so…

Big Screen Leaks is a very reliable general spoilers acc that announced they had st5 spoilers in may 2023. They said on Sunday, during a q&a, that they’re not sharing anything… something weird is going on. They also follow MTTSH.

Noah and MTTSH both had a similar trajectory. The latter went from privately saying in DMs that it’s not Mike to saying to their subs that it is. The former went from being pessimistic when he had the first few scripts to going on TT live right before filming in january and saying ‘byler endgame byler kiss’ very excitedly - he had up to episode 6. They got the ep 7 script in March, and on March 27 he liked a tiktok showing Mike and Will’s BTS pics with a boyfriends 💙💛’ caption.

The statement by the duffers that we’re returning to s1 dynamics is interesting, given that Mike and Will are together so much while Mike and El aren’t. Re: Mike, perhaps they mean that his primary focus is keeping Will… with an ending of finding new romance, perhaps? All in all? I’m so hyped.

TLDR: Bylers are eating no matter what, in terms of screentime and content. M*levens… sad trombone noise.

UPDATE TO ADD: https://x.com/byrhop/status/1811804426492907787?s=46

[baronessvonglitter]

Cherry, Cherry 🍒 Chapter 10 🍒 "Secrets & Lies"

pre-outbreak! AU!Joel Miller x f!Reader

Word count: 3,023

Summary: you and Joel find out just how fond the heart grows during absence.. meanwhile your mom makes a call and you find out a secret about your cousin..

WARNINGS: 18+ Only! Mature and Explicit, age gap (reader is 18, Joel is 35), takes place in summer 2003, dbf!Joel (still counts if he hasn't seen said friend in years), sexting, sexy pics, use of pet names ('daddy' for Joel, 'sweetheart' for reader), overbearing mothers, secret relationship, oral (m&f receiving), fluff, a smidgen of insecure!Joel, talk of 'adult viewing', candid discussion about sex & expectations, reader's race never mentioned, no use of y/n

Author's Note: as per a few previous chapters, I'm trying to give a more realistic side of deciding to have sex (or not, as in this chapter) without it being too black and white. There's a lot of passion between reader and Joel, but he's not using it to his advantage, keeping her boundaries but still wishing she'd say yes. Thanks to everyone showing appreciation for this series, which is the first fic I ever wrote and is so near and dear to my heart.

Series Masterlist

Joel is with Tommy in San Antonio for business and even though it's only for two days, you miss him as though he's taken a part of you with him. Your last text, a simple I miss you, has gone unanswered and you don't want to bother him while he's busy, but his silence creates an emptiness, a longing that makes you half-crazy with the idea of driving down to San Antonio just to see him. But he's left Sarah in your care, and you know it's better to be distracted with her presence.

Though she tells you she's used to being on her own in situations like this, she stays at your house anyway, taking up residence in your room, your queen size bed big enough for both of you to sleep in. Your mind flits back to recent memories of the things you've done with her dad in this very bed, things you hope you'll get to do with him again very soon.

Just as you close your eyes your phone vibrates on the nightstand next to you, lighting up with an incoming text. This late, it can only be Joel. Your heart does a little dance as you reach for your phone, and even though Sarah is fast asleep, you feel the need for privacy. You go to the living room and make yourself comfortable on the sofa.

Joel: I wish you were in my arms right now

You smile like an idiot and get even more comfortable, typing out a response. if I was we would be getting to know each other better than ever.. how's it going over there?

Joel: It's just all right.. I have some plans for you when I see you, sweetheart.

You: tell me, in detail, and we'll do them when you come back

Joel: I'd rather do them now..

You: patience is a virtue. if you want me right now you'll have to kidnap me :D

Joel: Patience ain't my strong suit so I must not be that virtuous. If you think I won't kidnap you, you're wrong. I'll do anything to be with you.

You: i'm sure you have rope and duct tape in your toolkit.. sounds like a good time to me

Joel: I do, and I have no problem using them to get what I want ;-)

You: i love you.. your persistence may come in handy when you come back this weekend

Joel: I love you too, and I hope I come in VERY handy this wekend.

You: speaking of handy, guess where my hand is now.. While Joel is stunned by your message, you quickly snap a picture of your hand slipping inside your panties and send it to him. I'll leave this to your vivid imagination.. good night <3

The next day you're at the mall with Sarah when your phone rings. You don't recognize the number but you know it must be Joel, maybe calling from the motel room phone. Sarah is looking at jewelry at Claire's when you step out to answer your cell. "Hey daddy, I was wondering when you were gonna call me.." you practically purr into the phone.

There's a pause on the other end, though you hear chatter and noise in the background, Your mom's voice comes through the other end, saying your name in a confused manner. Your heart sinks into your stomach and you have the urge to vomit. You can't believe you've just said those words to your own mother. "Hey.. mom. What are you doing?"

"I'm calling from Larry's cell. We're in Cancun. Who's daddy? Did you finally get in touch with your father?" There's both hope and disdain in her voice, and you just want to crawl into the earth and blanket the dirt over you.

"I, uh, have bad reception here. I thought it was Sofia calling me. It's a stupid little game we play, like we're calling from a sex hotline or something," you scramble for an excuse, grimacing at how you've botched it and praying she won't ask more questions. "And no, unfortunately I haven't heard from Dad. I don't think we ever will."

"Well, don't answer the phone like that again. It's not very ladylike," she says in her typical, overbearing fashion.

"So.. you and Larry are in Cancun? Are you having fun?" you desperately change the subject.

"Yes and it's wonderful! We've been.."

You try to pay attention, but as usual your mom is making it all about her. Not once does she ask about you but you know the moment she's done she'll find something about you to criticize in her usual backhanded way.

Sarah approaches you, having bought a bracelet and showing it to you, asking where you want to go next, if you are as hungry as she is for a Cinnabon. She quiets when she sees you on your phone, but it's too late.

"Who is that?" your mom asks.

"Uh.. Sarah Miller.. I'm babysitting her." Sarah glowers at you and gives you a playful shove. "Ow! I mean, we're hanging out."

"It's great that you're making friends.. did you say her last name is Miller?"

"Yeah, I.. think so.."

"Don't tell me she's that man's daughter."

Your brain is stuck in deciding to play dumb or not. "What man?"

"Joel Miller. That man who lives next door to you and your cousin. He was close with your father a long time ago."

"Oh? Wow, that's really cool." You are not doing a great job of sounding uninvolved. "Maybe he has some stories about Dad from back in the day," you offer lamely.

"I didn't like him then and I don't like him now." Your mother is emphatic. "He was always up to no good and even got your father mixed up in his antics."

There's a story there. "I'm sure people can change over the course of twenty years, Mom." You feel the need to defend the man you're in love with, though it does create a little itch within you that you don't know much about his past. You two have been more concerned with the present and all its indulgences.

Your mom simply says, "Hmph."

"Well, I gotta go.. Sarah needs a nap and maybe a bottle of milk." You laugh as she takes a swipe at you again.

"You don't call to check in often enough.. I hope you're behaving yourself and not giving your cousin anything to worry about."

Your blood runs cold. You have always wondered if your mom has a supernatural gift for knowing what's on your mind, as if you secretly and silently project a mental image of your guilt. Even when you were a kid you could imagine her death glare on you when you were thinking about doing something bad. If she had even a wisp of an idea of what you're up to with Joel..

"I'm sorry, and I promise I'll call more often. I'm just trying to enjoy myself before school starts."

"All right, honey," she sighs. "I love you. Be good."

"Yeah, I love you too." You end the call.

Sarah notices the look on your face as you continue walking through the mall. "What was that about?"

"Uh, that was my mom. She's on vacation with her boyfriend. She told me to say hi to your dad."

That night you get a text from Joel. Have Sarah stay at a friend's house tonight. I'm coming home early. Need to see you.

Once again there's that little thrill of anticipation that surges through you. can't wait! gonna ride with some friends to the boonies to see a garage band if you wanna come with

Almost immediately he sends, Ditch those plans. Get ready for me.

You make the plans and drop Sarah at her friend's place. Back at your own you wait, dressed in your party clothes just in case Joel can't come home after all. It's almost eleven when you see his truck headlights through your front window. You tentatively walk out, catching a glimpse of him as he alights from his truck and you immediately head his way. "Sarah gone?" he asks, pressing into you on the front porch. You can only nod. "And Sofia?" he continues.

"It's just us," you whisper, and he lifts you up to kiss you, your bodies covered in the darkness of the porch. On the stairs to his room you leave a trail of clothes you've removed, kissing and groping each other to make up for the time you've missed with each other. "Gonna take ya with me next time," he murmurs, lifting you, squeezing your ass as he finds your panties and starts to pull them down. "That naughty picture you sent really got me goin'.. you're a little tease ain't ya?" His voice is gravelly yet soft, intimate in your ear.

On the bed he maneuvers you how he wants, on his back with you riding his face. You don't give it a second thought, bracketing his head with your thighs as you press down to him, giving a yelp as his tongue laps against you, eager, almost impatient. One hand strokes his cock while the other fondles your breasts, running his large palms over them and cupping their heft.

You learn to move against him, grasping his hair as he sticks his tongue inside you, or presses your clit between his lips. It's ecstasy, using him for your own pleasure, and only once you've come does he have you turn around, and gently guides you to lean over his body so that you can take his cock into your mouth.

Knees still shaking from your orgasm, he helps hold you up, giving you a second helping as you take him into your mouth. You work the first few inches while stroking him, your concentration breaking as he artfully brings you up to speed again with his mouth, running his tongue across your folds and holding your hips still above him.

He's already on edge and by now you know exactly what he needs to cum. While stroking him with one hand you run a gentle tongue over his balls, eliciting a grunt from him and he twitches in your grasp. Smirking to yourself, you continue it, and his grip on your hips tightens as his moans reverberate on your pussy, causing you to cry out as well. Cumming together, you press yourself down against his willing mouth while his cum shoots out, dripping down onto your hand grasping it, and you lick it, cleaning it all up.

Moments later, you lay in each other's arms. "I thought that was something they only do in porn," you tell him.

He raises a brow. "You watch porn?"

"Yeah, sometimes.. don't you?"

He shrugs. "Now and then.. I s'pose it's easier than goin' out and findin' someone. But you know that shit ain't real. It's all fantasy. I don't want you to think I have any expectations of you."

You snuggle against him. "Even if you did, I'd do my best to live up to yours."

Joel just smiles and strokes your hair. "Once you sent that pic last night I had no choice but to cut the trip short. I dropped off Tommy at his place and some chick drove up just after I left."

"Just like that, huh? At least he wasn't alone."

You feel the curve of his smile against your hair. "At first I was afraid you'd like him better. He's younger, better suited to your age."

"Joel!" you look at him, surprised by this sudden confession. "I like him but I love you. In fact.. I wish I'd been born earlier. I would have liked to meet you as a teenager."

"I don't know if you would've liked me then. You probably would've been the girl I was too afraid to talk to."

"I definitely would've liked you. I was such a geek that you wouldn't have noticed me."

He sits up and you sit with him, still wrapped in his embrace. "Wait, you were a geek? What kinda geek were ya? Was you a sci-fi geek? Or a comic book geek?"

You laugh at his amusement. "A little of both. Plus a marching band geek. What about you, what were you like in high school?" Your mom's warning from earlier looms in the back of your mind, like an oven burner left on and you scramble for the switch to turn it off.

"Well I was a sports freak back then. I was on the football and wrestling teams. I even wrestled at state level."

It was a turn on to think of him, your own age, playing under the Friday night lights, or pinning someone down to the gym mat. "You were a jock, huh? I can see that.. Jesus, I would have loved to see that."

"You just like seein' me all shirtless and sweaty, don't ya?"

"You mean like right now?" you smirk, trailing your fingertips down his chest and to his happy trail. "Want to hop in the shower with me? I have to be up early because Sofia's coming home tomorrow."

In the shower together, Joel watches how the water rains over your skin, making it glisten. He's speechless as you slowly turn, letting the water drench your hair. "Sweetheart, I'm not sure I'm gonna be able to keep my hands off ya."

"Don't keep your hands off me," you say, bringing him under the spray with you and kissing him. He slowly pushes you against the wall, deepening the kiss and running his hands along your curves. His cock is like a hot poker against your belly. You moan into his kiss, especially when you feel his fingers glide over your cunt. You feel so small in his embrace and yet equal, more beloved than anything on this earth.

Joel lifts up your thighs, holding you in place by your hips, as if you weigh practically nothing. You feel the pressure, the gentle nudge of his cock at your entrance. "Oh sweetheart, I can't wait any longer."

You put your hands on his shoulders to hold yourself up, lightly squeezing them, seeing what strength he possesses. "Joel.. I don't know.. it feels good, I just don't know."

He's trying to control his breathing, waiting for a definitive answer from you.

"I want to stop. I'm sorry, I just think we're moving too fast."

He sighs. "I understand." And he gently puts you down.

"It's just.. I've been building up this moment in my mind for weeks now and I want things a certain way: rose petals on the bed, candles, music.. super romantic. I know how silly that sounds, I just don't want to have my first time in the shower."

"We're gonna do this how you want it," he assures you. "And if I may make a suggestion.. I have a friend who owns a cabin out on the lake. We could spend a weekend up there. Would you like that?" He lifts your chin to look into your eyes.

"That's perfect! Because I was thinking July fourth would be the best time.. lots of fireworks, very celebratory.. what do you think?"

He smiles. "I think we have ourselves a plan for next weekend."

Very early the next morning you slip your shorts back on and lean down to kiss Joel as he sleeps. It's almost time for Sofia to be home.

"What time is it?" he asks groggily.

"It's 3 A.M." You put your shoes on. "God damn it you look so cute right now. I don't want to leave.."

"Then don't." He takes your hand and pulls you back to the bed.

"I'm not that easy," you say, despite climbing back into bed. "I held out on my ex for an entire year. I can make you wait too, Joel Miller."

He laughs a little. "Sweetheart, I am never going to wait that long. Don't test me."

You trace the outline of his face. "I don't think I could wait a year for you. But in a way I've waited my whole life for you."

The rest is unsaid as he takes you into his arms for another kiss, which leads to your clothes being taken off again.

When you wake again you read the bedside clock and panic. "I completely forgot! Sofia's gonna kill me!" you rush to get dressed, thinking in the back of your mind that you've tossed your clothes to the floor and put them on again so many times this night. Joel's up too, worried because you're worried. While rushing out of his house you freeze. Next door in the driveway Sofia's getting out of a car. Her hair is messy and her clothes look wrinkled. She makes eye contact with you then behind you at Joel, who's rushing after you.

You spin around towards him. "Hey Mr. Miller, everything's fine! You can pay me later, I'm always happy to babysit Sarah," you overact it, hoping he plays along.

"I stayed out late and when I got back your cousin was fast asleep on the couch. I didn't have the heart to move her," Joel says, hands in his pockets as he tries to charm Sofia into the lie.

Sofia looks at both of you but says nothing, and out of the driver's seat of her ride comes Tommy. "Everything okay, babe?" He looks at Sofia, at you, at Joel. All four of you are connecting the pieces of the puzzle.

Joel speaks first. "Tommy, are you and Sofia...?"

Tommy replies 'yes' while Sofia says 'kind of.'

"And you?" Sofia asks of you. "Are you and Joel..?"

You exchange glances with this man who's become your lover, who's shown you the greatest pleasure you've ever known, who eats you out for hours when you finally have alone time, who's cum you've taken down your throat and whose taste is still on your tongue.

"She's my daughter's friend," Joel says defensively. "And I'm makin' sure she gets home okay."

He omits the fact that you love each other.

<- prev chapter

next chapter ->

dividers by @saradika-graphics 👑

[matan4il]

Daily update post:

Israel has published intel retrieved on Dec 18 from Hamas headquarters in Gaza, on how Hamas was using a network of fake Facebook profiles, pretending to be Israelis living abroad, and looking to hire Israeli Jews to make deliveries for them. First, they were meant to be innocent deliveries, in order to "groom" the Israelis for the moment when they will unknowingly be helping Hamas to deliver explosives. This was carried out by, among others, terrorists released in the 2011 Gilad Shalit hostage exchange deal (where Israel exchanged 1,027 Palestinian prisoners for the release of one captured Israeli soldier), who had a better knowledge of Hebrew and of Israeli due to their time in Israeli prisons. The terrorists released in the Gilad Shalit deal include Yahya Sinwar, the leader of Hamas in Gaza.

Israeli soldiers in Gaza have reached a cemetery for British soldiers who died there during WWI. The Brits usually buried their soldiers where they died. Among the British soldiers who fought and died in Gaza during that war were Jewish ones, too. I've seen people using the good state of their graves to claim that in Gaza, they are very respectful of Judaism itself, that it's evidenced by how they treat Jewish graves well, and it's only Zionists they have an issue with. What they leave out is that this cemetery was so well preserved because it's NOT a Jewish one, it's British. I found a pic where you can specifically see the grave of a Christian soldier, with a cross on the tombstone, buried next to the grave of a Jewish man, with a Star of David engraved. In comparison with this British cemetery, we can talk about the ancient Jewish synagogue in Gaza, that was appropriated and turned into a mosque (that they then used for terrorist activity, leading to its destruction in this war), or the modern synagogues left behind by Israel when it withdrew from Gaza in 2005, which were burned down by the Palestinians.

For several days now, protesters have been headed down south to where aid trucks pass from Israel to Gaza, in an attempt to block them. I wanna emphasize that they are NOT looking to deprive civilian Gazans of aid, they are just saying that humanitarian aid should be given in exchange for humanitarian aid making it to the Israeli hostages held in Gaza. On different days, the protesters have been sometimes more successful, sometimes less, but what's clear is that Israel is doing its best not to allow this, arresting protesters, and temporarily declaring the roads leading to the Gaza crossings as closed military areas.

In Sweden, a suspicious object was found next to the Israeli embassy, meaning they fear it was an attempted bombing. In an interview, the Israeli ambassador said that the staff is sure that's what it was, that the Swedish police is handling it, and they have no further information. The Israeli embassy in Sweden has recently been a target for Hamas' terrorists in Europe.

If you're interested, Reuters has uploaded the House Hearing on the future of US support of UNRWA. You can watch the whole thing here:

Sweden is now the 18th financier suspending their funding of UNRWA. In Germany, there are voices calling for the dismantling of it completely. I'm gonna attach a piece about that in Hebrew, but the Germans being interviewed are speaking in English, so it shouldn't be a problem to understand them. The first speaker is Uwe Becker, an amazing ally to Jews, who has been in charge of fighting antisemitism in the German state of Hessen, the rest belong to the democratic liberal party FDP, which is a part of the coalition.

Meanwhile, Norway, Ireland, Spain, Denmark and Belgium are continuing their funding to UNRWA, despite its ties to Palestinian terrorist organizations. Let it be remembered that Norway, Ireland, Spain, Denmark and Belgium have no issue with their money going to antisemitism and anti-Jewish terrorism.

The amount of pics and vids coming out of Gaza, showing weapons and rockets being hidden inside UNRWA schools, facilities and bags is insane, so I kinda stopped repeating myself with them at some point, but here's another one, fresh from today, explosives and mines found inside a bag with the UNRWA logo.

It only took several decades of people in the music industry knowing Roger Waters is an antisemite, and several very long years of the public starting to see it as well, for Waters to be fired by his music company, BMG. People are now connecting the news to an interview he gave back in November, in which he of course accused Jews for his firing.

This is 24 years old Ran Gevili.

On Oct 7, he was at a hospital, awaiting surgery. When he heard the news, he didn't hesitate and left for the area attacked by Hamas terrorists to help. At 10:50 in the morning, he sent his friends a message on WhatsApp that he's been shot twice in the leg. He was thought to be kidnapped, but today it's been confirmed that he had been murdered that day by Hamas, and his body is being held hostage in Gaza. May his memory be a blessing.

(for all of my updates and ask replies regarding Israel, click here)

[chipped-chimera]

Gotta say nothing shows the level of americanisation of media/internet than with this eclipse. Last year state in Australia (Western Australia) had complete totality of an eclipse in a dinky little town up north. It was inundated with tourists from around Australia and the world - we even had NASA scientists fly in for study.

I'm based in the only city of our hugeass state (Perth) and while we didn't get totality it was probably the most significant eclipse I've seen in recent memory. It was present in shadows, and there was a significant temperature drop during the experience.

Internationally? News probably didn't make a blip.

Meanwhile I'm sitting in my office overhearing the BBC on the tv (so british news) talking about an American solar eclipse like it's more significant? 🤷‍♀️

Anyway here's some of my pics of our eclipse last year: we had 72% coverage where I was, managed to catch some of the crescent shadows beneath our paperbark tree (I thank tumblr for bestowing this knowledge years ago).

[majaloveschris]

Hi maja, you have been an endlessly patient blog willing to discuss and rehash the same tired topics with these anons 🤣.

A few words for the ones who stay camped in your inbox:

1) It is possible to be married to someone and not like their friends or family. I’m unsure why some people on here act like him “marrying” AB means he’s immediate besties with her loser friends and weirdo hanger ons. If anything, it’s toleration. How many of you have had partners whose friends you couldn’t stand or family you dreaded but you tolerated for the sake of keeping the peace? Have you seen Justin and CE pal-ing about anywhere? It doesn’t even seem like Justin himself is too big a fan of CE either which is funny, since without his name, this trash can of a human wouldnt have 90% of the engagement on his profile that he currently has. But sure - keep posting shade memes and trolling his fanbase. That’ll really get you brownie points 🙄

2) “he must be just like her and her friends” - already wrong because her besties are all self proclaimed fashionistas. Meanwhile CE stays wearing the same old Nikes from a decade ago and recycling the same t shirts in two different colors for the past two decades. Without a stylist (even with) he looks like he shops at the 75% section of champion sports. Why do you think he’s never there with her at those fashion week events? Why is he not there at the Lana del ray concerts? Maybe because he doesn’t care and still won’t care even if he’s married to her to the public??? If he hasn’t even bothered to change how he dresses or even pretend to care about fashion - what makes you think he’s going to change his views in life and humanity for her and her friends? If he hasn't bothered to adapt to her interests or at least feign some interest in doing so what makes you think he's suddenly going to change his entire personality to fit her and her friends? (I see him doing more of this with jenny and her friends than AB. think about it)

3) body language. Listen, you can say anything or even do anything - but your body language always gives it away. It’s innate for most of us at this point. This man is friendly, tactile, and affectionate to people he’s comfortable with. That much has been clear for the two decades he’s been a public figure. Look at the recent materialists shoot. He likely hadn’t met Celine or Dakota until this shoot (cant say for sure but let’s say they’re recent colleagues) - thanks to the vast BTS footage - sometimes candid, sometimes staged, sometimes random - you can see how he acts with them both. Friendly, open, smiling, affectionate, comfortable. Pedro even came through to post a pic and he looks softly happy with Celine - who is also a very affectionate person with the people she likes. He's been photographed multiple times with celine and he is always engaged, smiling with her. He’s filming with Dakota and can laugh and smile with her. There's footage of him arriving to set and she goes into hug him and he hugs her back, rubbing her back affectionately. it's not just a quick pat either.

He shows up for 5-10 pap walks with AB and not one walk has them smiling at each other. Not one pap walk. There are two random GG and UTA party photos where he’s smiling with her but man, after two years and two weddings you’d think he’d muster up a few more than fake smiles? Even the live footage at the restaurant - pap walk - the kiss is him a foot away from her and hands at his side. You’re a newly wed and you knew photos were happening and this is the best you give?

VF red carpet - he was polite and reserved with her at best, aloof and disengaged at most. even the parking lot photos after with his publicist, he's standing there looking at his phone while shes standing a foot away.

Remember the photo with Celine and Dakota where he's got arms around them both? possibly huddling to keep warm because it was a cold night of filming? compare that to parking lot with AB, especially since that was back in march and LA gets cooler at night.

4) A LOT of angry anons go in about age gaps and how men go for younger women because they think with their other head and blah blah. Sure, can be true. But pay attention to CE's body language around AB. Does he look like he's very super attracted to her and wants to XXX with her or does he keep his hands so to himself and even when he's posing with her? His movements are tepid, reserved, stiff. i do believe he is a gentleman and avoids being handsy around women unless they're both comfortable and I think you can see it in the recent materialists footage with his female costar and director.

maybe, he wants to be a gentleman with his own wife as well. sure. but I don't think when you're truly in love or attracted, you can really help yourself but show it. the same goes for when you're not attracted and not in love.

I mean, we saw Justin and Joana at Chris's house with Chris's friends. So if this isn't PR, then they are at least okay with them. And it's not even about one friend. Alba herself posted questionable things and friends with at least 2 people (Kiko and Justin) who are problematic too. While I get that you don't have to be besties with your spouse's friends or family members, Alba has been friends with Kiko and Justin, so she is okay with their views. I, personally, wouldn't want to be friends with someone who bodyshames people and wants to be quotes Hitler. And if Alba is okay with that behavior, it means she either agrees with them or she doesn't care that much. The same goes with Chris, if he actually married her. 

Trying to get into your partner's interest is not a must, but a decent thing to do for someone you love. Obviously, if it's something that makes you feel bad, for whatever reason, then nobody should force you to do so. But while getting into things she likes (Lana, fashion week) is not a must, having similar views is important. You don't have to get married to someone who is exactly like you, but I personally wouldn't want to be married to someone who is okay with racism and anti-Semitism. The whole "he must be like them" has nothing to do with his wardrobe but with him being okay with their views. If he is actually married to her, which I don't think. 

Yeah, his body language says it all. As you said, he looked really friendly and comfortable with Celine and Dakota, and I haven't seen him that way with Alba. Not even once. With Alba, they always look like they are forced to be there, and they look so unnatural and fabricated. 

That kiss in front of the huge door so the paps could take photos and videos of them was so cringe-worthy. Private couple, my ass. And the wipe of his mouth...jeez. 

I also don't see any attraction. You can see when he has chemistry with someone, and he usually does have it with most people, but not with his own wife, I guess. He is more affectionate with friends and family members than with the love of his life. Yeah, they don't have to have a make-out session, but even if you just look at them, you can see the lack of intimacy. 

[lollytea]

(About the Dana post)

ALSO LIKE. THE WAY HE WAS PROBABLY IN THE MIDDLE OF SOMETHING ELSE AND THEN JUST. DID THAT.

Like he's holding a clipboard! I'm willing to bet Willow just slid under him with some encouraging chant to hype up the team, and Hunter just went "ah yes spot for me"

What if I explode

YEAHHHHH!!! Talking about this sketch and the implications makes me very unwell. Also the little gesture of happily resting his chin in her palm is just like something a sweet doggy would do before looking up at you with confused yet earnest eyes and then wagging his tail hopefully. He's so doggy like to me. Do you know what I mean? You know what I mean <333

Agsbdjnk the clipboard. A silly little sketch but with visual storytelling. It's absolutely tryouts or something similar. I imagine that Willow is the only EE player that is dedicated to playing longterm while the others have a lot of fun during their time on the team but eventually move on to other ventures after a year or two. Once Boscha improves her behaviour after FTF, I could see Skara wanting to return to playing grudgby. She seemed to really love it. So Willow and Hunter are on the ball near immediately to find a replacement. And with the Flyer Derby renaissance Willow has lowkey started at Hexside, there's a way bigger turn out than the last time she needed recruits.

Judging by Hunter's level of relaxed contentment and Willow not giving it much notice, a good chunk of time has passed since the events of W&D. They're very attuned to each other, having probably been joined at the hip for a while now.

(We're gonna ignore the fact that Hunter doesn't have his post TTT scars. Presumably Dana just forgot agsbdjk.)

Definitely post grom I imagine. If you compare Hunter's body language in both pics

In the left pic, I don't think he's unwilling to be touched. He's definitely excited about wherever the FUCK this is going. But he looks stiff and his smile is twitchy, clearly nervous. Which implies that he's not that used to Willow being so touchy with him and he's a little out of his depth. My headcanon is that grom was when they officially got together, after months of situationship shenanigans. With that little idea in mind, this is just the beginning of their relationship.

When it comes to the pic on the right, I imagine it's also quite early in the dating stage. Early enough that they've only just broached the exciting world of more intimately affectionate touches. Which Hunter has evidently not built up an immunity to yet. Still melts every time.

Yeah that is definitely a boy who has only been in a relationship long enough to discover that he loves the feeling of his face being held, but also a boy who's so comfortable in his relationship that he's not shy about seeking out affection when he wants it. Even in public.

So he's still swoony but not shy about it anymore. So I'd say a few weeks-a month or two into dating.

(Also the haircuts align with this little timeline I've made up in my head. Willow has cut her hair short for grom, while it's in the season 2 short stubby braids during tryouts. So it HAS grown out but only a little. Meanwhile Hunter's hair has grown out a bit during grom, but looks recently trimmed during tryouts. There's no real significance to this. I watched a Dana livestream once where she said she'd rather just draw short hair Hunter because the long hair noodle is annoying to draw. But asgbknk! I like to make up implications where there are none. Anyway my hc is that Willow and Hunter do not just decide on a signature hair length and keep it forever. They spend the next three years bouncing back and forth between long and short styles.)

ANYWAY Willow is absolutely hyping Hunter the fuck up as the Golden Star of her team!! The best and the brightest!! Her pride and joy as a Captain. The purpose is to get the candidates all excited to do their best to get a spot on this epic team so they can play alongside him, but Hunter misinterprets Willow's praise as sweet talk and smiles and blushes appropriately.

Agsbdjnk it's so funny. He totally understood that the goal was to get their potential players PUMPED and he was excellently playing along with riling them up. But that glowing review of his character distracted him and now he thinks they're flirting. So the super cool badass disposition he had adapted for the newbies was promptly thrown out the window because hehehehe my girlfriend is so nice to me 🥰 Bro has forgotten where he is. Head empty.

So when Willow juts out a hand to aggressively present ✨️Him✨️ to the audience, Hunter's already gooey brain just says put chin in hand because sweet girl soft girl my girl.

Willow is a little thrown off but when she feels the weight of his face but just rolls with it and keeps going. She even gives him an affectionate little caress. I think she recognizes that he's misunderstood the tone a bit and has decided to not tell him. He usually gets very embarrassed when its pointed out that he's made a social error and she doesn't wanna do that to him. It's harmless and its cute, who cares? He's a little confused but he's got the spirit.

[ships-n-bats]

Putting under read more 'cause it kind of turned out way longer than intended and has big images attached. ^^'

Warning: I literally am reviewing and judging sketches Kub0 drew of the Ichi//Hime fam post-manga and just being critical of I//H as a whole.

“Kub0 has yet to release any artwork of the Ichi//Hime family together!”

I just recently recalled this statement made years ago by anti I//Hs and became rather curious over whether or not this statement was still true or not. It’s been about 8+ years since the manga ended and I//H became canon with their mini-me child being revealed alongside. So, out of genuine curiosity, I decided to see if Kub0 had since drawn the I//H family in any capacity.

Only to discover that, nope, he indeed had not.

The closest I could find of any drawings made by Kub0 that involved Ichig0's family post-manga were these two sketches he made:

A sketch of Ichig0 and Kαzui with Kub0's signature.

And the pic he drew of Ichig0 with Kαzui during quarantine (which I will admit is super adorable omg).

Two pictures featuring a father and his son.

But! You'll notice with both of these sketches, 0rihime is missing. You know, the wife of Ichig0 and mother to said child?? She's not so much as shown in the background or right there alongside her husband and kid! She's just, not present what-so-ever...

And the saddest part? When I tried searching for any sketches Kub0 made of Kαzui with 0rihime, nothing came up. Not a single sketch featuring mother and son. I only found those two pics of Kαzui with his father. That's it.

And there wasn't a single sketch that had all three of them together.

The closest I could find was of an edited version of the quarantine pic an I//H fan drew where they added 0rihime in. That's right, an I//H fan had to add 0rihime into the sketch in order to get a proper Ichi//Hime family pic, because Mr. Tite Kub0 couldn't be bothered to do so himself in the first place. I also found other edited pics that just took separate pics of the three and mashed them together, which is just... sad.

I think the closest there's been to the three being seen together as a family was in the manga and even that is a bit of a stretch.

This then led me to see if Kub0 had since drawn Ichig0 and 0rihime together and came up with two more sketches:

A sketch of the two standing next to each other, looking at one another.

Another sketch of the two's portraits.

And just like with the previous two pics, I noticed something about both pics. In the first one, 0rihime and Ichig0 are keeping a distance between themselves, and the sketch overall is rather simplistic and not really readable. I can barely make out either of their expressions, though 0rihime looks shocked? Confused?? idk Meanwhile, Ichig0 looks either blank or irritated? He might be talking to her??

As for the second sketch, Ichig0 looks like he had more time and effort put into his portrait, while 0rihime looks thrown in last second. Given how much bigger Ichig0 is, it gives off the impression that Kub0 drew a pic of Ichig0 first, and then added 0rihime off to the side, in the background, which explains why she's so small and seems tacked on. You can essentially remove her from the sketch entirely as she doesn't look part of it as a whole.

Also, this same sketch had an I//H shipper tack on Kαzui to try and make it a family pic, just like with the other one.

Despite Kub0 canonizing Ichig0 and 0rihime as a married couple with a kid, despite it being nearly a decade now, despite I//H shippers asking Kub0 to give more details about how the two got together and what their relationship is like as a family and couple, he still hasn't bothered to actually give the Ichi//Hime fam any proper spotlight.

I hate bringing up other mangas for comparison, but even Nαruto, despite its own controversial ending and endgame ships, showcased some sweet family moments with their next gen families and even had cute couple-y moments between the endgame pairs. Kishim0t0 at least bothered to put some effort into trying to sell his endgame ships to fans. Meanwhile, Kub0 has left I//H high and dry of any basic domestic fluff.

And honestly?

I just find that to be plain sad. Sad that even though a pairing is made canon, is made to be married with a child, there's still this lack of intimacy between the two. Yes, many I//H antis have pointed out how much Ichig0 and 0rihime lacked development and intimacy prior to the ending, but it's post-ending where I feel the failure of I//H really comes to ahead.

I//H stans tend to use Ichig0 and 0rihime's marriage and product of their consummation as a crutch or a "got'cha" to prove them being canon somehow means they're a perfect pairing. But it really doesn't mean anything if there's no real intimacy outside of a legal piece of paper and offspring. Those two things don't prove anything and shouldn't be used as evidence for a happy, healthy relationship.

Because, despite what is believed by many, a marriage and kids does not automatically translate to a good relationship. People can be married with kids and still be unhappy or lack real closeness or intimacy in their relationship. Just like how the alternative (i.e. not married and no kids), can mean a happy and close relationship. Basically, a marriage and children are not required nor are proof of a happy, healthy relationship.

Kub0 himself has already proven to me that he doesn't even care about Ichi//Hime as a pairing, despite the marriage and kid. He hasn't shown that Ichig0 and 0rihime are close and seems to actively avoid drawing the family together, leading the fans to do so for him out of desperation. He was more than happy to show 0rihime's one-sided devotion towards Ichig0 throughout the manga, but never bothered to show Ichig0 ever returning those feelings, and then just ended with the two married with a son. Only later offhandedly mentioning that the two got together sometime after university when a fan asked him about it. And Ichig0 had to be prompted by his friends to make a move on her, not because he did so on his own accord.

Ichi//Hime may be endgame canon, but it's still hollow and empty.

Update 7/9/24

I had actually forgotten about another pic Kub0 did and was only recently reminded of it by a twt user.

The pic features Ichig0, Rukiα, Ichikα, and Kαzui altogether.

And I have to agree with the twt user’s assessment on it, it does look like an accidental family pic. I can totally see some people who aren’t familiar with Bleαch taking this out of context and mistaking Rukiα and Ichig0 as the parents. It’s a very cute and silly sketch too, with Rukiα and Kαzui messing around with Ichig0 and Ichikα dealing with their antics. An overall happy, wholesome pic.

Which makes the fact that Kub0 drew Rukiα alongside Kαzui and not his own mother, 0rihime, all the more noticeable and depressing. It really does feel like Kub0 is actively avoiding making any happy I//H fam material. He always falls back on drawing Ichig0 and Rukiα together (which he has admitted to enjoy doing).

[discluded]

Their recent SongWat pics make me believe that APo is getting babier and Mile is getting more daddier. I mean Apo looks fine on his own but as soon as he is with Mile, he tends to look like this little munchkin.

Most importantly, Apo's fans are getting rowdier day by day. They really need to start realizing that their actions are annoying. Apo looked annoyed/disturbed during one of these outings (I believe it was yesterday in brown pants and white printed shirt). He just walked by without even smiling. I recently even found out that some of his fans are engaging in verbal spats with Apo's friends in social media. Some of them are questioning the authenticity of their friendship because Apo has not interacted with them in social media in years. What do these clowns think of friendship? So, if you don't interact in social media by liking and commenting then you aren't their friends?

IT'S SO TRUE AND HE LOOKED EXTRA PRINCESS BABY GIRL TODAY LIKE,

OK 😭😭😭😭

I want to crush him with love like I do when I snuggle my cats

meanwhile,

🥵🥵 yeah

Apo has gotten more babygirl hasn't he. I think probably a combination of Mile helping him feel confident in his natural body language and self and no longer trying to be a ~cool guy~ cause of the work environment in BOC , and getting babygirled by Mile all the time 🥺

as for those mosquitos... they've already shown more than enough they don't understand or care about Apo beyond surface level. also friendship = interacting on social media says all you need to know about what they think real connections are huh

[whysojiminimnida]

WELL I SEE IT'S TIME TO TALK TATTOOS AGAIN

Holy cats, hoes mad:

I just adore Black&White KM, don't you? Honestly, never yells at me no matter how often I steal their pics, they give out freebies at concerts, they're respectful -- if you're gonna make a living off photographing famous people, do it like they do. Honestly. So they're in Qatar doing their whole job and hoes losing their shit all over the internet, apparently, all because a certain JM is darker. STILL.

This is not a brand new development.

Y'ALL HE DID THIS MONTHS AGO WHY ARE WE JUST NOW FREAKING OUT ABOUT IT?

This is at LAST YEAR'S GRAMMYS Y'ALL:

And completely unedited, unretouched, the JM was darker enough then that I did a whole post about it.

I MEAN DAMN have we not gone over this, like, several times? (In case you're new to this house elf situation we have here, yes. YES WE HAVE.) We have talked about Jungkook's tattoos at GREAT LENGTH. Well, I have, as far back as a while ago, most recently along about here but also here and here and here and several other places. There is zero tag organization in this house, I don't know what else to tell you.

Anywho Jungkook's tats do not, as nearly as I can tell, mean this:

Because, like the nice graphic above says that I just edited, THIS IS FAN-MADE BULLSHIT. I dunno who made it but I suspect the addition of the J upset some folk enough to need to make JeiKei's motivation anything OTHER than Jimin. Because, as we know, he started out with his ink like this:

Yes, that is a pic someone ripped off. I don't like using it. But it's what we have, and it's years later, and it's been out there for a long time, don't shoot. But I have expounded more than once on why it makes NO SENSE to GO BACK LATER to add one letter to a near-complete hand piece. It doesn't. And that A is not, never has been, a V. In Korea you can go literally anywhere and see Samsung logos, Shilla hotel logos, and of course Jimin's dad's cafe' all using that stylized A with no crossbar.

And I think it's pretty clear what JK thinks the JM means. It means Jimin. Ji Min. JM. DUH. And just like his "rather be dead than cool / make hay while the sun shines" crossword ON HIS ARM, he has a crossword on his hand. A very obvious crossword. Who he loves is written for all of us to see: ARMY, and JM. And lest I forget about that crown:

It's THE SAME CROWN. Wanna go one better but likely utter fanfiction, you could even go heart-arrow-crown like so: 💜 > 👑... ... and make that story work. It actually makes more sense than one J for four people and four letters for three. But we're not here for that. Occam's Razor tells us that the simplest explanation is usually the correct one, and the simplest explanation is the one that's got bitches tearing their hair out. Because THEY KNOW. They KNOW that JM means Jimin, and they HATE IT. (And so what, to quote JeiKei directly. We're gonna talk about fan hate today, too, just... not in this post).

MEANWHILE JUNGKOOK is always showing us his hand, too, have you noticed? Ever since he got the tattoos, but I think more in the last year. It's gotten really pronounced since the PTD dates.

Jeon Jungkook does what Jeon Jungkook wants, and what he wants is for us to pick up what he's been throwing down since, oh, FOREVER but even more recently. Like, it's NOTICEABLE, the way he gets that tattoo in frame at every opportunity. I'll run out of image space before he runs out of ways to show us his touched-up hand.

Yeah. I think the fanmade bullshit has been exposed for what it is. Some of us have known it all along, but even if you're baby Army and you accidentally got stuck watching a lot of comic sans rainbow font youtube garbage (or got up on the wrong side of stan twt), there's no shame in that. I ain't even mad. I'm just happy you're here. Jeon-Park house elves, how we doin'?

[purpleheartskies]

In a recent post, I shared some thoughts I have for s6. I have some more thoughts to add. Possible s6 spoilers!

In that post, someone made a good comment that the writers may want to keep Robby with Johnny so that they have more interactions, and so it's likely that Robby won't be back living with Shannon when s6 picks up after summer has ended. This got me thinking about my other ideas for s6. (I have many ideas lol.)

One of my ideas about Shannon is that, while on her trip, she decided to move to Bainbridge Island permanently and didn't want Robby to move with her. She came back, they packed up all their things from their apartment, and she moved away while Robby moved in with Johnny. Like she had just left Robby with Johnny over the summer without discussing it with Robby first, she told Robby that she's moving away permanently and that he can continue to live with Johnny. In s1, Shannon said that he'll leave her when he turns 18 so she has to find a man before then. But, she was always the one doing the leaving those days. So, it's possible that she's finally decided to move on with her life and leave Robby behind, like she seemed to hint at with her comment. She's cleaned herself up, Johnny claims he's ready to be a dad to Robby (which Johnny really isn't), and she can make a life for herself elsewhere.

Also, in s5, Shannon's comment about her parents' place was vague enough that there was debate amongst the fandom about if her parents are still alive, and if so, why haven't they ever done more for Robby especially given Shannon's lifestyle before rehab. If her parents are alive, there's some speculation that they're rich. Another idea I have for Shannon is that her parents have always lived in Bainbridge Island and she moved to LA when she turned 18 (which is something she projects onto Robby when she says that he'll leave when he turns 18). Her parents didn't approve of her choices and didn't approve when she had Robby, and they cut her off years ago. But now that she'd cleaned herself up, she had gotten back in touch with them and they were open to her visiting them over the summer. She'd also convinced them that she'd bring Robby with her, but after Johnny suggested Robby stay with him for the summer, she just left Robby with Johnny because it was easier for her. Either way, the idea is that Robby is now stuck living with Johnny because Shannon decided to move away permanently and leave Robby behind.

Based on the group bts pic at Miyagi-Do, Robby is still in the dojo when the season starts so one of my ideas in the previous post doesn't fit. Here's another idea for how the votes go for the girls leader and boys leader.

Maybe the girls don't take a vote. With everything that has happened in the dojo war, the girls from Cobra Kai being new to Miyagi Fang, and Sam technically winning the avt, the girls in the dojo come to the conclusion that Sam is the obvious choice. She's also been the leader of Miyagi-Do for a while, and she's the one who the senseis will support the most anyway because she's Daniel's daughter.

For the boys leader, at first, they plan on taking a vote. It's going to be Miguel vs Robby, but Johnny and Daniel pull Robby aside before the vote. They start by telling Robby that they all want to make the best decisions for the dojo, and ask him that that's what he wants too. He nods yes, but he's watching them carefully. They then say that Miguel as the boys leader would be a better for the dojo. Miguel is an avt champion, is going to school, has great grades, has no record, and is going to go to college, maybe even to a university like Stanford. Meanwhile, Robby has lost two avt championships, was expelled from school, has a criminal record and has gone to juvie, and may get his GED but may not even go to college. On paper, Miguel's the better choice for leader. It would be better for PR and for gaining sponsorships for the dojo for the tournament. Robby quietly agrees.

Johnny and Daniel then announce to the kids that Robby has decided not to run and, because Sam is uncontested as well, Miguel and Sam will be the respective leaders for the boys and the girls.

The third thing in that other post was about Robby's support system. In addition to seeing Bobby take on a primary role in Robby's support system, I'd like to see Chozen and Kumiko play some roles too. Chozen is still around, helping them train for the tournament, so it's possible he can help Robby. I assume right now he's not privy to how Johnny has treated Robby his whole life. For Kumiko, well, maybe they'll go to Okinawa for a visit or she can come for a visit. It depends on the situation (which I also have different ideas for). Either way, she can keep in touch with Robby online. So, Bobby, Chozen, and Kumiko are my hopes for Robby's support system. Johnny isn't capable, and may never be. Daniel and Amanda are iffy, but they can grow if they're open to recognizing their faults. Daniel sticks to "no bad teacher, only bad student" when it comes to Robby because "maybe he has too much of [Johnny] in him", while Amanda dismisses Robby as a teenager and thinks of teens with anger problems as lost causes who need wake-up calls. Robby needs compassionate and understanding adults in his support system, which Bobby, Chozen, and Kumiko seem to be.

[rallamajoop]

I recently found your blog while working on some things for a Heisenberg fic, and I love it! It made me think more about this HC that I have about Urias and Heisenberg. Since you have a lot of posts that talk about the game files and things like that, I wanted to ask your informed opinion on this if that's alright?

My HC is that Urias is actually Heisenberg's father--not just due to the fact that the concept art and character models look too similar to be a coincidence (in my opinion; I'd also like to add that I've never found anything that confirms or denies (or even refrences) this anywhere online, so if I'm missing something, feel free to let me know!).

I always imagined Heisenberg being close to his father, who likely was the one to teach him everything he knows in terms of engineering (I almost wonder if his name could be Karl Heisenberg Jr., his father being closer in reference to the physicist he's based on than Heisenberg himself. I hope that made sense-).

I imagine Miranda took his father first, whose experimentation results were close to what she was looking for, but no cigar (pun intended), so her next best bet was to hop down the family tree to his son--which yielded much more promising results--giving us the Heisenberg we know and love.

This would definitely explain why Heisenberg is much closer to the lycans than any other character, and why he's able to wrangle them so easily, because he's related to one--even if the consciousness of that relationship is long gone.

I'm so sorry if I came off as weird or anything, your blog just really kind of livened-up my HC and my fic ideas in general, and honestly makes me feelnreally confident about it and wanted to know your thoughts. Thank you! :)

Honestly, my initial kneejerk reaction to this one was “Jeebus, doesn’t the guy have enough dads already?” But on a second thought, heck, maybe there’s actually something to this idea…

The info we get on the possible Heisenberg family from the notes from the concept art is all over the place, and concepts for Heisenberg’s father are the worst offenders. Sturm was supposed to be his real father, Heisenberg’s monster form was supposed to be his father’s, the village leader was supposed to be his father... I assume these were different ideas from different phases (or one was a step-dad?) but sheesh, how many dads does one guy need?

Meanwhile, the one thing we do learn about Urias (apart from the fact he seems to part of some extended Urias family) is that he was supposed to be the village’s leader at some point… but that’s where this whole thing might just get interesting. Because if Heisenberg’s father was meant to be the village leader, and Urias was also supposed to be the village leader… could there have been a point in development where both were true at once, and Heisenberg’s father was going to be Urias? (I mean, as well as the village leader, presumably.)

I mean, they’re both beard-y, grey-haired dudes with a love for giant hammers and long coats. It’s not for nothing that so many fans came out of the early previews for this game assuming Urias was just Heisenberg in lycan form. Those concept pics of Heisenberg's father in a trenchcoat with a shock of grey hair aren't a million miles from Urias' design either.

There's some plausibility to the idea of Miranda experimenting on members of the same family too, especially if they've got cause to claim descent from one of the four founders. I speculated as much myself about what might have happened to the rest of the Beneviento family in my post on her background. Heisenberg specifically strikes me as more the sort of guy who probably wasn't born in the village, given he names his monsters in German, mocks the very idea of his lordship (more on that here), and is clearly the least brainwashed member of the family. But that's interpretation ‒ there's nothing truly definitive either way.

You'd have a harder time squaring 'an engineer who taught Karl all he knew' with Urias' role as the village leader, though ‒ I have trouble picturing anywhere as superstitious, isolated and backward as the village being led by someone with that much 'outsider' knowledge to pass onto his son. RE has certainly tried to sell us on wilder things, but it doesn't really click for me.

As for Heisenberg's affinity for lycans, that's more debatable. He certainly seems to be commanding them at the start of the game (just to really cement all those lycan!Heisenberg theories!) but past that point, any lycan associations dry up very quickly. There are no lycans to be found anywhere in the factory ‒ just soldats, and moroi wearing mind-control visors (called ‘haulers’, but they’re obviously just new versions of the creatures you meet in Donna’s domain). Why bother putting visors on skinny zombie creatures if he could command lycans without them? Doesn’t really seem like Heisenberg’s ability to control lycans goes far beyond ‘stop’ and ‘go’.

True, Heisenberg does leave his Rose-flask in a stronghold full of lycans. But he also sends Ethan to that stronghold, where he has to fight and kill Urias himself. The idea that Heisenberg was ever close to his lycan-dad is going to be hard to square with how casually he sends someone to kill Urias, or how pleased he seems that Ethan succeeded. In Heisenberg’s mind, lycans are nothing so much as they’re expendable – Urias included.

So as far as the finished game goes, I think it’s probably reaching to suggest that Urias (of the extended Urias clan) is related to Heisenberg, who so casually throws him in Ethan’s way as a test. But the possibility that maybe Urias was going to be a Heisenberg at some point in development is a better explanation for the fact the Urias-clan are so big into hammers and trenchcoats than any other explanation I’ve heard yet. It’s certainly no crazier than so many other headcanons I’ve heard around this game.

But speaking of the Urias-clan, let's cover the other Uriasi you can find around the game. Urias Strajer (the bigger version of Urias with the mace that Chris fights near the megamycete) is supposedly Urias' older brother ‒ something the concept art wants you to know so badly it's mentioned on pictures of both of them. So if you still want one of them to be Heisenberg's father, the other is presumably his uncle. Heck, maybe Strajer could be Heisenberg's father, and Urias could be the uncle he never liked very much (despite his excellent taste in hammers), if you want to explain Heisenberg's lacking reaction to Urias' death. Some of the game files for Strajer are labeled 'village elder', which also points some kind of connection. Chock up some more evidence of Miranda experimenting on members of the same family too!

The two axe-wielding optional bosses you can fight in the sawmill and over Claudia's grave are apparently Uriases too ‒ Urias Drac, specifically, though you'd only know that from RE.net, where you can see stats for how many of them you've killed in Mercenaries mode. Personally, I only realised they were supposed to be lycans at all because you can one-shot them with the magnum if you unlock the 'special customisation' that 'does extra damage against lycans' ("extra" apparently means "10x" in special-customisation land). But presumably they're based on the same unused design from the concept art of this one 'lycan' out walking his varcolacs too.

Are these Uriasi too part of the greater Urias-family? Who knows ‒ that one's up to you. Their bodies, with that swollen weak point on the back, do match the model for Urias Strajer (shown below). In fact, I'm pretty sure all the Uriases use the same base model, just with different clothes, armour and hair. So there's some shared DNA in there somewhere (even if only in the sense that recycling a good model saves so many hours of development time).

The name 'Urias' is apparently a term for giant in Romanian, which checks out. Strajer, meanwhile, apparently translates as 'guardian' or 'sentinel', which tracks with the fact Strajer's job is to guard the megamycete. 'Drac', meanwhile, seems to be the same word you might know from Dracul (dragon or devil) or Dracula (son of the above) ‒ though I am also amused that google translate tried to tell me 'urias drac' means 'huge fuck'. 'Giant demon' may be more on the money for that one. Either way, all this etymology does strongly suggest that 'Urias' is more a description than an actual family name. Which is somewhat reassuring, because nothing I've read about Romania suggests they put surnames first.

Probably just to annoy me, personally (because I absolutely will overthink this shit now you've got me started), one of the models used for regular-vanilla-Urias is randomly called 'Gregorio', a name that shows up nowhere else in the game. There is a Grigori ‒ he's that old guy who gave Ethan his first handgun before the lycans dragged him away.

I really do not think we're supposed to take it that Urias is a lycanised Grigori, though ‒ that's rather too big a transformation in not nearly enough time. Otherwise, 'Gregorio' is neither Romanian or German (like both 'Karl' and 'Heisenberg' are) ‒ it's Italian or Spanish, which is just confusing. One of the four founders (more on them here) did have a vaguely similar name ‒ Guglielmo ‒ but I don't think that's really close enough to mean much either. 'Gregorio' could be the name of a developer who worked on the file once, for all I know.

So where does that leave us? Honestly, nowhere very exciting. None of the evidence of this greater Urias family was actually in the playable game (notes on concept art and names you have to find on an unrelated website are very tenuous canon at best). Still, Urias and Urias Strajer are similar enough that it's reasonable to assume they must have some sort of relationship. So take all this as you will (or not at all).

[partangel]

Hi! I think some time ago you talked about selling ceramics and i'm quite interested! Do you have your own studio? I would love to see more of your pieces :)

hello! yes i built a studio recently after taking pottery classes for some months. the pieces i did in classes were all gifted and i dont have photos of these works!

meanwhile my wheel had some problems and i had to pause practice for some months with academics and all, so rn im just getting back and doing smaller practice pieces so i dont have a batch to show for ): when i fire a full oven ill post pics! 🤝 but heres an ashtray i made and a small trinket bowl