#sharing as in showing not sharing as in its ok to steal obviously

[ganondoodle]

seeing all that hatred for art and artists, so many just taking it all for granted, while watching the only websites that were bearable get burned to the ground, just as the world dies slowly around us while fascism rises up in every corner

how are you supposed to not give up on everything

[royalpurplehuskies]

Maybe hot take but I don’t think most of the hate directed toward Steven was racism. It was a proportional (if extreme) reaction to their public personas. Shane and Ryan are why everyone follows watcher, so of course they’re going to get less hate automatically. But even excepting that, this is how each of the boys is perceived:

Steven: CEO (meaning he’d likely be the one making the final decision here, and in the general public consciousness the assumption is that the CEO makes the most money), drives a Tesla, gets goop (notoriously expensive) salads door dashed (notoriously expensive) every day and admitted it without shame, wants to bring back a series that does not include Ryan and Shane (the reason people watch and the content they’d be most ok paying for) and that is at its core is a show of wealth and that previously included gold-flecked ice cream - something obviously expensive and ridiculous

Ryan: neither flagrantly anti-capitalist, nor a flagrant spender, a net neutral in terms of money

Shane: anti-capitalist, regularly tells you to steal from the rich, told you in the goodbye video to steal from the company (share passwords), has never spoken to any degree about what money he makes or what he buys with it, has spent years building this persona by joking directly with fans

I don’t think this is racism, I think this is a direct reaction to perceived classism judged by how each of the boys has shown their wealth and crafted their online persona over the years. The guy with the Tesla was always going to get the most shit. The guy who told you to share passwords was always going to get the least. I don’t think it’s right, all three made this decision together and they all believed in it enough to take it this far (they shot expensive overseas episodes of ghost files - Shane and Ryan’s show - already for god’s sake) but I think crying racism to make justifiably upset fans feel bad is a stretch

[moestavern]

The HOMOE Masterpost

Shoutout to @butchbarneygumble for oking me to steal this idea from their Moeney Masterpost! Go peep that btw.

I see almost no one acknowledge all the gay shit these two have going on so i have to ship them all by myself and honestly that's unacceptable given how much this show implies between them. And with a ship name like Homoe? You have got to be kidding me they were handed to me on a golden fucking plater.

Blah blah i know these are jokes or w/e but its a show, no one here is real, you are not affected by me wanting these middle aged men to kiss each other (more than they already do) so lets get on with it!

This is currently only clips from the show, i will go through the comics/books/etc. if anything's hidden in there and ill add it to this post in the future.

This is gonna be a long post so everything is gonna be under the cut.

Episode: (S2E11) One Fish, Two Fish, Blow Fish, Blue Fish

Homer Kisses Moe. Moe responds with "not in public". So in private then?

H: Oh words wont do it- I love you Moe M: Not in public

---

Episode: (S8E3) The Homer they Fall

Just this whole episode.

H: Are you an angel? M: Yes Homer, Im an angel. All us angles wear Farah slacks. H: But you stopped the fight. Wont everyone be mad at you? M: Eh, lettem be mad. The only thing that matters to me is your'e safe. - D: Homer, your manager obviously loves you very much.

---

Episode: (S9E16) Dumbbell Indemnity

Dancing together + hints throughout. "if you squint" kinda stuff but ill take my breadcrumbs.

---

Episode: (S11E6) Hello Gutter Hello Fadder

Homer and Moe consider one another life partners.

Ma: Well, the one sure cure for the blues is to talk it over with your life partner. H: You're right! - H: I cant believe it Moe. The greatest feet of my life is already forgotten. M: Geez, Homer. I never seen ya this depressed. As your life partner, Im very worried.

---

Episode: (S11E10) Little Big Mom

When Lisa calls the tavern, Moe asks if Homer is going to another bar like its a cheating situation. Look at me however you want that's how im taking this. Moe's clingy.

M: Hey uh- is Homer there? L: No, he isn't. I dont know where he is. M: Im a little worried. He usually stops in for an eye opener on the way to work. L: He told us he'd been going to the gym. M: Uhahaha- Wow. Anyway, you dont think he could be at another bar do ya? Because i couldnt take that- i- i just couldnt. *crying*

---

Episode: (S11E16) Pygmoelian

Homer tells Moe his acting is a turn on.

M: The one hole ive never been able to fix is the one in my soul. H: That was amazing Moe. Im actually a little turned on. M: Yeah, hey i gotta gift.

---

Episode: (S16E7) Mommie Beerest

The thing i dont say is that i primarily ship all three of them together especially during late seasons. Reading "Moe takes the place of marge" jokes as shippy is- a bit of a stretch? whatever, it includes Moe telling Homer "i love you" and Homer calling Moe "Honey".

H: What would Marge say? M: Do whatever you have to do to save Moe's. I love my Homie. H: Ok honey, ill do it! Ma: What's going on here? M: Nothin- Nothing.

Also Homer and Moe sharing a bed 1/2.

---

Episode: (S17E5) Marge's Son Poisoning

If i had a nickel for every time Moe and Homer were called life partners id have 2 nickels. Which isn't a lot but its weird that it happened twice. (This has to be a lie, im certain there is a third time this has happened, i have yet to find it again) "They're lying, they're trying to hustle" um stfu- idc that's his life partner. he said so.

RT: God dern it son- what tha hell kinna sissy are you? M: Hey are you calling my life partner a sissy? Cause a hundred bucks says he could whoop you in arm wrestling.

---

Episode: (S18E6: Moe n' a Lisa)

Moe tells Homer he loves him.

H: Seriously Moe, I think you have a gift. M: Thanks Homer, I love you man. H: OoooOH you love a man.

---

Episode: (S20E8) The Burns and The Bees

Moe explains bees having sex to Homer and Homer thinks Moe is talking about the two of them.

H: But how are we supposed to combine the DNA of two strains of the same species? M: Actually Homer *whispering* H: *gasp* You and me? M: No. The bees. H: Oh! Yeah yeah. That's what i meant too. I... have no... inclination...

---

Episode: (S21E30 The Great Wife Hope)

Moe takes Homer dressed as Marge to his class reunion. He says he took Barney the year before.

M: Lets go Marge. My class reunion starts in an hour. H: Uh, Moe, i have a confession to make. Im just Homer dressed as Marge. M: Yeah, but last year i took Barney dressed as Marge. Think how much better they'll think you look. Hmm? H: Well you better not leave me and talk to your old friends all night. M: Keep talkin like that and ill leave ya here right now.

---

Episode: (S21E21) Moe Letter Blues

Homer kisses Moe.

H: Moe, i dont know rather to punch you or kiss you. So im gonna do both.

---

Episode: (S24E2) Treehouse of Horror XXIV

Look, i know its a demon that looks like Moe and NOT Moe. But cmon what was this???

H: Listen, pal, you seem like an honest guy. Is there any other deal you can accept? D: Three way. H: Hm- You, me, Marge? D: Demon, demon, you. H: Sigh- I guess its one of those things a dad has to do. - H: Now before we start, what's the safe word? D: Cinnamon H: Oh! I like that. Now, id like to try something new, if you dont mind. D: Cinnamon. Cinnamon! Cinnamon! Cinnamon!

---

Episode: (S25E12) Diggs

Ok- so the way Bart describes his feeling for Diggs is really queer and Homer immediately compares that to his feelings towards Moe.

B: I met this kid. Little older. Kinda strange. I dont think other people get him but i just wanna hang out with him all the time. H: *gasps* Its even better than i thought. You found your Moe Szyslak!

---

Episode: (S27E10) The Girl Code

Homer kisses Moe.

M: Hey what tha hell? Get your kisser off my head puss! H: What? Its how greek men say 'hello'. Non sexual guy kissing is the best.

---

Episode: (S28E4) Treehouse of Horror XXVII

Moe kisses a picture of Homer twice.

Thanks @leibi97 for remembering this one for me!

--- Episode: (S28E13) Fatzcarraldo

Homer calls Moe his "sweet wonderful bartender"

H: i had a great day and i really wanna celebrate with the boys so dont wait up for me my sweet wonderful bartender, Moe. M: Alright but whos the boys? H: Marge's boobs. See ya!

---

Episode: (S29E16) King Leer

Homer carrying Moe into the store. But also i like this episode over all from a Homoearge standpoint.

M: When i cross this threshold i begin a new life! *Picked up by Homer* This is the first time that ive ever been carried into a store. Look at me now lady foot locker! Look at me now.

---

Episode: (S32E15) Do Pizza Robots Dream of Electric Guitars

Ok guys THIS is what im talking about when i say in later seasons i kinda ship all three of them.

Ma: Did you see how he ate his breakfast? He doesn't shuffle his pancakes like a deck of cards. He doesn't air drum while driving, or race the dog in butt scooting across the carpet. And he always won. He's not my Homie anymore. B: We didnt notice any of that. Ma: A wife knows. M: And a bartender. Hes just- hes just not the same. He dont spin Barney around on the stool no more. He dont drink beer from a crazy straw just a sensible straw. What are we gonna do about our little man Midge? Ma: Were just gonna have to love him that much more. M: I didnt think that was possible. - B: Im used to seeing mom upset about dad, but Moe. That really shook me.

---

Episode: (S35E7) Its A Blunderful Life

They love each other :)

M: How dare you show your face in here. H: Moe, its me, and beneith all the drinking and the jokes we have a real relationship. And that means something. M: What are you gettin at? H: C'mon man. Deep down, we kinda love each other. H: *thrown through window* M: Love you too

---

Episode: (S35E15) Cremains of the Day

Moe and Homer share a bed 2/2.

M: Oh cmon Lenny, ghosts aint real. eh

Holding each other.

---

Episode: (S35E17) The Tipping Point

Dont- Even- Get- Me- Started

M: Exact change huh? Thats it? H: Aw, i really wanna tip ya Moe, but i promised my wife id quit. M: Heres a thought Homer. What if you took the moolah outta your pocket but you just stopped before anything happened? Ya know, everything but the tip. H: That dosent seem like it could lead to anything. M: Sure it couldnt. H: *slowly hands Moe ten dollars* H: We shouldnta done that. M: Does that mean- that you wanna stop? H: No *hands Moe more money* *moaning* It feels so good *hands Moe more money* M: Dont stop you generous man *handed more money* *moaning* Aw yeah give it to me big boy H: *handing Moe more money* You like that? M: Oh thats the spot H: I can do this all night M: Right there H: Tell me you want it M: Oh god- Oh god- Oh god- Oh god! H: Yes- Yes- Yes- Yes! *Wallet sprays money on Moe* C: I need a new bar. - M: *following Homer out of the bar* Where ya goin? H: I cant stop tippin Moe. Im hooked on tha rush! I gotta monkey on my back and hes got his hand out. M: But, what about us? H: No one service worker can satisfy my needs. God help me im a tip-phomaniac.

---

Jesus ok i dont know how to conclude this post. I will make updates to this. I know im missing stuff.

This is about a 3rd of my "moe is bi" list so maybe ill make that its own masterpost.

Someone asked me today what ship dynamic they are and i told them "the dumb one/the evil one/the woman". My spouse and i have been watching Futurama and they pointed out to me it was the same dynamic when i said i saw something between Fry/Bender/Leela as a trio.

[strawbubbysugar]

Ok, so I have another set of questions about the world, particularly about the Cultural differences between Porphyal and Atomata.

1. What is the traditional look/outfits of each kingdom? Do they have specific colors? Accessories? Textile decorations?

2. What is the architecture like? What does it look like? What materials are used?

3. Is there any traditional music for each kingdom? (Lol I just pictured techno being played in Atomata for all occasions, I apologize for my immaturity)

4. What is the main language that is spoken in each kingdom? Do they have other dialects?

5. I imagine they have spies during the war that get intel for the kingdoms, but do they have any citizens that are genuinely invested in the other culture? Like, citizens that would love to go visit and write books about what they learned? Obviously they can’t because war, but maybe they have libraries with information?

6. What traditional festivities do they have that the other culture may find confusing or maybe be blown away by it if relations were better?

7. What urban legends do they have? Or traditional cautionary tales? Stories children or young bots are told during bedtime/charge time?

8. What are the schools like or rather how does each culture handle education?

9. What would you say is one of the coolest thing about each culture you really like?

10. Is there a tradition Sun, Moon, Pry/ncess dislike/love about their culture?

I hope these aren’t too many questions… 😅

Never too many questions! 1. In general, I lean towards whatever looks coolest/most interesting, but its really just fantasy medieval clothing. However I will say that Atomatan clothing leans far more colourful with big shapes and styles, while Porphyal leans more into subtle textures and practicality

2. For porphyal, classic medieval architecture! For Atomata, classic medieval architecture with a TWIST that it all looks like sets for a childrens tv show! I have a pinterest board here with some examples! Atomata: https://www.pinterest.ca/strawbubbysugar/atomata/ Porphyal: https://www.pinterest.ca/strawbubbysugar/porphyal/

3. Porphyal enjoys a classic lute, while Atomatan instruments mimic human ones, but sound like chiptunes/8bit music! Like this!

4. its just "common", like dnd, so as not to single it out as being english for people who read in other languages :) There are def dialects, for animatronics their dialects mimic humans but they also have varying levels of echo/static to their voices. Older models tend to have far more echo

5. Of course! Both sides have citizens that are just normal people, and want to see the war end!

6. Animatronics know all about the human world's holidays/festivities, but they all are shifted ever so slightly. Humans know little to nothing about animatronic festivities, thanks to the level of information control in porphyal

7. Humans have an urban legend of "The Mangle", an animatronic that steals people from their beds and twists their bodies into something unrecognizable. Animatronics have an urban legend about a purple man, but it differs so widely from person to person, there isnt a consensus on how the story goes

8. Simple schooling for humans, small villages usually have one person that teaches children in the same class regardless of age, simple stuff like reading & writing, maybe a small bit of math, and some history. Animatronics have basic knowledge downloaded into them at birth, and if they want more knowledge they need to seek it out themselves

9. Ooo good question! I love that human beings are practically built to create, and any human can make art if given the tools and time to do so. I love that animatronics use kindness and compassion as a staple of daily life, with being anything else an outlier

10. Sun loves animatronic kindness and willingness to share, but he hates how hard it is for them to step outside their comfort zone. Moon loves the ease of access to knowledge, but hates that kindness is expected when it is not earned. Pry/ncess has a hard time feeling any particular way about anything in porphyal. Theyre a little bottled up about those feelings.

[miscmonstro]

The Uno Reverse Adoption Saga 5

First: Chapter 1

Previous: Chapter 4

Next: Chapter 6

Halfa!Trio Au crossover with Batman

Current Characters: Sam Manson, Tucker Foley, Danny Fenton, Jason Todd (brief), Scarecrow

Summary: Forced to attend a gala by her parents as she is every year, Sam Manson was resigned to suffer through the stifling three-night gala until something pulled at her core. The something turned out to be a someone. Just who is Jason Todd and can the trio gain enough of his trust to help him before his struggling proto-core collapses?

👻 {Chapter 5 Below!)

Danny crept forward, thermos in hand. Sam flung out a mental arm and he stopped as though there were something physically holding him back.

“He can’t just disappear off the roof, we need a plan to distract everyone first,” Sam said. 

Sheepishly, Danny clipped the thermos to the waist of his suit. “I didn’t even think about that.”

It made everything much, much more complicated. 

“Is the hostage ok?” Danny asked instead, eyeing the incoming heroes. There were two of them and as they slowed their approach it seemed they were talking to the two who had already been at the wall of vapor. That made a tally of four. 

Sam corrected, “Hostages, plural. And there were at least seven crashers.”

“There are four back there,” Tucker observed, noting a flat section surrounded by the telltale yellow tinged haze, “and one hostage.”

Danny, however, peered closer at the heroes. They were still a good distance away and if it weren’t for their night vision, he wouldn’t have been able to discern them. One of the heroes was the Batman himself, looking quite disgruntled. The shorter figure by his side couldn’t be anyone besides the boy wonder, Robin. On Batman’s other side was, surprisingly, Nightwing. The fourth person, Tucker informed them, was Orphan.

“It looks like they have masks. Why not go through the gas?” he wondered, staring at the heroes. 

Tucker turned it over for a moment and Sam scoffed. “It’s obviously the hostages. They can’t get any further or the goons will gas them.”

“Wait,” Tucker said abruptly. “The manor didn’t have anyone in it. Anyone that wasn’t already gassed- no paramedics and whatnot. You don’t think…”

There were specific situations in which paramedics wouldn’t wade into a mess to help people, and considering everyone had masks and that the inside was free of any other danger… 

“They’ve taken the entire manor and everyone in it hostage,” Danny realized with horror. The paramedics wouldn’t go in because they couldn’t without warranting retaliation from the crashers.

“And I’m going to bet, from the match that ghost is waving around, that the gas is flammable,” Sam added dryly. “Great.” 

Tucker warily shared the ratios of power running through the Wayne property; if the building caught fire, even without the gas, it’d burn down quicker than a building of its size ought to. And with the gas? He wouldn’t be surprised if the manor went sky high.  

Sam decided she was going to steal that idea for later, a faded overlay of Vlad’s mansion eclipsing Wayne Manor for a moment. 

“Could we revisit plan a? Think I could overshadow that ghost?” Danny wondered, eyeing the being in question, though silently he did agree with Sam’s mental picture. He studied their opponent. The ghost was, visibly, reminiscent of a living scarecrow. Danny was sure they could take him.

“We have to be very careful here,” Tucker thought. “I think we should find the three missing goons first.” 

He thought about TV shows and how the villain always had a backup plan. If the ghost was working with the humans, who didn’t seem to be under any ghostly influences, then they couldn’t assume that taking out the ghost would resolve everything.

Even after years of knowing him, Sam found Tucker’s ability to connect anything to electronics and pop culture oddly engrossing, but she pushed that thought aside to focus on the problem at hand. She had seen two of the goons earlier, during her scan of the mansion, however both were alone and had been stationary. With no hostages and no reason to confront them she’d flown past, still searching for the ghost.

“I can go back and knock them out,” she offered, perhaps a tad too eager, after sharing the information.

With simultaneous agreement from the boys she dove through the roof, and a moment later Danny followed, intending to find the missing crasher. Tucker proceeded toward the four crashers on the roof, eyebrows furrowed as he took in the details of the scene. He poked at the other two.

“Uh. Guys? Another problem.”

“Ancients, what now?” Danny groaned as he phased through a wall.

“The hostage up here is Tim Wayne.”

Sam sighed, instantly picking up on the newfound issue. “And that means Jason is on the roof or nearby and unaccounted for. Great.”

Danny nonverbally requested Tucker to keep an eye out for the young ghost and he agreed before gently nudging back, reminding Danny to focus. He then looked back to the goons and their unfortunate victim.

Ghosts were, by nature, beings of emotion. As such, they were in tune to it. The mansion reeked of fear, and now that none of them were stuck experiencing it, it wasn’t bad at all. Still, fear was a reasonable human reaction to the situation at hand, and so when Tucker pushed his celebrity awe aside and realized that Tim Wayne did not feel any fear in his current predicament, he was puzzled. 

At most, the young CEO felt slightly nervous, not fearful.

Tucker’s eyes narrowed. It was something he’d have to revisit later. Right now he needed to find out if there was some way that the crashers were communicating with one another and if he could use that to locate the last one. At first glance the crashers didn’t have much, just their spraying devices, the attached tanks, and a gun each, but upon further inspection they had comms as well. They rested on the insides of their masks and disappeared into their shirts.

“Bingo,” Tucker grinned. He reached out, spectral fingers brushing the edge of a wire poking out from the bottom of the crasher’s mask, and followed the frequency it was attuned to.

“And… gottem’,” he said smugly, sharing the general locations of the other comms, and in all likelihood, the other crashers. It was best described as knowing where your hand was in utter pitch black; you knew it was there, even if you couldn’t see it. Sam tapped at the two that she recognized and Danny changed course to head towards the remaining crasher, who was tucked into a dusty attic just below the roof. The last crasher had a visible weapon holster, a tank strapped to her back, and a device of some kind in hand. Unlike the other two, she wasn’t alone. Petrified, just like the majority of the victims within the mansion, were four more hostages. Although they weren’t bound in any way it was clear they would be unable to escape in their current state. 

And then Danny felt it. 

A tug at his core.

“Oh,” he thought breathlessly. It was one thing to feel the pull secondhand and another to feel it for yourself. 

If Tucker sharing the general locations of the comms was akin to knowing your body, then feeling who could only be Jason was like walking into a dark room illuminated solely by a spotlight shining on the man in question- it was impossible to not know where he was.  

And he was there, in that attic somewhere. 

Danny launched himself at the crasher and with one solid swing, sent the woman sprawling to the ground. With her out of the way he was free to follow the slight pull that was growing in strength. He intended to do so but didn’t need to as the moment the woman hit the floor a figure stepped out from behind one of the stacks of old boxes.

“Jason, I presume,” Danny said, switching to the human spectrum. 

“Who the fuck are you?” Jason asked, cocking a gun. 

“I’m Phantom. Manes mentioned you, so I thought I’d lend a hand,” Danny introduced while motioning to the unconscious goon.

“I had it handled.”  With a scowl Jason slowly lowered the gun and glared at Danny, eyes full of scrutinizing mistrust.

Despite that Danny felt himself grinning, almost against his will. Jason was here, safe and in front of him, and while his little core was struggling Danny knew he generated enough ectoplasm to easily patch up the cracks he could sense even from six feet away. 

“Danny,” Sam said sharply at Tucker’s recoil, “no. I can feel your bad decision from here.” 

“Please don’t kidnap a child without consent. Don’t be like Vlad,” Tucker helpfully supplied.

He blinked owlishly. Then the implications of what he wanted to do, of giving Jason’s proto-core his ectoplasm washed over him and Danny backpedaled, physically and mentally. 

“I’m not kidnapping you,” he blurted. 

Sam snorted. “Kidnapping, by definition, lacks consent.”

“What?” Jason questioned, taken aback.

“I mean,” fumbled Danny, “it’s not like I’m a billionaire with a adoption problem?” 

Jason opened and closed his mouth once, then twice, then shut his jaw with an audible click.

Tucker, the traitor, just laughed at him. 

“He probably thinks you were talking about his dad!” he wheezed.

Even Sam chuckled. “Brucie Wayne has an adoption problem. Danny. Jason was adopted.”

“Oh Ancients, you’re adopted?” Danny asked, mortified. “I was talking about someone else, I swear.” 

“You might fit the bill, maybe-billionaire Mr. King,” Tucker said gleefully, sending the impression of a wink. They didn’t know exactly how much of Pariah Dark’s horde had become Danny’s when he’d bested the tyrant, but it was more than enough to fill several rooms of the old king’s lair. 

“I’m not Vlad,” Danny muttered crossly, swatting Tucker’s presence. Besides, what was ghost wealth in the living world?

Jason cleared his throat. “So, what are you planning to do?” he questioned haltingly. He spared an obvious glance at the prone crasher. 

Danny flipped back into hero mode so quickly it would’ve given most people whiplash. “Status?” he thought, followed by a memory list of important items they’d been keeping track of since the mission started: the gas, the hostages, the ghost, the other heroes.

“The stragglers are out,” Sam reported, feeling quite pleased with herself.

“I can’t take out the four here and free the Wayne without the ghost noticing,” Tucker observed. “So we either need to get rid of the gas or take out the ghost, but Batman and co have eyes on him…”

“We’re going to save the hostage on the roof,” Danny said, both to the other halfas and to Jason. “I can distract the scarecrow and Manes can grab the dude.” 

“The gas is flammable,” Jason said harshly, confirming their suspicion. “There are dozens of people who are going to be burned alive if you fuck up-”

“We took out the three inside and the last four are on the roof. We know what we’re doing,” Danny defended. The skeptic criticism of the abilities of team Phantom was constant and yet he still felt oddly ruffled by Jason’s doubt. 

“And the remote charges?” Jason demanded.

“The what now?” Sam demanded, followed by a mental meme full of question marks from Tucker. 

“Uhhhh. Um, no,” Danny admitted sheepishly. “But we can get right on that!” 

Thunder rumbled, rattling the lone circular window nearby, and Jason’s scowl deepened. “Leave it to the bats. They know what they’re doing,” he said, though it seemed to be with a good deal of reluctance.

The thunder gave Sam pause.

“You mean the bats that have been standing and staring at the wall of gas for the past six minutes?” Danny snarked. “Real productive.”

Jason scoffed. “They’re trained for this kid, and the Scarecrow is a menace. Don’t throw your ass into the line of fire when you don’t stand a snowball’s chance in hell of making it out alive.”

“Firstly, rude, I can totally handle myself,” Danny said, raising a finger for emphasis. Sam shared a memory from a few days ago of him tripping up the stairs to his room. Danny, like the mature teen he was, nonphysically jabbed her side. “Secondly,” he raised a second finger, “I’m a ghost. As in, not alive. They can’t exactly kill me a second time.” 

“Not to mention hell has a good amount of snow…” Tucker snorted.

Jason didn’t seem to know how to react to that. Something sobering seemed to settle over him, something bitter and resigned and agitated. “Being a hero isn’t fun,” he warned. “It’s not a game.”

Oh. He thought the Phantoms were newbies. With an over exaggerated eye roll Danny replied, “I’m well aware, believe me. This isn’t my first rodeo. But if it bothers you that much we’ll just clear a path for Batman and his team and leave the rest to them.”

The rest being the cleanup, which they wouldn’t have been able to handle without compromising themselves anyway given the sheer amount of people around.

Jason, still brimming with misgivings, questioned pointedly, “What can two kids do that the bats can’t?” 

Danny’s answering grin was sharp.

👻 {Boo!)

They were nerds.

It wasn’t easy for the other students of Casper High to see- since their freshmen year the trio’s grades had taken a nosedive following the accident. But before that they had been excellent students, and not due to any particular intent. They were smart, granted in different ways, and it showed in times like this where all the little bits of seemingly pointless information came together and culminated in something truly irreplicable.   

“Tuck sends a heat blast upwards, Danny sends a cold wave downwards, and bam. Instant rain. It should wash away the gas,” Sam explained. “It’s already pretty close to storming so we shouldn’t have to do much.”

“Huh?” the boys chorused intelligently. 

Sam slammed a diagram depicting the water cycle into their heads. It didn’t really help.

“Ow,” Tucker complained. 

Consolingly, Danny gave Tucker a mental pat.

“Ok,” Danny said to Sam, “that works for Tuck but wouldn’t I just, like, freeze the clouds? I mean, dropping frozen clouds doesn’t seem like a bad idea but clouds are big and there are a lot of bystanders.”

“Storm clouds can also be several miles tall,” Sam informed him dryly, “but somehow I doubt that would be a problem for you.”

“Wait Danny, do you still have the Spectorly Splatterer Ectoplasmic Energy Disperser?” Tucker asked.

“Er, this?” Danny responded, pulling up the Fenton device he’d strapped to his side before they’d left for the Zone. “What could I-“

Tucker supplied a memory of the elder Fentons talking about turning ghosts into an ectoplasm spray so fine they’d be unable to reform and the corresponding invention. Not that it worked- ghosts could reform so long as their core was unaffected, and while the Spectorly Splatterer was adept at obliterating a ghost’s form it was unable to harm a core.

“Shoot ice at the Spectorly Splatterer and it should be able to disperse the blast, right?”

“Ah,” Danny hummed in understanding.

Sam made an unhappy noise. “We are not calling it that.”

“SSEED sounds cool,” Danny offered as he fiddled with the output on the device.

“That’s just hiding the repulsive name behind an acronym,” she grumbled, though she accepted it a moment later. 

“Yeah,” Tucker agreed. “Spectorly Splatterer is way cooler than seeds.”

“It’s SSEED you-“

“Annnnd done,” Danny announced. “I’ve turned the output range up as high as it can go. Are we ready?” 

“Do you need me to come with you?” Sam enquired. It would probably be difficult to hold the SSEED and shoot at it at the same time, not to mention Danny was really, really bad at telekinesis.

“Nah, you get to the roof and find an opening to nab the ghost,” Danny said. Lurking beneath his statement was the confidence that he could make a copy last long enough to do the job.

The three split up from where they’d remerged on the roof. Sam got as close to the ghost as she dared while Tucker and Danny flew into the sky, but where Tucker stopped and hovered just below the clouds Danny shot into them, heading high up into the atmosphere. 

“Ready?“ Danny asked when he got above the stormy clouds. He made a copy of himself and handed it the SSEED. With a nod the copy flew upwards and held the device down at an angle. Danny charged up an ice beam and Tucker started heating up the air around himself.

“Of course,” he said. 

While the boys started manufacturing the weather they needed the bats had finally started to move. Orphan and Robin retreated and Batman and Nightwing stepped up, closer to the dangerous fumes. 

“Are you going to see reason Batman?” the ghost called with a grin that revealed his distorted teeth. “Fear is what drives you, fear is what controls you, controls all of us!”

“Enough Scarecrow,” Batman growled, actually growled. Sam was not expecting him to sound so gravely, though perhaps it was due to a throat injury. 

“We’re here to negotiate your demands,” Nightwing stepped in. He was nervous, though nothing physically betrayed that. 

“There will be no negotiation!” seethed the scarecrow ghost, holding up the lighter. “I-“

“Got it!” Danny grinned in their mind as thunder roared above them. A mere moment later rain began to fall in torrents. 

“No!” the ghost screamed. “But I still have a backup!” The four crashers trained their weapons on Tim Wayne. 

“Timmy here doesn’t really need his brain, does he?” Scarecrow taunted, though frustration bled into his words. “I also have four unlucky captives hidden inside the manor. One word from me and they’re lost, slaughtered like hopeless, frightened little animals.”

He then dug around his burlap getup and pulled out a rectangular device. “The rain certainly puts a damper on things!  But I am more than prepared. How much of the mansion do you think will burn before the rain puts it out?”

Sam knew it was risky but she couldn’t let him do that. She circled him and launched herself at him, telekinetically shoving at the remote and knocking it out of his grasp as she kicked out his legs, making him squawk and flail on the slick tiles. 

Suddenly, two of the crashers attacked the other two and seeing this as an opening, Batman and Nightwing rushed forward to secure the Scarecrow and help the hostage, who had scuttled away as his captors had begun fighting amongst themselves. They didn’t know it, but yellow and green were not the natural eye colors of the two goon traitors. Even if they had, the masks obscured the goon’s faces quite well.

Sam silently thanked the other two phantoms and uncapped the thermos as Batman swung at the ghost and was more than surprised when the blow landed. The two began to struggle, though it was clear Batman had the upper hand.

Unneeded as Nightwing was more than capable of finishing off the two disoriented crashers, Danny and Tucker floated over to her, eying the fight warily. 

“How are we supposed to separate them?” Danny wondered and winced as Batman delivered a particularly severe blow to the scarecrow’s skull. 

“I don’t think he’s a ghost,” Tucker piped up randomly.

Sam and Danny shared in their confusion.

“He’s ghost-like at least,” Tucker conceded, “maybe liminal, but he can’t be a ghost. Otherwise this,” he motioned to everything around them with a broad gesture, “wouldn’t be happening.”

Sam, to be contrary, leveled the thermos at the grappling duo and pushed the button.

Nothing happened.

Slowly, she lowered the thermos in quiet disbelief, thinking everything over. Tucker smacked his head.

“It was Jason,” he realized. “He set off your ghost sense before, right Sam?”

“… that makes sense…” she grudgingly admitted.

“But he looks so ghostly,” Danny whined. “It was an honest mistake.” 

“That means we could’ve just overshadowed him from the beginning!” Tucker huffed. 

They watched for another minute as the crashers and the not-a-ghost scarecrow were apprehended by the heroes.

“Well, I think we’re done here,” Danny groused, making a show of dusting his hands. 

“All in a night’s work,” grinned Tucker.

Sam rolled her eyes and despite the dark clouds blotting out the light above them, everything seemed to be brighter. 

👻 {Thanks for reading! I hope you enjoyed it.)

Taglist time! If you want to be added, just say so!

@depressed-bitchy-demon @dp-marvel94 @birbtails @mr-lancers-english-class @miraculousandmore @iglowinggemma28 @manapeer @azzysflowergarden @notwhat-i-seemtobe @whobee7 @trippingovermyfeet @stormhaven257 @imsociallyanxiousgetoverit @passivedecept @lovetheryu @ever-after-aaa @mysteriousooze @wegetitethan @cyber-geist @t-nayira

Chapter in a nutshell: Assumptions were made!

I wasn't planning on updating so soon. I wanted to post Sunday but I realized that I'll be at work Sunday and if I know myself I'm going to go straight to bed when I get home lol

Next: Chapter 6

[stride-here]

Alright here me out.

A shazam/captain marvel rpg oneshot.

Ok so this idea was based on a post I saw which was Billy trying to explain his powers in dnd terms which got me thinking about how fun it would be to play a Shazam based dnd esc game.

I have a few ideas for how I’d write the storyline but no idea on the stats or game system I would use.

—Stats n stuff—

I was thinking about how maybe stats of the gods could possibly line up with character stat sheets. Yknow how each shazamily family member has a specific god power associated with them? Like how Darla is speed and Pedro is strength, etc. Those could align with dexterity and strength stats or something. Im sure there are probably some better ways to execute that but you get the idea.

Of course this would be completely dependent on the game I’m using. I was thinking just using dnd 5e (I think thats the regular dnd but Im not sure anymore) or Masks which was made for superhero rpg. However Im scared of using dnd since it can be pretty rule heavy and not very flexible. Masks was made specifically for superhero rpgs but it also costs quite a bit of money. If anyone has any ideas for what I should use I beg you comment them.

—Story—

The story will mostly just be me stealing ideas and lore from various different versions of Shazam, however mainly stealing from the 90’s, The Power of Shazam!, The Golden Age Comics/Whiz Comic, and The New Champion of Shazam series.

This is because these stories mainly just focus on Billy, Mary, and Freddy which I think would be easier to incorporate into the plot rather than having to juggle all 6 shazamily members at once (also it’d be hell to voice act/play as all of them as the gm)

I also don’t want my players to be forced to play preexisting characters (the shazamily or other DC heroes) so that they don’t feel like they have to fit into their roles yknow? And obviously so they just generally have more freedom with character design. So they will all play completely new characters of their liking.

The players will all play child/teen/possibly young adult characters who either a.) have no idea who each other are. Or b.) are in a foster home together already. The latter is probably the better option though because then there’ll be no need for a “you all are in a tavern…” type opening.

Later on they all get teleported to the Rock of Eternity and are told that the wizard is desperate and need them to help stop his last champion (who they probably will assume is Black Adam but is actually the end boss which I reveal later in this post)

They will all get the Shazam powers however I’ll randomize which specific one each of them get (like one of them is like Darla with superspeed or another is like eugene with his stronger lighting). They aren’t as strong as the other champion though because they all share the power like in the Power of Shazam and The New Champion of Shazam. This is honestly just applied so my players aren’t absolutely stacked though and for plot sake.

Also the Wizard dies since he had given the very last bit of his powers to the players. Also the wizard dies in like half the canon stories anyways so there’s that.

Some fight ensues soon after they get their powers mostly so the players can get a handle of their abilities and so suddenly Mary can show and help them defeat the opponent.

This leads to the introduction of Mary who is probably shocked to see new champions. As it turns out Billy/Cap has gone missing alongside Freddy/Cap Jr and she needs the players help to find them.

As for the middle section of the plot…Im still thinking about it. I know there will be some magical mythological creatures to fight though! And maybe I’ll take my players to Hell just for fun since Billy has a weird habit of going there in the comics.

As for the big bad guy final boss…Its Billy! Er I guess I should say Captain Marvel. However he is under the control of Mr. Mind, who wants to take over the world as per usual. However he realizes that Captain Marvel is sharing power with the players alongside Mary and Freddy. This leads him to attempt the kill them all as a way to regain Captain Marvels to his full power and therefore being way more adapt for taking over the world. So far he has managed to capture Freddy and is what he used to lure them into battle in the first place.

Fighting alongside him is Tawny. This version of Tawny is basically just a very large tiger imbued with magic and with the power to talk rather than being anthropomorphic. Tawny in this universe also acts more like a familiar to Cap and is summoned through his magic. However since Cap is under the control of Mr. Mind, the magic he uses to summon him is also under the control if that makes sense.

The players fight cap and depending how they do in battle will be able to free Cap. Or not. Haven’t planned the bad ending out out yet.

——

Thats all I have so far, man I didn’t realize how long this had gotten…

If anyone has any ideas for the plot and especially how I should execute this oneshot I BEG you comment them.

Lastly if you read all of this thanks for listening to my rambling, it felt nice to get the idea out.

Have a great day! ❤️

[smugglerofsass]

i saw your tags and i am dying to know the four GO related costumes, if it isn’t too much trouble to ask? ♥️

Ok ok ok here's the thing, this might be more than you bargained for because it's not four costumes, it's four years worth of costumes and inspired looks I have too many of those lets not talk about that.

Break so I can insert some pictures where I have them.

You see, I started cosplaying Crowley in 2019, like half of the rest of this fandom. I saw the show, I made my best friend watch it, she asked if Aziraphale and Crowley could be our Halloween costume for the year, I agreed exclusively on the grounds I could be Crowley, and the rest is essentially history.....except it's not because if my life isn't one cosmic joke what's the point right. My hair was purple at the time and I insisted I wasn't going to dye it for this, despite everyone I knew asking about it. So we did Halloween, at speed, mind you, so it was more about does it look like them rather than does it look like them, but doing these costumes gave me brain rot bad.

This is genuinely one of the best photos I'm going to be able to share with you rn, because someone took these photos of me intentionally. My best friend/Aziraphale had prior plans and this kinda got dropped on me like what costume can you wear to go to the cemetery approximately now.

In December, I started dying my hair red, we're all laughing because it's funny.

Obviously this was right before the plague times and I was still in undergrad at the time. We had a socially distanced halloween party the next year between the costume and scene shops, and I wore basically the same thing, just with doc martens and sfx contacts that time because I was working on a much larger costume for my undergrad capstone (tho not my history capstone, that was tragically different.) I started working on a late Victorian women's ensemble in black and green that was intended to be versatile enough to be both historically accurate in settings that needed it, while also being able to be an all out cosplay, just an inspired one. I didn't actually get good picture of it until late last year when I had shifted into what I call "stupidly" red hair dye and cut my hair (I was in grad school when s2 filming pictures started to come out, it does something to your brain, you make interesting choices during Thanksgiving break.)

(Enjoy a rare film photo of @christinedieae and I, we were working on these outfits together, and mostly in the same work space in 2021, so it was a mission to photograph these two together because they were so different on the dress forms.)

In 2021, I attended Ren Fair for the first time and made pirate inspired looks for my best friend and I. Tragically I don't have any photos from this year other than us at like 8am in my driveway and I'm not willing to share them rn but I made this full length sleeveless coat with fabric i found at joanns that year that has snakes and roses. I also wore it last year but it was very cold and windy that day so the only photo of me is my "Anakin storming the temple" look, peak my red wig and the best garment I've ever made, my cloak.

Then, some of my favorite ren fair looks from last year. The halo is one of the single best purchases I've made while costuming, and at this point its been a while.

The only down side to ren fair is that I'm often without an Aziraphale, as my best friend has become a bird (this is a genuine logistical challenge and at times takes between three and four of us to manage at the fair grounds so my full length snake skirt might not be returning to the fair this year.) Said bird also steals my glasses.

Here's another look with selections pulled from my historical wardrobe for a wizarding event at the museum I work at last year. This was the first time anyone I worked with saw my contacts and I have found it's good to warn people who know me because they find it a serious jumpscare. Some adults also have opinions, but kids really seem to like them.

And then some silly things from an event we attended in May last year. It was Friday the 13th and easily 100 degrees. I made Aziraphale's waistcoat in a week because I wasn't insane enough already (when you get motivation to do something you take it idk). On an even bigger my life is a cosmic joke note, when the first s2 pictures came out with the leather waistcoat I got in my closet and finally begrudgingly admitted my mom was right, because I had a leather waistcoat she had given me from the 80s.

I feel like I might have posted some of these photos here before, I remember asking for an "angel ( )" caption for my friend dressed as Castiel, and the groupchat soundly rejecting "angel (homosexual)" as too non-specific. It was very hot, we descended into insanity by the end of the night, a group of girls recognized us while we were trapped in the middle of this tiny candy store, chaos at its finest. This is also the night where someone referred to our group as the "most attractive group of queer people" they'd ever seen, and thus named our group chat.

I know there have been sooooo many more, some combination of all of this is how I dress on the daily so I'm kinda always testing new or inspired looks. And our ren fair opens this weekend, and I've been working on making and acquiring some fun new things for some new looks this year, so I'll have more looks very soon.

The last thing I can leave you with, I suppose, is this. I'm going to a wedding in October with costumes encouraged, but all black is off the table. SO I'm recreating an Edwardian gown in a red silk I found that is cross woven with black threads so it has this shift to it while still looking red, the silk is called Omen.

My darling Aziraphale is @jesterjamboree as always. @frameratess also appears here, and is often the only one of us remembering to take pictures. And already mentioned is @christinedieae, we egg each other on with our crazy ideas.

[fox-buried-in-maple-leaves]

the relationship asks for galin and. reader.

- coincidental redhead kisser

What was their first date like? If they haven’t been on a date yet, how would it go?

Chances are Galin tried to cook for you and then proceeded to burn everything! Because they did not follow Kisa's instructions properly. So sorry. But that's okay! They'll take you to get dinner out and about and then probably drag you to go see some pretty sights. It ends with them tucking a flower in your hair. It’s late at night and your characters want food, what do they order/find in the fridge?

Galin will whine about having to cook, they hate it! It's sooo time consuming.. Come on, let them order shitty takeout.. Please? They really want nuggies..

What’s a typical Sunday like for them?

If they aren't working? It's their rest day! Galin works a lot, and they don't get many breaks. Not that its Sulien or Inessa's fault, its just their role within Razvedka is incredibly demanding. So any day off.. They just want to spend with their head in your lap or taking a nap together.. They're so tired.. What’s their love language like? Are they compatible with one another?

YOU specifically are not super compatible with Galin in terms of love languages because they're one of my touchiest ocs. Like they'll respect your boundaries obviously but they'll occasionally have moments where they're sad they can't touch you. Beyond that though, Galin is really good about showing their love through actions or words. Do they have any pet names/nicknames for eachother?

They'll call you puppy. But in general, Galin uses 'habibi' a lot. And the CLASSIC bab(e/y). Deffo the lover to say something cringe like "my sugarplum" ok nerd. What do they argue about?

Galin is naive and childish at times. That sparks a lot of arguments in general. They don't understand the ramifications of the world around them. The cruelty of it. They don't understand, and in their lack of understanding, misunderstandings can grow. Who does what chores, and why?

Galin is so annoying, they hate how other people clean things. YOU cook and they'll do everything else, tyy. What’s the most difficult thing they’ve been through together?

Mmm probably the disbandment of Razvedka, following the events of Sandrone's ousting. Which, I never wrote for the public. But does exist in my skull and some drafts. But it is a VERY hard time for Galin. Razvedka is their family, and it was torn apart. How do they make up after a fight?

A hug please ): Who causes the most arguments?

Probably Galin, but usually unintentionally. What would they say each other’s worst quality is?

I'll j say their worst quality, in my opinion, is how fucking stubborn they are. What would they say each other’s best quality is?

Okay but their best quality is the sunshine disposition. What names are they saved as on each other’s phone?

Galin would have a partner saved as "loaf of my life" or a similar pun lmao.. What would they consider quality time?

Going out! Maybe to a restaurant or a bar or for a walk or sight seeing or to a theatre!! They just want to spend time with their partner, in any way, every way. Who decides which movies to watch?

I'm sorry, Galin will cry if you don't let them pick. guilt trippy mf.. How are they like on a road trip together?

Will fight you over music. Keeps stopping to pee. BANGER tunes tho, never gets lost, snack machine. It’s raining, did either of your OCs bring an umbrella? If so, who, and do they share it?

I hope you did because Galin fuckin didn't. What are they like when sharing a bed?

They're so fucking clingy... You're gonna have to put a pillow between yall if you don't want them half on top of you and clinging to you like their lil life depends on it. Who is better at games? Does the loser take it graciously?

Galin is really good at games so you have a competitor! They're not a sore loser at least, so that's nice. Do they ever share clothes?

Galin WILL steal your clothes. They'll let you borrow theirs too if you want!! Your OCs are on a trip and there’s only one bed! What do they do?

Galin would offer to sleep on the floor if it'd make you comfortable, they're also small enough to curl up on a chair if there is one. Otherwise, they're cool with sharing!! snuggle time. What do your characters think about marriage? Are they for or against it?

They do like the idea! Up to their partner, of course, but they'd love the idea.. Do any of them have bad habits that the other can’t stand?

Galin refuses to let people help them carry stuff. It's a terrible habit, fella j let us help you. christ. Who is more down to earth?

Galin is the definition of down to earth so.. Are they affectionate in public? Is it too much?

If you let them be they will be! They won't go overboard, but some handholding, hugs? leaning? maybe a kiss?? depends on their partner. but they love being a lil affectionate... How are they affectionate in private?

even worse... Galin is just really really affectionate. How does your OC react to being broken up with?

"You want to..? Oh.. Was it something I did? Was it something I said? Please.. Can you at least tell me why..? I'm sorry that I've disappointed you.." they'll be sobbing into Kisa's tail for the next two weeks. Do they fall in love easily?

They fall in love with everything really.. Your character is in love, do they confess? If not, how long do they wait?

Galin is so scared of not being wanted, so they tend to wait or hesitate. But if something big happens then they'll spill their feelings so suddenly its like whiplash. Who was the first to say ‘I love you’?

GALIN........ Who is more stubborn?

probs Galin. What moment did they realise that they were in love?

Listen to them ramble for hours between bites of hot peppers... j so casual and nice.. they fall in love so easily with people who don't judge them lol.. How long have they been friends? Would they consider each other best friends?

Galin is 1000% the "my partner is my BESTIE." person. Who’s more ticklish?

They're super ticklish lol- If your OCs has/had a child, who would be the stricter parent?

Galin is not strict at all so uhh. do with that what you will?? What do they do when they miss one another? Is one more needy than the other/s?

Galin is definitely the needier one.. They'll wrap your shirt around your pillow and snuggle that.. Or if they're away on a mission or for work, they'll send letters as often as they can! up to and including every day if they can.. What green flags do they have for one another?

Their biggest green flag is the fact that they listen and that they're very willing to learn. Have they ever been jealous?

They are uhhhh more jealous than they'd like to admit... Is one more introverted/extroverted than the other?

GALIN IS AN EXTROVERT, PLS WATER UR SUNSHINE. Who’s the better cook?

definitely not them... Are they good at comforting one another? Does someone hide their feelings usually?

Galin really struggles to hide their feelings from a partner or somebody that they're exceptionally close to. They struggle to lie to a lover. In general though, Galin is good at comfort if asked for comfort. They'll learn what you need and adjust accordingly. Would they have been friends with each other in school?

They are friends with everyone always so jot that down. Who made the first move?

Depends, since Galin takes a hot minute to process their emotions.. Do they get on well with each other’s family? Is family important to them?

Galin's family is gone now.. But they hope you get on with Razvedka. That's their family now, it's all they have. And it means everything to them. Do they tease each other? What about?

Like I mentioned with you specifically Rex, Galin would use puppy/dog teasingly! They tease about a lottttt of things. Lil shit. (and for my other Galin lover, yes kitty/cat/kitten would also be used in teasing) Is there anything that scares them about their friendship/relationship?

Galin is afraid of not being wanted. They don't even need to be loved, just cherished. They want, no need, to be wanted. And they're afraid one day they won't be enough.

[mauesartetc]

Hey, what made you think that Vivziepop was stealing/copying other artists for Andrealphus's design?

I mean

It's weird that Viv gave human hair to a bird, and the fact that OG Andrealphus has nothing to do with ice is a massive red flag this guy's ripped off from Elsa.

This isn't the first suspicious design she's* churned out, either. Some o' y'all might remember this image from my Striker redesign post:

Notice these two villainous cowboys with tiny mustaches and nearly-identical eye and eyebrow shapes. They almost look traced, and unfortunately, that's nothing new for Viv.

*(EDIT 8/12/23: Fact check via erinfrostart in the comments: "Viv did not design Striker, one of her designers did. I watched Striker being designed, and as much as I’m no fan of Viv I can confirm he was designed before Long Gone Gulch premiered." Important clarification. Thanks! Others who worked on the show around this time are welcome to share their perspectives as well. I know how the situation appears to me as a viewer, but I'm sorry my phrasing laid blame where it wasn't deserved. I assumed malice where ignorance was the more likely reality. My bad. Now if someone has a convincing, non-theft explanation for Andrealphus, I'd be very curious to hear it.)

But wait, there's more.

It always struck me as odd that Fat Nuggets' original name was Wiggles, which is dangerously close to Waddles from Gravity Falls. And his design from the Addict video sports a ton of similarities. I went ahead and recolored Waddles for the hell of it, and uh...

Also note how Fat Nuggets’ snout is just Waddles’ snout upside down.

Y’all might be thinking "C'mon, Maue. That's a coincidence. How many possible ways are there for a person to design a cartoon pig, anyway?" Quite. A bit.

Look at all the variety in how different artists interpreted the same animal (ok, a warthog's not a domestic pig, but still a pig). This is likely due to their confidence and trust in their own visions, and willingness to draw from real-life inspirations rather than copy other animated productions. When an artist directly "borrows" from another's work, it leaves their own with a faded Xerox-of-a-Xerox quality. It's better to stay true to their own experience rather than mimic an experience manufactured by others.

When designs by two different people (or teams of people) working on completely different projects have as many similarities as Andrealphus has with Elsa, or Fat Nuggets has with Waddles, that’s no accident. That’s calculated. 

I’m sure Viv thinks what she’s doing is just an “homage” or some shit, but copyright holders won’t see it that way. Years ago, a client tasked me with designing a Willy Wonka parody character, so I whipped up a dude in my own style with similar hair and clothes. It was innocent enough; I wasn’t trying to rip off anything. I thought the design would help the audience tell it was a Wonka parody while still being its own thing. I thought that would work, but... My client relayed a blunt message from his lawyer basically saying “um NAH don’t fuckin’ use this”, so I changed up the colors and clothing style and it was fine after that.

If Viv continues to pull this shit in Hazbin and Helluva, she’ll find herself in legal trouble. Obviously there’s no such thing as a completely original idea, but this is just lazy. Fortunately, I’m sure at least Hazbin’s design team (less sure about Helluva’s since they let Andrealphus slip through the cracks) will filter out these bad habits and won’t be afraid to tell her “no” now and then. It’s for her own good.

 “But Maue”, you might be wondering, “How do we ‘stay true to our own experience’? How do we collect visual references for what we want to make without copying someone else’s design?” Well, this post’s long enough, so I’ll answer that in a subsequent entry. But here’s a hint:

Photos.

‘Til next time.

[ottiliere]

Ok so, 2 things

1. Oh? System Dirks are coming in here to show their appreciation? Because ours also DEVOURS this AU. It is genuinely so relatable and cathartic. When people don't think sharing vent art is good, I point at this AU and how it shows the ugly side of recovery so perfectly.

2. I was idly scrolling through the JTHM tag as I do frequently and got such intense whiplash seeing your recent post about asks in it. Like. Complete opposite side of our dash radar. What is this I hear about a JTHM ask?? I am fascinated already I font care if it's related to Dirk or not I just genuinely would love to hear your thoughts on it.

1) pulling all the dirks who follow me in for a hug through the walls of my plastic isolation bubble. it really makes me so happy to hear this. I can't give an extended answer to this point because I spent so much time talking about the next one but I hope you feel the mind waves of love I am bombarding you with.

2) The ask I got was in fact about Dirk, but as I'm drafting it it is...drifting...very much...into being about JTHM. "hear my thoughts on it" … this would be nothing shorter than a dissertation. I think about JTHM very often. I don't think it's possible for me to be concise about this in any sense of the word.

JTHM, to me, is one of the formative experiences that made me who I am. It is one of my favorite pieces of fiction ever made, that I have ever engaged with, and I know for a fact I will struggle to find something that is told in such a captivating way from an author with such an open soul. I discovered fanart of it by chance on DeviantArt, and, being naturally drawn towards edgier themes, searched everywhere on the internet until I found it uploaded onto some woman's livejournal account. I was obsessed with JTHM for a very, very long time. I reread it periodically, once or twice a year, and I have been doing this since I was 12. It has heavily influecned the way I go about making art and telling stories and engaging with everything I watch or read or what have you.

Everything about this comic blew my mind as a child, artistically absolutely, thematically especially. The narrative style that is glib with occasional moments of morose clarity that never lasts too long... we will never see anything like the suicide scene in anything else ever written again, of that I'm sure. It is unique in its existence. once you read that it unlocks something in your brain and you just can't go back. Multiplied by a million if you read it at a formative age you weren't really supposed to be reading it. Like homestuck.

Nny... he is the base of the character trope I always return to in fiction, usually unconsciously. I didn't realize that what I was doing to dirk mirrored nny until some friends pointed it out... it is a fascinating phenomenon. He is the first of his kind I have ever encountered in anything, ever. Blatantly unwell, the focus of a story that isn't necessarily slotting him into an antagonistic role. Like, he's the protagonist who I guess is also the antagonist but he's also a human. He's this guy with severe mental illness who is lead around like a puppet on strings first by the society that torments him for existing and then by the creature living in his walls that steals his memory and cognitive ability and manipulates him into doing his bidding. I had never seen that before? Usually I am not one for "made mentally ill by inorganic sources" trope, but the fact that it's stated in the comic that he was already seriously unwell before he became a flusher... it's just sad. He is not a good person, but his life is inherently tragic and the outcome of a society that does not care for him, or people like him, at all. forgive me for the comparison, but he is like the joker 2019. I mean this in a way that I love joker 2019. if you didn't like joker, well. sorry. but it's true.

This ties in, obviously, with the way that Jhonen goes about fiction: he does whatever he wants, to an extent. I have recently very closely befriended some individuals and while pondering how we were meshing so well on the creative side of htings, it eventually came to light that the singlemost defining moment in our lives was how we all read JTHM at a very young age. And it is insane, stepping back and looking at all of our narrative and art styles and seeing that the similarities we've all evolved independently stemmed from JTHM, in addition to our view of what it's like to be an artist. we are but jhonen's warriors in a world that is currently characterized by a very homogenized mixture of “art”. I mean, just look at the current box office trend. look at the “genre” that is marvel movies. not that I don’t enjoy marvel movies, I DO like them, my loki phase was strong and hard, but objectively... these things are what they are: mass-produced consumables. there is a reason people got excited when it was announced that Cronenberg was making a new film (which was awesome btw); art is dying. milquetoast narratives, stories afraid to push boundaries and be "weird", authors not trusting the audience to pick up on their intended message so instead of leaving it just a little ambiguous, they must instead spoonfeed it to every reader... There is some equation of what it means to make art and how it equates with your moral standing; my stance has always aligned with dear Jhonen's.

in a way my view of the world is the direct inverse of nny's; I truly believe in the best of people, I love humanity, I love the world and I am fundamentally incapable of being outwardly cruel towards others. my natural setting is to logically empathize, to put myself in the shoes of other people and look at their life the way they're living it. there is nothing more important to me than showing unconditional positive regard towards others. I have not always been this way. I used to foster great amounts of animosity in my heart for the things that have been done to me. I used to be an abjectly miserable person, I used to be violently suicidal every day for years and years and years etc. now though... I don't know how to describe it. something alights upon you after vast quantities of self-reflection, detached from the scrying eyes of swathes of people, of strangers, fandom most relevantly but I do also mean society as a whole. at this point in my life there is nothing more important to me than being a nice person, and helping others in what ways I can. if that's through posting raw depictions of mental illness, I will happily do so. I didn't realize that people didn't KNOW they can do this, and it is heartwarming that I can touch people in such a way even parasocially. I have worked on myself, I love people and I love when people are weird and their true creative selves because that is what the world needs in this day and age. art is dying. If you let bitterness into your heart it will consume you. it will cloud your judgment and prevent you from making a true connection to the medium, it will block you from making what you REALLY want to make. It will poison how you interact with other humans on a fundamental level, if you are constantly walking into interactions suspecting the worst intentions.

it almost seems like critical thinking is a dying skill...or, at least, it is when it comes to interacting with art and not relying on other people to tell you what to think. but even still I still do not hold ire towards those who seek me harm for what I make. I do not answer many of the asks I get on purpose, the death threats, etc... because these people are hurting in a multitude of ways, and they have not yet learned how to cope with their own pain. You could call being an optimist a character flaw, maybe it is. I don't know. That is, for better or worse, the epitome of what I am: an unrelenting pollyanna who believes in the best of people and the potential they have to heal. The one anon hate I got about the AU months ago that I actually deigned with an answer; they eventually came off anon and admitted they were just frustrated they didn't know how to properly use tumblr's UI to filter me off their dashboard and displaced their emotions onto me. They apologized. Such is life. We are all humans inhabiting this great big earth and I love to love people. contrary to what I depict in my art, I am a very happy person. I love my friends and I'm currently in a very good life situation with occasional downfalls and eventual upturns. Jhonen, I know, as stated in the second interview image, was often like this as well. nny was a speakerphone for little observations about life and pessimism; he was a character, a means to tell a story.

so ya I guess those are some of my thoughts about JTHM. not all of them though. here’s some nny

[friesian]

PoF Marwyd you say? 👀

ok yall. its time. tagging @mystery-salad since i know u asked but i didn't wanna copy-paste this twice since its HUGE.

i will preface this with a cw for suicide, talk of ptsd, and dark themes. also end of HoT, LWS3, and PoF spoilers. so i'll put this hunk of text under a read more.

SO. path of fire/LWS3 marwyd.

(THANK YOU TO @herrejorn FOR CAPTURING THIS. i don't think i shared it... now seems like a good time to. maybe if people like it enough i'll post it separately.)

as i've certainly shared, marwyd was VERY head over heels for trahearne. however they were never officially a thing, and marwyd was going to confess after trahearne got back from the fleet. that. never happened. he had to kill someone he was deeply in love with, with his own two hands.

well, after all that he was pretty mortified, obviously, and i'm pretty sure up until eir's funeral he was on autopilot. his mind was really trying to just catch up. find what reality was. i think he was in a HEAVY dissociative episode waiting for trahearne's. something to give him a sense of closure. even if there wasn't a body, just a little gathering of friends would be something to him. BUT, that never happened. when eir got a funeral that he attended but not trahearne something inside of him just kinda. broke. especially when not a soul really acknowledged it at the grove except for a lone statue, placed off to the side of everything only to be seen from the peripherals of the eye. it really did something awful to him mentally.

when he attended eir's funeral, he came in a black-red-grey version of his outfit. funeral attire. however, after the funeral, he just... never took it off. he kept wearing it right into the white mantle incidents and discovering that the other two dragons were awakening.

(old screenshot i have of it, i took this during my first PoF playthrough.)

this is also the time @herrejorn 's niddhil appeared. someone who he now considers his sister. closest friend. someone who he'd easily take on the world for. he lost his best friends in HoT (at least he thought he did, turns out their souls were split and now they're in one body again! that's niddhil.) and having someone who seemed so... familiar just made him feel so more sad, depressed, he wanted to know what happened to them since they just vanished during the explosion of mordremoth's death.

well, then aurene happened, of course. she hatched. it was a spark of life. something that he realized he never knew he wanted but needed. unconditional love like that, someone who just saw him as 'dad' and would let him do simple, stupid things to keep his mind occupied like play his banjo terribly, swim in a few ponds, cook simple foods for her to try. you name it. it's his roots of his 'childhood', if you'd call it that. he really tried to teach her all the things he wished he would've known straight out of the pod and it shows. all of his effort went into her.

however, that meant during any time outside of tarir he was a mess. everything was a fucking mess when he wasn't with aurene, and he had to end up being away from her longer and longer.

all of this, combined with the world spiraling out of control with the return of balthazar just honestly sent him into a BAD bad place. then he ends up returning HOME. elonia. and it's in SHAMBLES with balthazar.

everything for him is completely out of control. thus, so is he.

he starts engaging in some RISKY shit. illicit raptor/beetle racing that is high stakes, stealing things again for the thrill, probably high off his ass most of the time, acting like a COMPLETE asshole to everyone, withdrawing into his tent more often than not. and let me tell you, when i say 'asshole to everyone' i mean it. he's desperately distancing himself as he is losing all his steam as things are just more and more wrong.

he also won't tell anyone, but his memory has been... shoddy. not sleeping may do that, but he's realizing that when he tries to think back and think about the happy times with trahearne he just can't. his face is nothing but a smudge. he KNOWS there was something there. he loved him so much, but why the HELL can he only remember the scream of his death. it keeps repeating in his mind over. it used to be that he could remember the few last words but nearing his worst all he remembers is the sound of flesh rending and screams. it won't stop either, it just loops at night.

when the big balthazar fight hits, i think he fights for the first few minutes, but honestly... i think he just gives up. straight up. he stops attempting to shoot, or if he does i think he just purposefully fires off into the air to keep balthazar coming. marwyd honestly just lies down and dies, not wanting to go on like this. and he doesn't. he does die.

he saw aurene get caught FOR HIS SAKE and did nothing. and for that he feels like everything he has is deserved.

so, my death incident essentially takes a right turn from the one in game.

sorta. essentially when marwyd arrives in the realm he just confines himself to not knowing who he is, thinking its for the best, and stays there for however long it is before he starts picking up clues. he hears things on the wind. by being the naturally curious and bullheaded guy he is, he starts finding bits and pieces... and slowly but surely it snowballs into him finally remembering everything. he can see his memories of his best friends, of aurene, of trahearne-- who he was so desperately trying to remember. and he's reminded why he fought for trahearne, for aurene, for all of his friends. as he rushes to find his way out he sees niddhil.

of course he's confused. long story short, she is the gate guardian for him, and she will test his resolve. marwyd essentially has to outsmart someone who's walked beside him from nearly day 1 as pact commander. she kicks his ass! repeatly! she is killing him repeatedly. he's stuck in a loop. time and time again he's getting himself killed, but eventually he tries something new. he waits, decides to start inventing with the scraps around the realm, picks up a metal bar stuck in a slab of concrete and uses it as a hammer. this is where he essentially learns to be a scrapper. this is what gets him past her, and when she is officially defeated, she gently takes him into her arms, tells her that it's okay, it's over... and its time to go home.

he wakes up with the guild overlooking his body. it's only been a few minutes. it'd been what felt like a month in his mind. as soon as he was on his feet, still wounded, he literally clambered onto the ship to go make sure aurene is safe in his arms. one more time.

thing is, he picks up a random giant wrench from the air ship they rode in on. said he wanted to use this, and that he had a few ideas to try. only niddhil knows why he's able to do this. he also comes up with gyros thanks to that whole experience in death. it sorta just becomes his thing.

he's revitalized in knowing that he wasn't fighting for nothing, that he's always fighting for something, and that they're here, and they care, and they maybe he just needs to give himself a little more credit. throughout him going on his self-destructive spree, and being an absolute asshole to all of them, they still cared somehow. maybe he needs to just be a little less hard on himself. maybe he needs to just. open up once.

marwyd does start doing this, luckily, but only with niddhil. she's his only confident, and they're IMMEASURABLY close after this incident. they both have a newfound respect for one another.

though, his memory is still bad, he still has those moments. he can still be a snippy asshole somedays. he's working hard on himself, and he doesn't try to put himself in too much danger. for aurene, he keeps telling himself. for aurene.

he places his brown coat and hat back on.

and off he went to kill a god.

[kimoralov3]

random thoughts with kim time again

how my top 3 would act to you stealing their clothes

by the way these always start off with me thinking "how would alex react to..." and then i just sit there in a puddle of cuteness

alex summers

"is that my jacket?" "...maybe."

he gotta keep up that tough exterior on the outside

"alright then."

but on the inside?

boy is practically melting

he'd start encouraging you to wear his stuff more often

"wanna wear my jacket? its pretty cold out there." (also now that i think about it he might not need to wear a jacket because his mutation probably naturally warms his body but for the cuteness we'll ignore it)

"here, take my glasses."

"put on one of my shirts. we can stop by your room if you don't wanna wear it tho."

he'd try to be subtle about it

but he was grinning the whole time

so it actually wasn't that subtle

but it's cute so you're obviously not gonna burst his bubble

loki laufeyson

there would be no reaction

because yall share clothes all the time

"darling have you seen my grey crop top with the off the shoulder sleeve thingy." "first of all loki, that's my top. second of all its in the second drawer."

but the first time you stole one of their hoodies

my god

they didn't show it but they were screaming on the inside

"is that the hoodie thor gave me for christmas?" "yeah. you were gone and it smelt like you so i took it."

they wouldn't hide the fact that they were trying to get you to wear their clothes

"wear this." "loki these are your jeans." "im aware."

erik lehnsherr

ok this is more of a whole outfit

but yall know in first class when him and charles went to go recruit mutants and he wore that black turtleneck with the tan colored coat?

yeah you stole that

the whole outfit

"y/n are you ready to- you're wearing my clothes." "is that a problem?"

he just kinda

stares at you (yes i headcanon that erik has a staring problem)

it takes him a minute to process whats happening

but when he does he smiles

"you look amazing. let me tuck in your shirt some more." "erik you don't have to-" "nonsense. now lets find you some accessories."

[junko-and-riri-domain]

❦ ʟᴀꜱᴛ ᴋɪꜱꜱ, ʟᴇᴀᴠᴇ ʏᴏᴜʀ ʟɪᴘꜱ ʙʟᴏᴏᴅ ʀᴇᴅ | ᴘᴊꜱ & ʏᴊᴡ

↬ ᴘᴀɪʀɪɴɢ:  ᴘᴀʀᴋ ᴊᴏɴɢsᴇᴏɴɢ / ᴊᴀʏ x ʏᴀɴɢ ᴊᴜɴɢᴡᴏɴ x ʀᴇᴀᴅᴇʀ

↬ ɢᴇɴʀᴇ: ғʟᴜғғ | ᴠᴀᴍᴘɪʀᴇ!ᴊᴀʏ | ᴠᴀᴍᴘɪʀᴇ!ᴊᴜɴɢᴡᴏɴ | ᴅᴏᴍ-ɪsʜ!ᴊᴀʏ | sᴏᴜʟᴍᴀᴛᴇs!ᴀᴜ

↬ ᴡᴀʀɴɪɴɢs: ɴᴇᴄᴋ ʙɪᴛɪɴɢ | ʟɪɢʜᴛ ᴋɪssɪɴɢ | sᴜɢɢᴇsᴛɪᴠᴇ | ʙʟᴏᴏᴅ 

↬ ɴᴏᴛᴇ: 

ᴛʜᴇʀᴇ ɪs ɴᴏ sᴍᴜᴛ ʙᴇᴄᴀᴜsᴇ ɪ ᴅᴏɴ'ᴛ ᴡʀɪᴛᴇ ᴛʜᴀᴛ ʙᴜᴛ ᴛʜᴇ sᴛᴏʀʏ ɪs sᴜɢɢᴇsᴛɪᴠᴇ

ʙᴀsᴇᴅ ᴏғғ ᴏғ "ᴠɪᴄɪᴏᴜs" ʙʏ ᴛᴀᴛᴇ ᴍᴄʀᴀᴇ ғᴛ. ʟɪʟ ᴍᴏsᴇʏ

ʟʏʀɪᴄs ᴘʟᴀᴄᴇᴅ ᴛʜʀᴏᴜɢʜᴏᴜᴛ ᴛʜᴇ sᴛᴏʀʏ ᴍᴀʏ ʜᴀᴠᴇ ʙᴇᴇɴ ᴀʟᴛᴇʀᴇᴅ ᴛᴏ ғɪᴛ ᴛʜᴇ ɴᴀʀʀᴀᴛɪᴠᴇ ᴏғ ᴛʜᴇ sᴛᴏʀʏʟɪɴᴇ

ᴡᴏʀᴅ ᴄᴏᴜɴᴛ ɪs ᴀʀᴏᴜɴᴅ 𝟷.𝟿ᴋ, ᴡʀᴏᴛᴇ ᴛʜɪs ɪɴsᴛᴇᴀᴅ ᴏғ ғɪɴɪsʜɪɴɢ ᴍʏ ᴇssᴀʏ ʙᴄ ɪ ᴄᴏᴜʟᴅɴ'ᴛ ɢᴇᴛ ᴛʜᴇ ɪᴅᴇᴀ ᴏᴜᴛ ᴏғ ᴍʏ ʜᴇᴀᴅ ᴍɪɢʜᴛ’ᴠᴇ ɢᴏᴛᴛᴇɴ ᴀ ʙɪᴛ ᴄᴀʀʀɪᴇᴅ ᴀᴡᴀʏ ʙᴜᴛ ᴀɴʏᴡᴀʏs...

↱ baby, it stung, now it’s sweet watching you beg on your knees, oh myyy ↲

Situated on Jungwon’s lap while you looked at your laptop, his hands mindlessly massaged circles into your hips, head nestled in the crook of your neck. You were wearing one of Jay’s shirts underneath Jungwon’s hoody and Jungwon always loved how his and his hyung’s scent mingled with you. Though he didn’t always show it, he was just as possessive as Jay was.

“Wonnie,” you muttered as he started placing teasing kisses on your shoulders, trailing towards your neck.

“That’s my name.”

“Don’t you have things to do?”

“You’re one of them,” he joked. As you bit your lip wondering just what the hell Jay was teaching Jungwon lately, you heard Jungwon saying your name.

“Huh?” Looking into the eyes that felt as if they held the entire Milky Way,

“Are you ok? Did I take the joke too far?” Worry was evident in Jungwon’s tone and you couldn’t help yourself from smiling at your boyfriend’s concern. Shifting so that you were facing him better, your arms settled around his neck, fingers toying with the ends of his hair. Eyes settling on Jay’s mark on Jungwon’s neck, you wondered to yourself when you’d get your own from the two.  

“It doesn’t have to be a joke,” you said with a pout, a habit you gained from Jay. Jungwon smiled, pressing a light kiss to your lips,

“You have things to do.”

“You’re one of them,” you teased, earning a light blush from Jungwon that he couldn’t contain. It didn’t take long before Jay came home, to be greeted with the sight of you and Jungwon cooking dinner in the kitchen. Though, it was mostly you doing the cooking and Jungwon keeping you company while stealing bites at times. If this were the sight Jay came home to a year ago, Jay would’ve thrown a fit. And he did.

↱ burning bridges, breaking dishes

i won’t, won’t lie

last night i cried a little ↲

~ flashback to last year ~

While you sliced up some vegetables for the curry the three of you were going to eat for dinner, Jay was out buying some cake per your request. Jungwon came earlier than you expected which was why you were still cooking because although Jungwon was your soulmate, he was still technically a guest.

“Are you sure Jay-hyung is ok with me coming over for dinner?” Jungwon asked. You nodded,

“Jay needs to realize that there’s three of us now, just because we didn’t meet at the same time, doesn’t mean that anyone should feel left out.”

“I don’t think he likes me much,” he said as he ran his hand through his hair.

“He just needs some time to warm up, babe. His angry bird butt needs to learn how to share, y’know.” Jungwon chuckled,

“I think he looks more like durian.” Laughter filled the kitchen as Jungwon’s words and you couldn’t stop the tears that fell from your eyes,

“You’re right, what the hell why didn’t I think of that?” Jungwon smiled,

“Thanks for accepting me, yn.”

“How could I not, Wonnie?” The nickname slipped out naturally from you, Jungwon’s heart skipping a beat but you were too busy making the food to notice. A cold draft came through the open window, as you shivered slightly you felt a pair of arms wrapped around your waist and enveloping you in a warmth you’ve never felt before Jungwon.

“Is this ok?” he asked. You nodded, leaning further into his touch. As the two of you chatted, you didn’t hear the door opening until Jay’s voice rang through the apartment,

“Love, I got you that- What the hell is happening?” he asked, as he saw the two of you in the kitchen. He glared at Jungwon, but you spoke first to break the tension.

“It was cold,” you answered simply as you started plating the curry.

“What, you couldn’t have texted me that he was here?”

“Why so that you could speed on the freeway and get into an accident?”

“How are you so ok with this?” Jungwon’s arms left your waist and he took a step back,

“Should I leave?” Jungwon asked.

“No.”

“Yes,” Jay said at the same time.

“You can’t even try to get along with Jungwon?”

“This whole soulmate thing is stupid!” You knew that Jay meant those words in reference to Jungwon and not you but you couldn’t help the anger rising in you. Jay realized it within a matter of seconds,

“Baby, I didn’t mean-” Grabbing the nearest thing without much thought to it, an egg made its way in your hand and was thrown across the counter, landing on Jay’s chest.

“Did you just- YAH L/N, Y/N!” he yelled, eyes widening in response. Oh, but you weren’t done. This man needed to be taught a damn lesson. Grabbing the scraps of vegetables that didn’t make it into the curry,

“Don’t you-” Just like that, Jay was met with a face full of carrot ends. Jay being the childish man that he is, took out the slice of cake he had bought for you. Specifically, your favorite cake from the bakery down the corner with an hour’s wait and was always sold out by the time you got in.

“Jay.” His name left your mouth like a warning because you knew damn well just what he was thinking about doing. His eyebrow raised up slightly,

“How many damn times have I told you not to start something you can’t finish, love?”

“Jay don’t-” your words were cut off when the feeling of something creamy hit your face, forcing you to close your eyes out of instinct.

“YAH PARK JONSEONG!” you yelled as you wiped the frosting off of you, the slice of cake falling on your clothes and then to the floor. He bit the insides of his cheek, unable to stop himself from laughing as he made his way to you. Jungwon was already wiping the cake off of your face.

“You started it,” Jay muttered.

“You two are crazy,” Jungwon said, causing you and Jay to look at him. To your surprise, Jay was the one to talk.

“Too bad, you’re stuck with us now.”

“I’m gonna get cleaned up,” you said.

“Me too,” Jay then looked to Jungwon, “you gonna be good here?” Jungwon nodded,

“Yeah, hyung.” You and Jay headed to the room you shared to get cleaned up and changed. When changed into one of Jay’s shirts since it was the nearest one, Jay wrapped his arms around your waist.

“What’s wrong?” you asked, looking up at him. His eyes were clouded with an emotion you didn’t see in him often. Fear.

“I don’t wanna lose you, love. I’m scared you’re gonna realize that Jungwon is a  better guy than I am and then leave me.” You turned around, hugging Jay back and wiping the tears that started falling from his eyes. Despite his “tough guy” act, deep down Jay felt things more than most people did. With a smile as you kissed Jay,

“Babe, Jungwon’s just one more person who can love you as much as I do.” It didn’t take long before the three of you started eating, and Jay was starting to loosen up.

“Y/n, you’re a good cook,” Jungwon said, eyes widening as he tasted the curry. Jay scoffed,

“I’m better.”

“Maybe you should cook me a meal to prove that.”

“Maybe I will!”

“Aigh’t bet.”

“Bet.”

~ end flashback, back to present ~

As you, Jungwon, and Jay watched a movie you ended up with Jay in the middle, you and Jungwon both resting your heads on him. As your eyes stayed on the screen of the tv,

“Are you gonna mark me sometime soon?” you asked the two.

↱ wipe my tongue ‘cross your teeth

just a little taste to remember me by

let you push me to the edge, ‘bout to lose my mind ↲

Jungwon choked on his water at your words.

“Do you… want us to?” he asked. Both of your boyfriend’s attention were now on you.

“I mean like, you have your marks on each other. Maybe I want mine too.”

“You’d turn into a vampire,” Jay said.

“Obviously?”

The night mostly passed as a blur more than anything but what was certain was how much Jungwon and Jay loved you, constantly make sure you wanted this till the last second. As you were on the bed, Jay was to mark the right side of your neck while Jungwon was to mark the left side. Your heart was pounding in your ears, you could feel the tips of their fangs just meeting your skin.

“Y/n, this is your last chance to back out. Are you sure you want this?” Jungwon asked softly. You merely nodded in response, not trusting yourself to speak.

“Words, y/n,” Jay said.

“Yes, I’m sure I want this.”

↱ baby, get you in the bed, you goin crazy

last kiss, leave your lips blood red ↲

Heat rushed throughout your body as the two sank their fangs into your neck, your blood filling their taste buds as they made their marks. It was painful at first but then faded quicker than you expected, and becoming something of pleasure. Your senses heighted as the effect of turning came over you.

“You taste good babygirl,” Jay whispered, sending shivers down your spine. “How do you feel?” he asked.

“Thirsty.”

“Jungwon first.” Nodding, your focus turned to Jungwon. Kisses becoming frenzied as rushed as your senses only wanted one thing in the moment. To taste him. You started with teasing kisses, wanting to savor the moment but need took over. Your new fangs sunk themselves into the crook of Jungwons neck, you started lapping at the blood. You didn’t know how long you were or just how much blood you drank from Jungwon, but the man’s blood was addicting, almost like honey. No wonder Jay loved it.

“Love, look at me,” you heard Jay’s voice say, snapping you out of your blood-thirsty trance. Licking your lips as you looked at Jungwon who looked spent and had a tired look on his face, Jay had a look of pride in his eyes as they settled on the two of you.

“My turn,” he said with a smirk. Jay let you take control of things as you marked him, reveling in the taste of his blood mixed with Jungwon’s but both of you knew that it wasn’t going to be like that every time and you didn’t want it to be. Just before you fell asleep,

“You might wake up feeling thirsty since you’re newly turned. Whenever that happens let either of us know, ok?” Jay said. You nodded with a tired smile, not really paying attention due to exhaustion.

You woke up some time later with an ache in your throat that could only be satisfied by your lovers. You turned to Jay, starting to wake him up.

“Someone’s needy,” Jay let out in a throaty voice as he felt your nips on your mark on him, his grip on your waist tightening slightly.

“I’m thirsty,” you practically whined. The thirst for the blood of your soulmates was starting to become evident in you and you wondered how Jay and Jungwon were able to hold themselves from marking you for so long. Jay tilted his head, giving you better access to what you desired.

“Go ahead, love.” After you felt like you had enough, Jay brought your face closer to his. As he closed the distance between the two of you, his fang bit into the flesh of his own lip, his blood making itself known. Your lips were mere millimeters, your eyes fluttering shut out of instinct.

“Last kiss babygirl, I wanna leave your lips blood red,” Jay whispered.

❦ end of story, written by riri | blog master list

ǫᴜɪᴄᴋ ᴄʟɪᴄᴋs ᴛᴏ ᴏᴛʜᴇʀ ᴊᴜɴɢᴡᴏɴ ғɪᴄs

warm mornings (written by junko) | yes, we are arguing over a bowl of curry even though someone just refilled the pot

ǫᴜɪᴄᴋ ᴄʟɪᴄᴋs ᴛᴏ ᴏᴛʜᴇʀ ᴊᴀʏ ғɪᴄs

storms & ghosts | my love for you dies when the last rose does | JeAlousY

vicious by tate mcrae ft. lil mosey: 

https://youtu.be/xbttzKsGj24

[bestworstcase]

I like your thoughts on how Rapunzel was handling things wrong in “Rapunzel: Day One.” The episode tries to imply that Cassandra is wrong for not sharing her feelings with Rapunzel, but is a Rapunzel really the person Cassandra should be opening up to? Rapunzel never respects Cassandra’s boundaries. Cassandra’s a private person. Rapunzel doesn’t respect that. And just because Cassandra doesn’t want to open up to everyone doesn’t mean that she’s bottling things up.

ok so this is gonna be a long one bc tbh i like. fundamentally disagree that RDO, the narrative of RDO, in any way positions cassandra as the one at fault for the emotional conflict between her and raps.

to digress a bit - while tts is not immune to Aesop Episodes (e.g. rapunzel's enemy or you're kidding me) wherein the characters close out the story by talking about What They've Learned, ultimately i don't think tts can or should be read as a morality play. it's a story where sometimes characters just... fuck up and the narrative doesn't waste its time on hand-holding or spoon-feeding us the moral.

anyway, i submit that RDO is what i'll call a False Aesop Episode. it follows the basic structure of an Aesop Episode (protagonist acts badly -> protagonist learns a lesson) but the lesson rapunzel learns is a bad one. it's like if you took... say, "an apple a day keeps the doctor away" as an aesop, the False Aesop here is rapunzel confidently eating a rotten apple and then being blindsided a few months later when the doctor who kept begging her not to eat food with maggots in it steals the moonstone from under her nose and runs off into the night with her new demon pal--

and that metaphor got away from me a little bit but you get the idea.

#1: constructing the conflict

the episode opens with cassandra. she's training; we see the sword fly out of her injured hand; lance suggests she take a break, and she answers, "thanks to rapunzel's little trick at the great tree, i have to relearn everything using this hand, so breaks aren't really an option."

she isn't harsh about it. her demeanor isn't all that different from her normal self—she even segues into a very typical concern (that the woods are dangerous and they should all be on their guard) and banters with lance a bit.

what this communicates, immediately and succinctly, is that:

1. cassandra's injury is severe. it's disabling. she's either in immense pain or she's lost all the strength in that hand or both.

2. cass is really upset about this, and not happy with rapunzel.

3. nevertheless cass is keeping her feelings more or less in check; the worst anyone could say about her is she's being a bit more curt than normal.

which is to say, she's acting quite reasonable. she's not taking out her hurt feelings on anyone else or being mean or lashing out, and she's not hiding her injury either. the most concerning thing about her behavior here is actually that she's focused on training so she can do her job instead of on healing or resting or taking care of herself.

then there's a pan over to rapunzel, who is angrily watching this play out while venting to pascal. "i get why cass is mad at me," she says. "she told me—" huge disdainful rolling of eyes here "—not to use the decay spell back and the tree, and i did, and she hurt her hand. but if she had just listened to me and stayed out of it, this all could have been avoided! and i feel like we could work things out, but she refuses to talk about it!!"

line this up against cassandra's behavior and spot the differences.

cass is focused on her injured hand. cass is upset because rapunzel accidentally mutilated her in the great tree. that's what this conflict is about for cass; her injury, and how she feels about being injured.

by contrast, rapunzel thinks the conflict is about them not listening to each other. she does acknowledge that cass was injured, but 1. she puts the blame on cass, and 2. has shoved the fact of the injury to the periphery of the conflict. it's not important, it's just a natural consequence of the real conflict, which is cass being mad and petty and refusing to talk to her about how she's unfairly blaming rapunzel for something that wasn't rapunzel's fault.

[i will add here that this behavior from rapunzel is 100% not knowing how to handle guilt and externalizing it as anger, and this thread of rapunzel burying her guilt gets picked up again in rapunzeltopia; it isn't that rapunzel doesn't care that cass is hurt, so much as she's just not emotionally equipped to process these feelings in a healthy way so it mutates into...this.]

and where cass handles her feelings in a pretty reasonable way, rapunzel rants and raves and draws cass as a literal monster with fangs and claws—she's stewing in her out of control emotions and concludes that she just has to find a way to force cass talk to her, which she does shortly thereafter by ordering—not asking—cass to come with her to search for parts to fix the caravan.

#2: the breakdown of communication

i've said it before but it bears repeating: cassandra might not be perfect, but she's a good communicator. in s1 and the front half of s2, she shares her feelings with rapunzel readily and frequently. when she tries to set boundaries with rapunzel, she's able to be clear and specific about what she needs. when she expresses frustration with eugene or her dad or rapunzel, she's very articulate about exactly what she's frustrated about. she can recognize when politer, softer refusals are being ignored and become blunter and more specific to ensure the message is getting across.

the moments when cass struggles to communicate are noteworthy because they're not normal. they signal that she's in acute crisis. think of how her unhinged rant about adira in RATGT heralded a complete emotional breakdown. she clams up in RDO because it's the only thing she can do to protect herself. because rapunzel is an inexperienced nineteen year old who learned all her social "skills" from a manipulative, egotistical abuser and nowhere in the series does that show more than in RDO.

rapunzel knows cass doesn't want to talk about the great tree, so she isolates cass from the rest of the group with the intention of forcing her to talk about it anyway. she's passive aggressive at first: chattering about inanities and trying to bait cass into 'opening up,' and acting vexed and guilt-trippy when she finds out cass brought owl along. she broaches the subject by going "too bad there's not an open-up-to-your-best-friend-about-the-thing-you-guys-are-fighting-about wand, huh?"

then she leads with "i know you're mad at me, but i did the right thing. i didn't have a choice," which... what can cass even say to that? she acknowledged cassandra's anger in one breath and followed up with "but you're wrong tho" in the next. that statement makes cassandra's feelings about her debilitating injury into an argument about Who Was Right.

this is a game that cass tries very hard not to play. "look, if you feel that way, then it's fine. we're good," she says, which is a statement that is not true at all on its face but - what it means is that if rapunzel wants to turn this into a debate about Who Was Right, cass will concede because that's not an argument she's invested in. cass does not want to put her feelings on trial so rapunzel can pick them apart and decide whether she deserves to have them or not.

so she disengages. the sun sets. they camp. rapunzel pokes her again, this time with a more direct approach: "cass, i need to talk about what we both know is going on between us."

and that's when cass throws up a WALL. prior to RDO, when cass is pressed on her feelings, she either: 1. opens up and explains to the extent that she's able (e.g. under raps or RATGT), or 2. flatly shuts the conversation down (e.g. cassandra vs eugene). but in RDO?

"there's nothing to talk about."

"i never said i was upset."

"what makes you so sure that you know how i'm feeling?"

this is cass falling off the end of her rope. this is a cass who spent the last year and a half with rapunzel running roughshod over every boundary cass exhausted herself trying to set. this is cass maybe a few weeks out from rapunzel screaming at her in front of all their mutual friends and then telling her "i am going to make decisions you don't agree with and i need you to be okay with that" when cass tried to open up about her deepest insecurities. this is cass spiraling into despair because she's seen that her best friend cares more about assuaging her own guilt and exerting her authority as a princess than she does about cassandra's feelings.

this is the moment when the friendship dies.

#3: the memory wipe, cassandra's apology, and the false aesop

the details of the tangled-but-cass shenanigans are not super important for the purposes of this discussion. suffice it to say that cassandra lashes out in the heat of the moment, seriously harms rapunzel by mistake, and spends the rest of the episode trying to repair the damage, then apologizes to rapunzel for hurting her. this is, obviously, the correct thing to do when you hurt someone, even if it was an accident.

you see the parallel here, yeah?

rapunzel hurt cass with magic by accident, and then made cass's hurt feelings all about her, blamed cass for the injury, twisted the facts to justify her own indignation, picked a fight about Who Was Right and invalidated cassandra's feelings, and pushed and pushed and pushed until cass blew up and lashed out at her.

cassandra also hurt rapunzel with magic by accident, and then she set aside her own hurt feelings from the argument they were having before to focus one hundred percent of her energy on brewing a cure and keeping amnesiac rapunzel safe, readily admitted her fault, and offered an earnest apology for losing her temper as soon as she could reasonably do so.

if RDO were a true Aesop Episode, this would be the lesson, and rapunzel would of course learn from cassandra's good example and reciprocate by apologizing for the accident in the great tree and her abysmal behavior afterwards—and in a reflection of how cass shared how bottling up her anger allowed it to erupt in a catastrophic way, rapunzel would probably confess that her demanding, selfish behavior came from a place of feeling awful about what happened and terrified that it would ruin their friendship.

but RDO is a False Aesop Episode. rapunzel isn't emotionally equipped to handle the intensity of her guilt, and she lacks the social insight and empathy to draw comparisons between what she did to cass and what cass did to her, so she can't connect the two situations in her head to understand what she's doing wrong. the true aesop flies right over her head, and instead what she learns is this:

1. she was right about cass being upset

2. backing cass into a corner fixed the problem

3. friends really do "just know"

4. being pushy and forceful was the right thing to do.

because the thing is, when cass apologizes for the accidental memory wipe, she truthfully explains why she acted the way she did—she's furious and she didn't want to talk about it, so she held it in as long as she could and then exploded when the pressure became too much—and for rapunzel, i think the explanation and the actual apology get conflated. meaning, cass says "i'm sorry for what i did out of anger" and what rapunzel hears is "i'm sorry for being angry."

and because of that misunderstanding, from rapunzel's perspective her own indignation has been validated and her behavior justified, because she was right all along and cass shouldn't have been angry with her in the first place and now everything is fine--

but it's not fine.

we're not supposed to share rapunzel's perspective here, because she's flat out wrong. nothing is really better and nothing has really changed, except that rapunzel got the talk she wanted and stops putting this intense pressure on cass. so as we enter the house of yesterday's tomorrow, rapunzel is taking it for granted that things are fine with cass, and meanwhile cass is still injured, still angry, still as aloof as she can be without getting rapunzel breathing down her neck again... and then she meets zhan tiri, who gives her everything she needed and couldn't get from rapunzel.

like, to my mind, this is the entire point of RDO, that rapunzel makes this catastrophic mess of trying to patch things up after RATGT and comes out of that mess wrongly thinking she succeeded. the episode is presented through the lens of rapunzel's perspective, but the lines are very wide and i absolutely think the intention is for the audience to read between them and understand the reality that rapunzel has sort of blinded herself to.

[lochsides]

Yellow Metal - cathartic Review

Here’s something I did not expect to be reviewing this week but when Zayn drops a 24 minute rap track, you fall in line. I had to listen to it a couple times through before I could even begin to make sense of my thoughts because my brain sort of malfunctioned. I have never been prouder to be a Zayn fan. He’s such a nuanced songwriter and there is so much to unpack here.

I think this is the most unfiltered version of Zayn that we have ever been exposed to (and possibly will ever be). I am grateful that he said his piece in this because it needed to be said. As a brown woman, I felt so seen by this and I cannot explain what that means to me. Thank you Z, for your unvarnished truth in addressing racism and various forms of discrimination.

I’m doing a short lyrical analysis below the cut, but the TLDR is that this is a fantastic piece of art that deserves to be heard.

I wish he had released this as an EP because that would be easier to review than a single 24 minute song, structurally speaking. So instead, I have picked out some key lyrics, going from top to bottom, that really spoke to me and decided to study the song that way. His lyricism is hard-hitting in this track. It is beyond anything he has ever released before.

“The planet bleeds, the damaged trees. It’s never leaving until we ascend so fuck the fence.” — I have not seen this lyric being talked about in the fandom, because the lyrics that follow this steal the show, rightly so, but I wanted to give this line a moment because it’s important too. To me, this lyric speaks to where Zayn is at with his relationship with the physical world. He’s out on the farm (about which he even goes to say “tell you what I like, farm life and the tractor”) and I believe he’s happy in his space and he feels connected to nature (also see River Road). So it is a poignant and slightly jaded, but valid perspective that he shares on climate change. It’s never leaving until we ascend. The damage human beings have done to the planet won’t be undone until there are no humans left to do damage. It’s a single sentence that says so much about the depth of the climate crisis. I’m doing my PhD on urban air quality so this is something I care really deeply about and I resonated with.

“And until they stop killing colour, it’s fuck the feds.” — Yeah, agreed Zayn. The systemic racism that he calls out here is echoed throughout the song, in equal parts anger and boldness. I love that he isn’t glossing over it with metaphors, which he could easily do and it would be beautiful in a totally different way, but this makes it harder for racists to overlook. There is so much power in calling it like it is.

“Never lose me to fentanyl, scared when I take a Benadryl, keeping it green in general.” — It frustrates me to no end to see Zayn painted as this drug-addicted lazy musician that doesn’t care about his work, because we know how untrue that is. This narrative is tired and simply boring too, and I won’t get into the racist connotations of it when you consider it against his white colleagues who smoke as much as him but that isn’t one of their defining traits in the media.

“I’m racking up excuses while I’m slacking off on work … it was hard work that got me heard” — I love the juxtaposition in this verse. The public/media perception on his career is that Zayn doesn’t put in effort or that he doesn’t want it. This obviously stems from his leaving the band. It goes back to what I was saying before about narrative, when in reality, as Zayn has said on various occasions, he fights to make his own choices. And that doesn’t have to look the way everyone else expects it to (“I beg you, don’t include me. I might write it on my shirt”), he has his own struggles that have helped forge his path, but it is his path that he paved, himself. He works hard to be heard. He has to. It reminds me of something my parents used to tell me when I was younger about being immigrants: you have to work 10 times harder for the same opportunities just because of the colour of your skin or your name on the cv. It’s a harsh truth to grow up with but it was my reality, as it is for most POC.

“This life doesn’t give you no armour, a lot of myself can harm you. I swear on what’s good, that I’m here ‘til they take me. I pray that I’m wrinkled, at least over 80…” — There is something about the simplicity of these lyrics are the messaging that I love. He isn’t trying too hard to sound poetic but he still manages it perfectly.

“All I've been achieving, clocking miles in this region, moving like a legion. Promise that I made to myself, an allegiance. Do you still believe I’m a fool for ever leaving? Staring at the ceiling, can never put a cap on achieving. I’m just here for the rap, then I’m leaving. // I’ve had about enough of being my own enemy. It’s time I grew up, a long way from 17. Always went against the grain, struggles in my life. Got some things to say when I stand up on the mike.” — This is the only 1D-related lyric I’ll make reference to because this song is about so much more than that. That said though, we cannot overlook Zayn’s experiences in the band because that is part of his story. The tongue-in-cheek of “I’m just here for the rap, then I’m leaving” is hilarious to me. The line about not wanting to be his own enemy anymore and growing up from 17 reminds me of that quote Taylor (Swift) mentioned in Miss Americana about celebrities getting stuck at the age they got famous. I think this verse is similar to that. None of them ever wanted to be in the band and I don’t care what anyone says, Zayn leaving and proving success outside the band gave the rest of them the courage to follow their own solo careers. Sure there was drama surrounding the split but he did it for himself, to tell his stories the way he is now. Whatever else you have to say about him, you cannot deny his authenticity.

“I ain’t dropping this for fame, I need this time, like therapy, it’s just to keep me sane.” — I think this line tells us 2 things, the first being that this song was not leaked. Z knew what he was doing and his twitter likes tell us as much. He didn’t release it for any sort of attention, otherwise it would be widely available on streaming platforms and for purchase. Which leads to my second point, he released this song to get everything he talks about on the track off his chest. Its referenced in other lyrics too, like “now you see where I come from, the world don’t.” This was for whoever cared to listen, not the world. It’s inaccessible for a reason. I love that he threw those lyrics in. It makes the song feel more like a private conversation or listening to a friend rant. It creates a different form of intimacy between himself and his fans.

“Lessons that I’ve learned, I’ve tried teaching to myself. What I’ve learnt from certain people is that they’re better than myself. So I surround myself with real ones, and you feel the plastic melt.” — This one is for anyone that buys into conspiracy theories surrounding Zayn’s personal life. He surrounds himself with real people, real friendships, real connections. I have never bought into the bullshit that he has zero autonomy over his personal life. I love the use of plastic melting as a metaphor for ridding his life of fakeness.

“Feeling trapped. This industry is a cage.” — Zayn is obviously not the first person to say it. Many artists talk about how suffocating the industry is ( which he further comments on in the sung portion: “I don’t wanna be, I don’t wanna be, a part of this, no, I don’t wanna be, I don’t wanna be, a part of this”). Fame is such a wild and unnatural concept and the exploitation and politics of the music industry only feed further into it. The industry being a cage makes me think of zoos and how celebrities are animals on display, when they should be free in the wild. I also really like the musical interlude following this part.

“Nobody’s speaking the truth, I’m offended by the State. Look at the state of the news, I’ve decided the argument, reciting my views.” — Zayn toes the line between keeping to himself and speaking out on important issues, sometimes not very well. I am his biggest cheerleader, but I’m not up his ass. There have been many occasions where he could’ve done better. But I cannot fault him for being offended by the State because same, Z, same. I love that he took this song as an opportunity to real speak out, no punches pulled.

“See I’ve been facing the racists from back when I were a kiddie. Born up in 93’. Living in Bradford City, they kicked me out of the school. Said they had a problem with me hitting the kids that would call me p***, still sit in the classroom, chilling. I’m angry now that I’m older cause I see they treat us different. Got me thinking I’m the problem ‘cause they never dealt with these issues.” — See what I meant about no punches pulled. He said that! He said it like that too. There is so much in this verse that I relate to, it hits a little too deep. I grew up as a brown in predominantly white communities where the colour of my skin was the reason I was outcasted. We know when that’s happening, clear as day. The lyric “got me thinking that I’m the problem cause they never dealt with these issues” says it all. I have many racial traumas that I’m dealing with as an adult because the adults around me when I was a child didn’t deal with racism in the classroom. They do treat us different!

“20 years later, I’m still in the same boat. Tryna treat me like my grandpa, say I came up off the boat. Came to tell you what I stand for. Man I think you’re shit, a joke. How can I be civil when they got me by the throat? // Pushing my feelings down, you ain’t got it like them. ‘Boy your skin is so light.’ Ok motherfucker, take my name up on a flight. Try to convince immigration that your bloodline’s half white.” — Zayn talking his shit is my new favourite art form. How can I be civil when they got me by the throat? Something that I will always be enraged by is that POC are expected to de-escalate situations of racism. We have to push our feelings down, as Zayn says in the verse, because the institution is against us. All of the institutions are against us. The fact that he takes it a step farther to say that his name makes him a target for racism, even though he is half-white just nails his point home. Also, can we please quit the whole ‘Zayn is white-passing’ bullshit. He alludes to it again later in the song (“asian in my face, but still my race you can’t define”). Its not a compliment to erase someone identity in favour of white-washing them.

“My name ain’t on the list unless they label it ethnic.” — Oh, the amount of times we have heard that age old (v. racist) saying ‘{celebrity of colour} is the new [insert white celebrity here]’ as if POC aren’t allowed to succeed in their own right. It is wild to me that Zayn has to deal with this given his level of success.

“Start to understand why they think that I’m threatening. I move in certain ways, couldn’t slow me with ketamine.” — There is a subtle nod to racism (and Islamaphobia) in this line, because of course the brown man is a threat, but I like the way Z turns it around. I also like the rhyme scheme.

“Raised on the benefit for whose benefit? They’ll never learn shit, man, if the shoe fits.” — Okay I might be reaching here, but this is just my interpretation. We all know the benefit system in the UK sucks. Being raised on benefit implies a lack of money growing up, but the benefits aren’t really all that beneficial to the families that rely upon them.

“Dealing with the hurt, they should know cause they don’t deserve it, it hit deep cause I hit the nerve.” — Well, okay then, just call me out. It’s fine. I seriously feel like he’s talking to me directly with this line. I imagine a lot of us do. Its one of those lyrics that are a bit too honest but that why we love them.

“Cathartic, I’m an artist. Trying to put my heart in” // “Freedom fighter, Yellow Metal is my name.” — So do we have an alternate persona for Zayn now? Alright, I’m down. I think these two lines are tied together, because both are mentioned in the song title. (I think of the song as cathartic, by Yellow Metal, aka Zayn, or Yellow Metal as the name of the EP if this was officially released). The lyrics that accompany both title lyrics, along with the subject matter of the song as a whole, suggest that his heart is in standing up against injustices. I said it earlier, this is the most unvarnished version of Z that we have ever been exposed to. Almost like the complete picture to the puzzle pieces we’ve been putting together over the years.

“They’re tryna kill us with disease.” — Why did this line scream out ‘COVID-19 outbreaks in developing countries’ to me? Again, I might be reaching, but there is a disparity between how COVID is treated amongst minorities, along with many other diseases, and not to mention rich, primarily white countries hoarding vaccine supplies while places like India (and my beautiful Bangladesh and I’m sure Pakistan too) suffer needlessly.

“Started something sick and on my mind is what’s next. Just became a dad so now I’m taking all the cheques. Better know I’m staying and paying like it’s debt. Imma get it done, if it’s taking all my breath, sweat, and down I ain’t messing around ’til I’m the best.” — I think this lyric shows off Zayn’s sentimental side more than it does his ambitious side, because we know he’s in this for the long haul. Others may doubt that but his fans never have. But hearing him talk openly about being a father on a song is something else. It’s like Khai added this whole other layer of meaning and purpose to his life and it’s beautiful to watch. I’ve been here since the X-Factor auditions guys!! It makes me so emotional to witness him like this.

“Aint many of me around, p***, I’m just different. Certain stages to this level aint here because fame is to the devil, fuck a label, imma do this from the ghetto.” — God, we’ve been waiting for a fuck the label moment in this house, haven’t we? I won’t get into my theories on his label or his team, but none of us deny the fact that they should be doing more for him than they are. He has the potential to be the biggest thing with the right team and promo because he has a built-in fan base that would go the mile for him. Obviously, there’s also his aversion to promo to contend with and that’s his decision. Even without it, he could shatter every ceiling. Another thing I want to mention about this verse is the nod to the complete lack of South Asian representation in contemporary Western media.

“Don’t know what’s worse: the way that you live your life or the way that you write a verse.” — I’m just putting this in here because it made giggle. Also going to take this space to say how much I love his energy in this song. He knows he’s the shit, as he should!

“Can’t be louder … so free Gaza on my banner.” // “They’re hating on Palestine ways.” — I love that Zayn has always supported this movement, years ago, before being ‘woke’ was a thing. But now, he has a daughter that has Palestinian heritage and I’m sure that makes this hit that much deeper for him, personally. The apartheid in Palestine is heart-wrenching. It’s so strange to me to watch it happen, because I never thought I would witness something like this happening in 2021, yet here we are.

“Like vipers, I see the sly ones, the snake that’s called Biden, none of them abiding what they might put in writing. We should be used to it by now, say whatever for the vote and then just choose another route. Say they’d never kill another unless that brother’s skin is brown. I’m just telling you the facts, if you can’t take it, the truth naked, to bare bones and my thoughts lately, spitting politics.” — This verse is straight up savage and I am living for it! I find it hilarious that he called Biden a snake. This verse addresses the truth about politics, that even electing a left-wing leader doesn’t fix the system.

“I’m Tony Stark, still embarking on a dream” // “Gone green like Bruce Banner” // “He taught me like Ra’s Al Ghul. Felt like living in Gotham, the people were rotten.” — And to tie it all off, I wanted to take a goofy moment to mention all the superhero lyrics Z added in this song, really showing his personality because I’m such a nerd when it comes to this stuff and it makes me wish that we were friends so I could annoy him to death about it.

[chili-aux]

Im honestly so done with aot fandom wars really. I now let people spew whatever shit they want. It gets toxic in the end. I started hating so many characters because of this irritating fandom till I realized that a bunch of teenagers dont have the right to steal my love for this story away from me. Theyre so ridiculous really it looks like a bunch of kids decided to watch AOT and miss the point entirely. Yams wrote a beautiful story that gets more interesting when you reread it. I wasnt even aware of shipping wars till I finished the manga only to realize its hellfire here. I just assumed oh Erwin loved Marry but chose the corps how sad. Shadis had a thing for Carla. Bittersweet. Oh Ymir and Historia loved each other. Tragic. Reiner is a historia simp great. Oh Levi and Hanji are closeted lovers who just cant accept they're into each other. And thats it. But I went online just to see wow manga discussions yaaay and I ran into middle school children shipping Levi with Eren/Mikasa I mean are you ok? Are you not unhinged? Do you need therapy? Seriously guys wtf? Levi/Erwin? WTF? They're literally brothers wtf? Hange/Moblit, WTF? Are you even aware of the concept of friendship and loyalty that runs in the army? Do you think everyone in the army is in love with each other wtf is this logic Im sorry Im so done with this fandom. AOT deserved better fans who'd appreciate the story and its depth. Apart from a few plotholes that made no sense. (Especially hanji's useless fking death, dude she could've lived ok its so unfair. Anyways) I also can't stand it when people start making Yuri and Yaoi ships of two clearly straight characters. I don't mind if you ship characters within a show that have some sort of legitimacy FROM THE SOURCE MATERIAL. But literally changing everything about characters just so they can fit your idea of a stupid ship is pathetic. A character is so much more than someone you ship with someone. Grow tf really.

hi anon, thank you for sharing! i am tired too. i honestly cannot wait for the time i will get over this anime, but if that time comes, i will still ship levihan and probably continue making fanfics about them. at this moment though, I still hyper-fixate on this ship.

I agreed with some of your points, like that with a bunch of kiddos ruining our experience cuz damn, I've seen it a lot after I joined the fandom but I just stayed on my place and blocked a lot of them for peace of mind. And really, at first, I don't have any ship in aot not until i rewatched it for the 2nd time, that's when I have noticed levihan's bond then boom, I'm riding this ship forever. But when I dove through aottwt, I discovered that eren-levi and those ships that involved a veteran and a 104th member exist, damn I just wanna cringe so hard (or i did cringe hard) cuz why? that's fukcing illegal, my brain can't even comprehend why some people ship those characters who obviously treat each other in canon in a parental-child way.

and hange's death? so true! it's just useless when falco will have the ability to turn into a titan and fly by the later chapters -_- they're just one day away from the end of the rumbling but... fck I'm sad again.

however, i do not agree with some of your points.

disclaimer: I'm not mad anon!

eruri and mobuhan aren't illegal. people can ship them cuz of the exact reason that you said - the concept of friendship and loyalty that runs in the army. i admit I cannot see levi/erwin and hange/moblit in a romantic relationship too like how you perceived it, they're just more like superior-subordinate for me that I can't affiliate their relationship to bud in something that will surpass that. but the loyalty and friendship between those characters, i think, are enough for other people to ship them. why? because there aren't any spoken rules in shipping so we don't have the right to dictate what they ship (proshippers aren't included. stop.)

and babe, what's wrong with yuri and yaoi ships?? aot characters' genders aren't mentioned in the source material (though i see hange as nonbinary cuz of the searches that i made before when i kept on seeing gender wars that always involved hange.)

the case is, there's this term called 'projecting'. people are often doing this in the fictional characters that they love - projecting their identity or what they headcanon about this certain character that, whether we like it or not, often diverge away from the source material. i believed that there's no harm in doing so. they see erwin as gay? let them. they see nanaba as nonbinary? let them. they see levi as pansexual? let them. they ship mikasasha? let them. they ship ererei(erenxreiner)? let them.

it's pride month babe. and even if it's not pride month, people can ship yaoi and yuri. people can project their identities that they cannot express in real life to their favorite characters. and you can't stop them from doing so no matter what. that is their decision and we don't have a say on that. it's not pathetic nor dumb.

but yes, do not reduce any character to ship material. that's downright stupid. and as anon said, grow the fuck up.

thank you for sharing still. and as I've said, I'm not mad! i just want to clear some things that i don't share the same sentiment with you.