#she has zero substance

[beardedmrbean]

Kamala Harris appeared to struggle to explain her economic policies and how she will get them through Congress in an interview with CBS' 60 Minutes. 

The Vice President's full interview will air at 8pm ET Monday as part of an election special, showing her repeatedly asked about her plans for the economy.

'My plan is about saying that when you invest in small businesses, you invest in the middle class, and you strengthen America's economy. Small businesses are part of the backbone of America's economy,' she said. 

But when CBS' Bill Whitaker continued to grill her what her plan does and how she would pay for it, Harris didn't offer any specifics, just staying she knew lawmakers agreed with her. 

'I'm going to make sure that the richest among us who can afford it, pay their fair share in taxes. It is not right that teachers and nurses and firefighters are paying a higher tax rate than billionaires and the biggest corporations. And I plan on making that fair,' she said. 

'But we're dealing with the real world here,' Whitaker told her, asking her how she would get it approved by Congress. 

'You know, when you talk quietly with a lot of folks in Congress, they know exactly what I'm talking about, because their constituents know exactly what I'm talking about. Their constituents are those firefighters and teachers and nurses,' Harris replies.

The Democratic presidential nominee released part of her economic plan last week. It focuses on lowering middle-class taxes, cutting food and grocery costs, and lowering prescription drug prices. 

She also talks about creating an 'opportunity economy' for Americans to buy their first home or start a business. 

Voters rate the economy as one of their top issues for the 2024 presidential election. Harris is seeking to distance herself from President Joe Biden, who receives low marks from voters on his handling of the economy.

Biden was hammered for high inflation during his tenure, which led to a spike in prices in groceries, gas and rent. 

'While real gross domestic product growth slowed in the first quarter of this year, growth rebounded to a strong 3.0% in the second quarter. All available evidence suggests policymakers may have managed to bring inflation under control without causing a recession,' analysts wrote.

Harris sat down with 60 Minutes for a pre-election special that will air on Monday night. CBS released some early excerpts of the interview, which will also address the war in the Middle East. 

The news program also asked to interview Donald Trump as part of their special. The former president agreed and then backed out, saying he felt 60 Minutes owed him an apology for some of its previous reporting on him.

Trump appeared to be referring to his last interview with program, which took place in 2020 while he was president. He walked out on correspondent Lesley Stahl.

'They came to me and would like me to do an interview, but first I want to get an apology, because the last time I did an interview with them, if you remember, they challenged me on the computer,' Trump said last week. 

'They said the 'laptop from hell' was from Russia, and I said it wasn't from Russia. It was from Hunter, and I never got an apology, so I'm sort of waiting. I'd love to do '60 Minutes.' I do everything.' 

Harris, meanwhile, is on an interview blitz in the final days of the election.

In addition to appearing on 60 Minutes, she also taped an interview with the popular Call Her Daddy podcast, which has a target audience of young women.

On Tuesday, Harris will be live on ABC's The View, visit The Howard Stern Show, and appear with Stephen Colbert on CBS's The Late Show.

On Thursday, she will participate in a Univision town hall.

Many of the interviews are considered 'friendly' territory for the candidate. Trump employs a similar strategy, often appearing on Fox News.   _________________________

[femmefaggot]

rising from the grave as some combination of mostly [NAME UNKNOWN] and maybe mischief in ways (too fond for my liking)

[gaywineauntsstuff]

Every single member of the Batfamily lies about their taste in music

Damian will claim that he only listens to classical music and that everything else is beneath him.

Damian will unironically listen to trashy Arab pop and the absolute worst Bollywood songs known to man (Dick introduced him to them and he hates the fact that sometimes he gets Sheila Ki Jawani stuck in his head during missions)

Tim will put on the most ear grating hyper pop you've ever heard and claim with full chest that these is the peak of humanities capabilities with music (Damian, Jason and Steph have all tried to kill him for this take) He will also play stuff like the living tombstones and sing it obnoxiously loud when he's working on the computer.

Tim however loves his 90s grunge and it's all that's playing in his headphones. (think nirvana, pearl Jam, Melvins, Alice in Chains etc) He has tracked down so many shirts and concert posters and watched every bit of content from the older shows.

Jason will claim he only listens to east coast rap, biggie, Nas, Jay etc and maybe some older metal. He will fight you on east vs west coast music, there will be weaponry involved.

Jason likes rap music... he unfortunately prefers west coast rap and has listened to no vaseline like 500 times. He will deny this till the day he dies...again. (Dick knows and threatens to tell Steph)

Steph will steal the aux and play Taylor Swifts greatest hits until one of the Boys threatens mutiny. Every single one of the bats has had style stuck in their heads during a stakeout at least twice. She will claim that the only rap song she can tolerate in Eminem and the 7/11 is Beyoncés best song.

Steph is an underground fan, think the dude selling mixtapes on the subway type shit. She also unlike Jason genuinely loves East Coast Rap music more than anything and knows every single wu-tang clan song by heart, same with Biggie. Not only does she love the music she also spends any free time binging those "history of rap and its consequences" videos and has been a firm believer that P.Diddy had a hand in a lot of the Death row records well...deaths.

Cass, well everyone thinks Cass has really good taste bc its Cass and she has zero flaws (don't @ me) she never takes the aux and will usually listen to her music while she's chilling or doing stretches. None of them have heard or seen a single one of her playlists except Duke.

its all 2010s top 40s pop music and like the trashy kind too, Beauty and the Beat, Kesha, Katy Perry. It's her turning of her brain time and she will be straight vibing to Rude! by magic or Boom Clap or Shower. she has shown this to Duke, smirked and told him that even if he tried to tell anyone they wouldn't believe him.

Duke is the only one who doesn't... lie. He just hides a few things. Lies of omission don't count as lies when the bats will lie to you about what they had for breakfast, while they are visibly eating breakfast. Duke says he listens to everything and he does. Literally everything. His patrol Jam is offensive bc it with start with Norwegian death metal and immediately switches to "like a G6" followed by kendrick Lamar and then descendants Disney channel movie music.

Bruce... Bruce is just weird, everyone asks him and gets a different answer. Bc he doesn't... like music. Like at all. It's all noise, his mother played instruments so he learned like 14 and he hates how they all sound. He just like vague batwings fluttering in dead silence.

Dick Grayson will obnoxiously play top 40 and radio music religiously around the bats. He claims it's the best music for rhythmic acrobatics and trapeze work and that true! Jason hates this kind of music the most, it's formulaic and holds no substance and drives him insane.

But Dick only listens to that music when he's moving, flipping doing high energy stuff. When he just wants to chill? This man has the most depressing music taste you've ever seen. You know that sad song from ur favorite artist that you can't listen to without crying. Yeah that's his bread and butter. Every single song is just flat out tear inducing, some of these bands have like 100 listeners and he is one of them and it's just their saddest song that reads like suicide note. The titans have conducted an intervention bc its just... concerning. He just thinks it's neat!

[cumaeansibyl]

The Substance

short version: five out of five stars, I had so much fun, for God's sake read the CWs. there are so many needles in this.

further thoughts: I think the viciousness of this movie rests on Elisabeth (Demi Moore) having built her career on promoting the very same unattainable beauty standards that she finds herself in conflict with. It's no coincidence that she's not just an actress, she's a celebrity fitness instructor. Going on TV every morning to tell us all that our bodies aren't good enough. She threw her lot in whole-heartedly with the beauty merchants, she preened and profited, and then she was shocked -- shocked! -- when they inevitably, predictably turned on her.

It's also telling that once she's injected the titular Substance and generated a new, young, beautiful version of herself, what does she do? She goes right back to the same business as before. Being sexier, fitter, more desirable than anyone else. Telling everyone their bodies still aren't good enough. Well, why not? Even her own body wasn't good enough for her anymore.

Coralie Fargeat has zero fucking sympathy for her and I feel the same. Oh, is it hard now? Is it alienating and dehumanizing and humiliating? Did you never bother developing yourself as a person because you were too busy peddling feminine oppression for Dennis Quaid, of all people? Fuck you! Suffer harder! You are complicit!

I would love to know how this lands for conventionally attractive women -- I never put in a sustained effort of this kind because it was made quite clear to me from a young age that the "right" kind of beauty would not be available to me. That comes with its own pain and its own fantasies about a "perfect" version of myself, but I suspect it's a different set.

I also wonder what trans women think of it, because while it's a very cis woman story (in that Elisabeth has always been a conventionally attractive girl and woman) it's also like... about transforming into a more desirable version of yourself, which, come on.

Finally, I feel like there's some disability commentary to be had in here, though that's not a subject I'm well versed in. I did find myself thinking, from time to time, that to many people it would be very tempting to have a body with no pain, a body that always moved easily and performed all its functions with no trouble. Even if only sometimes.

[nekropsii]

The difference between Cronus and Meenah vis-à-vis predation is that Meenah is afforded a lot of nuance in her moral failings, and Cronus is not. Meenah also has far more to her character than her moral failings. Cronus does not. This makes it easier and more understandable to be a fan of Meenah despite her grooming of (Vriska) being a major arc than it is Cronus, who is given virtually zero traits or depth outside of being an awful person. Nuance is not the function of Cronus’s character. The function of his character is to be the Worst Character in Homestuck.

Cronus’s entire character is that he is an awful, irredeemable person, point blank period, there is no fixing him, there is no making him sympathetic, there is no nuance here, don’t even fucking try. Meenah’s character is that she is a bad person, and here’s how she ended up this way. She is afforded explanation. She is afforded nuance. She’s given some degree of complexity.

Cronus is an abuser, knows full well that he’s an abuser, labels his actions as abuse, and does not care, because he cares for nothing other than himself, his ability to get off, and his ego. Meenah is an abuser, is aware but in denial of this, cares quite a lot about it, but continues anyway because she thinks her being an abuser is an inevitability that she must accept because of her caste.

There’s more intrigue in there. Meenah also played far more of an active role in her session and in the story, which makes her far easier to like and care about despite her being not a good person. Cronus is there for five seconds, seemingly didn’t do anything interesting in his session other than become a rapist because a clown told him he isn’t Harry Potter, and genuinely just doesn’t have any good reason for being the way he is. There’s legitimately just more substance to Meenah’s character. It’s not even a competition. The only reason some people act like it is a competition is because they’re stupid and misogynistic.

[angeldreamsoffanfic]

“So how did you know?”

“Know what?”

“Y’know, how did you know.”

“Dingus, I’m gonna need you to spell it out for me here, the Russians did a number on how many of my braincells are actually working.”

“How did you know that you liked girls?”

Robin Buckley immediately pushed herself up so she was resting on her elbows, head tilted to catch Steve Harrington’s eyes in the low light of their hospital room.

They weren’t originally even going to go to the hospital, if Robin was being honest. They had just wanted to slip away back to their respective homes, but then Melissa and Richard Buckley caught wind that Robin was hurt. Then the both of them realized that Steve’s parents (if Robin has to use that term to describe them) had less than zero intention of sending anyone to pick up Steve.

Then EMS made the light suggestion of both of them probably needing to go to Hawkins General Hospital… and well, while Melissa and Richard did tend to lead toward more natural remedies… one couldn’t fix a concussion or a drugging with an unknown substance with essential oils and hope.

“Robbie? Did you OD over there?” Steve had himself up on his elbows, easily mimicking Robin. That’s the thing that makes the inside of Robin ache, that he’s so like her. She knows that she’s an only child, knows that, but sometimes Steve’ll just… do something and it makes her question it. Makes her wonder how she spent so long without him, without another brain and two legs and arms and so much hair. “Robbie?”

“No, I am still alive.” Robin slowly spoke, before she let out a soft sigh. “Why do you ask?”

“Like-” Steve huffed as he shook his head from side to side, before he used the one hand that was free from the pulse monitor and saline drip to card through his hair. It’s sleep ruffled, and if he uses product (Robin is sure he does), it’s for sure gone. Steve looks up though, and his eyes are so earnest that it causes something to hurt inside of Robin. “never mind just ignore- fuck - just ignore me.”

“I couldn’t ignore you if I tried, you idiot.” Robin let out a huff, and she winced as the PICC line in her arm shifted as tilted to be able to fully face Steve on her side. “But I just, dingus, this is out of left field for even you.”

“How so?”

“Did you even know that, that people like me even existed until a couple of hours ago?” Robin kept her voice soft, especially as Steve huffed out an indignant sounding sigh. Robin sighs though, and then she cards her own hand through her hair, and forges onward. “I think I’ve just… always known.”

“Always?”

“Yeah like-” Robin shrugged, a careful movement of her shoulders. “When I was like, eight? My uh, parents sent me to this camp thing- like summer camp kind of like what Dustin went to? But with, y’know, with the swimming and archery and dude I was fucking awful at it.” Steve let out a soft and watery laugh at Robin’s rambling, and that gave Robin enough power to continue. “But we uh, had these like songs we had to learn? And there was this uh, girl counselor there that had to teach me because you know, that was her job.”

“Yeah?”

“Yeah, and uh. She couldn’t have been older than I am now but man…” Robin let out a slow whistle, and allowed herself to fully melt into the hospital cot she’s laid up on. “All I could think was that I just wanted to be with her. Like not even kissing because I thought kissing was gross then, still do now kinda but anyway- I wanted to like, hold her hand and shit. Do the cheesy stuff I’d seen in the movies, y’know?”

Steve huffed out his own laugh, and he tilted his head to lean against his pillows instead of facing Robin. Robin watched though, quiet for once, as Steve swallowed once and then twice- before he cleared his throat.

“I knew it existed before you.”

“What?”

“It.”

“Dingus-”

“Girls liking girls.” Steve’s voice is barely above a whisper, even as Robin can hear him gulp in a lungful of air. “And boys liking boys.”

“You did?” Robin kept her voice quiet, gentle, as coaxing as she could- especially when she could see Steve’s throat bob. “Dingus?”

“I…” Steve doesn’t continue, and that’s enough.

Enough to Robin that she pushed herself up, and ignored the pain that ricocheted down her spine like needles. Ignored Steve’s hurried ‘what are-’, as she stumbled out of her hospital bed and right to Steve’s. She made sure to drag her IV pole and the monitor with her, situating it as best as she could next to Steve’s. Robin huffed quietly as the pain trickled down her spine, and she couldn’t help but smile as Steve curled his hand carefully around her wrist and tugged.

Robin got comfortable, let Steve fret over her as best as he could, his fingers only ever-so slightly trembling as he made sure that the line in her arm wasn’t kinked up. They were pressed close, side to side and hip to hip, and Robin tilted her head down until it was rested on Steve’s shoulder.

“Wanna keep going, Stevie?”

“No.”

“But?”

“I…” Steve huffed again, a small indignant noise that Robin mimicked.

They sat like that then, just the two of them for a moment, before Steve continued slowly.

“I’ve never, told anyone this- like I’ve told Tommy H. so much shit about me - but this is… Robin this is different.” Steve speaks in a hurried and stilted way, like he’s stringing together bits and pieces of sentences, and it shouldn’t work.

But it does because he’s Steve and she’s Robin.

And truthfully, Robin likes that. That they’re Steve and Robin. SteveandRobin. RobinandSteve. Likes that the two of them are so in tune that even her own mother didn’t want to separate them.

That had to mean something in the end, didn’t it?

“Tell me, whatever… whenever.” Robin murmured as she turned her head so she could press a soft kiss to Steve’s shoulder. The hospital gown is thin enough she can feel the heat of his skin from up under it, and that’s grounding. Grounding even as Steve drew in a shaky breath, audibly swallowing again. “Whenever you’re ready, I’m here.”

“I didn’t uh, notice Tammy in Ms. Click’s class or uh, you for a reason.” Steve slowly spoke, eyes wet, and Robin can hear his sniffle as he tried to reign his emotions back. “Ms. Click made him sit uh, right by her desk at the front of the room.”

And oh.

Oh.

If that doesn’t immediately settle something that just usually writhes around in Robin’s chest.

“Him?” Robin is gentle, gentler than she thinks she’s ever been.

“Uh, yeah… Eddie Munson?” Steve huffed out an almost dry laugh, the only thing that he does that ever remotely reminds her of his time as his high school “King Steve” persona. “He uh, got this bat tattoo right before that year’s Thanksgiving break and all I could do was just… gawk at him.”

“And then what?” Robin knew she was pushing, searching for information, but she can’t help it. Not when Steve is right next to her, hip to hip and thigh to thigh. Not when he’s like her. In all the ways that matter.

“I went home and screamed into my pillow.”

Robin immediately smacked Steve’s thigh with the knuckles of her left hand- grinning in triumph when Steve let out a squawk of laughter.

“Eddie Munson?”

“What about him?”

“He’s… he’s a total dud!”

“No he’s not!”

“He stepped in my mashed potatoes once! That is totally total dud material!”

“No way!”

“He wants to be like, like a metal singer!”

“He has a band! Dreams!”

“Do you even know if he can hold a tune?”

“Well, no-”

“Total. Dud.”

Robin grinned wide as Steve launched into a very quick defense about Eddie, and she decides then and there that Steve and her? They’ll be just fine.

Especially if she can get Eddie to come into Steve and her’s orbit just a bit, to see if the crush is still there.

Because while Robin may not have all of the gay knowledge in the world, there is one thing for a complete certainty that she knows.

The black hanky that Eddie kept in his pocket?

Well…

Robin chuffed to herself, before she tilted so she could lay on her side- nose tucked into the place where Steve’s neck and shoulder met.

Right before she falls asleep though, Robin does a very important thing on a mental whiteboard.

You Rule: 1

You Suck: 0

hope you all enjoyed! truthfully think this is one of my favorite things i have written. love platonic stobin. <3

[imawholeassmood]

Read Between the Lines

read it on ao3

Lena reads the review, rubs her temples a few times, then reads it again. There is no way Super_Girl has rated this book five stars and then wrote multiple paragraphs waxing poetic about how fantastic it was. Lena already submitted her own one-star review which included her breakdown of the writing, the characters, and the plot, of which this book had none.

For months, Lena has been seeing Super_Girl reviews pop up on the same books Lena recently finished. She wondered at this point if Super_Girl might be doing this on purpose – reading the same books just so she could rate the book the opposite of whatever Lena did. At first, it was simple - “Loved it!” or “Couldn’t get into this one,” but as of late, the reviews had gotten longer and more descriptive.

Lena herself always used the same formula for reviewing books: overall star rating with a breakdown of her thoughts on the characters, the plot, and the writing. Books, like most things in life, are easy to rate when you understand the evaluation system. Books follow formulas and rules for a reason – it’s what makes them good. A romance novel, for instance, requires a “happily ever after.” Without it, it cannot be considered a romance, and it certainly wouldn’t be a good one.

So, as Lena reads the latest review by Super_Girl, Lena can’t help but leave a comment. Maybe this person simply needs an education on the book rating system.

“What criteria do you use when rating a book?”

It’s a good starting place for this conversation. Lena has amassed quite the following with people interested in her book reviews and the last thing she wants to do is stir up internet drama to damage her good reputation. She knows how easy it is for people to take something out of context.

The reply comes almost immediately.

“Vibes!”

Lena blinks a few times, then closes the browser and leaves her laptop for the night.

**

Super_Girl does it again with another five-star rating for a book that made Lena seriously consider contacting the literary award agencies to complain about their selection. The book sounded like it was AI generated and had zero plot. And the characters? Don’t even get her started.

“How can you consider this a masterpiece?” she writes under the review. “There is zero substance in this book. It’s just a bunch of flowery words that mean nothing and make no sense. If this is your idea of romance, then I’d hate to be your girlfriend.”

Her phone rings and Lena spends the next hour talking with her assistant, Jess, about the priorities for the week and when they can finalize some presentations. Later, as she lays in bed scrolling on her phone, Lena thinks to check her goodreads account. There, under her latest comment, is a reply from Super_Girl.

“Amidst the turmoil of the crumbling world around them, two people take the time to write love letters to each other. What’s more romantic than that?

I want to meet you in every place I have loved.

I want to be in contact with you.

Swoon.”

Speaking of taking things out of context.

While Lena can see Super_Girl’s point, that’s not enough to change her mind about the book. Especially not in the context of it being a sci-fi fantasy that relegated war to a backdrop in much the same way Hollywood did with Pearl Harbor. Don’t get her started. She types out a response before closing the webpage and going to sleep.

“Relationships develop over time. Even if I agreed with your assessment, this book still lacked any real narrative and there’s zero reason to believe these two people would fall in love. They don’t know anything about each other except that they can write a decent letter.”

**

Oh, no, Lena thinks. Her latest read has her questioning her entire belief system about books. She liked the book. Not because it had a great plot. Not because she was rooting for the characters. She liked the book because…it gave her good vibes. She genuinely had a good time reading it, despite it being a complete shitshow. This never happened to her before.

She opens her goodreads page to leave her review and finds that Super_Girl hasn’t read this one yet. She feels the slightest pang of disappointment but pushes through to her review. At the end of her standard format, she adds a new category: vibes.

It takes a few days, and Lena finds herself checking her account every few hours. She’s sitting at her desk and scrolling on her phone when she gets a notification that Super_Girl commented on her review.

“Vibes?!?! I’m SUPER proud of you! And we agree the characters were awful and the plot was weak, but it was well-written.”

She doesn’t even realize she’s smiling until Jess comments about it.

“Oh, nothing,” she says and waves her hand. “Just a literary rival.”

Jess looks at her. “You’re smiling because of…a rival?”

Is that what they were? The word didn’t really feel like a good fit, but Lena goes with it.

“Agreed with me on a point. Can we please stay focused?”

And they do. Lena and Jess go over the latest reports and prepare for an upcoming meeting with one of their international partners. Lena doesn’t think about Super_Girl again until she’s lying in bed and that damn smile creeps backs onto her face.

**

Her next review is not a good one. It makes Lena question the romance genre as a whole. Has the world become so used to being treated like garbage, people can’t even tell the difference between healthy and toxic love?

She’s barely hit submit when Super_Girl comments on her review.

“They were flirting the whole time!”

Lena is still sour enough she doesn’t bother to hold back on her response.

“Flirting where? Being in each other’s orbit is not flirting. Why can’t people just say, ‘I like you and I’d like to go on a date with you?’ instead of whatever BS was happening in this book. Honestly, I’m worried for your love life if you think this is a healthy way to approach communication.”

Super_Girl goes silent for a long while after that.

Lena worries something may have happened and questions whether she should reach out. They haven’t gone this long without a reciprocal review since they started this little dance of theirs almost a year ago. She finds herself rereading their reviews and wondering about who Super_Girl might be behind the screen name. There’s no profile photo, no personal information at all. Just a single word.

Golly.

Lena smiles at that. In fact, she smiles at everything Super_Girl has written. While they may not agree on books, Lena can’t deny that whoever is behind the reviews is a wordsmith who comes across as the sweetest human on the planet.

It surprises her when she receives a notification that she has been selected to read a new release ahead of publication in exchange for an honest review. Lena doesn’t usually agree because she doesn’t want to give people any reason to think her reviews are biased or influenced in any way. She’s about to deny the request, but the cover art depicts two women, one blonde, the other brunette, and Lena never turns down a sapphic story. She accepts the request without another thought.

**

When Lena finishes The Write Stuff, she starts it over and reads it again, cover to cover. The writing, the pacing, and the storytelling are superb. It’s as if the author has studied every article about how a romance novel should be written. The characters are so well written, she has clear images of who each of these women are. She understands their desires, their fears, and their motives. Not only does she care about these people as a couple, but she also cares about them individually in a way she hasn’t cared about a character in a long time. As for the plot itself? It’s perfectly cheesy and still somehow realistic enough to be believable that it could happen in real life.

Lena hasn’t felt this…satisfied by a book since well, since she can’t remember.

So, that’s exactly what she writes in her review.

“I especially loved this line:

I would rewrite history if it meant a chance for a happy future with you.”

When she’s done, she looks up the author and finds that she’s written one other book.

Lena doesn’t recall reading it, but when she clicks on the title, she finds her review posted with a few hundred likes and several dozen comments. One star and zero positive things to say about it. Lena can’t help but think how far the author has come from this first book to the most recent one. It’s an impressive improvement, and Lena Luthor isn’t easily impressed.

Supergirl leaves a comment on her review a few days later.

“It looks like the author has been paying attention to your feedback.”

**

The following week, Lena is staring at the meeting invitation with furrowed brows and a healthy dose of confusion. She presses the call button on the speaker on her desk.

“Yes, Miss Luthor?” Jess says.

“Jess, why do I have a meeting with Supergirl on my calendar?”

Jess is quiet for a moment. She’s quiet so long, in fact, that Lena’s door opens and a blond woman with thick-rimmed glasses wearing chinos and a tucked-in button down steps just inside. She has a nervous smile and fidgets with her glasses.

Lena recognizes her from the photo bio she still has pulled up on her web browser and stands to greet her.

“Miss Danvers,” she says, “please, come in. To what do I owe the pleasure?”

Kara Danvers, author of The Write Stuff, who Lena has been internet stalking for the past week shifts in the doorway. Lena comes around the front of her desk. They stare at each other in silence for a moment before Lena hears a faint “go” from Jess in the reception area. That makes Kara shake out of her stupor.

She brings her hand out from behind her back and holds her arm at full length with a bouquet of…plumerias. Lena can’t believe what she’s seeing. Her favorite flowers which represent love and new beginnings are being offered to her by this stunning woman who wrote one of her favorite books of the year. Lena looks from the flowers back to Kara’s face.

“I like you, Lena Reads” Kara says, “and I would like to go on a date with you.”

[balkanradfem]

Did anyone watch the horror movie 'The Substance'? I've seen it because someone recommended it to me, and I saw one of the three directors was female, but now I just have few thousands words of criticism and upset about it. Click if you want to read it. Tw for themes of women abused in tv industry and the fear of aging out of their jobs.

So, the substance is about a woman aging out of her role in television where she runs a fitness program, and she is distraught to realize she's going to get replaced. Sadly she blames her own aging process about it! She gets in an accident, and then a male nurse gives her an usb showcasing 'the substance', a serum that makes a younger version of you come out of your body.

She takes it, and her body opens up to let out a younger version, a different acctress, come out and look at herself in the mirror. I was already upset by this point about the depiction of a woman losing her job for aging and hating herself, and not the industry and the males in it, but now I was in disbelief. It was funny that they wanted me to believe another woman exited from her back and didn't break her spine in the process, whatever, but now she was in a new body, and immediately went 'yas slay look how hot I am' Excuse me what?

I thought, at least one part of the horror would be feeling off and alien if forced to switch consciousness to another body, a body that is unfamiliar, that you didn't grow with, it would be traumatizing. No matter how much more 'socially likeable' a new body was, I can't imagine looking at my own hands and legs and having them look completely different, and being okay about it. It would cause a crisis in anyone, your identity would be in shambles. You couldn't get used to it, you'd have trouble looking at the mirror at all, and would forget it and constantly be reminded of it when seeing glimpses of your own hands, and it would shock and disturb you every time. How would you talk to your friends and family now? How would you deal with people you loved who couldn't recognize you? It would be mentally scarring.

If she had one single friend to talk about this, the entire premise would fall apart because it would become obvious that this is stupid and shouldn't be done.

Watching on it turned out they cut this woman out from any social context of her life. She had no friends, no family, not even any acquaintances. The only person who ever talked to her was one(1) single ex classmate, and other than that, she seemed to have zero people in her life who even knew she existed. But there's nobody like that. Yes, you can be socially isolated, but hardly to the point where nobody in the world knows you exist. If you go outside people memorize you. She didn't have anyone who knew her. She was supposed to be a popular figure on tv. But she didn't exist. This woman had no past, no existence in anyone's world, no connections to other people whatsoever. It made her less of a believable character to me. Nobody can exist completely out of social context of their life. We didn't get an explanation of why she has no family, or friends or acquaintances, or past loves, or anything like that. It was almost like she was now so irrelevant due to her age that the world just cut her out, which is scary but also ridiculous, she looked young!!

Another glaring flaw in the movie was that... the older woman in the movie was so clearly more attractive than the younger. They tried to shoot her face in harsh lightning and highlight whatever they thought was wrong with her body, but she just looked excellent under any kind of standards. What do you mean this teenager is 'hotter' than the original protagonist. She looks 17, she looks like she shouldn't be allowed outside after dark. The idea of her being filmed by older males gave me nausea, get that child away from them. I had to skip most of the scenes with her because it looked like child pornography. They had her wearing breast prostetics to make her look adult and put her in clothing no woman alive would find appealing or comfortable to wear, it was painful, uncomfortable and horrifying.

The entire existence of the younger woman was dehumanizing. She didn't eat. She didn't watch tv. She didn't do anything human. She was a male idea of a 'hot young girl', who only existed to look like what males think is appealing, dance on stage, and get male approval. That's it, we never see her exhausted, sad, commiserating how difficult it is to be around males who objectify you all day, we never see her complain about sexualizing and so obviously ignored sexual harassment she was put trough – the movie acted like sexual harassment didn't exist. Males around her appeared to only care about how much money she could make them and even though that was disgusting too, I don't believe for a second that a woman in that scenario doesn't get extensively sexually harassed. But the movie skipped over that. Like it just didn't matter. She doesn't have mental health issues because she's an attractive female child on television. She isn't human to them.

The younger woman had to switch bodies with her original counterpart weekly, and at first I found these little moments soothing, because the older woman was clearly showing signs of pain, hunger, exhaustion, irritation, depression. I thought 'oh, there's the humanity I was missing!' and was just happy to see her eat something. But then, to my horror, these little moments of humanity were ... demonized. The fact that she was eating was a flaw and a failure in the movie. She was depicted as addicted to food, jealous, bitter, angry and like giving in to any human urge for entertainment and rest was her 'wasting her life'. I was chilled by this notion, because I realized that's how males see female needs in real life. A waste.

Another thing I found upsetting was the amount of completely naked scenes the acctresses had to go trough, because I can't imagine anyone feeling okay and comfortable with being filmed like that. It felt invasive and uncomfortable for me to see. I knew it was done like this for male satisfaction, it wasn't catered to me. It disturbs me to think they felt comfortable looking at that. Female discomfort is a source of pleasure to them.

The movie progresses in the protagonist taking more and more time being in the younger body, resulting in the older body deterioration. She ends up feeling like she's two people, which is logical at least; you would feel like you're someone else if you're a different body, it at least displayed that little bit of 'you are your body' consequences. The male nurse who gave her the substance starts stalking her, and talking to her in public, and I found this part interesting. The male tried to get her to relate to him, said things like '7 days is long' and 'has she started eating at you already', and to me it became obvious that the male nurse knew exactly what this was going to do to her, and did it anyway. Because he felt lonely and wanted a female companion who also switches bodies. He picked her out and victimized her because he wanted company who also suffered and struggled with the same problem, he spread the misery for his own benefit. I thought we were going to look at that? I thought we would unpack that for a second? Male selfishness and bringing misery into female's life for their selfish purposes? But movie said no and we never see him again.

The younger version seems to forget she ever had any more age, and recklessly parties and does public events not caring that her counterpart is getting destroyed, until at the end, they both end up in some kind of monstrous shape, which okay, the extra teeth were fun, add extra teeth on women yes. But she is ultimately killed when appearing in on a social event looking like that. The ending just shows her dreaming about being famous and cheered on by the crowd, and it looks almost like the movie thinks her endless greed for glory and fame did this to her. Like this is her own fault, she destroyed the body she had in pursuit of eternal approval and gratification of a cheering crowd. I was looking at this like, who was this made for? Nothing about this clicks, is this for people obsessed with their own fame? Is this just a made up idea of what the world looks like for women who are trying to be famous? Because it wasn't clicking with any reality I was aware of.

We've listened to women going trough fame and popularity, and we know what these stories entail. First half of it is being introduced to it too young, forced into it by their parents or guardians, being overworked, missing on childhoods and schooling and family time, not getting enough sleep or rest, being pushed into substance abuse just to get trough the day. And then, endless sexualizing, endless situations where they're in the presence of predators and unprotected. The industry ruthlessly rejecting their personality and forcing them to mold into whatever the public wants, or the producer wants, having their identity crashing with the public opinion of them. Lack of privacy, lack of safety being outside, getting harassed and crowded on the street, not being allowed to live a normal life. Having body issues due to being forced to focus on how you look, because you're under constant scrutiny and now your job depends on how your body looks like, developing mental disorders due to lack of control over your life, and due to control you have to have over your every action. Having your opinions and wants dismissed because your word doesn't count in the industry when you're a woman, being forced to hide what people have done to you in private, often suffering sexual abuse and being forced to keep quiet if you want to keep your job. Breakdowns, suicidal thoughts, both fearing to lose relevancy and wanting out of the industry for your mental health, but it's all you've known and you don't know how to function otherwise. Getting jaded, realizing your own value drops with age, learning to despise everyone who took advantage of you and dropped you the second you weren't making them enough money. Being sick and tired of males talking down to you and dismissing your humanity. Not knowing where to turn for understanding and safety, because the charade has to keep on going in order for the industry to go on.

This is what I would expect a woman in the industry to have learned after being put trough all that, and instead the main character was so void of any backstory, any real experiences, any thoughts or criticism about it, any anger or bitterness about the abuse she'd have suffered in there, and was sorely upset about her lack of job security and that she was no longer looking like a commercial. She would have learned from this, that this is an inherently insecure job industry, it's not worth being in it, but she doesn't seem to learn this. She isn't even angry they hired someone else without telling her. All of her anger was directed towards herself. And the movie was not challenging it. It was saying 'yes, it is your own fault, both for aging, and for wanting not to age. Look what you did.'

And by the end of the movie, she was just the same as the beginning, still just longing for the fame and cheers. She is a character who is not allowed to learn from her experiences, in fact seems to have no experiences, even of the things that happened to her in the movie. She cared for nothing but male validation. She only seemed to care about the younger body for the sake of this validation. Even at the very end when she was killed by the same males who she gave everything to impress for, she wasn't mad at them. She just wanted more validation from them.

And I'm watching this thinking, this must be whats inside of a male brain. He did that because thats how he would act in this situation. Males are incapable of learning from experience, so they assume women are too. Males think that having a body of a young female in their posession would resolve all of their needs and desires, so they think for a woman that would work too, in fact that she would destroy herself to get there. The creepy male fantasy of what a woman would do. It was done to validate their dumb opinions.

One thing I was surprised with was the road not taken in this movie, because it had a lot of potential symbolism! The younger woman exiting the woman's body, was reminiscent of birth. When I noticed it's a different acctress, I thought maybe we were making a parallel of mothers and daughters. Because it's a thing that happens sometimes; women with daughters will look at the daughter and feel she is a prettier, younger version of themselves. It reminds them of their own potential when they were just children, before their lives got decided by marriage and male ownership. And when daughters start receiving male attention, due to the flock of predators always creeping by, mothers will sometimes forget that this is a child bonded and dependant on them, who is now in danger, and instead get jealous, and want that attention for themselves. They'll try to vicariously live trough their daughters, get themselves into the spotlight, or win attention of the males attracted to the child. It's a horrifying event each time, I was reminded by it while watching the movie, seeing how angry the woman was at the younger counterpart for partying, being on tv, being in the spotlight that was now unreachable for her. But the movie ignored this cruel reality as well.

The movie's conclusion is just 'this is somehow the woman's fault', while trying to be a movie about the pressure of the tv industry on women to not age. The pressure is real and experienced by all women, so the movie could have been about analyzing the source of it, showing us the other side of it, how dehumanizing and cruel the males are benefiting from this, how it makes absolutely no sense to cater to them or to care about what they think of female age and appearance. It could have been about male selfishness, greed, pedophilia and predatory nature, it could have pointed us in the horrifying direction of women sacrificing so much of their health and life only for males to have financial benefit and sexual gratification from it. It could have depicted how hard work of women is unappreciated and only rewarded with further abuse.

Instead it focused on pulling women inside out to make horror of their bodies, and depicted teenagers as the ultimate goals for anyone. I think that's where I experienced the most horror, seeing the younger version being dehumanized and depicted as a sexual dream, her every private action looking like a commercial, making her into a reduced non-human robot that only acts the way males think women should. And the woman who actually looked like an adult, was not allowed to learn, criticize, or long for anything except male validation, another fantasy that is as far removed from reality as possible.

[dalekofchaos]

Not interested in LIS:Double Exposure

Okay I saw the Double Exposure trailer and I am not playing it.

Multiple reasons.

The Deck Nine IGN article. I will not support a developer that knowingly protected a bigoted groomer and allowed a Nazi to sneak in White Supremacist signs in the game.

Max learned nothing about the first game. Nevermind there is no Chloe, Warren or anyone from Arcadia insight(we'll get to that) Max apparently formed another codependent relationship that she couldn't let go to the point where she's fucking up reality by creating yet another parallel world. Either Deck Nine is entirely unoriginal or Max didn't learn a damned thing

That is not Max. If your defense is "she grew up" I got news for you. I've looked the same for nearly a decade. I've had friends while changing their aesthetic, they look the same. you don’t look like an entirely new person when you age, the new model looks nothing like max there’s barely even resemblance. Also I know, we all change our style as we get older, but Max's style was unique and it made Max Caulfield who she is. It didn't need to change. Deck Nine just Stephified Max. Was it really that hard to give Max bangs? Not just that. No freckles, eyes and eyebrows look completely different. This is not Max Caulfield.

4. No one from Arcadia Bay returned. It's pretty obvious Deck Nine is either keeping Chloe's fate a secret, but it's also clear they are trying to skirt around the issue of the endings without pissing everyone off. Feels like a copout to whatever ending you chose to give a new cast of characters. For the fans who wanted more time to play as Max and Chloe, I feel bad for you, I especially wanted to see Chloe again. So what the fuck was this supposed to be for then?

Though another point; why the hell are we supposed to be okay with the fact that Max is using her power again to save this brand new character we have zero previous connection to? Especially if the game’s gonna try to straddle both endings to LiS 1; seems very insulting to have Max be okay with doing it for a character we have no previous attachment to, but she’s left her girlfriend to die alone, thinking nobody loved her?

Also you had the perfect chance to make a fucking game that has Max save Rachel. I know I just did a tangent about Max not learning anything, but if you were just going to have Max use her powers again, why the fuck didn't you do it to save Rachel from a fate she never deserved? Godfucking forbid you give attention to Warren, Kate or Victoria. I just wanted to see these characters get some screen time, make cameos or give us SOME hint to what they are up to after the events of the first game. But no, we can't have that. We can't be given anything of substance for Warren, Kate or Victoria. Can't learn anything about their fates in the LIS 2 Save Arcadia Bay ending, can't find out Warren or Kate survived the storm in Wavelengths via talking to Steph during the storm anniversary and we can't see them again in DE. I know it's just a teaser, but seriously why even do a new Max game if we don't even get cameos from these characters? Knowing how Deck Nine is, they are just gonna find a way to demonize Warren to paint him like Eliot, regress Victoria's character and not even give Kate the time of day to mention. Jesus fucking christ, I just wanted to see Max and Warren Go Ape, fun Max and Victoria photodates and to see Max and Kate have one fucking Tea date. IS THAT TOO MUCH TO ASK FOR???

5. Deck Nine are literally just swiping DontNod’s characters for the purposes of chasing that brand recognition. It's just copy pasting lighting in a bottle and milking a cow out of this franchise. BTS was remotely successful because of Chloe and Rachel's relationship. True Colors is fun at first, but realize it's just a hollow imitation of the first game. DONTNOD's story was original, fun and unique. I had problems with it but it was still THEIR story on their terms and not developed from a place of corporate cynicism asking for preorders ASAP that come bundled with a box of tissues and bobbleheads of dead teenagers. Read recent interviews from DONTNOD and you can TELL they got burned by SquareEnix over this. I hope they can channel that into something with Bloom and Rage because I’d love to see them recapture that magic again.

I had fears of what would happen if Deck Nine ever got their hands on Max. And looks like I was right to be worried.

To be clear, I think making stories with someone else’s character is great and cool and it’s literally what fanfiction is and technically, MUCH of mass media now IS “fanfiction”. The difference here is DONTNOD deliberately wanted LIS 1 canon left alone, near as I can tell. But no, Square Enix wanted a franchise and Deck Nine was more than happy to milk the cow for all it was worth and Deck Nine has shown they don't understand DONTNOD's characters

The game looks like it's repeating everything about the first game, but none of the charm that made it great. It's beat for beat the same fucking game. Dead friend, murder mystery, but without the ambiance, charm or magic that made the first game good. Deck Nine is completely unoriginal, DE is a soulless cashgrab and their hyperrealism killed the entire essence of the game and its characters.

It's quite literally a copy and paste of True Colors, but with Max.

And when we just look at this. Double Exposure is just soulless. It's style over substance and I knew. I just KNEW that if Deck Nine got their hands on Max it would be half-assed and soulless shit like this. They dared to slap Max's name on a Steph lookalike and then just do True Colors again, but more hollow.

There's something just so disappointing about the change in art style over the years. The art direction in the first game was charming and now it just feels kinda soulless. The awkward chunkyness of the models really made it stand out but now it feels way too smooth

life is strange going from one studios passion project to another’s cashgrab is one of the biggest modern tragedies in the world deck nine they could never make me like you. All the charm of the franchise from the cartoonish artstyle to the episodical releases has been completely stripped away it’s just very disappointing to see.

This meme is literally Double Exposure.

[genericpuff]

ok I don't wanna be mean because public speaking is a difficult skill to really get down, but Rachel really hasn't gotten better at talking on camera and actually answering interview questions with any amount of thought or substance.

I actually have an essay drafted right now about how Rachel herself seems to be the Miles Bron "saying a lot without saying anything at all" type but now ima wait on it because she's giving me way more heaps of evidence to suggest she has zero clue what she's talking about most of the time. Like... her answer literally had nothing to do with the question (which they had TIME TO PREPARE FOR AND EVEN ADJUST IF THEY HAD TO) but it's still trying to be so serious and profound.

Transcript:

"One of my favorite things that I have learned from making Lore Olympus is researching the time in which all the poems were written in and learning how to contextualize the information that's in them so it's relative to the time it makes a little bit more sense, um, a really good example of this is when Odysseus is on his way home and I believe he's a couple of steps away from Ithica and he's on an island and they- the people there are like let's, y'know, participate in basically athletic games and... originally when I read this piece he-he gets really upset and I used to think it was because he couldn't do the sports laughs essentially and everyone was like 'Oh no Odysseus is crying because he can't do sports!' but what he's really crying about, um, researching it is like his loss of what his name means and he's been through so much to get home and no one really remembers who he is and that's why he's crying, um, and learning things like that is-is-is fascinating to me."

Like, not only did she not answer the question, she didn't even conclude her original line of thought which was an example of re-contextualizing Ancient Greek material in the modern day. She just kind of went on a tangent about Odysseus who's not even a character in LO (beyond his one cameo in like Episode 2??) and then wound up nowhere.

Rachel truly is the master at saying a lot without saying anything at all - both in her interviews and in her story.

[psuedosugu]

thinking about suguru with a witch-hunted reader.

“she’s a witch, she has to be!”

“she’s unholy, impure.”

“that girl, she has the devil in her.”

-regular whispers you heard from the inhabitants of the remote village you lived in, their judgmental gazes piercing into you, as they sensed your cursed energy, as they sensed that something was wrong with you.

you learnt to stay indifferent to their words, or at least to look the part, but you would be lying if you said it didn’t get to you sometimes. you often dreamed of leaving for the city, but you had little money and life would be hard, perhaps one day, though.

perhaps their observations weren’t of zero substance, though. while it might not have been particularly demonic, there was something unnatural about you. since the age of 8, you had seen these……things….lurking in the corners and in the dark. they were horrifying, and they only grew more hideous as you grew older.

then, at about 14, you realize that you had this strange connection to the world, particularly the oxygen around you. as you learnt how to harness your powers, you were able to create wind with nothing but your hands, and as your power grew, you realized you could do so much more, condensing air enough to lift, slice, and squeeze items, it was beautiful, but dangerous. you couldn’t let anyone know about your abilities, you couldn’t prove them right.

you slipped up though, of course you did, you couldn’t keep this part of you locked away forever. they had their proof now, they had their warrant to lock you away, planning to burn you on the steak for all to see, for all to celebrate the death of the witch. they didn’t really think it would be that easy, did they?

you killed them, the day of your execution. you killed the executioners and the onlookers, leaving only few to run away. you looked around at the chaos you had created, dead bodies limped everywhere. you were alone, so what now? you grabbed your belongings, stole some money (the townspeople were dead, its not like they would miss it, anyways), and set off on a bus ride, determined to make yourself a life. this was a new beginning, you thought, you were leaving everything behind.

this proved to be harder than you thought, though. with the money you had pocketed, you were able to stay some cheap motel at first, so atleast you weren’t sleeping on the streets, but your money wouldn’t last forever. you resorted to bussing tables at an old diner. the pay wasn’t great though, and you found yourself feeling isolated. you had no one to help you here, you were foreign and alone.

the day you got kicked out of your motel room, you were sitting in a park, unsure what to do, when a strange man approached you. he was tall, with long hair half up, half down, and a strange aura to him. “are you [first-name] [last-name]?” he asked with a kind voice. you eyed the man with distrust, but nodded anyways.

“ah,” he said, “ive heard so much about you. i suppose i should introduce myself. im suguru geto.” he smiled. suguru had heard the hushed bickering of a curse user, one who wiped out a whole village in self defense. he found you intriguing, and a perfect addition to his cause, his mission to eradicate all non-sorcerers, or monkeys, as he called them. “…what do you mean, ‘you’ve heard about me?” you stammered out, eyes slightly widening. he ignored your question, instead asking “do you have a place to stay, miss [last-name]?” you shake your head no.

“well, you can come with me if you’d like. i have a place you can stay, with other curse users.” of course he didn’t tell you the fine print yet, he needed to rope you in first.

you messed around with the words ‘curse user’ in your mind. so thats what people like me were called? you also played around with the idea of trusting this man. he came out from nowhere, and his offer sounded too good to be true, but you couldn’t wave away the comforting feeling he radiated. he was like you, and things couldn’t get much worse than how they were now, you thought, so that settled it.

you went with the strange man, unsure of what would happen to you. little did you know, you would be getting sucked into a life-altering decision.

pt 2 is coming eventually guys dw!!

[neo-techculture]

Swipe Left, Swipe Right... Or Die? P2

Summary:- A dating service that use people's search history for matchmaking. You're a writer having writer's block. Your friends insist you use the dating service for some inspo. You thought your match might be another writer since all your searches have been about poisons and effective ways to hide a body. Oh boy, you were definitely in for a surprise.

Pairing:- Serial killer!Sam x Writer!Reader

Warnings:- Mentions of unaliving, stalking.

Part 1 | Part 2

It was nearly 4 in the morning when Sam got back to the house he shared with his best friend, Colby.

Closing the front door behind him, Sam walks into the living room, stripping out of his black hoodie in the process. Black was an excellent color for hiding blood. Though Sam tried not to get any on himself because washing the red sticky substance was a pain in the ass. He examines the hoodie for any signs of blood; there is some on the hem and the sleeves. He sighs, realizing he'll have to wash it and it's going to cost him precious time. But he's too preoccupied with the fact that the guy who tried to flirt with you in the cafe yesterday is dead.

The thought of the guy irritates Sam. He had followed you for a while yesterday, as usual. Sam has noticed that you are still worried about leaving the house, and he feels guilty that he is unintentionally scaring you. But it has to be done because no one is better equipped to protect you than him. Sam chose to watch you from across the street rather than follow you into the cafe. His eyes zeroed in on the barista when he started to flirt with you, who seemed uninterested. Sam could feel his blood boiling, the thought of anyone touching what was his almost pushing him over the edge. He controlled his temper, assuring himself that he'd soon take care of the guy.

Nobody else tried to flirt with you for the rest of the day. Sam, on the other hand, followed you home to make sure you were safe inside. Then he went back to the cafe to wait for the guy's shift to end. It was nearly 9pm when he saw the guy come out of the cafe. Sam followed him for a few minutes; making sure there were no witnesses he took out a syringe from the pocket of his black hoodie and plunged it into the guy's neck. He went down like a ton of bricks.

-----

The ringing of your alarm jolted you awake. You roll to your right, patting the top of the bedside drawer for your phone. After unlocking the device, you notice it's only 6 a.m. You usually went for a run at this hour, but for the past few weeks, you've felt like you were being watched. So you gave up on the idea of going for a morning run. You let out a frustrated sigh; you can't even go for a grocery run without feeling followed.

Sam had been the only bright spot in your life lately. He'd kept his word and taken you out on another date after you met him at that weird dating service. He was sweet, fun and considerate. He would often help you with your writer's block. He'd occasionally send funny memes that he found online. Overall, perfect; maybe a little too perfect. Sam exuded an energy that was difficult to pinpoint.

Sitting up in bed and bringing your laptop closer, you decide to work on an ongoing project. Maybe around 7.30 a.m., your phone's notification goes off, breaking your concentration from your work. Unlocking the screen, you see that it's from Sam; just a good morning text. Your lips curl into a smile as you text him back. Another text pops up, this time from your best friend.

'Bestie: Did u saw the news? The barista from that cute cafe we visit regularly has gone missing.'

Your brow furrows in confusion as you try to remember who she's talking about. You throw back the covers, stride into the living room, grab the remote, and switch on the news channel. And there it is- the news about a guy gone missing. As the reporter delves into the details, your attention is drawn to the photograph displayed on the right side of the screen. Recognition dawns upon you; it's the same man who attempted to flirt with you yesterday, despite your clear disinterest and telling him so. All of a sudden, you're hit with a strange feeling in your stomach, and once more, you can't quite identify it.

-----

Meanwhile, Sam is sprawled out on the couch, tv remote in hand, flicking through the channels. He pauses on the one where the reporter discusses the missing man. Sam's lips curled into a slight smirk. He leans over to grab his phone from the coffee table and opens your messages.

'You: Busy? :)'

He drums his fingers on his thighs, anticipating your response. Moments later, his phone signals a notification—a reply from you.

'Doll: Yep! Working on my new project. :('

'You: Kk! Good luck and don't forget to rest <3'

'Doll: <3 :)'

Sam sighs. It seems he will be paying you a visit soon. Grabbing the car keys and donning his jacket to ward off the mild chill, Sam settles into the driver's seat.

Shortly, he arrives in your neighborhood and finds a spot in the parking lot opposite your apartment. He turns off the engine and searches for his phone in the pocket of his jacket. Moments later, he spots you exiting the door, clad in a pale blue sweater, white cardigan, and jeans. Sam waits for a short while before he exits his car to follow you.

You push open the door to 'Breakfast & Coffee,' triggering the bell overhead. Once you've ordered a Medium Latte, you settle into a seat by the window and unlock your phone to browse through social media.

The waiter sets down your order and hurries away to serve other patrons. The squeak of the chair across from you breaks your focus on your phone. You look up to find Sam smiling down at you.

"Hey, what are you doing here?" You ask, your lips curling into a smile.

"I planned to pick up some coffee and head to your place, but guess who I found," he says with a grin. He definietly was not picking up coffee and heading to your place.

Sam takes a seat across from you, cradling a cup of coffee. You lean in, lowering your voice slightly.

"Guess what? I had a crazy experience yesterday," you begin. "The guy on the news today, the one who went missing? He was the barista I met at the cafe yesterday," you shared.

"The one who was flirting with you," said Sam, pausing to take a sip of his drink.

"Yes, that's the— Wait a minute, how did you know he flirted with me?" Your eyes widen then narrow in confusion and suspicion. Sam freezes for a moment. 'Stupid, stupid,' he chastises himself. Your presence makes him let his guard down. He has never committed a mistake like this before.

"Well, you mentioned it, remember?" he remarks with an air of nonchalance.

"I- I did not! Sam, what the hell?" You whisper-yell.

Sam watches intently as you put the pieces together.

"You—you killed him?!" you exclaim, glancing around to ensure no one overheard. "What the hell, Sam?!"

"The secret's out, huh?" Sam says with a wry smile.

The blond watches you, a mix of curiosity and amusement in his gaze. You take in the cafe scene, the baristas crafting lattes like artists, the customers lost in their worlds. Yet, here you are, seated across from someone who might be a killer. And the crazy part? You're not scared. In fact, you're oddly at ease, emotions scattered like a deck of cards in the wind. 'I'm fucked up.'

Then, another thought strikes you.

"It's no surprise they paired me with you. Our search histories; mine was for research purposes, and yours… well," you shrug, exhaling slowly.

Sam let out a laugh. "Oh, sweetheart, don't stress over that guy. From the dirt I've unearthed, he had it coming." Before tailing the guy, Sam had Colby do a little cyber sleuthing. And what do you know? The barista's preferences weren't just in coffee blends but also in the shady corners of the dark web.

You exhaled deeply, drawing the cardigan tighter around you. "So… what does this signify for us?"

Sam's gaze intensified, a menacing grin tugging at the edge of his mouth. "Don't even think about running, darling. You should know, we predators relish the chase."

Some of you had asked for a part 2 and I delivered! I might do a part 3, who knows. If you enjoyed it, show some love with likes and reblogs. Your feedback is the cherry on top! Don't be shy to put in requests or just throw any questions my way!

HAVE A NICE DAY! :)

Credits to the amazing @thecutestgrotto for the cute line divider. Go check them out!

[cosmicmunsonwrites]

Oh my goodness!! I am in love with “you hurt me pretty good too” I would love to read more about them if that’s possible? I mean anything about them I would love...could be their back story (like how they became fwb), the time between part one and two (like telling the cameron family and going to doctors appointments and when reader gives birth), a part three of the story, headcanons of a normal day at reader and rafe’s house, anything

you hurt me pretty good too pt 0.

pairing(s): rafe cameron x fem!reader

warnings: implied sex, pet names, alcohol consumption

summary: the story of how you and rafe meet.

authors note: i’m so happy to hear you enjoyed it!! i’ll make another part to this as well to explain the rest of the story, but for now, here is this!

part zero | part one | part two

not edited

do not copy my works. i do not condone rewrites, translations, or edited versions. all my content is my content that i wrote.

not my gif

“kie, i’ll be fine. ‘m just gonna go grab another drink,” you drunkenly assured your friend. “i’ll be right back.”

“hurry,” she replied. “come right back.”

you jokingly saluted. “yes ma’am.”

you pushed the glass door open and headed inside the spacious house, pushing past the crowd of drunk teens towards the kitchen where the drinks were held.

you looked to the bowl of red liquid with an empty bottle of vodka beside it. upon noticing the small pockets of whatever unknown substance floating around in it, you opted for something closed and untampered with.

you opened up the fridge and saw the bunches of cases filled with beer. opting for a bottle instead of a can, you picked one out and shut the fridge. as you turned to the side to begin your way back to your friends, someone unknowingly collided with you and whatever cool liquid was in their cup began to pour on and down your shirt.

“shit,” you heard the voice say. “sorry, i wasn’t paying attention.”

you jaw was practically on the floor, arms frozen by your midsection and body beginning to erupt in goosebumps. it was like you’d just jumped into an ice bath.

you were already pissed off that someone had ruined your red top, but that apology was also absolute shit. they couldn’t be more insincere.

you looked up to see who it was, annoyed to find that it was none other than rafe cameron. the shitty apology cashed out now.

he grabbed your hand, the one not holding your beer. “c’mon.” he began to lead you through the watchful eyes of the party and towards what you assumed was a bathroom.

he shut and locked the door once inside and began to bunch up some paper towel. not wanting to stand or sit on a toilet that has been puked on by teens all night, you hopped up on the bathroom counter and sat by the sink.

he ran warm water onto the paper towel and turned to you, beginning to wipe by your collarbones. “so that’s how its gonna go? not gonna ask or anything? just start rubbing a soggy paper towel on me?” you questioned, head tilted down to watch his hand move.

“do you want to be sticky or not?” he snapped with a sassy attitude.

“you were the one that spilled your beer on me,” you replied just as sassy.

he stopped for a second and took a deep breath. “i apologized. did i not?”

you laughed under your breath. “it was a shit apology.”

“yeah? well, at least i apologized,” he replied.

you rolled our eyes and shook your head. you weren’t going to win with him. you knew you weren’t. so you decided to just sit and wait until he finished.

he threw away the old paper towel and grabbed a new one, dipping it under the water again then wiping over the tops of your breasts.

you couldn’t help but look over his concentrated face. he’d truly changed since you last saw him.

he’d traded the side part for a middle part, the polos for flannels and quarter zip sweaters, and he no longer seemed like he was as much of an immature asshole.

still an asshole but much more immature.

“stop ogling at me,” he said.

there was that arrogance you knew so well. “you’re the one staring at my boobs,” you replied.

“so what?” he asked.

your brows furrowed. “so i can’t look at your face, but you can stare at my tits.”

“only reason i’m looking is cause i’m cleaning you off. wanna do it yourself?” he snapped back.

“i’d probably do a much better job,” you replied.

he stopped his movements and leaned back slightly to look in your eyes. “maybe i could work a little better if you’d shut up.”

“you talk big shit, cameron,” you mumbled under your breath.

he squinted at you and leaned in closer. “i didn’t quite catch that. what’d you say?” he knew damn well what you said.

“maybe if you’d just hurry the hell up and clean up your mess, we can both be on our merry little wa—“

before you could even finish your sentence, his lips were on yours.

[your-ne1ghbor]

Now Introducing...

the one

the only

QUEEN AGATHA

(OR AMAYA BASICALLY)

(ALSO THANK YOU @signed-sapphire @sewerpalette @pennysucks FOR YOUR THOUGHTS ON THE DESIGN. IT WAS A MASSIVE HELP AND JUST THANK YOU IN GENERAL. IDK HOW TO THANK YOU GUYS BUT I'M FOREVER AND EVER GRATEFUL TYTYTYYTYTY)

ok...

Lets talk about her now shall we?? 😘

(FW: MINOR GORE)

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Before we begin, Agatha is by no account, Amaya's replacement. Now here is the thing. Amaya is really cool...in drafts. But in cannon, Amaya is nothing more than a plot device to get the teens in the castle and only exists to be Magnifico's replacement in the cannon film once the whole kingdom goes down so Asha doesn't take up the reins of being Queen. Not only that she didn't have a lot of personality or any character in the film. In all honesty, although she is inspired from the drafts of Amaya, her character conflict is very much different and not on par with the drafts. She also has more to her backstory that was not seen in the original drafts or even thought of. I just wanted to get that out of the way before I go in depth to her character. But lets get to the outfit, cause I think it was a pretty interesting thought processes ;)

Plus have you seen the jokes about Amaya or why I barely talk about her?? ITS BECAUSE SHE IS NOTHING. ZERO. EGG SHAPED. Why should I care about her when I barely know anything about her like bro, giving her a moral delehmia of staying with Magnifico or joining the resistance would have been so much more interesting and gives more substance. Probably why I dont like Amaya at all. She lacks substance.

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Agatha has Greek/European inspirations to her design! I had a ton of problems when getting the design together, merely the fact that I didn't like the outfit given in film or didn't find any that really fit her for what I was going for. Even though I didn't know what I was going for, I just didn't like that style given in the films, or hell, even in the drafts (the dull colors didn't even help since there was so much vibrancy in medeivel times)

Thats when I had the most randomest idea and just said: "Fuck it" and then I decided to combind Greek and European outfits into one.

My inspirations were from these images I found on google and pinterest:

So this is how the dress works or merely my thought process on how it came out this way!

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Numro Uno

As ideas was setting into place, I noticed a trend among both sets of the outfits. I'm mainly refuring to the top shape to the outfit.

When taking a look at the European Outfits, that have what I would say, a more triangle shape, which the same can be applied to Amaya's outfit as well.

Meant to put curves down, but you get the point.

For Greek outfits, there was more of a square shape doing on at the top of the outfits.

Not only that, but the Greek clothing does not have the dress open up unlike some European outfits I saw. (not all of the European outfits I saw opened up near the bottom of the dress, only most of them did)

Either way, what I am trying to say is:

Greek Outfits = Square

European Outfits = Triangle

So when combinding them, I simply thougt of it being like this

Top: Square Shaped

Bottom: Triangle Shaped

ofc this is the final design...

What you guys want was my drafts!

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In my sketches, at first since I didn't like how outfit wise, dresses didn't seem too work, so I wondered what she would look like if she wore pants 🤯

(You will notice that I kept the transparent cloak the entire time)

Although she looked BADASS (fucking hot oml) it felt more like smth she would wear during travels. That's the main ick, it just worked for something else, but not for what I am going for. However, Agatha does wear pants, but mainly when she is getting materials for her potions that are acessed outside the kingdom. And yes, I even thought about giving her a tail coat, but it wouldn't work for the time frame 💀💀💀

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For these 2, I started playing with the top to get ideas and see if I wanted the transparent cloak at all (I did ofc she looks so badass (hot) in it)

I also drew her comforting Asha! (Which I will talk about her in the backstory section since I had to change it)

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Hmmm this one does seem familiar now does it 🤨🤨

For this one in particular, although this was one I chose as a main base for the final draft, her top was more triangle shaped than square, which is what I was going for in the final design.

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Thats when I started worrying about mobility. How much room would that dress have when she is moving quickly?

This one was to see what it would look like if she had more mobility in her outfit. Although she would...it didn't sit right with me. It just felt off. It could be the more triangle top I went for in this one, it just didn't work and didn't look good.

The one in the corner was me playing with "WHAT if Asha inspired outfit" lmao.

Nah didn't work.

So between those 3, a friend from my ASL 2 class saw my drawings, and I asked for his opinions on it. He said to go with the one I chose for the base. Although I don't necessarily remember much of what he said, he explained why this one was more appealing soooo thanks Z. 🔥🔥

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This one was more of ofc using the drafts, but if she had sleeves. I intentionally removed them because it clashed with the cloak and didn't look good or work with what I was going for.

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Now let's talk about color pallet! (Ik I'm going so much in depth than what I did for Asha, but imma be honest the whole process in on my tumblr. The amount of times I changed that girl's outfit is unfathomable 😭😭😭😭)

I'll be short, but the frills on her dress (the gold part) is supposed to signify a yellow rose. Cause...ROSE-AS ROSAS 😜😜😜

I did see if blue worked for the outfit, but for the warm toned color pallet I did for her, it really clashed. Soooooo GOLD FOR THE WIN BABYYYY

She also wears this gold leafy crown and it was between green and gold, and I'm still stuck between that, but this was the crown ykyk

Yes it is a Greek one, I just REFUSE to give her a ugly ass crown like I did for Maggy. (IM SO SORRY MAGGY I SWEAR ILL MAKE YOU A BETTER ONE)

Ahem....

Can we talk about her face?

Yes?

HELL YEAH.

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(TW MINOR GORE)

So there is a stark difference between her past self and her current self when it comes to certain features.

For example, in her past, or "I am not at the brink of insanity" saga, her hair is braided, telling us she is in a good mental state at that point of time before her eye was scratched out (a dagger like cut through her face through her eye, literally popping it 💀). In the one I show you above in the "My eye is missing" stage, is what she would look like in her "Im not at the brink of insanity" saga minus the overlapping hair strands and the obvious missing eye. Also in that image, she has ash stuck in her hair from...THE INCIDENT (cough cough).

In her current self, her hair is obviously not braided actually showing us her current mental state. She is literally a huge mess, and her trauma has a huge effect on her mental health. She literally is not doing to well...until she met Asha (I'LL GET TO THAT I SWEAR). Agatha also has a white streak in her hair from a experiment gone wrong type of scenerio, where the potion she was brewing exploded something and landed on her forehead, hense the burn mark underneath the hair. Which is what gives it's unnatural hair color.

I was going for a beserk evil scientist vibe with her design, because she does go a bit crazy later in the story obv

Some other features I added was just adding a overall added sharpness to her, to actually resemble something like thorns in a way and to she perhaps she was EVILHSJkDLMNJHK 😜

The only features I sorta kept was her overall color pallet from Amaya for her hair, skin, eyes and her mole below her eye cause I thought it looked really cute.

And lastly, he is the character sheet for Agatha <3

Now that is out of the way, I'll get into the backstory portion...kinda...

I still wanna save some things for her for the story, but here are some notes/things you SHOULD ABSOUTLY KNOW about her

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NUMERO DOS

Agatha is the oldest sibling out of her 3 siblings. Her sister is really a few years younger than her and is in her young adult/late teens age wise. Her younger brother is in her pre-teens.

Her parents cut her off from all forms of contact after...yk...so she knows things about abandoment and how she felt, especially at the worse time in her life.

She and Magnus did NOT kill Asha's parents. IN FACT, they were very close friends, and met during their travels with Magnus! (I am firmly debating if Magnus ever founded a kingdom or he is royalty but I am not entirely sure yet but it would fix some weird things I found in the story)

She is a more organized person than her husband lol

Potion making is what she excels at ( one of the potions she made can blast lightning (inspired from hogwarts legacy))

She deeply cares for both Asha and Magnus with all her heart <3

Thats really it. I am ofc holding things close to my chest for backstory reasons and for story reasons since we will learn more about her from that point.

This is the part where for what I need to talk about, which is the Hamlet.

The Hamlet idea is so cool, I will admit it, but for how the story is progressing or my thought process of it, it creates plot holes. Not small ones, but GAINT plot holes.

I noticed this back when I was writing out the Magnifico Angst, which was why I put a hold on it to think about it. This was also when I was also concidering the duration of time taking place in my AU (which I am still having trouble with). I think past me did a pretty good job of explaining the way I felt about the Hamlet overall in my AU (this is from my 20+ drafts help):

It boils down to my dilemma with Asha's character right now. It's when she meets Maggy and Amaya and going off topic to talk about Asha too, is how she can become a better person after learning everything she knew is a lie.

Plus noticing some other plot holes like "how does maggy know dark magic kills stars?" Cause if he knows that dark magic kills stars, that would mean he had done it before so it is like 🤨

And it is very important to when Amaya takes in Asha. If Asha was one of the citizens that was there when the kingdom was destroyed, that is just...tragic overall and breaks some things 😭

I'll explain. If Asha saw everything that happened to Mag or basically was there to witness said event, she would have seen her parents basically evaporate into thin air as they shielded her. It makes some good trauma, and it does justify her reasons for not liking stars, I just don't like how it would play out in the story personally. It's good, but wouldn't it ruin the relationship between Star and Asha? PLUS, why would she wish on a star for things to change...oh wait that would make for a really good villain au fuck-

ANYWAYS, if it isn't...well then why was the hamlet there? I mean I could say that after decades of the kingdom going to shit, the citizens fled to the forest to hide in, but that brings up: why did Mag and Amaya destroy it in the first place? I entirely know why Amaya took in Asha, (it breaks me everytime help) but the whole hamlet thing in my au just kinda breaks. It also begs the question: why didn't they do anything to change what is going on in the kingdom, how did maggy and Amaya find out about it? And if they murdered some people, why not Asha (even though i know why Amaya took her in, doesnt it sound hypocritical? Like why spare her? Maybe they spared the children...idk) And going back to why Mag and Amaya destroyed the hamlet, if they did, it would be because they dont want any heretics, or a revolt. But if it is a revolt, it slids into why didnt they do anything to change...UNTIL THAT TIME IT TAKES PLACE?? And just the overall why of it all. And how it impacts Asha overall. I mean sure, she might remember some parts of her early childhood being in the hamlet, but she was six. She might not even remember all of it. So wouldn't ruin the pacing? Plus her character doesnt really resolve around the hamlet much if I'll be honest. I mean yeah, that can change ofc, and if it ends up her having to remember stuff from there, would it be significant to the overall plot??? For her character? (Idk her age, but) if she ends up being 18 in my au (its going from 18-19 rn lol), she has basically been living at the castle for 12 years 💀. Why would she want to remember things she wouldn't want to remember?? I guess maybe for wanting to learn the truth 💀💀

Lots of why's lmao.

Which is why I have to remove it. For pacing reasons, character reasons, and story reasons.

Agatha took Asha in for reasons. Not stating it here since I would like to make a animatic for that...but...man... :(

Kinda hurts for Agatha and Magnus since they KNOW HER PARENTS.

Massive womp womp

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CONCLUDING THOUGHTS

Yikes sorry for making you read through that, I also felt like I was on the brink of insanity just talking about her.

But yeah what do you guys think about Agatha? Personally, she is my pookie wookie

Im finally going to draw her more since honestly I dont draw Amaya a lot, but with Agatha

hell yeah

@oh-shtars @rascalentertainments @spectator-zee @annymation @tumblingdownthefoxden @chillwildwave

[riceford]

To those in the One Piece fandom who act like @themuffinsoup and can't respect the idea of people shipping Luffy and Nami together, we're free to ship them based on the content that Oda has made for them both in the past and in recent times.

I'm sorry, but we don't care to hear about your "No romance in the crew" while shipping Zoro x Sanji or Franky x Robin with no issues, or "they're like siblings" when there's explicit proof to the contrary, or your sexuality headcanons. No amount of clinging to a blatant no-homo joke about Kalifa from over 700 chapters ago is going to change our minds on Nami's sexuality when she has scenes like hugging Luffy's head to her chest with a blush and absolutely zero interest in naked women she sees in bathhouses, and Oda himself has said Luffy has interest in women and a bad side drawn out by Usopp in SBS 54.

Let's not get started on the freaks who think Nami was thirsting for Tashigi because she was reminded of her mom by her.

Nami/Vivi shippers in particular, rude ones like @themuffinsoup, could benefit from minding their own business instead of bothering us. They haven't had content in 900+ chapters and Vivi's closest bond in the crew isn't even with Nami, it's with Luffy.

Had to get this off my chest, because it's frustrating how much hate we get sometimes for shipping one of the most wholesome and deepest bonds in the story, even with all the content we get like Oda writing an entire movie (Strong World) focusing on their bond. It's especially frustrating when that hate comes from headcanon merchants who have far less substance to work with than we do.

[xamiipholia]

okay y'all seemed to like the last one so here's a few more Horizon 3 thoughts:

Aloy won’t die. It would completely upend the series’ themes and just be really nihilistic.

Since Nemesis is a gestalt entity I think it’s a safe bet that we’ll see Sam Witwer, Carrie-Anne Moss, etc again. I’m curious how they’re going to do it because at least structurally, it’s basically a reaper. Maybe it’ll use different Avatars when communicating like the Leviathan in ME3. 

It's gonna take some work to make a flashback/dream/vision not contrived but I would love to see Varl and Rost again. I think we deserve that.

Minerva is gonna have its work cut out for it blocking access to both the dormant Faro Swarm and the ZD terraforming system. 

I wouldn’t be surprised if Nemesis has some sort of corruption function that becomes the equivalent of the corruption in HZD. It would be a really fun tech showcase if GG uses Zenith nanotech for machine corruption and leans into mechanical body horror.

If we’re going to Ban-Ur I really really hope they do the work to make the Banuk less problematic and more fleshed out as a culture. A quasi-Spartan society absolutely would not survive in an extreme environment, *especially* without megafauna to hunt. The Banuk characters are lovely and well-written; they deserve a society as well thought out as the Utaru or Carja. I’m honestly fine if there’s retcons or revamps to the cultural lore because the whole “outsider barges in and becomes chief” is rooted in racist, colonial tropes and we just don’t really need that imo.

The most recent footage of Death Stranding 2 (also running on Decima) has me SO excited for the visuals. GG’s gonna knock it out. The facial rendering and animation that Kojima Productions are doing looks industry-peak and I’m sure GG’s gonna match that. Aloy’s Gay Panic™️ scene on the beach in HBS is already top-tier nonverbal storytelling through animation. Digital Foundry actually just posted a really cool tech breakdown of the current Decima engine. I’m especially excited about the environmental stuff. The ocean simulations in HFW are already incredible and I hope they increase verticality in the world. I can’t wait to see the Sacred Lands in current gen graphics. 

I really love Kotallo’s DIY arm and it’s so so important to his development but Beta and Gaia now have access to Zenith nanotech, maybe give your buddy a sick upgrade hmm?

Speaking of, I can’t wait to see Beta come into her own. She’s one of the best parts of HFW and Aloy’s character absolutely shines in a sibling dynamic. 

I wouldn’t get your hopes up for a romance mechanic. Everyone’s feelings on that aside, it would be really odd from a game development perspective to just overhaul part of how the narrative develops Aloy’s character in the last act of the story. Yeah, there are flashpoints but I would argue that the presence of choice in Horizon is smoke and mirrors- cosmetic at best. Kentucky Route Zero (which you should play) does something similar where the player is given a certain amount of control over the substance of individual conversations and scenarios and it does absolutely nothing to alter the plot, by design. I think it’s the same here - this isn’t really a choice-based RPG, the flashpoints don’t really affect anything plot-wise or for Aloy’s character development. Olin is still out of the story, Nil lives, Regalla still dies one way or another. Aloy’s character development is pretty firmly on rails (think Jin Sakai, not Shepard - you get to guide some momentary character reactions but that’s it). I don’t think HBS is a testing ground either - If they were gonna introduce a romance mechanic I think they’d just do it, and not spend two years making a direct continuation of HFW’s main quest and establishing a specific romance hard-baked into the plot, complete with multiple leitmotifs for the character relationship (which is something they haven’t done before afaik) just to introduce a side quest mechanic coming in 5 years. I genuinely can’t think of any game or dev that has beta tested a major alteration to upcoming game mechanics that way - it doesn’t really make any sense in terms of developer resources, and these games are extremely time-consuming to make. I know this is a thing a bunch of people want and I can totally empathize with that! I just think it’s probably not on the table. 

I would bet money the series will bookend itself and the epilogue will involve a) the naming of Zo and Varl’s kid and b) Lis’ pendant. 

Mostly I'm just looking forward to being surprised. One of my favorite things that Horizon does is use carefully established elements in the world to pull the plot in unexpected directions and keeping the world grounded while they lean into speculative science fiction. I can't wait to see what Guerrilla is cooking up