#there are also online calculators for this but i want to do it by hand

[sparrowminder]

genetics question for you: moonpaw is super inbred (both of her parents relate back to cinderheartxlionblaze and more generally Jake and thunderclan robinwing), so I was kind of wondering how that could/would affect her in terms of genetics and genetic mutations?

I think there is a somewhat common misconception that inbreeding causes mutation, but this isn't the case at all! The two main concerns with inbreeding are detrimental recessive traits and decreased immune function.

The first part is simple - most random mutations that occur either have no notable effect, or are detrimental in some way. However, in many cases those detrimental mutations are recessive, so when they first occur they don't really matter. However, if two individuals with the same recessive mutation breed, then their offspring may inherit it from both parents, and that's where the problems arise. Inbreeding vastly increases the risk of this happening - the closer the individuals, the higher the risk.

The other issue is immune function. The immune system functions partly in response to the environment, but genes for antibodies are also inherited. For the strongest immune system you want genes for as many different antibodies as possible, which means avoiding inbreeding. Lowered fertility, smaller litter sizes, and stunted growth in the kittens are some of the first signs of inbreeding having a negative effect.

If you know an individual's heritage, you can run calculations to determine the coefficient of inbreeding (COI), which can help quantify the risk of these effects. For animal breeding the figure commonly cited to keep the risks minimal if you need to line-breed to fix traits is 5% but of course the lower the better. I was going to do that for Moonpaw here but it's actually taking a long time because of just how bad her family tree is so I'll do that in a reblog.

[revelboo]

YOU 🫵 WILL PAY FOR WHAT YOU HAVE DONE 😤

Getting me back in my transformers phase with all your amazing writing! How dare you! Now I have to go learn how to draw damn robots 🤧

In all seriousness, tho I'm so glad to find other people who love transformers as much as I do, even if it's all online 🥲

I regret nothing! And the Transformers community here is pretty chill. 18+ Mass displaced mechs 🌶️

Everything Is Alright Pt 90

IDW Starscream x Reader, Soundwave x Reader, Megatron x Reader

• Irritated, Starscream slides an arm around you. Between you and Soundwave to pull you to him and away from the communications officer. Optics lifting to meet the other Decepticon’s stare over the top of your head as he drags you into his lap. Knows exactly what Soundwave is up to, trying to ingratiate himself with you. To get back in your good graces after betraying you. And also knows your soft heart will forgive him. Allowing him to hurt you again later. That’s not going to happen, even if he has to protect you from yourself.

• Relaxing slowly as Starscream bands an arm around you, the other hand cupping the back of your head, you hide your face against the warm mesh of his neck. Maybe they’ll allow you to go home. Get some things and your phone. You don’t have to give your family details, only that you’re okay. You met someone. Fell in love. With Star and Soundwave. It’s still so surreal when you think about it, your mind shying away from that word. Love. You’d blurted it out in front of Megatron and it’s lingered there, weighing you down with the knowledge that you’ve not actually told either of them. Star had felt it you’re almost positive when you’d touched his spark again. So tangled in each other there could be no secrets. But that’s not exactly the same as saying it. And saying it to both of them still feels uncomfortably like betraying one or the other of them. That you shouldn’t love them both, that something’s broken in you for feeling that way. For warning them both equally.

• Petty as a sparkling refusing to share a favorite toy, seeing him as a threat. Knows that the Seeker will try his best to convince you that he’s all you need. Maybe even that Soundwave is a danger to you. Venting softly and refusing to back down, he slips his hands between you and Star and slides them down to your hips. Sees the Seeker freeze, wings trembling with fury. Pointedly glaring right back as his servos wander down over your lower belly until you make a soft, hitching sound and squirm against the Seeker.

• Warm hands slide against you, servos sliding under the hem of your loose pants. And all thoughts of confessing your feelings scatter as Soundwave cups you. Aware of the decidedly unhappy sound Starscream is making as you shift in his lap, almost growling as you catch at his chassis and lift up onto your knees. Feel Soundwave follow you, his hips bumping against your butt as he strokes a servo against you and then slides it inside you. His mouth against the back of your shoulder as your own mouth opens against Star’s chin, teeth grazing him as you’re trapped between them. Trapped in the haze of heat and need as your body responds to the stroking of those servos.

• Denta bared as you make a soft needy sound that goes right through him and your mouth brushes the corner of his, frustration and annoyance twist into need. Knows this is a calculated move, Soundwave trying to distract him from his goals with you. Growling when the communications officer pushes against you and he’s forced back onto his elbows in turn, your little palms on his chassis. Shifting yourself against him to seek his mouth and he tangles his servos in your hair, giving you what you want, aware of the sound of cloth tearing and you crying out against him as Soundwave grips your hips and slowly buries his spike inside you. Moving inside you while you’re on top of him.

• On his knees behind you, he rocks himself against you. Listening to your needy sounds as the Seeker lazily explores your mouth. And it occurs to him that even though Star doesn’t like sharing, he does enjoy watching you being fragged even though he’ll never admit it. Losing himself to the feel of you wrapped so tight around his spike, your mind whispering warm through his, it’s strange to realize that he doesn’t hate this. Doesn’t like the treacherous Seeker by any means, but can’t truly hate him, because if not for him Soundwave wouldn’t have this. Wouldn’t have you. And he’s not going to let the Seeker take that away even if he has to take a page from Starscream’s own book to protect this feeling and bond you without asking. To take.

• Too much. Body winding up as Soundwave lazily thrusts against you, spike stroking deep with wet sounds and Star’s mouth moves hungrily against yours. Star’s hands. Soundwave’s hands. Soundwave’s mouth on the curve of your shoulder where it meets your neck. Can feel him in your head again, warm as he wraps himself around you. Overwhelmed by both of them and loving it. “Let go,” Soundwave growls, thrusting a little harder as Starscream’s glossa steals inside to tangle with your tongue and you come apart. Star swallowing your cry as Soundwave buries himself deep, feeling him release inside you. Loving them both. Needing them both.

• They’re all degenerate deviants. An army of them. Passing by Vortex and Skywarp returning from patrol, both of them had scented of humans. Different humans. It’s an epidemic of xenophilia and he can’t understand it. Can’t figure out the fascination with the little organics. One or two Decepticons, okay. Curiosity. Some mechs will frag anything their spike can fit inside. Primus, knows he’s overheard Hook ranting about removing objects after a certain body part gets stuck inside them. But this?

Previous

Next

[qqueenofhades]

Is it foolish of me to sympathize with how marginalized people on the far-left are incredibly frustrated that the Democratic establishment isn't as scared of/desperate to please them as the Republican establishment are toward the MAGA fringe? I guess from their perspective, voting feels like begging - most of the people who hear you won't even glance at you, let alone drop you a coin. But you still have to do it, or else you (or worse, your family) are *guaranteed* to starve.

Okay, a few thoughts here. Note: for you and the other people who have recently sent politics asks, I have been very deliberately NOT talking about it for the last few months. I had to break it yesterday because of the Orange Menace finally getting fucking convicted, but I do want to go back to not doing that (at least for the next few weeks/months/until whatever else stupid happens). So while I will answer this, I am generally not going to answer others and my apologies for that, but yeah. It's just so much and I have GOT to keep myself sane until November somehow. (Or God forbid, afterward, but you know.)

First off, most members of the American far left aren't actually marginalized people, or at least not marginalized enough that their personal well-being seems in any way likely to be affected by their loud and ceaseless campaign to tell other people not to vote. Actual marginalized people who have lived in America for any length of time are *well* aware of how the government and the state can be weaponized against them; witness how black community organizers will voice well-deserved criticisms of the Democratic establishment or other aspects of American party politics that are frustrating for everyone, but they will still always tell people to vote. Black people are also extremely aware that earning the right to vote was an incredibly long, difficult, and bloody battle that they were never given it for free, and the white power establishment fought them having it at every turn. They are thus far more aware than your average white online leftist that voting matters, because they had to work so hard to get it (and still to defend it as various red states launch openly racist assaults on voting rights, especially aimed at disenfranchising people of color). Witness how Bernie also got literally zero traction with African American voters, despite being the darling of the (white) online left.

Hispanic people are also (rightfully) frustrated at how both American parties can use Latino immigrants as a political football, but they're still backing Biden by 30-point margins. We hear a lot of chatter about Trump supposedly gaining ground with voters of color -- maybe he has, though I doubt it, but that's still incremental gains from the massive holes he was in before, and where he generally remains. Arab Americans are (rightfully) angry with Biden over Gaza, but even in the much-hyped Michigan primary, he got roughly the same amount of "uncommitted" voters as Obama did as an uncontested incumbent in 2012, and most of them have said they'll grit their teeth and vote for him in the general election anyway. Yes, a few of them have decided not to, but they are not the size of the Black and Latino populations in America insofar as electoral power, and many of them have grudgingly decided that as bad as Biden might be on this particular issue (though far less so than the social media groupthink would paint him) the alternative (i.e. Trump openly promising to deport everybody who's not white and crack down on pro-Palestinian protests and anything else) is much, much worse.

And yet, white leftists seem utterly incapable of making these same calculations. Frankly, I'm not sure they actually care about Gaza, let alone anything else they say, because if so, they wouldn't be slavering at the mouth to let Trump back in there to "teach a lesson" to Biden, Democrats, and everyone else who was not Smart And Clever Enough to sanctimoniously sit on their hands and let the fascists take over. I know this because they spent all their time lying about Biden and distorting his record and insisting people not vote even before October of last year, and then it only got ten thousand times worse. I'm not saying that all leftist or leftist-identified people are white, but they are disproportionately predominant in leftist spaces and in pushing the idea that there's "no difference" between the parties and somehow Trump and Biden are morally equivalent or will have the same amount of impact on what will happen after one of them is elected. That is, yes, because they are white and they have the privilege of assuming that a weaponized fascist government will not go after them for that reason (even though Trump and his surrogates are now claiming that "everyone" who opposes Trump has to be "dealt with.") As such, when you say that marginalized far-left people are frustrated with the Democrats, I'm... not entirely sure that's true. Marginalized people AND the far left are both frustrated with the Democrats, but one of those groups has generally still decided not to voluntarily disenfranchise themselves, and the other is pumping out Vladimir Putin-wet-dream anti-voting propaganda at every chance they get.

There is also the fact that America is not a left-wing country in any sense of the word, and that while it's easy for the MAGA Republicans to go ever further far-right and promise to be even more outrageously cruel and stupid and fascist than ever before, but that's not an actual policy or a plan. It is also a strategy of diminishing returns; witness the fact that for all the cruelty and stupidity Republicans have pumped into the public arena since 2016, they haven't actually been that good at winning elections, and most of their major successes have come from Trump winning in 2016 and thus being able to stack SCOTUS and the district and circuit courts with hand-picked right-wing nut jobs, who are functioning exactly as they were designed to do. (Which Hillary Clinton warned about, along with everyone else, and yet she was taken out by the exact same dirtbag leftist disinformation moral purity machine that is working overtime to handicap Biden for the exact same reasons.) Mainstream Democrats warned about this before the 2016 election and were scorned and laughed off. Indeed, the entire Online Left continues to resolutely deny that the extremist SCOTUS is responsible for anything (It's Biden's Fault) and thus are likewise identical to Trumpies. And since they also want Trump to get back in there and teach a lesson to the Democrats, they're just as anti-democratic, dangerous, stupid, and deliberately short-sighted as actual MAGATs, and can by no means be considered allies to the singular movement of keeping fascists out of power. That is our only present goal.

If Democrats bent over to everything the far left asks for (which is often a combination of tankie gobbledygook, various vague ideas about Communism utopia where capitalism magically vanishes with no consequences, half-baked revolution cosplays, and other stuff that is functionally equivalent to the wildest lunacies of MAGA) they would never win an election again, and that would be exactly what the fascists want. Witness how they struggled when they were branded "defunders of the police" and "socialists" and other effective responses to the mildest milquetoast efforts for reform or accountability. And the political climate right now is just far too dangerous to throw everything to the wind and prance out some pipe-dream perfect-utopia plan. I'm sure you've heard about Project 2025 and how the far-right Heritage Foundation is planning to systematically implement fascism at all levels of the country, the instant they have a compliant Republican president and congress. I would take all these people crying about Biden even a fraction more seriously if they weren't openly jonesing for something that is so unbelievably, incredibly worse.

For example: I currently have major beefs with literally the entire foreign policy of the Biden administration right now. I think they're being too hard on Ukraine (forbidding them to strike targets on Russian soil with American weapons, which would end the war faster) and, despite some promising signs and open displeasure, still far too easy on Israel. They looked foolish after insisting that Rafah was a red line and then essentially making up an excuse that what's going on now is not a "major operation." Secretary of State Blinken floating the idea of helping Congress censure or neuter the International Criminal Court arrest warrants issued for Netanyahu and co. was also one of the fucking stupidest things I've heard from a serious (i.e. non-Trumpist) American diplomat in a long time. So we respect the ICC when it issues warrants for tyrants we don't like (Putin), but when it issues one for tyrants we still do, apparently (Netanyahu), then bingo, it's back to the bad old habit of ignoring international law like we're special and it doesn't apply to us, and allows all the other bad actors around the world to do the same by pointing at America and correctly pointing out that we ignore it when it doesn't suit our purposes. I think this is wrong and I don't agree. So? What am I going to do?

Well, you see. I'm going to vote for Biden and I am going to give him money and I am going to remind everyone I know that they have no moral option but to do the same. I do this because I am aware that despite my disagreements, Biden is acting from a cautious anti-interventionist standpoint and does not want to throw American military might around recklessly or dangerously like good ol' George Dubya or Trump or even Obama and the drones. He is listening to sober mainstream advisors who have (however incorrect and useless) ideas about "avoiding escalation" and trying to bring conflict to a managed end. He is doing this with a realistic appraisal of the power of the office of American presidency and he's not going to capriciously end democracy and become a full-blown fascist dictator on day one, as Trump has openly and repeatedly promised to do. Yes, if there was a viable option apart from Biden, maybe I would think about voting for them, but there is not, and literally everyone who does not actively vote for him is helping Trump. I do not care about any other contrived and disingenuous online squealing. I know that Biden does not want the war in Gaza to go on for no reason and for maximum carnage; Netanyahu and Trump both do. That is just to name one thing.

So: yes. I absolutely understand being frustrated with the Democrats and wishing they would push harder and etc. But I am also aware that they can be pushed, that they are the only option right now, and the people who huff and puff and whine and groan about how it's such a moral imposition to vote for them are literally doing the fascists' work for them, and that is not acceptable. If they want a better system or a better world that isn't just useless internet fantasies about magical end-of-days Raptures fixing everything, also a la the crazy fundamentalists, they will have to get off their ass, do the work, and create that change. I will be happy to vote for that candidate when or if they arrive. In the meantime, I will continue to do my damndest to ensure that we even have a chance to get there. So yeah.

[caesium-55]

—seven days. [ vi.ii ]

pairing: max verstappen x manager! reader.

summary: as the third time world champion, max verstappen's manager, you function on the belief that whatever max verstappen wanted, max verstappen shall get. but this time, after four years of working as his manager, you can't give him what he wants anymore and that was to stay.

author's note: guess who's not listening in her calculus lecture rn. also, wifi is acting funny rn.

tags: @whatamidoingwithmylife-ramdom @eugene-emt-roe @bellezaycafe @barnestatic @theseerbetweenus @wcnorris @notyouraveragemochii @lpab @vildetry06 @a-beaverhausen @formula1mount @loloekie @alucardsdaddyissues @juky-ps @cassianswh0reeee @devotedlycrookeddonut @amberpanda99 @supermaxv1 @evie-119 @spideylovin @harianaswhore @formulaal

masterlist.

2020

There have been a lot of new protocols to follow. Social distancing. Wearing face masks. Races being rescheduled. Australia, China, Netherlands, Monaco, Azerbaijan, Canada, and France are canceled. Vietnam is postponed. The first race of the season takes place in the Red Bull Ring in Austria and Max gets a fucking DNF.

After exchanging Instagram accounts in December, Max has spent a normal amount of time stalking your feed. That's what you do when you’re trapped inside your apartment alone because of a global health crisis, you explore the online world.

It seems like you’ve been operating the account since your university days and a lot of your posts show a side of you that’s different from the manager he knows. He learns that you play billiards competitively. You've even reached an Australian tournament. He learns that you watch NASCAR and motocross and drift racing. He learns that you know how to drive a firetruck. He learns that you like partying in LA and you took up volunteer work in the LA fire brigade around your sophomore year. He learns that you’re particularly fond of taking pictures of the skies at different times of the day and the things you’re studying. He notices that you only post group selfies or low angle blurry selfies of you. You don't take pretty pictures of just you.

The oldest post is a photo of you offering a middle finger while smiling and filling up the gas tank of a truck. You're also wearing a red sweatshirt with the letters USC written at the front and skinny ripped jeans. If you swipe right, the next photo shows a picture of you and your group of friends writing on papers on the hood of the truck. Max sees numbers and scratches and crossed out sketches. Max notices a canned beer on your other hand while you press down on your scientific calculator buttons and shakes his head. You do not change.

The latest post is a photo dump of the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix in 2019. A picture of the aerial show, grainy zoomed in pictures of the garage, selfies with the mechanics, a bathroom mirror selfie, and a blurry picture of a beer in your hand from the after party. He presses like in every post, latest to the oldest.

you: fucking stalker

max: fuck you

max: *sent a photo*

max: nice teeth by the way

you: i hate you

you: *sent a photo*

you: ya think im the only one who looks ugly with braces?

Since then, Max’s relationship with you has considerably improved. The two of you spend a lot of nights dm-ing each other on Instagram and sending each other reels.

max: SOS

you: ??

max: I THINK THE STOVE IS ON FIRE

you: the stove is supposed to have fire

max: ITS ON FIRE

You and Max sit on the floor, back against the kitchen counter, chest heaving in quick breaths, shoulders bumping against each other. You hold the fire extinguisher close to your chest and your eyes are closed and your lips are parted a little. Max observes your side profile.

You're not a categorically attractive woman. But with the way the sun rays enter Max’s kitchen window and hit your face at all the right angles, you look like someone worth missing a sunset over. Max allows himself to stare and mentally tries to convince himself that this is a very normal amount of staring at one’s manager slash friend.

He’s crossing the line that divides friendship and something unnamed.

“Do you need me to call maintenance so we can get your stove replaced?”

Max nods.

“Yes please.”

You post a new picture on Instagram after a long period of dryness. Max gets a notification. He checks it out.

The caption reads: meet my full time dog and part time boyfriend

The picture is blurry and grainy but Max can make out your face perfectly. There’s a billiard table. Max sees a person in the background. A man. He's wearing a Williams shirt.

Is that a racer? Max immediately thinks of Nicholas Latifi. You and him are around the same age. But the blurry man in the picture doesn't look like Nicholas. The hair color and the build is different. George, maybe? He’s a year younger than Max. Do you prefer your men younger? Scratch that. That’s impossible. Max knows he has a girlfriend named Carmel or Carmen or something.

max: you have a boyfriend

you: youre fast

max: when did this happen?

you: uh

you: earlier?

Max resists the urge to hurl his phone across the room.

max: details [name]

max: i need details

you: nuh uh kid you havent unlocked that level of friendship yet

you: that's friendship level 8 ur still on level 6

max: i will hunt you down and force you to tell me

max: and don't call me kid i'm one year younger than you

you: id like to see you try

max: i think u forgot im the one who gave you the apartment where u live rn

You introduce Leo to Max a month later.

Leo is a British brunette guy with a face that one would consider mid in Europe but a ten in the US. He is one of the Williams mechanics. You mention that he used to do karting as a kid and even went up to F3 but he’s decided to discontinue his racing career because he thinks engineering and the technical aspects of a formula car is far more interesting than racing.

He’s basically the complete opposite of Max.

He’s a good guy, Max can tell. He’s well-mannered, he’s calm, he knows how to treat you right. Above all else, he makes you the happiest. You have the most genuine and beautiful smile on your face when he comes into your view.

He also handles your relationship very maturely. He doesn't demand. He understands that you work for different racing teams with different jobs and that means different priorities.

The weekly IG posts are also too cute. It looks like it came out of a Pinterest board.

Max will never tell you that he spends a good hour every time you post something with Leo in it like an obsessive freak. He tries to make sense of the feeling in his chest. Something green. Something ugly. Something he can't name.

Max should be happy that you found a guy as great as Leo. But he cannot, for the life of him, be fully happy for you. He doesn't know why.

“PR told me that you received a dinner invite from Kelly Piquet,” you state, sitting down on the empty chair across from him and putting your packed lunch on the table. You carefully lay the folded clothes on the other chair. Max deduces they will be the ones he’ll be wearing for the interview scheduled in about two hours. You already sent him the list of questions in his email but he hasn't opened them yet.

“Yeah,” Max says after swallowing. “She’s been sending invites since two months ago.”

“And you left her on seen?”

Max scoffs, “I didn't leave her on seen. I just…well, I saw them late and declined them politely.”

He knows Kelly Piquet. He’s aware of the history she shared with former Red Bull Racing now Toro Rosso driver, Daniil Kvyat. Max also knows she’s the daughter of Nelson Piquet, retired Formula One champion. He thinks it's rude to take the guy’s ex-girlfriend after he’s taken his seat in Red Bull.

“She’s interested in you,” you claim, opening the tupperware and quickly saying grace before digging in.

Max is not good with dealing with women. Twenty-three years old and he’s still girlfriend-less. But he knows how to recognize people who are interested in him. A significant number of women have tried their chances with him since he began racing professionally and he may have used you as some sort of getaway driver to get him out of all the awkward situations where he has to deal with women who are interested in him.

You have a very scary resting bitch face if you try hard enough. Its efficiency in scaring off people is proven to be, well, efficient.

“Yeah, I suppose.”

“Are you interested in her?” you question.

Max thinks about it. Really thinks about it.

“Do you think it’ll be good if I get a girlfriend?” he throws you a question instead of an answer.

“You're twenty-three, man. It's about time you start doin’ somethin’ about your empty dating history.”

Max nose scrunches but doesn't say anything because it's the truth. His dating history is hilariously empty.

“What’s your opinion of Kelly?”

“Uh, cool pussy, I guess. Don't really care.”

Max rolls his eyes, “You’re so crude.”

You shrug uncaringly.

“But I don't mind who you wanna date, man. I mean, it's your life. Date who you wanna date. Live the life you wanna live. All the jazz and shedazzle.”

Max accepts the dinner invite.

The 2020 season ends with Hamilton standing at the top, officially becoming a seven-time world champion. Bottas is behind him. Verstappen, like 2019, still stands in third place. Max vows 2020 will be the last year Hamilton becomes a world champion. The team doesn't hold a big afterparty like it usually does and Max flies home to Monaco immediately.

It's been months since he's started seeing Kelly and the woman is pleasant company. Her daughter, Penelope, is the most adorable human being that ever stepped on Earth. Max loves the little bean with all his heart and he himself is surprised that he’s capable of loving a little human this much. He’s practically convinced that he’ll be a shitty father one day. He does not have a good model figure to look up to when it comes to fatherhood.

Little P, Max learns, is obsessed with crocheted things. Max sees her little bags and little hats—all crocheted. Kelly says she pays their housekeeper to make things for little Penelope because she likes them so much.

Max decides he wants to learn how to crochet. He buys the material and learns through hundreds of Youtube videos. His first masterpiece is a bag. It's white and light orange. He shows it to his mum, who questions how on Earth did her son take an interest in a hobby other than racing or anything car-related. Despite that, she compliments it and Max feels confident that you’ll like it, too, now that he’s gotten his mother’s approval.

He finishes making it by the eighteenth day of December and he calls you, hoping he has the chance to give it before you fly down to Texas for the off-season. But you already left Monaco, just the day before and are now spending the first few weeks of the break in New Zealand with Leo.

“So it's serious?” Max asks you over the phone. He stares at the dark sky in Belgium. There's no stars tonight. Only the moon and it’s looking down at him like it's mocking him. Max wonders what the sky looks like in New Zealand right now.

“Of course,” you say.

“Well then, enjoy the holidays.”

“You, too, man.”

The call ends.

2021

Max sees you enter the Red Bull hospitality. The first thing he notices is that your shoes are brand new. Same model—the black and gold YSL Opyum heels, yes he knows the name because he searched it on Google—but brand new. Your bag is also brand new and it’s not the old cream-colored tote bag with peach prints. It's a cream-colored tote bag with Van Gogh’s painting—the Starry Night—printed at the front. You show it to Max excitedly and tell him that it's from Leo, the bag and the shoes, and Max fakes a smile the whole time. When he returns to his room in the evening, he throws the crochet bag he made over December in the trash bin. Kelly sees it but she doesn't question it.

“PR suggests that you film a Tiktok.”

Max groans, throwing his head back and rolling his eyes to the back of his head.

“Tell them no.”

“Come on, it’ll be fun,” you encourage him, shaking his shoulders. “There's a lot of dance trends right now.”

“I said no, [Name].”

“Max.”

You throw your hands on your waist, looking at him pointedly with your lips pursed. Max returns the stare.

He gives up after five seconds.

“Fine.”

You huff in triumph.

“But you’re doing it with me,” Max bargains.

“Oh come on,” you throw your hands in the air.

“Now you know how it feels. Tell PR that I’m not going to film a Tiktok unless you film it with me,” Max smiles cheekily.

You're not going to film a Tiktok video with him. He knows you hate filming yourself and posting it for the public. There's a reason why you avoided cameras as if it’s the sun and you're a vampire and had all your social media accounts in private.

You pull an unexpected move and you nod your head.

“Fine.”

Max’s smile drops.

You film a Tiktok using Red Bull Racing’s official Tiktok account. A simple dance. Max does not know the title. The steps are simple and it's easy to memorize. He believes he can do this fairly easily. You don't look like you’re having fun while memorizing the dance steps but you're not overly struggling.

You film the video in three takes. When Max sees the final outcome, he cringes. His long limbs look awkward as he performs the steps despite thinking that he’s doing fine while filming it. You, on the other hand, look fine.

You look good while dancing actually. There’s a certain grace that accompanied your movements.

“You dance good,” Max comments.

“It’s the Latina in me,” you claim, raising your chin a little.

Max snorts.

You show the draft video to the PR team. Without hesitation, they scratched it.

“Why?” Max asks, brows furrowing.

“Apparently, they're too tired releasing statements that we’re not dating. They're afraid that the Tiktok video would bring back our dating rumors,” you roll your eyes. “They’ve decided to just make you do a Tiktok filter game.”

Max does the one filter where he has to solve the simple math equations projected on the screen. He has to tilt his head to the side where the right answer is placed and he needs to do it quickly.

Max is not bad at Mathematics. He’s not good at it either. He’ll say that he’s just average at it like every human being on Earth.

You sit beside him, barking him the answers before his brain can even process and perform the required operations.

“60 points. That's not good enough,” he says.

You nod, “Damn right. You're not tilting your head to the right answer fast enough.”

“Maybe you're not giving the answers quick enough.”

The video gets more than ten takes. The two of you don't stop until you get the perfect score.

Monza is a disaster. To summarize: the 53-lap race is won by Daniel Ricciardo, who has now moved to McLaren. He capitalizes on a good front-row start and the crash between Max Verstappen and Lewis Hamilton to take the race lead. Lando, Daniel’s teammate comes in second with Mercedes' Valtteri Bottas in third. Max and Lewis—DNF.

Max doesn't remember the last time he’s been that angry and the anger doubles when he sees the seven-time world champion celebrate on the tracks. Max then decides that he’s going to be more risky, especially now that he knows how safe the car is. Max is willing to risk his life for number one.

Max lies in the medical bay and he hears voices outside. Too many voices. He’ll appreciate it greatly if the voices disappear. He's too angry right now that the noise of the outside world is too much.

“Max?”

The voices disappear and it's only you he can see, he can hear, he can feel. You're everything.

You said it. His name. It sounds even better than he imagined.

“[Name].”

After making sure he’s okay, you tell Max that you wish to go to Danny and congratulate him for winning. Max grabs your hand, unwilling to let go.

“You're not his manager anymore,” Max reminds you. “You're mine.”

He’s very much aware that he sounds like a child who refuses to let his older brother borrow his favorite toy but he cannot find himself to care. Screw Daniel.

You give him a long look but follows his demands anyway, “We’re gonna congratulate him later whether you like it or not. He’s our friend and he just got P1. We’re gonna be happy for him 'cuz that's what friends do. I’ll drag your ass to his hotel room if I have to.”

Jos Verstappen is not happy. When has he ever been happy with Max anyway? He calls Max after the Monza race and proceeds to yell because that’s all he ever does with Max. He yells. Max is embarrassed that he’s twenty-three and he’s still getting yelled at by his own father.

“Your Dad’s an asshole,” you stated after he ends the call. Max knows you heard his father’s voice even though he has not put the call on loudspeaker.

“Don't talk to my Dad like that,” he reprimands, though not unkindly. “But yeah, he is.”

You snort, “You okay?”

Max lets out a shaky breath, nodding weakly.

"Yeah, I'm fine. You would think that after all this time I would get used to it but I don't know. It still makes me feel so uncomfortable and like I'm doing everything wrong even though I've been doing that for such a long time now and I've achieved so many things he asked for."

Your gaze softens and Max mentally begs that you stop looking at him like that. He does not want your pity. Pity is for the weak. Max is not weak.

You open your arms, “Rein it in, big guy.”

“What are you doing?”

“You need a hug.”

Max hesitates but he invites himself to your arms anyway. He allows himself to melt. In your arms, he feels like he's home and that he's good enough.

The breakup happens two race weekends later. Max is not dumb nor is he so emotionally indifferent that he cannot sense if a person is going through a breakup especially if that person is someone so close to him. He already knows there’s something wrong and he knows exactly what’s wrong and yet he still asks, “What's wrong?”

“Nothin’,” you say a little too quickly as if you already know that Max is going to ask the question.

“[Name],” his fingers circle around your wrist. “It's not nothing. Your eyes are red. Have you been crying?”

He wants you to open up. He wants you to say something. He wants you to share the heartache you carry so it won't feel heavy on your shoulders. He wants to be someone who’ll carry your problems with you when the world feels too big and you too small.

You sigh shakily, forcing a polite smile. Your hand comes up to squish Max’s cheek in between your palms and Max’s brows rise slightly at the action. Your hands feel cold and they’re trembling slightly and Max wants to point it out, but he sees how your lips wobble and his mind just blanks, “It's not important. You only have one thing to think about and that is to win. You hear me?”

Max considers marching to the Williams Racing livery and demanding for Leo Stark but he chooses not to. You won't want him to, anyway.

Max never realizes how horrifying blood is until he sees it dripping down the side of your head. He watches as your face changes from shock to realization to absolute anger. It’s like watching you transform from human to a rabid animal who wants to shed blood. At first, he tries to pull you away and calm you down. When he sees the girl’s boyfriend appear, Max joins the fight. No man is allowed to hit you. Not on his watch.

The higher-ups are not the happiest when they learn of what happened. The PR team is having a field day as well. Someone captured the event in video and posted it online. Max has been given a script for the video he’ll have to do to save his image but it’s written differently. Different in a way that the way the words are arranged feels odd to him unlike the way you write your scripts for Max. You write the scripts as if Max is the one who writes them. You write the script in a way Max will write them. Because you know him enough to know what kind of words he wants to use and how he’ll phrase things. You choose words that are easy on his tongue and you structure the sentences so that he can memorize them easily.

Helmut is the one who says, “She should leave the team.”

“If you fire her, I’m leaving,” Max decides.

Christian narrows his eyes at him, “You won't dare.”

“Try me,” he challenges. “I am willing to pay millions to leave if she leaves.”

The other teams want him, Max knows. They know he’s rising to stardom, a racer who can stand equal to Lewis Hamilton in the right time. Red Bull is too afraid of spitting out their star now. Not when Max is already giving Lewis Hamilton a big run for his money this year. Not when Max just showed the world that he’s capable of more than just being third place.

The wretched Hamilton fan decides to sue and Max calls upon his mother’s help to find the best lawyers to fight for you. Sophie willingly helps him.

Max is going to protect you, like you always do to him.

[writingquestionsanswered]

Tips for writers with ADHD that get major writers block/burnout

Writers with ADHD and Writer's Block/Burnout

Tip #1 - Troubleshoot the Problem - I want to start here, in the most obvious place, because even for writers with ADHD, writer's block is often the result of a specific issue that can be surmounted once identified. My post 5 Reasons You Lost Interest in Your WIP, Plus Fixes! addresses some of the most common ones. It's worth checking to see if something on there resonates with you as a potential obstacle to progress.

Tip #2 - De-Stress Your Writing Time - Human brains are wired to respond in specific ways to perceived threats... fight, flight, or freeze. Quite often, what we call "writer's block" is actually your brain having a freeze response to writing because it's causing you stress and is therefore perceived as a threat.

So, anything you can do to de-stress your writing time can help. Troubleshooting the problem as in #1 is a good start. Set reasonable goals and deadlines... you can estimate your available writing time and calculate that with your estimated WPM to see if it's even possible for you to hit your word count goal. Go easy on yourself when you don't reach goals... celebrate even the smallest of wins, because negative thinking makes writing more stressful. Do what you can to set up an inviting writing space, light a candle (safely), play soft music, use ambient lighting, have your favorite beverage and snack at hand.

Tip #3 - "Gamify" Your Writing - Turning your writing goals into game achievements can make writing fun, which is another great way to de-stress it. You can usually find free game board templates online, or you can create your own. I like to set mine up like this:

You can set as many tasks as you want (within reason) for each goal, and your prizes can be anything from a handful of candy to buying something you really want, or doing something you really want to do. Whatever works for your budget that motivates you to get the tasks done.

Tip #4 - Do an Immersive Writing Sprint Session - YouTube is a wonderland of helpful videos for writers... not just easily digestible writing advice and research information, but also writing music, ambience rooms, and one of my favorites, immersive writing sessions. These are themed ambience rooms with ambient video, music, and sound effects, but they also have a writing sprint timer on the screen, so you are encouraged to write for however long (usually 10 to 20 minutes), then you get a five or ten-minute break before the next sprint starts. These can be a really great way to get into the zone if you're struggling otherwise.

Tip #5 - Eliminate Distractions - When you have ADHD, pretty much anything can be a distraction. If my desk is messy, I'll pause mid-sentence to clean it rather than write. If there's something on my desk I can fidget with or play with, I'll do that. If my phone is handy, I'll pick it up and start scrolling through social media. If I'm listening to music with words, I'll go look up the lyrics and fall down some weird tangentially related rabbit hole. If I'm hungry or thirsty, I'll get up fifty times to get a small snack or drink. So, I clean my desk ahead of time and remove anything I might be tempted to fiddle with. I only play instrumental music (usually an ambience room). I put my phone on silent or leave it in another room.

Literally anything I can do to head my usual distractions off at the pass. For me, it actually makes a big difference. Try keeping a running list of things that distract you while writing during a week of writing sessions. Then, go through the list and write solutions. This helps you build a pre-writing session distraction elimination routine.

I hope something here will work for you! I may do a part two to this soon, so keep an eye out!

•••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••

I’ve been writing seriously for over 30 years and love to share what I’ve learned. Have a writing question? My inbox is always open!

♦ Questions that violate my ask policies will be deleted! ♦ Please see my master list of top posts before asking ♦ Learn more about WQA here

[koolades-world]

More Obey me! Headcannons

had so much fun last time I wanted to do it again

Satan is so smart, but has issues doing basic math and refuses to admit it, like he can’t figure out fifteen plus seven without his fingers or a calculator (is this me projecting? maybe)

Belphie bought himself and Mc matching house slippers. Mc thought Beel felt left out and made Belphie buy a pair for him too

Beel has a huge green thumb, and takes upon himself to save plants he thinks are sad or lonely. He buys the dying plants from the store to bring back to life (partially inspired by the chat where someone, forgot who, told beel that if he talked to plants they would grow faster my precious baby)

Lucifer is the best cook at the HoL, but rarely has time to cook. Beel is the second best but usually eats the ingredients before he can make anything with them. Mammon is probably the worst because Levi can make food from animes almost perfectly

Asmo once almost set a store he was collaborating with on fire with his rage alone because they spelt his name wrong

Beel probably needs a new toothbrush every couple weeks. Belphie probably gets toothbrushes mixed up and uses ones that aren’t his

Lucifer and Solomon like prune juice haha old men

The one thing Luke and Simeon have seriously disagreed on is if raisins belong in dessert. Michael likes them, so Luke does too. Simeon thinks they’re awful but never directly says it, so Lucifer usually says it for him

Despite always being online, Levi had not once checked his RAD email. He has 9,999+ emails, probably a lot more because 9,999 is where it stops counting

Mammon collects cool rocks and keeps them in a box under his bed

Satan’s hands are always freezing, so he sticks them under Mc (or a cat) when possible, or uses a charmed hot water bottle from Solomon that stays warm for days at a time

Solomon and Asmo have had matching bracelet sets for as long as they’ve known each other, and since they didn’t make them anymore, they got some custom done for Mc so they could also have them

For about 1,000 years, Thirteen though jelly beans were an actual kind of bean and Solomon never let her let it go

The first food Mc and Mammon ate on a date in the human world together was Taiyaki, so he made it a point to learn how to make them to surprise Mc (even though he’s a terrible cook) (I might make this a fic since I like this idea so much)

Diavolo has always wanted a Devildom version of a hamster but Barbatos refused to have any kind of rodent in the castle, rat or not

Luke probably downloads those stupid app games with the ads unironically

Satan’s favorite Disney Princess is Ariel because she ran off to do what she wanted without caring what her father thought, it’s giving daddy issues. He’s probably considered running off and marrying Mephisto to make Lucifer angry

Raphael unironically enjoys off brand chips and soda

Lucifer is a nail biter, and Asmo is helping him curve the habit by putting a nasty tasting top coat when he does his nails, and it’s also why he wears gloves all the time.

Belphie and Satan once went up to the humans world together to mess with people in Salem, Massachusetts with magic, which spawned several conspiracy theory books. They read them together and laugh as a past time

Diavolo once went to the human world in his demon form for,, reasons, and accidentally got written into ancient mythology because he got spotted by humans

Barbatos had a home garden for cooking and sometimes lets Asmo have leaves from some of the plants to make homemade skin care products

Mammon probably has lots of earwax. Don’t share your earbuds with him unless you make him clean them afterwards

Belphie has a really large water bottle that’s always on his side table. He wakes up randomly though the night, chugs an ungodly amount of water and then passed out again. In the mornings he has to piss really bad but is too lazy to get up and actually do it, so he just sits and complains. Even Beel isn’t sure how he’s able to drink that much water in a short amount of time

Satan likes waking up early to enjoy the morning air and read outside for a while since mornings can get hectic with his brothers

Thirteen’s favorite torture device is the Iron Maiden. She had her own that she bedazzled. Even Asmo is jealous and wants her to make him one too

Mammon introduced Diavolo to Gatorade, and instead of sneaking behind Lucifer and Barbatos’s backs to drink Demonus, they have secret Gatorade meetings

Diavolo and Lucifer definitely both had a hidden Dialuci stash of things and probably clash trying to collect limited edition things online

None of the Obey me cast took birthdays or passing of years seriously until Mc entered the picture and suddenly time was precious, and they actually kept track. Because of this, nobody is really sure how old the twins are

Mephisto thinks roosters want world domination

Asmo thinks cilantro tastes like soap and Levi thinks anything cola flavored tastes like cough medicine

Mammon's favorite party trick is one Mc taught him, which is rolling his tongue Everyone he meets, including his brothers, thinks it's so cool when really it's just a genetic thing

[lazysublimeengineer]

The latest chapter of the manga has brought back the true meaning of "Blue Lock."

The stakes are higher and almost everyone is clawing out of their way to make it to the top.

It's a reminiscent of the first and second selection arcs where no one is spared. You like Kira? Too bad because he got eliminated first. Want to see Nagi and Reo teaming up in second selection? Not gonna happen anytime soon as Nagi was walking away with Isagi's team to their next match. Wanna see Naruhaya make it? Having a great backstory and reason to join the program doesn't make you have a plot armor to push through because you don't have enough talent and skill just like with the geniuses and prodigies out there.

And it's the same for Isagi too. He is not immune to any obstacles that he is facing today. It's already foreshadowed by Ego in the previous chapter.

This is going to happen sooner or later. Also, interesting note is that it's the second time that Isagi had misunderstood someone's true intentions in this match. It happened with Kiyora before when he thought that he was going to pass the ball to him and not with Kaiser. He looked genuinely surprised for a moment. And in the second moment of clarity, he now realized that Noa was using him too to tap and awakened Kaiser to his full potential.

Now how Isagi would react to all of this is the interesting part in the next chapter. I'm seeing theories circulating online that he *might* get a mental breakdown like with Ness, put him into a clearer perspective and made Noa realized that he won't be just a stepping stone for him by doing some crazy but amazing moves once again or him signing up for Dortmund after this match and play against BM in the future (this is the first team who has shown interest to him in this arc. And if I remembered correctly wasn't Dortmund his favorite team back then?)

It's not a farfetched idea for one of these things could happen. But then again, this is Blue Lock we're talking about. Some unpredictable things could be happening soon.

Also, I'm not really mad at Noa. It just showed and proved on why he was the current top one in the franchise. He's a real egoist. You don't just survived and make it to the top by being physically skilled on your own.

I also highly disagree with him not caring about Isagi. He took interest in Isagi because of out the Blue Lock players, he had shown potential the most and he was a proactive player. Isagi doesn't wait for things to be handed out to him. He seeks his opinion and advise on soccer related things.

To your perspective, this was a cold, calculating move from Noa. But in all honesty, Noa had just done what is logically for the best and this is how he could tap out both Isagi and Kaiser's potential and ego.

The author also might be showing that Isagi needs to stop seeing Noa as his idol and mentor.

But rather a rival as well in the same vein as Rin and Kaiser.

Because if you want to become the world's number 1 striker then you have to beat the current world's number 1 and that is Noel Noa himself.

The author cooked in this chapter and I couldn't be any more glad of it 🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥

[midnightbluebells03]

Hello! I was curious if you could do a dom!Abby x chubby reader, maybe some smut where the reader starts feeling bad about her body so Abby "shows" her how pretty she is *wink* *wink*

It's fine if you reject my request remember to drink water and have a good day/night :)

THROUGH HER EYES

CW - fingering (R receiving), oral (R receiving), negative self talk

WC - about 1k

Reader is described as fem and chubby, I based this off of myself a little as a plus sized girlie

No outbreak

Thank you for the request darling! And thank yall for over 100 followers 🖤

Leave me any requests in my asks xo

It all happened so fast.

Only fifteen minutes ago you were standing infront of the mirror looking at yourself in the new dress Abby had bought you. The one you had been looking at online for weeks but never hit buy. Because the truth was you didn't think it would look good on you. The model in the picture was tall, skinny, flawless. A stark contrast to how you saw yourself.

Your hands ran over you body as you took in how the fabric clung to you. How you could see the outline of your stomach, the cellulite on your thighs and the way your arms looked in the thin straps. It felt like you couldn't stop. Your mind relentlessly picking apart every bit of your appearance until there was tears forming in your eyes. It wasn't jsut the dress, you pinched at your round cheeks, fussed with your hair, you even thought about taking off your makeup.

Abby had been watching you silently in the doorframe of the ensuite bathroom. Her eyebrows furrowed and arms crossed tight across her chest. You two were supposed to be meeting her friends in half an hour but instead she shot them a text, saying you guys were going to be a little late. Before she pushed you onto the bed and dropped between your legs.

"Abby we don't have time-" your protest was met with two fingers slipping past your lips. You gasp for a second but hum softly before starting to suck. Earing a smirk from the girl below you.

"They can wait" Abby pulls her fingers out slowly, you try to chase them and earn a small chuckle from her. "You look so good I just have to" the feeling of her hand running up your inner thigh makes you need to bite your lip.

"I'm actually gonna change" you admit, glancing over to the closet, a slight frown on your lips. With a soft sigh you start to explain, not making eye contact with Abby as you do. "The dress is lovely baby, thank you I just think I'd look better in jeans or something"

"No" Her voice is stern, that same tone she uses when telling you to behave. But her hands are as soft as ever. Gently moving up further until she's brushing her fingers across your panties. Making you gasp. "No baby you're gonna wear this, you're also gonna look into that mirror" her other hand grasps your jaw gently, forcing you to meet your own eyes in the reflection. "While I show you how pretty you are okay?"

Despite the part of you that wanted to say no, that wanted to give in to the insecurity and self hate. You swallow hard, giving her a breathy. "Okay" as you watch her bunch the dress up your hips.

"You stop looking I stop" her hands pause on the waistband of your panties. Waiting for your nod before pulling them down. "Good girl"

That's how you ended up here. With your fingers tangled in Abby's once slicked back braid while her tounge works calculated circles around your clit. Your eyes fixated on yourself in the mirror. A twinge of embrassment in your chest that was being drowned out by the pleasure. The way her hands are so tight on your thighs that your almost sure it'll leave finger shaped bruises was enough along to make you wet. But paired with the soft moans she's letting out against your dripping pussy you couldn't help but try to grind into her face.

You tip your head down to watch Abby for a second, desperate to see your pretty girl. Starting to feel yourself getting close to the edge. But always the observer Abby is quick to notice, pulling back fully. Despite your moans and desperate attempt to keep her head where you needed her.

"I told you baby"

"Abby-" you plead, only cut off by her lips pressing to yours in a quick kiss.

"Shh" you watch as she gets onto the bed, positioning herself behind you. "Just moving a little, don't panic" She brushes the hair out of your face, pressing kisses to your shoulder as she gets comfortable. Her hand moves past your stomach until she reaches your clit. Making you moan softly as she slowly traces circles around your sensitive bud. "Now look" her free hand grabs your jaw, keeping you looking in the mirror. You can't help but focus on how her steel blue eyes stay glued to your body. Looking over you like you're her prized posession. "There's my pretty girl"

Her fingers slowly dip down to your hole as you lean backwards. Positioning yourself further into her chest as she slips in. Two thick fingers stretching you out as your eyes roll back for a second. "Fuck" you quickly fix your gaze, looking at your own flushed face as Abby slowly moves in and out of you. Her other hand trailing down to massage your breasts through the fabric of your dress.

"Taking my fingers so fucking well" she bites down on your lobe gently, making you moan as her lips continue down your neck. Only stopping to mutter into your skin. "Always perfect for me aren't you baby?"

"Mhm" you try to reply through your pathetic moans. Watching yourself as Abby works you closer to the edge. Fingers curled up just the right amount to hit your g-spot. Your legs start to shake as you clentch around her hard. Using all your focus to keep looking in the mirror so she doesn't stop.

"Good girl, cmon baby cum all over my fucking hand" Abby groans into your ear, her movements not pausing as you cum. Your moans echoing through the room as you slump into her fully. Breathing heavily as your eyes finally break from the mirror, looking up to the ceiling. Abby presses a soft kiss to your head. "Cmon baby let's get you cleaned up". You shuffle forward and let her get off the bed. Listening to her walk to the bathroom, the tap running as she holds a cloth under it.

"Abby?" You call out softly, waiting for her to come back between your legs. Gently wiping you up.

"Yeah baby?"

"You should wear your hair down" you prop yourself up onto your elbows. Tilting your head towards her. "Your braids all fucked up and I think Manny will kill us of we're any later"

She chuckles before throwing the cloth onto your nightstand. Planning to deal with it later and starting to unravel her braid. Dirty blonde hair falling in soft waves. You sit up, pulling on your panties before fixing your dress. Looking yourself over on the mirror, expect this time you can't help but smile.

"Yknow this dress is cute"

[yanderemommabean]

PLEASE WRITE MORE DEATH NOTE I BEG YOU. THERE IS NOT ENOUGH ONLINE I NEED MORE YANDERE L. PLEASE I'LL GIVE YOU ALL THE PROTECTION SPELLS I HAVE! I love the idea of foreigner reader that doesn't speak Japanese well and just came to Japan for a fun trip and now they are being investigated for being Kira. Reader is more scared of being arrested than of Kira because they have literally never committed a crime in their life so they know they are safe but they are scared of the legal system because they know that's it's not actually justice sometimes. But they aren't crying in a corner either. They just take it as it comes but they definetly don't like it and just want to go back home.

Also when L is like "who do you think Kira is since you say you aren't them." and reader is just like "light". point blank. doesn't bat an eye. and l is just like "...I agree with you....but do explain why since you've had only one conversation with him." and reader's just like "he's too perfect. have you ever watched a True crime documentary? the perfect dude, or the dude that could never do anything wrong, is the killer." and l is just like "...I agree.....but you are aware that you are too perfect..doesn't that make you a killer?" and reader is just like "me???perfect?? in what world??"

I'm rambling but please more death note L.

I love the point blank call out, just "Listen, anyone with eyes can see that Light is too calculated with his movements, like he's paranoid to step out of line. Even when he messes up it's too clean"

L just hums and nods along, but he's already fairly certain Light is Kira anyway, he just likes to hear your thought process and likes how your voice sounds.

You're not a helpless little lamb by any means, but you're certainly unaware of how much danger is actually around you. Kira is a big deal, everyone is on his hit list it seems, even sweet, intelligent and enthralling visitors such as yourself.

L isn't one to sugar coat things either, he's rather blunt and forward, as the worlds best detective has to be to cut out the bullshit. So he sets his sweets down and abruptly says "Be that as it may, until we actually catch Kira, you aren't going to be able to leave. As much as it annoys us both, you're still involved in this as anyone else"

You just tense your jaw, paranoid thoughts rushing through your mind as you fear you might somehow incriminate yourself despite being fully innocent. What can you say? The legal system sucks. But L just lays a hand on your shoulder, giving a rare smile as he tries to ease your nerves.

"Ah, but you'll have me on your side. You'll be safe from any harm. You're free to go to your hotel, but you will be hearing from us again"

He can admit he hates seeing you so stressed, and rather lascivious thoughts fill his brain on how to indulge you and fix that, but sadly the clock is ticking and he has some annoying people to answer before he can relax. He'll just have to make do with watching some street cameras and remembering the warmth of you under his fingertips.

-Mommabean

[astrologicalsstuff]

Some more

Astrology observations

Scorpio risings causing drama without even meaning to

Capricorns are the hottest placement sun and rising

Everyone says it’s probably Leo or libra or Taurus but Capricorns have this I’m hot and it doesn’t matter energy. Like those placements know they’re hot. They got the bone structure and legs

Everyone thinks it’s Scorpio but I would NOT WANT TO MAKE AN AQUARIUS ANGRY. These people can be calculated and smart. They don’t feel in the same way other people do typically so they can really whip out some unwarranted shit.

Aries moons going 0 to 100 in half a second.

Virgo aries combos especially Virgo sun aries moon or Virgo rising aries… acting first thinking later and regretting everything:((( these can be some very… stimulated people.

Cancer Leo Taurus in the big three loyal and selfless with a dash of manipulation

Leo Venus will like you and still make you chase for a year you’d better be ready to chase!

Venus in the second know their self worth.

Mercury in Pisces/Sagittarius or in the 9th or 12th house how’s that ADD/ADHD??

Cancer stellium/ Virgo stellium with those stomach problems.

Where your 6th house ruler sits is how your health shows up. 6th house ruler in the third might need glasses or have hand problems. 6th ruler in the 12th might have mental health problems. 6th ruler in the 5th watch your heart.

Aquarius moons are so chill if your not tryna have a relationship with them and humble too. Like they won’t start shit.

Neptune in fire houses (1 5 & 9) have the reputation of being mysterious but isn’t as mysterious as everyone thinks, they don’t really know themselves either lol.

Further, neptune in the first just doesn’t see themselves the way you see them

Neptune in the 5th probably have identity issues, people like them better on drugs. Struggle to see themselves the way others see them causing misinterpretations

Neptune in the 9th people don’t see the spirits on your side lol. Maybe people don’t see that you can see through them

Saturns not all bad, in houses where you must acquire (earth houses 2 6 10)

Moon in the ascendant will have children especially with planets in the 5th.

Capricorn or Saturn in the 5th may have a hard time conceiving or having children

Uranus in the 5th… just make sure you wrap it cause get ready for those unexpected pregnancies. Also what’s up with those one night stands??

Neptune in the 11th most likely means friends at a distance or friendships where you do a lot of drugs and alcohol. Friends Can be artists as well. Best case I think these people are celebrities and connect with masses online.

Mars in Leo are HORNY and loud about it

Pluto in the third can cut people with their words

Moon in the 10th makes people comfortable around you yet a distance between you and other people?

Neptune in the 10th where’s your dad lol?

12th house ruler in the 10th everyone talks about you behind your back so much gossip

Virgo men lowk like it when you call them out🫢🫢

Pisces moons can’t stop lying huh? Like you don’t even know why your doing it

Virgo rising s are so hot. Like subtle beauty look good without makeup.

Virgo sun women’s personality is basically just whatever copies and compliments their best friend…

Fire sign moons are soo DRAMATIC

Moon in first = heart in sleeve

Thanks for reading let me know what you think please don’t copy my information!

[i-am-baechu]

♡ Summary: Jeon Jungkook is known throughout Korea as the top boxer. He’s swift in his attacks and calculated with everything. He’s dangerous in the ring but he was also dangerous to his girlfriend, Y/N L/N. 

♡ Pairing: Established relationship; Jungkook x reader 

♡ Rating: Explicit (18+)  

♡ Genre: Established relationship, angst, fluff, and smut

♡ Warning: This talks about body insecurity. If you are not comfortable with this or it triggers you, please don’t read it!!! I love all of you 

The audience was yelling as Jeon Jungkook landed another punch on his opponent at Ella Hall. In the crowd, there was one face that Jungkook knew very well, his girlfriend, L/N Y/N. She watched with her hands in a “praying” gesture and her wide eyes that looked like they sparkled under the lights. She watched with close eyes as her heart started to beat faster with each hit, He was holding his own against Jo...Amazing. 

Jungkook was loved throughout Korea. It was for his skills but it was also because so many wanted him to be theirs. It didn’t matter if they were female or male, they wanted Jungkook. Y/N didn’t really care about the other's eyes on him because she knew Jungkook loved her and vice versa.  

When the final bell echoed through the room, letting everyone know that Jungkook won. She left her chair and ran up to the ring, “Jungkook!!~” 

He glanced at her and wiped the blood off his chin, “Baby.” He left the ring and stood next to her with a wide smile. He wrapped his arms around her waist and brought her into a quick kiss, “My good luck charm.” 

She shook her head and kissed his cheek, “You don’t need me, you have the skills.” 

“No, I need you with me all the time.” 

He put her back on the ground and kissed her forehead. After every victory, Jungkook would pick her up and kiss her. He didn’t care who was around, he wanted Y/N in his arms. She was also known to the public because of Jungkook and she was aware of the jealous eyes on her whenever she went to him. It also didn’t help that some magazines would gossip about her. They would talk bad about her because of her weight. She just had an average body. Her thighs were thicker than others and she had some rolls on her stomach but it never bothered her until she started reading the hurtful words. One time when she was watching Jungkook fighting, she overheard some girls behind her making fun of her. “Why would he be with her? Look at her, she deserves someone at the mall and not a professional boxer.” 

Jungkook would try his best to hide the news from her but it was hard. People online love to be mean, it gives them confidence that they lack in reality. Y/N has tried working out with Jungkook but it would always end with him on top of her for different reasons. Jungkook didn’t give a shit about other people's views of her because he loves her for her. 

“Kook, do you want to go home?” 

He shook his head and bowed to his coach for giving him a towel, “No, we should go to dinner.”

She bit her lip nervously and looked away, “Isn’t it too late to eat?” 

Jungkook raised his eyebrow at her and shook his head, “What did you eat today?” 

“I-I had breakfast.” 

“That this morning, Y/N. What else did you eat?”

She looked away from his hard gaze and pouted, “I’m on a diet.” 

“That’s not a diet. You're starving yourself, that’s not good Y/N. We're going to dinner.” 

“But Jungkook...” 

He shook his head and kissed the top of her head as she looked up at him with a shy expression, “I’ll take you to dinner.” He grabbed her hand and left the area but Y/N couldn’t help feel the eyes on her back burning into her skin. 

°˖✧˚ʚ♡ɞ˚✧˖°

Y/N was in the gym throwing punches at the punching bag. It was a workout day for her and she couldn’t help but let the sweat fly off her forehead. Jungkook needed to go to the gym for practice and asked Y/N if she would wait for him. What he didn’t know was that she was going to work out as she waited for him. 

She sat on the ground with her eyes closed with heavy breathing. She opened her eyes and brought her water bottle to her lips, “I’m so tired...”

“Is it because you were working out on an empty stomach?” 

“Probably-Jung-Jungkook?”  She turned around to see Jungkook looking down at her with a disapproving face and she wanted to crawl away. She hated this look from him. She looked away and her bottle with a frown. 

“Baby, get up.”

She looked back at him with a confused look, “What?” 

“I need to change out of these clothes. Let’s go.”

She nodded her head and stood up with his help. His tone made her feel nervous because it made her feel like she was going to get scolded. They walked towards his private changing room and she stood there awkwardly as Jungkook looked at her, “Jungkook?”

“Come here.” 

She raised her eyebrow but nodded her head. She dropped her bag onto the floor and made her way towards him. He quickly ran his hands through her hair and gave her a smile. He quickly pulled her into him with his fingers going through his hair and kissed her. Her eyes widened at this but she closed her eyes and returned the kiss. Their tongues started entangled with each other and she couldn’t stop moaning from the feeling. He brought his hand down and gently squeezed her breast making him smirk in the kiss. The same hand traveled down further down to her exercise shorts, “Jung-Jungkook~. What if someone comes in?” 

“No one is coming in. This is my private room.” 

He pushed against the lockers and pulled down her shorts. He quickly pushed her shirt up and bra down never as he gave her another deep kiss. He leaned down and started kissing her stomach with her eyes watching him, “I love this stomach and I love you.” Before she could answer, he pulled down her underwear and started sucking at her clit. Her whole face felt hot and Jungkook couldn’t stop himself from smirking against her skin, “Babe, look forward.”

She slowly opened her eyes with confusion, “Forward?” 

Her eyes widened when she saw a mirror looking right back at her and somehow she felt her face get hotter, “N-NO! Ah!~” 

He gripped her ass cheeks and brought her closer to him as she hugged his head against her. She couldn’t stop herself and she came right there at the final suck. He stood up slowly and kissed her cheek as he felt the heat of her cheeks, “Y/N, put your hands on the mirror.”

“Huh...?” 

She gently put her hands on the cold glass and looked over her shoulder, “Kook?” 

He grabbed his cock and rubbed himself at her entrance as she jumped at the feeling. He gently pushed himself into her and let out a loud groan as she moaned. Jungkook kissed her shoulder blades as he thrust in and out of her, “Don’t close your eyes.”

She opened her eyes and saw her red face with his fingers in her mouth, “Ah~.” 

He groped one of her tits as he kissed the side of her head. His thrusts were becoming sloppy and he knew what that meant. Two more thrusts and he came into her kissing the back of her head as she watched in the mirror, “I love the way you are. Don’t listen to anyone but me. I love you...”

“I-I love you more...”

They put their clothes back on and she couldn’t help but hide her face from him. He put his shirt on and let out a small chuckle, “Why are you shy? I literally just fucked you.”

“Jungkook, stop...we just had sex in the changing room. Someone could’ve heard.” 

“Oh about that...”

She looked at him with her head tilted as he let out a nervous laugh, “I didn’t lock the door so...technically my coach could have entered.” 

“EH!! JUNGKOOK!” 

“I’ll make sure I’ll lock it next time.”

“NEXT TIME!?”

[sgiandubh]

Fuck this shitshow...This is it.

Dear This Is It Anon,

You mean this, right?

Lest they would think as they all collectively do, with the shared single braincell they use across the street, we are hiding shite under the carpet. Not my method, Anon, off - and online.

So, ok. He was there. We were on perhaps the worst case scenario, probability-wise, on that one: 50/50, which is sort of mildly excruciating, right?

I can only encourage you to watch that clip, Anon. There are always nuances in the worst of bullshit situations. Yes, she is smiling. Briefly to T (this page founds a lie beyond ridiculous) and then to the winner:

Yes, she looks relaxed enough. But never forget she is an actress, after all, at a professional event. What did you expect her to do, sulk? I know, it happened before, when she was perhaps way less thrilled, but people change and they learn from their mistakes. Narrative wise, her being awkward around McElusive was a PR mistake that had to be corrected/properly retconned. This seems to be the case, now, with a more natural attitude.

But you can fumble around and manipulate only that much of a given situation. The giveaway, to me, in this is TMcG (the hour is solemn, no jokes around, please) - still the same unkempt, DGAF, 70s called outfit, plus looking really, really strange. Unlike many on our side, I shall not elaborate - there is no need to. Yet it is plain to see something is unwell, especially when compared to the cortisone prosperity of the last sighting. Don't get me wrong: I have no ill wish towards this person. I just can't help but notice something is amiss, in all this forced, calculated, propagandistic Joy.

I am also fully aware there are many mean eyes watching me from the shadows across the street, Anon. I mean, seriously, BIF?

Of course, that is your page and you can write what the hell you want. Choosing to quote me was a rather successful ambush. Remember, however (really LOL, always LOL): wars are not won with just tactics. Ok, you have a questionable edge on this one - a wasted battle.

Wars are won with good strategy and a synoptic, not fragmented vision (making a huge affair out of each and every single detail), of the state of play. You may be a decent tactician, perhaps, but you are a lousy strategist.

Oh, and to think you are planning a get together at the Paris Landcon, too, eh? How nice and how copy/paste of you, folks. I wonder what you expect, a fucking remake of West Side Story?

I could say good afternoon and even shake your hand anytime, BIF. But I bet you wouldn't. You're a tiny, hateful person with an overinflated ego, like that.

Sorry, Anon, for the rant. I tried to be as objective as I could, under biased circumstance and harsh scrutiny. I just hope this brought more clarity.

[judesmoonbeauty]

Jude & Moon Travel - Follow Up PV Thoughts on the Pocket Watch & Big Ben

The 10:10 on Jude's pocket watch kept bothering me, and although the animation of of Big Ben in his PV is recycled from other PVs, it is very prominently pointing to 12 o'clock. Seeing as the moon is and the clocktower are heavily implied as route hints, I decided to read the book, "From the Earth to the Moon," by Jules Verne. There are no spoilers really, but just in case. This isn't that lengthy. And this is just for fun.

This book is the one that Jude refers to in his bond stories, "Hobbies", and "Moonlit Night".

In "Hobbies", Jude says that he's going to make Ellis look into every author on the papers Jude was looking into that discussed moon travel. "Physics, engineering, astronomy.....", Jude goes on to say that he is going to nab all the good researchers before others can. He goes as far as chiding the author of the book for spouting nonsense like it's something that could be accomplished.

In "Moonlit Night," Jude mentions that the book is telling the truth in that it would take 11 kilometers per second to make it to the moon.

So, what does that have to do with the actual book, his PV, and are there any other tidbits we can pick up on Jude from this?

A quick summary of the Book: It's just after the American Civil War, and a group of guys with too much time on their hands are basically complaining because they have nothing to do. However, Impey Barbicane enters the picture and says, 'Bros, let's go to the moon.' Barbicane then sets out with his friends to design and build a cannon that will shoot a hollow-shelled bullet to the moon.

Quick Thoughts: This book, while it's science and calculations are outdated, is very thoroughly researched. There's so many algebraic calculations, mentions of books, papers, and scrolls all the way from the B.C.E to C.E. that it's no wonder Jude read it and took a thorough interest in it. Jude likes scientific explanations after all (HW epilogue). If you're into sci-fi or astronomy, this is a very good book to read. The most important feature about this book is: TIME. Timing is EVERYTHING, down to the seconds.

If you want to read the book yourself online, you can read it here.

Hints/Potential Basis to Jude lore-

Impey Barbicane: I laughed when I learned that after being the director of artillery (in which he was an inventor), Barbicane made a large fortune as a wood merchant. He's described as being calm, cold, austere, of a serious and self-contained demeanor, not chivalrous, of immovable character and last but not least......punctual as a chronometer. He is also highly intelligent.

Six Questions: In the book, Barbicane writes a letter of six questions regarding moon travel to the Observatory of Cambridge in Massachusetts. I won't write what they are, but in time he gets a response from them with six answers. Most notably, here is what we need to know for Jude:

The cannon must be shot at a very specific time, when the zenith and the perigee align at the most opportune moment. Basically, this is when the moon is the closest to the earth. This will allow for the greatest chance of a successful landing.

The Observatory then tells the protag that in one year's time (on December 1st), the moon will be closest to the earth, and this is their best shot. If they miss this opportunity, then they'd need to wait another 18 years and 11 days after this.

The launch should take place exactly at 10 hours, 46 minutes, and 40 seconds on December 1st.

The crew should reach their destination precisely at midnight on December 4th.

Funding and Manual Labor: They even did the math of how much it would take to build and the cost was well over the millions in USD. To which, Barbicane said not to worry, and then proceeded to obtain the money. The labor was intense as a giant hole had to be dug into the ground for the launch space, amongst other things. It's a lot.....the building of the shell alone would cost about 2,035 pounds in Victorian times, which is equivalent to 327,712.76 pounds today, or $425,242.02.

PV Correlations: After I read the book I got super excited, because this means that the 12 o'clock hour on Big Ben, is probably referring to the 12 o'clock hour that Jude is supposed to land on the moon.

Additionally, the fact that Barbicane is a punctual chronometer says a lot about his pocket watch. It's not a normal pocket watch, but one that has a built in chronograph. Essentially, these are an extra built in complication (or feature) that can measure time, distance and speed. All of which are essential. It can come with up to three chronometers.

What does that mean for Jude's PV? After I researched all this, and reviewed the PV again, Jude's pocket watch has a chronograph/chronometer on it. Additionally, the watch is at 10:10, and I know some of us were wondering if that specific time held any significance. Well, perhaps (though the hands aren't shown to be moving), the minutes hand is making it's way down to the 46th minute of 10 o'clock....to the 40th second of that minute.

Time is running out. IF (and that's a big IF), Jude is truly using Verne's book as a guide, he may be in a race against time to launch his "cannon" into space as the moon and earth are reaching it's zenith, at exactly 10:46 at 40 seconds. Otherwise, he may have to wait a very long time to reach it again.

It's just another theory and it doesn't discredit any others in anyway. I think time will play a part in his route in several ways, but I think it's important to note, especially with the IkeVil LINE icon changing to a clock face AND, one of the LINE questions that Jude asks you is from Moonlit Night....about the 11 km per second (which is the distance it takes from the book of 12,000 yd per sec), to get to the moon.

That's all.

[purple-crusader]

SOOO IT'S TIME!!! Stephcass Week is here!! I'm both excited and scared since this is the first time I'm posting my writing online and idk how people may respond.

There was no beta reader and English is not my first language, so you may correct me if you notice anything wrong. I'm gonna focus on one prompt per day, because writing all fourteen would be too much.

Anyway I hope you enjoy 🙂‍↕️🙂‍↕️

STEPHCASS WEEK Day 1: Sparring

Word count: 1,014

@stephcassweek

Stephanie looked at her in complete awe sometimes. All her moves seemed both perfectly calculated and graceful, like a ballerina's (she should definitely try that some day). She knew exactly when to expect the enemy to punch, so she could dodge it. She was the one leading in a fight, proloning it sometimes so that it looked like a dance or just a play between her and the opponent. Ever since she joined the family, she begun to shape the way she fought into something embedded with grace. She didn't want to take down enemies from the get-go, hit them in their weakest spots, even if she could perfectly locate them. That's what she was trained for in her childhood by her father, to be a weapon of death. But she turned out to be much more, a true person and her fighting style could also be a vessel to show that.

There was something soothing and stimulating for Steph in the way Cassandra fought. To an extent that at times she would just look at her during trainings with other members of the family. She trained most with Dick, wiping the floor with him by the end of their 'dance', but that never really discouraged him. She trained with the blonde's boyfriend Tim sometimes, especially now, since his father made him give up the Robin mantle. It didn't stop him from coming down to the Bat-Cave and developing his fighting skills through Cass, if he couldn't do it on the rooftops. She saw her fight with Batman once, she almost thought he would win, but it was all part of Cass' plan.

She didn't ever volunteer to fight with her herself though. If anyone asked her why, she would say that she's just not as good. You might say that no one was on Cass' level, but her brothers at least trained for years, while she was just starting her Bat-training, so she stood out. Subconsciously though, Steph felt... overwhelmed? She couldn't quite put a finger on it. Cass was just amazing at everything. She was a great fighter, had a beautiful body, a fast lerner, incredibly resilient. Steph would get clumsy around her sometimes, not really sure what to say. Or she would stare at her during her training like at the moment...

Steph was taken out of her numb state, as Cass put Tim down on the mat and then looked at her and waved. A little blush got onto the girl's face, hoping the other one didn't notice how long she was observing her (she totally did), but she waved back. In response Cass did the hand move indicating she wanted the other woman to join her on the mat.

"W-what? Me? Pfft, oh- come on, Cassie! What am I gonna do to you?" Steph started, "Just look at what you did to Boyfriend Wonder, I'm gonna end up a puddle." She let out a forced laugh. "'m totally fine..." Tim muttered from his splattered position on the ground.

"I'll be gentle." Cass signed. She was learning to speak quite fast for a seventeen year old who was never taught that, but she preffered that form of communication sometimes. "Well shit." Steph thought to herself. "You only die once." She went to the mat, as Tim managed to get himself off it. She tried to take on some kung-fu fighting stance, that she would see in those Bruce Lee movies that she liked to copy so much, but she got kinda wobbly and it turned out awkward. Cass chuckled happily at that.

"I lead or do you?" Cass said it vocally this time. "I do?" Steph said unconvinced and the other girl nodded. The blonde decided to start with a simple punch to get things in motion, that Cass unsurprisingly dodged. Steph moved quickly to not lose her from sight, which went surprisingly well. Maybe she really was going easy on her. She tried to reach her with another punch, then a kick, a low kick, but Batgirl dodged them all. Finally the dark-haired woman caught Steph's fist and then moved her hand to the blonde's wrist. It caught the girl off guard and before she saw it, Cass pulled her closer trying to catch her. She couldn't let that happen.

The women begun moving around each other, throwing punches, dodging them, parring, pulling closer. Steph was too focused on the thing to notice Cass started the whole "dance with her enemy" thing with her. They moved graciously and in sync, as if they done that a thousand times before.

Eventually Cass must've lost herself in the little game she orchestrated, as Steph pulled a move that Tim taught her, that would put Cass to the ground. The girl took the control back from her blonde opponent and she ended up laying on top of her after their ill-considered crash on the mat.

"You OK?" Cass asked her opponent with some worry in her voice, when she saw Steph was laying completely still. Meanwhile in Steph's head a hundred different emotions were mixing at the same time, which resulted in a feeling as if a ton of butterflies scattered around her body. When she realized she was like that a good few seconds she pulled herself from the floor as fast as possible.

"I'M FINE! I'm great! Wow! Oh my God. It was amazing! We're so good at this! We must do that more often, huh." Steph was shooting words at a speed which has been a bit too fast for Cassandra, but she was glad her colleague was alright. She gently smiled at her and the butterflies came back to Steph's body.

"Welll... I'm gonna just... Go find Tim maybe... Or shower. Or shower with Tim- or no, not shower with Tim- anyway I need to go, catch you later!" And Steph left her sparring partner in the training hall. As she was walking through the corridor she calmed herself down and got her mind working properly again. One thought was left in her head.

What just happened?

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

Yet again I hope you enjoyed it and see you in the next days!!

[mariacallous]

In Hollywood, the present is the future is the past.

Twin strikes shut down production for six months last year, and with its workforce still on ice, the entertainment industry has been slow to recover. Domestic box-office revenue is expected to be 30 percent lower this year compared to 2019. By 2028, cable TV subscriptions are expected to decline by 10 million. And with the looming acquisition of Paramount Global by Skydance Media, the future of Hollywood is as it ever was: reliably uncertain. As one studio executive described it to the Los Angeles Times, it’s “something of an existential question mark.”

Of course, this isn’t Hollywood’s first—or second or third, for that matter—financial reckoning. “When we look closely at history, we realize that all the negotiations we have to make about character, about financing, about representation and all these things have been asked before,” says Maya Cade. “Ego tells us that we must be the first, but why would we want that to be true?”

This, in part, was Cade’s mission when she launched Black Film Archive in 2021. At a “moment when people were demanding the full totality of our lives to be represented in media,” she says, “they felt as if Black film could not hold the capacity for Blackness.” Cade knew better. So she got to work and built what is now the most exhaustive online database of Black cinema titles, spanning diverse, obscure, and well-known films.

A former audience development strategist at the Criterion Collection, she tells me people were missing a larger context to the issues at hand. The archive, which celebrated its third anniversary this August, features more than 300 films released between 1898 to 1999, with each title available to stream online. What Cade has accomplished is both rare and essential: She has indexed a century's worth of Black moviemaking and made it free to access.

Anxious to learn more, I reached out to Cade to help make sense of what’s happening in Hollywood. Over the phone from Los Angeles, where she recently relocated, Cade and I talked about the fate of the entertainment business, the grave implications of the Internet Archive lawsuit, and how we can better preserve history on an internet that likes to forget.

Jason Parham: Is it true that the idea for Black Film Archive sprang from a conversation on Twitter?

Maya Cade: I was on Twitter in June 2020, and I saw a lot of people talking about how racist or dramatic Black films are as a way to dismiss them. So instead of shaming people for that opinion, in my mind I was like, OK, how do I make an offering for people to discuss that belief, to contrast that belief, and also move us past it. I don't want to dismiss the truth because it's harsh. And I know there are many ways to get to the truth. I also don’t want to dismiss people who feel that way. But I want to offer another lens of how they're seeing it. Because when we talk about Black films as only being traumatic, we're reducing the art form in a very minuscule kind of way. This idea of like, “Oh, all these films are about slavery. All of these films are about trauma porn.”

Which, of course, isn’t true.

I did the calculations of how many films are about slavery—and they were quite few across time. But I understand that at the same time, what does it mean when a white decisionmaker wants to see Black people in a specific way? They have the power of how we're told in media. I also understand that film becomes the dominant narrative of how history is told. So there are multiple truths to contend with. But I think we're better prepared to contend with those things when we have a full look of what Black film’s history can offer.

The Internet Archive recently lost an appeal, which could have major ramifications to how we access information. Resources like Black Film Archive and the Wayback Machine are also part of this conversation. This is a bit of an abstract question, but how do we better hold on?

One goal of the early internet was to democratize knowledge. Whether everyone agreed with that is a different point. And the Internet Archive is one of the only things from the early internet to still exist in its same way. Wikipedia, too. These two things are constantly under attack, because to share knowledge freely means that someone wants to come in and control the free flow of knowledge. They want to profit from that.

In so many ways greed has become a default response to various public resources.

With that being known, what do we do? The world has been upended. The only truth that we know is in books. On the internet, AI has turned knowledge upside down. AI leaves out the essence of truth. For example, through summary, it assumes who you are and what you want to know quickly about something, which isn't the same as a human would do it. That process can remove layers of truth at a very basic level. With that being the foundation of the internet of the future, the Internet Archive is essential. In the last 10 years, we have moved away from the internet as a service to the internet of things. An internet as service—it was a destination. It was a place that you could freely roam, explore, and use as a guide.

Is there a way back to that?

If we want places on the internet that aren't run by AI, where knowledge is freely shared, where we can explore as we desire, then we must invest our time, our coins, we must advocate and protect as much as we possibly can. There’s so much on the internet that would crumble if the Internet Archive or Wikipedia falls. That's a threat to many people because, ultimately, when you control the flow of knowledge, you control everything.

The consequences would be extraordinary.

It's almost as if the basic concept of the library would be a pie-in-the-sky idea today, because someone would ask, well, how could I make money from that? When Black Film Archive launched, many people wanted to profit off of it. Many people asked to sponsor it. The thing is, once you create something that becomes a front line of culture, the question isn’t “How do I help sustain you?” The question is “How do I own you?” I said no because I’m firm in Black Film Archive being free.

On the subject of money and ownership: Earlier this year, following the cancellation of several Black TV shows, you wrote, “Studios and streamers no longer care about loyalty or enduring legacy.” Why does Hollywood, in 2024, still have such a difficult time aligning its legacy with its business?

Well, here's the thing, the legacy business, they feel as if that work is behind them.

But isn’t that what Hollywood is built on?

Yes, but to create new legacy and new inroads, to them, that is less important than extracting every possible dollar from existing IP. It’s more “expensive,” quote-unquote, to create something than it is to rest on existing laurels. The beginning of the end of this, to me, was when Warner Brothers and UPN merged into The CW. Now, 20 years later, the CW is a shell of itself. In mergers, you're no longer competing with someone to make the best content. With the merger of Warner Brothers and Discovery, they own, what, one-fourth of TV? That competition era of television—it's over.

Which has a direct impact on the creative side.

The legacy-driven model only happens now in vanity. So a lot of stars are using their own distribution or first-look deals to produce things. And these are the majority of people who are allowed to create. So what does Hollywood mean when the only people who are given freedom are people who have already done the taxing work—if they have at all—to become stars? Hollywood is not in the business of guarantee. Everything must be proven before it's even created.

And if that’s the case, so many people get left out.

And if everything must be proven before it's even created, then Blackness never had a chance. It doesn't have a chance. The fight for nostalgia as currency comes in a moment where some of the highest rated things are non-white. That's not an accident. It’s as if television, media, and filmmaking are becoming manifest destiny in the wrong ways. And there's nothing sadder.

Perhaps we need better frameworks.

People have upended industries to chase Netflix. And no one has caught up. Everything has fallen in this chase. What’s happening now is, people are only duplicating the best and the most watched. There is no diversity in how things are being delivered.

You once described “post-2020 Black media as akin to a modern day blaxploitation boom.” It got me thinking about platforms like Tubi and AllBlk, which are sometimes mocked as being a kind of streaming ghetto, but those same streamers have also given opportunities to young creators.

Blaxploitation, as I was saying, makes way for Spike Lee, it makes way for the '80s independent Black movement that, of course, shapes everything we know about modern Black film and modern Black media. At every valley, there is a peak. It’s the nature of life. So what do I think is ahead? We should be thinking about independent models that have existed before our current era. There are many ways to make media. With pilot season essentially dying, as the studios have announced, what are some ways that Black creators can forge together to make what they desire?

I mean, I don't know if I have the answers, but I do have the curiosity. And oftentimes curiosity and care—and leading with them—can transform how we understand history and the future.

[denkilightning]

i would love a quiet realization for jay rather than a big one. like something subtle. maybe a distracted ras telling jay to go find something in the ninja's quarters, and when he goes there he comes across something small, like nya's side of the pendant and realizing it matches with his. Or another small yellow pin that he goes with the one he used to have.

And when it starts coming together in his mind slowly, he looks back to ras, whos talking normally with cinder or jordana about something. jays whole world falling apart and no one notices.

cinder might clap him on the back, asking if he wants to go for a drink. Jay shrugs him off. And later maybe, in the dead of night, when Cinder offers Jay a drink in his room -

"What would you do?" Jay taps his pen against the mirror, "if you find out everything was a lie?"

"Find a way to un-find out, probably," Cinder takes a drag of his cigarette. "There is nothing better than ignorance in this world."

got kind of fic-y but still.. just the quiet turmoil going on inside jays head in the middle of a battle when ras slips up and says something he shouldn't have, when something matches up a little too well and the battle wages around him, people fighting - and jay just standing there. Feeling sick.

Maybe he won't even try to find out more. Maybe he'll concoct his own delusion, his own world to escape the horror of his reality. So deep in denial that nothing can break him out of his fantasy realm.

The other wolf mask warriors will say it's a waste, probably. that such a pretty face - jay's face, a face made of all sharp edges and porcelain and looking like he was wielded with deadly precision - is bestowed upon a person who's fucked in the head.

It won't matter to cinder, though. He just prefers Jay that way.

HE WOULDVE MADE SUCH A LOVELY BRIDE WHAT A SHAME HES FUCKED IN THE HEAD!!!!!!!!

cant believe taylor wrote champagne problems about jay walker actually

but yes yes yes, id love for it to be a slow realisation.

i actually like an interpretation where walker knows he used to be a ninja, even before the tournament.

Thats why he resents nya and the others. And one thing about jay is that hes an excellent liar when he wants to be.

jay knows that used to be his family and he sees them with new kids, going on walks hand in hand with new people, and all he can think about is the wounds he suffered from after running away from admin. because in all this loving, powerful family, after half a decade none of them searched for him. none of them found him and none of them saved him.

he was alone, without even a ghost of himself, planning his way out of the realm of madness, running from the entire world that wanted to kill him until ras saved him.

i think he slowly pieced it together. a post online here, a person at admin talking about a blue ninja there, an archived photo from a pre merge magazine.

none of it brought any memories back. not a dream, not a feeling of recognition.

no memories dont stop the cold anger when ras slips up. knowing ras is lying to him in his face. no dreams of them dont stop him from laying awake at night, tracing his scars and tattoos and wondering which one of them patched them up. no recognition doesnt stop him from fury when seeing them for the first time.

but yes i believe hes very fucked in the head and most of the wolves think of him as the crazy one of ras entourage. the mastermind behind ras, someone you can trust to plan extremely well and someone you do not want to piss off unless you have a death wish.

and yes i think cinder loves all sides of walker - the cold and calculating, the white hot rage, the shaky confusion. he enjoys all of him. simple as that.

and gods thank you for "there is nothing better than ignorance in this world". such a good quote for cinder characterisation.

but also the mental image of jays world falling apart around him and no one noticing - spectacular and i hate how vividly i can relate