#this was a very Keith focused post as well

[antigoneikk]

you know the music is gonna hit if the artist has at least two: liver disease, more than six children, secret gay love affair, heroin addiction, history of institutionalization, twelve string guitar, fear of flying, a missing tooth, illegitimate child born during their marriage, crossdressing incident(s), crippling ptsd, pedophilia rumors, fringe jacket, abysmally bad haircut and goatee.

[glavilio]

One of my favorite fun historical through lines is that the original co-illustrator for Dick and Jane who also co-created the branding for Elmers Glue is also very likely the indirect but influential progenitor of a great majority of furry art and culture. and he doesn't even have a wikipedia page. The story is as follows:

A team of designers create Elsie the cow as the mascot of the Borden dairy company, later giving her a husband named Elmer in branding. Elsie was extraordinarily popular and was portrayed in tons of print advertising and even licensed media. The most well-remembered and beloved of these advertisements were done by a popularly unknown and uncredited illustrator named Keith Ward together with a great deal of other commercial illustrations

(Ward's early work in commercial illustration: children's books and advertising)

The scale of ward's contribution to Elsie and Elmer is somewhat murky, particularly since most credits go to the contributors with greater status at Borden. Personally, I see it as largely a collaboration between Ward and several unknown others under art director David William Reid.

(Ward's work vs Reid's work)

Elsie eventually fell out of popular consciousness after rebranding, but Elmer lives on as the mascot of Elmer's glue, originally a subsidiary of Borden as glue could be produced as a byproduct of industrial dairy. Modern Elmer's glue is synthetic, but retains the iconic mascot and design.

(Elmer's evolution from a more Ward-like design its current iteration)

Ward would later go on to illustrate for an American adaptation of Reynard the Fox by Harry J. Owens, again, miraculously uncredited on the cover. His name appears once, on the title page, and the lavish biography on the back of my copy fails to even mention the illustrations.

(Ward's work for the Scandalous Adventures of Reynard the Fox)

These works are particularly notable as much later, Ken Anderson of Disney was working on conceptualizing a Disney adaptation of Reynard, which is a very interesting and messy story for another time. In short, he and his team drew many inspirations from many many places, but with Ward being relatively more known and respected in the industry and having worked on a Reynard book in a similar style to what Disney wanted, his work was one of the most influential on the development of the film. The Reynard part was eventually scrapped (those who are familiar with the story and character will not be surprised), but a lot of the designs and even layouts were reused for Robin Hood. If you've ever wondered why they made him a fox, that's why.

(Bill Peet's and Ken Anderson's Reynards bear a striking resemblance to Ward's)

There's a lot more to the inspiration than just the designs, many plot points and layouts from Reynard, and their depictions by Ward, remain in Robin Hood (they unfortunately do not fit in this post). Its likely that finding such a clear starting point for their film in Ward's book had a hand in salvaging the Disney Reynard project and leading to the complete, although troubled, completion and release of Robin Hood.

And the rest is furstory! While there are certainly many other Disney animal features that have made their mark on the fandom, Robin Hood's influence is particularly notable for being the most popular of the most anthropomorphic animal-focused animations in contrast to the commercial underdogs of the Great Mouse Detective and many of Don Bluth's films, and more conventionally presented talking animals like those of the Aristocats and the Jungle Book. Isn't that interesting!

[butchhamlet]

are there any shakespeare retellings you recommend? i really enjoy retellings but it's also difficult to find ones that like. actually understand the source material... i've read your novella duodecimal and really liked it btw! excellent take on twelfth night :-)

THANK YOU SO MUCH WAH... yes, i can recommend some retellings! i keep intending to make a big post with my recs, actually, but there are so many out there that i haven't read yet... so for now here's an incomplete list:

a thousand acres by jane smiley: the first one that came to my mind seeing this ask. it's a retelling of lear set on an american farmstead, and the adaptation is done beautifully and smoothly--it's just distinct enough from OG Lear that you can judge it as a book on its own but also as a lear retelling. and it's sooooo good. it starts a little slow, but the character work is so excellent and it almost made me cry (i will note that there's a pretty hefty cw on this one but... saying what it is is technically spoilers? but feel free to send another ask or message if you want to know up-front)

the last true poets of the sea by julia drake: books that made me have to turn my camera off in zoom class so i could bawl properly. books written for me specifically. this is a loose YA retelling of twelfth night (looser than some of the other retellings on this list) and it's like. perfect. the teenage dialogue actually sounds like teenagers. every emotional beat clubbed me over the head. the love triangle is present--and done really well; it's not present for drama but because sometimes being a teenager is confusing--but more than that this is a book about the relationship between violet and her sibling, and about mental health, and god it makes me CRAZY. also girls kiss in this one

rosencrantz and guildenstern are dead by tom stoppard: i mean. i think most people into shakespeare know r&gad. but in case you haven't read it yet, it's an absurdist play from the point of view of rosencrantz and guildenstern and it's absolutely fucking brilliant. not sure what else to say about this; you've really just gotta read it

teenage dick by mike lew: another play, this one on the modern side--a retelling of richard iii set in a high school, focusing explicitly on disability issues. kind of more a reimagining than a retelling, honestly, but i really like the exploration of r3's themes and also it's fucking hysterical. although i will say there's a kind of jarring tonal shift in this one near the end, so don't go to it for something 100% comedic

american moor by keith hamilton cobb: okay this isn't exactly a retelling but if you've ever read othello you have to read it. you just have to. please god if you've ever read a shakespeare PLEASE. it's a monologue from the perspective of a black man trying out for the role of othello, half-resigned to being pigeonholed into playing that specific role in a very specific way as directed by a white director, but also half-chafing against that resignation, and also exploring the complexities of loving shakespeare as a black man, and it's soooooo so good

exit, pursued by a bear by e.k. johnston: this one is kind of cheating because it's not really a retelling, in that it has next to nothing to do with the winter's tale except that there is a hermione character and a leontes character and a paulina character. i still think it's a very very well-done YA book, though, and one of the only ones i've read that deals head-on with abortion

foul is fair by hannah capin: okay, i will admit i read this one some years ago when i was more into YA, so i'm not sure i would still go crazy over it now, but the plot of this book is that the modern lady macbeth character gets assaulted by a guy at a party and decides to kill everyone who let that happen. and then she does. and idk i read it in two days it felt like being on crack

the wednesday wars by gary schmidt: this one is DEFINITELY cheating, because this isn't a retelling of anything. but if you like shakespeare and you're open to reading historical fiction about a kid in the 60s using shakespeare as a lens through which to understand the chaos of his life (from the vietnam war to his school crush)... it's so good. it made me nearly sob. beautiful book

i'm also a fan of ryan north's shakespeare choose-your-own-adventure books, but those aren't exactly retellings and also the humor will probably not work for everyone. but i like em <3

and finally, i would be remiss not to shout out the fact that @suits-of-woe wrote an INCREDIBLE retelling of the two gentlemen of verona that, like, redeemed the fact that that play exists. if you've read that play and you thought, "wow, i wish this were explicitly homoerotic, or not a rape apologia, or good in any way," you will LOVE macy's book. unfortunately it isn't fucking published yet but WITH YOUR HELP--

[artsyjesseblue]

Jesse's Blog Masterpost

Hey people of Tumblr! I've created a lot of art, fics and metas in the past few years. Although I dab into other fandoms too, VLD remains the focus of this blog - in the form of illustrations, fanfics and metas (some artworks are still available as prints in my Ko-fi shop). This is an updated masterpost of links to the most representative artworks and fanfics, as well as every meta I've written. Yup, a lot of Lotura. :)

VLD art (#jesseblue draws) Here are some of my favorite artworks created in the past few years: Dancing Allura Here's Some Alchemy Lotor gets a massage Bedtime Lotura Allura on the Moon Halloween Lotura New Year Lotura Lotura's Alchemy Lasts Forever - my most popular artwork Plance Dance Wardrobe Updates - Lotura Week 2023 entry Beach Day - Lotura Week 2023 entry Wardrobe Updates - Lotor - Lotura Week 2023 entry Wardrobe Updates - Allura - Lotura Week 2023 entry Lotura's Celestial Wedding Lilac Love - Lotura Week 2024 entry Drawings inspired by other writers' fics: "Quiet!" - a Pidge and Keith drawing Lotor clawing his way out of a muddy situation DotU Lotor chopping wood Some art was created for my fanfic "Nothing Ever Truly Goes Extinct": Story banner "Allura, please..." Lotor's Pirouette Space Mouse in Pilot Suit Melancholy Angry Romelle Don't Mess With Acxa She Is Beauty... We Will Win "Though She Be But Little" Acxa and Jesse VLD-TDP cross-art Aaravos and Lotor Find my VLD fanfiction on AO3 here (#jesseblue writes) All my VLD metas (#jesseblue writes) The Two Alluras: An analysis of some potential post-animation edits and errors in several scenes during the last episode, when the Paladins face Honerva in the Connected Consciousness.

Oh No, Lotor: Why Lotor should not be among the Paladins of Old in the final scenes of VLD.

Sleeping Allura: Some logical deductions based on basic rules of cinematography, regarding the very last scene in S8E10 - Knights of Light Part 2.

Decoding Voltron’s Rosetta Stone: My biggest meta (seriously, it’s really long), an interpretative analysis of numerous symbols in the official VLD comics - which, at a first glance look absolutely innocent, yet oftentimes eerily cryptic, especially the Yalexian Pearl book.

Lion vs. Wolf: An extension of the previous meta, focused on a comparison between the White Lion - Guardian of Oriande and Gantomor - Warden of the Sacred Hunting Grounds (comics).

So Safe and Warm: Why “Luxia’s Kingdom” actually reads “Altea” in the last commercial scene of “The Feud”.

Petrulius - What Happened to You?: Questioning the purpose of Lotor’s pods on the moon colony, by comparing the images of Petrulius and the original (doctor) Haggar.

Allura Drawn over Lotor (with gifs): Mostly a visual meta with gifs, showing Allura was drawn over Lotor in the last episode, as part of the post-animation edits.

I Have Beezer Questions: Several observations regarding animation inconsistencies during the Allura and Lance first kiss scene, most notably their flipped placement on the screen and Beezer’s trajectory.

A Noble Cause: An interpretation of Allura’s vision in Clear Day, if we were to start from the premise that Lotor was infusing his moon Alteans with the Entity. The Zarkon-Honerva-Lotor meta trilogy - an in-depth analysis of the profound reasons that led to the tragic descent into madness of these three antagonist characters. Prepare for reading some long metas, especially Lotor's: Slowly Going Mad - Part I - Zarkon Slowly Going Mad - Part II - Honerva Slowly Going Mad - Part III - Lotor I also wrote one short meta about Aaravos, from The Dragon Prince (my speculation turned out to be true, heh).

[icypantherwrites]

Hi!

I really love your works!

Especially those related to the Voltron fandom.

Unfortunately the fandom is a bit stagnant but it's nice to see how you keep it active. Just for Voltron I wanted to ask, what would you think of a Canon au where Lance is possessed by an alien god and the team has to save him, and in the process face the fact that they treated him poorly and were a mediocre team?

Aw, well thank you ♥ It's definitely a pretty dead fandom these days, but doing my best to at least finish posting Here and wrapping up that trilogy on AO3 :)

To your question, I will admit that I don't ever envision or write the team as ever purposefully treating Lance poorly as I don't think they are like that. I think they are human (or Altean or part-Galran ;p) and like all of us sometimes we can get so wrapped up in our own problems or concerns or even our own past experiences that we can inadvertently hurt someone we care about through our actions (or inactions). So that would not be a story I personally could write or design as it goes against how I view the characters.

That said, I've explored in a few of my stories elements of where members of the team have unintentionally hurt Lance. I think it's very reasonable to hurt someone you care about like that in the short-term (with the exception to this being Kuron!Shiro whose actions can hurt in longer term because he's not quite himself) when there are outside factors and even internal ones that can skew your perception of the situation and how it might affect another.

If you're interested, a few of those off the top of my head are:

Quiet Your Pain, Suffer in Silence

Summary: Lance has never liked the quiet and he likes it even less on this big, empty castle far away from home. He tries to fill it with stories and laughter so it doesn't feel quite as lonely.

But lately whenever Lance opens his mouth all he seems to do is upset people, annoy people and now… now he’s hurt them too. So there’s only one solution.

He just won’t ever talk again.

Icy Notes: This one is probably the most 'team hurts Lance' story on the list as everyone (save my sunshine boys Hunk and Coran) do indeed hurt Lance by their words and actions. They all realize though in the end what hurt they caused (thanks, Coran!) and resolve it.

The Poison of Deceit

Summary: This diplomatic mission is not going the way Lance had hoped. The diplomacy part on behalf of Voltron is going fantastic and Lance doesn’t think he’d be remiss in saying he had a large hand in that. But the whole impress Shiro bit is an epic fail as Shiro doesn’t seem to notice his efforts at all and it’s only worse with Keith showing him up at nearly every turn. The aliens they’re working on the alliance though have noticed his efforts. But as Lance stands here now, Shiro and Keith’s lives along with a vial of poison in his hands, he isn’t so certain that was a good thing.

Icy Notes: This one might be the closest take to your comment about the alien God in the sense that an outside party is also involved. This one is just focused on Lance, Shiro and Keith so not the whole team, but those two do get a very hard lesson in what it means to be a good friend and is definitely going to stick with them.

Feast

Summary: Lance is well aware he's the weak link on Team Voltron. He knows he's not the brightest. But he's not stupid. And he's always thought that even despite his shortcomings he had not just a place with Voltron, but friends who would look out for him just as he would do for them.

But that doesn't seem to be the case anymore. While there's no knife to stab him in the back, the ones his friends wield with their cruel, heartless words cuts just as deep. And by the time Lance realizes that something is wrong, that these people are not his friends, it's too late.

The feast has begun.

Icy Notes: This story has a lot of other plot points other than just team treating Lance poorly, although it is the most literal interpretation of the team hurting Lance (legit torturing him) even if it's not quite them... But it explores the show post Game Show and how those actions made Lance feel and again, unable to confide in his team and feeling like no one values him.

Worth(less)  (please note this one is rated M!)

Summary: On their journey to Earth, Voltron stops at a planet for supplies and finds that its inhabitants are not only incredibly generous but powerful and would make strong allies in their upcoming fight. In order to secure the alliance, the king assigns a member of his council to observe each Paladin and judge their worth.

Lance is delighted to find out his evaluator is the king’s own son, Prince Barin, who is a formidable fighter and pilot, and he’s determined to prove himself worthy and make Voltron proud, especially following the horrible game show experience with Bob.

Except Lance discovers that the prince isn’t interested in evaluating his worth as a Paladin; he's just interested in his body. And for the sake of the universe… Lance knows what he has to do.

Icy Notes: Like Feast above, there's a lot of other plot at play here and definitely heed warnings if you read it, but a large part of said plot is Lance's reactions and feelings from the Game Show where he felt like the team didn't care about him and so he's unable to trust them now. Horrible consequences for thinking so little of himself and unable to go to the team for support, but comfort and resolution at the end.

[autisticlancemcclain]

episode one

-- -- --

[The screen seems to blink; first black then a flash of many colours, before focusing and settling on the scene the camera is filming. Seven people sit squished together on a couch – the paladins of Voltron. Some look particularly happier about the predicament than others.]

Lance, Allura (beaming): Hiya, everyone!

[Allura ducks her head to whisper something at Lance. She is not very good at whispering, so her words are picked up by the microphone.]

Allura: Did I say it correctly? Hiya?

[Lance makes a ‘perfect’ motion with his hands.]

Lance (whispering also): You nailed it!

[Both teens nod resolutely at each other and turn back to the camera.]

Lance: You guys loved that first episode. We got…so many space e-mails.

Hunk (amused): I think we can just call them e-mails, buddy.

[Lance sticks his tongue out at him, playfully annoyed, and then turns to Pidge, who is squished next to him and scowling heavily. He nudges her.]

Lance: If it’s in space, I say space. Space goo, space castle, space lions. Right, Pidgey?

Pidge (deadpan): You have three seconds to explain why I’m here or I’m tasing you again.

Lance: Yeesh, dude, fine.

[He turns to the camera, smiling, but it is significantly more mischievous than before.]

Lance: I mentioned that I got several space e-mails. Several hundred, really.

[Pidge taps her wrist.]

Lance: I’m getting there! Holy moly!

[He huffs at her, then turns his attention away, dragging something from his pocket and stuffing it into his hands before anyone can see.]

Lance: ANYWAYS. After I sorted through all the various marriage proposals for Hunk and some of the most insane strings of sentences that have ever been uttered thought or posted – and I’m a bisexual thot, so that’s saying something; some of y’all are horny – there were some genuinely interesting questions. So I thought we could answer some of them!

[He waves the thing he took from his pocket, which is now clear to be a stack of papers. His announcement draws a mix of emotions; whoops of excitement from the Alteans, an exasperated and fond sigh from Hunk, a look of resignation from Shiro, a groan of distress from Pidge, and a look from Keith that can only be described as the same wariness one might have when approaching a feral animal. Uncaring of any negativity, Lance primly straightens the papers, holding one in front of him with great fanfare.]

Lance: We’ll start with some group questions. Ease us all into it. Oh, I forgot to mention that I used one of Pidge’s programs to pick these questions for me based off a few parameters, so I genuinely have no idea what they’re going to be. I thought it would be more fun that way.

[He clears his throat.]

Lance: ‘To the Voltron team – what’s it like living with the same people every day? Is it fun, like a sleepover? Is there someone who’s a particularly worse roommate than the others?’

Lance: Oooooou, drama. 

[A moment of contemplative silence.]

Shiro: Most of us are pretty used to sharing spaces with people, I think. I can’t speak for everyone, but I’ve lived the majority of my life in a military facility since I was twelve, so.

All other humans: Same.

Pidge: Well, not that long. It is a little more new to me. But I lived with my brother and parents before all this, so I’m totally used to banging on the bathroom door in the mornings because someone is hogging it.

[She looks pointedly at Lance. He shrugs.]

Lance: I will not apologise for my commitment to looking beautiful. It pays off, and you are all granted the privilege of looking at me, so.

Keith (confused): You have to try to be pretty?

[Hunk chokes. Shiro whips his head to stare at his brother, wide-eyed. Pidge frantically digs around for her phone, then remembers the camera, looking straight at it with an evil grin. Lance’s jaw drops.]

[Keith continues to stare at the Blue Paladin in confusion, oblivious to the double meaning of his question.]

Lance (hoarsely): What?

Keith: I mean, you get the soap and wash your face and hair and body and go. How do you…make yourself pretty? That’s just something you are or are not, right?

[Shiro places his head in his hands. His shoulders shake.]

Shiro: Oh, dear God.

[Hunk is biting his lip harshly to keep from laughing. Pidge and Allura offer no such courtesy, giggling openly to themselves.]

Lance:...

Lance: Keith, tell me you’re not washing your fucking hair with bar soap.

[All embarrassment seems to be forgotten in favour of disbelief.]

Keith: Of course I am. I actually do wash my hair, you know. Frequently.

Lance: With fucking bar so – 

[He takes a deep, calming breath, bodily moving himself away as if proximity to Keith will somehow make his own hair-washing habits degrade.]

Lance: I am done talking about this. You are the worst roommate.

Keith: What? How? Because I wash my hair like a normal person?

Keith: At least I do it fast! You’re the worst roommate because you take four billion years to brush your teeth!

Lance (screeching): This mouth is plaque and gingivitis free, you skanky hoe! I spend a normal amount of time in the bathroom, you’re just a knobhead!

[Before Keith can argue back, Hunk reaches over and places a placating hand on Lance’s head.]

Hunk: Sorry, buddy, but as your roommate of almost six years now, you spend an insane amount of time in front of a mirror. I don’t have enough time in the day to count how often it would make us late.

Keith (emphatically): See? Worst roommate.

[Coran hums disapprovingly.]

Coran: I’m not sure that’s true, Number Four. He does more chores than the rest of you.

[Various mutters of agreeance.]

Shiro: True. Who’s the worst, then?

Pidge: Well, Hunk is always sneaking into my workshop and rearranging my shit.

Hunk: First of all, shared workshop. I am simply meandering over to your half. Second of all, I wouldn’t have to snoop if you simply indulged my curiosity. 

Lance (deadpan): The same curiosity that inspired you to build and code a device to break into my phone when I wouldn’t tell you the name of the person I was seeing?

Hunk: In my defense, you generally have bad taste. You’ve been mugged four times.

Lance: Privacy, Hunk. Snoops are the worst roommates. 

Allura: But he makes us treats! Surely that must count for something.

[Hunk looks at her, adoring and playful.]

Hunk: Allura, you are my favourite.

[Allura beams.]

Allura: Thank you!

Shiro: Hm. I suppose we all have annoying habits, but we’re all pretty helpful, too.

Coran (teasing): How diplomatic, Number One.

Lance: Taking that as a cue to move on. 

[He looks down at his stack of papers.]

Lance: Uh, a couple of these are pretty straightforward. ‘What is the best part of being a paladin?’

Keith (immediately): Helping people.

[No one voices protest.]

Lance (quietly): Next one.

Lance: ‘Do you have to train a lot?’

[Three humans groan in unison. Shiro looks amused. Allura looks huffy. Keith looks a little bit like a teacher’s pet.]

Pidge: All fucking day!

Allura (primly): That is a gross exaggeration.

Hunk: The only gross thing around here is how sweaty I get after the bajillion thousand years of training every morning. It is agony.

Lance: Agreed. I got so sweaty I broke out the other day. Broke out. Me. I had to be consoled.

[Hunk and Pidge both nod very seriously. Pidge places a reassuring hand on his shoulder.]

Hunk: It was a very difficult night.

Shiro (smiling): Next question, you dorks. 

Lance: This one is for Allura! ‘Were you friends with the mice before the cryo pod or did you only befriend them after? If the former, how did you end up becoming friends with them?’

[Allura lights up, either at the first directed question being to her personally, or because she is excited to show off her pets. She immediately pulls the mice out of her pockets, where they had been peacefully sleeping, and they blink and yawn as they wake, scampering up her arms to rest on her head.]

Allura: These friends are new! They were little stowaways. If I had known they were on the castle I would have befriended them much sooner.

Coran: She is very fond of animals. She would spend hours as a child building careful and gentle traps for any ‘pests’ that roamed the castle and disturbed the residents, so she could safely free them. 

[Lance feigns an arrow to the heart, collapsing dramatically backwards. Everyone else simply smiles fondly.]

[Allura barely notices, attention turned upwards to her pets, where she strokes them gently.]

Allura: I love my friends very much. They make everything…

[She pauses for a moment, expression saddening.]

Allura: They help me keep a piece of home.

[Shiro reaches over to squeeze her shoulder. She smiles gratefully at him. After a moment she turns to look at Lance, indicating for him to continue.]

Lance: Two more. 

[He takes a moment to read the first, then grins, sharp and teasing.]

Lance: ‘For Hunk: so did you and Shay ever become an iiiiiiteeeeeem?’

[Hunk flushes red. The rest of the team snickers, teasing and poking at him.]

Hunk: I doubt there was that much emphasis in the space e-mail, Lance.

Lance: No, there was.

[Keith crawls over the back of the couch to lean over Lance’s shoulder. He turns to Hunk, smirking.]

Keith: It definitely does, dude. Big and bold.

Lance (smugly): Thank you, Keith.

[Hunk scowls.]

Hunk: Funny how it’s suddenly easy for you two to work together when it benefits you.

Hunk: But whatever. We’ve been in contact. We have to follow up with people, you know.

Lance: Oh of course, of course.

Keith: Exactly the kind of kindness we expect from you, Hunk.

Pidge: Standard procedure.

Shiro: I would even say it’s protocol. 

Allura: I’d be disappointed if you weren’t following up, truly.

Coran: Astounded by your commitment, dear boy.

[Hunk sighs, long and heavy.]

Hunk: I hate all of you. Move on, Lance, or I’m leaving.

Lance: Okay, grouchy.

[He turns to the last sheet, reading it carefully. Suddenly, his face blooms bright crimson, and he flips the page over, slamming it onto his knees.]

Lance (hurriedly): My mistake! Misprint, there’s nothing on this page. That’s all for this episode, everyone, tune in for the next –

Keith: Oh, no you don’t.

[Keith leans over and snatches the paper from Lance’s lap faster than Lance can stop him. Lance screeches, lunging after him, but he is too fast, and besides everyone else but Coran piles on top of him, barring him from tackling Keith to the ground. The Red Paladin perches on the back of the couch, paper in hand, hair mussed and wild and smile victorious.]

Keith: ‘Do you really not remember the Bonding Moment –

[Lance lets out a scream of emotional agony.]

Keith: – or were you just faking?’ Bonding moment is capitalised, by the way. In case you wanted to pretend you didn’t know exactly what this is talking about. 

Lance (stubbornly): I don’t.

[Three people pinch him at once.]

Lance: Ouch! This is extortion!

Pidge: Deserved extortion, you liar.

Lance: I had brain damage! I don’t remember jack about shit!

Keith (voice cracking) (again): I cradled you in my arms!

Lance: No way! Don’t remember –

Keith (threatening): If you say ‘didn’t happen’, McClain, I swear to God –

Lance: – didn’t happen!

Hunk: One day you are going to piss off the angry knife boy just so and you are going to get stabbed. And I might not stop him.

Lance: This place is the worst. None of you love me. Only Coran.

[Coran gently pats Lance’s ankle.]

Coran: I don’t believe you either, dear.

Lance: Well, that’s fine. I will simply wallow away in agony and despair.

Coran: You do that.

[Lance sighs loudly, then squirms his way out of his teammates’ hold so his head his peeking out, glancing at the camera.]

Lance (sagely): Remember this injustice, Lance stans. I know you’re out there. Avenge me.

[On that dramatic note, the video cuts.]

[chaifootsteps]

Wow that call out post you reblogged of vivs earlier days in fandom. Just Wow. Funny things I noticed:

1) Viv claiming hazbin was about 'giving voices and jobs to people who might not get focused on usually, who are talented and deserved way more opportunity. I want to use my position and this show to bring fresh perception and voices to the industry. LGBT voices. POC voices. Women's voices!' It sounded nice til you realize years later she was just talking about herself.

We CAN at least admit the cast of hazbin wasn't very diverse in the POC front. But that was how she casted back when she said this.

But yeah, TLDR: this was just a show about giving HER, an unappreciated, POC, LGBTQ, female genius a voice and nuts to everyone else whose less talented and deserving and belong exactly where they are.

2) dollcreep getting called out by Viv for making racial and sexual oriented stereotype characters, romantisizing abusive relationships and using problematic topics just to be disturbing and edgey rather than in a way that successfully pursues an artistic vision... So she couldn't just steal their characters and art style, she also had to steal his flaws as a creator too. �� damn girl. You robbed them house and home.

(Ps. Casting stenphanie as the Latino character is NOT helping bring Latino voices into the industry. Shes being casted so often for ever Latino role that at this point she's inadvertently becoming a token. No offense to Stephenie I ADORE HER she's so vocally talented she deserves a constant stream of work but I would just think smaller projects like this could bring in more people for their debut rather than 'help along' everyone whose already made it and doesn't need help. This show is a tiny footnote in all these actors careers. I'll give a free pass on Keith JUST because viv was going for an older seasoned voice but it's still. Well. Viziepop is so up her own ass she can see space)

All of this is superb, but "So she couldn't just steal their characters and art style, she also had to steal his flaws as a creator too" made me ugly laugh.

[comfortlesshurt]

Skyler's October 2024 AO3 Recs

Boysssss, I have been slacking with sharing other people's fics, so I'm gonna work on being better with that. Below the cut is a non-exhaustive list of fics I've started/finished in October 2024 (i.e. all the ones that didn't get too buried in my AO3 history page and aren't PWP) that I enjoyed. I tried to sort fics from least to most traffic, so the higher on each list, the more it deserves some attention!

I didn't read a ton this month, so we've got a pretty short list. Expect the same in November, but December is usually a big reading month for me.

I enjoy stuff others find triggering, so particularly in the whump-focused section, make sure you read the tags first. I didn't relist triggers that the authors already noted on the stories.

More Whump-Focused

Since October's weird because of Whumptober, I'm just going to link to my whumptober reblogs tag to knock all the Whumptober fills out! I liked all of these, but there are far too many to go into detail on. You'll find a lot of shorter fics under this tag because I mainly follow people who tried to complete every day. It's mostly VLD in there, but I know a few FMA fics made it through! If you're as much of a Keith stan as I am, definitely hit all of @perpetuallylatetothefandomparty's posts under this tag. There are more than what I reblogged for everyone in this tag as well, so follow these people for more! I just burned out halfway through the month and needed a break from oneshots. You'll see 'em reblogged later though.

Swoon by Le_Tournesol: pre-Klance. short oneshot. chaotic dumbasses keith and lance, my beloved.

Even the People in Your Dreams Will Lie to You by popering: Klance, but the ship's not so much the focus imo. LONG. technically, I did NOT find this in October but I haven't hyped it up nearly enough yet, so here it is anyway. also, I re-read it in October, so maybe that counts. follows keith and lance being rescued from galra captivity. the author describes it as a science fiction mindfuck and that is so accurate. plenty of angsty content, but not like... over the top. like it all has a plot purpose. this may have usurped my previous all-time favorite fic... unfinished but I have no reason to believe OP won't come through with the rest, and it is close to complete. catch me in the comments as I work on my re-read.

The Future Freaks Me Out by gghostnebula: Klance. longfic. I forget how long ago I found this, but it COUNTS because I read it again this month. (I say as though I don't reread it every few months obsessively.) when I say my ideal fic... very Keith-focused. lots of hurt/comfort. slowburn Klance with fake dating. painful backstory that gets resolved. somehow takes a couple tropes I hate and makes me love them. heavily inspired something i'm writing now, so if you don't like it, you're gonna have a bad time following me in a few months... if this fic has no diehard fans then i am dead.

More Ship-Focused

To Whom It May Concern by heavily_caffeinated: Klance. short. a follow-up fic to Dear Reader in the relatively near future! modern AU. Cute & a nice little chance to get back into that AU for a bit. Strongly recommend reading Dear Reader first, but I guess you don't have to.

to breathe in this mirage by existwound: Klance, but pre-slash (sort of). there's time travel, so technically it's also not pre-slash, but you see the vision here. pushing that border between what I consider medium and long for a fic. canon-verse. this is 1) adorable, 2) just that little bit of angsty, and 3) so fucking well-written. (am I biased bc I love existwound? yes, what of it?) unfinished but I trust Astra with my life, so the other chapter will come.

A King and His Fisherman by heavily_caffeinated: Klance. long and finished! modern AU. sold me on dad Lance (coming from someone who typically hates fics involving child characters).

it's you that's haunting me by perfchan: Klance. long and finished! this is the first fic, but it's a whole finished series. ghost-hunting AU (I know, I also didn't think I liked those but this is different, I swear). I binge read this whole series in like... 3 days?

And just in general, here are my AO3 bookmarks for everything else I loved but didn't read this month. The include and exclude filters are your friends, so pls no bully for what I like thx. I think we've all spotted my weird niche by now.

[dasenergi-diary]

Hello, family. It is time for my post on the Jean-Michel Basquiat exhibit that I visited this weekend too! Yes, Keith Haring AND Basquiat are both in Los Angeles at competing exhibits across the street from each other!

But each is very different.

The Keith Haring exhibit is at The Broad, a contemporary art museum with permanent exhibits of popular artists like Andy Warhol and Roy Lichtenstein.

The Jean-Michel Basquiat show is at The Grand LA, a mixed-use high-rise space for commercial, retail, restaurants, and residential apartments.

Whereas the Keith Haring exhibit focused on his art, curated by a world-class museum — the Basquiat exhibit was curated by his family from their personal collection and the exhibit was equally about the man just as it was also about his art.

The Jean-Michel Basquiat exhibit took place in four different office spaces that they transformed into exhibit space. Here is a picture of Geronimo and I in the quad space between each of the four different office spaces that housed the Basquiat exhibit. .

(To the left between buildings you can see the Los Angeles city hall.)

They recreated his childhood home as well as music playing from a Spotify playlist of the music he grew up listening to:

They also recreated the studio where he painted. In it were the VHS tapes he watched, records he listened to, books he read... as well as some of the art he painted.

And, of course... walls and walls of just his art to admire as well...

[localthumbcache]

Hi it’s me again! Honestly that’s cool I thought it may have been omegaverse related but in case it wasn’t I didn’t want to embarrass myself. 😭 I blame wattpad and the fact like I really liked werewolves. 😔

Anyways! Definitely if you do post anything related to your characters I would be happy to read! They’re really stunning!

Also I was curious how you gain inspiration for your characters. I know you mentioned you put parts of yourself into their stories and/or them, but are there usually any other factors that help you figure out how they may look or who they’re personalities will be? Whether it’s a songs, lyric(s), animals, aesthetics, shows/movies, or anything.

Hey hey anon!! ᵔદᵔ

Loll tbh I kinda judged the omegaverse at first until I watched coleydoesthings video on it. She gives a very good explanation and it even got me interested soo here we are! I was a tiny bit hesitant on sharing the smut here bc "cringe" but idrc!! (This is tumblr lol we're all weirdos)

And tysm!! 🩷 I'm glad to hear that 🥺 I might work some more on the doc since I'm pretty much gonna be in bed all day 😭 probably won't get to release it today but hopefully I'll be halfway done or smth

Also, since I don't actually play the game a lot (I've even removed some gameplay mods) I've been thinking about making short stories until maybe one day when I actually want to work on a full series - once i get the lore and all that jazz locked down that is. For now they'd just be little scenarios and things that happen in their lives ᵔદᵔ I don't rlly like the gameplay so might as well use the sims as a creative medium lol

I get most of my inspo off of pinterest and sometimes other people's sims! I have a simspo board which has faces, character concepts, and even style inspiration. I also have moodboards dedicated to them, which helps me put together their overall vibe. Music is kind of a factor too, although I associate a sim with a song I already know instead of making sims based off of it. Some sims I've based off of people I know irl

I also want to work on a mini music project as well as a voice canon one :> ohh and an incorrect quotes one too! Just a silly way to understand their characters a bit better :3

I take inspo for world building as well! I'm really focusing on vampires rn. I took some inspiration from dracula, the vampyre, interview with a vampire, and various yt videos on vampire lore/history. This video explains the biology of vampires (he even scientifically explains how crosses are harmful to them!!), and this one explains their history.

For example: before the pretty, well put-together person that we envision when we think of vampires, vampires before that were depicted as more animalistic than anything. So why not have the best of both worlds!! When in human form, my vampires have very little vampiric qualities (ex. Keith's eyes have a red glint to them, the vatores ears are slightly pointed, and all of them have larger canines than the average human), they're able to show up on camera and have reflections, and crosses are only harmful to them if they're blessed. When they turn into their dark form (or "true form" as hunters call it), however, they do not have a reflection, they cannot be caught on camera, and like the old vampires, they appear monstrous.

[felassan]

New BioWare Blog post:

"The Future is Bright for Star Wars™: The Old Republic™

by BioWare��- Posted on June 27, 2023

Hello,

It’s been a little while since I’ve checked in, and as you might have heard, there’s a lot happening here at BioWare. 

Almost 12 years after launch, Star Wars™: The Old Republic™ remains a fantastic success, continuing to welcome new players to its vast galaxy and entertaining veteran players with its evolving content. It’s the longest-running live service Star Wars game ever and we’re enormously proud of the work the team has done in creating, expanding, and maintaining this incredible game. We’re delighted to have grown such a dedicated and passionate community through all these years. The future of the game and the community continues to be very bright.

I’ve been working closely with Keith Kanneg, who leads the SWTOR team, to give the game and the team the best opportunity to grow and evolve. And so, while EA will remain SWTOR’s publisher, development of the game will move to our partner and friends at Broadsword, a boutique studio with expertise in managing online games. Both the Broadsword studio and SWTORSWTOR team members will be joining forces and working tirelessly to support “every player, every day,” ensuring that these worlds and these communities continue to thrive and grow. Their Founder and President, Rob Denton, even has direct experience with so, having helped lead the team during the development and launch of the game during his time at EA.

So what does this mean?

Well, most importantly, it means that players will continue to enjoy the SWTOR they know and love, and as Keith mentioned in a recent community post, all current plans are still in place. There are also exciting new features planned that the team is not quite ready to talk about yet, but suffice it to say that players can expect improvements and new content into the future. This is a company that will give SWTOR the room to grow and flourish, with the continued commitment and full support of Lucasfilm Games, and the continued partnership with EA.

No big change comes without challenges. Among them is the fact that most of the current team will be invited to accompany the game on its move to Broadsword, though unfortunately not every role will make the move. This is the hardest part of this transition, and these decisions were not made lightly. We are of course doing everything we can to support the affected team members, who have an opportunity to find new roles within EA. In addition, we’re aware that the team members who are being asked to move to a new studio will also be adapting to change, and we will be working with Broadsword to make the transition as comfortable as possible. 

In the long run, though, we are confident that this is the best decision for the game and its community. We at BioWare will miss being a part of SWTOR’s story going forward. But we also know that it will be in very good hands.

As we look toward the future, BioWare is focused on being a leader in developing immersive, emotionally charged, single-player games, with teams primarily in Austin and Edmonton. This means a renewed focus on our two key franchises: Dragon Age™ and Mass Effect™. For Dragon Age, we continue to build, polish, and tune an exceptional experience we know our fans will love. We can’t wait to share more on this soon. For Mass Effect, we continue pre-production with a core team of veteran storytellers who are bringing the deep franchise history forward in a spectacular new way.

I’m excited about the opportunities that lie ahead, and Keith wanted to share his own thoughts about the transition. 

Stay well,

Gary McKay General Manager, BioWare

----------

Hi folks!

I’ve been a part of SWTOR since well before launch and it’s been an incredible journey. I ended up taking on many different roles on the team over that time, so I’ve seen this game from just about every different angle there is. And honestly, I absolutely love this game—not to mention the people who continue to make it fun. Even after almost 12 years, I see so much room for growth and so much potential in SWTOR.

I know decisions that impact our people are the hardest part of change and evolution, but I believe Broadsword is the right studio to continue to enhance and modernize our game—and also expand the number of people who can play it.

Of course, I’m also very glad that I’ll be moving over with key team leaders and continuing to work with most of our current team. This team has never stopped excelling, even proudly delivering an amazing update 7.2 Showdown on Ruhnuk over the holiday break—along with technological improvements like our new fast launcher, 64-bit client, and Cloud Game Servers. I can’t thank them enough for their passion and dedication in bringing these experiences to life for our players.

I also want to thank EA and BioWare for all they have done for me and this team, not to mention all our friends at Lucasfilm Games, whose support and collaboration have helped make all this happen for us. They’re the best, and I look forward to continuing to work with them.

We are excited about the future of SWTOR, and once we get our feet firmly planted at Broadsword, we look forward to sharing plans for game direction and improvements. Until then, rest assured that all the current plans are still in motion! 

As examples, we just delivered our largest story update in months, and a new story flashpoint with Game Update 7.3: Old Wounds, taking us back to the planet Voss, which we haven’t visited since our KOTET expansion back in 2016. We will also be rolling out Game Update 7.3.1, which will contain our next Galactic Season, in the coming months. And stay tuned for details on Game Update 7.4, where players will see the story continue following the events of Old Wounds. And there’s even more on the horizon. We will continue to publish communication on swtor.com and the SWTOR forums, as we always have, so you will be hearing from me again soon.

No change is easy, but it certainly helps that we’re all excited about the future of this very special game. We look forward to seeing that vision become reality alongside all our players and fans. 

May the Force be with you,

Keith Kanneg Executive Producer, Star Wars: The Old Republic"

[source]

[boxcakeboi]

Gilded Gluttony: Part 1

Hello Hello! If you’re reading this i hope you enjoy the story, I wanted to say a few things prior to the story, that being this is my first really official post i’ve made on this account, I’ve spectated and admired this community for a few years now, I feel now I would like to contribute a bit to it, I also write stories just in general but most are unfinished since I don’t have a motivator, hopefully posting and maybe people liking it will keep me writing it out till the end! I also imagine this first part might be a bit rocky but i’ll make sure to make other installments smoother! Anyways enough rambling! Hope you enjoy! :)

Synopsis:

It’s hard to claw your way to the top in a big city, grit and hard work alone can’t quite get you there, this is what a young hot shot named Keith learns after being skipped on for a job promotion, defeated he turns to his lazy kickback friend Gage for advice. Keith goes through a journey from fit, young, passionate dynamo, to a bear-like hedonist looking to take as much as he wants and some extra just for the road.

*In a modern office was two friends, One named Keith and the other named Gage, Keith had started at this Office and month ago, it was a super swanky office, most people hardly did any work and mostly leisured in the employee lounge, enjoying the games, tv’s, sleeping pods, snacks and Gages favorite the food court, Keith was at times, self obsessed with his body, constantly trying to perfect it to god level, he kept himself well groomed and was extremely attractive, with caramel brown eyes that pierce into ones soul, Gage was somewhat the opposite, he wasn’t a slob (mostly because he would get fired if he wasn’t presentable) he enjoyed food and didn’t mind overindulging, he was scruffy compared to Keith, he had pale skin compared to Keith and had a chubby build due to his appetite and activity level, his hazle eyes always looked very relaxed and his golden brown hair was lazily middle parted and had hair scuff from infrequent shaves, but he didnt mind all that much, his main focuses in life outside of work is gaming and smoking, he wasn’t a bum by any means, he just liked hedonistic behavior.

This has been the same interaction between the two even since they were friends and high school, though college and during this job, they enjoyed each other a lot and there personalities compliment eachother, Keith helps motivate Gage and Gage helps Keith to mellow out when he’s to high strung.

The two where at the food court talking, It was a big day for Keith he was getting ready for his meeting with his and Gages Department Lead*

Keith: *he gripped his fist* today is day! i’m gonna go in there and show Henry Vanberk what I’m capable of! and then i’ll be so close to getting that promotion today!!

Gage: *he chuckled a bit* quite the manifesto there huh? *he took a bite out if his burger he was eating*

Keith: well yeah! this is huge! and speaking of! my meeting is in ten! i’ll see you in a bit Gage! *he dashed off*

Gage: *he shrugged and kept eating*

*in the Department Lead’s Office, the office was quite open and was modern in design*

Henry: *he sat behind he large desk tapping a pen*

*soon a main entrance to his office opened and popped in his secretary*

Secretary: Mr.Vanberk, Keith Findley is here to see you

Henry: perfect! send him in!

Secretary: certainly…

Henry: Thank you Lana

*she popped out and led in Keith and closed the door*

Keith: Mr.Vanberk, Thank you for taking time to speak with me today

Henry: Of course Keith, my pleasure, I do hope your time here has been treating you well…i’ve been watching you and you’re absolutely on fire!

Keith: *this made him absolutely light up* Thank you Mr.Vanberk

Henry: no thank you Keith! you bring such an energy to the office, I was quite hesitant to hire you considering Gage recommended you, but you have shown such great results, even you have increased Gage’s performance just being here for a month and some change, absolutely impressive!

Keith: I deeply appreciate you are seeing my work sir

Henry: certainly Keith, your young vital spirit is what we need here…of course you also know why called you in here

Keith: yes sir…

Henry: The position you desire, Assistant Lead is an important job and you have that strength and endurance to get that job done…but Keith you’re not quite there yet…

Keith: *he stomach fell, and despair hit him, he was white as a ghost at this point*

Henry: You hit every criteria we are look for except one…your not tenured enough, we want you to grow some more in your position before we move you up

Keith: M-mr.Vanberk i dont mean to come off as questioning your decision, but i’ve consistently been dominating in performance, I crank out the most work, I may be young and new but wouldn’t a position like his help me get that experience??

Henry: *sighs* i understand that but the person we gave the position to is tenured and performs well also, look you have all the material and attributes about you to achieve greatness here, but that only happens in its own time…right Keith?

Keith: Right…

*the two thanked each other and Keith left*

*at Gage’s desk*

Gage: *he was leaning back in his chair watching youtube on his computer, he looked up and saw an absolutely hallow Keith* woah! shit dude are you good?

Keith: *he stood there for a moment, his lips quivering and soon a few tears fell*

Gage: *he sprang up and went to Keith* oh shit dude! come over here!

*Gage took him over to one of the closets in the office*

Gage: are you all good? man whats the matter?

Keith: *holding back tears and covering his face* i didn’t get the job…

Gage: w-what no way?? you more qualified than anyone else here! you where top performing in our team just three weeks in! how could there be someone better?

Keith: Henry told me i’m to new and young…he went with someone more seasoned….i came in here like a fireball breaking performance records and all for this…

Gage:i’m sorry dude…you know what fuck this! lets get out of here!

Keith: I can just quit this job Gage!

Gage: no i dont mean that! we’re off of work in a bit, come over to my place, we will chill dude! i’ll give you some advice and we can bash on old ass Vanberk!

Keith: *he chuckled and sniffled* sounds good dude…

*at Gage’s apartment*

Gage: *sitting in his gaming chair* dude from here on out do as little as possible at work and take as much as possible, everyone fucking does it at work, play games in the lounge for most of your shift, take as much snacks as you want, take longer breaks and lunches, and just get the bare minimum amount of work done, you get paid the same at the end of the day

Keith: *sitting on Gage’s couch* are you sure dude? seems…bad…

Gage: dude everyone does it, Vanberk hardly even knows whats going on half the time, take advantage of your surroundings…

Keith: i dont know dude, it seems greedy…

Gage: trust me dude, you wont regret it

Keith: i guess so man, i am pretty pissed about that get that position!

Gage: yesss, sweet man, you’re gonna love it! hey and you deserve to relax, you should chill and watch a movie with me, i’ll order pizza!

Keith: *he laughed* sounds good dude

*the two where waiting on the couch for the pizza to come, Keith took off his over coat, and Gage went into full comfort mode*

*the door bell rang and Gage popped up and grabbed the pizza*

Keith: *he looked at Gage and was shocked* dude 4 pizzas?

Gage: yeah man! i got all kinds of toppings

*the two ate and started watching the movie*

Keith: *he was gorged on 3 slices and he looked at Gage who had finished a whole pizza and was picking at a second one, Keith then noticed Gage put of some weight since college, being once a thinner guy, but now sported a gut, he was so relaxed and happy with his life, enjoying the things he wants with the money he makes, he doesn’t worry about others opinions or expectations, he lives for himself, in a way Keith desires that*

Gage: *he burped loudly* oops ‘scuse me *he patted his gut*

Keith: hey Gage?

Gage: whats up man?

Keith: how do you like?…um live like this?

Gage: Uh like what?

Keith: Like so….chill

Gage: hmm well i guess it come from a mixture of not giving a fuck and trying to be high when i can be, i wanna live my life for me dude you know?

Keith: god i wish i could do that…

Gage: why not?

Keith: I feel too guilty…

Gage: no need to feel guilt man, this world takes as much as it wants from us all time, why not take back for our selves some time?

Keith: i suppose your right…

Gage: hey come over here more often, you’ll get it…you wont wanna bend over backwards ever again

Keith: I guess it would be worth it to learn how to be a bit more chill…

Gage: hell yeah

*the next day a work*

Gage: Imma teach you how to work a bit more self preserving hehehe

Keith: *he was bit sad about getting rejected for the job and he was rather spacey this morning* ……

Gage: Uh Keith?

Keith: huh? oh! sorry my bad, i was drifting off

Gage: are you thinking about what happened yesterday?

Keith: yeah…sorry…

Gage: No! don’t be, channel those feeling into encouragement to take back whats yours!

Keith: *sighs* feels impossible, it’s eating away at me, if i’m not being the best possible why should i even be around…

Gage: *he took a deep breath in and had serious face* Keith just because you weren’t noticed for your frankly back breaking work doesn’t mean there is an issue with you! its the people who chose not to acknowledge the work problem, you did everything you could, thats what matters, you tried! but now you have choice to continue to sacrifice yourself, or do something for yourself for once!!

Keith: *he thought for a second, tighten his fist* show me how you do this Gage!

Gage: perfect…

end of part 1

Hope you liked it! next parts will get into more hedonism, weight gain, slob, gainer and gay/queer stuff, stay tuned!! :))

[waugh-bao]

Yes I was very surprised and disappointed to learn it was just two tracks. I know you can’t just take a Charlie drum track and build a song around it (well you could but that’s not the usual way) but they couldn’t have found a way to incorporate more from all the unreleased stuff they have? I didn’t get the sense that any songs were specifically about Charlie either. I’m not in a charitable mood towards them at the moment so I’ll just say that I was annoyed there was no Charlie in the Angry video either. I thought it was cool how they used past performances but it almost seemed like they went out of their way for Charlie not to be seen? We don’t need to see him specifically drumming like he’s on the track because we know he isn’t but a glimpse of him would have worked especially since he was there on every single thing they showed! I don’t know if I want to say it’s deliberate Charlie erasure and I know they love him but it rubs me the wrong way. I don’t know. Maybe I’m not being sympathetic enough and too Charlie focused rather than band focused but damn!

I mean, according to Don Was, Keith used to sit in the studio, listen to Charlie play/warm up, and take that as the starting point for many of ‘his’ songs. So theoretically it should have been at least somewhat possible for him. Either way, I’m entirely mystified as to why they decided to throw away everything recorded before 2019. They’ve been working on this since the last album in 2005, and, according to everyone in the band, the sessions that produced Blue and Lonesome (recorded 2015) were primarily for that new album. Never mind what’s going on with this producer they’ve never worked with before having so many co-writing credits. It feels odd (that’s the nicest possible adjective I can muster at the moment) that they evidently didn’t try very hard to preserve or include more of Charlie’s work. Let’s be real, we all know he isn’t the reason this album took so long to materialize.

Thank you for saying this! I thought I was loosing it, because I was also struck by how there was basically no Charlie in the “Angry” video, and the bits where he did appear were with the whole band, often with him specifically obscured by something else on screen. I can’t figure out what they hell they’re doing anymore, honestly. If this is their way of welcoming Steve fully into the band/inducting him as Charlie’s replacement (something they said they wouldn’t do, but I don’t think there’s much use setting stock by what they say on that anymore), I guess I understand the intent, but it mostly comes across as cruel and dismissive. Also, even though they’ve been adamant the whole time leading up to this that Charlie is on the album, they’ve made very little effort to acknowledge that in any of the promo. I’m disappointed, too, and increasingly feeling like the post-2021 Stones aren’t something I want to have that much engagement with.

[schraubd]

Why Does DEI Make Good Free Speech Advocates Go Bad?

Keith Whittington, Princeton professor and chief of the Academic Freedom Alliance, has been reviewing various state-level attacks on academic freedom. Today he visits Texas, which has a trio of bills under consideration that all put public universities under their sights in various ways. Whittington is generally skeptical of all these proposals, but he does have kind things to say about portions of one of the proposed laws, SB17.

That bill would shift greater authority to the university boards of trustees, would prohibit the use of diversity statements in faculty hiring, and would abolish the activities of diversity, equity and inclusion administrators. A similar prohibition was adopted as an appropriation rider in the House. Violating the DEI ban can be a cause for terminating even tenured members of the faculty. The bill would also require state universities to adopt as part of their mission statements a set of pledges regarding intellectual freedom, including a commitment to "viewpoint diversity" and "institutional neutrality."

[...]

From my perspective, the DEI ban and the institutional commitments are all to the good in enhancing the intellectual freedom on college campuses. The potential penalty for faculty who violate the DEI ban is worrisome, however, in both its chilling effect and its unjustified expansion of the bases upon which tenured professors can be terminated.

(Whittington also raises the alarm about shifting review power to the boards of trustees).

I want to flag Whittington's claim that the DEI ban is "all to the good" (even if, perhaps, too draconian in its enforcement mechanisms). It is not all to the good! It is very bad, and pointedly, it's very bad for reasons that Whittington identifies elsewhere in his post! This is yet another example of how the anti-DEI obsession amongst some "free speech" advocates has caused them to endorse policies and practices whose impingement on academic freedom would otherwise be nakedly obvious.

Among the things prohibited by this part of SB17, universities would be prohibited from soliciting or acting on any statement regarding an applicants "views on, experience with, or past or planned contributions to efforts involving diversity, equity, and inclusion, marginalized groups, antiracism, social justice, or views on or experience with race, color, ethnicity, national origin, or other immutable characteristics."

As a constitutional law professor whose work focuses significantly on questions of race, equity, inclusion, and so on, I shudder to think how an interview with me would go if the hiring committee were forbidden from asking about or considering my views on these topics. What, exactly, would we talk about -- the Dodgers? And while for someone in my shoes there is an obvious relationship between the banned topics and my disciplinary work, there are also areas where this is germane for professors of any academic affiliation -- most notably, in discussions of pedagogy. As I've written before, it cannot be the case that university actors are forbidden from caring about questions like "will the job candidate do a good job creating an equitable and inclusive environment for our diverse academic community?" But SB17 strongly suggests that such concerns would, in fact, be legally proscribed.*

This is why I've written before regarding how anti-DEI bans are inevitably academic freedom trainwrecks. They're justified as checks against "compelled speech", but in practice they serve (and intentionally so) as massive chills on important facets of academic conversation. And the thing is, Whittington is well aware of the mechanics here -- he explains them ably in his critique of the companion SB16 bill. SB16 purports to forbid professors from "compel[ling] or attempt[ing] to compel" an enrolled student "to adopt a belief that any race, sex, or ethnicity or social, political, or religious belief is inherently superior to any other race, sex, ethnicity, or belief." Here's what Whittington says to that proposal:

It would likely chill classroom speech as faculty try to avoid any appearance of compelling belief on various sensitive topics routinely discussed in college classrooms. To the extent that the law simply codifies the constitutional prohibition on compelled speech, then it accomplishes little other than attempting to chill speech. To the extent that it might be interpreted to prohibit professors from advocating certain views in the classroom or requiring students to correctly describe and analyze such views in their coursework, then it will invite controversy. Not hard to imagine students complaining that a professor attempted to compel them to believe that, for example capitalism is superior to socialism by assigning them to write an essay with that premise.

Emphasis added, because that's the rub. If it's just an attempt to forbid compelled speech -- someone being forced to swear allegiance to a particular ideological framework -- it's redundant except for its knock-on chilling effect. But of course, the law isn't just about the specific "compelled speech" case -- it is designed to and inevitably will curtail very normal academic conversations.

Yet this exact same problem besets the DEI ban. If it's just about forbidding a requirement that prospective professors genuflect before a graven image of Derrick Bell as part of the application process, then it's unnecessary and only serves to create an additional halo of chilling effect. But SB17's DEI ban doesn't "just" do that; it by its term stretches to cover any "statement" on matters of diversity, equity, inclusion, race, or other like topics -- topics that a hiring committee regularly and appropriately should be considering. For example, as someone who has served on a hiring committee, I very much want to be able to inquire into whether (to pick a recent example) a candidate openly believes Jews should never be hired again. It is important and good that a person like that not get hired; I absolutely can and should be giving preference to candidates who do not take that sort of view! And more broadly, we can and should be able to consider and debate over whether given candidates will do a good a job facilitating an effective academic and pedagogical environment for diverse communities. That's normal, and that's salutary, and that would likely be either forbidden or at least significantly chilled by application of Texas' proposed DEI ban.

Again, the logic for why the DEI ban is problematic is contained in Whittington's own post. He should be able to spot it, and yet it says that the provision (absent the penalty provisions) is "all to the good." FIRE went through the same thing a few weeks ago, drafting a trainwreck proposal against DEI statements that -- were it on any other topic -- FIRE would be screaming bloody murder about the obvious academic freedom impingements. Something about the DEI issue is corrupting free speech advocates, causing them endorse obvious violations and ignore flagrant threats. They're going to need to address this blindspot sooner rather than later, because this fever doesn't seem to be going away.

* SB17 has a provision that exempts requests for information regarding "pedagogical approaches or experience with students with learning disabilities." That narrow and highly specific carveout strongly suggests that inquiring generally how a prospective professor would seek to facilitate an effective and inclusive classroom environment for students of diverse backgrounds would now be verboten.

via The Debate Link https://ift.tt/bO1oDRU

[eternally-divine]

I decided to post the next chapter of CASTOR: The Beginning. Go find it on Wattpad 😍⁉️

(P.s. if I decide to post it all here, like if you want to be tagged and ill gladly do so)

Warning: There is violence in this chapter!

! 15 years later !

Keith drops a glass of water when he hears it, a high pitched scream from the nearby fields in which young men were being trained to be the next generation of soldiers. He rushes out of the central command tent and parts the crowd to find the source. Fear something had happened to Catarina fills him as he does so. When he gets there he sees Catarina, half of her face was bleeding. She seemed to disregard the pain entirely, more focused on keeping her sparring partner, who had told her just before that, "This is why women don't fight," in a suffocating headlock.

"Catarina. Knock it off." He sighs as he speaks, this is nothing new for his daughter. "Whatever he did I will handle it." The infuriated teenager gets off the boy, who was still screeching, with a huff. The boy wipes his tears and runs off through the crowd to try and save his ego and reputation. "All of you, clear out, you have work to do." Keith waves them off.

"I had it handled!" Catarina spits. Immediately after, her adrenaline fades and the feeling of the wound over her face kicks in. She clutches it and doubles over in pain.

"Is this what handled looks like?" Keith throws her over his shoulder and brings her inside to tend her wound. "What happened?" He asks as he sits her on the table and pulls out his first aid kit. She'd been getting hurt since she could walk, he learned very fast how to tend wounds such as his.

"That conniving little bitch hit me on purpose!" Keith gives her a look for her language and she smiles with guilt.

"Are you certain of it, or did he just catch you off guard?" He takes a damp towel to her face to wipe as much of the blood as he can, Catarina promptly starts crying. The wound didn't seem horrible, there has definitely been worse wounds coming out of training, but she'd need stitches. The large gash stretched from above her eyebrow to just between her ear and cheekbone, her eye was unsalvageable.

"It was calculated. I watched him do it. It was like time slowed." She pauses to wince and grab at Keith's wrist, "It hurts."

"I know sweetheart. Just let me finish this. It needs stitches." He is focused, her hand leaves his wrist to allow him to continue. He hands her a strip of leather to bite down on as he patches up her face. It takes 10 minutes at most. Afterwards she sits on the table still, crying slightly still. Keith finishes bandaging it, some blood still seeps through.

"When can I take this off?" She tilts her head slightly. "I want to look less like i just rolled out of a war as soon as possible."

Keith doesn't say anything. Catarina's other eye widens in realization.

"You're joking. Father, please tell me you're joking."

"Your eye won't go back to how it was, he cut it damn well in half. I'm sorry, Cat." He places his hand on her shoulder and rubs it with his thumb. The action is disregarded entirely when she practically throws herself off of the table to bury her face in his shoulder and sob to her hearts content.

________________________________

It was later that night, the sun had set and everyone was settling down, everyone but me. I was angry. I used to be the prettiest girl for miles- namely because I probably wasn't inbred. That jackass took that away from me. I drop from my bunk and grab my carving knife from my side table. I'd left my window cracked before dinner for this reason alone, the creaking of it at this hour would immediately alert Father, I slip out of it and make my way back into the field. I knew where that rat bastard was sleeping, he'd been tormenting me since he got here. I handed his ass to him a few times, and him me, but he'd crossed the line. 'I'm just going to give him a little scare and a matching scar, then he'll learn not to fuck with me and we will go about our ways.'

I could hear them speaking, Emrys and his tent mates, he mentioned going out to grab some water from the river. 'Perfect.' I follow him there and let him grab his water. As he turns to leave I accidentally step on a twig, it snaps and draws his attention to me. In that moment something clicked, something almost animalistic in me, I don't understand it.

I stun myself with how silently I move, managing to get myself behind him as he peers into the woods where I had just been standing moments prior. I sneak up behind him and deck his ankle, he falls to the ground and immediately puts himself on his back to see what just knocked him down.

"Real funny, Catarina. I.. I'm sorry about your face. I didn't mean to dig that deep." He says, but the way he looks at me with fear when he sees the knife, it entertains me, "Wait, Cat- what are you-" His words are cut of by the the knife being thrown, the strength at which I threw it left it stuck to the hilt through his eye. That doesn't stop me. Nothing will. His screams egg me on. I pull it out and keep going, stabbing, cutting, watching the life leave his eyes and listening to his screams die out until I'm pulled off of him by someone I hadn't sensed.

"CATARINA. CATARINA STOP!" Keith screams as he pulls me off the poor boy. I push myself out of his grip and stand near the river. He looks at me in horror.

*************

Keith looks her over, her arms and face covered in blood, it stains her clothes, her eyes are what draw the most attention. They're solid yellow and glow softly for just a moment, it fades shortly after he notices.

**************

Everything feels different suddenly, I look down at myself, bloodstained and armed with my carving knife. I glance at Emrys, his skull was crushed in. He died almost immediately. I drop the knife and stare in horror at what I'd done. Taking a step backwards and feeling the rivers water at my feet.

"What...What have I done?" I raised a hand to my mouth.

"YOU CAN'T JUST KILL PEOPLE WHO MAKE YOU UPSET CATARINA! HE'S DEAD! BECAUSE OF YOU!" This is the first time I can remember my father truly yelling at me with anger, tears fill my eyes and I take off. I run back to my room and slam the door so hard the hinges rattle. Immediately breaking down into tears, 'I did that? And I enjoyed it? That wasn't what I was planning to do- just a harmless scratch! That he'd probably be proud of! Not...that.'

I change out of the bloodied clothing and force myself into bed, 'Maybe it will sort itself out by morning?' I hope, despite knowing deep down this will haunt me forever.

[autisticlancemcclain]

fic rec friday 27

welcome to the twenty-seventh fic rec friday! where, on friday, i rec five of my favourite fics.  

1. Toaster by @admiralcanthackett

Lance cannot for the life of him think of the word in English. ~ Hunk is used to it, Keith is not and realizes Lance is more capable than he first thought.

polyglot lance loml. there was a point in time when admiralcanthackett (once thenakednymph) when pumped out more voltron fics than i did, and fae were fucking AWESOME at it. i was hooked on faer every word. im pretty sure i bookmarked almost every fic fae wrote!! this one is sweet because its very team as family, and lance appreciative. 

2. Raindrops on roses by @zipadeea

"Lance, you can't just add 'space' to everything, just because we're in, well, space." "Oh c'mon, it works, though! Spaceship, Space Mall, Space Dad-," "What?" "Shiro is our Space Dad, Keith. Obviously. Sheesh, I thought you were smart."

The paladins call Shiro Space Dad. Shiro knows this. Here's four times they say it out loud, and the one time Shiro's finally okay with it.

yall remember how popular baby lance was?? like him getting deaged by a monster ray or whatever?? well i do. there used to be this comic that floated around about it too and it was fucking adorabale. well this one is so fucking cute it makes you yell a little!! the fic is actually focused on shir as a space dad, and his relationships with the paladins, and you can really see this young adult growing into himself via the love he has for the people on his team. i fuckn love this fic

3. Video Chats by @tomminowrites

Not long after leaving to join the Blades, Keith stops by the castleship to catch up with Voltron.The visit was going normally, until the Red paladin lets slip that he's been video calling one of the paladins fairly regularly - unknown to rest of the team.

poor fucking lance 💀 he gets HUMILIATED in this one. his whipped ass gets absolutely dunked on and deservedly so. i literally love them

4. where & how we’ll land by xintong

The first time Keith meets Lance is also the first time they kiss. It all goes downhill for him from there.

i love this one (childhood friends to lovers always Gets to me) but the first meeting has me in tears bc lance’s first appearance was basically just this: 

and that is his character. so it was perfect

5. Something Made, Something Given by @ardett

Shiro notices the bandages on Lance’s fingers.

seamstress lance seamstress lance seamstress lance seamstress lance seamstress lance seamstress lance seamstress la -- im going insane but i really do love tailor lance its so important to me. that and shiro & lance fics are always superior

that’s it for today!! i’ll see y’all back next friday for the next fic rec post!!!