#regrets and blame

[batbabydamian]

wondered when exactly Damian started casually chatting with his hallucinations of Alfred in Robin (2021)

figured isolating himself in a dark tower carrying pictures of Alfred and the weight of his death would do the trick! (Detective Comics (2016) #1032)

[mint-fixates]

There's this weird take I've seen floating around on TikTok that Bill doesn't actually care about his family/dimension or Stanford at all; that we're supposed to take everything in TBOB as non-canon basically because he's lying to garner sympathy from reader to make a deal with them. I'm all for having your own interpretations of media, but I just don't think this idea that Bill is a completely heartless unfeeling creature is supported by canon at all. In fact, it kind of feels like the opposite of the point of the book.

Like, yeah, most things Bill says should be taken with a grain of salt because he lies a lot, but he's not actually a very good liar? It's usually pretty easy to clock when he's full of it. But okay, even if we assume every word Bill says while trying to recruit the reader is a lie, there are three major things that this doesn't account for.

Bill is not the only source in the book. The lost Journal 3 pages were written by Stanford, we only know about the interdimensional Taco Bell incident because of an included police transcript, etc.

Even once he's lost any chance of making a deal with the reader to escape, Bill is having a complete breakdown and mentions all the people he so totally doesn't miss for real you guys. Why bother with reverse psychology double-lying for sympathy once his shot at getting the reader on his side is already gone?

Trying to garner the reader's sympathy makes sense to a certain extent, but why go out of his way to make himself look pathetic? Does revealing that he got drunk and cried over his ex in a fast-food drive-through really help his cause if that cause is to convince the reader he's still a powerful being capable of starting the apocalypse again so they can rule with him?

And that's all without even mentioning that, as previously stated, I think the entire point of the book is missed if we're interpreting Bill as having no genuine feelings or attachments. The book ends with Stanford healing from his past by being open about what he went through with his family and accepting their help, while Bill insists he doesn't need anyone and refuses to heal, actively making himself worse in the process. The clear theme imo is that accepting your past and accepting help from people who love you is essential to healing, while denying those things just makes everything worse. If Bill doesn't actually care about his family, his dimension, Stanford, or anything/anyone else, he has no trauma to heal from or regrets to learn from that he's refusing to accept and deal with, and the entire meaning of the book is made moot.

[yourlocalabomination]

“The spankoffski bros are played by the same actor, they both can’t be on stage at the same time!”

Wrong. Joey has two hands.

May I present the superior solution:

[whimsicalsesquipedalian]

Y’all I’m literally never going to be okay about Simon and Betty.

Simon realising that their whole relationship he hadn’t been examining why Betty always followed him because he was too focused on his love for her and not what she really needed. Not what they both really needed.

The devastating parallel of Betty being so blindly in love with Simon that she willingly and unthinkingly always put him first. And Simon being so blindingly in love with Betty that he saw her being happy and so never thought to fucking question whether those were the right decisions to make. Enabling them every time because they were in love and that was what she wanted, right? She wanted to be with him. She loved him. She was happy. So why would he think it should be any different?

And Betty reassuring Simon that she made her own choices. That he didn’t hold her anywhere. That he never forced her to be with him, or put him first. That she made those decisions and that she didn’t have any regrets. But that they both had to let this go because as long as they were focused on each other neither of them were ever going to be able to have the life they needed.

That they had both been trapped for so long carving pieces of themselves out for other people. Betty in her blind devotion when it came to Simon. Simon in his belief that his crimes as the Ice King, and that all the ways he had let down Betty, meant the only purpose and worth he could have was in sacrificing himself for others.

That they both deserved self-possession and the ability to find autonomy and actualisation as individuals. That they deserved to make their own choices, the good and the bad, and just live without the blind devotion, and guilt, and sacrifice that was going to trap them in this loop forever.

That they meant everything to each other, but that now they needed to mean everything to themselves. That the only way forward was on different paths, but that they both deserved that. That they were able to show each other that they deserved that.

That Simon gets to live now.

I will never be okay about this show. Or these two.

[im-totally-not-an-alien-2]

Danny was...unnerved, which is unusual considering his upbringing as the child of mad scientists obsessed with the undead.

It had been a few weeks since he had moved into Wayne manor after a conflict between batman and his parents, which led to his home and his friends and family being blown up in a lab malfunction. Most of Amity Park was destroyed in the blasts, including Vlad and his mansion.

Usually Danny would be more suspicious of super rich dudes, but the sorrow in Bruce Wayne's eyes as he pleaded to let Danny take him in was genuine and well, Danny didn't exactly have anywhere else to go. Plus, Bruce looked weirdly guilty when danny told him none of this was his fault, which was weird. Jazz was in college and always looked exhausted on video calls, so he didn't want to bother her there.

The part that bothered him most wasn't that there was anything dangerous or bad happening, but rather the opposite.

Danny was used to dodging his home security system when it randomly targeted him. He was used to ghosts popping up out of nowhere to suckerpunch him. He was used to danger.

And now that there was none, he was jumping at shadows.

Things got better when he met Psaro. He was in the process of being either mugged or kidnapped, he wasn't sure, when this angry goth teen with silver hair and ruby eyes literally came in swinging a steel chair. After the beat down and subsequent rescue, Danny offered to buy them some food. Psaro tried to reject the offer until his stomach suddenly growled, making him blush, and Danny dragged the older goth teen to a restaurant.

They've been best friends since. Psaro later introduced him to his friends Rose and Toilen, explaining that they weren't from this world and that Rose was an elf and Toilen was a Teran from a planet called Terrestria. Danny assumed that Psaro was an elf like Rose due to them both having long pointed ears and mostly focused on Toilen thanks to the "other planet" bit.

Meanwhile, the bats have been keeping an eye out on Danny (aka stalking him) and his new, obviously magical friends.

[meagancandraw]

You ever think about how neither of them got to say goodbye?

[liyazaki]

THE HANDMAIDEN (2016) | directed by Park Chan-wook

[lost-in-fandoms]

"Tell me again."

Max hums, moving his hand in slow circles along Daniel's back, feeling his chest move against his side, his face hidden in the folds of Max's t-shirt.

He bows his head, pressing a kiss against Daniel's hair, shifting against the hotel's pillows until he's comfortable again.

"It's going to be sunny," he says, voice low, letting Daniel's curls tickle his lips and nose. "It's going to be sunset, orange, the trees all golden in the way you like."

Daniel's back shifts under his hand, his fingers twisting in Max's shirt.

"We'll be sitting in chairs, because you have old man knees, and would complain about sitting on the floor."

He twists away from the halfhearted poke in his side, then settles back.

"They will be those garden ones, the ones with the straw?"

"Wicker," Daniel corrects him softly, voice scratchy.

"Yes, wicker." He tugs Daniel even closer, not knowing how it is even possible. "With pillows, so you can curl in them like a little cat."

He smooths his hand down Daniel's back, like he does with Sassy, when she stretches out beside him on the bed, similar to how Daniel is now. Does it again when he feels Daniel's shoulders uncurl slightly.

"We will be drinking your weird beers, the expensive ones that taste worse than all the others."

"Craft beer isn't weird," Daniel argues, just like Max was expecting him to. He sounds like there's something stuck in the back of his throat, and Max kisses his hair again.

"It is weird, Daniel. Beer does not need to be that expensive."

He gives him space to reply once more, but Daniel doesn't.

"We will drink your weird beer, and we will talk about that time we ate pasta in your hotel room."

It wasn't just one time, but Max knows he doesn't need to specify. They're both thinking about the same one, illegal spaghetti ordered from room service, hidden from their trainers, sauce on the corner of Max's mouth, cleaned by Daniel's thumb first, Daniel's mouth later. And even if they aren't thinking about the same, it doesn't matter. Every plate of pasta shared, in every hotel room, would matter just as much, stepping stones in their story, just as important as that first kiss.

"And it will be rainy," Max continues, voice even lower. His t-shirt is damp, stretched by Daniel's tense fingers. Daniel's back is shuddering, even when he holds him closer and closer and closer.

"It will rain, and you will have a blanket, because you always get cold, even more when it is humid."

The thing that was in Daniel's throat is in his too now.

"We will talk about how stupid everyone was. We will say it was all unfair. But we will not be angry anymore, because it will not matter anymore."

Daniel's hair smell like Max's shampoo, even if he usually doesn't use it, because he hates how dry it makes it feel. Max can taste salt on the back of his throat as he shifts his head slightly, trying to at least keep his ears dry, now that his cheeks are a lost cause.

Daniel's breathing is a stuttered rhythm against his ribs.

"We will cook eggs," Max pushes on, pressing every word against Daniel's skin, hoping every one feels like the i love you that it is. "Because we will have chickens on your farm, like a real farm, so we will be good at cooking eggs. And you will drink your wine, and sing your songs."

His voice breaks, sudden betrayal, just as Daniel trembles in a sob, but Max pushes through. They've both always known how to push through.

"And I will ask are you happy and you will say yes," he says, making it sound like a promise, because it is a promise. "And we will not regret any of it."

He knows they won't. Not the angry moments, not the painful moments, not the annoying little moments they will never even remember. They will take all of them and throw them into the jar of their lives, little pebbles, and colorful marbles, and shards of glass smoothed out with time and love and distance, all mixed together.

"We will sit on your chairs, and they will have nothing, and we will have us."

He holds Daniel closecloseclose, because he's never learned how to let go of the things he cares about, has always clung to things with his teeth and desire bared, and he has no intention of starting now. He has no intention of starting ever.

Even if this is not the way he wanted things to happen, he doesn't believe in letting go, especially when it comes to Daniel.

He swallows, clears his throat to try and dislodge the tight knot of feelings there, raises a hand to swipe his thumb along Daniel's wet jaw.

"We will have chickens, and a garage full of dirt bikes, and I will ask Grace to teach me how to make the pasta sauce you spilled all over the carpet when you were five."

Daniel nods against his chest, fingers relaxing. His breathing is still uneven, Max's t-shirt is still damp, but he can feel him going lax against him, relaxing bit by bit.

"We will," Daniel murmurs, voice shaky enough it sounds closer to a question.

"We will," Max tells him, firm. Would be happy to tell him again and again, until Daniel's voice doesn't shake on it anymore. "We will eat so much food, and we will become fat, and we will be happy. We will."

Daniel nods again, then shifts, wiggling in Max's hold until he can properly climb on top of him, pointy elbows planted on the bed, above Max's shoulders, trembling fingers tracing the wet lines on his cheeks, red-rimmed eyes soft.

When Daniel kisses him, they both taste like salt, exhaustion and the future.

[elizakai]

killer and dust in miku mesmerizer 🤪

[rusty-eevee]

How I played Pokemon Mystery Dungeon as a kid.

[euthymiya]

“They’re staring, my lord. Perhaps you shouldn’t be so forward with your displays.”

“Haven’t I told you to forego the formalities? I am your husband, my dear wife. Just Ayato shall suffice. And do let them stare—such beauty will naturally only attract the attention of others.”

“Goodness, you’re certainly not easy to persuade are you, Ayato? Fine then, have your way.”

[canon-gabriel-quotes]

Transcript:

W-where am I? How? How did you do this?

Sisyphus? Is that you?

How are you so big? And I’m so small?

No! Let me out of here!

Let me- *muffled yelling*

*cats meowing*

Audio source

[themoonunderstoodmydadjokes]

✨ I don’t know what this is so don’t ask ✨

[leviismybby]

It's happening...

I am starting to find Erwin hot again...

[dontletyourguarddown]

i guess this is it

[dreamingalto]

How We Can Get Golden Pig Phil

Alright, so there is a collective effort right now to get Golden Pig Phil on the gaming channel poll. And while there is a bunch of campaigning around why Phil should win the Golden Pig poll, there isn't much around how he can win and how achieveable it is for him to win.

Lets look at the numbers:

CURRENTLY! (As of around 1:15pm UTC+1 or London Time)

Phil is only about 8% of the votes behind. We have made quite the impact from the results around 20 minutes after the poll was posted yesterday which was Dan at 69% and Phil at 31%.

Alto? You may ask. Its almost 24 hours since the poll has been posted, what if we have done all we can?

This is where I have evidence that we still have time AND that there are still a SIGNIFICANT amount of votes that can and need to be counted!

The Previous DAPG Polls

If we take a look as to where all the previous polls are resting on the Youtube Community Tab, you will notice something interesting.

All of them rest around 100k votes in total.

That means there are around 100k DAPG subscribers who vote in the community polls. With the current Golden Pig Poll, we are at around 52k. This means there are still about 48,000 accounts/people who have not voted yet.

If we break down the current votes and percentages in the Golden Pig Poll, the current votes rest at the following:

30,160 votes for Dan.

21,840 votes for Phil.

Those 48,000 accounts that havent voted can change the entire outcome of the poll!

Along with that, I am fairly confident that they arent going to pull the results until a little later OR a little closer to that 100k voting marker.

Why you may ask? We can look towards the Dil's job poll.

In the screenshot, we can see they took the results of the poll from when it was at around 97k votes, which isnt that significant of a differences from the 98k it currently rests at.

Surely they know how many of their subscribers typically participate in the Youtube Community Polls on average. And, for this situation, I am going to bet that they arent going to film the Golden Pig video until either later this evening OR until tomorrow or a few days from now. Dan has just had the Bath event yesterday and it hasnt even been at least 24 hours since the poll went live.

To give enough time for the poll AND to give Dan the chance to rest a moment after getting back from his book event, it would make the most sense to wait a little bit until filming the video.

So there is still a really good opprotunity for us to turn this poll around.

Calls to Action!

Now, in order to capitalize on the opprotunity in order to get Phil to be the Golden Pig, we have a few very simple actions that can we taken.

If you are a part of the 48k who have not submitted their vote - Go Submit Your Vote For Phil!

Its as simple as that. On average, there are about 48k who havent voted on the Golden Pig poll as of yet. Every vote counts! (And while you are at it, make sure you are registered and know when your own local elections are IRL because voting matters then too!)

If you have already voted for Dan - Switch Your Vote to Phil!

The advantage of them conducting these polls on the Youtube Community Tab is the fact that we have the ability to change our vote at any time. If you voted Dan but are on the fence now after seeing all the Golden Pig Phil posts, you have nothing to lose by switching to Phil. You can change your mind and vote later if you so wish. You can even change it back to Dan if you decide that is where your vote should go. There is no limit to switching your vote, you are not locked into your gut answer.

If you have already voted for Phil - Keep Campaigning for Golden Pig Phil!

We still need to reach those 48k people who haven't voted. And, we still need to convince anyone who might have not been confident in their Dan vote OR who might be persuaded by the campaign for Golden Pig Phil to go and switch their vote.

Conclusion