#so a lot of these are verbatim from that convo

[gassybots]

(mainly asking about Quincy, Churchill, Ben, Eti, Obyn, and Corvus bc they're the only heroes I like)

What do you think their favorite foods are? And what do you think gives them the most gas? I personally think Churchill would really like sushi (Especially when Ben makes it) but it gives him awful gas as a result

Ok ok i can think of this. I can come up with better answers than NK just saying bananas...

Quincy: I've joked about this before but as one of the most active heroes, Quincy is a Carbpilled Protienmaxxer. His favorite food is pancakes and sausage, he's a Breakfast is the Most Important Meal of the Day Kinda Guy, and would also eat breakfast for dinner. In terms of what makes him gassy, he's pretty normal about it but he's actually been trying to build up his spice tolerance to impress Gwen. It's uh. Its a slow process. He's finally able to eat whole Jalepeños, but his guts are still not used to the spice of things, so it can build up and come out at the WORST of times. After nearly every attempt he's hiccuping and burping at the spice and it bites him in the ass (literally) later at night.

Churchill: I definitely agree with what you said, a big part of why Churchill loves sushi so much is the fact that he's a big fucking weeb. His body is built for British Slop like beans on toast and the moment his mouth touches anything more flavorful that fish and chips, you can bet he'll be hotboxing his tank throughout the day. It tastes so good to him that it's a very small price to pay, he's even tried doing some recipes from his favorite cooking mangas and they turned out really good, but you know how it is.

Ben: Ben is really complicated to me, because it all depends on his mood. If it's a good day, he's one of those "I only drink Fiji Water and eat RXbars as a snack" guys, but on Most days, he finds comfort in surviving entirely off Redbull and Cup Noodles. Needless to say this gives him gas for days (which is why he's trying to be better about his eating habits) but he's so exhausted from his bad sleep schedule that he needs the ease and comfort of the unhealthy stuff. His love of carbonated beverages is also not helping but even in his healthy mode he's still drinking sparkling water cause he's addicted to the fizz.

Etienne: As a Quebecois with an obsession with France, Eti is remarkably annoying about how much he enjoys shit like crepes and bourguignon, but at least he has the cooking skill to back it up. His main downfall is the mere fact that he will eat too much of it all. He's really a foodie and his desire to eat anything and everything that looks good (even things that arent his, RIP the sandwich quincy left in the fridge with his name on it) often leads for him to overstuff himself, which keeps his stomach very restless.

Obyn: See ok, so I headcanon Obyn as a guy who cannot handle processed foods. He's trying to branch out into society more often since he left the forest but his stomach is like "what is this?? Bread? Not on my watch" and it gives him AWFUL gas unbefiting for a guardian like that. His favorite foods are cranberries, lillies, and the occasional deer carcass he finds in the woods and anything more complicated than roasting a carrot over the fire and he'll be blasting gas from both ends all night.

Corvus: He'd lie to you and say his favorite food is "darkness" or some shadow the hedgehog shit like that, but genuinely. He's got a horrible sweet tooth. His most favorite food in the whole world is angel food cake with cream and strawberries, and it would absolutely ruin his reputation for anyone to find out. The book keeps whispering to him that he needs raw meat for susinance, and while he tries to ignore it, it can really leak into his subconscious so he tries to get in on that Deer Carcass action Obyn does. It doesn't end well for him. He's not built for the Raw Diet. His stomach won't shut up for hours afterward and then he swears he'll never again, and then the same thing happens next month.

[liloinkoink]

a year ago today, i sent @unexpectedly-haunted an idea i had for a renchanting au based around Ren as a god and Martyn as his follower. we spent quite a while tossing around a concept for the au in which i laid out an idea i'd had and he helped me flesh it out

the next day, Haunted came back to me with a design for Martyn in the AU, and i, unwilling to be undone, sat down and wrote a 500ish word oneshot, 20 Questions. i didn't really expect it to go further than that--i didnt even intend to write for it again!--but you guys greatly surprised me

the immediate support i got for my silly little drabble in the form of kind words, excitement from friends, asks and interest from followers, and even art from strangers motivated me to keep working at the AU. i dont think ive ever received so much love, support, enthusiasm, or kindness on anything else i've written in my life. i truly dont know how to thank the lot of you enough, nor do i know how to express how much all the love this fic has received means to me

what i can say is that Lamplight is now 45k words and counting, writing it and seeing how much you guys enjoy it has been an absolute blast, and continuing after those initial 500 words is one of the best decisions i could have made. ive made a lot of really good friends, met a lot of really cool people, and had a lot of really amazing experiences because of this fic, and i couldnt appreciate it more

to celebrate and show how far this idea has come... i'll put a cut, but if you want a few more screenshots of our initial planning convo, i've thrown them in (up until the point you hit plot spoilers). quite a few things have changed or been abandoned, but there are also pieces that have stayed completely the same (martyn's paladin oath from torchlight, for example, is almost verbatim the same as the oath i made up for him day one)

first, tho: thank you to everyone who has been reading and enjoying lamplight!!! and

[edutainer2022]

Character Ask Game

25. What was your first impression of this character? How about now?

For Scott.

@janetm74 Thank you so much for the ask!

I will revisit a little meta I did on getting to know Scotty as a character and have some additions.

"How do I love thee, let me count the ways". I stumbled into TAG through Tumblr osmosis I think some time in the second half of Season 1 run. I remember liking the 2004 movie, and I zeroed in on the "missing Dad" part, but I was generally amiably "on the fence" and non-committal. Nice boys, overall. A little bit too much focus on "child hero" Alan (because it's a kids cartoon and you're an adult, duh!). I was dabbing into bits and pieces here and there, not having a full picture. Tunnels of Time drew my attention, because of the sheer DEVASTATION Scott demonstrated. The elder brother and in charge sans Dad - I was bound to pay attention. John was the character I am - an introverted "intellectual". But the Tall, dark, charismatic and going kinda recklessly nyoooom didn't hurt either. Then I came across Recharge. And it hit me like that Runaway train. My Dad died when I was 22 and I took over as head of the family, as my Mom checked out in grief. I'm fairly sure I GAVE THAT SAME SPEECH in the Arctic tent to someone at some point - I miss him, I HAVE TO DO IT ALL (and do it fast), keeping busy with IR the PhD/work/postdoc/more work is the only thing that keeps me from going crazy. Verbatim. I'm still giving that speech sometimes. I saw a mirror of grief, self-worth issues and (non)coping mechanisms I recognized so much it was uncanny. So I knew these things: I've met yet another character that I know all too well what makes tick and will love forever - it's pretty much always the same character, give or take; the uppity Top Gun Flyboy persona is absolutely a facade - he's Tall, Dark, and Emotionally Compromised (hello there, sweetie!); I need to rewatch the earlier episodes keeping that in mind. And of course, Recharge (re)contextulizes everything - chasing a sizable city time and again to martyr himself for or to generally self-destruct, chasing Dad's shadow pretty much beyond the edge all but consciously (pretty candid for a kids show), going insane with a combo of worry, grief and guilt, keeping up the Next in Command mantle, sometimes just barely, the whole convo with Lee up to and including asking him to stay, the Chain of Command implications, the Hood's return implications, randomly adopting people and pushing them to be and do better. And just like that, I SAW Scott Tracy.

That was nine years ago, give or take. I've been through more losses, pressure of "command", responsibility, betrayal and just plain tragedy ever since. And every step of the way I feel I can relate to Scott more. The need to lift and inspire people to be their best selves - even when your own soul is writhing in pain and doubt. The crippling guilt over failure. The understated loneliness. The very unsubtle nonexistent concept of personal happiness. Being back in fandom also helped me explore (and confirm) and share lots of nuance about this character that I also felt were true. I wish for Scott a lot healthier emotional coping structure and support going on into his next decade than I got his age. He's my emotional support emotional wreck and disaster.

[asherlockstudy]

not the anon but I think you misunderstood the convo about the shoe guy, I understand that you're paraphrasing but I think you got it a bit messed up. maybe rewatch the segment?

I don't think I have misunderstood because I made a detailed post about it when it was first released, in which I had also included their dialogue verbatim.

I am aware the discussion started from an incident of Link unnecessarily escalating an interaction with a guard in a ski center, even though he was in the wrong. I am aware the discussion they had on a surface level revolved around Link tending to inititate interactions with others in an annoying fashion or escalating them either for attention or his own amusement, to a point that it becomes what Rhett and Christy are concerned with every time they go out with him and they can not enjoy their time because they are always expecting that Link will do something that then they will have to diffuse. I know Link simply said to the guy something about choosing to wear certain shoes because they were from a brand that was associated to what they were watching and the guy answered indifferently something like "man you should wear whatever you feel good in and not care about such things". (By the way there was throughout the convo the implication that that interaction also took a more unpleasant turn but they never explained what more was said and why this interaction eventually left a sour taste to them, seemingly due to whatever was said next.) I know.

This was the discussion they were having, however Rhett was also leaving some vague hints of also being bothered by something else. And even though he never phrased it clearly, he accentuated it with knowing and accusatory looks, and this was the part Link cared to defend himself over way more than the accusation that he escalates situations. This was the nuanced part of their conversation, a subtext if you will, but I isolated and focused exclusively on it for the needs of my answer to the previous Anon who was talking about something relevant to this only.

Some verbatim examples that seem to hint to a more nuanced argument underneath what was discussed openly:

Link: You say I try to connect aggressively, that I try to put myself out there.

Rhett: And if you want to go to parties by yourself and do whatever you want to and see where the cards fall…. But what I am saying is when you go somewhere with me, or with your wife or with a friend, just so you know, it is the thing they are preoccupied with, is a sense of “okay, is he gonna do something that kind of makes things a little bit awkward for what it feels like his own entertainment?… And maybe it is like a “hey, I am going to… I wanna connect with somebody”… and it���s like-

Rhett: I think there is a common root, like “I am gonna say this thing in this situation; I’m not taking my phone out”, is the same, there is a common root to, “I am gonna come into this group and just say something that makes people feel uncomfortable because it’s kind of fun. And you know what, a lot of times it’s actually gonna lead to a stronger connection with somebody….” Rhett looks quite pointedly at Link. Link: I just don’t understand why, I mean, in my mind though, talking about my neurosis of me picking out the brand of shoe I am gonna wear to this movie was something that I thought this guy would get a kick out of and he might enjoy meeting me?! (*scoffs*) Rhett: Yeah but… all I am saying is there is a sort of ribbing.

So. There was talking about one thing and there was also something else, deeper, bleeding in. It was this something else I was speculating with the previous Anon about. Maybe me isolating and talking only about that confused you. Watch the segment again with this perspective and see if it gets you anywhere...

[themomsandthecity]

Beverly Johnson and Anansa Sims Are "Best Friends," and This Convo Proves It

When I hop on a Zoom interview with supermodel mother-daughter duo Beverly Johnson and Anansa Sims, I'm surprised that the two aren't together. Instead, they're both calling in from their iPhones, and Sims is helping her mom figure out the best lighting in her house. It's a familiar scene: a daughter helping her mother figure out the latest tech. But this isn't your typical mom or daughter. Johnson is a modeling legend - she became the first Black model to appear on the cover of Vogue in 1974 - and Sims followed in her footsteps. And now, the duo's relationship is on full display on the new WE tv reality series "The Barnes Bunch," which follows Sims's blended family with fiancé Matt Barnes (Johnson, of course, is often there to help out). "It's a journey, being mothers and daughters," Sims says. "But I love the journey. I love my mom, she's my best friend." Despite the fact that the conversation took place via three tiny screens, it was candid, vulnerable, and full of wisdom. Keep reading for their favorite memories of Sims's childhood, their best relationship and career advice, and more. On What They've Taught Each Other About Modeling Anansa Sims: I remember being taken on shoots and meeting a lot of the famous supermodels at the time. You're a little kid and you see them in the magazines, so it was exciting to know that they actually knew my name and knew all about me and my mom was sharing stories. Christie Brinkley and Cheryl Tiegs and models like that who were huge, major supermodels. So it was always exciting for me to go to work with my mom. Beverly Johnson: She took her first picture at three days old, and she's been photographed ever since. AS: One thing I learned from my mom about modeling is that you really have to be professional. Modeling seems like a fun career to get into, and it is at times, but you have to show up on time, ready to work, with the proper undergarments. My mom taught me a lot about just being a professional. There are a lot of beautiful women out there, but a lot of them don't go on and become top models just because they're not professional or because of their attitude. People hire people that they want to spend an eight-hour day with on a shoot. BV: She's saying all this verbatim from me! Very good. AS: Yup. When I decided to step out there, I kind of had a leg up on a lot of things that my mom would teach me, and then I'd get applauded for my professionalism, and I'm like, oh yeah, this is working. BV: One of the most significant moments for me was when Anansa came to me and said, "I'm not going to be a straight size model," which means a size 0. And I was like, "Why? They're just beginning to love you." And she said, "I will never let anybody tell me how I should look ever again." And I was like, "Wow. I haven't gotten there yet." So I have learned a lot from Anansa, and continue to learn a lot. On Motherhood and Their Parenting Styles AS: I'm more of a stay-at-home mom, my mom was more of a working mom, so it's different in that sense. I did learn a lot of disciplinary things from my mom, and then I also try to talk and communicate with the kids, so that they're open to telling me things. My mom and I have always had a good relationship in terms of talking about stuff, especially in my later teen years. And I really want that with my daughter, especially, and of course my sons, too. BV: It's so beautiful as a parent of one child and I get to sit back and watch my daughter become the mother, and watch my daughter get the same challenges that I got as a mother. It's nice to see how she understands now what I was going through as a parent, because now she's in those shoes. Years ago, we did a photo with my mother, Anansa, and I, and Ava was a baby, so four generations. I look forward to every day stepping into my mom's shoes in being a grandmother. If I could be the grandmother and great-grandmother my mom was, I would have achieved… https://www.popsugar.com/family/beverly-johnson-anansa-sims-interview-49363310?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=tumblr

[lees-chaotic-brain]

YES i know he's literally just the sweetest most considerate person. like the way he looked out for yuuta?? you cannot tell me he wouldn't be the most caring protective boyfriend.

stop i'm actually so flattered that you mentioned my fic to your friend. honestly i think my ability to look at it in a nuanced way is largely due to the fact that my best friend and i both managed to land pos boyfriends at the exact same time sophomore year.

it was somewhat of a unique experience, in the sense that we both were the biggest hypocrites for literally a year straight. like our average conversation looked like this:

me: girl you literally told me yesterday you didn't feel comfortable sleeping with him wdym you slept with him last night? my bestie: well i was into it at the moment and he really wanted to so it's my fault anyways. but what about you? you told me that if he used your mom to hurt your feelings in an argument again you were going to break up with him. my bestie: you have to set boundaries! he's an asshole for pressuring you into it and i'm going to castrate him. but it's different for me. he really cares and we wouldn't get into such bad fights if he didn't really love me. and he's a good person i know he didn't mean it. my bestie: that's what i'm saying with ****! he's genuinely a really sweet person and i'm really happy when i'm with him

so yeah. this is actually one of our text convos we had almost verbatim. we were both stupid, and after the fact (smh we both ended up getting dumped) we had lots of lengthy convos about what happened and kind of like the affects of it and how it still impacts us.

HELP i love the greek mythology reference with your phone. next time mine doesn't work i'm stealing that and saying it's just visiting hades LMAO

and yes, i'm so excited to hear about what you think of my next few fics! the one i'm currently writing is NOT happy lmfao

EDIT: i talked to my friend and she said that i actually always gave really insightful advice even before the whole thing went down, so maybe it's just a me thing idk. she said that a lot of the things i told her and the advice i gave her even from when we were thirteen/fourteen/fifteen/sixteen still sticks with her and impacts how she makes decisions, which i'm not sure if that's a good or a bad thing lol. but she says i've always been like this so idk

i need an angst to fluff inumaki x reader fanfic based on the song 'daylight' by taylor swift ASAP (no rocky OR stayc OR newjeans).

"And I can still see it all (In my mind)

All of you, all of me (Intertwined)

I once believed love would be (Black and white)

But it's golden (Golden)"

LIKE ACTUALLY PLEASE 🙏

the song's basically about the struggles taylor went through in her past relationships and begins to doubt she'll ever find pure love until she finally meets the man that brightens her life and shows her what true love really is.

the reader could've went through an abusive relationship in the past and guarded herself up even after she met inumaki until she gets to know him better and opens her heart to him KFYDORNEFH. inumaki and the reader could have like sentimental moment together where the reader finally opens up about her past relationship that caused her to become the person she is now and inumaki could bring up his insecurities of his cursed speech and how it's affected his life dealing with bullying, unrequited love, etc.

PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE 🙏

summary: after an abusive relationship you don't believe you're ready to love again, but then Inumaki Toge entered your life like a ray of sunshine breaking through the storm clouds...

cw: abusive relationship, abusive ex, emotional abuse, mentions of verbal abuse, emotional manipulation, toxic relationship, implied sa if you squint, self doubt, FLUFF FLUFF FLUFF, growing old together

word count: 1.6k

note: i'm so sorry this took so long! a lot of things happened irl, plus i really wanted to do this request justice! also a quick disclaimer: not all abusive relationships look the same! the abusive ex in this fic is basically a mix of my and my best friends exes, so it strongly reflects my, as well as her, own personal experiences! please don't read this if abusive past relationships trigger you in any way, shape or form. take care of yourselves, i love you all <3

listen to this while reading!

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You hadn’t exactly been the luckiest when it came to love. Your first relationship lasted all of a month, the two of you parting amicably after realizing you were better off as friends. Your second relationship had lasted a little longer, before fizzling out due to him moving away. 

But compared to your third and most recent relationship, all of your previous ones looked like fairy tales. At the time, you hadn’t realized how toxic he was due to his nature. There was nothing dramatic about the abuse, nothing like the obvious and exaggerated examples you saw in the media.

It had started small, but quickly escalated into manipulation and toxicity. Going into the relationship you were confident in yourself and your ability to set and maintain boundaries. But as time went by you found yourself being talked into doing things you weren’t comfortable with, or didn’t want to do. 

You tried to convince yourself that you had wanted it as much as he had at the moment, so it wasn’t his fault, and that going forwards you would be more firm. Then the emotional manipulation started.

He would treat you like you were nothing more than a shit stain on the sidewalk, call you names, accuse you of cheating and only using him for his body. But just as you hit your breaking point he would swoop in and love bomb you.

The vicious cycle continued, and when your friends told you it was unhealthy, and that you should break up with him, you told them that you couldn’t. That you loved him and he made you happy.

And it was true.

He would beat you down until you hit rock bottom, break you until you were numb, but during the moments when he doted on you and told you how much he loved you, the high his love gave you was like no other. Looking back on it you could see that it was manipulative and abusive, but at the time you lived for those moments.

Even at the end, you couldn’t help but love him as he spat names full of vitriol at you. You told him you loved him, that you would be a better partner, and were left heartbroken when he broke up with you. 

A couple of weeks passed, and after the heartbreak faded, your mind began to clear and you felt as if you were thinking rationally for the first time in years. Hindsight is always 20/20 and yours was no exception. Looking back, the red flags were clear, and you had no idea why you stayed with him for so long. 

It was probably because you refused to see him as anything other than a good person who loved you, and that scared you. Clearly you were a terrible judge of character, and if you wanted to avoid getting hurt again you couldn’t trust yourself.

If you couldn’t trust yourself, there was no way for you to trust others. So you went through life alone. At least, you went through life alone until you met him.

Inumaki came into your life like the ray of warm sunshine that caresses your face after the storm clouds dissipate. 

After struggling to find the motivation to go about your life for months, you had thrown yourself back into your schoolwork. So when Inumaki Toge was assigned to you as your partner for the paper you had to write, you pointedly ignored the fact that he was extremely attractive and got to work.

As the research paper progressed, the two of you became closer, and even started looking forwards to your meetings at your local cafe. He was struck by how kind and dedicated you were; how you didn’t look down on him for being unable to speak. It was really nice to be treated as an equal.

You were struck by how funny and caring he was, and just how much you were beginning to enjoy spending time with him. It was terrifying.

Just months ago you had promised yourself that you would never fall in love again, that you couldn’t trust yourself to not jump headfirst into another abusive relationship, but here you were, falling in love once again. And it wasn’t like a little crush or anything. You fell, and you fell hard.

He consumed your every waking thought, from his mischievous little smiles to his gorgeous purple eyes, to the kindness he showed your underclassmen. You found yourself hyper analyzing every one of your interactions with him, searching for any red flags, desperately hoping to find something that proved he wouldn’t be good for you.

Because at the end of the day, you weren’t just scared to get into a relationship for fear of another abusive partner. You also feared opening yourself up to love again and getting your heart broken again.

Every logical, rational part of you knew that it wasn’t a good idea, that you shouldn’t date again, but then again, every emotional, instinctual part of you screamed that something about Inumaki Toge was right.

I don't wanna look at anything else now that I saw you I don't wanna think of anything else now that I thought of you

A month flew by, and the deadline for your paper came and went. Without ever speaking about it or formally agreeing to, the two of you continued to meet up, except now it was to hang out, not to work. Coffee dates, trips to the local museums and aquariums, exploring local small business restaurants, whatever you had the time and funds to do you did, enjoying the time spent savoring each other’s presence. 

It had taken time, and a lot of proof that he was nothing like your ex, but you had finally gotten to the point where you were ready to move on, to trust. To place your heart in the hands of another, even if it meant leaving you vulnerable again. And a big part of that was due to 

Nothing about the relationship the two of you shared was the stuff of romantic dramas, with their dramatic confessions, sweeping declarations of love, and passionate gestures. Instead your romance was quiet. It was easy. And most of all it was completely reciprocated. 

There was no defining moment where the two of you stepped across the line separating friends for lovers. It was more like the two of you were on a peaceful journey, only noticing days after that you crossed it. The line between friends and lover merely blurred, until one rainy day while the two of you were camped out in your bedroom the two of you decided you were “officially” dating.

But putting a label on it hadn’t changed anything. If anything, the label was only there so you could continue doing what you had been. And if that meant picturing a future that involved marriage and growing old with him, well that wasn’t anyone’s business, now was it?

And I can still see it all (In my mind) All of you, all of me (Intertwined)

Now, half a century later you sit on your porch, quietly rocking on a swing as you watch the sun rise, daylight slowly spilling across the sky. The glow of youth had long left your features, skin sagging under the weight of the joy in your smiles, joints and bones creaking from a lifetime of adventures. 

And sitting there on your porch, the swing creaking rhythmically as you sit beside the love of your life you think about your ex-boyfriend for the first time in decades. Looking back, you can’t even fathom how different your future was than you predicted.

Before you met Toge, you had resigned yourself to growing old alone, obviously having friends by your side, but going through life without a romantic partner. At that point in your life, you believed that love was more trouble than it was worth, that it only brought hurt and you would never find someone who would make you feel like the main character in a romance novel.

But then Toge came along, and it was nothing like the romances. It was soft, gradual; rather like the sunrise in front of you, slowly extending its syrupy warmth across the inky expanse of the morning sky. His love wasn’t dramatic or invasive, but it was comforting, warm, and all-consuming. His love filled you like the first sip of tea on a cold winter day, spreading across your chest and reaching into your limbs, chasing away the cold nip of the air.

His love was like daylight, spreading across the dawn sky, lighting up everything it touched bringing color and life to all. A gentle squeeze on your hand drew you out of your thoughts, and you turned to look at him.

His once bright silver hair had been reduced to a dull gray, and the crisp lines of his seal stretched and sagging across his cheeks. But his violet eyes were as bright as the day you met, and it seemed the love in them only grew daily. Clutching his liver spotted hand in your own, skin papery thin and liver spotted, you basked in the combined glow of your shared love and smiled.

“Hey Toge? I love you?”

He merely smiled and planted a loud kiss on your cheek, not needing to say anything in response.

After all, why would you need words when your love is as permanent and sure as the sun rising in the east each morning?

I once believed love would be (Black and white) But it's golden (Golden)

general taglist: @arlerts-angel @ponderingmoonlight @hotvinimon

jjk taglist: @m0k0k0 @starlightanyaaa

inumaki taglist: @stopshakingplz @hugsforjungwon

[batmanisagatewaydrug]

so, uhm...i recently started dating this guy!! hes super-duper nice nd everything, but...im autistic nd have issues with, ya know, down there (im a pre-op trans man, currently 9 months into HRT), nd also certain textures

but idk how to bring these into the convo naturally, or seem like im just catering to my needs

hes a neurotypical cis man that wldnt need any accommodations in a sexual setting, idk what to do

-Ashton [he/they]

hi Ashton,

congrats on the new relationship! that's exciting :)

there's something you said that I want to gently push back on, which is your certainty that your partner wouldn't need any accommodations during sex. it sounds like that's not a conversation the two of you have had yet, which means that is in fact something you have no way of knowing - and, if I may say so, it's a bit presumptuous to assume.

everyone has different needs, wants, and requirements during sex. there's no default setting, among neurotypical cis men or anyone else. what your partner likes and doesn't like, the sensations he loves and the ones he can't stand, how he communicates his needs, the things that thrill him and the ones that leave him lukewarm - there's no way of knowing any of that until you begin that conversation!

likewise, there's no way that he'll know about you need from him until it's talked about. wanting to talk about those things isn't "just catering to your need," as you worry, but it does need to be a two-way convo.

listen: there's no singular right time or place to begin that conversation. straight up, it might feel awkward. it will almost definitely be an evolving conversation. have you talked about the textures you don't like outside of a sexual context? that can be a great place to start. do you ask before touching him casually, or - even better - ask how he would like to be touched? also a great way to normalize conversations about boundaries and consent into your relationship dynamic. are you guys kissing? kissing can require some finagling to get right anyway, what a great time to start talking about which sensations and textures don't float your boat.

"oh - speaking of which - what we're doing right now is fine, but here's some stuff that I don't like/can't do," you might say. "I care about you, and want to spend a lot more time with you, so I want you to know that I have this boundary." and, importantly, follow it up with, "do you have anything like that I should know about? I want to know how to help you feel good and comfortable, too."

(this is a guideline, not a script. you don't have to quote that verbatim.)

obviously you know your partner and your relationship better than I do; I trust you to know the most reasonable points to develop this conversation further. as long as you've begun the discussion prior to actually Having Sex (even if it's just a few minutes prior, frankly) you're doing great.

[nicomrade]

top 5 jiglup moments?? 👀👀

omg this... this is a treat let me think for a sec cause theres SO MANY...

one HAS to be ... it has to be ........ ok it has to be the scene in fujikos lie the 2nd best scene in that movie where theyre in the car together and lupins like "heyyy still wanna go through w this job? were not gettin any money" and jigens like "im here for the mystery <|^) " and lupin SAYS the ICONIC "you're pretty whimsical, too" and JIGEN SAYS the "you're one to talk" you have to know theres also lupin handing him his pack of cigarettes, jigen picking one and then lupin LIGHTING it AS he says the whimsical line. jigen leaning into the flame before he replies. THE CIGARETTE THING IS! A HUGE JIGLUP THING! this brings me to the next one

EPISODE 0 (the movie) THE WHOLE THING. the motif of lupin trying to woo jigen (this is a prequel type movie) and keeps offering him lights, that jigen first refuses, then the 2nd time he ignores it i think?, then FINALLY FINALLY the 3rd time, at the end of the movie, when jigen has become lupins partner in crime, jigen leans into the flame and lets lupin light his cigarette. THE CIGARETTE LIGHTNING IS. their relationship. the dynamic of it IS their relationship evolving over the course of the movie it drives me insane its really basic but its SO EFFECTIVE it gets me

ouaouaoua i think them going to hell together in seven days rhapsody was really iconic i gifed it right after watching the movie cause u really have, first jigen and lupin agree to take a week-long break to each do stuff on their side. jigen is approached by a guy from his past (lets say it, an ex!) looking to "patch up their relationship" by doing a job together. when it becomes clear to that guy that jigen will ALWAYS choose lupin over anyone else, ALWAYS stay loyal to lupin, the guy says VERBATIM "live happily with lupin in hell" (as he tries to kill them both) THIS DOES NOT STOP THERE. they survive this and the very next time we see them well and alive they have this convo musing about what if they DID die back there and now theyre about to enter hell together. they call each other "partner" with a lot of emphasis and playfulness to it its a gorgeous scene its like. wow. theyre literally gay.

i have to.. who would i be if i didnt mention part 1? its such a love letter to the characters and it shows in how lupin and jigen are written too.. there arent as many Flashy Big moments but its an atmosphere of them always being around each other of being so COMFORTABLE around each other... them cooking together, jigen laying in the couch and not even moving when lupin throws a knife at him (sorry hes evil in this part) because he TRUSTS that lupin wont hurt him. that jigens the one person who never abandons lupin (goemon notably just leaves midway through episodes sometime if he stops vibing. fujiko betrays, obviously) .. the scene at the end of episode 2 where they just lay together side by side in the grass looking at the sky as the sun sets. its a moment of quiet reflection of just enjoying each others company. the iconic "you[jigen] made for a sexy maid" line.... lupin faking his own death and jigen bursting into tears immediately... the ONLY time he cries in that part im pretty sure???

i feel like im forgetting every single jiglup moment i like ever what the hell o(-< ok rapid fire part 2 moments that are really fucking good they make me ache. theres in the target is 555 meters away the iconic dialogue of "youre the number one sniper in the world, jigen" thats filled with so much tenderness so much praise and adoration. the promise to get him the french doll jigen dreamed of as a kid. its JUST love its only there to be loving and its so good. in the same episode actually is the 2nd moment i thought about where lupin asks jigen if hell accept the job (its a really challenging job) and jigen says "what if i say no?" "you wont." "then dont ask" (paraphrasing) WHICH IS. ITS ABOUT its about its about. its about not wanting to take jigen for granted, letting him know lupin respects him as an equal, doesnt want him to feel forced into any job. and its about jigen not letting himself be misunderstood- i will always use my skills for you, dont question my love and adoration, dont imply i would ever leave your side, dont take me for someone im not. YOU KNOW? they adore each other. theyre each others whole world. theres so much unsaid here they understand each other.

[hurlumerlu]

@themagicalshrimp The short answer is “I wouldn’t particularly recommend the comics” but I had actually been meaning to sort out my thoughts on the subject so here’s a too long post on

The Old Guard : why the movie works better than the comics :

(imo)

1)  The visuals : Let’s get this out of the way : I don’t like the art. I don’t like the coloring. And some of the character designs really bother me : Noriko (Quynh in the movie), the only Asian character, is drawn completely differently from the rest, and Joe’s design makes me very uncomfortable. I’m also not a fan of Nile’s design, tbh.

2) The general writing of female characters : It’s kinda sad because I think Rucka really likes them and wanted to make them cool, but they feel less like characters and more like cliché/fantasies. Andy is the Tough Girl who likes to fuck with no strings attached (but maybe she’ll soften for u), Nile the Spunky Younger Woman (also tough but less cold ! more approachable !) and Noriko is mostly a mix of the Psycho Lesbian and the Dangerous Asian Chick. Idk maybe I’m being too harsh here, they all have good to great moments, but... I think it’s very telling that the comics introduce Andy half-naked with a montage of her fucking and being killed in battle while the movie shows her dying and walking purposefully toward something. All of the female characters in the movie are extremely pretty, but you never get the sense that they need to be sexy, and that’s refreshing.

3) The warmth : The comics feel so much colder than the movie ! They have pretty much the same plot and a lot of the dialogues are the same (as an aside, I wish the movie had changed the dialogues more) so it really all comes down to acting and directing choices. Mainly : focusing on making the characters vulnerable rather than badass. I think a good example here would be the van scene because the speech has been lifted almost verbatim from the comics (second aside : I wish they had kept Joe’s line “his very thoughts make music of the mundane” because it slaps). But in the comics, Joe looks angry and full of disdain while in the movie his eyes are all shiny with unshed tears and his voice is passionate but soft : both version have a very different impact. And I know that the purpose of an action movie is to give you badass content but I’ve always thought that the badass content works much better if you’ve shown me that your characters can be vulnerable and open. 4) Andy : In the comics, Andy is still immortal. That in itself is not necessarily a bad thing - and it indeed gives us some very entertaining panels - but many good moments in the movie come from Andy being mortal : the pharmacy scene, the team working together to protect her, Nile stepping up again and again to get the team out of danger, Andy’s tearful conversation with Booker while she’s bleeding out... Like, in the comics, they have that convo while yelling and repeatedly mortally shooting each other until Nile gets fed up and shoots them and yells at them and honnestly, it’s fun, but it doesn’t pack the same punch as Andy’s voice cracking when she says “not like this, Book...” (aaaand we’re back to vulnerability again) Could the movie have given us that with Andy staying immortal ? Probably. But do the comics deliver ? Nope.

5) Nile : In the comics, Nile doesn’t meet Joe and Nicky before they’re taken and she’s not the one who’s shown all the good the old guard did throughout history. She’s an important character, but she’s just not there in the same way. The comics are Andy’s story. They’re about her, how she feels, how she reacts to things. Nile is the deuteragonist, but compared to Andy we see less of her thoughts, less of her past (to be fair, she has less past) and less of her struggles. I don’t hate that choice, but making Nile the heart of the movie was by far the superior one. Part of it is just because Kiki Layne is an excellent lead, but I think it’s also because Andy (by virtue of being a thousands year old warrior who went through a lot of shit) is just more detached, and I’m of the opinion that we connect better to a story when we see its characters feel things. As such, being encouraged to relate to a character who’s less guarded and more open to wonder really benefits the audience. This time we’re back to the idea of warmth, but : by centering itself on Nile, the movie gains a heart the comics lack.

In conclusion, the comics are entertaining, but not much more than that. But I put under the cut a list of things that I liked in the comics and that didn’t make it in the movie :

When they find Booker “dead” at the hideout and Andy thinks “that’s so unfair, why does he gets to die and not me”. It wouldn’t have worked in the movie at all but in the comics it does.

Joe and Nicky call each other babe and I think that’s sweet.

Not to be a broken record but his very thoughts make music of the mundane

Nile realizes that Booker is the mole because he was pretending to have wi-fi in their hideout cave and Andy is too bad with new technology to notice, it’s so funny.

I like that Andy was suspicious of Booker but still went along just to feel something. Again, wouldn’t have worked in the movie, great here.

Andy asking Nile “so... read any good book lately ?” while they’re falling from a skycrapper.

Nicky playing mind games with the scientist to convince him (it’s a dude in the comics) to free Joe and him. wish he had killed him himself after that instead of letting Joe do it but still, worked for me.

In the movie we see a painting of Andy with a black man and in the comics we learn that they were both in love and he knew she was immortal but they stayed together up until their visible age difference started to raise questions and parted ways sad but still in love and it’s honnestly one of the only moments in the comics where I felt emotionally invested and he’s just a very cool character despite having only a handfull of pages to shine.

Aaaand that’s it ! Fingers crossed for the potential sequel to do Quynh justice !

[datingintampafails]

Chapter 13: Cole*

I met Cole* on Tinder, which is never really my preferred app to use, mostly because it seems to attract more hook-up culture, rather than true relationships. But after my whole run-in with Darren*, I’m honestly in a slump where I really don’t care anymore.

I started talking to him around Memorial Day and as things were just starting to open up, we were actually able to go on a real, true, date. For the first time since quarantine started. Cole* was from Daytona, a little older (30), and he participated in jiu-jitsu and didn’t like pasta, ate pretty healthy. He is a retired massage therapist, who now works in marketing, in his own business. I do my screening questions, is he a Gemini? Did he vote for trump? Unfortunately, he did vote for Trump, thought to have a reasonable excuse (Hillary was a no go), I couldn’t blame him. He wasn’t a Trump supporter per se, more Anti-Hildog. We discuss Tiger King and more politics. For some reason, he sends me voice clips rather than texting, and I hear he has a nice voice. He doesn’t really watch TV or movies, more into documentaries. He has a Chihuahua. 

I do ask him, before I agree to go on a date, what his goals with Tinder are. He says (verbatim because I still have the texts since I’m a text hoarder), “Ultimately I would like a relationship. Right now I’m focused on work and I don’t know how much time I can commit to that. But I’m just trying to go on dates and see if there’s some chemistry.” Solid and respectable answer. I tell him “Yeah I’m not trying to live a forever alone life. I try not to have any expectations and see how I feel/how things go; I’m open to whatever feels right. I have difficulty finding someone for long term stuff because I don’t want kids and it’s been surprising to me how many men are actually super baby thirsty.” He doesn’t respond until the next day but apologizes for doing so. I do not like his response, as he acts the way a lot of other people do, which is to say he says essentially “you’ll grow out of that.” Verbatim he says he “used to think that [he] don;t want kids at all until I realized that if I am 60 years old with no kids my life won’t nearly be as meaningful.” Ouch. I am sure he did not mean to insinuate that my life would be meaningful, but I still didn’t like the sentiments. He asks some follow up questions regarding my stance on my procreation decisions, then we don’t really speak for a few days. 

Randomly he hits me up the Sunday before Memorial Day, saying, “Ayyye what’s up? My b for falling out of the convo. We can pick that up later.” Great start. He’s at his friend’s condo on the beach and is partying hard, he’s intoxicated at the very least. I learn later that he was on ecstasy. He talks about MDMA being used for medical purposes and I am slightly interested, but it’s a weird conversation. 

Memorial day I follow up to make sure he’s alright. We plan a date for that Thursday at Armature works, double date with our dogs.

 I’m feeling weird about it, because of the kids thing a little bit, so I try to cancel since there’s rain that day and you sit outside only at the restaurant. He basically turns down my cancellation, saying it’ll clear up. I push through and go, knowing the worst case, my dog will be there too. 

I arrive and everything is fine. The logistics of the restaurant are weird, as it is a food court style. Since we had the dogs, and they weren’t allowed inside, we had to take turns going in to order our food. We chatted before going to take our turns, then got the food. Once we had our food and were able to stay and chat. I was surprisingly having a great time. We covered a ton of topics and conversation flowed well. The dogs were more or less well behaved as well.

We got on a lot of deep topics such as his parental issues, and how he used to have a drug problem. I discussed many of my parental issues and some of my baggage as well. We basically were forced to leave, as we were still talking by the time Armature works was closing down. We dropped our food off and he asked if I wanted to take the dogs walking down riverwalk. We continued to walk and talk for a good hour, before calling it a night. I definitely thought that the night would end with a kiss, but he hit me with the ole hug. I didn’t really know how to take that, and seeing as I had a date the next day as well, didn’t want to look too much into it right now until I saw how things were going to go with Roger*. 

From there on, he didn’t ask me out again, I didn’t either. It just kinda fizzled away naturally, as he would hit me with a “lmao” in response to my Snapchat stories occasionally.

[tfw-no-tennis]

hhhhhhxh

more abt hxh bc my last post was too long n i had to split it off holla

so i left off talking abt when gon woke up....i love how polite gon is to pretty much everyone - hes such a good lad all the time. s/o to his aunt for raising him right (tho i think hes also just a rlly good boy inherently too)

also is he named gon bc ging was like ha ha im boutta be GONe lol seeya kid!!!! like ????

i find it interesting that kurapika and hisoka fought....we really havent seen them interact at all yet. also hisoka is so smirk-y i hate that bitch...what did he say to kurapika?????? 

this poor red shirt old guy lmao hisoka is SO clearly uninterested in fighting him and then he fucking dies. rip mdude

what did hisoka whisper to HIM??? guess we’ll never know #RIPLegend

oh mannnn if killua had just won against pokkle then he wouldnt have had to deal with illumi doing That to him :( my smug son......

leorio is such a good dude....also its so funny to me how tall and lanky leorio is, espec compared to the other 3 main characters lmaoooo

or maybe those 3 are just rlly short??? i mean gon and killua are literally 12, but whats kurapikas excuse

GODDDD I HATE THIS BIIIIITCH. FUCK OFFFFFFF tho the evil piano music slaps. but jeeeeesus illumi is so creepy and awful, and seeing him take off his disguise is not any better a second time...he and hisoka truly deserve each other wrow

does illumi have hair powers??? cause it kinda looks like it. or maybe hes just gay and dramatic 

ok but the sick electric guitar riff (?) that played when illumis face was revealed was lowkey kinda hilarious

man i was so wrong abt killua knowing that that was illumi :( poor kid

killua is immediately freaking out and meanwhile illumi looks bored as hell. dude ur the worst 

killua: [freaking out] illumi, completely blank-faced: hey 

I HATE HIMMMM even tho his catman design is regrettably kinda cute

why do illumi and hisoka both have such snatched waists i hate this

wtf so killua has another different brother??? i assumed he attacked illumi....how many fuckgin zoldyk sibling are there?????

leorio ur too normie for this conversation lmao. also wow fucked up family huh

killua looks so like...small and helpless, which is so at odds from what we’ve seen of him so far :( this poor kid

illumi totally has some weird brain powers man callin it now 

gon: wow killuas family sounds wack...  satotz: oh lmao you havent even heard the rest 

KILLUA ;_; 

this poor baby assassin :( :( :(

IMMM INCONSOLABLE. HE WANTS TO BE FRIENDS W/GON.......ARE YOU KIDDING....AUGHHHHHHHH

meanwhile gon decided he and killua are BEST FRIENDS like 10 mins after they met. GOD 

like in the recap ep he called killua his best friend ;_; and meanwhile killua doesnt even think they ARE friends god destroy me 

this calming classical music is throwing me off vbhjfjhbsdkgndks

i sense that leorio and kurapika are rapidly acquiring a new son

DAMN THIS IS SO FUUUUCKEDDDDD illumi is such a crusty bitch wow. leave killua alone asshole 

all that stuff abt killua like, only thinking he wants to befriend gon but really wanting to kill him....that sure sounds like some ‘worst fears’ type of shit for someone like killua....illumi is such a classic abuser wow

i have 2 know is satotz like, repeating this entire conversation verbatim in a calming monotone to gon rn. like....

LEORIOOOOO I LOVE UUUUUUUU AUGHHHH him telling killua it doesnt matter if illumi is his brother, fuck that guy, beat him up as usual and leave.....ooooughhhh leorio is such a good dude ;_; 

and the OF COURSE him saying the obvious - that gon and killua are ALREADY friends....i love this, i feel like leorio said all the exact things the audience is thinking...yet it still didnt get thru to killua bc hes so rattled by illumi appearing, and the abuse in general 

i think if gon were there things wouldve gone much differently 

of COURSE crusty bitch illumi is like oh ok now i have to kill gon.....biiiiitch i hate uuuuu 

also that just shows that hes lying to killua (which we already knew obvs), bc if it were inevitable that killua would kill gon to like, test himself or w/e, then why not just wait for that to happen? that would have a much bigger impact on killua than illumi killing gon....its obvious that illumi is just manipulating him, but killua is too BSOD to be able to tell (also, hes 12)

ok bitch illumi is preaching abt not needing friends but he and hisoka are definitely fucking and theyve been teamed up for the entire hunter exam it seems.....what a hypocrite. hate this guy

god im so glad we didnt rlly get to see whatever the fuck illumi did to that random hunter examiner guy’s face. jeeeeesus. also i cant tell but i wonder if him forcing that info out of the guy was the result of his freaky mind powers or if the guy was just like oof ouch pins in me face

LEORIO AND KURAPIKAAAA THE PROTECT GON SQUAD!! and joined by new member hanzo!!! who ironically beat gon up for 3 hours str8 like, a very short amount of time ago lmao. but still i love that sm

illumi u dumb bitch.....tho i dont buy for a minute that he didnt already realize that killing gon would disqualify him...he defs just wanted to get under killuas skin even more :^( 

KILLUAAAA ;_; when he goes to step back from illumi but illumi tells him not to....ughhh HATE this guy, leave this poor kid alone. no wonder he wanted to leave

illumi saying theres only 1 way that killua can stop him - does he mean by killing him, or something more specific, like some forbidden zoldyk murder technique? 

‘your beloved gon’ wow gay. theyre 12 and theyre dating ok. killua is literally that kid whos like wow i wonder if gon likes me...and meanwhile gon is like wow cant believe me and killua have been dating for 3 months now

leorio saying ‘we wont let him kill you or gon’ ;_; leorio ily sm...thats like the exact right thing to say - hes offering protection and reassurance as an adult figure...unfortunately killua is clearly too freaked out to even process anything outside of illumis gaslighting and abuse 

also illumi is defs doing something to killua w/his eyes via his freaky mind powers. js

illumi i hate you stop being weirdly cute. augh 

classic abuse tactics, being like ha ha nvm i wasnt gonna kill gon! jk!

killua just shutting down completely after that :( :( noooo

and then he kills that old guy and leaves, ‘proving’ that illumi is right....noooooOOOO

and now we boutta see gon go FULL shounen protag for the first time, oh FUCKKKKKK yesssss

this is the first time we’ve seen gon angry oooh man and of COURSE its on killuas behalf,....im so fuckign emo already looooord

god ok the episode preview where its gon saying ‘do leorio and i look alike?’ YES U DO LOL youre father and son so jot that down 

oof, gon and illumi have such fundamentally different POVs on like, family and life and morals, and you can tell by their 4-line exchange before gon does the ICONIC one-handed grab’n���fling

AUGHHHH gon saying hes gonna rescue killua....SO good...he recognizes that killuas family is wack as hell and killua shouldnt be w/them - the classic ingrained ‘found family is more important than blood family’ stuff

tho thats an interesting contrast to gon himself, whos looking for his deadbeat dad

‘but it wasnt his choice’ that so good ily gon BEST boy, hes so perceptive and good......he knows that killuas hand was forced and that he needs to be RESCUED (love that word choice) from his shitty abusive family

of course kurapika and leorio voiced complaints ;_; best parents 

kurapika should be a lawyer tbh 

leorioooo ;_; such a good dude, saying he should be disqualified instead 

HOW is leorio a stronger combatant than that old dude hvbajufjbsja that guy had some moves it seemed, and leorio has,....a knife? a briefcase? the classic premed attitude of ‘fuck it, i could die anytime, lets do this’? like.....cmon vhabjdfjbhsf i refuse to believe this man is of any use in a fight. ill believe it when i see it

pokkle pls ur not plot-important enough to be jumping into this convo rn

tho i am curious abt what hisoka said to kurapika. tho i agree that thats irrelevant to the discussion 

gon repeating satotz’s wisdom :’) and saying that killua will definitely pass if he takes the exam again...ough

gon is SO GOOD i cant get over it !!!!!!!!! AUGHHHH....recusing killua from his abusive family and making it so killua never has to see them again is like...so good. what a good good perfect boy.

also thats like, the perfect response to this. killing illumi would just start a ton of drama, and killua would be conflicted abt that....but removing killua from his situation is perfect 

ok ive ranted a lot ill talk abt the rest later woohoo

PREDICTIONS: 

i predict that hisoka will show up in this upcoming zoldyk arc somewhere bc illumis gonna be in it (i assume) and theyre dating. also hisoka is a central character so itd make sense for him to show up in the second major arc. tho tbh this could end up being completely false and i wouldnt be that shocked lmao

i think leorio is gonna get Big Sad someday bc hes like, so normal compared to the other MCs, and also hes suuuuch a bleeding heart (i love him....) so i feel like thats gonna lead to some sadness for him once his friends start doing crazy shit or w/e 

also i predict that if he gets nen itll be like healing nen or st. does that even exist??? idk jack shit abt nen lmao 

i think that illumi has hypnosis powers or something, even just based on design alone. it could defs be for aesthetic (character design in hxh is wild), but his eyes look noticeably different from any other characters. also he was doing some freaky shit to killua. also i held this prediction before seeing the part where this is brought up so we’ll see if its right lmao 

as for this upcoming arc -  ruth and i are wondering if itll be similar to the vinsmoke drama in one piece - character goes back to abusive family, squad goes to rescue them...and then character refuses to be recused. w/sanji it was partially bc the vinsmokes threatened to kill zeff, his TRUE dad, but i predict in this case it could be more like the zoldyks saying ‘look killua these 3 weirdos showed up looking for you, convince them to leave or we’ll kill them’ and killua will be like, oh shit bc like.....think abt it. the vinsmokes targeted zeff (and not the strawhats) bc they knew they could easily kill him. same goes here, i assume - a family of trained assassins vs Good Good Fishing Rod Smell-Power Boy (who hasnt thrown a single punch yet), Lanky Dr Man With A Switchblade We Havent Seen Him Use Onscreen, and Mx 2 Wooden Sticks, Bloodlust, and Arachnophobia - 3 For 1 Deal! its a no-contest. so thats one thing i could see happening, potentially 

im way too tired to remember my other predictions rip lmao

[letscuttothefeeling]

season three episode three

Let me start off by congratulating the producers – not you Ish – on this great episode. I finally feel like we’re back to THE SHOW. Not a weird Bachelor spin-off with minimal drama and blatantly horrible editing (see: Juliette’s grad party scene, where Chloe’s nails change color DURING THE PARTY.) Nope, we’re done with that and back to the good stuff, so on that note, let’s cut to the feeling.

Come ON MTV it’s like you weren’t even trying. And yes, I created this, and no, I don’t have a life.

I know I’m going to like an episode when it starts off with the angelic sounds of my lord and savior, Ariana Grande. As break up with ur girlfriend, i’m bored plays, we zoom into Cara’s house. Personally, I’m hoping to see Victoria. Alas – it’s just Cara…and Garrett. God, Garrett STOP. Your ex-girlfriend has already outlined exactly how Cara is using you – since she did the exact same thing - and you’re still asking Cara on dates? This is so cringe. Where’s Victoria?!

Even though Garrett can’t score a date, Brandon can! Maybe instead of asking Cara to go look at babies, you should ask her to rollerblade, G Baby. As Amanda and Brandon glide around the Key, we learn that Brandon is celebrating his 24th birthday on Friday! And it’s “24, Like, Karat Gold Slash, Like, Pirate, Sort Of” themed, of course! He debates whether or not to invite Juliette while giving us viewers amazing helmet safety tips. Meanwhile, after Cara has removed G Baby from her property, she makes her way to Chloe’s to checkuppé on her. This is where we learn that Chloe has officially called the cops and filed a police report. I have a lot of opinions, but more on this later.

Okay, something I haven’t touched on because I wish it wasn’t happening I haven’t had time is that Kelsey and Jared have sparked a little romance. If you don’t remember, while Kelsey was dating her random LA boyfriend, Jared was the 86th person she cheated on him with. I see this going well! I mean, it always works out when you leave someone you cheated on for the person you cheated with. Right? Plus, there’s Twisted Tea and mudding involved, so Kelsey can rest assured she’ll be going on sophisticated and expensive dates instead of the shitty and poor dates that Garrett used to take her on.

FINALLY, the C + V scene I need and deserve. Donning a black one-piece that contrasts perfectly with her frozen fruity pink drink, Victoria is effortlessly exuding two polar opposite, chaotic energies. I’m getting “sassy”, but I’m also getting “I’ll fuck you up if you insult my 90’s Quiksilver skater shoes.” AKA, I’m getting Avril during the Girlfriend era. And I love it. As she floats next to Cara in the pool and shockingly proclaims that she’s not into guys, (what?!) I’m on my knees praying to God himself that she become a main cast member vis-à-vis a relationship with Cara. It’s Victoria’s show, and we’re all just living in it, baby. After Cara’s bizarre comment about how her parents punish her by locking her in their wine cellar (weird flex, but okay) Victoria giggles about how dumb Garrett is and we move on.

We leave C and V for a Madisson and Kelsey reunion, but it’s not a happy one. Madisson delivers the unfortunate news that Chloe may be pressing charges. Oh no! I would be really upset by this, but I can’t focus on the content of Madisson’s words because of how she’s delivering them. Madisson, we fully understand that you’ve been to an acting class in LA because you won’t shuttupé about it, so you can stop over-enunciating everything that comes out of your mouth. Thanks!

After Kelsey tells Juliette about her impending stint in Florida prison, she gets understandably upset. Luckily, Boring Robby is there to teach Juliette how to apologize. Don’t say he never did anything for her! I want to point out that Kelsey truly has been redeeming herself this season. She’s been pretty level headed and a very good friend. If only Boring Robby could do the same… Later in the day, Kelsey confronts Robby about another thing Madisson spilled during their meetup. Apparently, while Juliette was fighting everyone last week, Boring Robby had the audacity to applaud her! How gauche. Boring Robby vehemently denies these claims, saying, “Always take the high road, because the low road is way too crowded,” and, “Silence is the best way to react to a fool, and happiness is the best revenge.” First of all, stop lying about things that were FILMED on national television. You’re now Boring Robby: The Liar. Second of all, why are you the human embodiment of my ninth grade Pinterest quotes board?

Grab your pillows and sleeping bags because we are heading to a SLUMBER PARTY! But before anyone can start braiding each other’s hair, Chloe begins to stir the pot, yet again. She delights in bringing up Brandon and Amanda’s new relationship right in front of Madisson. But to distract from the awkwardness, Amanda changes the subject to her missing phone. After the fight, she lost her phone and no one has been able to find it. She starts to give us a play-by-play analysis of why and how she thinks Boring Robby: The Liar stole it. I’m sorry, am I watching Joe Goldberg on You, or am I watching Amanda on Siesta Key? 

It’s the day of the BG’s bday, and I’m so excited to see everyone’s 24 Karat Gold Slash Like Pirate themed outfits! They don’t disappoint - G Baby and Victoria are even matching!! I’ve never screamed so loudly in my life. Garrett obviously refuses to drink, and we’re off to the party. But first, there’s one guest who needs to arrive.

As Alex descends from his family’s PJ strapped with Louis luggage, a BEER, and fresh digs straight from the Siesta Key mall, I can feel the blood coming back into my body. I can feel individual atoms multiplying. I can feel my soul re-entering my empty, hollow frame. I feel exactly like Bella in the fourth Twilight novel, Breaking Dawn. After her half-human, half-vampire baby has eaten its way out of her uterine lining, Edward is forced to do the unthinkable: steal Bella’s mortal soul by turning her into a vampire so she has a shot to survive. (It’s the second time in the series that vampire Edward is forced to resist sucking all of Bella’s enticing blood to save her – that’s true love.) As she starts to respond to his venom, each and every one of her cells begins to freeze over and restore life to her body. Suddenly, she is awake. Her vision is sharp, her mind is clear, and she’s never looked better. And that’s EXACTLY how I felt as Alex exited his plane.

I expect nothing less than for Alex to arrive at BG’s party with three underage Ukrainian mail-order brides. And he doesn’t disappoint. Unfortunately for the brides, he immediately begins discussing relationships with Cara. It’s fun to see Cara pride herself in not cheating on people for the past year. I kind of feel like that should be a given, but okay. As they’re undressing each other with their eyes talking, Garrett is having an interesting convo of his own. Classic Chloe starts stirring the pot AGAIN by telling Garrett that Cara is using him. Really Chloe? Cara is supposed to be your best friend. What’s more shocking is that VICTORIA starts to betray Cara as well. This causes an immediate fight between Carrett. They leave the party and start screaming at each other in the jungle. I’m so enraptured by the fight that I momentarily forget they’re at a themed party and fixate on Garrett’s outfit. Why am I watching Garrett Miller scream in a jungle dressed as a pirate? Oh, right. Anyways.

Even though Cara and G Baby are scream fighting, the party continues to rage on. And everyone is makingoutté. Kelsey and Jared, Amanda and Brandon... something is in the air! It must be the pirate theme. #LetsGetScurvy. But one person isn’t feeling the love – Madisson. With Dad gone, she has no one to kish. Clearly bothered by watching her friend and ex-boyfriend eat each other’s faces, Madisson decides to give Brandon the sad news that Amanda is using him. Whether or not she is, Madisson has no right to give her opinion on the matter. And BG says exactly that. Good for him! Another person surprisingly not making out with someone is Alex. He’s too busy being an asshole to Kelsey and telling anyone who will listen that Boring Robby is bad news. Probably true, but literally no one can be worse than he is, except maybe Pauly Paul. In other news, WHERE IS PAUL.

Unfortunately, the next scene doesn’t involve Pauly or Victoria – just Chloe and Juliette. Juliette shows up after Chloe gets out of work to hopefully avoid jailtime hash things out. Now strap in because I’m about to explain exactly where I stand with the Chloe/Juliette drama, and if you aren’t completely focused, please take a 10mg Adderall, wait ten minutes, and check back in.

Okay, hopefully, you’ve taken amphetamines and can really dial in. Here goes: I realize that Chloe is a necessary evil - it’s an indisputable fact that there would be no show without her antics. No one is as shameless when it comes to talking shit and completely ruining their friendships for the sake of television. And for that, I deeply respect Chloe. (I realize that sounds sarcastic but I am dead serious. Thank you for taking one for the team, Chloe.) But I simply cannot stand when she gets what’s coming to her then plays the innocent victim. Obviously, violence is not cool, and Juliette should be embarrassed by her behavior. But Chloe knew exactly what the outcome of that conversation would be. She was banking on a wasted Juliette reacting horribly. With Chloe, you simply cannot win. Earlier in this episode, Chloe verbatim says to Madisson and Cara, “If the roles were reversed, I would have shown up at her house, apologizing.”

Now cut to this scene, where Chloe verbatim says to Juliette (after Juliette shows up at her workplace) “I really don’t know why you’re here, so if you can please leave and leave me alone.”

Juliette said it best herself – “Chloe is my best friend when I’m miserable. When I’m actually thriving…this type of stuff happens.” Let’s take a moment to analyze the similarities and differences of how Chloe and the rest of the cast handled Chloe’s altercation with Amanda during season one, in which Amanda broke Chloe’s nose and sent her to surgery. After sending Chloe to the hospital, Amanda justifies her actions by saying that Chloe started it first. So everyone is okay with Amanda decking Chloe. The fact is, Chloe started it first here, too. Chloe swatted at Juliette’s hand first. So why did everyone grab coffee with Amanda, but ostracize Juliette? Amanda even had a sit-down conversation with Chloe after her surgery expecting Chloe to apologize. The inconsistencies and hypocrisy present…I CANNOT.

Chloe acts like everyone’s best friend to stay relevant and betrays them the second it benefits her. While I do agree that Juliette is only apologizing because she’s scared Chloe will press charges, I think people who talk shit, unfortunately, get hit, on occasion. Until next week!

[fandomshatepeopleofcolor]

Argie here and i can corfirm colorism is a thing and white/light skinned Argentinians are quite racist towards black/native/dark-skinned latinos but also, they're weirdly colorblind? In a very weird sense. My classmates were saying racist shit and my black teacher goes "hey i'm black stop it" and the kids go "WHAT i didnt know??" And this happens a lot? And they stopped like they genuinely didnt know he was black even dark skin kids say racist shit like they dont realize they have dark skin wtf

Nobody said colorism isn't a thing, you're bringing up something not related to the convo. The others were saying that argentinians are lighter than every other Latine and that we all have privilege for that.

But yeah, I've seen what you're saying, hell, some of it has happened verbatim. I had a black classmate and she once told us that she found out she was black at age 13 when her mom told her, and we were all surprised at the time like 'oh you're black??? Really????'. Now, knowing more about racial issues and stuff, looking back at her in pics and such, it is far obvious she is. It is... really weird because it's not like we were purposefully ignoring it or being like 'i dont see race uwu', we just genuinely didn't know.

Frankly, i think it's related to a complete whitewashing of everything in education. We don't learn about racism unless we choose to, we are not taught of any historical figures of color, at school we only learn "slavery happened. The genocide of indigenous people happened". I started to learn about it in depth only in my last two years of high school, and only because I had the best history teacher ever, and one of my sociology teachers was an extremely cool guy who knew this happened so he geared his class towards current social issues.

This literal color-blindness you mention is real and it's an actual problem, because it's not 'we are all equal', it's 'i don't know my history or my roots so i absorb the teachings and beliefs of my oppressors'. I'm pretty sure that's where the 'self-hating argie who wishes they were european' thing comes from. ~mod ara.

[squidproquoclarice]

I don't know if it's just me, but, it's crazy how many people overlook the wordplay during the scene with Sadie. If players have low honor she tells Arthur he's her best friend, with players with high honor she says; "you're the best man I've ever known apart from Jake." They're HUGE word differences, and I'm positive that the high-honor one is implying more towards a romantic possibility for Arthur if he had lived. Part 1.

[Part 2]. Cause, if there was no romantic set up, then I would assume they would use her calling him her best friend the low honor option (friendzoning, catering to platonic, if that’s all it was.) As the high honor bit, but instead they use complete big word play, and the low honor is the friend zoning. Like I’m positive that line is 100% romantic / she was suppose to be his future partner.~~~~~~~~~~Full disclosure: I’ve only played high honor.  Personal gaming preference, plus for Arthur’s plot arc, it makes the most sense by far.  But thanks to the magic of YouTube, I have seen a lot of the low/high honor differences in dialogue for various situations, and yeah, the Hanging Dog convo is one of them.And you’re right.  There’s significant change in viewpoint and relationship between (maybe not verbatim but close) “You’re a confusing man, but you just might be the best friend I got”, and “Aside from my Jake, you’re the best man I know.”  One of them is expressing that she’s not quite sure what to make of him, but fairly acknowledges he’s been faithful and helpful to her.  The other is unrestrained praise for him, and I don’t get the impression that Sadie Adler doles out gushing compliments lightly.  

One quick tangent and request–can I discourage the use of the word “friendzone”?  It’s a (usually) gendered pejorative that originated with men who were bitter the women they wanted didn’t return the feeling, and they felt she owed them that simply for their wanting her.  So they had to make it into some kind of offended outrage at being “just” a friend to a woman.  But nobody ever owes their love to someone only because that person wants them.  So there’s no friendzone.  There’s only unrequited/one-sided love.Back on track: Sadie is thankful for the supportive role Low Honor has played but is guarded about him as a person, but she unabashedly cares about and admires High Honor as a person.  That’s a huge difference in how she views him, and how she relates to him.  Granted, I don’t think that was an overt romantic move.  It couldn’t be at that time.  Neither of them is in a good place emotionally for that.  Even if Arthur’s TB wasn’t a factor, they’re on the run, mourning friends, incredibly stressed out, Arthur has a very deeply damaged sense of self-worth that he needs to address in order to have healthy relationships, and Sadie’s still deeply grieving Jake and processing the person she’s become since his death.  Telling Arthur he’s one of the best men she knows would have been deeply personal, but still platonically noncommittal.  But Sadie doing so and specifically deeming him as a peer to Jake, the good man she loved so fiercely that his death has affected her this much, seems to tip it pretty firmly towards a thread of romantic interest she’s just not ready to act on at that time.

So yeah, that convo seems to be yet another big neon sign that Sadie was the love interest whose content got whittled down when they decided Arthur wasn’t going to survive the game and a fully realized romance didn’t make sense.  And there are definitely a lot of those Sadie/Arthur-as-endgame indicators at this point.  Some part of me suspects they felt a bit hemmed in by RDR1 and the fact Arthur clearly isn’t a factor in 1911′s events, but, y’know, there are other ways to explain that than tragic TB death.  ;)

[scifi-gk]

Okay, one more Blacklist theory post before I call it. I was reading up on Blacklist theories on Reddit (don’t do it. Really, step away from the Reddit theories 😏) and one of them pitched a theory I had heard before here on tumblr: That Red inadvertently gave away to Berlin the fact that Liz is important to him by attending Liz and Tom’s wedding.

Uh, no.

Here’s my convoluted thoughts (because I’ve spent all freaking day working out timelines and it led me to this *squirrel*).

EP 508 - I was thinking of the convo Red had with Tom in 508 when Red tells Tom he was in the Andes working for the Colombian government negotiating the release of soldiers from FARC rebels when he found out about Liz and Tom’s engagement. Red wasn’t able to get back until the day of the wedding (and if the wedding was indeed in March, that makes sense since that’s the middle of the rainy season in Peru. Anyway...). He’d come out of the mountains “blinded by rage, flew 2300 miles, absolutely certain that [Tom] must die.” So noting that Red was in the mountains at least long enough for Tom to have proposed and planned a wedding - even if it was a quickie (and, completely random thought, WHY WASN’T SAM AT THE WEDDING??? Anywho, a question for another time, maybe? LOL **SQUIRREL**). Figure they dated 2-3 months and were married inside of 2 months time (just a guesstimate considering the story). {+5months}

EP 118 - Tom proposes to Liz to “renew their vows” to distract her when he suspects she’s on to him (he actually proposes to distract her a lot. I mean A LOT, meaning every time. Just saying). His “brother” Craig knows she’s onto him, saying “You honestly don’t see it, do you? How far in over your head you are. She knows exactly what she’s doing. This chick is smart.” But Tom refuses to listen, stubbornly believing he knows Liz better than that -- and wrongly assuming she’s not as smart as she is (I actually miss this Liz, **sigh**). In EP 116 Tom says they’ve been married for two years and she’s easy to read. {+2years}

(Incidentally, Red says in this ep - 118 - that one year ago - from the time Liz confronts Red after she finds that hideous blue thing she gave to Tom in the trash at Tom’s bolt-hole - Red tracked Tom buying 3 passports from a guy Red used. So while they can try to retcon the relationship to Tom “fell in love” (which he says verbatim in 508) that’s total BS. He was still working a year into their relationship. I would argue that he actually was the one who pulled the trigger on the hit of that Russian. And Tom clearly states in 116 when Jolene says Berlin is having doubts, Tom, losing his shiz, says: “Yeah? Well, Berlin doesn’t have a damn clue. Do you have any idea how many candidates there were? They chose me. I’ve done everything they asked. I married the woman, for God’s sake. I’ve made her think my entire world revolves around her. And now it’s been two years, and I’ve heard nothing.” This is what bugs me about the theory that Red inadvertently gave up the info to Berlin that Liz was important to Red by attending her wedding. That simply can’t be. According to Tom, marrying her was part of the plan that Berlin was already working. My own private theory is that Tom, the original douche-bag pre-retcon, liked Liz’s looks, went after what he wanted, got it, felt sorry for her (his words), then realizing the shizzle he’s in, married her to protect his own butt, believing that if Red had hired Tom “to protect her” as Red corrects Tom in 508 [not spy on her], Red would have a harder time killing him [Tom] if Liz could be hurt in the process. I mean, in season one, he DOES literally use Liz as a human shield. It’s kind of weird how much Tom wants Liz because he believes Red does, too. Weird and creepy. Wow. I’m not usually a Tom-hater. I mean, I don’t LIKE the guy but...okay, enough. Good night.

[riancraigjohnson-blog]

Hi, I just saw your post about having legitimate complaints about TLJ... I haven't seen it yet, but was wondering what your complaints were (and whether it's worth me spending my money going to see it). I'm not bothered by spoilers.

good evening dear! to make things easy, i’m just gonna make one hugeass post and do a bullet list.

no consistency to story-telling

you wanna add new force powers? fine! great! but keep them consistent!

yoda appears to tell luke that the jedi are garbage & should end ( yoda???? of all people???? instead of someone who would actually think that given personal experience, like, y’know, ANAKIN )

also somehow yoda can call down lightning and cause real-world damage to a tree by setting it ablaze? why hasn’t yoda or obi-wan or anakin literally just come down and stop the order by doing something like this if they can literally control nature from the afterlife????

someone ( leia )…. with no proper force training…. can somehow defy…. dying in space? and also project themselves through space while barely conscious?

rian seems to want to keep this narrative of ‘evERYonE caN HAve ThE foRCe’ but when given the chance to make one of three kids force-sensitive, one kid being a black boy, one a white girl, and one a white boy, in a series where we have leading white female and black male protagonists and a white male villain………. somehow rian decided it was best to give the white boy the force? in a trilogy where the leAD CHARACTER IS A FEMALE AND ONE OF THE LEADING MALES IS A BLACK MAN?????????? GROUNDBREAKING

snoke connected rey and kyle via force skyping, but if his whole goal was to just……….. get rey to come to the supremacy after he manipulated her to believe in kyle’s redemption, like….. why do all that shit. why not just….. read her mind. clearly he can influence people and affect people from long distances so what the fuck why would he bother with that weird force bond shit. like if vader can fucking force choke a guy over a video conference, i don’t see why it’s that much more of a stretch to just have snoke read rey’s mind or manipulate her without using kyle

luke fucking astral projecting himself onto crait, despite not knowing they were on crait, after shutting himself off from the force like 10 years prior to tlj– somehow he’s able to hold a long-term projection of himself to taunt kyle and buy time for the fleeing resistance? and then, at the end, he just….. gives up and dies? becomes one with the force? ???????

lame foreshadowing/repetition

so, when kyle and rey’s first skype session goes live, kyle makes a point of asking rey if she was causing this, this almost astral projection skype convo from light years away, only to say ‘no….. the strain would kill you.’ cue the end of the movie, where it’s revealed luke was just projecting himself all along, and…. he dies.

there’s also this scene where luke asks rey what the force is, and being inexperienced in it, she makes a comment about it being about making things float. luke says no, everything you said is not-true– its not about making rocks float, ( which is then brought back as a concept at the very end of the movie, when rey has to float rocks to free the resistance from the caves they ran into, again, bad foreshadowing. ) this is then brought back later when astral luke is facing off with kyle, and kyle says something about destroying the resistance and the jedi…. only for luke to, verbatim, say what he said to rey about every word he said being not-true.

this almost bashing it into our heads notion of ‘kill the past, it’s only holding you back’ that’s mentioned by kyle, that seems to be the central thread– the past is just that, the past. it’s time to completely ignore it and never look back. it’s time to wipe away the misty-eyed wonders of your hero worship of your childhood… the reality is that people fuck up and your heroes are nothing and in the end we all die, jan. ( what a fun, hopeful message. )

but with this message, this idea of all your heroes are dead and don’t even think of people as heroes because that’s just unrealistic and you’ll be disappointed when they fuck up because we’re all human :))) – with that message we’re then meant to leave the theater somehow emboldened because luke took up the mantle of being a legend in the end…. even though there’s no reason he should be considered one when the only people who witness this astral fight technically are kyle and the first order– the resistance didn’t watch because they were trying to escape through the base’s tunnels with the time luke was buying them. so we’re supposed to treat luke as a legend now….. or are we supposed to hate this idea of hero worship? i’m getting mixed signals.

literally everything built up in tfa…. rey’s parents/backstory, snoke’s history/why the resistance even knows about him, why kyle became evil, why rey was able to call the lightsaber over him, why luke exiled himself but left a map………… so many questions to be answered! and tfa laid out a beautiful table for johnson to sit down at and serve dinner.

only johnson decided to say fuck you, fuck your dinner, fuck everything you thought about this movie because it doesn’t matter

rey’s parents? nobodies– drunkards. sold their daughter into literal slavery for drinking money.

snoke’s backstory? doesn’t fucking matter if we hyped him up as more dangerous than vader or palpatine– he’s dead now because he apparently couldn’t sense kyle about to kill him. the man can bond two people across light years of distance, but he doesn’t notice the lightsaber that’s slowly being turned towards him? hm.

why is rey so strong with the force? because it belongs to everyone and not the elite skywalkers who literally came from slavery so fuck you for that too

luke’s exile? because he felt bad about considering killing his nephew when he probed his mind and felt he was completely evil. luke skywalker considered killing his nephew, the son of his twin sister, son of his best friend– let that sink in.

kyle’s evil…. but he’s good, right? there’s good in him? or not. for someone who rian says we can all relate with ( sorry but i don’t relate with fascists :/ ) he made it pretty clear that he wanted kyle to be the end all be all villain by the end of 8. so ??????

also why is kyle so obsessed with vader? what the fuck? guess what? you don’t get to know. fuck you again.

character assassination / regression

luke was……… not luke. clearly. mark hamill has said it’s not luke. that’s more than a bit telling.

rey’s whole story literally revolved around following luke around ahch-to while learning jack shit only to then follow kyle around trying to say there’s still good in him. ( another fun fact rian……… luke only was willing to forgive vader when he realized that was his dad. why would rey feasibly trust her abuser / han’s murderer / man who put finn into a coma so quickly unless maybe they had a prior connection, particularly familial? )

finn was turned into a joke, called a coward, called selfish, tased by rose, slapped by hux……. like finn had literally no character progression at all.

poe went from well-decorated commander of the resistance, former officer with the new republic, to hot-headed flyboy who doesn’t take orders and just needs to learn from his white superiors :)))) like……………… do i even need to say it

leia was practically non-existent, and when she was, she slapped poe and later shot at him, stunning him. which, she…. y’know………. never did to han.

chewie and r2 were literally there as props, don’t even try and tell me otherwise. r2 showed luke leia’s hologram back from anh as a means to like…. spur him into action, but??? luke literally did nothing as well even after that?

lack of lando. can i include that? rian said he ‘wanted’ to include lando but he ‘wouldn’t work’ so i think rian just owes me money for having to even try to comprehend his bullshit

hux??? y’know, the fascist general with that terrifying speech before he decimated an entire star system? that hux? he’s just comic relief now. :)

he even has a ‘your mom’ joke thrown at him which is super funny when you remember he’s a bastard and never knew his birth mom so like #goodwriting

kyle is redeemable now!! even though he’s shown no remorse and has already been offered the chance to redeem himself but he took the opportunity to say ‘fuck you’ and kill han so…. ignore all that, ignore the fact that he’s a fascist leader and massacred children and countless others………….. his uncle tried to kill him so he must be in the right :)))

phasma…. you liked phasma? strong villain woman? yeah, well, watch the most unsatisfying fight that ends in finn winning purely by luck because she falls down into a firey pit. mmmmmm that sure was satisfying? :/

regular star wars rules need not apply?

bombs can just be dropped in space because gravity exists in the vacuum of the stars apparently

but a body on a blown-open bridge can remain on the bridge instead of getting sucked out into space….?

a slow-speed ship chase where one ship is running out of fuel? cinematic gold, apparently

for some reason the first order ships chasing the resistance couldn’t have just….. sped up their ships a bit and plowed them over / took them out with tie fighters for no other reason but….. it wouldn’t be convenient that way?

there’s a lot more than this but i’m tired and should have gone to bed hours ago, so i’ll probably just reblog this sometime tomorrow and add more, but here’s this for starters!