#when are teenagers doing any of this stuff????

[adventures-in-a-world-of-fiction]

I read a book called The Truth About the Harry Quebert Affair for a book club once. As I was reading, I made notes of things about the book to discuss at the book club in a notebook and this turned into several pages just bullet-pointing all the stuff I hated about the book. It was awful.

Terrible premise made worse by terrible writing.

The characters were either horrible people I didn't want to spend pages reading about or 1 dimensional stereotypes or both.

The "love affair" between a man in his thirties and a teenage girl was constantly presented as though we, the audience, were expected to believe that it was actually love and not predation - and if it was real, the narrative gave absolutely no reason for the teenager to even like the guy let alone do everything she did for him. He treated her awfully and she waited on him hand and foot - and this was presented as though it was "true love".

The writing quality was atrocious and the dialogue painful.

There was nonsense about a writer being so famous he was recognised on the street for one book and being invited to all the glamorous parties because of his fame as an author (as an author, let me say, hah!).

Then we get to the twists, which were so absurd and only surprisingly because they were pulled out of the author's ass. They made no sense and were sometimes offensive and insulting.

There's a plot point about this teenage girl being forced to pose nude for painting, something which is portrayed as deeply upsetting to her, and it's dismissed by the characters and the narrative as a whole as fine because the artist "never touched her".

At one point, a gay character compares homosexuality to pedophilia. Um. You what?

I've probably forgotten half of the problems I had with it because it was almost a decade ago that I read it. I spent the first half of the book bored and the second half of the book increasingly annoyed or angry with the text.

And yet it is rated 4.2 stars on Goodreads currently, with about 100k 5 star ratings, and it won a bunch of prizes. People can have different tastes and opinions but my reaction to all the people who rated this 5 stars is, "Please read other books. If you think this is great, you're in for a delightful shock when you read any other book."

I love all books but sometimes you read a book and you’re like so were all 21 thousand of you blindfolded and at gun point when you rated it 5 stars

[sydney-sargent-superfan]

my personal headcanons for the batfam’s relationships with drugs and alcohol:

bruce: being intoxicated at any time could Compromise The Mission. will never get drunk or do drugs. collects whiskey for show, but never drinks it.

dick: will try anything once. did a LOT of stuff with the titans that he’d rather bruce not know about. it was the 80s, okay??? his personal favorites were weed and acid. he did not particularly like crystal meth.

jason: never got old enough to have that “teenage rebellion” phase and once he came back to life, going to parties wasn’t exactly first on his agenda. he’s 23 and still can’t handle the taste of alcohol. he talks a big talk but everyone knows the “vodka” in his shot glass is water. he did try smoking weed once but he wasn’t a fan. he used to smoke cigarettes a lot, but he’s trying to cut down.

tim: TERRIFIED of drugs. dare really worked on him, i guess. now that he’s of legal drinking age, he will have a cocktail occasionally, but he doesn’t like to get shitfaced like some people *ahem* steph *ahem*

steph: had a phase where she was really into all that mixology shit. in high school her and her friends would sneak out to a bar near her house and get fucked up. she’s also a total stoner and once tim ate like 10 of her weed brownies without realizing they were edibles and she had to babysit him and now he’s not allowed to eat food in her house without asking her first

cass: does not like being intoxicated At All. RARELY she will have a glass of sweet wine with dinner, but she doesn’t generally like the taste.

babs: probably the most normal about it out of all of them. dick pretends to be offended when he finds out she keeps boxed wine in her house. “what are we, babs, hillbillies???”

duke: still a teenager and has not yet tried drinking or drugs

damian: same as duke, he’s not old enough to drink yet

[the-peak-legend-of-first-gen]

Okay, hear me out (I know this might be controversial but still…) I love both James and Jaegyeon but they are fundamentally different as lovers. Here’s my no-sugarcoating, brutally honest two cents on how each of them would be in a relationship:

Jaegyeon:He comes off like a total bitch on the surface, but deep down? He’s a devastatingly soft, pining, and hopelessly devoted puppy. At first, he won’t act gentlemanly—nope, not even close. Especially during his current blonde era, he gives off that annoying energy of guys who watch YouTube videos about how they're "too tough" to need a girl. But plot twist? He has a massive crush on that one girl who shows up at the same petrol pump as him.He’ll pursue you, but in an incredibly tsundere way. Like:

“Why are you even talking to that guy? He’s totally going to break your heart.”

“And why do you care, Mr. Na?”

Rough around the edges? No—very rough. But gradually, once you start noticing the little things he does—like letting you into his car even though it just came out of service, stocking your favorite drinks just in case, or quietly dropping you home—you realize there’s a tenderness there. He’s not bad. Not at all.

Once you’re actually in a relationship, though? Don’t expect roses and candlelit dinners. Sorry—no flowers and cheesy stuff. Fights will happen. Screaming, shouting—you name it. But in the middle of it all, he’ll catch himself, stop, and try to pull you into a cuddle. Still, he’ll give you space when needed… albeit very, very reluctantly.

You can be completely silly with him too—he’s totally down for theme parks, car cafés, and dancing in the rain.

Now the not-so-pretty part: If you guys ever break up, he will let you go. Not in a “get lost, I’m better off” kind of way, but because he loves you too much to keep hurting you. His maturity will come through here. It’ll hurt—a lot. He’ll be a mess after the breakup. Jealous if you move on. But eventually, when he sees you smile genuinely after a long time, that aching part of him will finally let go.

Now to ......

James: Let’s skip teenage James for now (that deserves a whole other conversation) and talk about adult James—both when he was an idol and now as he is.

When he was still in the industry and you two were together, he wouldn’t even look at anyone from the entertainment world. Not because you were some “special princess” above actresses or models—no. It’s just that the risk was far greater. He already had Charles breathing down his neck, and a relationship with someone inside the industry would be much harder to hide. So weighing on the scale of vulnerability, dating someone outside, someone “normal,” was easier to conceal, protect, and cherish.

That said, James will be a gentleman. Gallant, suave, respectful—he treats you like a lady.But he’ll make it up to you with luxury—gifts, trips, anything you want—except his time.

Even in arguments, he won’t raise his voice. He’ll stay calm and composed. He’s the type who’ll quietly keep track of your preferences, your quirks, your dreams—you’ll feel like the one person in the world he truly sees. And you are. You’re the tiny corner of his heart he protects at all costs.

So what could go wrong, right?

Here’s where it gets dark : At his core, James is a manipulator. He’s soft on the surface but harbors a cold, calculating fury beneath. During fights, he won’t scream—but the words he says will sting deeper than any shout. “Sorry” won’t fix the wounds he leaves behind.

He’ll say: “You don’t need to know everything, sweetheart. I’ve already taken care of it.”

He always thinks he knows best. And when your relationship teeters on the edge, and you want to leave?

He. Won’t. Let. You.

You’re his. The only one who’s ever held his heart—and he expects you to cherish that privilege.

Who are you going to leave me for? Who could possibly compare to "James Lee" or "Diego Kang"—for the world?

He has the looks, the money, the power. And if you try to walk away? He’ll make it painfully hard. You’ll suddenly realize what it feels like to pry something from a lion’s mouth.

Now, I’m not saying he’s some yandere (ew, please no—I hate that trope). But in my interpretation, this is just how things would unfold.

To wrap it up: Being with Jaegyeon is chaotic, rough, and emotionally intense—but the guy’s got the right heart.Being with James? It’s a dream… until it’s not. And if you ever try to end things, be prepared: leaving James Lee is not something anyone does easily.

[coffee-master]

Hey, so how does look Nezha's character development? I'm slightly confused. As child he's rebelious and after Ao Bing's death he starts listening to his father- But then he's feral also in his teenage years?

Ok, so I'll explain as good as I can.

1. Childhood [1-12] :

As Child Nezha was cheerfull and energetic kid, who was a little troublemaker. He was a symbol of changes and rebelion.

He was very confident and strong. He mostly didn't like to listen because either he didn't like someone's opinion or he wanted to explore the world in his own way.

He also was very rude to people who were assholes, or thought of him as a monster because of his strength.

2. Ao Bing's death:

After Nezha accidentally killed Ao Bing, his curious and adventurous spirit was broken.

Why did it happened?

3. Nezha's suicide:

A scared child child who regreted killing his friend, putting the whole village in danger and not listening to his father, who warned him.

4. Nezha's comming back to life FIRST DAYS:

As soon as Nezha got new body from his master, his piority was to make sure that his village would be safe. So once with new powers, he faced Ao Guang making sure that he wouldn't try to attack them.

Ao Guang let go easily, since it wasn't important for him anymore, and also called Nezha a monster, as the child was walking away.

For the next two weeks Nezha didn't spoke a word with anyone, due to the shock of all those events.

5. Later pre-teen:

"If you just listened to me, none of that would have ever happened!"

6. Teenage years:

After this Nezha is fully loyal to his father and listens to him without a second doubt. He becomes a great soldier who defeats demons and monsters without any hesitation.

Despite him listening to his father, he's very brutal, when it comes to fights. He doesn't respect his opponents or show any mercy. He's very brutal. Like to inhumanitary way. (tearing apart limbs, making them suffer, mocking them if they think they've got a chance in survival)

But Li Jing doesn't mind, since he's doing his job perfectly.

So Nezha is obedient, but also feral.

He blames himself nonstop for Ao Bing's death and cannot look in the mirror, since he see himself as a monster. "If you're already a monster then at least you can do something usefull with it"

Nezha doesn't mind killing demons, since he also see them as main piority of danger to his family. That's also why he is so devoted to this.

Nevertheless, that's also the main reason why he works solo. Nobody wants to be near him, they see danger in him and are terrified of him. Even though Nezha wouldn't hurt them (becuase his father didn't tell him to) they are still too afraid.

Nezha's older brothers saw what was happening to their younger brother and wanted to help, but Nezha was a little too deep into this dark void to simply get out..

7. Wukong:

Sometimes once you meet someone who is similary as broke as you (or maybe even worse) you can actually feel like someone actually understands you.

Sometimes it is better. Sometimes it is worse.

Fortunatelly, for Nezha Wukong was a nice break from his thoughts.

They drank and had fun. Nobody judged you how many blood was on your fingers, what mistakes you've made in life. They drank, sung and danced all day and night. They were making funny pranks and other weird stuff.

It was pure fun!!!

Well at first at least..

One time the he broke a little at said out too much. Surprisingly Wukong also opened up and it turned out they both the once they once loved.

That night Nezha broke down crying and Wukong stayed strong and hugged him, until the boy felt asleep.

Sun Wukong also reasurred him that he in fact was not a monster, which was hard for Nezha to belive.

For a short time Wukong used to Nezha's weird emotional support.

Nevertheless he was still obedient to his father. No matter what.

And later Nezha & Ao Bing met in Fensheng war, where everything slowly started getting better for Nezha.

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[introvertbard]

My main blog is boring. I started out with a work-style "first initial + last name + random numbers," but when I started to see teenagers put their FULL NAMES in their blogs like this is social media, I got worried and switched my username to "introvert bard" because my ass is introverted and a writer/actor.

--

My SECOND writing blog is "Jadevine." When I made it because my first one got taken over by spirituality stuff, I had accumulated 99.5% Filipino urban-fantasy works, so I figured I should name my new writing blog something about Filipino culture. The jadevine's white/scientific name is Strongylodon macrobotrys, and in the Philippines, it's called tayabak. The flowers can be either Really Fucking Blue or Really Fucking Red, and it's great.

--

My FIRST writing blog is now a spirituality blog, and it's Norcalbruja because I am Filipino-American, I live in California, and "bruja" is Spanish for "witch." This may seem like another version of "don't put your real name on non-social media stuff," but California and Hawai'i are the states with the largest Filipino-American populations, so I feel quite safe in anonymity, lol.

In the Philippines, bruja/bruha is commonly an insult for "any woman who is acting up at all," whether you mean that affectionately or not. SORT OF like how English-speakers can use "bitch" to insult someone or to affectionately call their friends, but like many things in Tagalog, this depends heavily on context. When in doubt, assume bruja/bruha is an insult.

But it's also the only word I can find that really fits me. Filipinos have a whole list of healers and spirit-workers based on their specialties, but you can't really swap them out for "bruja/brujo." We got folk healers, diviners, midwives, and black-magic workers, but I'm not any of those because I wasn't taught those practices.

Me and my deceased grandma are the only ones on my mom's side of the family with ANY spiritual powers. (I don't know about my dad's side. There's like forty years of drama, they're on the other side of the country, and they barely talk to my mom.) The way my family treats it, this is not a "tradition" so much as "a thing that crops up sometimes," so it seems like I got the most low-budget X-Gene ever. My mom just called up my aunts and uncles and said, "Hey guess what? Introvertbard thought she saw me one time, BUT she said I was wearing Mom's old clothes! She can see ghosts like Mom did!"

Cue my mom telling my thirteen-year-old self that her family house was by a wartime graveyard. My grandma would routinely see the ghosts of soldiers, lock the kids up in a safe place, and yell at the ghosts to GET OUT OF THE HOUSE RIGHT NOW. People now avoid their old family house because... they keep seeing an old lady who looks suspiciously like my grandma. Nobody who's been sent to maintain/clean it will stay there.

And I'm like "well, this would have been useful to know BEFORE Grandma died." Great job to my mom and nine whole aunts and uncles! I grew up a normal person who likes ghost STORIES and scaring myself in a safe environment (ie, horror movies and "haunted house" attractions), but I'm also afraid of REAL GHOSTS. I must be a VERY suitable person to inherit her grandmother's second-sight.

Hence, I call myself a bruja because I clearly have SOMETHING going on, but I don't know what the fuck to do about it.

USERNAME LORE GIVE IT TO ME NOW YOU ALL

[mintjuliee]

Lowkey find it hilarious that Lin likely joined the White Lotus as a gesture of love towards a man that she probably saw as a father figure but it just ended up resulting in her having to babysit and then chase a group of teenagers across the Earth Kingdom decades later.

And, though it isn't explicitly stated, I say that Lin is it is likely a member of the White Lotus, because Lin specifically says "we" when referring to the people who interrogated the Red Lotus.

Additionally, in book 3, Zuko orders a White Lotus guard to send word to Lin Beifong to protect the Avatar, which seems to me like he was activating some sort of agent for the White Lotus.

Surely, if she was not, he would have activated some sort of trusted high-ranking member instead?

We know from the Kyoshi novels with characters like Jinpa that White Lotus members aren't always forthwith with their status even to avatars if it might be advantageous.

If that isn't enough, just look at the White Lotus taking orders from Lin the same way her officers do 😂

Also, there is the fact that, going all the way back to the first episode of book 1, Lin alludes to being in "the know" about the avatar's movements.

How else would she have this information? It certainly doesn't seem like her and Tenzin are chitchatting every Saturday at this point in their relationship.

She just seems to know a lot about this stuff.

Another nugget that could possibly point to Lin Beifong being a White Lotus member is that Zaheer is relocated to Republic City for his imprisonment. Assuming Lin is the chief of police and also a White Lotus member, I believe this could mean she was entrusted to oversee this to a certain degree. After Korra asks Tenzin to see Zaheer in book 4 and he says that he will get the "clearance" from Reiko, Korra is shown with White Lotus guards who use metalbending to unlock the fortress's various gates. Now who would be more adequate assisting in a metal fortress right next to Republic City than the daughter of Toph herself?

Anyways, ya, idk if this is obvious or headcanon, but the only thing that makes sense to me is that Lin is some sort of member or agent of the White Lotus. Obviously, it has never been confirmed, but also it is the only thing that would make any of this make sense.

Shameless reuse of my art at the beginning of this to help my point, because I haven't had the time to illustrate all my ideas. I have a lot of stuff to draw on this, but I just need time ✌

[negativepeanuthoarder]

Demon Life Cycle:

I invented a lot of stuff to maybe use in a future fic but I wanna have somewhere to reference it! So here we are :)

Also Echo is probably going to tell me about how much homestuck I'm apparently ripping off here but oh well :3

Stage One: Egg

Adult and Superadult demons both lay eggs

An egg develops for roughly 27 weeks before being laid (equivalent to the first and second trimester in humans)

Laid eggs are kept warm and safe and attended to by parents for the next 12 weeks

Eggs hatch at 40 weeks

Demons usually only have one egg at a time, although cases of two or three also happen, and sometimes identical twins will both hatch from the same egg :3

Stage Two: Baby

Directly after hatching, baby demons instantly seek out the parent, they can crawl pretty well about an hour after hatching

baby demons are born with a very small, thin tail and small, blunt horns. They also hatch with claws, which they use to pull themselves from their eggshell

Demons are considered babies until they're bipedal

Stage Three: Child

Starts once a baby demon is able to stand upright and walk on two legs

The baby's horns grow during this stage in their life, although they remain blunt

The barb at the end of the demon's tail also begins to form during this stage, although it remains a small bud

Stage Four: Adolescent

Teenagers

Start growing taller

the bud on the end of the tail beings to open

horns get longer but remain blunt

Stage Five: Adult (First period)

Demons are considered adults once they are able to asexually reproduce/clone themselves

Demons do not have separate sexes

They are not able to sexually reproduce at this life stage

The demon's tail barb fully opens and sharpens itself

The horns lose their blunt coating and sharpen

During DSMP canon, Sapnap would be considered a First Period Adult

Stage Six: Cocoon

Demons usually go through this at a pretty old age, although it does happen when the demon is younger, but this can cause severe complications and potential death

The cocoon stage of a demon's life can last anywhere from a week to a month, depending on the general health of a demon

During this stage, the demon grows a pair of wings and a set of gonads (reproductive organs) and becomes able to sexually reproduce

Stage Seven: Superadult (Second Adult Period)

Superadults are able to sexually reproduce

Superadults are also much larger than adults, standing up to fifteen feet tall in some cases

Their tails are larger and wider than adults, able to serve both as balance and battering rams but also as a third arm

A demon's wings appear similar to bat's, and can be any size, although they're always large enough to carry the demon themself

Demons who enter the cocoon stage of development too early can emerge with deformities in their wings that limit flight

Superadults have a venomous barb in their tail, although the strength of the venom varies wildly among demon populations

During DSMP canon, Bad would be considered a Superadult.

Other notes

The reasons behind demons putting off sexual reproduction are unclear, however it likely has to do with wing formation, which allows for greater travel and a smaller chance of inbreeding among isolated populations in the nether and end

Demons retain both reproductive methods as it allows them to keep the population alive in dire circumstances (in which few adults are living to the superadult stage), but regain genetic diversity once the populations are more well-established

Demons are capable of hybridizing with most other species, although in some cases this can result in infertility, improper egg or cocoon development, and other risks that come with being a hybrid

Nether and End demons are two subspecies of the same species, but maintain open and constant gene flow between both populations

[lakesparkles]

do you have any seo-won/nam-gyu twins headcanons? <3

SORRY, I thought I answered this one already but yesterday I realized I didn't :(

Anyway, I do have some, here:

- First thing I need to say is that I'm still unsure about one thing: who should their parents be? Seo-wan's parents, considering they appear in the show? Or should they be Mi-nyeo and Deok-su, as they're my usual pick for Nam-gyu's family? I think both ideas have potential.

- If I choose the first option, it can be quite interesting because Seo-wan's parents are quite sweet, and it was a surprise to me. So I imagine that they would be treat Nam-gyu the same way, despite anything. They won't understand why he turned out that way. Nam-gyu claims he's fine, geez, stop asking the same stupid questions, he has his life together 🙄 - but it's clear to everybody who knows him that this isn't true. Once Seo-wan dies, they do everything to make sure that the same doesn't happen to him, they feel like a complete failure as parents.

- If I choose the second option, I can't take out of my mind that things would be even more complicated for Seo-wan. He wants a stable and comfortable life, but his childhood was the opposite of it. He wants to make sure that that won't define his entire future as he hopes he's still able to change everything for the better. He has to. The only positive part is that Young-mi is their younger sister, if we're gonna follow my "Mi-nyeo and Deok-su are Nam-gyu's parents AU".

- Seo-wan and Nam-gyu's personalities are totally different and crash a lot, and this was the case since forever. Even being twins, they felt like they were complete strangers. Seo-wan didn't mind talking to Nam-gyu when they were kids, but he felt like he was too grumpy and rude, not being someone easy to deal with. Nam-gyu, however, was always very clingy and didn't like spending time alone by himself. In good days, Nam-gyu even let Seo-wan read his super boring books to him. Nam-gyu didn't comment anything about the stories, but he appreciated the company.

- When they were teenagers, their appearence was so similar it was hard to tell them apart. For this reason, Nam-gyu decided to not wear his glasses at school, even if it gave him the worst headache ever. That was also why he decided to grow his hair out, he wanted to be his own person, especially when Seo-wan was easily considered "the kinder - and better - twin". Seo-wan also had a lot of problems, he was just better at pretending in that age.

- To finish it, a bonus Thangyu: Thanos didn't know shit about Nam-gyu's family when they started dating, Nam-gyu didn't like to talk about it. So, when Thanos found out about Seo-wan, he got interested on him 100% in the same minute. He started to annoy Seo-wan a lot, forcing a friendship that wasn't ready to exist yet - Seo-wan wasn't in a good moment mentally. But Thanos wanted to know anything, wanted to know about his weird favorite game, his personality, everything. He was like Nam-gyu, but completely different. Two different flavors, yay, Thanos was living his dream life :> it's needless to say how Nam-gyu got crazy jealous and insecure. Thanos, however, wasn't the person he decided to blame.

I may reblog with more later, this is just the basic stuff. We all know I could do something sadder than this

[wow-an-unfunny-joke]

You are so right man

[turtleblogatlast]

Something I really like is that April’s constant stream of odd jobs she goes through is somewhat reflected in the boys as well. Like, you have April working at random pizza places or getting a crane license or being fully willing to apply for a job at a place clearly made out of cardboard. Then you have the boys as well who do anything from working as a basketball mascot, building a massive dog park, being waiters, getting a whole band gig at a theme park, etc, etc-

Main difference is that April actively applies for these jobs (and is hopefully paid for the short time she’s in them) whereas for the bros the jobs usually find them (and they practically never get paid.) It doesn’t even stop at jobs either, they just seem to casually amass skills in general.

I don’t know, I like how both April and the turtles are just so ready and willing to do things. Sure, they’re not always good at these things, but they do them readily! In a way, being heroes is just another job (well, more like volunteer work/vigilantism/another fun activity) that they initially took on because of their general sense of “why not?”

They’re very willing and open to trying out new things despite their tendency to revert back to what they enjoy (and how commonly trying new things ends up going wrong), and I think that adaptational interest of theirs really helps them be well rounded in multiple regards.

[piosplayhouse]

It's honestly a little disturbing how many posts there are that are like "teenagers have no free will and must be shielded from the world entirely because they don't have any critical thinking at all!!" That are made by like. A 20 year old. Straight up just an absurd thing to tell on yourself with

[coldbronzemoon]

Hm more thoughts actually--

I imagine most of Stan's (he probably goes by 'Pan' rather than Panley, seeing as Pan is like... an actual name) starting work is like, low-budget horror and comedy. He's particularly fond of the horror stuff, since I like to think both Stan twins were way into schlocky stuff like that when they were younger. And he gets a lot of work in that genre because he's very, very good at pretending to get maimed and murdered. Like, if you need a guy to get chainsaw'd in a movie, Stan's your man. And he gets into low-budget action because sometimes people get knifed and/or chainsaw'd in those, too. It's like Sean Bean dying in a movie.

He starts climbing up from low-budget to high-budget, and starts getting roles where he can put a little more than usual into his characters. He's still mostly there to get murdered, but he has fun with it. (In this universe, Stan gets thrown in a car trunk in the middle of the hot desert to die and has to chew his way out of it...and at the end is handed a water bottle by a disgruntled PA muttering about having to do this scene in the real goddamn desert. He spits out fake teeth to take a drink, blissfully unaware that his dimensional counterparts are losing actual teeth at this point.) I think a turning point for him is getting a supporting role for really big blockbuster that gives him room to show off his humor, his emotional chops, and, of course, how well he can get chainsaw'd.

At some point after this he gets a really good opportunity--they're making a movie based off of his and Ford's favorite childhood show, Discount Star Trek Space Track, and he landed the main character Sargent Kick! Ford, unable to help himself after learning this, sends Stan a ten-page dissertation on Kick and his character and his motivations (and how his cool space gun works.) Stan is also unable to help himself and incorporates a lot of Ford's reasoning in how he plays the character. He also can't help but model his Kick voice after Ford's, with only a little modification. Fans agree that while the fascination and glee towards the unknown that underpins all of Kick's actions in this portrayal isn't quite the same as the Kick of the original series, it's still a damn fun role and Pan Stines plays it with surprising depth.

Once he's fully aware that Ford is keeping tabs on his career and he starts being able to expand his range, Stan starts going for sciencey roles when he can. He doesn't always get them--he's a bit beefy for the common nerd archetype--but when he does he always goes for a specific voice and tends to have certain mannerisms like a pacing problem and always tucking one hand behind his back while gesturing with the other. Ford fucking knows he's the inspiration for these tics and passive-aggressively sends voicemails demanding compensation.

(I like to imagine that Ford specifically sends voicemails because Stan doesn't pick up the phone for his brother. Call it petty revenge. Call it him not having any idea what to say to his brother if Ford could actually hear him. Whichever way you slice it, Stan never responds with a call or a letter. He always just does something in public he knows will get back to Ford. Ford seethes.)

At some point Stan lands a very specific role: Frankenstein's Monster. The genre is campy horror.

Ford can't bring himself to watch it, not how he's been keeping up with all of the rest of Stan's movies. (Not because he's proud or nostalgic or anything like that. He has to know what to complain about on the phone. That's all, he swears.) He can't stand the idea of watching Stan taking a character Ford had related to way too hard with during his teenage years--a being created to be the best, one who is saddled with the expectations of its 'father' who scorns it when it turns out physically different from a normal human despite being smart and clever--and treating it all like a joke like the classic Frankenstein movie. It'll just remind him of what Stan breaking his project taught him: Stan doesn't really care. He never really cared. All of the support that Stan showed him as a child was as conditional as everyone else's attention and admiration; when Ford stopped obeying Stan's whims, Stan ruined his chances and walked away. That's how he sees it. Watching Stan play Frankenstein's Monster like something less than human now that he didn't have to pretend to be sympathetic to Ford would just be an ugly addition. And Stan will make a mockery of it, Ford's sure, because he's already been mocking Ford with every scientist he plays.

Eventually it's Fiddleford--the only one who believes Ford about Stan being his twin, mostly because he's the only one Ford trusts enough to show childhood photos and explain the estrangement to--who watches the movie first and reassures Ford that he'll enjoy it. Because while the movie is still campy horror, Stan plays Frankenstein's Monster with genuine pathos. He makes the Monster smart, just lacking in cultural understanding to explain itself or react appropriately to things. He treats the role with care, makes the Monster a person.

And Ford doesn't know what to do with that. Because that feels like something Stan would do only if he still really cared about Ford's opinions, about Ford. But he can't care. Because if he did, he wouldn't have broken Ford's project and run off to strike it big...

Right?

An au concept that's been ping-ponging around in my head:

Instead of the life of crime route, Stan goes from his canon scammy products to ending up in Hollywood and becoming an actor. Maybe some agent spots his stupid ads, laughs their ass off and then goes 'hey, maybe there's something there' or maybe Stan himself goes to Hollywood because that's where the parties and babes are and auditions for stuff on a lark.

Either way, he starts actually landing roles. And first they aren't that big, and mostly comedic--he has a very over-the-top-personality, after all--but slowly he moves more into action movie land and starts becoming more of a known name. A known face. Doesn't land lead, exactly, but a prominent supporting role in the action blockbuster of the season.

Thus, Stanley Pines (or perhaps... Panley Stine) is a rising star.

A few hundred thousand miles away lives a very unhappy Ford Pines. His feelings on Stan making it and becoming a known actor are... complex (Part of him is relieved that Stan is doing well, part of him resents it, part of him feels validated for not standing up to their dad because Stan being kicked out helped Stan become famous in a way, part of him wishes he wasn't only seeing his brother on posters, so on, so forth) but he has one big problem:

Literally fucking everyone opens conversations with him with "Hey, you look like that one guy from the Extinguisher!" and even worse, no one ever believes him when he says that said actor is his twin brother. They tend to think he's lying as a joke or for attention.

So one day Stan receives a letter. It says "Stanley, please go back to the mustache. Everyone thinks I'm you otherwise. Yours, Ford. Ps. I told you that you should've joined the drama club."

Stan's damn well hacked off. Radio silence from his brother for a couple years at this point, and THIS is the first thing Ford has to say to him? The gall.

He keeps himself clean-shaven. He even starts wearing glasses like he's needed to for most of his life. Exactly the style of glasses Ford always wore, even.

Ford sends a second, even more terse letter.

Thus begins the most passive-aggressive communication between brothers possible, starting as letters and later turning into voicemails from Ford with legally dubious phone number-retrieving help from Fiddleford. Ford bitches about a recent choice Stan's made. Stan doubles-down and finds a new thing to piss him off with as well. Rinse and repeat.

In this universe, Ford goes to Gravity Falls not only because it's so full of anomalies, but because it's so backwater he hopes they won't know about Panley Stine at all.

[a-really-cool-blog-name]

what IN THE ENTIRE GOODNESS OF THE WORLD was the mirage April plot line about, man???

Like I've never read the original mirage comics and I've never seen someone who says they're a fan of the original mirage comics which is weird cuz they're the original but I've just never seen one so I get told information and I have no idea if it's true or not and then I look it up and sometimes IT IS

Like what do you mean that April wasn't real and was made by like a magic pen but also saw this by becoming like a cockroach and traveling into the past or some crap like that and might just disappear at any time??? What do you mean she like runs away after finding out this information and then gets like attacked by a bear or something and then becomes like a vigilante??? What do you mean Casey just adopts a child in the meantime???

What do you mean the Shredder's killed in the first issue by Leonardo just straight up decapitating him immediately but then it's brought back by the foot clan feeding his corpse to worms and now he is the worms before he's killed again??? What do you mean by splinter is just a regular rat who just like lived for 15 years like just like that??? What do you mean splinter just raised the turtles to specifically kill the shredder and like not much else?????? What?????

What do you mean Donatello witnesses the actual real life comic artist Jack Kirby get like sucked into a dimension of like his own creations and then just has to like accept that that happened??? What do you mean?????? What do you mean all of these ideas were immediately scrapped the next time they had to do something what????

Why was none of this ever elaborated on????

I've never in my life seen a mirage fan so I can't confirm any of this information without heavy googling so I might have gotten something wrong or like missed something like incredibly weird but I just what??????

[hp-debates-ramblings]

You are... Making assumptions about my life for thinking teenagers fighting on the right side is braver and more courageous than an adult who decides that maybe an innocent baby should be saved bc that's what the woman he's in fatuated with would want and then spends the next 14 or so years bullying anyone who wasn't in Slytherin?

Also, yeah, going into protests is brave. I don't know why your making it seem like it's not. It is. Maybe it could be classified as stupid (dunno what protest ur marching and whatnot) or something but ur still brave for doing that.

But uhh you shouldn't make assumptions about some one bc they think something about a character.

That's like saying if you make a fic about kidnapping, ur a kidnapper. Or if ur mc cheats on someone it's cause u do it too etc etc

Real stupid, inaccurate and puts your whole argument down the drain. Not that I really get what the point of ur argument is.

You first said Snape was braver than some kid who knocked Lily up. And for one, that was not why I called him brave. For another, in HP ur an adult after 17 so they weren't even underage.

Nd I hate James so I told you other people who were plenty braver than Snape imho.

And so you... Decided I was some sort of screwed anti poor people stuck up kid?

And as I said, James' bare minimum was not what he did. Which should matter much bc Snape was doing more than just not the bare minimum. But didn't you say that points to morality?

James' bare minimum was being neutral and quiet. He was not in any danger. He could have just stayed home and had his fun or played quidditch or whatever. Him coming out against the DE was his courage. Was his good morality and the very opposite of stuck up rich guy with everything handed to him. He did more than he had to. Completely more than he had to. Infinitely more than he had to.

Which people forget bc he was a good guy doing good stuff.

Harry fighting Voldemort is a bare minimum bc what else could he really do? Ron doing so isn't the bare minimum bc he and the rest of the Weasley's could have not participated.

And James could have done that to. He wasn't in danger until he actively stood against the death eaters. Actually he was safe until he refused to become a death eater. But he was a pure blood. A rich one. His home would have been protected by all sorts of spells. He'd just have to stay in there. He could have stuck a bet with Voldemort. In fact he could have been Mate I don't want to be in the middle of this and just left. It would have worked. He would have been fine.

Minus not becoming death eaters when Voldy told them to (bc he didn't tell them to), the Weasley's were neutral/inactive. Yeah Molly's brothers fought. But she and her husband didn't. And the family (those who didn't fight) were safe.

Not saying everyone who didn't fight were safe in either of the wars but James could have absolutely not fought and stayed perfectly well.

But he chose to fight. When he had a choice, itnwasn the bare minimum. It was the flinging high max and he did it

What even does the maximum even feel like to you? There was little anyone was doing other than:

Neutral/inactive

With Voldy

Against Voldy

This was the three options. And James chose the most deadly one. He had all three available. Hed have been fine j going back in Voldy after the war. He was rich like the Malfoys.

He chose to give up his peace and comfort and ease and fight. Not one bit bare minimum. And not one bit less than what Lily or Sirius or Remus or Snape had to offer to anyone. Not any less than what Harry or Ginny or Luna had to offer. He didn't chose the easy part.

He chose the most dangerous thing. He did more than the others bc his bare minimum was being inactive. His options were just sleeping while people died. Or killing them. Or doing less active resisting (knot that there were any) he could have made a fortune from the things he could make or take over his dad's business or make a name for himself as a Quidditch played or through transfiguration or just sit and live in the massive wealth he had.

He fought. He did not have to. It was not bare minimum. He was way braver than Snape bc he had options. Snape did too. He chose wrong. But not fighting in a war as a 18 or 19 year old wouldn't have made him wrong or a coward. But he chose to fight. To actively go against the guy who couldn't really hurt him much if he just went Nope lol I've got better things to do than get hurt and nearly die everyday.

I think Severus was one of the bravest characters in the series

🐣

[greenerteacups]

Hi GT,

Forgive me if this is a stupid question, but I absolutely love the recs you've given (you've introduced me to tomione, and I love it!) and I was wondering if it's possible to give you some recs in return? There are some books and fics that definitely have dramione / got vibes, and I was wondering if I could share them with you!

So glad you've enjoyed them! Feel free to rec me anything you want. I've read most of the classic recs in terms of fic and adjacent content (Cruel Prince et al), but I'll try anything that's well-written. My tastes run towards weird and/or audaciously creative stuff, and I can forgive a lot of weaknesses in plot on the grounds of (1) ambition or (2) character work. My turnoffs are instalove, protagonists who can't fail, and most Y/A (I'm not a hater, I swear, I just need characters who can say "fuck" when their leg gets chopped off.)

I'm also a fan of weird and fucked-up dynamics.(Wuthering Heights was my favorite book for a while, and as a teenager I wrote an AU in which the book ends on a long sex scene where Heathcliff fucks Cathy's ghost and then immediately gets murdered by Catherine 2.) Obviously, I am very normal.

[megumi-fm]

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