#the adult v child thing on the board....

[countess-of-edessa]

the deleted season 1 pll scene where ezra and aria are in his class and she says "the author was writing from an adult's perspective about things she remembered when she was a kid...things she was passionate about" and he says "do you think it's fair to apply that insight in retrospect?" and she says "yeah why not?" and then they have an innuendo-y conversation about children and adults' ability to express their feelings, and ezra is framed in such a way that the only words on the board behind him are "adult v. children".....like are you telling me this was not purposefully made to be a psychological horror. the way she is aligning herself with the child version of the narrator and the things the narrator experienced as a child with their romance. the fact that in a just world one day she would look back with an adult's perspective on this relationship she had when she was a kid and see it for what it was. the fact that he asks her if it would be fair to look back on the passions you had when you were a kid as an adult. the fact that this is the shot because it is literally adult v child.

and they did this by mistake???? this was supposed to be sexy???? and not on purpose?????

[shu-of-the-wind]

Okay so I have been asked to cast an eye over SB197 in the WV legislature, which is a new bill introduced to both add a new section to WV law as well as amend an existing section about child neglect and abuse, to see what potential issues I see.

TLDR: this is not only really dangerous from a standpoint of people being trans publicly, since one of the big editions is making being trans a display of obscene material and punishable by law, particularly within school grounds, but I am also seeing a lot of parental rights additions that make me REALLY SCARED of how trans kids are going to be treated in WV. I’m going to go thru it section by section and break down why each section frightens me, so hopefully this is educational for folks.

My creds: I worked in family law as an attorney for three years, I was affiliated with a public defenders office for that same amount of time working primarily with juvenile offenders, and I am still an attorney even if I haven’t worked in those fields for the last six months. Plus I’m trans. And I love WV and wanted to live there. So.

WEST VIRGINIA'S FUN NEW SHITSHOW HORROR HOUSE TIME.

The new section (formally titled §18-5-29, Obscene matter in public schools prohibited [I will be calling it the Obscenity section]) is about 700 words of absolute garbage. Essentially what it distills down to is the following.

Section A: prohibiting anything they label as “obscene matter” in or within 2500 feet of any public school library, classroom, building, or other facility under the supervision of the state board of education and requiring that any school officials or personnel who become aware of the material remove it from school grounds. “Obscene matter” is currently defined in §61-8A-1 of the WV code, pretty fuckin broadly (unconstitutionally so in my opinion but ~that’s me~). So basically anything an “average person applying contemporary community standards would find taken as a whole appeals to the prurient interest or is pandered to a prurient interest” (basically, anything ~unwholesome~), anything that an “average person applying community standards” would find depicts sexually explicit conduct in a “patently offensive way,” or anything that a reasonable person would find “taken as a whole, lacks serious literary, artistic, scientific or political value” which basically means E V E R Y THING.

Section B. This is the one that scares the shit out of me tbqh, cause this is folding in the amendment section I mentioned earlier to another part of the WV code specifically relating to child abuse and neglect. This section mandates that any “school officials or school personnel while engaged in a professional capacity or activity” shall be found to be a “custodian of children” under WV law. This basically makes EVERYONE a mandatory reporter, which like…most professionals already are, but at the same time this is EXPLICITLY MAKING ANYONE WHO WORKS IN THE SCHOOL IN ANY CAPACITY (see: any school officials or school personnel) mandatory reporters regarding “obscene matter.” So if an adult working at the school even SUSPECTS that a child has been exposed to “obscene material “while in any public school facility (unclear from the phrasing if the exposure happened on school property, or if the professional just learns about it there) and they decide not to report it (or they “fail to make a TIMELY report” when there’s no real definition of what timely means) then they can be prosecuted for a misdemeanor and imprisoned.

Section C. The state superintendent is going to establish a procedure to file complaints alleging violations of subsection A. If they find that a violation occurred, they will TELL THE COPS THAT IT HAPPENED.

Section D. No government funds (state or federal) can be used to develop or operate programs “designed to promote or encourage sexual activity, whether homosexual or heterosexual” or “to distribute or aid in distribution of any legally obscene materials” within 2500 feet of a school building or facility. Which, woof. We could unpack everything about that one, but it’ll be most of the review.

Section E. If an adult is found to have committed a felony under the child neglect statute related back to this one (if they’re found to have neglected kids by allowing them to view or possess “obscene material” is my understanding, this bill isn’t written that well) then they will be subject to penalties set forth in a felony, which I’m guessing (on average) is at least a year in jail and a thousand dollar fine, from what I’ve seen of WV felony statutes.

Section F. THIS IS THE OTHER REALLY SCARY ONE TO ME FROM A LEGAL STANDPOINT. “Any student or parent, guardian, or custodian on behalf of a student shall have civil cause of action against a county board, public charter school, state board” if the entity caused or was negligent in allowing a violation of the preceding sections, basically if they let anything slide PARENTS CAN SUE THE SCHOOL which like…if you’re talkin about a trans kid who is not out to their parents, they’re found to have “obscene material” (fanfiction?? Fanfiction could qualify here??? Risque art that isn’t even definitionally pornography?? A book abut transitioning that they’re hiding from their parents???) the school is mandated to not only out this kid to their parents, but the parents can then sue the school if the school DOESN’T OUT THE CHILD. Just spinning a hypothetical here but I hate this.

The rest of the bill is adding in definitions to Article 8A of the WV code, which are as follows. Anything italicized is the new language that has been proposed to be added by the bill; anything NOT italicized was already in the law:

(g) "Graphic," when used with respect to a depiction of sexually explicit conduct, means that a viewer can observe any part of the genitals or pubic area of any depicted person or animal during any part of the time that the sexually explicit conduct is being depicted.

(h) "Identifiable minor" means a person: (i) who was a minor at the time the visual depiction was created, adapted, or modified; or (ii) whose image as a minor was used in creating, adapting, or modifying the visual depiction; and (iii) who is recognizable as an actual person by the person’s face, likeness, or other distinguishing characteristic, such as a unique birthmark or other recognizable feature;  and shall not be construed to require proof of the actual identity of the identifiable minor.

(i) "Indistinguishable" used with respect to a depiction, means virtually indistinguishable, in that the depiction is such that an ordinary person viewing the depiction would conclude that the depiction is of an actual minor engaged in sexually explicit conduct.

(i)(l) "Matter" means any visual, audio, or physical item, article, production transmission, publication, display, exposure, exhibition, or live performance, or reproduction thereof, including any two- or three- dimensional visual or written material, stereopticon, moving picture, slide, film, picture, drawing, not exceeding $500 video, graphic, graphic novel, or computer generated or reproduced image; or any book, not exceeding $500 magazine, newspaper or other visual or written material; or any motion picture or other pictorial representation; or any statue or other figure; or any recording, transcription, or mechanical, chemical, or electrical reproduction; or any other articles, video laser disc, computer hardware and software, or computer generated images or message recording, transcription, or object, or any public or commercial live exhibition performed for consideration or before an audience of one or more.

(j)(m) "Minor" means a an person under eighteen years of age or a person representing himself or herself to be a minor. Any prosecution under this article relating to a victim who is representing himself or herself to be a minor shall be limited to investigations being conducted or overseen by law enforcement.

And the big doozy here is this one:

(k)(n) "Obscene matter" means matter that:

(1) An average person, applying contemporary adult community standards, would find, taken as a whole, appeals to the prurient interest, is intended to appeal to the prurient interest, or is pandered to a prurient interest;

(2) An average person, applying community standards, would find depicts or describes, in a patently offensive way, sexually explicit conduct; and

(3) A reasonable person would find, taken as a whole, lacks serious literary, artistic, political, or scientific value.

(4) For the purposes of any prohibition, protection, or requirement under any and all articles and sections of the Code of West Virginia protecting children from exposure to indecent displays of a sexually explicit nature, such prohibited displays shall include, but not be limited to, any transvestite and/or transgender exposure, performances or display to any minor.

(l)(o) "Parent" includes a biological or adoptive parent, legal guardian, or legal custodian. (underlining this one for the legal side note that remember that custodian language from before??? that's where this kicks in)

(m)(p) "Person" means any adult, partnership, firm, association, corporation, or other legal entity.

(n)(q) "Sexually explicit conduct" means a ultimate definitive sexual act, normal or perverted, between persons of the same or opposite sex, actual or simulated, including genital-genital, oral-genital, anal-genital, or oral-anal sexual intercourse, sodomy, oral copulation of any kind, sexual bestiality, sexual sadism and masochism, masturbation, excretory functions and lewd exhibition of the anus, genitals or pubic area of any person, or lascivious simulated sexual intercourse where the genitals, breast, or pubic area of any person is exhibited.

okay. well.

I mean. This is all just gonna be an absolute garbage hellscape if this gets passed. THE IMPORTANT THING IS IT HAS NOT BEEN PASSED. If you live in WV, you can call folks and say that you are AGAINST the passage of SB197. Call your state or county representatives! They are the people who vote on this! If your representative is on the Judiciary Committee, so much the better, that’s where the bill is being evaluated right now!!! Here is the list of delegates on the committee! Call them!! Make a point to be upset!!! Explain why you don’t want this bill to pass!!! Keep an eye on the Committee website for the dates that the public hearings will be held on this bill, because there likely will be a public hearing people can speak at!! You CAN actually do something, it’s not the end of the world.

Even if you do not live in WV and you live NEAR WV, then 100% reach out to folks you know who live there and give them a safe space to land if they need to get out of the state!!! There are things you can do. Just….a heads up to everyone that this is on the table and it’s something they’re going to be discussing.

[redcomet-stims]

Hullo internet people, I've decided to make a sideblog to try making stimboards, just wanna keep everything organised :)

This blog has NO DNI, and will take ALMOST any request you want. With that, though, comes no discourse. Or arguments. I want to make visually stimulating moodboards, not fight with you.

I'm not completely child-safe all the time...but I'm not NSFW at all...I'll take requests with "adult" sources, but won't use blatantly adult content at all :)

Do not expect consistent posting, but I try to post frequently!

Also, if you are requesting a character that isn't from something in my fandoms list, I would prefer you add a theme(s) (or maybe tell me a bit about the character if you so desire 🤫). It's not required, but it would be nice and would help me out! If you don't, I'll be fine though, but I might have a few inaccuracies, may go more off of appearance, or generally may not make something as high-quality as I could. I'll try my best to gather information and make it accurate nevertheless ^^

And just a note: if the things I write on my stimboards don't make sense, are rambly, or sound weird, it's probably because I make a lot of my stimboards late at night 😭 I am a massive night owl and like working on them later in the day because I feel like I can focus better on them, but sadly I am also not always the greatest at putting out my thoughts coherently at night 🙏 And yeah my image IDs might not always be the best due to working on them later too (or because I just genuinely don't know what the actual hell something is)

Inbox: 1

Pochita (Chainsaw Man) for @/shartmaster2010 (beautiful name.)

Requests: Closed ^^;

If I forget warnings, I'm so sorry and I'll edit it in as soon as possible.

I don't warn for hands, food, and uncommon phobias, but I will ALWAYS warn for blades/other weapons, medical imagery, gore/blood (fake or not), and flashing images!!!

My older boards don't have alt texts as of the moment!

Blacklist, whitelist, and fandom list under the cut so that this post doesn't IMMEDIATELY look a mile long!

My blacklist and whitelist! My blacklist is stuff I either don't feel qualified to do or just don't WANT to do. My whitelist is stuff I would love to do or am interested in.

---

Blacklist (only a few things):

Countryballs/Countryhumans (Hetalia is cool, though ^w^)

Agere/petre boards for fandoms I'm not familiar with or don't have a theme

Shipping real people

Zoophilic, incestuous, or large minor/adult age-gap ships (This rule does not apply to vocal synths, since they usually have no canon.) (Also, if you want to request a ship that falls in this criteria and is from a fandom in my fandoms list, you're free to ask, just know I might decline.)

Whitelist:

Anything on my fandoms list, of course

Pride flags

Ships, as long as it's easy to find information on them!

Alterhuman stuff (FYI, alterhumans (fictionkin and otherkin specifically), I'm one of y'all 😁👍)

Real people and V-tubers, as long as it's not in a weird way.

NSFW sources, but only if it would be relatively easy to find SFW pictures

Sources that people usually don't accept (whatever people put on their blacklists all the time, idk. I see Hazbin Hotel and Boyfriend to Death and stuff like that all the time on those lists so stuff like that?)

Niche medias!!! I wanna know!!!

Music-themed boards

Slightly suggestive themes (no sexual nudity involved please why would I want to put that)

Fandoms:

Vocaloid/vocal synths in general

Touhou Project

Mobile Suit Gundam

Neon Genesis Evangelion

Cowboy Bebop

Toilet-bound Hanako-kun

Project Diva

Needy Streamer Overload

Project Sekai

Bandori

Idolmaster

Girls und Panzer

Hetalia...

Puella Magi Madoka Magica

Urusei Yatsura

If what you wanted to request doesn't fit the whitelist or fandom list but isn't in the blacklist, STILL feel free to request!

[your-phantomfield]

CARL = CLOVER

i .. ii .. iii circa 2198 for @tokufan400

An older-sibling-esque relationship...

I.

What Carl Clover has had to live through would change anyone. The things he’s seen are the kinds of things one usually can’t find outside of a war zone. In many ways, his experiences have made it impossible for him to relate to others his age.

And considering who was behind the horrors he’s faced, it’s even worse with those older than him.

He knows adults are smarter than him. They know things he doesn’t, they’re able to hide things and lie to your face in ways he never would have imagined two years ago. They can hurt you in ways he couldn’t have made up in his worst nightmares.

So Carl doesn’t take any risks with those older than him. He can’t afford to. Not now- not with Ada depending on him.

II.

Because of this, it isn't easy to get through to Carl. His trust is hard to earn. The walls he puts up get higher in proportion to the age difference between you, and the power difference that creates.

But that doesn’t mean he doesn’t need someone looking out for him. It doesn’t mean he doesn’t want to be able to trust again. But to build that relationship with him, you have to be patient.

He keeps his distance by presenting as unfalteringly polite. This chilling formality is how he’s learned to protect himself, how he keeps himself from being tricked or used- so don’t try to push past it. Let him set the pace if you want to get close to him.

Try to treat him like an equal early on. That kind of respect will do more to prove your good intent than anything else could.

III.

He’s had plenty of people start off expressing concern for him, only to turn around and treat Ada like a monster. You have to avoid that if you want to be in his life. Try to be compassionate toward Ada. She may not look it, anymore, but she’s just as much of a traumatized child as he is. She’s worse off, in his opinion- at least he still has his body.

Be honest with him, of course. You’re not going to be able to understand her. Don’t try to pretend to be able to- you’ll do just as much damage by ignoring her ‘condition’ as you would by ignoring her humanity. But do respect what she was, at least, and what she still is to him.

He says she speaks to him. So trust him on that. Ask him to translate for her so that she isn’t left entirely out of conversations, just like you would for a ‘normal’ child with a disabled or speech-impaired sibling.

IV.

Meet him on his own interests. Even before his life was torn apart, Carl was always a little different. Sheltered, shy, oddly mature- being born into aristocracy made him a little… stuffy.

If you want to foster a surrogate sibling relationship with him, keep that in mind. Even in a good mood with his walls down, he might not look like a stereotypical fourteen year old boy. He’s not up to date with memes and doesn’t ‘get’ a lot of them. There may be some video games he’s open to trying, but he is prone to regurgitating that “I was told they rot your mind, we should play a more stimulating game instead” rhetoric. He thinks music with cuss words is pedestrian. (Yeah, this is the kind of kid that calls things “pedestrian.”)

V.

He loves chess, and he’s had no one to play with for a long time. He used to play with Ada, but she’s lost the dexterity to move the pieces; when they’ve tried to play, she ends up knocking the chess board over on accident, drawing attention to just how much they’ve both lost and unfortunately ruining the mood. So play with him. Even if you don’t know how or aren’t very good at it, he likes to teach, and it’s nice to see him have a chance to be all smug about his win streak- a chance to be a normal, bratty kid about something inconsequential.

If you humor him enough, he might be willing to try out some of your ‘more simple’ interests. He’s no good at sports, but as long as you encourage him, he can have fun with things like basketball or volleyball, where movement speed and quick thinking is more important than brute strength.

As for games those ‘brain rotting’ video games, he might never really ‘get’ first person shooters, but story driven games might be up his alley. Get him hooked on some good visual novels or JRPGs, he’ll like them more than he expects to.

VI.

There are actually a lot of hobbies he used to have that he was forced to abandoned after what happened to Ada. He and his sister both played violin, once upon a time. The incident stopped them, each for their own reasons- Ada can’t hold an instrument properly anymore, and Carl doesn’t have the space to be carrying around anything superfluous while living on the road. He used to read a lot, too, but his books had to be abandoned for the same reason as his music; he can’t be carting around a library from city to city.

It would be great if you could help get him back into the things he used to love. Buy or rent a violin for him; he can play it all he wants while he’s in town, and leave it at your place while he’s gone. Keep some books for him, and on occasion, offer to read to him. His sister used to read to him all the time, and he loved it. It’s one of the million things he misses about his old life.

VII.

On that note, invite him into your home, if you can. Whether you’re able to offer him a whole room or only a couch, that stability represents the end of his loneliness. Give him a place to keep his things, a place to return to when he’s about to fall apart, a place where he knows someone is waiting for him.

He’ll never be able to stay; his work is not yet done. So don’t insist. Don’t try to be his parent, don’t try to set curfews or bed times- just be there for him. He’ll come and go as at his as he needs to, but as long as he can trust you to see him off with a smile, he’ll keep coming back.

Whether he’s staying for days and waking up to share breakfast, or showing up at your door unannounced in the middle of a rainy night; give him a place where he’s welcome.

A ‘home base,’ at least, if he’s not yet ready for to accept a ‘home.’

VIII.

Speaking of breakfast. Could you cook for him? Even early in your friendship, before he’s willing to trust you, he’s always open to food. No matter how much he insists on his independence he still needs to eat.

He’s a horrible cook himself, so he hasn’t done the best job keeping himself fed while on the road. When he has money, he can buy himself a meal, but there aren’t a lot of restaurants that will allow him to go in with Ada without making a scene. He’s gone hungry often, and he knows it’s a problem; it weakens him and slows him down as a vigilante, and it worries his sister.

A home-cooked will melt his heart. He’s missed his sister’s cooking so much- this may not be able to make up for that, but it still means the world to him.

[calledbyflowers]

sans the skeleton

it/she there arent that many of the unforgiven, those who like walker escaped the underworld w fire of apos in order to allow them to retain whatever semblance of personhood they had left in the underworld if not to regain what htey had lost when they first fell, and most of them look pretty much like zombies. sans is rare in being a skeleton and it is also rare in that while most remember some flashes and glimpses of their previous lives (if not their names) and even those that dont almost always know how to walk and talk and generally be an adult but not sans. she came out as a skeleton didnt know how to walk or talk or anything just crawling around in the mud until the guards brought her in and took her to the temple of illanka (being in a sense a kind of lost child). they took her in and found that while it had the intellectuala capacity of a toddler it was learning at an extremely fast pace and within a few years had effectively regained the status of an adult (some patterns encoded deep even in her bones still coming thru). during her infantilization sans had liked kneading dough w alea a local baker and follower of illanka. they grew close together during the blood rituals, sans particularly liking the feel of blood against her bones as it almost made her feel like she had flesh again. she began wearing baggy dark robes speckled w lapus lazuli to somewhat reduce the oddity of her appearance. alea was friendly and straightforward and seemed to not care about the fact that sans was a skeleton, perhaps even to find it intriguing… and so as it became clear to everyone that it was time for sans to leave the cult sanctuary where it had resided for almost five years now and be subject to the whims of the markets and smugglers and the church (as opposed to the church of illanka was ofc simply a church). but it was okay as alea immediately offered it room and board in exchange for helping with baking, her bony body being more resistant to heat than aleas as sans effectively had no sense of touch. and it started to develop even more of a personality, an adult personality, through interacting more we alea and w the customers at the bakery and it was only then that it realized that the church of illanka as much as they had taken care of it and helped it grow and nurtured it fundamentally the domain of illanka is lost children and so long as she stayed under illankas care she could never truly escape beiung a child. and so now she was able to openly embrace her desire for alea, her sense of utter devotion and desire to worship alea in gratitude for she had helped it to escape from its shell from its prison and its just absolute love for her. it was initially abt the sex for alea since she thought the idea of getting fucked by a skeleton was pretty hot and if the skeleton was offering well hell lets give it a go? (alea was always more of a practical woman) but in time alea grew to fall in love w sans too. w the way sans could act kind of silly sometimes and she still didnt fully understand the world outside the cult (which alea ofc also belonged to but she was a part of it instead of falling under its protection. two v different relationships. one of partnership (specifically in a revenge plot. against who? who knows!) vs one of guardianship (of foster parent to foster child) alea thought it was kind of cute how naive it was and like alea noticed that sans started to say those things on purpose, after noticing it had made her smile and it was only then that it hit alea that it really was in love with her that it didnt just wanna have nasty bone sex w her but also share a life together. and alea realized she wanted that too… she wanted to spend quiet nights in with sans playing a game of five lines under the cool calming light of the great brick oven as it cools at night the last smolders just barely putting off the littlest light still after a long day of baking bread...

[darkrpfinders]

Frankenstein + his “monster”

Basic info ; Howdy, I’m 19, strictly looking for 19+ rp partners for a dark or dead dove mxm rp. I’m literate to advanced literate depending, but 2 paragraphs per message at least is fine! I’m more of a quality over quantity rp reply enjoyer- but I do type a lot when I’m really feeling up to it. My favourite thing about rping though is actually talking ooc about the rp, so I’m okay with slower replies as long as you seem enthusiastic about brain storming or even just sending stuff like songs, Pinterest board things etc etc.

So I recently watched poor things, Lisa Frankenstein and have FINALLY started reading the actual Frankenstein book (despite adoring the story for years, I never read it??) - so sufficed to say I have (primarily) science fuelled resurrection on the mind. I ALSO have mutual destruction and abuse plots on the brain- my idea is more classic Frankenstein than the movies I mentioned but yk-

The plot ; Now this is bare bones but, I’m imagining that the power imbalances between these two are constantly shifting and fluctuating, our mad scientist obviously having most of the power to begin with, but the creature definitely having a physical advantage and maybe we could add some other things to make the playing field more balanced. Again I’m a fan of mutual destruction, and it wouldn’t be super mutual if our scientist has all the power all the time ofc. Maybe he’s a quivering coward- or unstable in other ways, has people he cares about that the creature threatens etc. All I know is that these freaks hate/depend on each other SO much the lines blur. If you’ve seen Hannibal — maybe a teeny teeny tiny bit of those vibes.

Things I’m comfortable with ; For this I’m good with non-con and think it could be interesting to write, or at least something not safe nor sane for both characters involved- I tend to write switches that start out as subs but am good with anything really! I’m also good with body horror and gore- the creature could definitely have inhuman/unrealistic durability too. Also violence in general. How much smut (if any) to plot ratio is v flexible, just let me know what you’d prefer!

Things I’m UNcomfortable with ; I do not want the creature to be child like in any way, despite likely not remembering much of his life before death I want him to be fully developed mentally and understand things as any adult would. I’m also not comfortable with scat, watersports and incest. Also really bizarre one but for some reason nipped piercings/torture in general whigs me out of all things.

Extra info ; I’d prefer this to be OCxOC but they can definitely have heavy similarities to Victor and Adam- I have two oc’s in development both fitting each role ! I’m good with any take on each character you have, any kind of oc’s are good to me but I’d prefer them to be at least 25 years old, along with being fucked up freaks ofc. Face claim wise I’d feel uncomfortable using IRL ones, but don’t mind drawn at all! I’m also interested in designs that aren’t typically conventionally attractive pretty boys— I mean they can be pretty if you’d like but I think ykwim.

Outro ; This was poorly worded I fear, but thanks for reading this far! If any of this interested you, interact with this post and I’ll dm you- we can chat here a little or move straight to discord!

🫀

.

[greensparty]

Movie Reviews: Ezra / Hit Man

This week I got to review two movies, a knock out and a missed opportunity.

Ezra

Actor / Director / Producer Tony Goldwyn has Hollywood in his DNA. Literally! His father was Samuel Goldwyn Jr. and his parents were also part of the Goldwyn dynasty. Over the years you tend to see him in a ton of movies notably Ghost, Nixon and last year's Oppenheimer. In addition to acting in films, TV, and stage, he has also quietly become a prolific director. I've always dug Tony Goldwyn for two reasons: (1) he shares the same birthday as me (he turned 14 on the day I was born) and (2) his wife is production designer Jane Musky, who I worked with when I was an art dept. PA on a film in the 00s. Goldwyn has a new star studded family drama Ezra that recently opened.

movie poster

Bobby Cannavale is Max, a divorced NYC stand-up comedian who lives with his father (Robert De Niro) as he co-parents his autistic son Ezra (William Fitzgerald) with his ex-wife (Rose Byrne). When faced with guidance from others he disagrees with, Max takes matters into his own hands and drives across country with Ezra en route to Jimmy Kimmel Live, where Max is going to perform. Oh - and the cast also includes Whoopi Goldberg, Vera Farmiga, Rainn Wilson, and Goldwyn himself.

Considering the cast and the amount of talent involved with this film, it was a major letdown. For starters, a lot of things reminded me of Rain Man, in which Tom Cruise takes his autistic brother on a cross country journey literally and emotionally. That was a far better movie, to say the least. But the big problem I had was that this movie was trying to make a point, that the problem isn't the child who is autistic, but the adult's handling and reaction to it. The film made that point too much, to the point where the audience isn't on board with Max and his actions as he abducts his son. Much of the cast has been great in a lot of other things and are given thankless one-dimensional roles. The exception being De Niro, who really shines here. Also - most movies about comedians at least have some funny parts during the stand-up scenes, this missed the mark on the comedy world big time. All in all, I guess what I'm saying is, you can, well (no pun intended - I swear) do better than Ezra.

For info on Ezra

2 out of 5 stars

Hit Man

Anyone who knows me or reads this blog knows that I am a hardcore Richard Linklater fan. I have been a fan of his since I saw Dazed and Confused in the movie theater opening night in 1993 and I’ve studied all of his work before D&Z and since. He is without a doubt one of the greatest filmmakers working today. His ability to work is a variety of genres, indie and studios, originals and adaptations, yet have his own unique stamp on everything he does is unlike anyone else working today. Even when he’s made films that didn’t quite connect with audiences or critics, there has always been something interesting within them. I was lucky enough to meet him after a screening of Waking Life in 2001 and he signed by D&Z screenplay. In 2014, I was truly honored to have my documentary Life on the V: The Story of V66 premiere at IFFBoston in the same festival and lineup as the MA premiere of Linklater's Boyhood. Not only was Boyhood, his 12 years in the making about a boy actually growing up, my #1 Movie of 2014 it was also my #1 Movie of the 2010s. In the last few years, he's some criminally underrated films like Last Flag Flying, adaptations like Where'd You Go, Bernadette, and his animated Apollo 10 1/2 (my #1 Movie of 2022). Linklater's new one Hit Man has been on my radar since it's festival premiere last year. Production began in New Orleans in 2022.  Based on a Texas Monthly article, it was adapted by Linklater and star Glen Powell. Like Linklater’s Bernie, it was adapted from an article by Skip Hollandsworth. Linklater has directed star Powell in Fast Food Nation, Everybody Wants Some!!, and Apollo 10½: A Space Age Childhood. Another co-star of Everybody Wants Some!! Austin Amelio is in the cast as well. Last month it got a limited theatrical release before it premieres on Netflix today.

movie poster

Powell is Gary Johnson, a college professor, who gets involved with the New Orleans police department helping them by going undercover as a hitman. He learns that he has a knack for becoming a character and adapting voices, costumes and theatrics for each low life the police are getting ready to bust. One woman Maddy (played by Adria Arjona) meets with him, but he advises her not to pursue her actions and shortly thereafter they become romantically involved, unbeknownst to the police department. Things get complicated when undercover cop Jasper (played by Everybody Wants Some!! co-star Austin Amelio) is benched from undercover work and wants his old job back. That's about all I can say without getting into spoilers (I've probably said too much).

Linklater directs Powell

This is hands down one of the best movies of this year and it's definitely one of Linklater's most purely entertaining films in a while! I mean WOW this movie rocks! Years ago, he talked about Last Flag Flying and how that was a war movie as he would make it, based on characters and their relationships. This is a crime movie as Linklater would make it. Obviously I'm a Linklater fan, so I was excited about this going into it, but here's why I think this movie rocked so hard: this is Linklater's take on a Jonathan Demme film. Here me out on this: In addition to being a huge fan of both filmmakers, I've always felt there was a certain similarity to both in that they each had such diverse filmographies (both took on various genres, narrative and documentary, studio and indie, etc), Demme was a featured interviewee in the documentary Richard Linklater: Dream is Destiny, and in 2018 Linklater presented Paul Thomas Anderson with the Austin Film Society's Jonathan Demme Award. A trademark of all of Demme's films was identity and the way that people can hide parts of their personality. Sometimes that is done in a subtle way, sometimes overt. But if you look at Citizens Band for example it is people literally talking over CB radio (years before the internet) and the idea of wearing a mask came up so frequently on almost all of his films (this could be a dissertation and not a movie review if I get too deep here). In Hit Man, Linklater is making the type of crime comedy that Demme himself would've made. I could easily see this playing in a double feature with Married to the Mob. Linklater is exploring Gary, a mild-mannered professor who teaches about personality (a little on the nose, but it worked) and then he, himself, is exploring sides of his own personality that are repressed as he poses as these characters and then he falls into this relationship where he's playing a character to what Maddy believes him to be. The two even explore role-playing, which is even more bonkers. There's a lot of scenes in this where we, the audience, see and know everything that's going on, but various characters think and know something different. I love it when that happens in movies! But Powell, who is an It Actor right now, has risen to the challenge of becoming a creative partner of Linklater's. This is a movie you'll want to watch again and again and each time knowing what you know. I saw this in a movie theater and I recommend seeing it with an audience if you can. For right now: All Hail Linklater!

For info on Hit Man

5 out of 5 stars (very rare that I give this rating BTW)

[missyourflight]

some stuff i read and watched in september:

my brilliant friend (s1-3): had a bit of ferrante fever and rinsed through this, i think it's v well done as an adaptation -- it's been so long since i read the first couple of books that the casting of the lads made them feel much more vivid than i remembered, also i Need to go to florence

foundation (s2): honestly entertainment peaked with deranged space emperor clone lee pace spitting blood in ben daniels' face and snarling i fucking love it, hope to see it back in 2-3 years probably!

the gold: finally got around to this bc they were talking about it on the watch lol, very cool the way it sort of sprawls out from the original heist and just keeps going, classic dcoop sketchiness, still mulling over casting jack lowden as lymond bc what other blonde scottish actors even are there

starstruck (s3): ROSE MATAFEO FOREVER etc. this season pretty much an anti-romcom which i'm on board with, the friendship stuff fucked me up, not to get into but phew re: being single in your thirties while all your friends are having kids etc

passages: really liked this but somehow didn't love it quite as much as i expected to, franz ben adele perfect, whishaw really come full circle since basically playing the franz role in cock at the royal court lol, beautiful knitwear outfits homewares

the best years of our lives: like 3 hours long but doesn't feel it, quietly devastatingly empathetic story of returning ww2 veterans, i need to watch the five come back series on netflix bc william wyler is so so good

a haunting in venice: i would also like to go to venice, kenbran's having fun at least my dutch angle king, i hope they keep letting him make these forever although i also rewatched tenet and nothing here tops the part where he jogs slowly backwards through time

the broken hearts gallery: the best of a bunch of recent-ish romances i watched, geraldine viswanathan is a Star

michael clayton: somehow hadn't seen this before but very satisfying like corporate thriller, tom wilkinson and tilda are great, i want to rewatch andor now

elena ferrante, the story of the lost child: finally finished the neapolitan novels, fuck me up elena. can't think of a comparable series of like adult novels that go this hard for me, maybe st aubyn? yowl

colin walsh, kala: this ripped actually, loved like the irish specificity of the voices

james frankie thomas, idlewild: literally took critical damage every time i had to read the word HoYay but this was great and painful about like being a horrible little queer teenager and codependent friendships and livejournal and annotated fanfiction etc

marilynne robinson, gilead: ow i loved this, i think it's a real skill to make like goodness compelling, looking forward to being devastated by the rest of the series etc

sylvia townsend warner, lolly willowes: 🧙‍♀️🍂🌝

katie kitamura, intimacies: more things should be set at the courts in the hague tbh! made me think about translation a lot and also black earth rising

cat sebastian, we could be so good: sometimes you just want to read a gay romance about being in love with your best friend innit

operation mincemeat: omg i actually went to the theatre, this was silly and very much The British Hamilton but i loved it and i cried and i ordered drinks to my seat, 5 stars etc

the effect: i didn't see the original billie piper staging but i love lucy prebble and i loved this cast, literally paapa essiedu can do anything, kobna holdbrook smith reminded me that i should carry on with the rivers of london audibooks, one in a long list of signs that i should probably talk to someone about my mental health lol

[doueverwonder]

Can I hear more about your OC's? Doesn't matter who, it can be any

YES YES YOU CAN I LOVE YOU SO MUCH

okokokokok so this is going to be SO disorginized but i'm gonna talk about my hre oc bc the only canon character i truly hate is hre i want to punt the child

her human name is Adelheid Dietrich but she regularly just goes by Heidi. Her first name means Nobility, and her last name means Ruler of the people; very fitting name for how much power she held in Europe for so long.

Her parents are Gaul and Germania, she very notably was never very close with her mother, and very close with her father until the the last few years of his life. (The Saxon wars, and Heimeric's own refusal to convert contributed to the deterioration in their relationship but that deserves it's own post) I don't have her exact year of birth pinned down yet, but sibling wise she is between Austria and Switzerland. Roderich being a few years older, and Aldrich being a few years younger. Heidi is only 1 of 2 girls in the family and was fiercely protective of Belgium, even as adults, if anything happened to Bel she would regularly blame herself for 'letting' it happen. She had decently rocky relationships with most of her siblings, but would get in screaming matches with Denmark over the most insignificant things. Reasonably bitter because she did end up substitute mom for about half her younger siblings, specifically Netherlands, Belgium & England. And she should not have had to do that. Eldest Daughter Syndrome(TM) personified. Would get into an argument with Dan, Nor, and Swe not long after their father died that would consist of "Everything i've done to keep our family together and this is how you thank me? 'No'? Just because you don't want to? Do you know all i've given up? I didn't get a childhood. But it's fine. Do what you want." v much a The things she said weren't right, but the emotions she was having were definitely there.

She was terrified of death. Just from the moment she gained consciousness she couldn't think of anything worse then running out of time. And tbh that's probably what drew her to Christianity, and kept her there, the idea that death wouldn't be the end, and it would be a happy after. John 3:16 "For God so loved the world that He gave His only son, so that everyone who believes in him might not perish but have eternal life" She's sold before the missionary can say anything else. That didn't stop her from being independent to a fault, which is where Lutheranism came into play; she was tired of being under Vatican's thumb (for lack of better term) so the moment the Reformation came around she was on board with that too. But all of that isn't to say she didn't have a complicated relationship with religion especially after a relationship--that i'll get to in a minute--constantly held it over her head as the whole reasoning for why she shouldn't do certain things; and it always worked because nothing scared her more than the idea that doing something would send her to Hell.

Anyway on romantic relationships; she was super queer. Would probably identify as bisexual in the year of our Lord 2023. She only ever had 2 notably relationships with other personifications; the first was with Czechia. It was very secretive, they were young, and dumb, and swore they would love no one but each other. (I actually wrote a little thing about them here). It somewhat obviously did not work out, because Heidi was scared of someone finding out about them, and after almost a century of being together she thought someone was getting to close to figuring it out; Adéla tried to insist it would be fine. Heidi panicked came up with a plan, and got Adéla to agree to it without telling her what it was. Within a couple months not a single person thought Adéla and Heidi were together... no they were too busy talking about how Clemens (Vatican) had supposedly broken his chastity vow and 'you'll never believe who for.' That was the end of her relationship with Czechia; it wasn't supposed to be. But it was.

Her second one was also a 'secret' but everyone knew about it. (so side note on my Vatican oc; remember he was born to represent West Rome and his land claim diminished as his children came along. Until eventually he picked up the title of the papal states then Vatican/Holy See). They met long before their 'romantic' relationship started, when Germania brought his at the time only daughter along to Rome and Vatican decided he just had to have her, and the sons of Rome usually get what they want. When they were very young they had a psuedo-relationship that really just happened because it was the first time they thought someone was cute and the other person thought the same. When she slept with him to cover her and Adéla's tracks, it was calculated. She had to have proof, and she had to have one or two people who she knew would talk have an inkling that it happened so rumors would start. What she didn't count on was him still having some of those feelings from hundreds of years earlier, she assumed he'd moved on completely. His children had to have come from somewhere. But now that Czechia didn't want anything to do with her she thought 'fuck it' and went along with a relationship that she didn't really want, but by now wasn't going to refuse either. And they would just stay that way, off and on, usually just sleeping with each other not much actual substance, but not so little that either would leave. They were just Stuck.

Jumping forward a bit to her death, she and Germany had a little less than a month overlap. He was born July 12th, 1806; and she died August 6th, 1806. She was already very sick when he was born, but asked to see him every day without fail. Austria told her eventually that he was sending Germany to live with Prussia, deemed he would be safer anywhere but Vienna. She argued with him over that, for a long time; insisted she wouldn't trust Brandenburg or Prussia to rear a child if they were some of the last people on earth. Austria got fed up, told her Germany was his son and he would do whatever he wanted with him. She argued back Germany was her heir, and she believed her heir should be raised in Vienna, not Königsburg, not Berlin, not Potsdam, Vienna. The argument stood until her death two weeks later, Austria to this day wishes he hadn't told her.

Everyone in the house knew about Heidi's fear, there wasn't a single person in Europe that didn't know about it. They all waited for something to register, for it to kick in that she more than likely wouldn't be making it another month, much less another year. But it never did, August 1st she got better, and for a solid two days she was even out of bed; it was during this Austria and Prussia caught her giving Germany a little speech.

"Now, you'll be taking over my job. I'm not promising it's an easy one because it isn't. The ones under you are insane, every last one, constantly fighting and they're changing all the time; every time you turn around someone new will have shown up, or someone else will have disappeared. I hope not too many disappear on you, but eventually you get used to it, and not in a sad way, in a "maybe they're off living their own life without the responsibility of thousands of peoples lives now". Unfortunately the annoying ones stick around the longest, your father is one, your uncle Gilbert is another. Saxony, Bavaria, Hesse, Brandenburg etc.. you'll have to get used to them, I don't think they're going anywhere. I know your parents are worried for you right now, but I'm sure it's completely unfounded and they're just dramatic. You'll be just fine... I wish I could stay to watch you grow up, i'm sure you'll be in charge of this whole continent eventually. You have to promise you'll make your family talk about me, don't let them be too sad about it, I want to be known as the interesting aunt not the one who died when you were a baby. Can you promise me that Ludwig?"

after those two days she got bad again though, worse than she was initially, and three days later she passed away. The moment they were waiting for never came, she didn't seem scared about the end; she put in her will someone has to make sure whoever killed her knew that she wasn't scared.

[skatazz]

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Hi! Welcome to my page!!

I use this app to scroll through artwork, fics, making mutuals & Roleplaying! I am dedicated to roleplaying so if you are interested, send me a dm!!

- I am 21

-my pronouns are she/her

- My time zone is EDT

- I enjoy sharing tiktoks, artwork, pinterest boards as I am open to being friends and having OOC conversations along with sending each other TikTok’s and other stuff!

- The only requirement is that you’re 18+!!!

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- Role plays will either be taken place in Dm or Discords.

- i’d love a partner who is talkative, who loves to brainstorm, gush about events & so on! I'm really hoping to find a friendship, someone who can add to our story, and most importantly, someone who wants a long-term connection + long term roleplay !

- I have a lot of free time but I do get busy, I don’t like being ghosted/on delivered for days. I understand everyone gets busy just let me know, don’t keep me in the dark! I will do the same !

- Please no one liners as the rp dies out fast, I can write lengthy paragraphs! I will match whatever you give me as I don’t expect novella paragraphs but I do expect details when it comes to certain scenes! I will bare with you but how can we keep this interesting if you don’t give me enthusiasm? let’s talk plot ideas, brain storm!

- Nsfw is totally fine, I just would like buildup and storylines! I enjoy gushing over the moments between the characters, the taunting, teasing, romance, etc etc. however, if you are not please let me know beforehand. the rp does not have to have any of that if you don't want it. i also will not rp smut/nsfw with minors. I like action and shocking twists as well. let’s make this story interesting as well. I enjoy smut, it’s not going to be 24/7 that though but I like dabbling in it! let me know your comfortably.

- descriptive/literate rps only. i will not rp text/script. Please try to use proper grammar and punctuation to the best of your ability.

- Third person point of view only

- You play my love interest, I play yours. Double up rps only!

- I usually only do OC x CC mostly for my side, it’s rare for me to do OC x OC although i’m not opposed! If your side wants to be CC x CC that is fine with me.

- i’m fine with MxF, MxM, FxF

- if you're done with the rp, please let me know so i'm not waiting for you to reply when that's never going to happen.

- hard nos: adult x child / pedophilia / child p*rn. bestiality. v*re. feet related k*nks. body fluids. inc3st. male pregnancies/mpreg. r*pe. s3lf h*rm. su!c!de. ab*se between love interests. zoophilia. non-consensual. no SA. Things that isn’t okay, this should be general.

- don't just play your character and thats it. play some of the other characters as well. just not my oc

- do not steal my forms or my characters.

- if you have any ideas for the rp, don't be afraid to let me know! I love brainstorming & will come to you about ideas!

- Please do not reach out to me if you intend to ghost after a few responses! Not only does this wastes my time & yours.

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Hyper fixation is Avatar & i’m looking for rp partners for it! (desperately)

These characters will be aged up.

If you are interested please send me a message, I have a google link I will send you of my OC. ⋆·˚ ༘ *

I am into other fandoms as well, here’s some interests but not all. I’m up for rping anything listed, if there’s something else in mind.. ask!

• Avatar (James Cameron)

• Stranger things

• Fantasy

• Horror things

• Scream (fav is part one)

• Marvel (I love spiderman)

• Umbrella Academy

• Hunger Games

• Bg3

• Harry Potter (i’ve always been interested in how people do rps on it & it seems so much fun. but i’ve never been so fixated on it to do it.)

• Star wars (same with this, I love anakin. I always think that it’ll be a different outcome for him but it’s not 🥲 I can change him fr)

• fnaf

• The outsiders

• Ohshc

There might be more, I love watching movies especially fantasy, horror & old 80/90s films. I love the 80s.

Feel free to dm whenever you’d like! :)

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credits to banners: F2u banner by smluvbot & the bows (I don’t remember users but they’re not mine.)

[pashterlengkap]

New Hampshire Supreme Court upholds school policy protecting trans students from forced outing

In a victory for trans students’ right to privacy and autonomy, the New Hampshire Supreme Court today affirmed a lower court’s ruling that upheld a school district’s policy respecting students’ personal pronouns and maintaining student privacy when appropriate. The court concluded that the plaintiff, the mother of a student in the Manchester School District identified only as Jane Doe, “failed to demonstrate that the Policy infringes a fundamental parenting right.”  Related The forced outing of queer students is now illegal in California’s public schools “LGBTQ+ students across California can breathe a sigh of relief” now that the first-of-its-kind law was passed, one LGBTQ+ org said. In their opinion, the court went much further, shutting down definitively the mother’s claim that the school’s policy respecting students’ privacy infringed on her ability to properly parent her child. Stay connected to your community Connect with the issues and events that impact your community at home and beyond by subscribing to our newsletter. Subscribe to our Newsletter today “The Policy,” the court wrote, “does not prevent parents from observing their children’s behavior, moods, and activities; talking to their children; providing religious or other education to their children; choosing where their children live and go to school; obtaining medical care and counseling for their children; monitoring their children’s communications on social media; choosing with whom their children may socialize; and deciding what their children may do in their free time. In short, the Policy places no limits on the plaintiff’s ability to parent her child as she sees fit.” School districts across the country have been battling far-right school board members and their allies in turning back privacy protections for LGBTQ+ students, and trans kids in particular. GLBTQ Legal Advocates & Defenders (GLAD) and the ACLU of New Hampshire represented New Hampshire parent Heather Romeri and her trans son Nico, a New Hampshire high school student, on a friend-of-the-court brief filed in the case, Jane Doe v. Manchester School District.    “It was important for me to have the support of other people I could trust to help me feel ready to talk to my parents, especially people who could help make it easier for me to talk to my mom,” said Nico Romeri at the time the brief was filed. Added Nico’s mother, “I’m so grateful that Nico has the support he needs in school. Of course I want my child to feel he can talk to me about anything, but above all I want him to feel safe and happy.”  Following today’s ruling, GLAD Senior Staff Attorney Chris Erchull said, “Schools must provide a welcoming and supportive environment for all students. Today’s decision upholds that core value and allows schools to manage the educational environment so that all students have an equal and safe opportunity to learn.” Added Henry Klementowicz, Deputy Legal Director at the ACLU of New Hampshire, “Removing the Manchester School District’s existing, affirming policy would have created an environment where LGBTQ+ students don’t feel safe being who they are — and in school, they should feel safe, cared for, and able to learn to the best of their ability.” Said trans high schooler Nico, “Transgender students want the same opportunity to learn and be ourselves, just like any kid, without having to worry that adults at school will violate our trust. If someone had decided to tell my mom what they thought about my gender, it would have made things so much harder for me at school and at home.” http://dlvr.it/TCkzRl

[big-fi-little-re]

My story

I'll use this post to outline the general profile of who I am and how that has shaped my general approach to FIRE. Everyone is different, but sometimes in these circles it seems as though there is homogeneity amongst the people participating. I think this can be discouraging for people who don't fit that mold, whether it be for who they themselves are or their job history and savings.

Everyone is different. Everyone's journey in life (and in their approach to FIRE) is going to be different, so I'd like to add my own voice to the pile.

More below

Me:

31, white, cis woman, aroace

Grew up poor to later middle class

Grew up in very blue state

Never broke 6 figures in salary

Why does this matter?

FIRE communities are full of mostly men. This isn't meant to be a "men bad" thing, just that a lot of men who are drawn to the idea of independent living have loud opinions that they stubbornly defend, but that are often based around their one singular experience of life. Loudmouth people of any kind or creed aren't great at empathizing (in my experience). A lot of the advice that gets thrown around, particularly in terms of moving to LCOL areas or geographic arbitrage, is simply not very safe for people who look a certain way.

I made a post on Reddit many, many years ago discouraging marginalized people from following the "move to a blue dot in a red sea" advice. I warned people state level policies can absolutely impact them even if they live in a progressive city. This resonated with a lot of people, and conversely, this irritated a few dudes in their 40s. Well, less than 3 years later Roe v Wade was overturned.

I actually got a DM from one naysayer who apologized.

On sexuality & gender identity:

This is to demonstrate that I will not have the income of a partner to rely on. I will also not have kids. At some point in my life, it will be just me, with my singular expenses and my singular income.

This is also why my FIRE plan revolves around dying with zero. I will have no one to leave anything to, besides whoever the beneficiaries on my accounts are should I pass prematurely.

A lot of FIRE advice is built around having a partner, planning around a partner's lifestyle or expenses, or finding a partner who is on board with the lifestyle. It also involves planning for the long term expenses of children and of leaving some amount behind for your then adult children to inherit.

Growing up:

We were not well off growing up. Eventually, we had a middle class lifestyle based around living in a multi-generational household up through my early high school years.

I am frugal by nature because that is simply how life is for me: it's my baseline. I don't feel like I've ever gone without. But when I compare my upbringing and the things we had and did as a child compared to peers who came from upper-middle to upper class backgrounds, there is definitely a disparity.

Sometimes when I look at the budgets people are shooting for with FIRE, I really can't even begin to comprehend how they spend that much money. I still don't. It's not a judgment call: it's just not something I could ever want to do even if I had the means.

From my perspective, my lifestyle has been comfortable. I have a lot of hobbies I enjoy and some nice things I enjoy owning. I like to order takeout on Fridays and I try to go to a restaurant once every other month with friends & family. Eating out was always a luxury for us and I still feel that way today: I like it to feel special.

Where I'm from and where I've been:

My family is from a very blue area. I've lived here the vast majority of my life, as has my family.

I took some time to travel the USA for a few years. I lived in blue dots in red states. They were all very nice. I (mostly) never really felt unsafe, but also, I am white and the spaces I lived in were very white.

But I would never settle down in any of those areas. They were nice to live in on the short term. I met a lot of great people! I was very much interpreted as a traveler, an outsider. The way people approach you is different when you're a guest vs being a permanent settler. There's also the fact that while these were lovely areas to visit and have some fun and enjoy my comparatively high remote salary in, they were not going to be the best places for all varieties of people.

I also timed things to where I was in these zones between late 2021 - late 2023. I didn't want to be out there during a presidential election year after some aggressive arguments I overheard more than a few times.

Don't get me wrong: blue states aren't perfect. People are fucking racist and sexist and generally assholes everywhere.

But I don't need to worry about what medical procedures I can get. I don't need to worry about physical access to healthcare - there's hospitals abound! The schools are great. If I fall, the state I have paid many taxes to will help me get back up. There are lots of job opportunities. The crime is low, even in my higher-than-state-average city. I have access to so many different grocery stores, small businesses, and small local restaurants.

I mean damn, almost everything out there was some kind of chain.

My job(s):

I work in tech. My degree was in a related field, but I struggled a lot with finding a job in my degree after college. I ultimately never succeeded.

I was very much held back by bigotry for a long time (and I know it because they taunted me to my face about it) and then from pursuing lower-paid, mission-driven work. Which is to say that I totally fell for the bullshit and made some execs very wealthy in exchange for empathy burnout.

My average salary was around $50 - 65k for most of my career. I have only recently earned above $80k. I'm still underpaid compared to the industry, but I settled for it due to my job being relatively easy and low stress until recently.

I want to show that you don't need to be pulling down $100k straight out of college to pursue this. Making more money definitely helps you get there faster. It's what you spend, not what you make... to a realistic degree. Some expenses are expensive and can't go away. But some expenses are expensive and are very much not requirements to enjoying life.

College and debt:

I have no debts.

I bought all my cars used off of Craigslist for less than $3k. I've only put what I can pay off at the end of the month on credit cards. I keep 2 years of expenses on hand as a cash buffer and emergency fund. When it dips, I prioritize replenishing my cash before investments. I don't know if that's the best move in terms of min-maxing your net worth, but it's what makes me feel the most secure.

I went to community college for 2 years and transferred to a 4 year state university. A state law guaranteed all of my credits would transfer and I received reduced tuition for a high GPA. The reduced tuition was only good for a couple hundred bucks a semester, but better than nothing.

My community college gave me a scholarship. With that scholarship and years of savings, I was able to pay for all of community college in cash. I also made the mistake of buying new, current edition textbooks for my first semester only.

I started working part time when I transferred to the 4 year university. I was a commuter student and lived at home during college. I worked retail and a campus job, eventually quitting the retail job 1 week shy of a year to take more campus hours. I was paid $10 an hour for my campus job in 2014 compared to $8.75 an hour for my retail job. I was psyched!

One of my professors helped me receive payments from the school to cover research assisting. That was $3000 secured. I thank him profusely to this day. I took on various other small contracts from professors, the university, and affiliates, but many of those never paid out or paid out years after the fact for only a few hundred dollars.

I'm the only person in my family to go to college. My parents valued education and took an equity line of credit on our home to pay for my federal loans. That was about $20k. I paid for my private loan myself: that was $8k. I didn't know you could take FAFSA on years when you weren't using it to pay for classes, so I missed out on the money from my first 2 years of college when I used the scholarship. We paid off my federal loan and my private loan the last day of my classes to prevent accruing interest at those insane rates. I have paid back all of the money on the equity line since then and part of my parent's mortgage.

I recognize that I was very privileged to be able to avoid high interest rates and to have my parents acting as the bank: if I missed a payment due to being out of work or not having enough money, my credit wouldn't be destroyed. I could make up for it later.

My family:

Here's the big one: I've lived with my family most of my life.

No, no it wasn't for free. I've been paying rent since college. $700 per month and later $900 per month. I now pay only for food.

Why? We're in a VHCOL area. One of the most expensive in the world. Again, even in our undesirable city on the outskirts of the desirable city things are expensive.

Moving out with friends didn't work out because our jobs were so dispersed. My family also couldn't have comfortably survived without additional income from me and my sibling. We also had various other family members and friends living with us on and off for my entire life.

I haven't always had a great relationship with my family. Living at home, to me, was always a sacrifice I made towards FIRE or simply the reality of circumstances. If I wanted to live in my home state and work in my home state, I needed to live at home.

Once I secured a remote position, I left to MCOL areas. I had initially intended on renting for a while in LCOL - MCOL areas and eventually buying a home in a MCOL area of the region I'm from.

I recently moved back in with my family in 2023. My parents are old and my father has cancer.

For many reasons, I wasn't keen on moving back after I had left a few years ago. But once he was diagnosed, I understood, truly, that my parents are old. They need help. We don't have much time left together.

Part of my FIRE journey is in maximizing this time I have.

[adultswim2021]

Robot Chicken #54: “Losin' the Wobble” | November 4, 2007 - 11:30PM | S03E12

Hey! You don’t REALLY want me to talk about sketches from Robot Chicken episode “Losin’ the Wobble”, now do ya? Wait, you do? Okay, fine. 

There’s one where Encyclopedia Brown follows his dad to a seedy hotel and takes pictures of him having sex with a prostitute. Boy, I don’t remember that happening on Encyclopedia Brown! Hence, the humor! I do like when the dad is like “most strippers get mad when you assume they are prostitutes” and she’s like “well I definitely am one”. Or something like that. I don’t know. I’m looking for ANYTHING to talk about, here. A line I sorta liked. I might as well bring it up here. If not now, when?

Some more nasty laughs from the Chicken boys: We got a sketch about a big robot Michael Jackson being GAY!!! FOR A CHILD! What’s worse is that Michael Jackson has passed away. There’s also a Hansel and Gretel thing where they are mean to the witch in the candy house but it turns out she wasn’t a witch. Also notable is the runner where the Kool-Aid man keeps showing up in inconvenient places, like causing a hull breach in a space station or destroying the safehouse of two zombie apocalypse survivors. Those a brief and not terrible.

The bulk of the episode is towards the end, with a very lengthy sketch that skewers both the 1983 TV Miniseries V and – what else? FREAKING DRUNK-ASS CELEBRITIES GOING TO REHAB HAHAHAHA! I hate this sketch. I hate the idea of mocking people with substance abuse problems. At the time of this episode’s airing, I think most people were on board with the idea that mocking addicts was punching down and not funny, but rationalized that mocking celebrities or public figures was a different beast and stuff like this was usually seen as okay. The most important thing to me is that the instinct to mine comedy from celebrity foibles does nothing for me, and I hate it! Too rude!

MAIL BAG

From Kon!

Thank you for the excellent Williams Street Records writeup, it answers every question the fans want to know about this Adult Swim rarity... except for one. Is this the first Adult Swim infomercial? Or does that ignominious honor belong to Bob (Belcher) and David?

Thank you Kon, wow, one wonders! Also thank you for not yelling at me for forgetting to upload this post last night when I was busy watching Bio-Dome over AIM. As to your question, When I was much, much younger I remember Bill Tush airing many commercial parodies on WTBS at, let’s see, 4am. Uh-oh. I ripped the shit out of that.

[salvagedsouls]

( v. have to burn first | phoenix!tony )

Rise, you're a Stark. He doesn’t fully grasp the power of their name as a child, even with his talent with technology. Not for a long time, when the adults finally start looking at him like some prodigy instead of an annoying kid and he realises how out of reach he is from those around his own age. He learns as fast to use his name to get through things as he did how to get around circuit boards and programs.  Rise, you're a Stark. The words become mocking the older he gets. Never a break from the one person he wants it from most, no matter how much he ups the ante. Not for achievements in school, not for personal projects that function perfectly, not for getting into university years early. Every time he fucks up in the slightest bit every lecture is ended with those damn words. They start to feel like poison on his tongue when he repeats it to himself no matter how much the anger motivates him. Rise, you're a Stark. Turning it inward becomes the number one way to get used to taking disappointment with a poker face. Bury it under charisma and coping mechanisms and stop giving a fuck what anyone else has to say about his actions because he’s a Stark. Because he’s the Stark, after the accident. Even years passing never fully remove the phrase rattling around in his head. At least it’s easier to pick himself up and pretend he’s fine, finally. Then he’s kidnapped. And for once he can’t seem to hear the phrase, can’t seem to bring himself to get anywhere near saying it, because being a goddamn Stark is what got him into the mess. Not like there’s a loving parental figure to pay a ransom, is there? Or an unloving one to get him killed and end the fucking misery already. Just a man who deserves better company than him, deserves not to be locked in a cave away from family that cares. At least someone cares for someone. The longer they talk, the more Tony tries to think of a way out for both of them. For just the other man to get out at least. Tony needs to find a way out. C'mon rise, you're a Stark. It’s in some short burst of restless sleep that he finds the last bit of will he really needed. Swearing its his mother’s voice ( which hurts even after all this time without her ) but it’s words he’s sure she never said in the string before. Rise, you're so much more than a Stark. And for the first time in a long time it feels like he can breathe  without feeling sick at hearing rise and Stark in the same sentence. For the first time in ages, he has a plan that matters.

Tony is a phoenix, descended from those who inspired the tales of legendary birds. He’s unaware of his heritage until he’s in a situation that necessitates a rebirth of thinking and living, and even so it takes quite a bit of time for him to pin down the evidence he needs to put the puzzle pieces together. This is from his mother’s side only, and once he knows it feels like a gift from beyond the grave. Her way of keeping him alive even when she isn’t around anymore.

Unlike most things this is a secret he keeps to himself entirely. If another creature can sense anything different about him he’ll play it off or try to otherwise deny the notion. if he does confide this information to anyone its only because he trusts them completely; revealing the information will result in a broken and irreparable trust.

He has some semblance of ability, though he hasn’t yet explored his full range:

basically unkillable

still able to be injured/wounded

resistant to burns of any kind

heals quickly

completely immune to heat-based burns

unassisted flight

increased strength

there’s still a lot he doesn’t actually know, but it’s a work in progress.

[cuntylittlesalmon]

[this post has alt text]

>> welcome!

i am rhys, i am 23 years old, i am a lesbian, and i use they/them pronouns. i write both genre and literary fiction, with horror as my go-to, but i also deeply love writing romance. my projects tend to quite dark and sad, dealing with some fairly intense subject matter, however i don’t care for grimdark or trauma porn. i usually write about angry lesbians and messy families, and i love a good body horror moment.

tag game friendly ;; inbox open, anon on!

i reblog untagged artistic nudity and sex jokes fairly often. decide for yourself what that means for you

i don’t have tag lists anymore

i follow from @cvctuslesbian

>> current projects

i am mostly concerned with short fiction currently, as that is much easier and quicker to write for me, however should i begin to work on long form again in a bigger capacity these are the projects i am most likely to return to

VESSEL

Eirwen Yale discovered that she could see ghosts at her aunt's funeral. Burdened with the new knowledge that her aunt's passing wasn't as natural as she was led to believe, Eirwen quickly finds herself drowning in the secrets of her family's past, uncovering things her relatives thought to be long buried.

young adult gothic horror / estimated 70k / first person / single pov / past tense

graphic depictions of death, arson, child abuse and neglect, suicide, mentions of underage drinking, mentions of parental death

pieces in the vessel universe >>

excerpt 1

THE MATCHBOX BOYS

Sawyer Thomas Phillips is seventeen years old. He likes living by the beach, arcade games, the piano, paper roses, and his new friend Nam Yejun. What was supposed to be a fleeting summer romance between two boys turns into something deeper when they both discover they're roommates at a prestigious boarding school, far from Sawyer's home town.

young adult literary romance / estimated 60k / first person referential and third person / dual pov, dual timeline / referential tense and past tense

graphic depictions of depression, homophobia, religious trauma, parental trauma, underage smoking and drinking, drug use, suicide/suicidal thoughts

pieces in the tmbb universe >>

chapter 1 preview

chapter 9 excerpt

chapter 21 excerpt

chapter 11 excerpt

SING, LIAR, SING

Two men on opposite sides discover that the other has more to him than what meets the eye in their dangerous game of cat and mouse.

adult mystery thriller romance / estimated 80k / third person / dual pov / past, maybe present tense

internalized homo/biphobia, gun violence, explicit sexual content, more tba

pieces in the sls universe >>

[n/a]

>> other projects

a brief, non-comprehensive list of any project you may see me talk about. there is no guarantee that i will post anything from them, though.

Stillwater — young adult southern gothic about a psychotic teen, the ghost lady haunting the town lake, and a string of teen suicides

Those Girls Were Made of Stone — adult horror mystery about the remaining survivors of a mass kidnapping and the deadly reunion five years later

Belly of the Beast — young adult horror about two teens and a punk band uncovering just what the fuck happened with that one research lab a decade ago

Maraschino Rising — adult literary about an emotionally repressed lesbian and the butch who thinks he can fix her

>> miscellaneous

tagging system

answered asks -> “ asks “

ask games -> “ ask game “

tag games -> “ tag game “

my projects -> “ wip: [project title] “

i try to tag fandoms and movies, but sometimes i miss them

find me outside of tumblr

twitter

storygraph

letterboxd

spotify

want to support me?

here is my k*fi

c: $rhysvkm

v: @rhysvkm

[blu-joons]

DATING NCT A⇴Z HEADCANON ⇴ Lee Donghyuck

A ⇴ AFFECTION 

It’s well known that Donghyuck is a huge fan of skinship, but especially when it comes to you. You’ll often have to end up begging him to let you go or tapping out because he’s holding you tight, but he loves to hold you close.

B ⇴ BEFORE DATING 

The elder members of the unit had spotted his eyes glancing across at you throughout the night, and after biting their tongues for so long, they finally managed to push Donghyuck into going over and saying hello to you. He was terrified, but as soon as you said hello back, he felt entirely at ease.

C ⇴ CONFESSION 

Just like saying hello, the members pushed him into confessing too. Johnny especially had caught onto a rumour that another guy had shown interest in you from your workplace, causing them to push Donghyuck into letting you know how he felt before he lost you. It was a very last minute, and unromantic confession, but luckily, Donghyuck managed to get to you before the other guy which was all that mattered to him.

D ⇴ DATES 

The two of you loved to mess around with each other, you always loved trying new places for your dates. It was one of the biggest advantages of being in Seoul, that there was always something around for you to try. The more exhilarating, the better, as far as Donghyuck was concerned, he enjoyed showing off to you and having a laugh. Your dates were never too serious and planned out, you were far too young to worry about all the adult things that you should do on a date just yet.

E ⇴ EXPERIENCE 

Donghyuck had never even given love much thought before he met you, it always felt like such an adult thing for him when deep down he still felt like a massive child. Perhaps that was why he got on so well with you, because you still would always make him feel like a massive child, whilst also introducing him to a few more adult things in life, specifically giving him his first, and hopefully last, shot at love. He also learnt from his elders a lot when it came to love and took on board as much of their advice as possible.

F ⇴ FIGHTING 

The two of you didn’t tend to argue a lot, but you always remembered one fight you did have. Donghyuck paid no attention to you one date night and played on his phone throughout the entirety of your meal together, talking to anyone but you. You couldn’t help but blow, your reaction was much more than it needed to be, but Donghyuck had never annoyed you before, and quite frankly, you were just in the mood to shout. Once you were done, he’d sit you down and apologise and promise never to make you so angry again as it was definitely a sight that he didn’t like to see.

G ⇴ GETTING TO KNOW HIS FAMILY 

His family were very protective of him which often worried you, but luckily for you, seeing how happy he was with you quickly allowed you to become a huge part of their family. All the fears and worries of high expectations you had were very quickly forgotten about once you got to know them.

H ⇴ HOME 

Being one of the younger members, Donghyuck was very reluctant to leave the dorm. He loved having his hyungs around him for now, and often would remind you that the two of you had the rest of your lives to live together when the band began to calm down and members started to move on with other projects and jobs.

I ⇴ “I LOVE YOU” 

You were actually the first to say those three important words when a prank you tried to pull on Donghyuck had gone very wrong. When he ended up with his favourite shirt being ruined, you knew that you had a lot of making up to do, starting by admitting your true feelings for him to make sure that he wouldn’t stay angry at you anymore.

J ⇴ JEALOUSY 

Being jealous around his members was something that Donghyuck hated to do, but he was the first to admit that there were definitely times he’d feel jealous towards them if one of the many managed to make you laugh or do something for you that he couldn’t do. Whilst he was happy being one of the babies of the team, he liked to stamp his authority within the group as your boyfriend, so when the others would mock him or tease him, there were definitely times when he wouldn’t see the funny side and get very jealous.

K ⇴ KIDS 

Even the thought of kids terrified Donghyuck at such a stage in his life, if he wasn’t honest, he still wasn’t sure how he saw tomorrow going, let alone five, ten years down the road. If you mentioned children, you’d often struggle to get a lot out of Donghyuck, he much preferred to think of the now and living whilst he was still young rather than all the responsibilities that he’d have to take on as an adult.

L ⇴ LAUGHTER 

You were the duo that often gave the other members nightmares, together you were both hilarious, but the biggest fear for the other members. You both loved to prank them and wind them up to no end, you were forever going around the dorm with challenges that you knew would wind them all up. Even if nobody else would be laughing at your antics, the two of you would often be doubled up on the floor with stitches at how successful your practical jokes had been. As soon as any members saw the two of you together, they knew they were about to become the victims of your jokes together and try to getaway.

M ⇴ MISSING 

He was very much protected by the boys whenever he went on tour, they knew just how much he missed you and how lonely he often got. It felt as if the other half of him was gone when you weren’t around beside him, even though all the others were relieved that one half of the mischievous duo that you were together had disappeared. Even they had to admit they missed you causing trouble when you were with them, especially as they saw how badly Donghyuck struggled without you there too. They would rally around him as best as they could, but they knew very well that you left far too big a hole in his life for any of them to fill.

N ⇴ NICKNAMES 

You’d usually end up just shortening his name as a nickname for him, neither of you were ones for super fluffy nicknames, you much preferred to use your handshake that you had together, which everyone else hated.

O ⇴ OBSESSION 

Donghyuck was obsessed with your body as a whole, he just loved to cuddle any part of it. He could never pick one part of it above the rest, that was a decision he just couldn’t make.

P ⇴ PDA 

He loved to continue to prank you and mess around in public with you too. He’d often try and push the boundaries to see what you were comfortable with, which would usually end up with a photo of the two of you in the headlines the following day and in hot water with the company too.

Q ⇴ QUESTIONS 

Nothing made him happier then when he had your support in pranking a member, so he’d ask you quite a lot which one you wanted to help him get or what you thought the perfect prank was to get back at whoever he had decided to target that time around.

R ⇴ RANDOM FACTS 

A lot of his time is spent on his phone, and so because he spends so much time on it, Donghyuck makes sure that every background that he has is a photo of you. Being able to look at you every time he changes app or switches his phone on always ends up putting a smile on his face. Seeing you look back at him goes a long way in making him feel like you’re there with him, even though most of the time you aren’t.

S ⇴ SEX 

There would never be a second during intimacy between the two of you when Donghyuck wouldn’t be a complete romantic and dramatically affectionate towards you. He loved making you feel special and taking care of you as best as he could, if there was any distance between the two of you, he’d close it in a heartbeat and hold you a little bit tighter to make up for letting you go even just if it was for a moment.

T ⇴ TEXTS 

Sometimes there doesn’t even feel like there’s a second in the day when Donghyuck isn’t texting you. He can’t help but open up your chat every time he picks up your phone to see if you’ve replied or if he needs to text again.

U ⇴ UNIVERSE 

He loved having a partner in crime in you more than anything else in the world. Knowing that even though he was about to cause mischief, the fact that you’d be there to cheer him on was always the little nudge he needed to cause chaos.

V ⇴ VACATION 

Exploring whilst he was still so young was something that Donghyuck had always been big on, but especially so now that he had someone who would be right beside him on all his adventures. Even though those times would be limited, you’d always make the most of it together and see as much as the world as you could.

W ⇴ WHINING 

If he didn’t have your attention then Donghyuck would definitely let you know that he wanted it, refusing to stop until you gave it to him.

X ⇴ XXXXX 

Again, he’s a huge fan of skinship, and with that, definitely comes a lot of kisses. He can never help but kiss you as often as possible, there was always something about seeing with a blush on your cheeks and being able to send you weak at the knees that makes him the happiest man in the world. Knowing he’s the one that makes you feel so loved and adored with his kisses is an absolute honour in Donghyuck’s opinion.

Y ⇴ YOU 

You were his team mate, you always did everything as one.

Z ⇴ ZZZ 

He’d hold you tightly every single night, only usually letting you go when you’d complain that you were struggling to breathe because he was holding you so tightly against him as you tried to get to sleep.

---

Masterlist