#this isn’t targeted at anyone or about anything recent btw

[kinnbig]

ik people have said this before but i think the delulu thing of acting like Normal Friend Behaviour is romantic and proof of a relationship is sooo funny, especially when it’s Normal Friend Behaviour that the actors also engage in with their other friends/cast members without people batting an eye

[destinygoldenstar]

I Despise How Dhar Mann Treats Autism

This is coming from an autistic individual. And this is not really targeted towards one video but nearly ALL autistic videos Dhar Mann has produced.

They’re all the exact same message.

This tells me that the guy has not learned a thing, does no research, rejects any and all feedback, and refuses to change at all, AND does not care about the health and safety of his audience. And his workers in case anyone forgot THAT controversy.

I’ve put off talking about his videos often because I learned this man was just flat out a bad person who didn’t deserve support. But this is something I need to get off my chest.

I am on the autism spectrum. I’ve been a victim of bullying for my autism. I’ve struggled significantly with my autism and it’s gotten me in trouble. And I’ve been a witness to intense bullying on autistic people. So yes, I KNOW what I’m talking about.

And yes, while this isn’t targeted specifically at the new Jayden episode, this is what sparked me to make this.

You’d think I’d talk about the Mikey videos due to my track record, but really my only response to those is: “What more do you want me to say?”

The mom genuinely thinks Dhar Mann is more important than her own son. Sounds about right honestly.

I didn’t associate Jayden as autistic in the past, because any episode that uses the actor (who IS autistic btw) is playing a different character.

But this is the episode that confirms that Jayden is on the spectrum. And he acts like this was obvious and always there.

And I will say, if I, an autistic person, saw NO indications of such beforehand, then that probably means the average viewer who knows nothing on the subject probably can’t either.

It’s almost like Dhar Manns autistic characters have NO autistic traits whatsoever.

Special interest on a certain subject. The lack of ability to process things outside of that subject. Sensory overload on stuff that doesn’t bother the average person. The poor social skill and communication. Stimming, like fiddling or pacing. Easily being emotionally overwhelmed.

These are just a few of the many obstacles autistic people go through on a daily basis. It’s why we are very easy bully targets. These are detriments to functioning right in the world.

Yeah no, all autistic people are perfectly fine and capable and don’t need to stim or sit back to clear their minds from sensory overload whatsoever. They also don’t struggle with anything ever aside from jerks.

Implication that you’re perfect the way you are and it’s the rest of the world that needs to change.

Great message. Let’s apply it to our real lives!

…doesn’t work out, does it?

By portraying it like this, the message doesn’t become ‘you are good enough even with your autism’, it’s ‘just be born perfect’

Which, I don’t think I need to tell you that this message, no matter the situation, is harmful to people.

I’m certainly not perfect. I’m a good writer, sure, but that’s because it’s my special interest. If you put me behind an electrical panel, I won’t know Jack s**t.

The only time I’ve ever seen Dhar Mann portray a character as imperfect is in this recent video, where they DO address Jayden struggling in certain classes. (Which is bulls**t if you’ve seen any other video with Jayden in it. But whatever.)

Here’s the problem: We never SEE that. We are TOLD that. What we are SHOWN is Jayden succeeding at everything, and the thing that gets him expelled isn’t through any fault of his own, it’s the sabotage of the bully character. Yes they say he’s bad at writing, but he’s perfectly capable of programming, which is a lot of writing, so… yeah. That’s not a defense. I need to SEE the struggle for this point to matter. Cause otherwise I’ll be convinced you’re lying.

The claim in these videos is that ‘Autism is not a disability, it’s a different ability’ is insulting for all these reasons.

Yes, this is a REAL line he uses over and over again.

It’s insulting, as it tells us that our setbacks are purely our fault, and they do not matter or need to be taken care of at all. ‘Your autism isn’t the setback. YOU are the setback. Get better.’

You need to address the faults in order to teach how to help autistic people succeed. Which, THATS the message I THINK they’re trying to portray. ‘You can be capable despite your autism’

Saying autism is a genius superpower is like saying a deaf person is a master listener.

I wouldn’t mind this if ALL of his autistic characters weren’t geniuses. Smarter than everyone else, can understand things that even professionals can’t levels of smart.

One or two of them, sure, people are unique, but ALL OF THEM?

That’s stereotyping. Dhar Mann is stereotyping autism to the public.

Reminds me of some other harmful movies and websites with autism as it’s main focus.

Also, ‘Your son is mentally deficient.’

Just, that one ticks me off and speaks for itself.

I understand it’s written by an antagonist, it’s still insulting.

This is more than just saying ‘you’ll go nowhere in life’ being so triggering to any person who’s felt that way and developed self loathing problems. (Example: me)

This is more than the unrealism of a child taking over the job of an electrical professional.

This is the very thing and one of the many reasons why Dhar Manns messages are harmful.

He uses a real person as a reference at the end. As though that excuses anything. ‘This one person has this experience. ALL people like them must have this experience too.’

No. No we don’t. I didn’t get expelled for autism discrimination.

And then there’s the mom. In case you needed any more reason to prove my point she’s an awful parent.

They say early in the video that the mom told Jayden he was smart despite his struggles, and the bully claims the mom lies.

This is the bully, the antagonist, we’re not supposed to like him or agree with him.

So why then, is he proven RIGHT?

The mom LIES to her son just to make him feel better.

Jayden is upset, wants to know the truth on what the principal thinks of him, and what does the mom do? LIE ABOUT WHAT HE SAID.

Because it’s not like we want to teach our kids that some people suck and don’t understand you, but you don’t need their support to see the value in yourself! (I love Ninjago Dragons Rising for this)

NOPE. LIE TO YOUR CHILDREN.

You will face no consequences at all.

10/10 parent, this woman is.

For any autistic person that reads this, don’t listen to Dhar Mann. You don’t need to be a genius to be worth it. You don’t need to be talented at anything to be worth it. There’s people who love you, and people willing to help you find your place in the world.

[yesterdayiwrote]

I am sorry for the rant but I am sick and tired of George getting hate and ***** threats for racing.. he made a really good strategy call today, which he checked with the team btw!! what was the worst that could have happened if it didn't work, not a lot?

Also did Bono say anything to Lewis about George's request? I wonder what they would have said if he had ignored it... so much for teamwork but as long as Lewis is ok then?

I cannot believe that Mercedes has let it go on for so long. Surely they see it??

He made a strategy suggestion that’s the key to the whole ridiculousness. He asked if it was a viable option or a possible thing to try to protect the 4/5 for the team because a) he had damage and b) he didn’t know what pace Leclerc had behind him. He didn’t insist on it or beg for it. The team didn’t give him a definitive yes or no so he asked for an answer. Toto told him not to worry because they could obviously see Leclerc’s pace wasn’t going to catch them so they didn’t need to take the risk with the inverting in the wet and that was it.

Strategy is part of racing. It’s become a running joke that Mercedes’ strategy isn’t the strongest since they’ve not been winning as often, so what does it matter if a driver wants to chip in with his own suggestions. Even more so what does it matter if they’re spitballing with their engineers and it doesn’t go any further than that? If every driver was doing what George was doing it might make for some more interesting racing… it’d definitely make for more interesting viewing in full races.

And the most annoying part is it’s not even team orders. Like, calling it that is a distinct misunderstanding of what ‘team orders’ are. Charles in Brazil ‘22 was asking for team orders. Mercedes in Zandvoort ‘21 was team orders. Team orders is specifically asking one driver to stop racing for the benefit of another. Asking a driver to adapt how they race is strategy. Alonso in Hungary ‘21 was not team orders it was strategy to help Esteban..

It’s getting out of hand. The personal insults and threats are just a joke now and it’s genuinely sucking the enjoyment out of F1 recently for me. No driver should be subject to those sort of comments for doing their job and if you wouldn’t like to read it about your driver then don’t send it to another. I mean I’d get it if it was part of some all out inter teammate war like in Ferrari, but it’s literally one sided. I think 95% of the George fans I know adore Lewis too?!

It’s just such a stupid overreaction to a conversation that probably wouldn’t even get aired if it was between the two Williams drivers for example.

People act like he’s targeting Lewis somehow, but George has ALWAYS controlled the strategy of his own races. At Williams he essentially had to and it’s become part of his driving style. It’s only recently that people seem to have taken it as some kind of negative. I fail to see how it’s really harming anyone. It’s literally no one else’s issue unless it gets put into practice? People have become far too preoccupied with driver’s radios with their engineers. If you want a passive driver then support a passive driver?! He literally can’t win. Not enough personality off track, too much personality on track, either way it’s wrong for some people.

[baiwu-jinji]

do you think season 2 of the tgcf donghua will ever be released? (btw thank you so much for all your really insightful thoughts and translations!!)

Hi! Thank you for your kind words! I honestly don’t know and there’s no news from the tgcf donghua production team yet. But as we often say nowadays, no news is the best news; maybe it’s best for the donghua production team to lie low atm, and maybe they’ll be able to slip under the censorship radar…

Before I go on with this answer, I’d like to say sorry about all the doom and gloom on my blog lately, I realize that China isn’t the only country in trouble. What I’m about to say will be more of that doom and gloom so skip it if you want guys :)

There’s a reason why censorship is getting stricter on all fronts recently in China, and I’ll very briefly explain. Right now the Chinese economy is collapsing, the local governments are going bankrupt, there’s increasing social unrest, and all this is happening while Xi Jinping is seeking his third term as president, but Xi is meeting resistance within the party so there’s a lot of infighting going on atm in the higher circles of the CCP. While the whole country is in chaos, the government finds it all the more necessary to maintain social stability so they double down on the crackdown on anything that’s too distracting or anyone who’s too loud, and the entertainment industry is one of the main targets.

I think a lot of you already know that some Chinese fans are boycotting the tgcf audio drama (I explained it here). Well they got what they want because the first episode of the audio drama suddenly got taken down and the airing of the second episode is postponed because of “technical issues”. As people pointed out on Weibo, what we’re worried about is that the real reason for the postponement might be that the audio drama is running into troubles with censorship. I actually saw some fans who hate the audio drama on Weibo celebrating this, and to me it’s just profoundly sad. It’s like they’re passengers on a sinking ship but they aren’t aware of it at all, instead they’re busy celebrating one of the chefs who cooks bad food at the ship’s canteen getting sacked. A lot of mxtx fans in the Chinese fandom are really young and I don’t think they realize the seriousness of the situation.

Anyway it’s really frustrating because we have a lot of talent in the entertainment industry and the Chinese entertainment industry could be flourishing, but it’s being stamped out by the government. The only thing we can do right now is to support the authors and creators. So if you want, go support the danmei writers on JJWXC and the manhua/donghua/audio drama/live action adaptations that have already come out.

[soyouthinkucanwrite]

Trip to the store with Tom and Harry

*This is actually part of a chapter of something I've been writing for myself, just for fun. Basically, the reader is staying with them for the weekend, things are still pretty recent with Tom, she's famous too, whatever, whatever... there are 15 chapters tho (48k + words)! This blurp doesn't contain smut, but the others do, so let me know if you like this, and I might post the full series.

Minor warning: people taking unsolicited pictures, panic attack foreshadowing. Also, this is in a world pre-pandemic (the series happens in June 2019) that's why no maks. But you live in 2021, so please wear yours!

Overall, just pure fluffiness and brother's bickering. Enjoy and please, please give me your feedback!

This is 2k+ words, btw

*edit! I did it you guys, here's chapter 1 of the whole series

“Just leave it, baby” Tom calls out when I get up from the breakfast table taking the dishes to the sink to wash them.

“It’s fine, just a couple plates” I say already washing them. “You wanna go to the store now or later?”

“Let’s go now” Tom says.

“I call shotgun!” Harry announces.

“Absolutely not! I’m driving and(y/n)'s my-” I keep my ear open for the end of that sentence, which apparently won’t be coming out because Harry starts to laugh and I can tell Tom wants to kill him for that. I just shake my head and keep washing the plates, pretending I didn’t hear anything.

We go back to his room to brush our teeth before heading out and I consider changing my clothes, but decide this is fine (out of laziness). Tom changes into a pair of joggers and shirt, he looks like he’s going to work out, but handsome as always. I wonder if he’s going to wear the cap and sunglasses that he keeps on his car for quick disguise. He grabs his wallet and the car keys and we’re heading out when I remember my wallet.

“Hold on, forgot my wallet” I say going back the hallway.

“What you need your wallet for?” He asks when I get back, he was waiting for me at the end of the corridor. We go down the stairs, Harry is already there waiting, flipping through his phone.

“You see, a wallet is where you keep your money and these plastic card thingies, which are like money, but virtual. Money is something you need to give the people at the store-”

“Alright smart ass, I get it. You won’t need to buy anything, it’s what I’m saying”

“Please don’t get him started” Harry pleads with me when we get outside the door.

“What?” I laugh. Tom unlocks the car and I go straight to the backseat, trying to avoid another awkward sitting discussion.

“Tom insists he pays for everything around the house. Part of the reason why we go grocery shopping without him” Harry says from the front seat. “He’s pretty good at making money, got admit. But terrible at managing it, the lads don’t even pay rent!”

“Would you like to pay rent?” Tom asks, reversing the car and taking a glance at me, winking.

“I’m your brother! Dealing with you IS my rent” I laugh the whole way to the store at their banter about money, the radio, the car temperature. I catch glances at Tom through the rear mirror, smiling every time he sees me watching him.

“Why are we here? I though it was only food” Harry asks with an annoyed voice when Tom turned to get in a parking lot.

“We’re getting other stuff too” Tom explains, parking and getting out of the car, taking my hand. He didn’t get his cap and sunglasses. We left the car at a parking lot and walked to a discreet door that read ‘collect by car’, was this some kind of celebrity special entrance? We take an elevator and when it opens it’s like a mall, or a department store. A fancy Target, I’d say. ‘Marks & Spencer’. Uh…very British. Harry takes a cart and Tom gets another. I follow Tom but notice that Harry goes solo on his shopping trip. Tom’s still holding my hand and I look around to see if anyone’s watching but apparently not. “Let’s look at the blown dryers first, huh?” He says and I nod, following his lead.

When we get to the beauty tools section (is that what they call it?) Tom reaches for the fancy, expensive blow dryer models and I reach for the travel-sized ones. I look at him smiling. “You were thinking about getting a blown dryer for the house, weren’t you?”

“Weren’t you?”

“Tom, you’re seriously buying a blown dryer just because I asked to borrow one?” I laugh at him.

“I could use one too, you know? It’s not just for when you come around” He says in a tone that gives away he was thinking exactly the opposite.

“Okay then. Not that brand, though. This one” I put back the travel size and step closer to him to look at the models, reading the boxes and considering the options. When we settle for one he puts it on the cart and we keep walking through the store, reaching the products section. “Shampoo” I indicate, walking towards the shelf with all the options.

“Hi, can I help you guys?” A store attendant asks approaching us.

“Hi” I say smiling at her. “Just looking for some shampoo and conditioner”

“Something specific?”

“Not rubbish” Tom jokes. And she looks confused.

“He uses Head & Shoulders and is offended I called it rubbish” I explain to her laughing.

“Oh…that’s not good” She grimaces and Tom shakes his head.

“I know! Thank you! It doesn’t have to be anything fancy…I don’t know any of these brands though…” Me and the attendant start talking about shampoo and Tom zones out, looking around. When I finally pick one, along with conditioner, hair mask and styling gel I put it all in the cart and thank her. Tom was looking at a shelf with bath products, bath salts and bombs.

“Hi” I step to his side.

“Bath bomb? Doesn’t sound very relaxing” I laugh at that. Boys. When I was going to explain it to him two girls approach us.

“Hi, Tom!” One of them says, blushing furiously.

“Uh…hi!” He answers, slightly startled. “How’s it going?” He recovers his composure.

“Fine…Uh, is it ok if we ask you for a selfie?”

“Sure, no problem” He smiles. They look in between him and I.

“Could you take one, (y/n)?” Does she mean with me, or she want’s me to take the picture?

“Sure, give me your phone” I say reaching for her phone. And they laugh nervously.

“We meant with us”

“Oh, yeah” I laugh. “Course” Tom is watching and laughing at me. “But do you want me to take one of you guys with him too? So you don’t have only selfies”

“Oh would you? Thank you!” They say giving me their phones and posing along him. He keeps staring at you the whole time. I snap multiple pics with both phones and give them back to them.

“See what you think” I gave their phones back.

“Oh it’s great! Thank you”

“You didn’t even look at it. What if she’s a shitty photographer?” Tom laughs.

“Excuse me? I’m a great photographer” I answered him. “I bet the one’s you take won’t look so great” I said posing with the girls, who were just staring at the two of us in awe. I smiled while Tom snapped the pics and then he gave their phones back.

“Thank you!” One of them smiled.

“Yeah thank you!” They were walking away when one of them looked back and shouted. “You guys are really cute together!” And they sprinted away laughing.

“Teenagers” Tom says shaking his head and laughing.

“Don’t know, we ARE really cute together” You tease him, poking his side.

“I know, wasn’t disagreeing” He says defensively. “You can’t make every fan encounter this long though, or else you’re never gonna get anything done”

“Okay grandpa” You laugh. “Common, it didn’t even take that long”

“Not this time. Probably made their day, though” He says. “Just don’t get frustrated if every fan isn’t this nice”

“I don’t expect them to be. It’s just, they liked whatever we do and it’s part of their lives. Doesn’t cost anything to be nice, and besides, it’s a positive reinforcement. Next time they need courage to do something, it’ll be easier for them. People make too much fuss about celebrities, but like, asking a date out is way scarier and more common” Tom just smiled and shakes his head. “What?”

“I really love your mind, you know?”

“What did I said?”

“The positive reinforcement thing. I though you were going to say we’re leaving a good impression” You scoff.

“Bath bombs” I say trying to change the subject. “It’s like aspirin, for your bath. They’re really nice, wanna pick some?” He nods picking one up and trying to smell them. You guys joke around and pick some bath bombs as well as some bubbles and shower gel. “We got so much stuff” I say looking at the cart.

“Only essentials” He says and kiss me on the cheek. “I like this, get used to it”

“What?”

“Spoiling you. I’m like a sugar daddy”

“Oh my god, you didn’t just say that” I laugh. “That makes me a toiletries sugar baby” He laughs and pushes the cart along the corridor. We find Harry on the beverages section, picking up some beer boxes.

“So much for groceries” Tom says looking at his cart. Chips, candy, beer and milk. We get a few more items like some fruits and vegetables, yogurt, eggs and of course a bunch of ready meals, which seem to be a must for them.

“You guys don’t cook much, do you?” I joke.

“Only when Sam’s around. Which then he cook’s for us, of course” Harry answers and I laugh.

“Is he at school?” I ask.

“Cooking school. In Paris” Harry tells me, putting the groceries on the cashier belt.

“That’s so cool” I look at Tom. “That’s really cool”

“I know. Wait, are you really more impressed by my younger-chef-brother than my acting career?” He laughs.

“I mean…” I shrug and Harry laughs at us. We see a flash and turn our heads at the same time to the woman on the line behind us, who had her phone pointed to us. I look down and Tom puts his arm around me. “She’s taking pics” I whisper to him getting out of his embrace.

“So?” He says and puts his hand on my back, standing with his back to her in front of me. Harry hurries up and finishes putting the groceries on the belt, bagging everything up. I go to help him while Tom pays for our shopping. We put the stuff back on a cart and get out of the store. When we get out of the elevator and in the parking lot again, I hear Tom saying to Harry ‘Ride on the back now, yeah?’. We put everything on the trunk and Harry gets on the backseat, so I get on the passenger seat. Tom starts to drive and takes my hand laying on my thigh, he rubs his thumb over the back of my hand and I’m glad he’s being mindful because these encounters with paparazzi and random people taking pics really stress me out.

“I don’t really mind taking photos” I say out of the blue. “When they introduce themselves and ask for it”

“It’s so disrespectful, pisses me off” Harry agrees. “Like, you want a photo? Fine, just ask for it. You don’t simply snap photos of random people on the street, what makes you think you have the right to do it if you saw the person on a movie before?”

“We only saw that because the flash was on too. Makes me think of all the times I never see it. Like you’re always being watched. It’s…” Scary? Stressful? An invasion of privacy? All of the above?

“I’m sorry” Tom says, tightening his grip on my hand.

“It’s not your fault” I say.

“I’m still sorry” I give him a half smile. Nothing we can do about it, is there?

“Nice record Tom, where did you get it?” Harry asked lifting the Lime Cordiale record I bought Tom at Camden.

“That’s (y/n)'s” He says.

“I bought it for you” I smile.

“What? Did you?” I bit my lip smiling and nod. “I’m an idiot, sorry”

“That you are. An ungrateful idiot apparently” Harry says.

“It’s ok” I give Harry a glare. “It’s ok, really” I repeat looking over at Tom. “As long as you listen to them now”

“I will, promise” He smiles and lifts my hand to kiss it. Harry makes a gaging sound and I just laugh.

[gay-jesus-probably]

What's up fam does anyone want to hear my new theories on Paranatural JUST KIDDING YOU'RE GETTING THEM ANYWAYS

Okay so first things first: of all the medium's we've met so far, I think that Isaac and Johnny are the only normal ones. And also maybe Walker? Cause during the flashback at the start of Chapter 7 he uses his mute powers with his bare hands, and doesn't seem to use a tool to fight. It'd explain why his flashback aesthetic is so aggressively 70's even though the flashback is set in the early 00's and his usual style is 'cowboy' - makes sense if his flashback look is a symptom of possession.

...That's not the point. Flashback Walker being a medium is completely unrelated to this.

Anyways.

When Possessed Max was threatening Doorman in ch 3, the Doorman immediately identified it as 'a broken god'. Given that the spirit mentions it "didn't end up with the sense of humor", the broken part is probably very literal. Then later on while talking with Nin, Doorman says that Max is "unaware that he carries one of the s-". While the last word is cut off, my guess is it's the start of a number, and refers to how many pieces the Broken God is in.

So that leaves us with three major questions: 1. What is the Broken God and why is it broken? 2. Where are the fragments? 3. What do they want?

Under the read more, because this is 3k words and I’m not an animal.

What is the Broken God, and why is it broken?

While it was whole, the Broken God was a terrifyingly powerful entity with apocalyptic levels of power. It might have been a spirit all along, or it could have started as something else entirely. If that's the case, then the act of breaking might have 'killed' it, turning the fragments into spirits. Whether it was originally a spirit or not, it couldn't be destroyed completely, but being shattered left the fragments weakened and gave the rest of the world a chance against it. It's possible that it hadn't done anything to warrant being attacked, and it was just shattered out of fear of what something that powerful might do, but I think it's more likely it was a very active threat that needed to be brought down.

So who broke it?

Ron Swanson; it burned his hand so he punched it

Bad jokes aside, I think something that powerful would push the Godzilla threshold enough to make a lot of groups put aside their differences to bring it down. Judging by what we've heard about them so far, I assume that early versions of the Cousinhood of Man and Paranatural Activity Consortium were involved. The two organizations might have actually been founded in response to the crisis, or were originally a single group that had a schism after. I don't think it was just them, but I do think the Cousinhood and Consortium were major players in the whole mess.

Which brings us to...

Where are the fragments?

I can't say for sure how many pieces it's in, but judging by the Doorman's comment, my guess is it's a number that starts with S. That's a lot of options, but I'm guessing six or seven, because any higher numbers that start with an S would just be ridiculous - six or seven is manageable, but double digits or higher is way too much to keep track of, the story would never be able to give all of them the focus they deserve.

So we've got six or seven fragments of a broken god. Where are they?

Fragment One: Possessing Max, which is the only thing currently confirmed by canon. This is a very recent development, as Max isn't showing any physical symptoms, was able to cross the barrier to enter Mayview, and his spectral abilities didn't kick in until his first day of school. Given that Johnny starts seeing shades roughly twelve hours after his possession, that implies that Max was possessed the day he moved into Mayview.

I think Max's fragment was stuck outside of Mayview, and looking to get in. It came across the Puckett's heading towards Mayview, and hitched a ride by possessing Max. This is backed up by the fact that Max began to awaken as a spectral before having noticeably interacted with anything supernatural - on his first night, Max could hear Hissin' Pete, saw PJ as a shade, and PJ was able to physically interact with him. If we compare that to the timeline of Johnny being possessed around midnight and seeing his first shade by lunchtime the next day, Max would have been possessed at some point in the late morning of the day he moved to Mayview.

Max's fragment is not Scrapdragon. I think that Max is a little like Mr. Spender, in that he's a medium whose also wielding a tool. Max's fragment is very chatty, revealing itself to the Doorman with no prompting, speaking in long, eloquent sentences, and even talks at Isaac about the concept of school buses and his own morality. On the other hand, Scrapdragon's communicated only in angry screeching so far. Also, Scrapdragon is obviously the source of Max's magnet powers, and he can only channel them through the baseball bat that Scrapdragon's possessing. I don't think Scrapdragon likes the fragment either - despite being a grudge, it seems fairly neutral towards Max, and only gets angry when he accidentally hits it. I don't know if Scrapdragon is trying to oppose the fragment the same way Lucifer fights the Shadow, but I don't think Scrapdragon wants to hurt Max, and it might end up helping him.

Fragment Two: Alright so now we're getting into speculative territory. I'm not numbering these by order of introduction btw, from here on out I'm looking at this via connections.

Boss Leader is possessed by a wight that the Consortium's been studying for a very long time, and is fairly non-hostile. Although it can't communicate clearly, it can express its emotions to BL, and she seems to have a lot of trust in it. Despite Boss Leader's shenanigans, it's been repeatedly shown that she takes the safety of spectral kids very seriously - if she thought there was any chance her wight would be dangerous, she never would have introduced it to two teenagers and a toddler, especially not just to explain the concept of a wight. This is also backed up by the wight's actions during that conversation - it's clearly paying attention, but it doesn't show any hostility, and the only thing it says is "PLEASE DON'T BE SCARED". Hell, it even seems to be a little disappointed that nobody reacts to the wight/white pun.

Despite this, I believe that Sandman is a fragment of the broken god. Not so much because of how it acts, but because of its connection to other possible pieces.

Fragment Three: Dr. Gwen Burger and her husband got stuck inside the prison of an unknown Wight. It was imprisoned by the Consortium before the current Boss Leader took power, it's lonely, dangerous, and really wants out. If it escapes, the results probably won't be pretty, time works differently in its prison, and its dream is connected to Gwen's. I think that Gwen might be its medium, given how warped her appearance is in the dream world, and that the wights prison relies on it being bound to a medium.

Gwen's wight is seemingly hostile, given that it attacks the group at the first opportunity, but what it wants is hard to say - its only line so far is "LOOK AT ME", and it may have been responsible for the demise of Gwen's husband. It also looks very similar to Sandman, implying a connection between them. Given that it's already been established that a Broken God is out there, it only makes sense for Sandman and Gwen's wight to be more fragments.

And more importantly, they're both very clearly connected to another powerful spirit.

Fragment Four: The Shadow, which has been possessing Richard Spender for at least thirteen years now. It's obviously powerful, given how much it scares Spender and Lucifer, and how being its medium has affected Spender's reputation. Given how he reacts to Forge saying he 'defeated the strongest spirit', that likely refers to Mr. Spender's past experience with the Shadow, and the circumstances that led to his possession.

Apart from its power, the main reason I think the Shadow is a fragment of the Broken God is because of its connections to Sandman and Gwen's wight. With Sandman, they look incredibly similar - the Shadow's face resembles a sun and is noticeably missing an eye, while Sandman's face resembles a crescent moon, and its only clear feature is a single eye. This suggests that Sandman and the Shadow are directly related to each other. As for Gwen's wight, it's connection to the Shadow is made clear by Rick's reaction to being attacked by it - while everyone else reacts, Rick freezes up and starts shaking in terror, either recognizing it as being similar to the Shadow, or having a flashback to his obviously traumatic possession. Probably both.

There's also the reactions of Sandman and Gwen's wight. When the group is attacked by Gwen's wight, the framing of the scene heavily implies that it's reaching out to grab Spender - Boss Leader and Walker are moving to defend the others, Gwen's almost completely hidden behind Walker, Mina's reflexively shielding Rick and Ed, Ed's hidden behind Walker and Mina... and Rick is perfectly centered at the back of the group. Furthermore, the way the wight attack contrasts to Rick's flashback heavily implies that it's reaching for him specifically. Meanwhile when the kids are introduced to Sandman, while it's kinda hard to track its line of sight, it seems like it might be staring at Rick the whole time. What the two wights say could also be interpreted as them speaking directly to Rick - Gwen's wight wants him to look at it, while Sandman begs him not be scared. If the two wights are fragments of the Broken God, they might be able to recognize that Rick is the medium of another one, and react accordingly. Gwen's wight wants him look at it, possibly realizing that he's frozen in terror and wanting to keep him that way so that he's an easy target. Sandman also realizes that Rick is traumatized and keeps its distance, asking Rick not to be afraid, as it doesn't want to hurt him. The point is, the Shadow, Sandman, and Gwen's wight are obviously connected to each other, and the most likely reason is all three are fragments of the Broken God.

I believe the Shadow was imprisoned at the bottom of Mayview Lake, though not by the Consortium. Thirteen years before Max came to Mayview, its prison was somehow broken by group that wanted to free the Broken God, though they were widely disorganized. Somehow a young Rick Spender wound up in the lake as the Shadow got free, and it pulled him under before possessing him. Given that Spender dying would free the Shadow, it's possible that the Shadow needed to possess a medium to escape its prison, and was trying to drown Rick right away to free itself. Lucifer intervened, pulling Rick out of the lake, and the two of them have been imprisoning the Shadow in Mr. Spender ever since.

Fragment Five: The Angel of Mayview.

Yeah, I know, she's definitely an enemy of Max's fragment and seemingly means well, but hear me out. When she speaks with Nin and Doorman, she pretty much immediately says she doesn't deserve to be called master. She also seems invested in Forge getting a second chance, not just to advance her goals, but also just for his own sake. These two details give me the impression that she's done some seriously bad things in the past, and is actively trying to make amends for it. Being part of the seemingly evil Broken God would qualify.

My other evidence is what Max's fragment says in Chapter 3. It specifically says that it "didn't end up with the sense of humor", implying that it's unable to find things funny. And right after that, the fragment and Doorman have this exchange: Doorman: Your return changes nothing, schemer. My master does not fear broken gods. Fragment: She should. Would if she could. The comedy your ignorance breeds is wasted on my ears.

This suggests that the Angel isn't scared because she can't be scared. Like she didn't get the ability to fear things, because another fragment has it. Max's fragment also suggests that it knows more about the Angel than Doorman does, and that considering her an enemy of the Broken God is ridiculous. All of this heavily implies that the Angel herself is another fragment.

Fragments Six and Seven: At this point I'm mostly out of obvious suspects. There's really only two major players unaccounted for, and while I do think both are fragments, I think they might both be fragments I've already discussed.

The great power that sleeps in Mayview is heavily implied to be a Big Deal. That being said, I think we've seen it already - who do we know that's a suspected medium for a fragment of the Broken God, and is permanently asleep? Yeah, I think the sleeping power is referring to Boss Leader. Her physical body is comatose, making her completely defenseless in the real world, and if Sandman is a fragment, Boss Leader is obviously very powerful. If Boss Leader's real body is in Mayview, then she's definitely the sleeping power.

Alternatively, it might be referring to the Shadow being imprisoned in Mayview Lake. Forge hasn't been in Mayview in a long time, so it makes sense that he wouldn't know the great power he's seeking was released over a decade ago. His attempt to command the pixelhounds also makes it clear that he's not above using evil methods to try and do what he thinks is right, so it'd make sense that he'd be willing to try and take control of it to help the Angel. It'd also explain why Mr. Spender starts laughing when he hears that, despite the fact that he's literally being tortured - Forge doesn't realize that the power he's looking for is right there. Mr. Spender also calls Forge misinformed right after that, suggesting that he knows what the sleeping power really is. Could be that he knows it's Boss Leader, but it could also mean he knows it's him. Either way, Forge is looking in the wrong place, and Mr. Spender knows it.

As for the other unexplained mystery, we have Penny Spender and her white spectral energy. That's a trait unique to wights and their mediums, which suggests that Penny is the medium of a wight. And given that all wights seen so far are probably fragments of the Broken God, it's likely that her wight is as well... but I think her wight is the Angel. We know fragments can speak through their mediums if they want, and the Angel hasn't made any personal appearances yet, only speaking over the phone. And the reactions of Nin and Doorman imply that's normal for her. Penny's obviously hiding that she's a spectral, so the Angel might be hiding that she has a medium to protect them both. As for why the Angel is possessing Penny, well Richard and Penny are obviously siblings, and Rick first got possessed when he was thirteen. If Penny doesn't know there's something horribly wrong with her brother, I'd be very surprised. I imagine we'll find out more about her, but whether or not Penny's possessed by the Angel, I think she's somewhat aware of her brothers situation and is trying to save him. Whatever her situation is, I'm looking forward to seeing more of Penny Spender, and I really hope she appears at some point in Chapter 7.

So now that we've got a rough idea of where the fragments are and why, that brings us to our final question.

What do they want?

I don't think they all have the same goals. Max's fragment saying it didn't end up with the sense of humor is an extremely informative sentence if you think about it - it means that the different fragments got different aspects of the Broken God's personality, and therefor will want different things.

The Angel and Sandman both seem to be non-hostile (for now at least), and the Angel is actively opposing other fragments. She also seems to be trying to make amends for the Broken God's actions, and feels deep shame over her past, leading me to believe that the Angel has the Broken God's remorse. The other pieces don't feel bad about what they've done because they can't. Likewise, I think Sandman might have inherited its fear, as it almost looks like it's trying to hide itself under blankets, and putting its medium's in a coma allows it to hide from the waking world.

Given their actions, I think the Angel and Sandman are against the Broken God's original goals, and are fairly benevolent. They do not want to become whole again.

Meanwhile, the Shadow, Gwen's wight, and Max's fragment all seem to be hostile. I believe Gwen's wight definitely wants to rejoin with other fragments, given that it seemingly tries to grab Rick. Max's fragment is harder to judge; it's definitely opposed to the Angel, but the Doorman's words imply that it's not really a powerhouse like the others. Max's fragment is the manipulator, the schemer - not the fighter. If it's the weakest of the bunch, it makes sense that it would want to become whole again. As for the Shadow, given that it's first move upon getting free is to attack Max and Isabel, it's definitely an active problem. The fact that it's indirectly described as 'the strongest spirit' implies that it got the most raw power out of all the fragments. I don't have any evidence that it wants to become whole again, but something about it gives me the feeling that it does. Here's hoping Mr. Spender realizes Max is possessed before either of their fragments makes a move. And no, I don’t think the Shadow realizes Max has another fragment yet; he’s still in the early stage of possession, so I think the only way for Max’s fragment to get caught is if it exposes itself. But Max’s fragment definitely knows where the Shadow is after chapter 4, so that’s bound to turn into a nightmare at some point.

Also on a probably unrelated note, the Shadow is a spirit of darkness that chooses to look like a sun, and if you look closely at Rick's memory getting possessed, you can see the Shadow had a massive slasher smile as it reached up to grab him. So uh... I think I know which fragment got the sense of humor.

Thank you for coming to my Ted Talk, I look forward to being proved wrong about all of this. But I also kinda really hope I’m right. Either way, if anyone writes fanfic using my theories, I will love you forever.

[alcalexandria]

Future Warfighter.

I was recently doing a little bit of homework on the rifle we see Grace using in Dark Fate’s version of the Future War, and I thought it might be worth collating for anyone else who might find it useful/interesting.

This is a post about the material, concept and design of Grace’s rifle - why it looks like it does, and why it actually works on Rev 7s in 2042 when nothing in 2020 seems to work on a Rev 9.

It may be of use to fic writers - in particular people looking for ideas to weave into fix-it fics, for reasons I’ll outline near the end.

First, a tangent -

Grace’s rifle has markings near the butt designating it as a “(?*) M90”. This may be a reference to the Barrett M90, one of a family of .50 calibre rifles intended as “anti-materiel” weapons – that is, they’re intended for knocking out stuff rather than people, vehicles, equipment, obstacles, unexploded nasties. If so, it would be apt. After all, Grace isn’t shooting at people – she’s shooting at things, and we’ll look at how much of a difference that makes later.

A distinct feature of the real world Barrett rifles is that they are not to be shoulder fired – the size of their projectile is massive, and the recoil from them is monstrous, so the shooter must lie prone to fire it usefully and expect to end up a few inches away from where they started. 

So this seems to be a prop guy’s nerdy in-joke, since Grace’s gun shares no other characteristics with what we’d call an M90.

* Btw If anyone has been able to read the markings next to “M90”, I would love to know what it says, it’s just above her right wrist in this photo -

Now onto the geek stuff.

Is it a  Railgun?

I’ve seen speculation based on the distinctive boxy shape of the barrel and the association with a lookalike weapon made available in the Ghost Recon: Breakpoint Terminator tie in event -

- that Grace is using a railgun.

Railguns, familiar to any Metal Gear nerd, use electromagnets along the length of the barrel to launch a projectile at enormous velocity without the use of a propellant like gunpowder. 

A key feature of a railgun then, is that its projectile is basically just an inert pellet until the magnets send it on its way. That means though, that they don’t need a brass casing to hold gunpowder behind the slug to blast it forward.

We clearly see Grace’s rifle eject spent casings, so we can conclude it is not, in fact, a railgun.

So what is it instead, and why does it work on Revs when nothing else does?

The secret’s in the ammo, rather than the rifle.

In the commentary, it’s mentioned that by 2042, Dani’s resistance is using depleted uranium rounds. Depleted uranium ammunition – DU – is not currently used in any man-portable rifle that I’m aware of. There were experiments with it in the 60s, using a 7.62 “flechette”, a small rod of DU seated in a plastic cover, but these were abandoned for reasons we’ll talk about later.

Much bigger DU projectiles are commonly used though, in vehicle mounted anti-tank cannons, because it has some really unusual physical properties that make it devastating to armoured targets.

Everybody knows uranium is radioactive – what you may not know is that it has some really weird quirks when fired which make it a very effective, ethically questionable, round for punching holes in hardened vehicles like tanks.

For one thing, it’s incredibly dense - denser than Tungsten - so it’s not commonly going to find anything harder to bounce off. It’s so dense in fact that the US military uses it to make tank armour, for their own tanks, well as their anti-tank projectiles for everyone else’s.

For another, it has an almost unique “self sharpening” quality – unlike say lead, which flattens on impact, depleted uranium shears on impact into a new, fresh sharp point and keeps piercing whatever solid mass it’s hit.

Finally, it’s pyrophoric – when it hits, it violently self-ignites into a molten shower of splash damage, producing both intense heat and a good chance of igniting fuel or ammunition in any vehicle it pierces.

This is the “entry wound” of a DU round on a tank. Remember, a DU round does not have an explosive warhead, it’s just a rod of dense metal - so the ring of pitting you you see is entirely from molten metal fragmenting all over the armour -

These three qualities make DU ammunition ideal for shooting holes in Terminators everything else seems to bounce off of. As we see with the Rev 9, catastrophic impact and intense heat can actually damage Legion’s machines permanently, even - apparently - the liquid skin. And on that front DU rounds can deliver. Compare the tank photo above to the “exit wound” we see on the back of the Rev 7′s head after Grace KO’s it, and you’ll see the correlation. Grace’s round has blown through easily, but apparently generated enough heat on the way out to instantly melt and reharden the Rev 7′s material into an external “bloom” pattern.

Now if you’re fighting humans, you don’t really want those three qualities. You don’t want a bullet to hit them and then keep travelling, or to burst into that molten scatter up there - you want it to stay in exactly the person you put it in. Lead is “ideal” for this, in the sense that if you put it in somebody it will probably spread out and do them a ton of damage - making sure they’re out of the way - rather than cleanly travelling through to leave them “just” injured, and then sailing around freely to damage, injure or ricochet off anything else you need intact (like you!).

The rounds you want to use against soft, meaty humans then, and the rounds you want to use against some kind of armour have distinctly different characteristics. Grace’s ammunition would absolutely kill humans, in the same way you could butter your toast with a machete, but it’s optimised for something else, it’s optimised as if she’s fighting armour - which she is, really, she’s fighting something made of armour. 

As an aside, perhaps surprisingly, DU’s radioactive properties are irrelevant to its effect as a projectile. Being “depleted”, and no longer useful for industrial purposes otherwise because of it, DU ammunition’s radioactivity is generally considered to be negligible, and so harmless in that sense unless inhaled in particles generated by an impact - which... well, if a depleted uranium round has landed close enough to you for that, the probability of getting sick later in life is probably irrelevant. 

There is some controversy on this subject, because there are serious civilian consequences if the harmlessness of that shrapnel is overstated. As a general rule firing radioactive metal around is a bad thing from the get-go, but I’ll leave you to do your own reading on the real world discussion of this yourself.

From Grace’s point of view in-world, intact DU ammunition would certainly be harmless as the near-inert uranium core is not exposed  it’s in a sabot, which I’ll explain later - and the spent shrapnel after a battle would be unlikely to move a Geiger needle any more than anything else in her post-nuclear exchange environment.

Why is the gun so freaking big though?

There are some trade offs to using DU ammunition. 

The big one is that DU needs to be fired at a high velocity to achieve the “tankbuster” effect Grace and her unit would depend on against Terminators. It’s generally thought that current conventional small arms can’t achieve these velocities, but little exploration has been done towards designing a rifle specifically for that purpose because two factors render it impractical before that point -  

a) That DU ammunition would be expensive as hell and completely, impractically overpowered for most soldiers’ purposes 

and 

b) That its density means it would be heavy as hell for the poor infantry to carry around.

Dani’s people though, don’t have a choice – they need something that can kill monster machines, no expense or weight spared. The alternative is extinction. So they have had to find a way to make something prohibitively inefficient and expensive in our world work.

So let’s look back at the rifle’s size and shape.

We’ve already seen that Grace’s rifle needs to produce velocity way above what we consider possible with our firearms.

The main way rifles do generate velocity is with a longer barrel, which subjects the round to the concentrated push of the combusting gunpowder for longer. Another way is by encasing the slug in a “sabot”, usually a plastic cover on the round that’s intended to ensure the snuggest possible fit in the barrel to maximise the pressure, and then to fall away in flight or disintegrate on impact. 

A sabot would also be required to prevent that dense uranium slug damaging the barrel itself, and is also quite a reassuring thing to have on something that’s - however slightly - radioactive. 

Near the subject of barrel damage - DU rounds do not like “rifling”. “Rifling” is the little swirly candy cane spiral cut inside a gun barrel which puts a spin on the projectile, forcing it to fly in a more accurate straight line. You will have seen it in the classic James Bond intros -

Because DU is probably denser than the barrel itself, it will simply scour the rifling off rather than take on a spin from it. This means that Grace’s DU rounds probably aren’t exceptionally accurate, which is why her gun has only a fairly basic red dot sight rather than anything more precise. The velocity of the round will make up for this a bit, but this is not a gun you can expect to shoot the tip of a cigarette off from 50 yards.

That’s not necessarily a huge handicap for infantry troops, believe it or not - automatic weapons are usually designed with an allowance for a certain amount of spread, because often in a firefight, firing ten times within a certain radius of a moving target is more likely to hit it once than firing ten times with perfect precision at a space just over their head.

Anyhow. So the long barrel is required for the velocity. Fine.

The rationale of the big chunky shape isn’t entirely obvious apart from it looking kinda rad, but there are possibilities. 

Source.

It could feasibly house whatever engineering is required to cool the rifle so the barrel doesn’t warp under the enormous forces it’s subjected to. Or to compensate for the huge recoil we could expect as a byproduct of that velocity, there actually does seem to be some stuff built into the stock meant to look like it does this. Or – who knows – maybe there’s some auxiliary technology in addition to the conventional ballistic tech to help that velocity along. You could argue that there’s some sort of railgun like “assist” technology in there to speed up a conventionally fired slug, but that feels a little extra to me because then you have to account for power sources and stuff like that. I’ll leave it to you to take your pick.

Shouldn’t it weigh a shit ton for non-Augment troops though? It’s huge!

Shouldn’t that size make it impractically heavy? 

If it was made from old fashioned steel, yes, but Grace’s rifle looks to me to be built mostly from some kind of polymer. We can presume this is the same kind of polymer used in her helmet and armour (apparently some kind of carbon composite) and possibly even the Rev 9 itself. 

It seems to me heavily suggested that just as we’ve had the Stone, Bronze, and Iron Ages, Grace’s future will be the Matt Black Carbon Nanotube Polymer Composite Age. And that makes sense! Being able to formulate, manufacture and exploit a carbon nanotube polymer composite sounds pretty complicated, but I’ll bet it’s a lot less complicated than establishing an ore mining, refining, smelting and foundry engineering infrastructure from scratch, underneath the ruins of human civilisation, during a war.

Many modern day firearms have less fancy polymer components than Grace’s rifle, probably most famously Glock pistols, but if we assume Dani’s engineers have access to some kind of advanced carbon nanotube polymer composite, they could go even further. The resulting weapon could be both incredibly strong and far lighter than it looks, and a lot more recoil absorbent than more conventional materials, with the added benefit that mass producing them in bunkers underground would be much easier and involve a lot less dangerous fire and molten steel. Assuming the material science is nailed down, there’s no reason they couldn’t, essentially, be 3D printed on demand. 

They may have some kind of metal alloy components, eg the barrel, but this would be manufactured by making a block of the alloy and then machining it into a barrel shape, a far less complex operation than making an entire weapon assembly from metal. 

There’s no reason either that components couldn’t be designed with modularity in mind, so you could swap out parts as required for different functions. 

Indeed the weapon models for the mobile game, which were supposedly done with access to the movie’s design documents, seem to me to suggest as much:

Source.

About Augment and non-Augment troops...

Speaking of the difference in how Augment and non-Augment troops might handle the same weapon - did you notice how Hadrell hip-fires his? 

He shoots his rifle like a fire extinguisher, without making any effort to aim down the barrel. Grace, who at this point is Free Range, all-Organic, GMO-free human, tries to aims it conventionally even when she’s injured, sighting it down the barrel.

It’s probably an accident, but there actually is an in-universe explanation for this - Arnold Schwarzenegger always makes a point of not having his Terminator characters aim down the barrel, and advises other Terminator actors, like Gabriel Luna, not to do so either.

Arnold’s rationale is that, as machines, they have aiming calculation faculties to work out a solution from whatever angle they fire from, so why would they need to physically raise the gun to their pretend-eyeball to judge their aim?

Hadrell, as an augment, has something comparable - think about all the angle calculations displayed to Grace when she was confronted by the Mexican policemen - so he’d do the same. 

Post-Augment Grace does show that kind of uncanny no-look precision in the deleted border wall running battle scene. That she doesn’t in all scenes, well, I suppose you could put that down to habit. She’s a lifelong soldier, after all.

So how the hell is Dani getting hold of all this stuff?

When we see Dani’s early troops, rescuing young Grace, they’re still armed with old school conventional weapons, but sooner or later, it will be impossible to keep those weapons functional or practical as replacement parts and resources run dry. 

That doesn’t matter much anyway though, because Dani’s focus would be changing at the same time. Those weapons were presumably necessary to defend against other human scavengers early on more than anything else, since they wouldn’t be effective against Terminators regardless. Dani doesn’t really want to fight other humans, and by the time her force had cohered to the scale we see in Grace’s battle, wouldn’t need to, so those old guns would be quickly redundant.

At some point then, we can say she moves beyond scavenging the last of what’s left to defend against other humans, to using materials she can now readily capture to make weapons purpose built and specialised for use against the machines, her intended enemy all along. And not only weapons - check out how their body armour looks more like a police stab vest than something meant to catch bullets. 

By 2042, Dani has steered her outfit into something that’s adapted for the war she’s trying to win, rather than just picking up whatever’s left over by the world before. They’re purpose-making stuff for the job in hand. So... how?

Let’s assume that, as above, there are only a few limited metal elements in these guns, like the barrel. Dani would not need a full scale dedicated weapons plant for just those components. That’s something which can be done in the corner of a machine shop, rather than the entire mini-industry it would take to build an all metal gun. 

More than that, if the rest of the rifle is indeed “3D printed”, then whatever they’re using to manufacture them can just as easily be put to work making armour, helmets or what have you, accounting for both how she was able to get so many people so well equipped, so quickly, and for the homogenous look of all their technology. 

Where might she find such amazing machines? Well, given how similar the Rev models look to Dani’s equipment, it can be assumed they have some similar common technological ancestor. The Rev 9 chassis doesn’t look like something that was forged and bolted together with rivets and welders on a steelwork assembly line like a T800 - it looks like something that was designed and optimised digitally for high performance, like a race car or a scuba part, and then formed or moulded to order. Notice too that the only weapons we see Legions’ machines use are integrated, rather than manufactured separately like the plasma weapons T800s carried in their night battles.

In other words, there is no reason to say Dani could not have captured and repurposed some of Legion’s own Terminator manufacturing machinery and raw materials in the weapons she’s using against it. Essentially all she’d have to do is feed in different .STL files. This would be ideal for her situation given the likely limited space they have in their bunkers - the same machine could be used to run off fifty rifle receivers as could to make fifty shovels, toilet bowls or crutches. Once she had *a single one* of those machines, her technological progress could move forward in huge leaps and bounds. 

She might even be able to use the Terminators themselves in the bargain, if somehow the stuff they’re made out of can be broken back down and remanufactured, making every battlefield a supply cache.

Okay, I guess, but is any of this relevant to a story I’m setting in 2020?

Well, now we know that two things work on a Rev - an EMP, and a DU round.

DU ammunition isn’t as conveniently available and portable in 2020 as it is for Grace in 2042, but it does exist - it’s just limited to weapon systems mounted on large vehicles.

One of the vehicles most closely associated with the use of DU rounds is the  A-10 Warthog, an American warplane used to attack hardened ground based targets from above. If you have played Call of Duty recently, one of these will have killed you.

I’m just saying - if your characters were to find themselves near an airforce base with a Rev 9 in hot pursuit, but they’ve somehow lost the use of the EMP weapon they’d bet all their chips on, it might be worth asking Major Dean if there were any Warthogs around. Or better yet, asking Grace if she can operate one. 

(Of course she can.)

Anyway, I hope this is of use to somebody, or at least passed some time. I really do love this movie, and I enjoy overthinking it greatly too.

Bonus Real World Nerd Stuff.

Grace’s M90 prop itself appears to be built out of a real gun, a Czech Sa vz. 58, with a lot of cosmetic furniture bolted around it to future it up. 

You can sort of see the original shape hidden in there, but the key giveaway is the distinctive three ridges behind the ejection port. The ejection port is pretty much the only part of the original gun exposed, which I’ll come back to.

  I’ve highlighted the three ridges and ejection port in both photos above, plus a bicep I just feel deserves to be celebrated.

Some prop trivia - As you may have noticed, the SA vz. 58 looks a LOT like an AK 47 and its descendants, but is actually completely incompatible with it internally. Even guns have aesthetic trends, I guess.

By a strange twist of fate though, they tend to be used as “stand ins” for AKs because their relative obscurity and incompatibility actually makes them a lot cheaper than their more famous doppelgangers. They’re so cheap in fact that the movie Lord of War – which has an unforgettable and deeply disturbing sequence about how the AK 47 became so ubiquitous – actually rented several thousand SAs from a real arms dealer for use on set because they worked out even out cheaper than renting even prop versions of AK 47s.

Nowadays though, especially in movies in the US, a lot of prop weapons are actually Airsoft play replicas, because they’re affordable, available, intended to be as accurate as possible, can be more easily aesthetically modified, and can be more easily moved across state lines than actual guns. And they’re just safer - it’s safer and cheaper to CG in gunfire than to use real weapons and blanks when there are multiple actors on set. You can bet several of the prop weapons on Dark Fate are Airsoft replicas.

In this specific case though, I’m pretty sure Grace’s rifle actually was a real gun firing blanks underneath all the cosmetic stuff, with CGI used only for the muzzle flash, because Grace’s big last stand makes good use of the visual of spent brass flying out of that very pointedly exposed ejection port. Airsoft guns don’t produce spent casings, and the mechanics of a port opening and casting out casings in slow motion would be too fussy to bother CG’ing.

I think it’s likely Grace’s rifle – the “hero” rifle – and maybe perhaps Hadrell’s, were the only “real” ones, with everyone else carrying solid dummy replicas moulded from those ones.

Source

Given how many seem to have been produced for extras, and how briefly they’re seen, it would be worth keeping an eye out for them in sci-fi TV and movies to come. 

There may be quite a few of these sitting around in a prop house somewhere, waiting to fight another day.

[2ndblogg]

Hey! Just read your hot take on novel!wangxian and I absolutely agree. I'm gonna have to say here that I believe it boils down to the fetishization of homosexual men in a lot of the fandom culture that surrounds mlm shipping, as you said it's a space for a lot of women to experiment with their desires and whatnot, but I think therein lies the breaking points between reading novel!wangxian as a good, healthy relationship vs. reading it as a very flawed and toxic one. As an LGBT person, reading the way the author dealt with their relationship made me extremely uncomfortable, it just really feels like something that is written by someone who is more invested in using her queer characters for satisfying her and her reader's own pleasure than a well-built, strong relationship between two characters. Not to take away from the novel in some other aspects, I believe that novel!wwx is a much better, much more nuanced character than what he is in cql, but when it comes to wangxian, I think the intentions are very different for each of them. To each their own, I guess, but I do find it very troubling that some people in the fandom have a really hard time admitting that novel wangxian is not even remotely healthy.

Absolutely.

And can I just say how glad it makes me to see that not everyone is praising this book for it’s lgbt representation...

But I guess that’s also why I just occasionally feel the need to scream my frustrations into the void or try to make sense of the novel.

And why I try to be understanding and accepting of people’s opinion of the novel and not take it ‘personally’ (in the sense of sitting there thinking “holy shit this is how they view ME, this is what they think of ME” etc).

I was in fandoms back when they were really a place dominated by straight (homophobic) women and realism or lgbt representation wasn’t on anyone’s mind (and the occasional dude butting in to say that’s not how sex works or bottoming is experienced was ignored or told to get out). I experienced this change to fandoms being more of a lgbt space, of people becoming aware that media can shape your views of groups of people, of people becoming aware of their fetishizing of fictional gays vs. their prejudice against real life lgbt people etc.

And tbh MXTX just writes like one of those, she writes wangxian like everyone wrote their gay relationships around 2005 and earlier; clear power imbalance, clear roles and attributes that are divided into ‘manly’ and ‘feminine’, certain physical attributes (like the female self insert character aka the bottom being pretty and slight and weaker and shorter), men/the penetrating partner can’t really be raped so anything the woman/bottom tries isn’t really ‘bad’, the male love interest is forceful and self centered but ONLY because he’s so in love and since he’s emotionally stunted he has to express that through sex, men/tops NEED sex and it’s rude/mean to deny them that, the girl/bottom isn’t THAT horny or in charge of their own sexuality but wants to please their partner and what they really get out of it is the emotional aspect, decisions need to be made for them because the dude/top just knows better, the girl/bottom is childish and flirty and the guy/top suffers through it until he finally snaps and shows the girl/bottom who'sboss etc etc. (honestly homophobia and misogyny is so tightly knit in this kind of fiction, if it wasn’t so frustrating it would be very interesting).

Tbh I disagree with novel!wwx being more nuanced (despite a lot of ppl whose opinions I really respect also feeling this way), because I simply cannot seperate him from the wangxian relationship. All I see are tropes and stereotypes applied to make him ‘work’ in the context of the wangxian relationship instead of an actual personality...

To me, in CQL WWX is clearly the main character and you love his interactions with LWJ and want more of them and value them, wheras in the novel most of the time WWX plays second fiddle even when a scene should technically be about him and LWJ’s presence is incredibly suffocating, because he’s always being controlling or at the very least influencing WWX.

I also don’t feel like WWX has much of a character arc/growth. We’re essentially told he had one but the only thing that really actually changes is him hating himself a bit more and letting LWJ smash..., and I guess: he’s less independent than ever, he’s more isolated that ever...

I’ve called novel!wangxian a relationship between an abuser and his victim, because you can find evidence of that in the text. Not because I think the author wanted to portray an unhealthy gay relationship. Like you said, she was fetishizing and wrote for a similar crowd. But to me that ‘realization’ helped...I still don’t see how people can call it a masterpiece but I can at least understand hyping something you like up...

And like, badly written gay relationship or not; gay/straight,man/women, I see how people can find it hot. Exploring your sexuality through fictional characters isn’t necessarily a strictly straight girl phenomena. I probably have read fic that was exactly like this, I can’t judge anyone for it. But no one prints out the last PWP they read and goes, “this is ideal lgbt representation and nothing will ever be this good, the fact that it includes rape makes it so realistic” like????

(Is that part or an effect of the woke and purety culture? you can’t say ‘i like this book but it has flaws’ or ‘i’ve enjoyed this but it’s not up the feminism or lgbt acceptance that i preach/live’ so you have to pretend it’s flawless?)

And like, I do think novel!wangxian is a nightmare when it comes to lgbt representation and I do believe this is largely due to a cishet woman writing about gay men and fetishizing them (the fact that a lot of peoples arguments why novel!wangxian ‘is better’ boils down to ‘there’s kissing and sex’ is also pretty telling). And I am frightend and worried by some peoples response to it.

But is it really fair to see it as just that? It’s a problem sure, but that same thing happens in straight media (which I am admittedly not well versed in). Stephanie Meyer didn’t set out to write Edward Cullen to be a creep and non of the teenage girls that went crazy over him viewed it as such...Reylo fans (aside from some of them proclaiming Finn to be the real villain and saying it’s racist and misogynistic to not find Kylo Ren hot) found a way to view him threatening her as romantic and sexy, Loki fans that didn’t ship him with Thor usually fell into the camp of “he would be a perfect boyfriend” or “what if this OFC was his slave and he raped her everyday <3″... like ignoring/glorifying/romanticizing behaviours or exploring what kinks you might have through the safety of fictional characters and fictional settings isn’t JUST happening when it comes to ‘the gays’...

And not just specifically in fandom spaces either, a lot of ‘romantic’ movies include inappropriate touching, the boy/guy knowing better than the girl what she wants etc. And I absolutely do believe that that’s something that normalized these things for a lot of young girls and guys (I don’t want to get into this too much, I’ve really seen a change in the past few years, but before that it was pretty common for young boys to believe they need to keep pursuing and pressuring a girl that has said no, girls truly thought boys could die of blue balls, girls thought it was their duty as good girlfriends to let their boyfriends fuck them even when they weren’t in the mood, that they couldn’t talk about what they want in bed or what they don’t find enjoyable because ‘sex is for boys and girls get a relationship in exchange’ etc.).

And in much the same way movies have only relatively recently begun being called out for that, it’s also still pretty recently that they’re being called out for having their one queer coded character be a pedophile and a murder or whatever...Like, society as a whole becoming aware of these issues.

But do authors that publish their work with a specific target audience in mind have a responsibility to think about the effect it might have on them? (And I can already hear loud screams of ‘no way, it’s not your fault if your audience isn’t smart enough to understand that this bad thing is bad’, but I actually do believe in a way they do. That doesn’t mean you can’t or shouldn’t write whatever you want, just maybe take a look at HOW you bring your point across. (We do KNOW people are influenced by what propaganda they’re consistantly fed. I mean, you wouldn’t write a pro-drugs childrens book...) )

What if the author isn’t aware of their bias and prejudices? Or their target audience isn’t their actual audience?

And do we, society and media, judge female and male authors differently when it comes to romance and sex in fiction? (The answer is yes btw) But also, where do we draw the line at calling something ‘badly written’ and calling it toxic? Can it be both? As I’ve said before, a lot of people claim that only the physical intimacy scenes of novel!wangxian are bad, because they’re badly written and OOC, some say the book as amazingly written and only the wangxian relationship is bad because the author doesn’t know how to write gay men. In my ‘hot take’ I essentially said that’s not necessarily bad writing so much as it’s simply an (okay, unintentional) toxic relationship. And would this relationship still come across as toxic (or badly written, whichever you want) if we didn’t know the author to be a cishet woman? Or if a gay man had written it? (my personal, eloquent answer for this is: yes, but differently.)

Which was really all just a rambly way to get to my point of: it’s not just fetishizing of gay men, it’s also the homophobia and self-inserting in a safe situation.

You can literally replace WWX in the novel with a female character and it wouldn’t change a thing. The author takes such an effort into building up this power imbalance in every aspect of their life that if WWX were a heroine nothing would change in this (sexist/ancient society) setting.

(And clearly this is something that appeals to people if you look at the amount of female!WWX fics...)

Not even the sex scenes. There are maybe two allusions in all of them combined that WWX might also have a dick but like, you can’t be sure and it sure as hell doesn’t need stimulation.

(and again, that could be written as a kink...but it’s just not.)

CQL is a gay love story. MDZS at it’s core is none of that.

But I also very much agree with your ‘to each their own’, like here I am criticizing and trying to find explanations and whatever, but at the end of the day it doesn’t matter why someone might like (or write) a book like this, I vastly prefer CQL!wangxian but people have their own reasons for not doing so.

The ‘problem’ really only lies in, as you said, people not being able to accept that it’s not a healthy relationship. Or claiming it to be perfect lgbt rep.

And because my brain can’t shut up today:

I also can’t stop thinking that the way some people ‘glorify’ the book as due to their age and ‘inexperience’.

When I was a pretty young kid and got into fanfiction, there was nothing but completely OOC!whump to be found in the first two fandoms I was in. And I loved it. It was YEARS later that I thought I might like to read something with the characters being...in character. What I’m trying to say, in different stages and phases of your life you might enjoy different things, for different reasons...and obviously, in that moment, you won’t think about ‘what appeals to me here/should this appeal to me/etc’.

I don’t mean inexperience as ‘sexual inexperience’ here, though of course that could be part of it, but also like, inexperience with this genre (is this the first book like this you read, or did you just read 50 in a row that all had the same unhealthy vibes?), with lgbt people and issues (do you know any lgbt people or is your only image of them either the cute boy you can’t have and don’t want to see with another girl or grown men in full kink gear in front of children during CSD? and also: do you think ‘i like this’ and that’s the end of it or do you notice how many people idolize this objectively unhealthy relationship and won’t allow critique on it...)  

I...just wanted to say thanks really.

I just can’t stop rambling apparently and I know I mostly just repeated what you said or what I already said but in longer... I just really do feel very strongly about novel!wangxian and the perception of them and have actually at times felt very personally...worried/affected, by people’s acceptance and love of them and I just... have to try and make sense of it...

[heizerux]

AHHHHHH SNAP! Ya’ll Already Know What Time It Is. . .

That’s right. Another lengthy post no one asked for in which I both analyze and give thoughts on the recently released ML episode. . . This time it’s Miraculer (is in español castellano? Is that right? Idk I just know it’s the Spain Spanish and that Spanish LB just happens to be mi favorita!!! lol.)

Anywhoosies, let’s buzz right on!

So we continue to see Chloe STILL trying to get Ladybug’s attention so she can become Queen Bee. NOTE: She hasn’t been causing akumas this time around, instead she’s been waiting (not patiently but alas she’s not being as bad in that department).

So it seems that it wasn’t just Chat Noir but the whole Miraculous Team that came to terms that it’s best they cut Chloe out.

I do wanna point out the GROWTH in Chat Noir here. You guys recall the Chat Noir that acted out because he couldn’t know Ladybug’s secrets and wanted to know her identity but couldn’t?

Well, I’m proud of my boy now because here he mentions clear understanding that being a superhero requires you keep secrets, which is why he is FULLY on board with dropping Chloe out if it’s in the best interest to keep them all safe. S1 Chat Noir wasn’t that mature.

*head pat for Chat* he’s a good kitty, that one.

Next up after Ladybug decides to put it off for after school (I’m assuming the first battle took place during their 2 hour lunch break), we catch up with Gabriel and Natalie’s plans.

(Btw Nathalie, you sure seem VERY consumed by the plan than before. . .

You okay there?)

Note: To me this hints that the previous holder also became addicted to the use of the damaged miraculous and landed herself in a coma. Not implying that Emílie was evil although it would make for good drama but it is an interesting observation . . That’s my theory for now.

We get to see just how Gabriel is working with Lila and it’s about as I expected it’d go. They secretly meet and Lila reports on the school’s happenings around Adrien to make it seem like Gabriel is looking out for his sins safety (I mean he kind of is. . but he truly isn’t :( ). Here she mentions Chloe’s “pathetic attempts” at trying to get Ladybugs attention which only confirms his plans are working. I’m still disgusted by Lila but what’s new, amiright?

Lunch breaks ends (I’m assuming) and Lila is dispatched to plant the seed of Hawkmoth’s plan. Adrien is still patient as ever and Marinette is an absolute GEM with her transparent feelings. I love it.

Enter The Queen

If you had any questions about how Chloe feels about Lila, here are your answers to those questions: Chloe doesn’t care who Lila is. She isn’t relevant to her. Boom lol.

The only reason she bothered with her is because Lila told her the “secret call that will DEFINETLY get Ladybug to show up every time. It always works when I do it.” Marinette tries to tell her to steer clear of Lila but of course she’s too riled about Ladybug avoiding her that she storms away. So now leaves the pending task of telling Chloe the bad news.

“Marinette already spoke to Chloe. Now LADYBUG has to speak to her. Chloe only listens to Ladybug.” —Tikki

*Gabnath Evil shenanigans later*

Ladybug finally tries to find the time to talk to Chloe right after school, but of course the “sentimonster” (I’m still not with the term. It’s weird but whatever, it’s the official translation I guess.) happens.

The Queen and Her Dedicated “Knight”

So in this part Chloe tries again to call Ladybug so she can be Queen Bee and to sum it up: Chloe shoos Sabrina to grab the costumes, it doesn’t work, she tries Lila’s method only to prove LB still doesn’t show. Chloe is hurt, Sabrina tried to confort her resulting in Chloe lashing out with “You’re not my best friend! Only Ladybug is my best friend! You’re NOTHING compared to her!”

Hawkmoth attempts to akumatize Chloe only to fail.

CONFIRMED ML LORE: Akuma’s can indeed be fought off. You just can’t let your negativity overcome you.

So then he tries for Sabrina and turns her into Miraculer

Side Note: Okay, I’m giving a personal headcanon and you can try to change my mind but it’s pretty solid right now.

Sabrina is IN LOVE with Chloe. She would do anything to make her happy and when Chloe is hurt, so is she.

Now if only Chloe realizes the amazing girl Sabrina is and cleans up her attitude, this friendship/relationship can be pure. Anyways, that’s that. Moving on.

I really like Sabrina’s akuma this time around. The design is nice, the powers proved to be quite dangerous. . . Sabrina is getting the power she deserves.

CONFIRMED ML LORE: The use of Cataclysm on another person won’t “Thanos” them. . . But it does severely weaken your body. (my take is that it slowly deteriorates your body from the inside like a disease would Black Plague from within, anyone?. Which is why Chat is so vulnerable after being hit with it.)

If you’ve ever wondered WHY we keep catching Alya and Nino on the bridge after school so often this season, here’s your answer:

THEY TRAIN IN THEIR SPARE TIME!!!!

Nino: We sure are getting better!

YES! YES YOU ARE! 💖💕😩💕💖

omg they’re couple goals. I can’t even rn. Andre probably thinks they picked up parkour for fun or something lol.

The rest of the episode plays out as a normal fight and let me sum it up for you:

Ladybug rounds up the miraculous team while Chat Noir distracts Mayura and Miraculer, they get Chloe to work imo tricking Miraculer to return her powers, Mayura pulls a fast one and steals the Bee Miraculous, but Chat Noir is faster and takes it back. Queen Bee chases after Mayura only to be told “But if you join us, you could be Queen Bee for as long as you’d like.” Unfortunately for her, Queen Bee can’t be bought with bribery. Bb almost had her miraculous but Mayura slips out. The Dream Team helps LB contain Miraculer and Ladybug finally breaks the bad news to the Queen.

Ladybug: I’m afraid you can’t be Queen Bee anymore. Hawkmoth knows your real identity. It’s too dangerous.

Chloe was upset, but she still understands the consequences and gives her back “el prodigio”.

Chloe: I understand. But! I’m sure you’ll still need my help. I’m sure I’ll be Queen Bee again someday. I’ll always be Queen Bee. . .

Symbolism aside, Dream Team OUT and so leaves Sabrina and Chloe.

Sabrina: You won’t want to play with me anymore. . .

Chloe: Of course I still do. *stares down at picture* . . . But I just don’t want to be Ladybug anymore. Keep the costume if you want to.

The Queen is spreading her own wings. . .

More Gabnath future shenanigans are implied and Chloe confronts Lila for being a liar.

Lila: But when you tried it, she was there . . . wasn’t she?

Oh Lila you sly lil bi—

Chloe walks off not being able to counter that and Marinette mentions she hopes she didn’t hurt her, since she’s been trying really hard, but Tikki ends the episode with “Its for her own good. That way you can also keep her as well as Ladybug and Chat Noir safe as superheroes. It’s what being a hero is all about.”

To do what you can to keep everyone safe. . .

Conclusion: This was definitely one of the good episodes in the season. It gave us some answers to lore questions we’ve had in fandom, showed us Chloe is indeed slightly changing for the better, insight on Hawkmoth and Mayura working together, have Sabrina justice as an akuma, and ended with an important message about what being a hero is really about and the sacrifices it requires.

I saw 9.5 of 10 was a rating given by @gale-of-the-nomads for this episode on their review post, and I agree. It was a solid 9.5 and it’s a rating I would also rate it.

It was a very good episode. THIS is the kind of stuff I’d like to see. Clear development into something bigger (but alas, patience is freaking key with this show 😞)

I’ll end this post on this note:

This episode may or may not set us up for what we’ll see in the season finale (in regards to Hawkmoth trying to use the Bourgeois against Ladybug). He is clearly targeting Chloe, and now we officially know why.

Just a final observation.

(The keep reading feature needs to come to mobile)

[makeste]

some asks about BnHA 241 and 240 and then some random other asks

I agree with this completely, anon (especially given his attitude throughout the rest of the chapter), but I didn’t edit my initial response since I think there’s a good likelihood that he still deadpanned the line despite being 100% sincere. one could say he was Accidentally Sarcastic. anyways yeah, Todoroki Shouto is a disaster more at 11. 

(but also, he’s totally right and Bakugou is in full-blown denial over their blossoming friendship. because he already decided that they’re Not Friends, and thus he has to actively work to maintain that status now. which Todoroki is making very difficult these days! can you fucking do your part to keep the fucking rivalry going, Icy-Hot?? can you at least try?? why does he have to do all the work. sometimes he forgets for a moment and Todo catches him off guard and he responds normally without thinking and doesn’t realize it until later, and god. why is everything and everyone so stupid.)

I have not forgotten (though I did mix up Pixie-Bob with Mandalay though woop)! and that annoyed me too. we only have like six female pros out there as it is. why do half of them (looking at you too, Midnight) have to be mildly sex-crazed. I know it’s not serious and they’re not actually being serious, but still, is it really asking so much to get some female pros whose eccentricities are less specifically tailored to common male fantasies. you’re a fucking hero Pixie-Bob! you’re a fucking earthbender and you’re hot as heck. why are you so worried about not being able to Get A Man. with Mt. Lady it at least fits more with her general personality from what we’ve seen, I guess. anyways, y’all know I love like 98% of this series, but this is part of the 2%, so. it is what it is.

Tomura is Endgame Thanos, a.k.a. the most sinister and most genuinely frightening of the Thanoses. this really isn’t on track to end well sob.

ah, my bad. (regardless, it was still dramatic af.)

I think she’s a six-year-old (?? she seems six-ish, idk) girl who was terrified of her father and trying to stay under his radar (which was frankly the smart thing to do based on what we’ve seen), and was trying to teach her younger brother how to do the same, and I don’t blame her at all for throwing Tenko under the bus (if that’s indeed what happened); I’m sure she just panicked and didn’t mean it. she’s just a kid. -- was just a kid. anyways she was super cute and would have made a fucking awesome hero, and her death is easily the one I’m still the most raw about out of that whole fucking nightmare. I’m not getting over that. I want her to still be alive; at one point I was convinced of a conspiracy theory that AFO had secretly spared her too (because two Shimura heirs to manipulate are better than one), and Tomura only believed that she was dead due to his fragmented memories. but that seems less likely post-chapter 236.

so yeah, I’m still very upset about this. she was good and kind and loved her brother and had a lot of spirit and she did not even remotely deserve what happened to her.

thank you so much!! one of the best parts of fandom is interacting with other people and reading everyone’s different takes and theories. lord knows I miss a lot of stuff when I read, even when I’m trying very hard to pay attention. so I love when other people point stuff out and bring up ideas I hadn’t thought about.

also! without exception, every single person I’ve ever interacted with in this fandom on tumblr has been polite and courteous and civil as fuck, even on the occasions when we disagree, and I absolutely can’t take credit for that. people are just cool. so thank you everyone. (and particular shoutout to @thequietmanno1, who for some reason I can’t tag, but whom this ask is almost certainly referring to specifically.)

lmao anon this made my fucking day. thank you!!

all right, here goes!

a) this is possible for sure in that as a rule, I never put anything past AFO, and I don’t doubt for a second he’d be capable of this. but, it would kind of suck though. specifically it would suck for Tomura, who’s only just starting to come into his own at long last, and who has gone through quite a lot to get to this point. like, that would be devastating to see him reduced to a literal puppet after all of that. and if it did happen, I don’t know what the odds would be of him actually being “saved” after that (All Might at least would try, but I can’t see anyone else being concerned enough to bother. well except for the rest of the League, come to think of it. that could be interesting), and I’d be really sad if that ended up being how he went out. these things usually don’t end up working out too well for the body snatchee.

plus, this also hinges on whether or not AFO is capable of transferring his quirk to Tomura’s body. if not, there’s no way he’d take the tradeoff, regardless of how powerful Tomura’s own quirk has become at this point. that would just be a really bad deal. like trading the cow for beans, except these ones aren’t even magic beans, just like. normal beans. but if he does have a way of transferring the AFO quirk, then yeah. although he could take anyone’s body then if that was the case, and I can think of a few targets who just might be even more tempting than his protege. All Might’s protege, for one. ...you know what, this line of thinking is starting to get a little too horrifying so let’s move on to the other theory lol.

(b) a few people have mentioned the Shimura Momo theory to me, but to be totally honest, I can’t see much of a logical basis for it other than them bearing a slight resemblance and having similar hairstyles. Inko has also been brought up as potentially being related to Nana for the same reasons. it’d be cool, no doubt, but for me, I need more evidence than just that. I just don’t see how this would advance the plot or the characters’ storylines in any meaningful way. I guess it could potentially tie Momo in more to the central plot, but it’d be kind of a weird way to do it, idk.

then again I’m one to talk, because until fairly recently I was on board with Hagakure of all people turning out to be a Shimura (Hana, to be specific). she’s the traitor, she’s invisible, we never did find out what Hana’s quirk was, and this would mean that Hana was still alive this whole time which would be GREAT, because seriously fuck you Horikoshi!! but yeah that doesn’t seem likely now either. dammit.

anyway, so I’ll just say that both of these theories are possible, but for me personally, in order to be sold on a specific theory I need to be able to see how it logically fits within the storyline and how it moves the story forward. like, Dabi being Todoroki Touya is something I’m 100% on board with, because that’s an established mystery in the series (who is Touya, what happened to him, who is Dabi, etc.), and Dabi fits into place with the evidence we have, and it gives us a lot of Todoroki drama and gives Endeavor and Shouto a personal connection to the Leagu... Pliff. but for something like the Momo theory, I would need there to be some indication that there’s a third sibling we don’t know about, and some hinting about there being more to Momo’s past than we know, and right now I don’t see either of those things, so it’s hard to get on board. hopefully that makes sense.

anon I really like that you phrased this as an inevitability lol. (and I am 100% on board.)

assuming this happens at the very end of the series, I like to think Tomura and the rest of his gang will manage to “escape” the heroes (“oh no... Tomura... he’s getting away... this is awful... somebody stop him” meanwhile no one is making even the slightest effort to move lol), at which point they will live the rest of their lives happily ever after as Lovable Outlaws and All-Around Scamps. like, maybe they’ll still commit some crimes, but they won’t be like serious crimes or anything. they’ll have more of a Guardians of the Galaxy vibe, maybe. I want them to be happy and I don’t want them to go to jail even though they’re teeeeeeeechnically murderers, I GUESS (look, nobody’s perfect!!). but maybe they steal the occasional priceless artifact and inadvertently wind up saving the world. seems like the best compromise.

lol I don’t know what this means either. like in the way a Youtuber has their own brand?? or like Frito-Lays. idk all I really do is talk a lot about an extremely popular manga, so I don’t think that’d really count?? I’m fine with this just being a little tumblr discussion blog haha.

so I’ve gotten like a half dozen asks and messages about this lol. (someone actually told me a very specific detail about said past! so just to remind everyone, I’m spoiler-free on Vigilantes right now guys, I’m sorry. I know it’s no fun.) I regret to admit that I still have not yet gotten around to it. I don’t know what it is, but I’m having a lot of trouble reading new stuff right now. I tried to start the other new BnHA spin-off which @temperatezone told me about (and btw no I did not know about it, so thank you!!) (and also! BnHA has THREE SEPARATE FUCKING SPIN-OFFS right now, how fucking crazy is that. like, I don’t want to accuse a manga series of literally trying to take over the world, but!! seriously that’s just insane), which has an amazing premise, but I haven’t had time/been in the right mindset to start that yet either. it sucks. I’m sorry. I’m working on it. ;;

press f to pay respects to what could have been, guys. they literally had it all. class, an ironic acronym, you name it. and now it’s just PLF. the Iron Patriot of villain organization names.

[ryousanki]

Nerds in Space

This is my humble contribution to #Humans are Space Orcs. Since i first read about it on Failblog, i was hooked and only recently i found the time and the muse to write my own short story. 

The Idea behind it: right now, we have a huuuge community of tech savvy people doing epic stuff like self made robots, fabricobbled multiwatt lasers and 3D printed awesomeness. What if those people went to space? With extremely advanced technology at their fingertips?

Btw, english isn’t my first language, so please excuse my grammar.

Nerds in Space

The Asshantaki Cpt. Gemshyr of the  Super-Cargocarrier AMPERSAL was confused. 

Again.

Since he hired a couple of humans for his crew, that particular state of mind assaulted him far more often than he cared to admit.

When his branch manager first told him that having humans on board is a sure way to increase efficency, he was sceptical. Sure, human mechanics tend to excel at problem solving and, as they call it: thinking outside the box. 

And with box, they meant any and all reason, logic or just plain common sense.

They also made for exceptional security personnel, since they were far tougher, faster, stronger and all around more intimidating then 90% of all other spacefaring species out there. Sound too good to be true, doesn't it? Well, it does, since they came with some serious issues (wich the humans themselves were willfully ignorant of). Gemshyr shuddered at the mere mention of "DTE", wich was short for "Duct-Tape Engineering"; and their worship of the god of improvision and applied science, a Mekgaiw'ah or something, made him fear for his life at times. Also, since humans were a ridicolously hardy bunch - easily capable of shrugging off damage that would maim or outright kill any other species, they continously show it by playing "sports". Like football. In the cargo hold. Ever seen a group of apex predators roughhousing? Gemshyr did - he still had nightmares about it. And don't you ever get him started on booze. Since they introduced it to the Pashgan, those two species have been getting along like a house on fire, as the human saying goes. (He refused to think about the possible origing of THAT particular figure of speech) That most other species now lived in fear of partying groups of humans and their 7 feet tall, 300 pound reptilian best buddies, was completely ignored by the aforementioned partygoers.

Yes, humans tended to cause headaches, panic attacks, crippling fear, contagious laughter and confusion - the last one more than anything else. 

Like right now.

Standing before Gemshyr was Dell. Gemshyr liked Dell, for said human was his best engineer and had saved their company millions of credits by way of his ingenious repairs and his enforced maintenance shedule that bordered on religious fanatism. Wich made his request even more absurd. Or not. Dell was a human, after all.

"..."

Dell shifted uncomfortably under Gemshyrs incredulous gaze and rubbed the back of his hard-hat covered head.

"Look Boss, ah know it sounds a bit crazy, but mah boys and me, we ain't complete nutjobs. We did tha calculashuns and tripplechecked everythin. All ya have ta give us is ten minutes near the next rock we're passin."

The Asshantak sitting behind his desk stared some more until he answered. Idly he wondered why his translator still refused to filter Dells strange accent.

"...Dell. Everything you told me in the last two minutes is completely crazy. If anyone else would ask me to stop our ship next to a asteroid in order to test their selfmade..."

He checked the Words on the dataslate in front of him.

"...Magnetically Energized Graviton Accelerator Powered Energy Weapon - or M.E.G.A.P.E.W, i would immediately call for our medical officer and/or security."

Gemshyr exhaled tiredly. He was only 42 cycles old. Currently, he felt at least twice that age. With a look that spoke resignation (and just a tiny bit of curiosity. Its a human made weapon after all!) he once again adressed his chief engineer.

"Unsurprisingly, the one asking is you - a human. And since i am no longer capable of being shocked by your species lunacy, i will allow this..."

Dells face made this strange thing were humans showed their teeth and their eyes widened a fraction. A smile, as they called it.

"...even if it is just to make sure that you don't test it inside the cargo bay like your last invention."

The Smile disappeared so fast that Gemshyr wasn't shure if it was there in the first place. Dell coughed awkwardly and refused to look at him - a sign that a human was aware of his mistake and was at least somewhat ashamed of it.

"Ya just had to bring tha'one up, didn't ya?"

To be fair, even Gemshyr thought that 'Star Wars' was the most awesome thing to ever come from Earth; and that lightsabers should be invented post haste. Just not on his ship. Or anywhere near him. Near being less than 2 parsecs in this case.

"You and your boys melted a hole trough five decks and allmost fried Lee-at'nai as she was preparing dinner. I take it she still hisses at you guys?"

It was a sight to behold when five grown humans were chewed out by a Min'nai barely half their size and about a third of their individual mass, while said Min'nai was standing on a chair to shout in their faces -  waving the still glowing remains of her saucepan around like a battle standard.

"...we...uh, are still makin' it up to tha little Missus."

The hard flaps on the sides of Gamshyrs neck startet to shake and Dell knew enough about Asshantak in general (and his Cpt. in particular) to see his amusement. He also knew that he should not mention his intention to test the reworked prototype of their lightsaber as soon as they had plasma-proofed all six surfaces of utility storage unit 6. Better not push his luck.

Seeing that the conversation was done, Gemshyr dismissed his engineer. A short message to his navigator would ensure some entertainment later that day. A stray thought came to his mind as he read the dataslate again.

'When did i last update my last will and testament?'

-------------- ca. 6 standart hours later--------------

A loud rumbling humm echoed through the hangar bay and the stench of ozone was allmost overwhelming as the graviton accelerator slowly powered down after providing the needed energy for the worryingly ramshackle looking construction that the humans just test fired. Their target - a type B asteroid had just ceased to exist, despite its former mass of about 40 Million metric tons of dense rock and ice. In its place was now a giant cloud a rapidly cooling plasma and exotic particles - some of wich the scanners of his ship had trouble to identify. Pretty much the whole crew had come to see the crazy humans do crazy human stuff. They were not dissapointed as they were to busy being horrified.

"Well would ya look at that. Makin bacon, i'd say."

Gemshyr didn't even look, he could FEEL Dells satisfied facial expression across the six meteres that they stood apart.

Goodbye confusion - hello headaches and sudden bouts of PTSD.

[laufire]

Some things I’ve received during my hiatus, and that it’s related to some worrying patterns I’ve seen recently on tumblr, have made me want to clarify a point. I’ve debated whether to put some of it behind a cut, since +1000 is on the longish-side, but fuck it. I think it’s important --or at least, important that you know this about me--, it makes me angry, and you’ll just have to scroll past it. And it’s a topic I’ll probably talk more about in the future, since it genuinely concerns me, even if not specifically in the same way or focusing on the same things I do here, so you might wanna be mindful of that *shrugs*.

I do not give a single fuck about whether B*llarke is “problematic”, or toxic, or abusive, or “immoral to ship” in any way. And the same can be said about literally every pairing. And if you ever try to harass anyone with those arguments (or any other, but I hope that goes without saying) --including shippers of my NOTPs--, I guarantee you, you won’t have me on your side.

Sure, I don’t like seeing it (and plenty of other ships) on my dash; that’s what filters are for. There are ships whose existence I prefer to ignore in its entirety, and I plan on forgetting them for the rest of my life.

In BC’s case, in particular, I –obviously, if you’ve read this blog– don’t want it to become canon. The way I see it, it’s a crack-ship (and not a very interesting one, AFAIC) between a character I like and a character I dislike, that’s entirely based on misrepresenting canon. Why would I care? But IMO the writers dislike the ship itself, so why would I worry either?

On top of that, I’m rooting for Bellamy’s narrative to be the dominant narrative (not as much for Bellamy himself –thought that’s a nice bonus–, but because it inevitably benefits my favourite characters: Raven, Murphy, Emori, Echo and Octavia), and the show has proven that’s antithetical to Clarke’s narrative prevailing (there’s a reason why every single season has put them at odds, in ways that effectively risk each other’s happiness, health and life). Historically speaking, things don’t end well for male leads that are put in romantic situations with women they haven’t chosen and put moves on by their own accord, and there’s plenty of evidence in canon that Bellamy doesn’t see Clarke in a romantic light –and it’s telling that, in fact, the writers CHOSE to cut out the one moment that could’ve hinted at it, back in season one.

Lastly, as I said, I think the writers themselves dislike the ship; not just aren’t interest in writing it, but actively dislike it. The first piece of evidence (if you plan on ignoring everything they’ve said about it, which already backs this opinion) is, frankly, that it hasn’t happened. Ships well-liked by the writers and supported by the narrative happen fast; lightning-fast in some cases. They likely don’t stay together, because narratives tend to follow a path of separation before the last-minute endgame (which might not happen; endgames aren’t a guarantee, even if there clearly are ships with better odds than others; BC, IMO, is the LEAST likely endgame possible out of all of them), but you better bet that dude is making his interest known ASAP.

Of course, writers in all of history of TV have written ships that they disliked, or at least ships that they only saw as filler and not “endgame material” (though I’m struggling with remembering another one that has the writers feeling so apathetic tbh). So yeah, there’s a very, very small chance of it happening, sure.

But have you ever tried to write a romance for a ship you hate? You probably haven’t, because the very idea it’s ridiculous. But imagine if you had. You would have hated every minute, I bet. And I don’t think any fans of that ship would find your story even remotely satisfying. Professional writers are exactly the same.

Even if the writers felt so worn down that they decided to go for your ship (which, IMO, would be a giant warning sign on itself; it’d be a mere symptom of their disinterest on their own story, and the show would be on its lasts breaths), what makes you think it’d make for a good story? They would half-ass it at best (and probably use it to troll you, out of spite), it would never get the genuine ~feeling that their preferred ships enjoy because, well. They don’t want it. They don’t believe in it. You can’t write with passion about something you don’t believe in, and passionless writing sucks literally every damn time.

And even all that? All that play-by-play essay I just gave you about why I don’t like the idea of canon BC? That still isn’t enough to make me hate on the ship. This can be said about plenty of ships across shows, books, etc., and I don’t talk about any of them because I don’t even remember them after I’ve moved on to the next thing.

But you know what I hate about BC? ITS FUCKING FANDOM.

They’ve proven to be one of the most dishonest ship-doms I’ve ever encountered, and probably one of the most numerous at that, which obviously only makes them worse (one day I’m going to talk about how these type of ships seem to attract assholes that know they can get away with shit due to the numbers and the attitude of those fanbases, but that’s another story).

Their numbers allow them to control the narrative within the fandom (and since canon doesn’t support them, they’ll outright lie about it), to the point were dissenting voices are ignored, disbelieved, and actively ridiculed and silenced, even when we’re pointing out actual scenes that support OUR reading and contradict THEIRS. They routinely act like characters like Echo or Raven don’t matter, while in fact feeling threatened by their relationship with Bellamy, and go into their tags full of condescending concern-trolling or outright hate. They harass other fans that dare to disagree with them, and they harass the actors and the creators of the show on a semi-regular basis.

A.K.A., they’re hurting real, living human beings.

There are hundreds of “toxic” ship out there (and am I the only one who, thanks to fandom, feel like many of these words have completely lost meaning? I truly hope that I am) that I never think or talk about, even if *I* personally didn’t care for or disliked them. By virtue of their small numbers (since a lot of those ships tend to be fringe interests in the already fringe medium that is fandom), most of the shippers usually mind their own business and simply go on with their lives, which I find to be the right attitude. Shipping (and character/show-stanning) isn’t activism, it’s born out of the fucking opposite impulses, IMO. Fiction is a place to explore anything and everything we wouldn’t even imagine doing in real life; there’s a reason why horror is such a popular genre, ffs. (and that’s mainstream, which means it has a bigger outreach and potential real life consequences (even if they don’t happen the way people think they do; fiction mostly reflects and maybe reinforces reality; it can’t create anything out of thin air). I cannot stress how few people read fanworks and how little they impact the real world).

If anything, those shippers have all my sympathy, because 9 times out of 10, THEY are the ones getting the brunt of the harassment. Like, I don’t give a single fuck about Reylo in one way or the other, to name one example (I’ve only watched TFA, which means I’ve missed the ~meaty part of their relationship, for one; but even if I remedied that, I thought both characters were deeply uninteresting, and I find KR painfully unattractive inside and out, so it’s likely I still wouldn’t ship it); but I’ve seen how its shippers got sent anti-Semitic slurs and gore pictures and were compared to school-shooters, and how its antis have effectively shielded a confessed rapist in their midst (and all that without getting into the general pattern of harassment/violent threats/suicide baiting that plagues the purity culture movement in this site; I can send you sources, if you don’t believe me), so those antis can go fuck themselves, tbh.

THAT shit is what I take issue with: hurting actual people. That’s ALWAYS going to matter more than the feelings of some fucking fictional construct, and I can’t believe that somehow became a controversial opinion. Bellamy or Rey or whom-the-fuck-ever doesn’t exist, they can’t get hurt, and the idea of their “feelings” taking precedence over the well-being or real people is fucking insulting.

(btw, don’t bother with any “but what about THIS gross ship/type of ships? you support THAT too?“ I’m not going to answer that and make myself a target for that bullshit, and I think this post proves this situation goes a little beyond something as clear-cut as “support” or “condemn” --among other issues, who am I to “aproove” or not any ship wtf--, but if you mean “are you against people who like it being attacked because their interests in fiction somehow prove they have ~nasty morals?”, then the answer is a resounding “yes”. What the fuck do you know about their life anyway)

[incvndescvnt]

⋆ ◦ ° ☾ aubrey joseph + cis male + he/him — have you seen ignatius ‘nate’ caito? they sure have been hanging out at raceway a lot recently. they are a twenty-one year old known as the thrill seeker, and they currently work for the savages as a race driver, which they’ve been doing for six months. a bisexual sagittarius, they are alluring + bright, as well as audacious + sardonic. smoke in the air, no speed limits, sketch books.

hello, hello ! i’m bea and i’m super excited to be here. i’ve had a few busy days, but i’m finally bringing this messy boy to all of you. i would love to plot with everyone and get some pre-established connections for him, so if you’re interested hmu ! if you’d rather talk on discord i’m a culpa é do cabr*l#9208.

i. stats !

FULL NAME: ignatius noah caito

NICKNAMES: nate, iggy, nate, jr.

DATE OF BIRTH / AGE: december 2nd / twenty-one.

ZODIAC SIGN: sagittarius.

HOMETOWN: valdez, co.

ALIGNMENT: chaotic neutral.

MBTI: estp.

ENNEAGRAM: type 8.

TEMPERAMENT: choleric-sanguine.

AFFILIATION / POSITION: savages / race driver.

ii. background !

ignatius is the son of balthazar caito, leader of the savages, and natalia woods, a civilian with a family filled with cobras. it wasn’t exactly a relationship, but more a series of encounters best kept secret, which is why before she even started showing, natalia left valdez under the pretext of a job opportunity elsewhere. about a year and a half later, she dropped nate with balthazar at the caito mansion.

his childhood wasn’t exactly the most conventional, if you consider he was surrounded by gang members, but it worked well for him. he had always known his family was different, but it wasn’t until he was around ten that he truly understood who his father was. he had always looked up to his father, and this certainly didn’t change anything.

he grew up as a troublemaker, getting mixed into things he shouldn’t and more interested in his father’s doings each day. school wasn’t a priority, but he dealt with it and was bright enough not to have much trouble keeping his grades up. once he graduated, he went to college less because he wanted and more because his parents did.

what he really wanted, though, was to join the savages officially, and that happened about six months ago and he took the position of one of the savages race driver. and a damn good one. he has always enjoyed cars and speed and just about anything that can get his adrenaline going and offer high potential for injuries or death, so it worked perfectly.  

things were going well, until this past october. his father’s death took him hard, he knew the lifestyle wasn’t exactly safe, but balthazar had always been larger than life in his eyes, untouchable. to die in a hit and run, it just didn’t make sense. but more than confused he was angry, and that anger had a perfect target. for the next weeks, he mourned by getting into as many fights as he could with cobras.

he’s grown a lot more reckless and restless, which isn’t a good sign.

iii. personality !

alluring & loyal: nate is an extrovert, he enjoys being around people and he has a way to lure people in with a cocky smile and the right words, skirting on manipulative. he grew up knowing how important loyalty is in this kind of business and it has been ingrained in who he is. he would die and kill for those he holds close, especially his family.

bright & determined: he’s a smart guy, intuitive and perceptive, and is also stubborn and tenacious, once his mind is set on something, there’s no dissuading him. if he puts himself into it, he won’t stop until he gets exactly what he wants, however it happens.

audacious & impulsive: he is a cocky little shit who thinks he’s invincible and can get away with anything. he doesn’t like waiting and is a true leap before you look kind of guy. he loves anything that gets his adrenaline going, whatever makes him feel alive, maybe he just likes challenging death.

temperamental & sardonic: nate has a bit of a temper. he can be all smirks and congeniality until someone says or does something wrong and he’s all fists instead. holds a grudge like no one else too. very sarcastic and blunt, he won’t sugarcoat anything to make someone feel better.

iv. wanted connections !

childhood best friend: they were attached to the hips when they were kids, but things have changed. maybe they’re a civilian and don’t like the whole gang life nate is a part of. or maybe your muse ended up joining the cobras when they grew up and now they’re on opposite sides.

best friend: this is the ultimate bro! they would have known each other for years now, they’re best friends and everyone knows it. gimme me a bromance, guys! (maybe there could have been something else between them? maybe one drunk night something else happened?)

sibling like: someone who’s very much like an older brother/sister to him. very protective over each other and maybe someone who can get him to listen. it could be cool if they were part of the savages. or maybe they are civilians and trying to be a good influence on nate?

ex too good for him: they dated and it was clear they were two very different people. nate was already too involved with the savages way of living and your muse was the nice, law-abiding type. a true case of opposites attract. it lasted for a while, but ultimately their differences put an end to it. maybe there are still some lingering feelings, though?

toxic ex / on & off: they’re not together, but sometimes it’s hard to tell because they’re still very possessive over each other. they are not good together and it’s clear on the way they’re always on and off. everyone and their mom has told them to just put an end to this but somehow they always find themselves back in each other’s arms.

secret fling: these two act like they hardly know each other, but the minute people look away they’re all over each other. we can decide the reason to keep it a secret together. maybe could be a family thing? or a gang thing? maybe your muse has a s/o already and they’re cheating with nate?

friends with benefits: another self explanatory one. nate would most likely have multiple of these. just friends who hook up and haven’t blurred the lines between the physical and emotional connection. it’s easy in a very no-strings-attached sort of way, but it doesn’t mean they don’t care about each other as friends.

frenemies with benefits: these two cannot stand each other and are always arguing. like everyone knows that they dislike each other. but it’s like one second they’re screaming at each other and the next they’re taking off their clothes and hate sex issues. and then they’re back to hating each other and telling each other that the sex wasn’t even that great (which btw is the biggest lie)

racing rival: this could be more of a friendly rivalry where they give each other shit and try to egg each other on, but it could also be more serious (maybe even throw in some sabotage?). whichever we go with it, they’re constantly battling each other for that win.

mutual dislike / enemy: these two do not like each other and will tell that to anyone who wants to hear. the reason behind it can be discussed. maybe nate slept with their s/o? maybe it goes back to when they were kids and they don’t even remember anymore? it could be a cobra x savages? but they have probably gotten into a more than just one fight.

[themillennialmommystuff-blog]

The Perks of Motherhood

Hello, and I am new here. I am 26 years old, with a one year old son. So many people look at me as a young mom, and while I am a younger mom, I am not some teen mom or something similar to. I am a stay at home mom, and the adjustment was pretty difficult at first. From listening to my usual music like Dimmu Borgir or Cradle of Filth and Ghost, to suddenly listening to Baby Shark 50,000 times in one day. Sometimes, more often than not, I have to also sing it. “Whaaaa?! Nooo... That song is so annoying! I would never!” Yeah. These were my thoughts at first when my son was just a tiny bundle of newborn. “My son won’t be into that stuff... Maybe I can get by without that.” Ha! Baby Shark, like with many children and toddlers, are among his favorite songs. He smiles and dances every time I do pop out with singing it. Other favorites are the Clean Up song (#blessed) and Wheels on The Bus (lawd please, no!). For the longest time, I would play them through either my Amazon Alexa Echo device or pop it onto youtube through my once beloved PlayStation 4 (I miss video games. I still love the PS4, but for different purposes now.) and pop some earbuds on with some sort of extreme metal band playing in my ear so I could tune out the kid stuff. I realized though, that through listening to many different support systems while struggling through the transition from being a half adult to full on adult with a child, that singing it to him is the way to go. Eventually, I had heard Baby Shark enough times that even when I had a few minutes to myself,  I would break down and belt out Baby Shark, trying to match the notes of the Cocomelon/ABC Kids Tv version. (Btw, LOVE Cocomelon, and the characters. I want to see a movie made. It doesn’t have to be extreme, but it would be cool to see a little more character interaction rather than nursery rhymes. Moms, dads, are ya with me?!) Around the time I started belting out these songs on my own was when the full adjustment got so much more easier. My son was about 6 months old when parenthood finally felt okay and not like some weird territory in which I didn’t belong. The hardest part (besides getting this meal thing right so that he does get the nutrition he needs.) was hearing the judgements from others. Not even judgments on my parenting tactics (everything is actually pretty well balanced and I try maintaining the household like a Toddler heaven, which is basically a daycare without having to share or eat smuckers uncrustables for lunch every day. GROSS!!) but rather judgments on just me as a person. Often I hear, “Oh you’re a young mom. It’s gonna be harder for you.” or even just being treated like I am somehow incompetent. I stand at 5′1. I am quite short even for a female, and I often get treated like I am a kid. Until people actually realize my true age (Oh, I thought you were 16.... Ten years ago, maybe!) It’s the hardest, because even peers I have to see every day often say these things. I am short! I can’t help it! I appear younger because I take care of my skin. I still have eyebags for days (thank the heavens for coffee... Sweet nectar of the gods!) but I still look closer to 16-18 years old. Ha! 

I do get irritated at this, but I also self reflected a bit in recent times and realized that it isn’t just my height and unusually good skin that makes me appear younger, but it’s the very clothes I wear and overall how I present myself. 

Now, there is nothing... I repeat, NOTHING wrong with being your own person while being a parent, so long as you’re not hurting yourself, your child, or anyone else. However, presentation does play a key role in how people see you. Impression is a big thing, and although there’s nothing wrong with a pair of plain jeans and a band tee with Converse Chuck Taylor high tops (me 100%) people are bound to judge you as basically the equivalent of a character off of 16 and pregnant and will assume you’re clueless.  I love wearing band tees and whatnot, it’s a comfort thing but I also want to be taken seriously.  I am nearing my thirties as every day passes, and I find it’s time people stop assuming I am 16 (youngest I got was actually 14... FROM A 19 YEAR OLD. Can anyone say, WTF?!) I do like my comfort, but I also always liked being shiny and glowy. However, coming from a family who couldn’t really afford all of the fancy, shiny things that most girls in my age group wore (Aeropostale was basically Chanel to me. Walmart or Target was the way to go.) I like being shiny, but the financial stress along with other teenage woes made me endure a nasty depression that did take a huge toll on me through my late teens, and kind of dulled my shine to a thick tarnish. A couple years before I conceived is when I finally started waxing the tarnish off and became “shiny” again. So, now that I am back in full swing and then some, I want to be extra shiny. This doesn’t mean I am going to drop $500 at Aeropostale for teeny tiny clothes (I’m not big by any means, but come on, after an 11 pound baby coming out of me, I’m bound to have some squish.) but I have recently come to find the joys of Walmart and simple baby doll solid tees, as well as “denim” skinny jeans. I can look classy, sophisticated, and casual without sacrificing comfort. Even plain white chuck taylor’s match ANY outfit! I still wear band tees and fuzzy pajama pants to bed, but during the day, I want to look more clean cut. Especially since I am growing to my near 30′s, I would like people to take me more seriously. 

In conclusion, I guess this first blog from me was more or less a rant than anything insightful, and I apologize in advance for my ranting on my life. Nonetheless, from figuring out this parenthood thing, to figuring out what the heck to feed my child for breakfast, lunch, dinner, and snacks, to learning how to even cook anything more than just eggs, to figuring out more of what kind of mom I even wanted to be, I have grown so much over the course of 1 year (and three months) and I look forward to growing even more. I feel like I may be becoming one of those soccer moms who are obsessed with Starbucks, but if that is what is written, the so shall it be! 

Sorry, I am a nerd. All in all, don’t let people’s negativity get you down. A perfect parent is a parent who is there and tries every day to become better and better for their children. You are already the perfect parent, despite what others may think! Be there, and love those little people as much as you possibly can before they push you away. One day, those little people are going to be big people. 

Cheers! Have a wonderful week!

-Bekah

[aphrodaisyacs]

Frostshield Bodyswap AU

Basically Pre-Thor Loki and Pre-Serum Steve keep waking up in each other’s bodies on alternating days, Kimi no Na Wa style.

For Loki, he first realises something’s wrong when he gets in trouble because apparently he punched some dickish nobleman in the face yesterday?? Which he didn’t??? (Also, throughout the day the palace servants smile and wave at him whenever they see him, for some strange reason)

For Steve, it’s a bit more subtle; a few things mentioned here and there which he doesn’t remember happening, Colonel Phillips shouting at him for slacking off (”You had better form yesterday, boy!”)

It doesn’t take long for them to realise they’re somehow bodyswapping, and while they don’t know why they still need to find a way to somehow live with it without ruining each other’s lives, so they set up some ground rules by writing in shared notebooks, and keeping journal entries to keep each other updated.

Loki is a pompous prick who looks down on Midgardians and believes that they are weak, powerless and generally inferior and not worth his time. This really shows in his written instructions to Steve, which seriously pisses off the latter. But Steve just grits his teeth and decides that just because Loki’s a dick doesn’t mean he shouldn’t still be nice to the spoiled prince.

So Steve picks and chooses which rules to follow. The ridiculous hair and skin care regimens? Nope. Stop picking fights? Well it’s not as if he tries to, but do you honestly expect him to turn a blind eye to injustice? But learning magic so he wouldn’t tarnish Loki’s reputation as a powerful magic-user? Well ignoring the second half, that’s actually something he’s excited about.

Meanwhile, Steve futilely asks Loki to stop pranking the other cadets (Loki’s favourite target is Hodge), because antagonising them is pointless and the bullying he already gets from them worsens. 

During this period of time they mellow out to each other and come to enjoy their shared banter. The bodyswapping is still as weird as ever but the two of them have kind of mutually decided not to tell anyone about it- for Loki he wants to unravel the mystery himself, and for Steve, well, who’s going to believe him anyway?

Steve also accidentally befriends Sif while in Loki’s body, so when Loki comes back he is left feeling weirded out when Sif acts genuinely friendly towards him. But he finds that he’s somehow able to maintain the friendship on his end even when it’s not Steve so he kind of reluctantly rolls with it

Loki messes around with Steve’s love life for shits and giggles- he is more than aware of Steve’s crush on Peggy so he teases him about it in the entries, then flirts with Peggy on Steve’s behalf. Steve just wants to die every time he gets his body back.

Steve undergoes Project Rebirth, and the next day Loki manages to talk his way out of being forced into becoming a dancing monkey, securing himself a position as a supersoldier spy (”You’re welcome,” he later writes to Steve, and Steve feels the warmth of gratitude expand in his chest)

Instead of Captain America, WW2 gets a legend whose existence is rumoured and feared: The Supersoldier. The Supersoldier has two fighting styles: he either bulldozes his way out against the odds through sheer stubbornness or he blindsides the enemy using unorthodox methods

Steve is constantly impressed by some of Loki’s deceitful strategies and earnestly tells him as such in the entries. Loki is like “wtf really” because he usually gets looked down upon by others for his methods

Back on Asgard, Steve helps improve Loki’s relationships with the people around him. In addition to befriending Sif, he also manages to get on friendly terms with the Warriors 3. It gets to the point where they’re no longer just Thor’s friends, but also Loki’s as well. Steve is also really nice to the palace servants, who in turn become really fond of ‘Loki’. Loki has no idea what to do with the positive attention.

At some point Loki catches feelings for Steve, and it gets to a point where he teasing Steve about Peggy is no longer fun but makes him kind of… sad? Bitter? Loki doesn’t want to say anything about his feelings though, so he just goes with “subtly” flirting through the entries

But Loki’s feelings are made complicated by Bucky’s return to Steve’s life.

At the pub, Bucky points out to Steve that he’s happier and lighter and thinking about someone, congratulating him on getting together with Peggy. Steve is like “??? What no I’m not with Peggy”. Bucky’s like “oh man just tell her already you’ve obviously got it bad”. Steve is confused because he was actually thinking about Loki’s most recent entry (which is totally unrelated btw)

Steve has a private chat with Peggy and she tells him that she really does care about him and think he’s an amazing person. She also brings up that sometimes it’s as if he’s two completely different people. Then she gently turns him down because it’s obvious that he’s already in love with someone else, someone who isn’t her (she thinks it’s Bucky). Steve is dejected but not as upset as he expected to be. He thinks about what Bucky said, how at the time he thought Bucky was wrong because he was thinking about Loki, how Peggy said he’s in love with someone else, and… oh. Steve you useless bisexual

The bodyswapping stops when Steve crashes into the ice but ALL IS WELL they reunite in the 21st century and are alive and happy together and that’s what matters

[the-real-xmonster]

@incandescentlysilver said:

I'm so glad you wrote that defense of evgenia because the hate she gets has been insane and makes me very uncomfortable. I'll admit I didn't like her very much at first, but her skating's really grown on me, so now whenever I see unnecessary evgenia hate, I'm indignant on her behalf, and I make gifs of her to spite the haters ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ I don't get them: don't like the skater, blacklist/don't enter the tag. It's not that hard, esp since a constructive discussion clearly isn't gonna happen.

oh and I wanted to add that I like your evgenia edits and I know she doesn't really have a consistent Tumblr "fanbase" and I appreciate you taking up the mantle (unofficially)??? your blog's been so great: I came for yuzu and I stayed for your sincere appreciation of skaters. Keep fighting the good fight my pal! 🤙🤙

Thank you! And I am so glad I’m not the only weird one who likes to make gifs as a way to annoy anti fans and haters. I do love to be contradictory, me. So, sure, bring it on, I will gif at least one performance from every competition Janny does this season. Her programs are, blessedly, quite easy to gif, as they’re full of transitions and jumps done properly out of steps, unlike some other sad crossover-filled stuffs we see on the circuit these days. As you so rightly pointed out, anyone who doesn’t want to see her can easily blacklist the tag, no big deal.

P.S. I love your Janny edits too!

Anonymous said:

Whoa. I came on your blog (which has recently very quickly become one of my favs btw) and was like, what's with the sudden onslaught of Evgenia hate!? O.o Then I finished reading the post and I gotta congratulate you on that mic drop. Whether one likes her skating or not, she deserves the highest respect because she works incredibly hard (as Eteri pointed out in a new interview - nobody works harder than her apparently) and as a result she's pushing boundaries. People just gotta deal with it.

Thank you, I am very glad you like my blog and I apologize for the sudden drama - it was partially my fault to begin with, I was practically begging for it, as you can see :)) Yes, I totally agree with you, whether or not to like a skater is up to each’s personal taste, and freedom of speech means anyone can criticize any skater they dislike, but it doesn’t, and shouldn’t, mean that we have to put up with blatant disrespect and unreasonable hatred.

Anonymous said:

I just read your post on Evgenia and to anon who asks why everyone hates her and not Yuzuru ... lbr, there's also some sexism and jealousy involved. Evgenia is a pretty girl and a super consistent skater who seems to get along with pretty much everyone - that also includes Yuzuru. And *many* of her haters are also hardcore Yuzuru stans so .. you do the math :) and to you: keep up the good work, your posts are always a joy to read, especially for those of us who aren't so technique-savvy! ♥   

Anonymous said:

Conspiracy theory: People are hating on Evgenia cause she’s so consistent (but seriously though, what’s her secret???), she’s breaking all those records set by Yuna and Mao (okay I’m a bit bitter about this), and she’s Yuzuru’s friend?!? (as in she tends to be around him a lot when they meet) 😱😱😱

I’ve vented my thought on the pointless practice of comparing Janny against Yuna/Mao here so I won’t do it again. As for the other points, on sexism and jealousy, yes, I have to admit, those are things (1) I am aware of but (2) I hate and (3) I try to deny because I don’t want to even begin to think that people can be so small-minded and ignorant. 

On the first point, let’s just say I truly believe if Janny had been a guy, or if the demographic of the skating fandom had been more gender-neutral, she wouldn’t have received nearly a quarter of the criticism and animosity she’s getting now.

On the second point, about people hating Janny because she gets along well with Yuzu, let us for one moment try to be rational about it. It’s no secret that Yuzu is a skater Janny admires. I don’t see how, in any universe, there can be anything remotely wrong with her trying to be friendly with him or talking to him or giving him presents, especially when Yuzu himself doesn’t seem to be the tiniest bit bothered by it. Also, it’s Yuzuru Hanyu, people, aside from Extra, Sunny Disposition is his other middle name. Have you seen him at galas or some such? He gets along well with literally everybody and he enjoys it. If you by default develop a sense of hostility for anyone who manages to be the target of Yuzu’s affection, that’d mean almost any human or animal who has ever been within a 1-meter radius around him. If by chance Yuzu has ever shown to be a tiny little bit nicer to Janny, isn’t it also quite understandable? She’s a good skater and I bet Yuzu does know good skating when he sees it, bless his taste. She seems such a sweet girl off ice and of freaking course she’s so damn pretty. Why on this good face of Earth would a 22-year-old healthy non-psychotic dude be anything less than perfectly happy about getting the attention of such a lady?

But, oh well, as said, that’s what you’d see if you’re being rational. What you’d see if you are not, I don’t know and I really don’t want to know.

Here’s Janny and Yuzu hugging because why ever the hell not?

(and I’d like to point out the very important technical detail of the Yuzuru Hanyu initiating the hug in the first place)