#the only things we know of her is liked Ted and wants to do edibles at her own wedding

[glittter-skeleton]

Ted and Jenny, I personally prefer thinking they were generally insufferable

[annimator]

holy shit (/pos & /neg simultaneously [somehow])

(New DC4 ep dropped, reactions under the cut)

• WAIT DEREK & TREVOR ARE RECAPPING LAST EPISODE TOGETHER. BACK IN SEASON 1 THEY ALTERNATED EACH EPISODE

• Idk why but Derek sounds kinda different. Probably the new mic

• “On the blue team, Marissa and Anastasia quickly became close!” Yeah no shit bro

• “Alessio outed himself as the loner, and Ted proved why we need censorship edits.” LMAOOOOOOO\

• “Also, Diego has a thing for British guys” I’M CRYINGGGGG

• FUCK YEA, THEY’RE PRAISING MY BOI TRISTAN FOR THEIR SHELTER IDEA

• INTRO TIMEEEEE

• Ooooo Jade & Isabel have to choose between a survival kit, a flint & clue to the immunity idol, and a full on immunity idol. SOUNDS INTERESTING >:D

• FUCK YEA JADE, SELF CONFIDENCE >:D

• “So my heart is telling me, ‘go for gift one!’ But, the devil on my shoulder keeps whispering, “Hey, gift 3 is right there!” My state on my team is pretty strong. People trust me! Maybe, it’s time to exploit that trust.” YAS QUEENNNNNN

• They gonna lie about how they got the gifts? This boutta be a chekhov’s gun trust me bro

• “Hey! Oh my god, how was it? Spill the tea girl!” Natalia ily

• Awww, Spencer & Jade are actually getting along :D

• “Red Team! Pop out the champagne!” Tristan my beloved

• Oh shit, Amelie’s suspicious about Jade’s story. Kinda understandable tbh

• Ngl I was pretty hyped for the Yoga scene because of the Zaivy crumbs. BUT WE ALSO GOT DIENCER CRUMBS TOO?? BRO WHY DID YOU HAVE TO WINK AT SPENCER

• “Now, enjoy the silence.” AND THEN BENJI IMMEDIATELY RUINS IT AFTER A FLY GETS CLOSE TO HIM

• “AHHHHHH!” “Sorrytherewasabug.” LMAO BENJI

• ZAIVY CONVO LEZGO

• Oh so that leaf was actually edible aight then

• wait was that an audio error

• “I… didn’t finish high school. My parents let me drop out for acting” girl what

• ZAID👏WANTS 👏TO WIN 👏 THE MONEY 👏 TO PAY 👏 HIS MOM 👏 BACK

• BRO I LOVE HIM SM, I HOPE HE WINS EVEN THOUGH I LIKE TRISTAN & HANNAH MORE

• “Hey Spence!” Aw they’re besties :D

• Spencer wants to create a core 5 alliance and immediately wants Diego in it. YOU’RE DIGGING YOUR OWN FUCKING GRAVE BRO I KNOW WHERE THIS IS FUCKING GOING-

• FUCK YEA HE WAS ALSO CONSIDERING TO BRING TRISTAN IN TOO.

• smol side note, but I loved hearing Jade use they pronouns with Tristan :D

• HANNAH ATE AMELIE UP

• “Bitch, I’m a bartender! All I do is listen to people!” YEA GET HER HANNAH

• I already knew Hannah only joined the show cause an executive invited her, but NOTHING could’ve prepared me for the reveal that her believing that people that overwork themselves lose sight of what’s in front of them and her saying that you never appreciate the time you have when it’s gone after talking about the loss of her parents.

• Side note AGAIN: But I also have a Filipino OC (their name is Cameron btw, I love him a lot :D) that ALSO lost their parents so uh… that’s a coincidence

• IM- THE WAY ANASTASIA CLUNG TO MARISSA AFTER GETTING SCARED BY A RACOON??? ONC KNOWS WHAT THEY’RE DOING

• Natalia casually strutting in while the racoon scurries away somewhere else is some queen shit

• oooo the blue team’s girls alliance convo. WAIT NO WAY ANASTASIA’S ANXIOUS BECAUSE OF LYNDA SHIT-TALKING MARISSA YOU CAN’T MAKE THIS SHIT UP

• WAIT BLUE TEAM DID ICEBREAKERS? THATS SO CUTE WTH

• “I like solitude” I felt that so hard

• “I’m just looking out for you. Everyone thinks you’re hella sus. Did ya kill somebody?” LMAO??

• “The path of an artist is often paved with sorrow… Not me, though.” WHY IS HE SO RELATABLE

• Bro rlly decided to join the show solely to get artistic motivation-

• Ngl all the swimsuits look rlly great for this season! A lotta colour variety :D

• DAMN LYNDA KEEPS GETTING CLOCKED

• Debate all ya want about Trevor casually tackling Emily into the mud while she has a broken arm, BUT DEREK CHEERING FOR HIM WITH FUCKING SPARKLES IN HIS FACE WAS ADORABLE

• ALSO DEREK KEEPS STARING AT TREVOR FOR MOST OF THE EPISODE. THAT’S GAYYYYYY

• “Go off Isa!” THEY’RE BESTIES

• tbh Isabel would probably fall for the “hey! what’s that?” trick. Also FUCK YEAH HANNAH

• “Hey, uh… Look, I really don’t wanna hit a girl” HE’S SUCH A SWEETHEART

• ALSO HE KEPT HIS EYES CLOSE FOR THE ENTIRE FIGHT AGAINST IVY

• ZAID AND TRISTAN CHEERED & COMFORTED HER AFTER THE FIGHT

• Bro Natalia ate so hard. That’s what happen when ya get cocky, Zaid

• OH NO, THEY’RE TERRIFIED

• Real talk, that convo Richard had with Tristan to calm them down was really sweet. Idk what Lynda & Amelie were on about

• All that went down the drain cuz Tristan’s attack didn’t do shit to Richard, and he insta-tapped him lmao

• Oh god, I can see Richard getting unfairly eliminated from a mile away with how he wants everyone to play fairly

• Richard’s backstory makes a lot of sense considering he’s a gay old guy. It makes sense that he wanted to hide his real self considering homophobia was rampant back then. At least he’s happy with his husband now :D

• ANASTATSIA DID NOT WANT TO CHEER FOR LYNDA LMAO

• Jade kicked her ass so hard

• “Ow! That actually kinda hurt” Benji you honestly did this to yourself. Explaining yourself by saying that Anastasia was a model did NOT help

• OH DAMN SHE STRAIGHT UP KICKED HIM IN THE BALLS

• “Not the first time I’ve been hit in the nards over saying something stupid’” THIS FUCKING HAPPENED BEFORE???

• Y’ALL KEPT CALLING SPENCER A TWINK BUT HE FUCKING YEETED ALESSIO OF THE PLATFORM

• Yeah that’s gonna cause back pain

• ngl I did not care about Ted & Amelie’s fight lmao

• “Vomit on her!” I can see why everyone stared and Alessio scooted away from him lol

• SPENCER WAS CHEERING FOR DIEGO TO WIN. SHIPPING CRUMBS

• FUCK, BLUE TEAM LOST. ALESSIO MIGHT GET OUT. At least Benji beat the first boot allegations :D

• Diego wanting the money to travel around the world’s really heartwarming bro, wtf ;-(

• “Silly? Yes… but damn! Wouldn’t that be fun?” YES YES IT IS

• BENJI HAS AN ICEPACK LMAOOO

• THE GIRLS ARE FIGHTINGGGGGG

• “Ugh, Lynda is a piece of work, but I do want to prioritize an easy vote this first time. Pretend to be her ally now and pull the plug later.” SLAYYY

• Lynda keeps getting clocked this episode lmao. Also she’s fucking terrible at lying for her own good, how tf did I think she’d be a main villain

• I love how most of the backstories from this episode include some hint of tragedy, but Ted’s over here like “I hustled some adults as a kid and I’m cracked at poker lmao”

• Ngl I did not see why people were shopping Logan & Alessio together (side note: watercolours is such a cute ship name) but I SEE THE VISION NOW

• bro had a whole-ass epiphany over Logan adding a fucking moustache to his painting

• “I won’t fall for it. I AM A DIFFERENT MAN FROM EXACTLY THREE MINUTES AGO” fave Alessio quote right here. I felt this so fucking hard-

• NAH ANASTASIA DID NOT HAVE TO GRASP MARISSA’S SHOULDER LIKE THAT

• yooo Trevek’s hosting the elimination ceremony together :D

• THAT CLIP OF THEM FROM THE SEASON TRAILER WAS JUST THEM QUESTIONING WHY THE GIRLS WERE WHISPERING TO EACH OTHER?! IT WASNT SOME FUCKASS ARGUEMENT?! I GOT WORRIED FOR NOTHING BRO

• Oh god, Ted or Marissa might be first boot. I don’t want that

• wait

• WAIT WAIT WAIT

• NONONONONONO I DONT LIKE WHERE THIS IS GOING

• FUCK MY LIFEEEEEE

• Okay reaction aside, Alessio got what he came here for anyways. I’m surprised ONC managed to condense a character arc into two whole episodes without making it look like shit. Still kinda sad to see him go ;-;

• ALSO HIS CONVO WITH LOGAN BEFORE HE LEFT FELT SO GAY??? THIS SHIT REMINDS ME OF ALEC’S ELIMINATION DURING ALL STARS WHERE HE THANKED CONNOR FOR EVERYTHING

• “I arrived here with a hollow facsimile of what I was. But… due to your patience and kinship… I found my dormant inspiration anew. Thank you… my friend” I can see why Logan’s crying when we cut back to his face after Alessio said this

• Also if the FIRST ELIMINATION got me sad, I’m worried for the future episodes because may I remind y’all, I LIKE ALL OF THESE CHARACTERS

• Wait so instead of a bus, eliminated contestants leave via boat? Damn that’s actually kinda cool ngl

• “You know what? Ana’s right.” ANA. SHE CALLED HER ANA.

• Yeah great episode, still sad about there being no tristannah crumbs unless you count them sitting beside each other during the challenge, and Alessio being first boot, but we still got a lotta shipping content nonetheless:D

[bluemoonperegrine]

Wolf Be Upon Yeet: Part I

@vicarious-rebel and I have been chatting about her headcanon of the Moon Knight and Werewolf By Night characters hanging out in Bloodstone Manor Addams-Family-style. My favorite part of her headcanon is the monster OC she dreamed up: a sentient version of the Bloodstone. She introduced monster!Bloodstone in the short fic "Of blood and stone". 

I enjoyed. Had questions. Asked them. Vi replied. We started riffing on stuff, and it's hilarious.

We decided that some of you goofballs might enjoy our silliness and are sharing edited versions of it. Well, we might be. Here's the start of it. I'll see how this post goes over to decide if I want to edit more of our back-and-forth into something intelligible for everyone.

So, the least you need to know:

Elsa, Jack, and Billy Swan live at the manor full-time.

Elsa and Jack are good friends.

Jack is over 200 years old. He doesn't have control of his wolf form. Werewolf him looks just like he did in the special.

Ted, Marc/Steven/Jake, and Layla visit the manor a lot.

Some or all of them go on missions together.

Vi's text is black. bluemoonperegrine's text is blue. (I mean, of course.)

aight so you asked how the Bloodstone would react to Khonshu and I think that depends on whether it considers divine and monstrous to be the same or similar enough conceptually

it considers Jack a monster even though he really only transforms during a full moon so "human for the most part" doesn't cut it

still I don't think we have any info on how it reacts to divine beings (and I'm not really a comic nerd but there's nothing there either as far as I know)

so if the only distinction it makes is human vs non-human, then it would probably react to Khonshu the same way it did to Jack

but it wouldn't be successful in actually landing a hit

yeah, I'm with you on how the Bloodstone would perceive Khonshu: monster. It's pretty binary: there are monster and not monsters. Unnatural and natural.

Ironically, monster!Bloodstone is inherently unnatural. Hence the identity issues you mentioned the other day.

It would be funny if it looked in a mirror and realized "Oh shit. I'm a monster!"

How intelligent is Stony? (monster!Bloodstone needs a shorter name, lol) Like a mammalian alpha predator? Smarter than that?

Stony <3 I love it, it's like a pet name

I'm not entirely sure, to be fair with you. It's definitely smart enough to recognize faces and tell edible from inedible things (maybe even tell reflection from actual thing apart) but that's all "in development", I guess.

He's literally a pet rock. With... viscera and stuff

speaking of Jack, I was actually kinda worried his reaction was ooc

hmm. lemme reread it keeping in mind that he's an old man

bc Jack is a monster and he's certainly seen some freakier ones but on the other hand how often do you see the ultimate weapon against monsters become a monster and then go for your neck?

pff Jack is an old man, please have mercy on his heart

he looks fantastic for 257

i'd say it's a 50/50 chance that he'd run for his life or freeze. Of the four responses to a threat (fight, flight, freeze, fawn), fleeing or freezing make the most sense.

I think he'd have run if Marc weren't there.

yeah, I think so, too. It seems to be his go-to reaction to threats

but maybe his instinct went "wait, someone close to you is here, you can't leave them"

or maybe he freezes depending on the situation (if you can count his reaction to Elsa in the maze as freezing)

I think his brain went offline for about a minute when Stony showed himself

Jack.exe has stopped working, please restart

Once some of the adrenaline had waned Jack would probably think "I can't abandon my friends even though this thing could end me in a fraction of a second"

LOL jack.exe

* opens task manager, kills thread *

from what I understand the Bloodstone is only supposed to weaken monsters so that kinda holds true for Stony boy here

it was basically trying to paralyze Jack

I know nothing about the Bloodstone other than what was in the special

It's interesting to think about a werewolf's reaction to stuff that can seriously hurt them. It's a very short list.

same here but from some of the easter egg/analysis channels I've watched they sometimes talk abt the Bloodstone in the comics and so far none of them mention anything abt it being able to properly kill a monster

so I think of Stony as being able to send just enough neuroparalytic toxins or electric shockwaves to incapacitate a monster but not necessarily kill them

not that Jack knows that in the moment

or any of them really

I like how your mind works. You're figuring out how Stony ticks. The characters may or may not catch up

I am indeed figuring some of this stuff out as we speak

I'm already imagining Elsa trying to figure out how to take care of Stony. What does he eat? Steel? Cinderblocks? tiny ghosts?

she throws all this random crap in his space and watches what he does

Jack watches from far away with binoculars

lol, Jack and Ted watch the show from afar.

"I don't know what she's thinking, Ted. I mean... look at that thing!"

the serious version of what Stony eats would probably be raw meat/blood/whatever else it needs to maintain the viscera

the funny version would be if Elsa eventually figured out it can run on a chicken diet bc of that

Have you watched Death Note?

long time ago, yeah

"L, did you know gods of death like apples?"

that and "I'll take a potato chip...AND EAT IT."

I like the serious and funny versions of figuring out Stony's dietary needs

Ted, nodding along to Jack's concerns

Stony would make for a very efficient clean-up crew after a hunt

he's the goat of monsters

it gets even funnier when you imagine it wasn't Elsa but one of the mk crew to figure it out

gotta be either Steven or Jake

Marc or Jake casually throw a chicken nugget at it for funsies and whoops, what do you know it likes it

they train it to do tricks

they would!

I just love the image of Marc being completely unphased by the thing after the initial encounter so when the system n Jack are visiting Elsa for whatever reason and Stony pops up we have

Jack: internally screaming in terror

Marc: oh hey bud

Marc keeps chicken nuggies in a ziplock bag in a coat pocket for Stony

the system overall gets along with Stony, Steven especially likes teaching it tricks and playing fetch with it

Jack: Marc, have you been eating a lot of chicken?

M: ...no?

J: You... always smell like chicken now. Cooked chicken, I mean. Fried, to be specific. Just a little.

M: * pulls a ziplock bag with nuggs out of his coat. It says "Stony <3" in Sharpie*

J: ...oh.

lmao Jack being secretly jealous

(Why don't *I* get chickie nuggies?)

"how come this thing gets chicken nuggets from him all the time? what does it have that I don't??"

He'd start hanging around in wolf form in hopes of treats 😂

crackpot theory: Marc has some kind of natural way of getting along with monsters

just Marc, or the system?

just Marc

however the rest of the system also has their way of getting around

Steven would use his big brain

Steven manages to get on most monsters' good side by being his genuine, curious and respectful self while Jake has more of a chill vibe that can disarm even monsters with time

and speaking of wolf Jack, yes he'd absolutely start sticking around the system more often for treats

especially when you consider Marc gives me dog person vibes he'd probably cave at some point

Elsa sighs, rolls her eyes, and points this out to the boys

Ted just wheeze-laughs

oh Ted has the time of his life teasing Jack for it

Elsa, too

I love this so much words can't do it justice

my general idea of the WBN crew is that they are a tight squad and teasing is just a given

"I'm not that dog-like!" *scratches behind ear*

it's good-natured teasing. if anyone crosses a line, the other party backs off and apologizes, if indirectly

Elsa: you're jealous that Stony gets all of Marc's attention, aren't you?

Jack, sweating: I don't know what you're talking about

aight we've touched on Jack being jealous for attention

aside from hanging around the system more in wolf form, he also tries to spend more time with them as a human

preferably outside of Bloodstone manor

first off, he's not jealous of that thing you guys, he's noooooootttt

and secondly, since Stony can be surprisingly quiet for a giant monster he can lurk the house and sneak up on anybody

that essentially means it constantly tries to sneak up on Jack and he can smell when it's near and that freaks him out

also I headcanon that Jack likes bubble tea and routinely tries to get the system to try it but they're obstinate

he lets up on Steven when he says he's vegan but the others aren't so lucky

plenty of puppy eyes

also it just occurred to me that it would be double funny if Layla also started showering Stony with affection and Marc was secretly a little jealous as well

he would never admit it ofc but he also wouldn't have a grudge against it bc hello???? it's Stony

the thing kinda has a soft spot for Marc bc of the treats (and that first encounter bc I think it would appreciate bravery, somehow)

Does Stony like Jack? Why is he sneaking up on him?

I can almost imagine Stony as a scary/annoying kid hanging around Jack looking for attention. Maybe

Bubble tea! 😆

So who exactly is the WBN crew? Elsa, Jack, Ted, Stony 😂, the system, and Layla? Anyone else?

I can only see Elsa and Jack being at the manor full time, or at least a lot. Being 200 yrs old, Jack must have a few places... unless he's largely itinerant. And Ted has to guard the nexus in the Everglades

the WBN crew are Elsa, Jack and Ted while Layla and the system are the MK crew

Stony would initially stalk him bc "monster bad" but he does eventually realise that's not the case for Jack but still does the stalking bc he is in fact A Little Shit

what are the other naughty things Stony does?

Stony usually bumps into things or pokes them bc he's curious about his surroundings

this leads to the endearing cat-like behaviour of "push things off the ledge and see what happens" and what happens is that sometimes things break

Lol Stony. He's like a cat and a dog

exactly

Does Stony have anything like catnip? Stonynip? lol

Stoned Stony

The bad jokes/puns write themselves 😆

maybe bloodroot (sanguinaria). It grows wild out here.

I'm not sure he'd have something like that tbh (plus the bloodroot sounds like it could actually hurt him but who knows, we're talking about an eldritch being spawned from a frekin jewel)

which would be funnier: Jack never getting over Stony and freaking out every time he saw it or getting to a point where he just sees it and goes "not you again"

I think the "why not both" option is for him to be in "freak out every time" mode for, like, weeks, then slowly transition to "oh god, you again"

from "oh god, you again"(terrified) to "oh god, you again"(exasperated)

Maybe the MK system and Elsa have an intervention with still-freaking-out-over-Stony Jack to encourage him to chill. If he doesn't he'll repeatedly have coronaries, heal up, then have more. Ugh. 😂

oh yeah, poor him

constantly on the verge of a heart attack

Swan's reaction to Stony would be fun to play with, too.

lmaooo yeah

I fully picture him agreeing with Jack at first that Stony is freaky but then he sees how it treats Elsa and he's like "actually you know what? this thing's chill, I don't even have to clean up after it"

-------------------------

Congrats to anyone who got this far!

There's a backstory to the title of this post. It'll be revealed in a later one.

Also, for anyone who wants to read more Stony hijinx, see my short fic "Something Awful This Way Comes."

[timaeusterrored]

(L.A.R.P. PT 1)

((This is based off of me finally watching a comfort YouTuber play True Colors. In this, Kerry is a young single dad living in the small town of Haven Springs. Spoilers for the game if you haven’t seen it💕 also featuring everyone’s favorite college AU homies being silly to make Ted happy))

Vincent Welles had been living in Jackie’s apartment alone for well over a month after the incident. In that month, he has reconnected with old friends, and old lovers. And made some new friends along the way. Including the smallest member of their pack, Ted. He was a cute kid and a splitting image of Kerry, and had the same attitude too. But he and Vincent got along well, even bonded over a comic that Ted was making. Vincent was in deep with that, and talked Johnny’s ear off about it. The guy liked to pretend he wasn’t up to date on the latest issue.

But after the incident, Ted shut everyone out. Vincent knew it was coming, he was 10 and still learning emotions. And as much as Vincent adored Kerry, he knew having a single dad that also sucked with emotions couldn’t be easy either. But Kerry was really trying and it was adorable.

And one way he was trying to get his boy’s spirit back was town wide LARP. And Vincent was all for it.

“I swear to god if you don’t find that feather I’m gonna… steal your edibles.” Kerry grabbed his guitar from Vincent’s table and pointed at him.

Vincent gasped, hand over his heart. “You wouldn’t.”

“Try me.” The kiss on the cheek after proved he wasn’t being serious.

Vincent was still getting ready when he got the dreaded text message with the first thing he saw saying ‘Bad News.’

Ker <3

Ted is not feeling this already, his mom is on her way to come get him

Vincent

What?! We haven’t even started! I’ll talk to him.

Ker <3

Good luck. He ain’t talking to anyone. Not even J.

Vincent

I’ve got this. You’ve been speaking my language since you said LARP

Ker <3

Fuckin nerds

Vincent

Dare I say… you’re more excited about this than we were.

Ker <3

Go fix my kid and shut up <3

Vincent

Love you too

Well that wasn’t reassuring. He knew this shit was hard, and he felt like he was the only one that understood where Ted was in his head right now.

So he grabbed his fake sword and made his way into town.

He found the boy sitting on the dock, a helmet and shield by his side. He didn’t even look at Vincent as he approached, but a blue aura surrounded him. Vincent sat next to him, holding his knees.

“I don’t need cheering up. I’m fine.”

Vincent frowned, looking down at him. “Look dude… I know shits tough right now… but Jackie wouldn’t want us to just mope around yeah? He’d want us to go have some fun.”

Ted held himself tighter, but looked up at Vincent.

“And… your dad made us a pretty epic adventure to go through… but I can’t do it alone. I’d be fried out there!” Vincent exclaimed, poking the boy. Ted smiled, sighing.

“Fine… but only if we do it together. I don’t wanna do it alone.”

“Oh we’re doing this together. I’ve been looking forward to this all week.”

And so the two set out on their quest. Fist stop, the Queen.

Color Vincent shocked when he saw Rogue of all people sitting on the park stage, fake crown and all. Even more shocked when she was speaking the language and seemed to really get into it. Her aura was a golden hue, and her thoughts were of Ted.

‘I’m glad Ted is smiling again. Thought we lost him for good this time.’

The two wandered around the park, discussing their quest. Find six scrolls, and three life gems. Goddamn Kerry was making them work for this, but it was a good distraction. And got everyone out of their slump.

“Found one!” Ted ran over and picked up a scroll, waiting for Vincent so he could open it.

Written in Kerry’s handwriting was a congratulations and a clue to their next location. And a warning to watch out for bandits.

The two wandered about, making their way back to the bar. Vincent had left and the place was clean, but now it was a full on murder scene. Vincent briefly wondered if this was too much for Ted, but he knew Kerry was in charge.

At first, they heard no one. Ted took the lead, walking up to the bar… when Mike popped up behind the counter. And if Vincent knew Mike, he knew the bartender was all into this.

“Oh thank the heavens!” Mike cried, leaned against the bar as if it was the only thing keeping him up. “My heroes!”

Ted looked up at Vincent, who tried to stop his laughter and keep serious for Ted. He nodded for Ted to take the lead, he was the main character in this story.

Mike told them the story of a gang of bandits running in and robbing the place, searching for his life gem. Why Mike had a life gem, Vincent didn’t know. This was Kerry’s first time planning this.

Vincent and Ted were walking down an alleyway when a ‘bandit’ jumped down, the bandit was clearly Judy with a bandana around her nose and mouth. Vincent was amazed he was keeping it together so well for Ted, but seeing his friends this way.

What he didn’t expect, when Ted had yelled to run, was to run head first into someone’s chest. He looked up and have to cover his mouth to keep from laughing.

Standing there, full cosplay and all, eye makeup and bandana around his mouth, was Johnny Linder.

[lillian-nator]

Wallflower AU (aka highschool au made w/ @bellfort3)

V i b e s - hanging on the roof; walking across train tracks; skipping school; Lakes, yes, something with lakes; something with different types of sodas. - My angsty teens are gonna have painted nails - Tommy bleaches his hair; Wilbur dyes his hair black - dramatic fuck. - Wilbur in eyeliner plz - Wilbur wears doc martens; black, yellow, maroon, silver shiny - Tommy's worn the same exact jean jacket for the past 5 years; it's 2 sizes bigger than he is; but he wears it every single day; it has fur on the inside; and its light washed with tears; the tears didn’t come like it; he's just ripped it over the years - He doesn't wash it very often, but he's glued patches on it, and Wilbur's drawn on it in sharpie. He just layers hoodies or flannels under it when it’s cold, but still wears it when it's hot - Tommy's also worn the same shoes for YEARS, they’re duct taped together at this point, they're white converse, they're not white anymore, and he's bleach-washed them SO many times that they permanently smell like chemicals. - The laces are frayed, so bad that he doesn’t even wear the laces most days. - Tommy doesn't shy from going in mud or water though, he'll wear the shoes to their fullest and then some. - I think you can tell by now, that Tommy just doesn’t come from a lot of money. - They live in a kind of run down town, very poor, old, smallish. - Wilbur is middle class, which is very well off in the area he lives in. - Wilbur gives off family disappointment vibes. Where he has to sneak out at night, Tommy can leave through his front door. - Wilbur calls Tommy “sunshine”, but very sarcastically since Tommy is a dick :) - Tommy has one of Wilbur's old beanies; it's black and monster branded, the monster logo is green - Wilbur gave it to Tommy 3 years ago, and Tommy never gave it back - btw Tommy's 17 and Wilbur's 19: Tommy's a junior and Wilbur's a senior - Wilbur only drinks Green Apple Monster - Tommy drinks sugar free redbull, but mostly only when Wilbur buys it for him, because Tommy usually doesn't have pocket change - Wilbur and Tommy bring speakers to the train tracks and dance and by that, its them jumping around and occasionally pushing someone over - Tommy uses his allowance to buy cigarettes; Wilbur vapes - both mentally ill - Wilbur is essentially the modern emo. He has this one yellow and black flannel that's oversized, and he wears it multiple times a week - it’s a problem.

- Dream, Wilbur, Karl, Tommy, Big Q, SapNap, Punz, and Tubbo - That’s the group. - I have just been talking about Tommy and Wilbur but they are the main characters so you can suck it. - A scene with Dream, Wilbur, Karl, Tommy, Big Q, SapNap, Punz, and Tubbo, at a lake, throwing each other in, and Tommy gets his shoes soaked, but he saves his jacket from the fall. Water gun fights, and they drink energy drinks and eat chips. they lay in the grass and contemplate life, Talk abt life yes. Abt existence. Abt how shit it is. Half of them have to wake up early and sneak home, the other half get to stay as long as they like. - Tommy tucks his t-shirts into his pants, which are always very baggy black jeans with just gigantic holes. - Tommy and Dream both have ADHD, however, Tommy's meds are purely from welfare, he cannot afford to give any out. Dream however? From an upper-middleclass family. Basically millionaires in this town. He can afford to lose some of his meds. - He yells in the clearing "COME GET YOUR DRUGS CHILDREN" - Besides, I've learned that there are like so many different ADHD meds, and maybe Tommy is just on something a lot stronger than adderall. He can't partake in the pill popping, but he doesn't mind. He does it every morning. - They don't do it often, maybe once a month, depends on how big Dream's prescription is - not that he regularly takes them like a good boy should - And I won't ever write this, but Gogy hangs out with them every so often, in which Gogy and Wilbur have an on and off again hooking up type relationship - whenever they hang out, Gogy like sits and Wilbur's lap and shit - Tommy and Punz GAG - "EW the fuck - get your hands off eachother. ITS GROSS - NO PDA IN MY BACKYARD"

- They hang out in an abandoned Building. But they don't try to fix it up. They're not fucking VSCO girls. They just want somewhere to hang out - If anything they make it worse - they fucking trash the place - It’s not intentional though - It’s like they can have fun without worrying abt the mess - just, sometimes they spill hawiian punch mixed with vodka everywhere - THEY GHOST HUNT AND OUIJA BOARD AND SHIT - They hang out in cemeteries too. they play manhunt in a cemetery, but like the regular version- like just hide and go seek in the dark. - they've done seances even though almost all of them are atheists - anyways the point of the fact is, is that half of them (excluding the minors you know) I'm looking at you Karl and Q - somethings going on between you two have made out with guys, and I'm not gonna sugar coat it, most modern like takes on religion do not take kindly to that

- they go to prom - and Dream somehow ends up with a ton of weed, because he had just turned old enough, and had the money - and they get fucking high OUT of their minds, like they're never doing it again - like, George and Wilbur definitely hooked up at Wilbur's house, which they aren't supposed to do - because Wilbur's parents will fucking flip that Wilbur is sleeping with a random person. No one is quite sure where SapNap ended up, and Tommy lost one of his shoes. In a panic, they spent the next 3 hours looking for it to find it at the lake by the school - Tommy fucking cradles it to his chest. -  (are wilburs parents homophobic?) (yes maybe a little side of homophobia) (Is wilbur bisexual or gay?) (he is ‘whoever the fuck looks bangable’) (fair enough) (he is ‘gogy my king’) (TRUUUE) - the bleachers - they hang out under the bleachers

- Gogy = Stylish stoner - very popular, but never not high - Karl is like the goody two-shoes of the group, doesn't skip class, and is on the principals list, however, he will NEVER back down from space brownies - its his weakness - Tubbo has a subway pass, and they do that thing where Tubbo swipes it and everyone fucking bolts into the subway, and they take all the trains at like 4am and just hang from the bars and shit - Wilbur still dresses relatively like, nicely and scholarly, which puts everyone off. He wears very loose sweaters with button-ups underneath. with khakis or black jeans and his docs - where his best friend, our Tommy, wears borderline yellow converse, and one bleached two-sizes-too-large jean jacket, and some second-hand-store hoodies, that are always a bit too worn in, but so, incredibly Tommy - Tommy who legit hasn't brushed his hair in years, not with a brush anyways - too frantic to brush his teeth most mornings. but always chewing gum; Tommy's always everywhere at once - ADHD meds only half-working on him, they couldn't afford the good shit - He'll never quite understand Dream handing out his adderall for free, Tommy would kill for the hard shit, but hey, he's never gonna stop his friends from having a good time

- Let's talk about Karl Jacobs - good ole' goody two shoes Jacobs - all of his teachers are constantly trying to get him to stop hanging out with Tommy and gang - every parent teacher conference is "we love your boy, but we are concerned about his friends" - Teachers have meetings with him, about how the people you surround yourself with can change your future - Karl's like, from the good side of town, plays first in the drumline, plays violin on the side, straight a's, clean-white-air-force-ones type of guy. Name brand clothes. Combed hair - Packed lunch every day from his mom; gets dropped off by his mom, kisses her goodbye; Mom is like very involved in school too - PTA parent - it's fucking good kid Jacobs - and he's sneaking off with fucking potheads to go to college parties and abandoned buildings - Does he do drugs? Well, he’s a big fan of treats if you know what I mean :wink wink: - ….you ever see Ted's video about a 500mg edible …. yeah. - big fan of gummy bears and brownies - Karl shows up to Parties and there are shouts of "Fuckin' goody-two-shoes Jacobs is HERE" - a lot of people make fun of him and think they can push him around - He seems like a softie; welcome mat type beat - but fucking watch this man chug 5 cups of whatever you give him, and then still win beer pong - Like his best friend is fucking quackity, he can do the hard shit - its very much a his parents have no clue who he actually is type beat - Look, his parents have no clue where he is ever - And if they even know he’s out, they don’t know where or with who - If his mom is at all involved in the school, she'll hear about Quackity, basically a drug dealer with how much hash weed he hands out on a daily basis. - Tommy has to be contained in order for the school to run smoothly, and Wilbur is a dramatic fuck that sleeps through most of his classes - Tommy has to take frequent breaks - They make him spend 3rd period in the principles office - Like he obviously needs help but he can’t afford it at all. Even the school can’t do anything for him bc he can’t get anything official for himself - like he can't even try to concentrate - He gave up so quickly in high school, bc they don’t have enough time or staff to help him - he tried in middle school - but man, did he give up in highschool - Yeah. He knows it is hopeless. Can't even afford college anyway. he'll just do whatever Wilbur does - here's an idea: Fucking Karl Jacobs showing up to school one morning just absolutely hammered out of his mind - Karl just showing up to first period AP Physics, and he's barely awake, honestly smells so much like weed and booze, and if he breathed anywhere near you, you could just feel the alcohol radiating from his breath - He's extra bubbly, laughs at everything - takes out his notebook to take some sort of notes, and just fucking giggles at the shapes and equations. He is very spacy, he clearly stayed up all night doing something very illegal; he gets up and jumps around. 2nd period band? oh boy - He gets sick at lunch bet - Like everyone got Drunk but Karl got FUCKED up - It was his birthday, bet - He took like 17 shots over the course of like 8 - 12ish hours, and I looked it up, despite karl being super scrawny and probably like 140 - 150ish pounds - which isn't a lot for being 5'11 - will not kill him - BECAUSE, you guessed it, he turned 17 - He didn't sleep, he was awake taking shots and just fucking who knows what until 6am when they stumbled to school - at lunch, 11:30 in the morning - he's head down on the table, miserable - he doesn't have a hangover yet, because it's only been a few hours, but man, is he nauseous - just the smell of food makes his stomach churn - and the thing about fucking Jacobs showing up drunk as hell - is that at least one of his teachers has called his mom about it - SHES PRESIDENT OF THE PTA FOR FUCKS SAKE, ONE OF THEM KNOWS HER - And the teachers aren't stupid, Karl is so obviously drunk - generally Karl is pretty quiet in class; but now he has no distinction between hanging with hs friends and being in class - he's shouting and cracking jokes and is very tempted to kick his chair over - Anyways, Karl fucks himself over, end of story  - ONTO PUNZ’S RELGIEOUS TRAUMA WOOOOOOOOOOOO - It's Punz - fuckin' golden boy Punz; he plays football; and goes to church; and calls his mother "momma"; wears a nice church outfit; and is polite to the bible study mothers that come over on tuesday nights and gets them drinks - just a fuckin' golden boy - A religious family. Go to church every Sunday. Sunday school. Holidays. But. The kid just realizes that they don’t believe in god. Them telling the group like they’re high and he’s like “you know? Some of the shit that’s happened to us proves to me that god rlly isn’t real.” - and Punz like prays every day for Tommy's dad to get his job back; or for Gogy to get better parents; or for Karl to live the life he wants; and NOTHING EVER WORKS. THEY'RE ALL STILL FUCKED. - by the way we will get the the Tommy's dad losing his job later - But Punz's life is controlled by something he doesn't even believe in anymore - because he's still going to the like church breakfasts, and christmas service, and every sunday morning, and helping his mom's ladies bible study, and his parents are talking about sending him to a youth bible camp - - and he doesn't even think he believes in god anymore. - Punz kind of took out his own personal, religious, and family struggles out the way most teenage boys do. Drinking, and lots of sex. - SO I just imagined this like, really dramatic moment, where its the morning after Punz had a one night stand at some sort of party down the street, and he's long past saving his virginity for his wife, but he's buying her the morning after pill, which his church is just so against, and he has like the moment of, "if you do this, you're done." and he does it - he's had a couple of those moments, like, when he first had sex, and when he first smoked weed, or popped a pill, or snuck out at night, or skipped church - but that was the moment of "there is no going back" - like any type of drug or procedure that aborts an embryo, or that blocks fertilization thats already in process in like: the biggest no no in his church community - so once he stepped out of that drug store, he kind of took a breath, and just came to terms with it - "I'm an atheist." - Punz is the pastors son. - he's like, pre-commited to a catholic college - he’s in deep. - so when he first announces it to his friends, one really late night, "I think god might not be my thing." - they just start whistling and say "FINALLY, THE PASTORS SON HAS TURNED AROUND." - Dream just like turns over to him "how many chicks did you fuck to make you realize that?" - Tommy just slings his arm over Punz, "I'm glad you've quit the Jesus shit, Punz. Your better than it." - There’s gotta be this girl ok. He rlly rlly wants to have sex with her but he always backs out. The thing that breaks him. Is that he gets drunk and loses his virginity to someone who is not that girl - like, he likes this girl, and has a good connection with her, and she likes him, and he knows that its gonna be comepletly consentual, and she's like fucking beautiful right? - and she's the one he wants to loose it to and he's a stupid fucking idiot and loses it to some fucking random ass chick that doesn't even go to their school - This triggers a spiral. After that? He slowly starts giving less of a fuck abt everything. He fucked up the one thing you can’t do over and god he’s so painfully aware of it and so painfully aware that he didn’t even fuck up right. - You’re supposed to wait till marriage. Nope. You’re supposed to do it with someone you love and trust. Double nope. He. Fucked. Up. - its just like he wanted to do something bad. he wanted to fuck something up. he was questioning his faith, his like, great and sturdy and always-there faith for the first time, and what better way to test faith than to do something shitty and see what comes of it. and so he was planning and planning and planning how he was gonna do this terrible thing - which is such a good kid thing to do, to put so much thought into your own rebellion - but he wanted this to go perfectly. - Little Pastors Son, Punz, wasn't gonna wait till marriage. - He was gonna have sex with the girl of his dreams before they were even dating - but man did he like her. Did he want her. - And then he fucked some random girl when he was black out drunk. He's fucked everything up - he can't wash this away with confession - he's tainted. He's dirty. - He looks in the mirror and doesn't recognize the heathen staring back. - He hates who he's become. - But he never goes back - he can't. He's dirty. He's wrong. - but the more he goes down the spiral - the more he realizes that one mistake shouldn't have made him feel like that - that if god was real, which he honestly wasn't sure in that department, he wouldn't want Punz to feel like the scum of the earth for doing something wrong. especially when he felt so bad after he did it. This system was fucked. He didn't want to be apart of another cycle - and he's just lying to himself every time he goes to church, and reads a cerse for his mom, and meets with younger kids at the church, and plays flag football with fucking church virgins who are good catholics and follow all their mommas orders - And every night when he says grace he means it less and less. he always does it when his momma asks, but boy does the lords word mean shit to him anymore From Ethan: - A turning point to the others in Punz's breakaway from Catholicism is like - He prays before he eats, usually. Sometimes they wait for him to finish his prayer before eating themselves, just out of politeness. He's a friend, he gets that shred of etiquette - And then one day he just doesn't. They got some fast food for a whole group dinner out at their hangout spot (a warehouse, did you say??) Tommy is staring at it intently but he waits for Punz to pray. Tubbo's already started eating but the rest wait - And Punz just starts eating - Dream nudges him, "No prayer, Pastor's boy?" - "No prayer," Punz mumbles into his food. "I'm trying something new." SO, TOMMYS DAD LOSING HIS JOB ARC W000000000 - it starts with Tommy showing up in a different jacket one day - like you have to understand, he's worn this jean jacket every single day for as long as WIlbur has known him, which is like 6 years - Like Tommy shows up in this giant, khaki work-jacket and it's his dads... - HIS DAD DIDNT DIE - his dad lost his job, which is essentially death to a family who already couldn't sustain themselves - and Tommy shows up to school, face pale and cheeks sunk in and there are visible bags under his eyes - and Wilbur just rushes over immediately and hugs him so tight to his chest - and Tommy just sobs, "pops lost his job -" gasp "I can't - we can't pay the bills this month. everything - its all falling apart Will." - "Hey - hey. Stop. It's gonna be fine. You're gonna be okay. You always are dude." - Tommy does have to get a job - and he probably does drop out of school unofficially, like he just stops going. - he sleeps during the morning classes, and heads into work at 10am - he's a carpenters assistant. it pays well as they need young, able men. but most of the younger citizens in the town go to school - he has to take the day shift because the day shift pays better - he doesn't mind it, he doesn't - it gives him the opportunity to get all of his energy out; but he misses going to school. as much as he hated it, he misses his friends. - and lets be honest, its hard as fuck for his dad to find a new job, he doesn't have a great resume - he didn't graduate from highschool. and he isn;t in top health condition, he definitely doesn't have health insurance - so Tommys stuck with this job for a long time - his dad uses his last paycheck to buy Tommy workboots so tommy feels in debt to him - He’ll get his GED eventually. - I think - The like religious status of the rest of the group brought to you by me - Everyone who I don’t mention is just a hard atheist - Karl and Wilbur are catholic, but to a lesser extent, Wilbur doesn't really go through with lent, and Karl only sometimes does. They go to a different church and go pretty much on holidays only, a sunday a month maybe. - SapNap goes to Punz's church, they've been friends for years. - He goes to sunday school but misses a lot of sermons because of his siblings sports games. - He is involved, but not to the way Punz is - SapNap's mother is in fact in Punz's moms bible group - Punz sometimes doesnt attend the bible group and Sap's mother is all "now you tell that pastor's boy to actually attend next time, got it?" and Sapnap dies a little on the inside - And George is an orthodox christian, but he's pretty much quit due to the blatant homophobia he's seen at his church. 

AND NOW ON WILBUR SOOT AND KARL JACOBS AND BARKING - Wilbur has siblings, fun fact - that we will never talk about or address - but definitely nothing like Wilbur, more the Karl Jacobs type - Wilbur is the oldest. he's always lectured about being 'a good influence on your brother and sister.' - They’re big sports kids. Softball and Basketball (tall genes). Straight Bs; Bed by 10pm; Have never missed school - Parents pride and joy :) - Just good suburban kids, Have friends next door, help the neighbors, attend the cul-de-sac barbecues. - Basically who Wilbur used to be up until highschool (until Wilbur met weed and a good group of stoners) - Sure he was a disappointment and he had no clue what to do with his life - But he was happier - Never really liked being the goody- two-shoes boy next door, he doesn't know how karl does it “Playing good boy like a dog” - Also he used dog terms around Karl - Because he’s “Playing good boy like a dog” - He’ll throw Karl a beer and smile “go fetch” - He laughs so hard when he sees Karl be good in a class or play it up for his parents; Because Wilbur’s so past trying - Wilbur will walk by and just bark at karl. Bet. Just Growls lowly; Walks in a  circle; Anything to make Karl’s parents (or Wilbur’s own) stare at him and scurry away - Karl’s parents push Karl forward and like hold their younger kids close to their chest, whispering “keep close, don’t look at him” - They tell Karl to stay away from kids like him. - And boy do Wilbur’s pa#rents hate it, They push him along and whisper yell at him As he throws his head back and cackles - I mean imagine, like a stereotypical middle class suburban family: House wife, blue collared father, Two kids; in sports jerseys, Girl in braids, boy in khakis - And then there’s Wilbur: Doc Martins, black jeans, collar and sweater, beanie. Definitely high on something - Chains LOTS OF CHAINS - And he's Barking. Fucking Barking At the nice family down the street - And then he takes out his vape right in front of his parents and silently offers Karl a hit with a smirk - Cause Karl’s too busy playing good boy - And as Karl’s family looks back, as Wilbur is corralled by his mom - He flips them off with the biggest smirk uou will ever see - Wilbur's kind of an ass - And Karl really wants a hit of that vape.

[hopeshoodie]

Please do the 💨🍃

Bobby: So we know Bobby was in a punk band, which in my mind means he was using ouid on a pretty regular basis. He’s definitely well past blunts- if he wants to get high he uses shatter or resin. He probably has his own rig but it’s nothing fancy and he doesn’t use it much anymore. It takes a fair bit to get him high, but when he is? Munchies for days, and a lot of quiet singing along to songs where he’s just jumping in for one or two words before petering out. He thinks he’s giving a concert, though.

Carl: Carl has never smoked in his life. Knowing the rat race in colleges and silicon valley, he prefers uppers to alcohol or marijuana. Carl was definitely lowkey addicted to cocaine for a spell before he went to AA and stopped using- especially when he was first building a career, doing drugs every day was treated as commonplace. He didn’t realize it was a problem until he lost what little weight he had and was going through withdrawals, then he needed to get clean. I think to this day Carl’s wary of mind altering substances, and he’s not interested in anything that makes him tired or low energy. He also is highkey disgusted by the smell. 

Gary: Gary doesn’t smoke, but that’s because he doesn’t have access. No one in his day to day life is offering it to him. He definitely tried it at a highschool party when people were offering it, and got super faded off a few hits. High Gary does a lot of wandering and looking at decor in the house, and asking people questions they can’t follow. He’s a big fan of “Why’s it- w hY’s it like tHat” while gesturing to the TV or a random object. No one ever answers because… What do you say to that lmao. 

Henrik: Henrik smokes pretty regularly, but he exclusively uses cigarillos or vapes. He doesn’t take in enough to get truly high, just enough to start feeling wiggly and vibe out. He knows better than to get high and go hiking- seriously yall don’t do that, that’s how people get attacked by animals, fall off of things, and get lost. But if he ever takes it too far and does get high, he enjoys sitting out on the back porch and just watching the insects. Henrik when he’s super stoned is pretty chill and laughs along to whatever, despite him not really processing what you said. 

Ibrahim: Rahim coughs a lot the few times he’s been offered a hit, and generally looks down on stoner culture. He much prefers cigars and cigarettes (to be fair I think he’s still only a social smoker with those). If Rahim is getting high, which happens like never, he wants to do it with an edible so there’s no smell or awkward passing around a rig. Obviously with edibles, you’re fine and then you’re absolutely wrecked. I can see Rahim getting super creative when high, wanting to draw and write a bunch of things down. In the morning, it all looks like nonsense. 

Lucas: Lucas doesn’t get high often, but like Rahim he prefers more ‘socially acceptable’ ways than smoking. He definitely does more drugs than Rahim though, rich people are crazy and think they’re invincible. Lucas gets really insightful when he’s high and talks super coherently about class systems, politics, and philosophy. He’s joked that when he’s baked he unlocks all of his brain and understands the universe. If you get Lucas high get ready for TED Talk after TED Talk. I think this is super funny because I can see Lucas getting really red eyed and flushed when high, so he’s espousing all of this really deep stuff while his normally styled hair is all messed up and he looks real out of it.

Marisol: I can see ouid giving her anxiety and paranoia. Marisol waited until her senior year of uni, a few months before graduation, to try it for the first time. To this day she’s not sure if the drugs were laced with something else or she took too much, but she had a super bad trip. She got really convinced that everyone was getting her high to steal things and started crying. Marisol now refuses to engage with THC on any level and loudly proclaims that it gives her anxiety when offered, because despite not enjoying it and getting a feeling of superiority from turning it down she still wants to feel cool/people to know she’s tried it. 

Noah: I know I said Noah gets really quiet when drunk, but I think he gets SUPER quiet when high. He roots himself to his spot in the chair and intermittently stares at the ground and his surroundings- he basically becomes a houseplant. I think internally he’s becoming really aware of like… The texture of the fabric of his clothes and the music playing. To other people it looks like he’s shutting down but in reality he’s feeling super connected to everything. He usually remembers observations even after sobering up. He’s got a journal that he sketches ideas and thoughts into either while high or after coming down, and some of them are super dope.

Rocco: It’s basically canon that Rocco’s tolerance is crazy high, and it seems like he’s literally always smoking at any/every time. If Rocco gets properly stoned he just zones out and gets that ‘dropped jaw, eyes lidded’ look and just- no thoughts. Head empty. But usually he doesn’t have enough supply to get that high so he’s just generally always a little baked and eats a lot of crap food and lays on his roof a lot.

[mystech-master]

Annom-Guy: I know it's "Nu" (😆), but is the new Episode plot heavy? No on YouTube is uploading the new episodes, just the interactions (which is good). P.S. Still a bummer that Neo gets Special Interactions, but Blitztank gets none at all. Kind of unfair.

okay major spoilers that Arc Sys might assassinate me for telling you guys under the cut

forgive me if I’m loose with the details as I just skimmed through it and button mashed my way to the end. I care about story, not gameplay okay fuck off.

Naoto Kurogane is basically the main character

This all happens b/c Hazama decides to take his keystone (the blue one) and plug it into Takamagahara. But this causes some weird shit.

System summons Naoto, and says that it is a stamp collecting contest no instead of a tournament,

Naoto and Celica meet, they fight Merkava and Carmine who system just drops in.

Then they get separated because Celica walks off, of course.

Naoto goes into a maze and meets Yuzuriha, who calls him Nao-Nao and that he reminds her of someone, and then they meet and fight Blake and Yang at the end. Yuzu sneakily takes the stamp o use for her and Naoto, and then runs off, leaving Blake and Yang to try and beat up Naoto for his stamps.

Celica enters a house made of fake sweets with the challenge of trying to find the real sweets, there she meets Heart and after a fight with Mik and Platinum, tey make pancakes for everyone.

Then we see Teddie getting roped into a race against Jin and Weiss, with Yumi as his partner.

If you know Ted, you know where this goes.

And no the race doesn’t tie and result in a fight. Jin and Weiss ride and Ice Car with Weiss’ Semblance steering, while Teddie rolls on Kintoki-Douji and uses the missile to blow up an ice wall. Shit like that.

Naoto encounters Rachel in a trap (she fell for a trap b/c she wanted to pick up a fancy teacup) and they fight Azrael and Waldstein.

Then we have a cook-off with Yukiko and Chie vs Noel and Makoto making pudding, with Yu and Yosuke as spectators, and Es, Linne, and Mai as judges. Guess who survives the tasting portion? P.S. Yukiko actually makes something edible for once.

Mitsuru is with Akihiko and has the right idea here, being the most logical and wanting to make allies and exchange information, while the MINUTE Akatsuki shows up and asks to fight Akihio is all “FUCK YEAH!” and they fight.

Naoto is really sick of all this shit because everyone is an asshole who wants to fight.

Then Naoto has to watch Akatsuki and Akihiko fight Azrael and Blitztank (no he doesn’t have a voice, he just beeps and werrs).

Azrael catches up with Naoto, who is finally having an amicable conversation with Tager, but then they get roped into a battle with Adachi as Naoto’s partner.

After that Naoto ends up at a hot spring with Yumi, NO it doesn’t go where you think. Instead, they have a ping pong tournament with Jubei and Nine (who are acting as gatekeepers for this challenge in exchange for having a second honeymoon after the last one got well........ruined).

Hyde and Seth have to go against Izayoi and Hakumen in sticking blades in a barrel with Linne in it, still dazed from her eating Noel’s poison pudding. I have no other way to explain it.

Minerva gets separated from Celica and meets Aigis and Labyrs and they become friends, then System ropes them into the challenge of trying to “woo” Yosuke. Minerva, having Celica as a basis, is the only one who doesn’t nearly kill Yosuke.

near the final challenge Gordeau and Hilda act as final gatekeepers, then Ruby shows up and fights alongside Celica, after which Hilda offers them to join Amnesia to which they say NOPE

Once they get to the end there is an elevator leading to the final match, but they have to get through Neo and.......I said elevator so who the fuck do you think?

Afterwards,  it is revealed that the “System” they heard the whole tie, was Hazama goading them along, and the real system is using all her power to contain Susano’o. Well, not the REAL Susano’o, it was like some kind of copy or some sit IDK it was convoluted Blazblue terminology bullshit. But Naoto said it’s power level was insane and Hazzy said that was o;y 3% of its power. But while System was made to combine worlds, Susano’o was going to use its power to destroy all worlds

System loses strength and Susano’o breaks out, but Ragan comes in to help, the two actually are pretty much cool with each other instead of their previous interactions in BB canon. They defeat Susano’o with a combined attack and all seems well.

The only thing is System is all out of power because Hazzy kept making all that extra shit (th sweets house, the hot springs, etc.) so in order to get more energy, MORE TAG BATTLES!

Almost EVERYONE shows up, and Ragna and Naoto have some banter that makes them more like friendly rivals now and I can get behind that.

Lots of shit, not all fights, I probably flubbed a lot of it but yeah. That’s basically the new episode.

[taggedmemes]

SENTENCE MEME ⟶ BETTER OFF TED / 1.01 always feel free to tweak the sentence to fit your muse.

‘we don’t make cows.’

‘i have the best job in the world.’

‘we want to make a metal that’s as hard as steel but can bounce with rubber and is edible.’

‘we need a mouse that can withstand temperatures up to 195 degrees.’

‘every day there’s something new waiting to be discovered.’

‘we want to weaponize a pumpkin.’

‘there’s a country with whom we do business that grows a great deal of pumpkins, and would welcome additional uses for them as well as cheaper ways to kill their enemies.’

‘we need to turn this simple, festive gourd into a killer.’

‘nature is a fantastic killer of things.’

‘you have to lighten up.’

‘maybe i’m too funny. maybe i was joking about not getting your joke.’

‘i’m so angry about the toilet paper.’

‘they’ve destroyed going to the bathroom for me. used to be just a weird human function. now it’s actively stressful.’

‘it becomes normal if you keep doing it. everything does.’

‘i’m a fighter. i fight stuff like this.’

‘i’d fight if i thought i could win.’

‘do you think i don’t fight injustice enough?’

‘she once killed a bat with a people magazine.’

‘he’s a better man than you.’

‘never give up. that’s what i always tell my daughter. she tells me to stop telling her, but i tell her i can’t because that would be giving up.’

‘is there a rule about that that i should know?’

‘when people can’t get comfortable, they don’t daydream or get distracted.’

‘is it wrong to invent a deadly pumpkin?’

‘work’s not about right and wrong.’

‘i’m here to talk about you, not to you.’

‘in the unlikely event that something goes wrong, well. there are people here we would, you know, miss more.’

‘they’ve got— what’s that thing again? underlings have it. loyalty!’

‘he hates the cold and he freaks out in small spaces, so this assignment is not ideal for him.’

‘if i’m going to ask _____ to do something potentially dangerous i need to make sure that it’s potentially safe.’

‘the zebra and the toaster are friends.’

‘that makes the toaster too mean. he’s not a sociopath, he just doesn’t want to make toast anymore.’

‘let’s pretend that phone call wasn’t odd.’

‘i’m trying to write a children’s book.’

‘at some point you say ‘making toast is fine. its opened some doors. but i need some more’.’

‘this is a great company, isn’t it? freezing its employees.’

‘do you know that they send us phone bills for our non-work-related calls? they don’t charge us for them. they just want us to know that they know we’re making them.’

‘can a company be bitchy?’

‘i also scratched the words ‘place scrotum here’ in the lunchroom table. but then, you know, that just became the thing to do.’

‘she got so mad the first time, i had to do it again.’

‘why do they want to freeze me? i didn’t do anything.’

‘will i keep getting paid? she’s going to want to know that.’

‘she knows everything.’

‘i like him the temperature he is.’

‘____ came to my birthday. it’s wrong to freeze someone who comes to your daughter’s birthday.’

‘would you do it? would you do something like this and leave me?’

‘i would never leave you. ever.’

‘it’s wrong to ask him to do something you wouldn’t do.’

‘you’re right. you’re always right because stupidly, i taught you right and wrong.’

‘they can’t force employees to participate in human experiments. they lost that court case.’

‘i’ll just stand perfectly still so i don’t accidentally go on living my life without you.’

‘she’s normally a deeply and relentlessly negative person.’

‘why are you being so mean?’

‘i’ve never seen a man explode from the inside. a rabbit, an eel, a goat, a monkey and a reindeer, but that’s all.’

‘i don’t think you’re crazy for stealing creamer.’

‘he’s been like this for three days now.’

‘i guess in hindsight, they shouldn’t have vitrified his brains.’

‘look, i’m not gonna play the blame game with you.’

‘have you been avoiding me since you, you know, you held my hand?’

‘i held onto your hand after you held my hand.’

‘oh, okay. that’s how we’re playing it? we’re gonna play it stupid?’

‘i used up my office affair.’

‘i think you and i should have sex.’

‘i’m so nervous, i’m shaking like a leaf.’

‘i don’t get nervous. i try, it just doesn’t come out.’

‘i guess that makes me vulnerable.’

‘no, you’re not vulnerable.’

‘only an idiot would have an affair with their boss.’

‘do grown-ups even care about right and wrong?’

‘did i surprise you? i didn’t mean to surprise you. i’m just a friendly person.’

‘i didn’t think you knew my name.’

‘fine. you know your name better than i do. yay.’

‘i can’t have you sleeping with ____. it would embarrass me. plus, i may not be done with you yet.’

‘i hear you’re blinking again.’

‘that’s an interesting career choice.’

‘what you’re doing is gonna hurt their feelings. and when their feelings get hurt, they hurt the ones they love.’

‘they don’t want to talk to you when you’re like this.’

[wiggly-blue-shite]

Chapter 5! The Bell Doesn’t Dismiss You!

Biology! I really do love this class. Well the AP Bio teacher is super cool and everything makes sense to me. I love this class!

"Hey Henry!" Oh it's him. Chad Stevenson. Star quarterback, straight A student, ASB Vice President. Not only is he a senior, he is also tragically straight, not that he'd be into me. But oh wow those pearly whites.

"Oh hey Chad what's up!" I only see him this period. We're not close but he was my lab partner once! He's so far out of my league I don't even get nervous around him.

"Not much man. Good to see you." He is a practically perfect specimen. It's ridiculous. No human should be like that.

"I don't think I saw you a Sam's party yesterday?"

"I wouldn't be caught dead in that jack offs house." Chad chuckled a little. He fucking looks like Clark Kent it's ridiculous. I chuckle a little too.

The late bell rings and he walks over to his seat. He didn't mention the makeup... huh.

I redirect my attention to the class at hand. I take close notes. Wow I love this class.

I start walking to my next class. AP English language, also a pretty fun class. It's a lot of reading and writing, two of my best activities, other than acting, and science, and music, and probably more things.

You can clearly see those who are hungover. I have a few different species of hungover:

• The absent, which are just the students who didn't come to school today or skip certain classes.

• The basic, which tend to be the white bitch. They put on too much makeup to compensate. It also looks fucking terrible.

• The pissed off, aka Emma. Just bitchy. All the time. Enough said.

• The in denial, they act like everything is normal even though they are visibly suffering.

Etc. my studies will be continued.

I spot Ted from across the courtyard. I don't know what it is about him. Maybe it's the fact that he seems like a human being compared to Chad. I can't help but to smile a little when I see him. I have the peculiar urge to get to know him better. I don't know what it is.

He turns his head, I think he spots me staring at him. He smiles and waves at me. My heart skips a beat. He didn't look away.

I wave back. W don't stop to talk to each other. Passing period isn't long enough.

I get to English and sit down in my seat. I wave at Zoey who sits across from me. I don't hate her like some people do. She's kind of bitchy and annoying. She's also a total fucking diva. But Norah is her best friend, and Norah is my theatre club running mate. I basically only tolerate Zoey because of theatre. I don't want to think about her though.

So I grab the writing assignment we are supposed to work on today and focus on that.

He didn't look away.

Ah no. Writing assignment. Uhh symbolism in King Lear. Oh Jesus Christ. I love this class but why?

He smiled at you. His cute little crooked smile. How could I get to know him better?

No! King Lear symbolism!

Maybe Emma and I could sit at Ted and Paul's table at lunch. Since Emma and Paul are basically dating it wouldn't be weird. Right?

I pull out my phone and hide it so my teacher can't see it. I text Emma.

Henry: Lets sit with Paul today!

She responds immediately. I think she has a free period or a easy elective right now.

Emma: Why

Henry: So you don't want to hang out with Paul?

Emma: No I do but you don't

The teacher walks by and I slide my phone under my thigh. Yes I am paying full attention to the symbolism of King Lear. Jesus Christ.

He goes back to his desk and I pull my phone out.

Emma: Is it Ted? ;)

Henry: What does it matter?

Emma: We can sit with them today ;)

Smug bitch.

I slide my phone back into my pocket.

Alright King Lear symbolism! Really a riveting topic.

I meet up with Emma outside the cafeteria. The lunch line is more tolerable with a friend.

"So Ted?" I fucking knew it.

"Shut up." She already knows I consider him attractive. But I don't know. I want to get to know him I guess.

"This is the first real crush in a while." Emma grabs a tray.

"Ok who said anything about a crush." I just want to get to know him better. He seems like a cool person.

"You haven't asked to sit with a boy before. Sure there's been a few 'let's sit with Norah and Zoey' s but this is like a boy." Oh Jesus Christ.

"I just want to get to know him." We get to the lunch counter. "A yogurt." I smile at the lunch lady handing her my lunch money. She smiles back and hands me basically a parfait. I don't think they're allowed to call it a parfait because those are deserts. But what else would you call fruit in granola layered in yogurt? Well it's the only thing remotely edible that they serve here. I grab a little bag of baby carrots and an apple juice.

"A chicken sandwich." Emma hands the lunch lady her money and is returned with basically just a chicken nugget in two pieces of bread. How are they allowed to serve this? "Get to know him? Is that what the kids are calling it nowadays?"

Jesus fucking Christ.

We head away from the counter to the rest of the cafeteria. I don't see paul or Ted. Come to think of it I don't think they eat in the cafeteria.

"Where do they eat lunch?" I still scan the cafeteria.

"Outside near the English building." I didn't even know there was a place to eat over there.

Once we get there I see there isn't a play to eat. They are sitting under a tree using backpacks as tables sitting on jackets. Weird.

Paul, Bill, Ted, and Charlotte are there. Ted looks surprised to see us. Wait did they know we where coming? It's rude just to show up. I don't want to be rude. My heart rate increases.

"Hi Emma!" Paul calls out cheerfully. It's almost as if I don't exist.

Emma sits next to paul. But there's not much space between Emma and the tree so I can't sit next to her. I don't know where it's ok for me to see. I don't know these dynamics. This was a bad idea.

Bill pats the ground in between him and Ted, signaling me to sit there. So I plop down there. I didn't bring a jacket so I have nothing to sit on, but that's fun.

"Damn if I knew you were gonna be here I would have brought an extra jacket." Ted's voice is warm. I could melt. No one talks about his compassion.

"No it's fine." I really don't care that much. It's nothing.

"I love your makeup." Charlotte speaks up. To be honest I have not heard her speak in a very long time. I think she's on color guard or something like that, I have no idea. I just know she's wrapped around Sam's little finger, but that's common knowledge.

"Thanks!" I really expected more people to hate it.

"I could never rock an outfit like that." Ted leans back a little bit. I can feel his eyes on me. He's watching me. I can feel blood rush to my cheeks.

"Sure you could!" I would love to see that... I mean nothing.

"Wow I can't even imagine Ted in full makeup." Bill laughs. Everyone chuckles a little.

"I'm sure Henry would love to do your makeup." Emma had her evil little smile. I put myself in this situation.

"Sure I'm down." Ted shrugged. Oh great. Well I be would be spending time with him.

"Yeah ok." What am I going to say no?

"Yay!" Emma claps a little. She's more excited for this than me and ted are.

"Hey any word on the school play?" This is the first time I've seen Paul show any interest in our schools theatre program. Emma says he doesn't really like musicals which is preposterous.

"Nope. I think we're just going to be left in the dark until the week of the audition." I'm 80% sure only Emma knows what I'm talking about, but that's fine. "It's not going to be a Shakespeare show, because we did Shakespeare in the fall."

"Does that mean it's going to be a musical? There is distain in Paul's voice.

"Probably." I shrug. I love musicals but it's not like we're going to get the rights to any really cool shows. We don't have the budget.

Paul groans. No one is forcing him to see the show. I don't want him there anyways. He won't appreciate it.

"Well I'm excited for it." Bill pats me on the shoulder. I've seen him in the audience of a couple shows. I'm convinced he just goes to every school function.

"Thanks!" I smile at him.

"Those shows always look like so much fun." Ted stares off retrospectively at the tree. He's correct, they always are super fun. Even if you have diva bitch Zoey there. I didn't know that Ted went to the shows. Oh wow that means he has seen me in some... interesting roles. Oh Jesus Christ he's seen me play Mrs. Bumbrake.

"You should audition." Why did I say that? Bad idea. No no no. "I mean you don't have to, we don't even know what the show is yet. But it is really a fun experience regardless of show. Though it is baseball season, and I know you're on the baseball team. Splitting time between the show and sports might be stressful." I can feel myself rambling, so I shut up.

"Oh shit I totally forgot about baseball." He takes a deep breath, "if I'm being honest I might quit baseball." Everyone sits in quiet for a second, paul looks stunned. "The coach is a dick, he-who-shall-not-be-named is on the team now, and I don't even enjoy it that much."

The silence is unbearable. I prompted this. Well I need to fix it somehow.

"Well there's alway seats open in theatre club." Jesus Christ I am a fucking dumbass.

"I do not belong on stage." Ted chuckles a little breaking some of the tension, "Charlotte knows what I'm talking about, my singing voice is awful." Charlotte giggles a little. I didn't realize they spent time together. I thought she was always at Sam's side.

"You don't have to sing. There's other aspects of theatre, y'know." He probably doesn't know if I'm being completely honest. I don't blame him though. They do not focus on arts education at this school.

"You could be a techie!" Emma gasps. That's actually a good idea. We could use people with more upper body strength on curtains or spot. I would do it, but the spot is on me.

"I don't even know what that is." Ted chuckles again. He has an adorable laugh. Oh and if he was techie I would get to see him all the time.

"You basically work backstage." It's more complicated than that but he doesn't need the whole spiel yet. "The show hasn't even been announced yet so there's not really any desperate need for techies. But I- We'd be so happy to have you!" I caught myself just in time. I see the gleam in Emma's eye. She knows what I almost said.

"I mean if I end up quitting, I'll have nothing better to do." Ted shrugs. Did that work? Is he actually considering it. Am I fucking dreaming? what's happening?

Then the bell rings. Paul and Emma walk off without so much as a goodbye. Charlotte and Bill at least wave goodbye. And I'm left there with Ted. My next class is theatre. I could bring up Ted teching to Mrs. Murray.

"Hey, if you'd like I can talk to Mrs. Murray about it." I try to be nonchalant, even though the thought of Ted being around the theater all the time freaks me out.

"Well I need to quit baseball first." Ted pats my shoulder, I can't help but to tense up. "I'm looking forward to the makeover, see you later." And with that he walks away.

"Bye!" I call out after him. Did that sound desperate? It felt kind of clingy. God damnit I'm pathetic.

Oh shit. I'm going to be late to theatre.

[hk1375]

Anxiety

In 2020, the world came across another pandemic that pretty much has made life very difficult for everyone around the world. While we are all dealing with that, 2020 has had many more difficulties that has made life even harder: California wildfires, the increased police brutality and murders of African Americans in the US, the constant divide between the left and right, murder hornets, an election year without good ways to vote for everyone.  And more global and national issues.

And yet, for many, 2020 is just terrible for other personal reasons.  I have also fallen victim to this area.

When we broke up at the beginning of July, we spent the month thinking that we would continue being together until she left at the end of the month.  And at the end of month, I never said that we couldn’t be friends.  We cared about each other.  I just needed some time to address my personal issues.

I am not without my own problems clearly.  I had and still have serious difficulties when dealing with mental health.  I have a rage that I had difficulty dealing with.  I have poor reactions to overwhelming stress that lead me into deep depressions.

And I took the time, the two months, an albeit short amount of time.  to work on recognizing when I have these thoughts.  When I feel the rage.  Stress.  Depression.  And i’ve been focusing on addressing these problems.  And figuring out how to react to these.  And I haven’t had a fit of rage or depression really.  Because those are just thoughts that don’t manifest themselves.  

I thought I had made some real progress.  I never didn’t care about her.  

I find myself to be someone who doesn’t bullshit things.  If someone asks me something, I don’t tell them what they want to hear if it something that I truly care about.  When I said that we could still be friends after some time, I meant it.  When I said that there was a chance for us to get back together, I meant it.  I didn’t approach the break up thinking that we would definitely get back together but it would have been ignorant to think that I didn’t want to get back together at all.

But then I had to send her a message.  And she told me that she’s already seeing someone new.

And I feel all sorts of bad.

1. The initial feeling of betrayal: we spent 2.5 years together, almost 3.  And 2 months is not a long time.  and she started seeing someone already.  It was like all of that time, all of the love I shared, all of the cares I gave, meant nothing.  So easily cast aside.

2. The secondary feeling of incredulous anger: the rage comes through once I think about betrayal.  I want vindication.  I want her to know how she makes me feel right now.  I want her to know that her decisions are causing me the pain that she never wanted to.  I feel lied to.  Like nothing she said and felt was actually true.

3. The third feeling is one of worthlessness: all of the time I spent thinking about how to better help her, better love her, better care for her.  All of it seems so meaningless.  And if what I do with all of my time is meaningless, I am meaningless.  

4. Depression: seems pretty obvious.  I feel no hope.  In my experience, the women that I find any sort of interest in don’t find any interest in me.  To most women, I am a friend or an acquaintance.  I am a strange person but I act in the ways that make me feel good because I can make people laugh or show someone I can genuinely care.  I can be vulnerable because it helps to build relationships.  I don’t bullshit others.  I feel as though if I care for you at all, you’re getting the real genuine me.  So when the genuine me seems to be undesirable, I feel like there isn’t anyone out there for me.  Because the best that I can do doesn’t want me.  I should say the best that I have done so far.  But that just seems like so much that I’ve done amounting to nothing.

5. And lastly, the overwhelming anxiety: the one thing that I’ve learned that I want in life is to find that one person that I want to spend the rest of my life with.  It’s an oxymoron maybe.  Because you can’t search for that with that intention.  The idea of “one true love” or “soulmate” makes the idea of dating seem so stressful.  And without any hope of achieving the one goal that is already so stressful and difficult, I am feeling a physical manifestation of anxiety. The pressure in my chest, the spiral thought process, and the restlessness.

I only messaged her because I wanted to reconnect.  I wouldn’t have if I didn;t care.  But I do care.  because part of me does want to get back together.  Though I knew that it wasn’t going to be now.  Two months is not a long time.

two months

and she found someone to replace me in two months.

The salty side shall speak first in this next segment:

Boy do I wish that this is a rebound that’s doomed to fail.  I know her.  She has less of a resolve than I do when it comes to dealing with pain and using logic to reason things out.  

Yeah, that;s a shitty thing to think.  I want her to realize that anyone she could find during the short time she was dealing with break up is nothing.  Cannot help actually address the pain she feels.  

I want her to realize that who she found does not satisfy what she’s looking for.

I want to be who she’s looking for.

And I don’t want to be that person.  Because I feel betrayed.  She actively made a choice that actively hurts someone else.  I want her to know the pain she caused me.  She is not better off than me because she was able to find someone.  The two of them can’t even respect the fact that this relationship even happened.  So why should I care about her at all when she’s actively ignored this relationship?

The next segment is the side that feels no hope:

I want to run back to her.  Pretend nothing happened between us and just go back into it.  No one else deserves her because they don’t even fucking know how much work I put into this.  I know her.  I know what she likes.  I know how to take care of her.  I know the relationship we built.  And i don’t want to lose that.

I just want to make it so that we are happy and can live a happy life together.  Because we always had that potential.  And I always wanted to leave that possibility open.  I just needed some time.

Now, the realistic and rational side:

These are all likely thoughts that are manifesting because I said something to her.  She doesn’t want to be friends it seems.  She has her own life she’s living.

Going back to her right now WILL NOT HELP ME.  

repeat that phrase:

ANYTHING I WANT TO DO TO GIVE IN TO THE DARKER SIDES OF ME WILL NOT HELP.  GIVING IN DOES NOT HELP.  BEING ANGRY TO HER WILL NOT HELP.  

It sucks because I know the logic and reasoning.  Doing all of these things are giving in to this primitive human emotional side while doing the reasonable things to take care of myself in the future are more work on me but it will benefit me more.  But I’ve been doing that my entire life.  So many others are giving in to their emotional pain.  like they are on a tv show and there aren’t consequences.

How badly I want that for myself.  To live in a TV show so that I can live the drama without having it actually mean anything.  I would just know and then I can move past it. Because there is no real pain.

But that’s not rational. It doesn’t help me.

Two months is not a long time.  And maybe she’s just giving into the pain.  Which is sad.  I thought we were on the same page about staying home, not meeting people, dealing with pain and relationships.

I;m rationalizing trying to get back together because maybe I can help her with her pain.  She used logic and rationale to do what’s best for her before.  Is it because of me?  NOT LIKELY MOTHERFUCKER.  Even if that was true, she has to live her own life.  And deal with things for herself.

And that’s the only hope i have.  That salty feeling of hoping that who she has found now isn’t what she really wants.

And i don’;t want to think that.

but I do

What will help me?  moving on

how do I move on?  I need to keep living my life

I will post more music, work hard.

Maybe she will see them.  I’d be lying if i said that I didn’t care if she saw but I know i want her to see

But she;s likely made it so she won’t see.

am i supposed to make it so that she does see?

or try to make it so that she’ll come across it?

no, not likely

but that’s because the reason for posting anything is so that I can do something for myself

for my own sake

to help deal with my pain

in a more helpful way

to make something positive, something creative, to focus on something that helps with my own creativity

.

It’s only been a few days and I feel very overwhelmed.

I wake up at 6.  I take edibles at night because I can;t fall asleep anymore.

It’s exhausting

It’s amazing that some people are just able to sleep and have a good night’s rest

I am clearly not built that way.  I must have a crutch

I feel weak

it will take some time, but I will be stronger because of this

That’s the only truth

and one more time for the me at home:

Don’t give in.  It WILL NOT help.  

Thank you for coming to my TED talk, me.  I know you’re going through a hard time but people are here to talk, to support, and to love you.

You;re not alone.  It may feel like it right now, but you are not alone.

Someone is out there.  And you will be happier than you ever have been.  and ever will be.

You are strong.  You deserve happiness.  You are not worthless.  You are creative, fun, loving, caring, genuine and want the best for others.

Don’t let pain take that away from you.

And you;re not alone.

you are not alone

you are not alone

you are not alone

you are not alone

you are not alone

you are not alone

you are not alone

you are not alone

you are not alone

you are not alone

you are not alone

you are not alone

you are not alone

you are not alone

[goarticletec-blog]

A Lazy Person's Guide to the 2018 Winter Olympics

New Post has been published on https://www.articletec.com/a-lazy-persons-guide-to-the-2018-winter-olympics/

A Lazy Person's Guide to the 2018 Winter Olympics

The Summer Olympics are not designed for the lazy person. It’s hard to feel good about yourself, lounging in a La-Z-Boy and crushing some beers, while nearly-nude specimens are sprinting by in a blur, their muscles rippling and gleaming with sweat.

That’s why the Winter Olympics are so swell. With all the athletes covered up in parkas, ski caps, and goggles, and it being freezing outside in most of the country, being a lazy ass is way more acceptable.

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Of course, the Winter Olympics is more esoteric than the Summer Games. There’s no running, jumping, or throwing shit—the general basis of athletic endeavor. The Winter Games are dominated by sports you’ve never even heard of, can’t believe are real—like, who the hell came up with skeleton?—or can’t afford to play anyway.

There’s no time to learn everything, so you’ll need a lazy person’s crash course to the two-week spectacle.

1. It’s being held in South Korea.

That’s the “good” one. (Although host city PyeongChang is just 50 miles from the demilitarized zone separating North and South Korea.)

2. They’ve hosted once before.

Ben Johnson before the start of the 100 meter semi-final in Seoul, South Korea, in 1988.

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That time it was the 1988 Summer Olympics in Seoul, 78 miles west of PyeongChang. It was the last-ever Olympics to include the Soviet Union and East Germany. That was also the Olympics that a ’roided-up Ben Johnson ran the 100 meters in, like, four seconds.

3. North Korea is participating.

The North and South Koreans formed a joint team. That should go smoothly.

4. Russia isn’t competing, though.

The Olympic Athletes of Russian during PyeongChang opening ceremonies.

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That’s because of mass doping allegations. Nevertheless, certain (clean) Russian athletes are competing. I know, it’s odd. They’ll march under a flag for OAR, Olympic Athletes of Russia.

5. It’s already tomorrow in PyeongChang.

South Korea is 14 hours ahead of the East Coast. That means whatever you are watching on primetime TV is probably live and NBC can’t do their typical bullshit where they edit taped events together like some reality show and then tease the one event you actually want to watch for three hours before airing it a few minutes before midnight.

6. The one U.S. Olympian you’ve probably heard of is still pretty good.

Many experts place Lindsey Vonn as the favorite in the women’s downhill, even though since the 2014 Olympics she’s severely fractured her humerus, suffered a major back injury, made Toni Lehren yell on Fox News (but who hasn’t?), and faced typical airlines nonsense to actually get to Korea.

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7. Oh wait, you’ve heard of Shaun White, too.

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Remember the Flying Tomato? He’s still pretty good at snowboarding and a contender in the halfpipe—despite the fact that late last year he crashed so badly he needed 62 stitches. Even if he doesn’t win, he’s worth $40 million, which will buy a lot of Mountain Dew Ice and legalized edibles.

8. Is that Bode Miller guy still around?

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No. Er, yes, but he’s now an NBC analyst. He’ll probably still figure out a way to clip a gate and crash.

9. Who is going to be the previously unknown U.S. darling of this Olympiad?

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Even after a poor start to his Olympics on Thursday night, 18-year-old figure skating prodigy Nathan Chen is your best bet to make it on a Wheaties box.

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10. The US Hockey team is not the Dream Team.

The Games have gone back to using non-NHL players for the first time since 1994. The U.S. team, made up mostly of washed-up former players like 39-year-old Brian Gionta, is not expected to medal.

11. Just like Ghostbusters, Cool Runnings is being remade with women.

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The Jamaicans sent a women’s team to compete in bobsled this year, and they’ll be driving a rental sled. Even if John Candy comes back from the dead to coach them, they are unlikely to make the podium. (Side note: The Montego Bay airport has a Cool Runnings-themed bar that plays the movie on a loop 24/7. Worth a visit!) Nigeria is also sending a women’s bobsled team to PyeongChang, making it the first African Olympic Team to compete in the sport.

12. Curling rules!

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Curlers wear blousey sweatshirts and ugly slacks and their sporting equipment is a damn broomstick. Yet somehow, this slow-moving sport is incredibly captivating and these curlers are still a ton more flexible than you are. Did you really think a bunch of Molson-guzzling Canadians would play something boring? Plus, for the first time, there’s “mixed doubles” curling this year.

13. Another cool first-time event is mass start speed skating.

It’s like a fucking roller derby on ice!

14. Yet the only event with guns is surprisingly boring.

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That’s biathlon. Cross-country ski for five kilometers, shoot a rifle at a still target, ski some more, shoot some more. So boring. Having said that, Susan Dunklee has a good shot to be the first U.S. Olympian to ever medal in the event.

15. Johnny Weir is still fabulous.

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The figure skating announcer is making Liberace look demure these days and continuing to infuriate the kinds of Twitter users who use Pepe the Frog as their avatar.

16. There’s an openly gay Olympian that refuses to meet Mike Pence.

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The vice president and his wife, Karen, are leading the US delegation in South Korea. Current US figure skater Adam Rippon, the first openly gay American to quality for the Games, made some remarks about Pence last month, telling USA Today: “You mean Mike Pence, the same Mike Pence that funded gay conversion therapy? I’m not buying it.” (The same Mike Pence who President Trump allegedly said wants to hang gay people.) Pence, however, really wants Rippon to know there’s no hard feelings.

.@Adaripp I want you to know we are FOR YOU. Don’t let fake news distract you. I am proud of you and ALL OF OUR GREAT athletes and my only hope for you and all of #TeamUSA is to bring home the gold. Go get ‘em!

— Vice President Mike Pence (@VP) February 8, 2018

17. The hunky Tongan is back.

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Remember Pita Taufatofua walking into the Rio 2016 Opening Ceremony looking like a bucket of Turtle Wax had been dumped over his torso? Well, guess what, he’s back for the Winter Games. He wasn’t particularly great at tae kwon do and he’s not particularly great at cross-country skiing either. As Tonga’s only Winter Olympian he was again their flag bearer and, even with temperatures below freezing in PyeongChang, he went shirtless. Don’t feel bad, he may have better abs, but in two weeks he’ll have the same numbers of Olympic medals as you.

18. The Olympic rivalry most likely to be made into an I, Tonya-like movie in 20 years.

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American Alpine skier Ted Ligety versus Austrian star Marcel Hirscher. Ligety got steamed when a giant slalom race, in Austria of all places, was canceled due to “inclement weather” (even though there wasn’t any) at the same time Hirscher was nursing an injury. Like any good American, Ligety went bonkers on Twitter, which is how we handle things these days as opposed to hiring mustachioed hitmen.

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Seems odd to have a race cancelled at 645am in Austria when their biggest star is temporarily out… 🤔

— Ted Ligety (@tedligety) October 29, 2017

19. No, the U.S. will not win the most overall medals.

Norway, Germany, or even Canada will. Yes, Trump will likely tweet-blame Democrats or undocumented immigrants for this, maybe both.

Aaron Goldfarb is the author of How to Fail: The Self-Hurt Guide, The Guide for a Single Man, and The Guide for a Single Woman. Follow him on Twitter.

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[wallythayer]

Change Makers

Of the many uncertainties Americans face today, the future of our health is among the most worrisome. With health-insurance coverage in flux, medical-research funding on the chopping block, and science itself under attack, it’s only natural for us to be concerned about our collective health, which is already less robust than that of people in many other industrialized nations.

Yet there is still reason to believe better times are ahead. Plenty of people are devoting their lives to improving everyone’s well-being, and most of them work outside of government and the insurance industry, where positive changes are often bungled or bogged down.

Meet some of the visionaries who are rethinking health, healthcare, and well-being from the ground up — and inspiring us to take our wellness into our own hands.

Food as Medicine: Jeanne Wallace, PhD, CNC, Oncologist

Jeanne Wallace is committed to fighting cancer with food. In her practice, Nutritional Solutions, she teaches doctors and patients how to support standard cancer treatments with evidence-based nutritional strategies that focus on altering the body’s environment, making it less friendly to tumors.

Her work is rooted in personal experience; several of her  family members are cancer survivors. When her partner, Cheryl Clark, was diagnosed in 1997 with an aggressive brain cancer, Wallace did intensive research and developed a protocol to support Clark’s treatment. Clark reduced her intake of sugar and carbohydrates and employed specific herbs and supplements, all of which boosted the effectiveness of her radiation treatment.

Today, Clark remains well, and Wallace is a sought-after speaker, as well as a respected authority in the burgeoning field of nutritional oncology.

Learn more about Wallace’s work at www.nutritional-solutions.net. 

Feeding Justice: Ron Finley, Founder of The Ron Finley Project

Before he became internationally known as a food activist, Ron Finley was a clothing designer. He had an eye for beauty — and for its absence. In 2010 he looked around his South Los Angeles neighborhood and saw only fast-food joints, liquor stores, and corner shops peddling processed snacks. He calls this “food injustice.”

“You can’t tell me that’s not by design,” Finley argues. “Some people say, ‘If these people wanted to eat healthy food, they could.’ But there’s no healthy food in their neighborhoods to eat, period.” His response? “If they’re not bringing it, let’s grow it!”

Finley started planting vegetables on the city-owned parkway — the strip between the sidewalk and the street in front of his house — offering them free to anyone willing to harvest them. The city ticketed him for “overgrown vegetation.” He refused to pay the fine until better grocery stores were recruited to the neighborhood, and an arrest warrant was issued. With the aid of other activists, Finley convinced the city council to amend the law.

That was the beginning. Finley then turned his emptied swimming pool and the rest of his yard into a colorful, edible garden. “Food is the problem and food is the solution,” he declared in a 2013 TED Talk that went viral. Finley soon became known as the Gangsta Gardener to thousands of justice-seeking green thumbs worldwide.

He’s now working to change the meaning of OG from “original gangsta” to “organic gardener.”

“My thing on the gangsta is to flip that on its head [so] people don’t see it as a negative,” he explains. “Being educated is gangsta; being self-sustaining is gangsta. Being a nerd — that can be gangsta. Because what you’re doing is creating.”

His organization, The Ron Finley Project, continues to promote com-munity self-sufficiency, celebrating the political power of gardening. Finley regularly hears from people in other cities who’ve launched garden projects inspired by his work, and he notes how these spaces can be ideal platforms for widespread change.

“You’ve got to change culture through soil, because the bottom line is, that’s what we all go back to,” he explains. “We turn to soil, and people seem to forget that. That’s not nature out there. We’re nature.”

Watch Finley’s popular 2013 TED Talk at bit.ly/1sVuD84. 

Teaching Doctors to Heal: Victoria Maizes, MD, Integrative Physician

During her medical residency in 1989, Victoria Maizes fell in love — with her patients’ stories.

“I became fascinated with how it was that Mr. X got diabetes, and Ms. Y had terrible health habits but was perfectly healthy,” she says. “I was trying to understand the influences [of life experiences] on health.”

This love affair has had a significant impact on Maizes — and on American medicine. The stories she loved helped her see her patients as whole people and not just their symptoms, which led her to employ a variety of treatment methods. If medication improved someone’s condition, she prescribed it. If meditation would work, she recommended it. And she often counseled for both.

This approach, now known as integrative medicine, considers the environmental, psychological, social, and spiritual influences on illnesses, and it integrates a variety of healing modalities — from antibiotics to acupuncture.

It took some time for Maizes’s broad-minded perspective to catch on in the medical community. She directed strategic education at Kaiser Permanente in Santa Rosa, Calif., during the early 1990s, and was eager to offer complementary support for patient health. “There were mind–body programs designed after Jon Kabat-Zinn’s work and parenting and anger-management programs,” she recalls.

Yet she found that many of the patients knew more about these healing practices than their doctors did. So she began sharing her passion for integrative medicine with other physicians.

“Doctors haven’t been trained” to know all the things that can support health, she explains. Without training, they can’t help you. “If you ask your doctor what you should eat, he or she may say, ‘Eat a healthy diet.’ Well, what is a healthy diet?”

Many more physicians can now answer that and other holistic-health questions effectively, thanks to Maizes. When she began directing Dr. Andrew Weil’s integrative-medicine program in Arizona in 2000, it included only four fellows in training. Today she supervises more than 150 fellows and 500 residents each year. Some 1,200 doctors have graduated from the program.

“This approach has [become] an established direction in medicine,” Maizes says. “People can now access this kind of care more easily, and they’re getting the relief they hope for.”

Read Maizes’s articles for patients at www.victoriamaizesmd.com.

Good to the End: BJ Miller, MD, Palliative-Care Physician

BJ Miller rides a motorcycle around San Francisco and camps regularly with his dog. He’s also a triple amputee who lost his left hand and both legs below the knee after an accident in college.

Rather than seeing his condition as a disability, Miller trained himself to view it as a new reality, a specific set of limitations that were nonetheless like the limitations all mortals face. This perspective is part of what makes him a leading palliative-care physician, who is helping to spread the word about the vital importance of quality of life at the end of life — and along the course of serious illness.

He spent five years as the executive director of the Zen Hospice Project in San Francisco, blending hard-won spiritual insight with skillful symptom and pain management, and he now lectures nationwide about the art of end-of-life care.

Watch Miller’s TED Talk on end-of-life issues at bit.ly/1KeX2j5. 

The Write Thing: Aseem Malhotra, Cardiologist, Columnist

When he’s not practicing with the National Health Service in Britain, cardiologist Aseem Malhotra campaigns tirelessly against obesity and heart disease. He’s no shill for the pharmaceutical industry, though. In his columns for the popular English newspaper The Guardian, he illustrates how socioeconomic conditions influence obesity, heart disease, and diet.

His educational campaigns about the risks of sugar and the value of healthy fats, the need for better-quality school food, and the importance of greater transparency and responsibility in healthcare have brought these issues to a mainstream audience.

He also writes about personalized medicine and improving communication between doctors and patients, so he’s changing the message from the ground up.

Learn more at www.doctoraseem.com. 

Taking the Next Steps: T. Morgan Dixon, Cofounder of GirlTrek

“Black women are dying faster than any other group of people in America from preventable illnesses like heart disease, diabetes, stroke. Heart disease alone kills 137 black women every day. For us, that sounded an alarm.”

T. Morgan Dixon is explaining why she cofounded GirlTrek, a Washington, D.C.–based nonprofit and nationwide public-health movement that promotes wellness through organized walking. The group’s 100,000-plus members are African-American women and girls who’ve committed to regular 30-minute group hikes. (Research shows that daily walks can cut the risk of heart disease and type 2 diabetes by half.) The group issues monthly challenges to the walkers — to double their distance, for instance, or walk mindfully — and encourages them to establish new walking groups of their own.

Dixon worked as an educational consultant before founding GirlTrek in 2012 with a college friend, digital-media professional and social-justice activist Vanessa Garrison. “GirlTrek started with two friends,” explains Dixon. “Now there are over 100,000.”

The health issues they address are complex, Dixon notes. Obesity in the black community is connected to chronic poverty, lack of access to healthy food, and the fact that many black women lack sufficient leisure time to work out at a gym. “And there’s a history of zoning that’s denied African Americans access to green space,” she adds.

Dixon emphasizes that GirlTrek is not about vanity; its goal is wellness. “I think women of all shapes and sizes are incredibly beautiful,” she says. “This is about living well and living for our kids.”

Their focus on community health is also rooted in African-American history, Dixon says, when “women walked for change.” GirlTrek’s presiding spirit is Harriet Tubman: The abolitionist firebrand not only walked out of slavery herself, but returned multiple times to guide others to freedom on foot. Tubman lived vigorously into her 90s.

“We’re concerned with reclaiming the streets of our neighborhoods,” Dixon continues. “A walking group becomes kind of a neighborhood watch in sneakers, right? Then you want to tackle a community garden. Then you want to tackle a dangerous intersection. Then you want to tackle other things in your neighborhood to make it safer and better.”

Watch Dixon and Garrison’s TED Talk at bit.ly/2qFr62x.

Leading the Way: Abdul El-Sayed, PhD, Public-Health Advocate

At 33, epidemiologist Abdul El-Sayed has earned a doctorate from Oxford, taught public health at Columbia University, and served Detroit as the youngest health commissioner of any major U.S. city. He’s largely credited with rebuilding a department shuttered during the city’s 2013 bankruptcy.

“After medical school, I was a lot more interested in health policy, and the reasons why people get sick in the first place, than what I could do for them after they got sick,” El-Sayed says. He wanted to address the “pretty drastic health disparity” he saw in our society.

As Detroit’s health commissioner, he witnessed stark evidence of this disparity: The average life expectancy of a Detroit citizen was 10 years less than a suburban resident living 30 minutes away. Detroit children are four times more likely than other U.S. kids to be exposed to lead.

As commissioner, El-Sayed focused on seven critical outcomes: infant mortality, teen pregnancy, lead poisoning, asthma, poor vision, “misnutrition” (malnutrition and obesity), and elderly isolation. He saw that physical health couldn’t be treated as separate from social and economic conditions.

“Public health has a lot more to do with all of the things that allow people the best opportunities in their lives,” he explains. “Access to a high-quality education and then a good, stable job that pays a living wage, that puts healthy food on the table, and [that] allows people to live in a walkable neighborhood and put a roof over their heads. These are what shape health and disease.”

Despite broader challenges in his community, El-Sayed can point to some significant public-health victories. He led a successful fight to reduce sulfur dioxide emissions, instituted lead testing of Detroit’s water (to avoid another Flint), and created a program to provide free eyeglasses to schoolkids.

More recently, he’s taken his experiences in public service into the political arena, running for governor of Michigan in November. That campaign illustrated his ongoing commitment to the work of healing and uniting communities in a time of rigid political polarization.

“The thing about this moment is that we have to recognize that we’re all in this together,” he says. “If we fail to do that, our challenges will persist. There’s real courage being demanded of us.”

Groundswell: Betti Wiggins, School Nutrition Director

When Betti Wiggins became director of the Office of School Nutrition in the Detroit Public Schools in 2012, the district’s challenges were substantial: a dwindling economic base, a shrinking population, schools closing.

But where many saw only decline, she saw an opportunity for a revolution. Specifically, a revolution in how kids eat at school.

Wiggins grew up on a Michigan farm and moved to Detroit in her teens. After leaving to serve as a school-food-program administrator in Washington, D.C., and other cities, she returned home, where she connected her childhood farming experience with her adult administration skills. In her view, urban agriculture was the solution to Detroit’s school-nutrition problems.

“How do you build communities back up?” she asks. “Well, you can do something sustainable like gardens.”

Detroit was already teeming with urban farmers growing food in their yards and on vacant lots, and this inspired Wiggins. “When the city closed 140 schools, I saw it as an opportunity to do something with some of those playgrounds and ball fields,” she explains.

In 2011 Wiggins created the Detroit School Garden Collaborative, a network of some 80 gardens on the grounds of closed (and open) schools. In place of lunches built around deep-fried corn dogs and other dishes that Wiggins calls “carnival food,” students began eating zucchini, spinach, and tomatoes from the district’s own gardens.

She instituted free breakfast and low-cost dinner programs while extending the free-lunch program to all students, regardless of income, so poor kids wouldn’t feel stigmatized. Meanwhile, she supervised the sale of surplus produce to charter and parochial schools. And, moved by her own vivid memories of her family’s unsold produce going to waste, Wiggins contracted with local farmers, creating a thriving secondary market for their crops.

Wiggins is now at the helm of the school-lunch program in Houston, a city with far more resources than Detroit. Still, nearly a quarter of households there lack sufficient food, and she hopes to make a dent in that number.

While she’s rightfully proud of the numerous awards she’s won, including one from the James Beard Foundation, Wiggins says she’s inspired by encounters like the one she had in a Detroit grocery store. She overheard a student say to her mother, “Ma, get those avocados, because we’ve got to learn how to eat more fresh fruits and vegetables. I’ll show you how to make guacamole.”

Get the full story at https://experiencelife.com/article/change-makers/

[faithful-grigori]

”#the only things we know of her is liked Ted and wants to do edibles at her own wedding, #she was Not normal, #people can’t change That much he was pretty shitty before Jenny left, #not AS MUCH obv but u know maybe it’s a good thing they never got together. #NEVER allowed to babysit anyone EVER, #I meant to give him like the bangs in the bottom but just automatically drew Owen and only noticed why he looked off in EDITING”

Ted and Jenny, I personally prefer thinking they were generally insufferable