#which I wanted to say was a scam but i didn’t want the repercussions of THAT comment in my notifications

[everyone-calm-down]

I was on TikTok and came across a video of this lady talking about her multi-year celibacy journey and my aroace ass was so confused. And then I opened up her comment section and it was full of women who were all talking about THEIR multi-year celibacy journeys. One woman was on year 30. No one was talking about being asexual or aroace or nothing. And that was the exact moment that I realized that labels don’t mean shit actually. They all seemed to identify as straight women, just celibate ones. Anyway fuck being aroace I’m on year ‘my-age’ of my celibacy journey thank you and goodbye.

[burningarsenic]

I am not great at character analysis. My brain has thoughts that sound like a ton of static that i need to decipher, also English not being my first language isnt helping.

But it’s my blog and i do what i want so here we are

Stanley Pines has major avoidance issues

I haven’t really seen people talk about it for some reason? Sure, Weirdmageddon 3 highlighted his cowardice pretty hard, but this problem is a huge character flaw that stems from his very early childhood

Stanley’s interactions with the world and the problems it presents to him are all a product of his childhood trauma, poverty and learned behaviors. Something he had to learn early on in order to simply survive. He’s characterized as a con man and a liar, but weirdly his best lies aren’t connected to scamming people out of money. His best lies are connected to getting himself out of trouble in the least moral ways possible

If you haven’t read the Lost Legends comic, please do cause spoilers i guess??

It’s no secret that Stanley has been mistreated throughout his childhood. Being seen as the lesser twin and failing at everything his brother was succeeding at really made a number on him, leading to some form of almost abandonment issues, where Ford is his world. If Ford doesn’t love or care for him, then who?

But in order to achieve that care and love he so desperately needs he chooses a completely wrong path. Lying and avoiding the situation, instead of coming forward and being honest

He lies to his father and Ford about not stealing the chain, going on a whole adventure with him to find a culprit that he knows was him all along, all to avoid the disappointment and shame that comes from another failure. Unlike a lot of characters with traumatic backstories, Stanley is the reason a lot of it is happening to him in the first place. Not to say he’s to blame, but his actions definitely contribute to the inevitable repercussions. Just like Ford said “You like taking shortcuts, and sometimes it gets you into trouble”. Oh boy if only he knew the extent of the trouble Stan gets himself into

Anyway, this shows that from a very young age Stanley learned to lie and cheat his way out of things that bother him. Avoid the situation because he isn’t strong enough mentally to deal with it. Some of it was definitely perpetuated by his father, but something tells me most of it was Stan’s own work

Trauma only solidified those issues

I recently bought the DVD set and after far too much trouble managed to access the secret commentaries. What’s interesting is that in the Land Before Swine one, Stan mentions “Dad always taught me that the way to get people to respect you, is to punch the biggest person in the room, but if you do that in school then apparently you have “rage problems””, which is a joke for the most part, but still holds some merit and insight on what Stan’s teen years were like.

Problems. Lots of mental and emotional problems. In Dipper and Mabel’s Guide to the Unexplained, there’s a reference to Stan having to do the Rorschach test, which at the time was mostly used on “sexual deviants” and problematic teenagers, which ties in nicely with Stan being in his last year of highschool. It shows that Stan hasn’t really grown as a person. His first reaction to breaking Ford’s machine is to try and fix it without telling him, avoiding the problem. His first reaction to Ford accusing him of ruining his life is to change the topic to treasure hunting, avoiding the problem. This pattern of him trying to slip out of situations that make him uncomfortable is persisting up until the very end of the series

But who could blame him, honestly, when he didn’t really have a chance to grow, or the motivation to do so. Especially after being thrown out on the streets

Now, granted, we don’t know much about his time on the streets. What he told the kids, and subsequently us, was obviously a very watered down version of the events with no mention of darker parts like a possible allusion to suicide in the “Dead end flats”

But we still get a moment of Stanley avoiding the problem. The problem being their relationship with Ford. And we see him almost address it. Almost.

In the payphone scene we get another glimpse at these avoidance issues. It seems like Stan is about to try and fix things, try and reach out because he needs help. Serious help. He doesn’t. We can only speculate why, but it’s possibly because he was afraid of another rejection. No matter the reason, he avoids the phone call. Avoids talking. Avoids taking the final step to accomplish something, to overcome his fears and change his life for the better, because it can’t really get any worse

But the moment Ford drops him a chance at redemption, Stan latches onto it with all he’s got, getting to Gravity Falls immediately. And even then, has to calm his anxiety and try not to bolt out of there, pretending nothing ever happened

He’s doing something worthwhile in his life, truly. Turning it around, trying to change his fate because he has no other options. Running meant surviving, yet he doesn’t have anywhere to run to anymore. Facing the issue is his only way of staying alive, of saving whatever last piece of dignity he has left

Too bad it backfired miserably

And he’s back to square one, taking his brother’s identity to again, avoid calling his family and telling them Stanford is god knows where, avoid the trouble of tearing everything apart and starting over. Faking his death, i feel, was more of a symbolic move. He starts avoiding far too many things and feelings hanging in the back of his mind for decades. Loses himself in the image he constructed in order to keep everything hidden. And as the lies went on longer and longer it became easier and easier to pretend that this is how it’s meant to be

Throughout the series Stan has plenty examples of his cowardice

From his acrophobia

To him lying to Mabel in order to avoid getting judged for breaking the promise of not letting Waddles outside

But i feel like one of the most impactful and meaningful ones was the moment where he was about to tell the kids about himself and his brother

Just like in the phone call scene, he starts out fully expecting himself to finally tell the truth. Maybe not all of it at once, but at least hint at whatever he has going on. But finds himself unable to as the waiting, attentive faces of the kids make him stop abruptly, avoiding the conversation until it’s too late

And now we’re finally getting to the absolute glory that is the finale of this show. Stakes at their highest, heroes doing and failing and doing over and over again, struggling and never giving up hope to defeat Bill, and yet out of all these characters the one who’s avoiding the issue the most is the one to have his final big hero moment

Weirdmageddon 3

...is one of the best episodes in the series. Gods know i could gush about it for hours on end. But maybe another time

This is the episode where Stan’s cowardice and avoidance is impossible to ignore. He hides out in the shack, actively speaks out against the mission to save Ford. And while most of it is rooted in his feelings of inferiority and the need to feel worthwhile for once, it also continues the thread of extreme anxiety towards trying to change things

He’s actively trying to convince people to stay, almost in a panic that escalates as the episode goes on. He’s stuck in his ways and i know people who were extremely put off and surprised by how badly he reacted to the whole situation. Then, he grumbles throughout the entirety of the building of the shacktron, trying to stop it’s contruction as the life he came to endure and even seek comfort in is torn down all over again. Going to save Ford means addressing his issues with him. Going to save Ford means risking his life, the life of the kids and people closest to him. And if he’s learned anything throughout his life it’s that survival is the way to go. You can’t do anything if you’re dead, so what’s the point of risking it

Throughout his life Stan lied for nobody but himself, he conned people to get himself out of trouble. Never anyone else, because if he’s dead then he’s a failure. If he’s dead then that means he’s weak and all those things people told him when he was younger

And this is where the finale shines

It starts out with Stan twins addressing their issues for the first time since they were kids. It’s short, scuffed, but it’s there. It’s a start for something bigger. A reunion, obviously, but also

Stanley is not running away anymore. The weight of the finale hits so much harder when it’s the first time Stan lies for anyone but himself. The first time he isn’t running away and hiding like he did his entire life. The first time he’s ready to give up basically his life for a good cause. And that, among other things, is what makes this hero moment so impactful. It’s the complete 180 he does from his usual self. And that’s why i love him so goddamn much

This all being said, i don’t think Stanley is selfish, quite the opposite. And also it’s definitely not the first time he’s risking everything for someone else (cough cough Ford cough cough), but this is an analysis of this singular thread and part of his character that i’ve noticed. Thanks for reading my crazed man ramblings.

[tenthgrove]

Yandere Prompt Event- Mista with 63 (SFW)

63: “Oh, can’t find your clothes? Wear mine, they look better on you anyway.”

Of all the eventualities that could have transcribed when you discovered your cavalier boyfriend was in the mafia, this is not one of them.

At present, you may not leave your house. There are bolts on all the windows and an alarm on the door. If you want something, you have to call Mista to bring it to you. All this, because you threatened to leave him over his work. Granted, this in itself was not unimaginable to you when you planned for the possible repercussions of your attempted break-up. What is truly puzzling, however, is the fact he tries to pretend nothing is out of the ordinary.

“Hey babe,” Mista greets you over the phone. You stand motionless and dead-faced as you wait to hear whatever drivel he has to bother you with today. “I’m free tonight, so I thought I might pop round. We could make a date of it, watch a movie, have some snacks. On that note, anything I could get you from the store?”

“No, Guido, I’m good for snacks. But you’re welcome to come over,” you say, fully aware that even if you said no he would come round anyway.

“Neat! Be ready by 7!” Mista says, hanging up. You sigh. If he’s going to keep you under fucking house-arrest the least he could do is give you a break from his damn presence. You suppose you should do some chores. With the internet cut and the phone bugged to only let you call your boyfriend, there isn’t really much else you can do to take your mind off your shitty, shitty situation.

For one, you know your bed really needs changing. But to do that you first need to get rid of this tremendous mess on top of it… and the floor. Yeah, you’re gonna be here for a while.

::::::::::::

All said, you have a fairly decent day.

You get a lot done, which situation aside is always cause for feeling good. You consider putting on something nice for Mista but… nah. The bastard doesn’t deserve seeing you dressed up all fancy.

The one thing you didn’t get round to doing was laundry. After piling up for weeks you put in a massive load last night but got distracted when Mista came round, meaning you haven’t yet taken it out. You’ve been stuck wearing this one outfit ever since.

The doorbell rings. No surprises who that could be.

“Evening babe! I got great news! We made a killing scamming idiots at the casino, so I’m absolutely loaded right now!”

“Must be nice,” you mutter, staggering down the stairs to meet with Mista. He let himself in, of course.

“I know you said no snacks but like, come on, you can’t have a movie night without snacks! So here, I bought a few,” Mista explains, dumping a massive pile of sweets and crisps on the table. Stubborn as you are… you’re probably not going to be able to help yourself from eating those.

“Glad you think your outfit is as cool as I do babe, but isn’t that the same one you were wearing last night?” Mista observes.

“Yeah, I didn’t get a chance to unload the wash.”

“Shall I do it for you? You’re welcome to start on the snacks,” Mista offers.

“No. You put them in last night so it wouldn’t be fair. I’ll be like 10 minutes,” you tell him, heading off to the laundry machine. Maybe if you pull the clothes out now, you can have something to wear by the end of the evening.

You open the door of the laundry machine.

The barrel is empty.

What… where are your clothes? Your clothes were right here last night, Mista put them in and… oh. That bastard.

“Oh, can’t find your clothes? Wear mine, they look better on you anyway.”

Turning around you see Mista in the hallway with the most ungodly smirk on his face. “Lucky for you I bought some, eh?”

“Guido, where the fuck are my clothes!?” you ask him angrily. Mista shrugs.

“No idea, but I think you ought to find something else and fast. You don’t want to keep wearing those forever, do you?”

“For god’s sake Mista I just wish you would- ARGH!” You push past him with an indignant shriek as your words fail you, marching up the stairs and shutting yourself in your room. No matter what you do, Mista is going to keep pestering you until you return his affections once more. That much is indisputable.

[five-rivers]

Oooh, I just saw the big about prompts!

“Blessings of rot and petrichor, my prince. May you have a home in the dark, and may the distant stars you reach for never fade.”

(Can be inspiration or an actual quote; do what ya want! :P)

The world ended on a Saturday, and it wasn’t Danny’s fault.  Even if that Saturday happened to be his sixteenth birthday.  

Okay, maybe that was a bit overdramatic.  But, honestly, neither he nor anyone else he’d ever spoken to knew why or how things had turned out this way.  Just that, one morning, reality shook, shuddered, and took a few steps to the left.  

Humanity woke to green-streaked skies, a rainbow sun, and a lot more universe than they were used to.  So did ghosts.  

This was a problem.  It might even be deemed the problem.  Humans and ghosts didn’t exactly get along, and even when neither the ghosts nor the humans involved particularly wanted to fight, the new laws of nature and the few who did want to fight tended to ruin things for everyone else.  (Cough, GIW, cough, Walker, cough.)

Hence the end of the world.  Or, at least, most large-scale governments.  

It could have been worse.

Amity Park stopped being a city that day, fragmented with Ghost Zone wilderness, landscape and spatial dimensions shattered in a spiderweb centered on Fentonworks, the portal a wellspring of wild power and unpredictable translocations.  Danny had worried that the portal had been the cause of the whole thing, but Amity Park was far from the only place with similar issues (look at New York), and Danny eventually was able to accept that not every bad ghost-related thing that happened was on him.  

(Probably.)

Honestly, once everything calmed down a bit, the new world was much more comfortable, physically and mentally, for Danny to live in.  Which was weird, but made sense.  The new world was split between human and ghost, just like him.  It was everyone else who was uncomfortable, now.  

Which, again, he felt guilty about, but, yeah.  He couldn’t do anything about that, so feeling guilty was counterintuitive.  Thank you, tiny Jazz in his head.  

It was Saturday again.  Time for the market fair.  

“Mom and Dad are already out?” asked Danny, leaning over the banister.  

“Yeah,” said Jazz, not looking up from her work transcribing an old ghost text into something more palatable to human eyes.  She adjusted her green lenses to sit closer to her eyes.  “An hour or two ago.  Some guys from Chicago came in last night, apparently, and they wanted to get a head start.”

“Okay,” said Danny.  “I’m going, too.  You want anything?”

“Nope.  I’d be going myself if I did,” said Jazz.  

“You sure?  Nothing for dinner?”  

“Nope, I’m all set.”

“Cool,” said Danny, padding towards the door.  He pulled his nice, dark coat, the one he’d gotten from Dora, off the hook, and shrugged into it, pulling up the hood.  

“No shoes today?” asked Jazz, who had finally looked up.  

“Eh,” said Danny.  “I guess not.  Doesn’t really feel like a shoe kind of day.”  He flexed his toes.

“Well, avoid blackberries, then,” said Jazz.  

“They should avoid me,” joked Danny.  “Good luck with that book!”

“Thanks,” said Jazz, waving as Danny left.  

Fentonworks was the same tall, brick-and-UFO building as it had always been, but now it stood alone on top of a small hill rising from a distinctly purple forest.  The dark grass waved back and forth like the tentacles of a sea anemone.  Bright green portal streaks, cracks in reality, stood out against the foliage, along with a few other buildings that had once belonged to the Fentons’ neighborhood.  The sun was blue today, but Danny predicted it would be green by nightfall.  

Danny walked down the path, the dirt on it declining to adhere to Danny’s feet.  He hummed, quietly, a tune he half-remembered from before the apocalypse.  He would not be walking all the way to the market fair, it was too far.  His parents had taken the Speeder.  

Danny, on the other hand, had a shortcut.  

He reached one of the portal-fractures and passed through to a part of the forest where the trees whispered to one another.  He took a moment to reorient himself, and continued to the next portal fracture.  

As far as he knew, he was the only person who could reliably travel like this.  He could have flown, but the market fair was busy, and he preferred to maintain his peaceful life.  Phantom was still a celebrity in Amity Park.  Even more so now, than before, as ghosts were no longer shot on sight.  

Some ghosts even came to Amity Park’s market fair.  

He walked through a wider-than-usual fracture which deposited him just outside the main fragment of Amity Park, near the erstwhile mall.  The mall and its attached parking lot being the place the market fair took place.  

It was busy.  There were trucks stamped with the seal of Illinois parked on the edges, presumably belonging to the delegation from Chicago.  There seemed to be more ghosts than usual as well, enough of them to make Danny shiver.   Had they come from Chicago, or was it just a coincidence?  If they had, that would be nice.  Chicago had a lot of local influence, and was one of the places that was still trying to hold together something like a national government.  If they accepted ghosts, others would follow more readily.  

Peace between the two worlds in places other than Amity Park would be very nice.  

Danny wandered down the paths of the market fair, not in any particular hurry to get to his parents’ booth.  He was always more interested in the other things at the fair.  Even if he rarely bought anything.  

People seemed to be mostly moving in one direction.  No, they were being drawn in one direction, with people tugging their companions onward.  Danny, not having anything better to do, went with the flow.  

Which led back to where the Chicago delegation was set up.  Several people were standing in front of the trucks, arguing.  

“How can you lose an entire bevy of ghosts?” demanded the man who appeared to be in charge.  

The target of his ire merely shrugged.  

“Can’t lose people like that, bub!” shouted someone from the crowd.  There was a titter of laughter.  

“Didn’t you have a big, fancy announcement, fed?” 

More laughter.  

“Yeah, what did you want to say?”  This voice had an echo to it, and the the man looked extremely aggrieved.  

Nevertheless, he took a deep breath.  “We were led to believe,” he said, cheek jumping, “by certain ghosts, that there was a way to negotiate with the ghosts and... reverse this nonsense.”

Wow.  So, Chicago got scammed.  That could have repercussions.  Danny hoped Amity Park wouldn’t see too much of the fallout.  

“Wouldn’t you jump on any chance to stop this?” demanded the man in response to the jeers, gesturing at the sky and its pulsing bands of light.  

“Tell us a better story!” shouted Ember, who had struck up a much more cordial relationship with Amity Park after the apocalypse.  “One that we’ll remember!”

The man turned away, throwing his hands in the air.  “Go find them!” he shouted, presumably to his subordinates. 

The crowd broke up.  

Danny was curious.  It was one of his defining characteristics, both as a human and as a ghost.  He followed one of the Chicagoans as they walked into the market turning this way and that.  

“So,” he said, “what story was your boss fed?”

The woman jumped and looked down at him, disconcerted.  (Yes, he was short.  That wasn’t his fault.  Except that it probably was, via the portal accident.)

The woman sighed.  “Why not, it’ll be out before too long.  We were told that the rightful king of ghosts was in hiding here, or something stupid like that.  I don’t think they ever said he could fix the world, even.  Only that he could be negotiated with.”  She kicked the ground.  “This is so stupid.  There’s no ghost king.  This is never going to get fixed.”

“It’s not so bad, is it?” asked Danny.  

“How old even were you when it happened.  Ten?” asked the woman.  

“Excuse me, I was sixteen,” said Danny, crossing his arms.  

“That’s cute,” said the woman, dragging her hand down her face.  “You’re like thirteen, tops.  Not nineteen.  Jesus.  Go bother someone else, kid.”

Danny rolled his eyes.  “Well, you aren’t wrong that there’s no ghost king.  Last guy who called himself that got beaten up and locked in a sarcophagus forever.”

Then, just to mess with her, because she’d been rude, Danny turned invisible and left before she turned around.  

Now...  He should probably try to warn people about the scam artist ghosts.  Or would they know from the other people watching?  

Danny flicked back into visibility and continued perusing the various stalls, making small talk with the owners, bringing up the Chicagoans when it was appropriate.  

He was passing by the covered entrance of the mall, one of the most crowded spots in the market fair, when his ghost sense went off, indicating an unfamiliar ghost was nearby.  He scanned the crowd for the ghost.  He didn’t have to look very hard.  Strange ghosts tended to draw eyes, even in Amity Park.  

Especially ones that looked like this.  Inhumanly tall, cloaked, and moving smoothly.  Glimpses under their hoods showed faces riddled with decay- or at least the appearance of decay.  The three of them held instruments.  Flute, drum, and summoning bell.

Danny stood to the side to let them pass.  After all, they weren’t doing anything bad as far as he could see.  

They did not.  Instead, they stopped in front of Danny.  Typical.  

Then they started playing their instruments.  And kneeling.  

Aaaand the crowd was getting bigger.  There was the person from Chicago, too.  Could he escape without turning invisible with all this attention on him?

Probably not without showcasing his ghost powers.  There were people who knew him in this crowd.  Like Paulina.  And Star.  

“Um,” said Danny.  “Hi?”

The leading ghost looked up as the sun’s light turned emerald green.  

“Blessings of rot and petrichor, my prince. May you have a home in the dark, and may the distant stars you reach for never fade.”

Out of the corner of his eye, Danny saw the Chicagoan’s jaw drop.  

“I think you might have the wrong guy,” said Danny.  “I’m not anyone’s prince.”

The ghost grinned, sharp and white.  “We came to give our blessings, my prince.  You do not need to accept them for them to exist.  We offer, also, our service and our hope in this new world that you are so suited for.”

Yeah.  This was going to be a problem.  

[somestansomewhere]

Shameless - Dysfunctional Family Roles

When taking a closer look at the Gallagher family there becomes a clear semblance of character traits used to build the dynamics between family members. More times than not, there is a specific pattern in “neurotic storytelling” used to explore families that deal with addiction and poverty. When you look at the character of Frank, it is extremely obvious that he represents “The Addict” within the family. Frank is the one that often causes the most conflict for the family, making him the catalyst for his children to fill the following roles:

Fiona’s role of “The Caretaker” is another that was strikingly obvious to me. It is due to Frank’s neglect and narcissism that she then becomes the one to take on all of his responsibilities in order to keep the family functioning. As a child she wants to make Frank happy, and as seen in S1E1 she wants him to acknowledge her for all that she has done for him and be proud of her. However, when we look at her character arc in S4 this becomes much more obvious. In her relationship with Mike, we see how attracted to chaos she really is. Fiona likes to solve other people’s (Frank’s) problems. She gets bored and thus cheats on him with Robbie as a way to reinsert herself into a problem to solve. This happens throughout the series as she needs adventure in order to “feel needed”, (also stated in the Pilot). She is drawn to Sean because of his addiction. She goes into Ian’s lawyer meeting in S9 when he requested her not to.

Lip at first struck me as “The Hero” but ultimately I feel as if he is “The Scapegoat” in the family. He has all the wisdom and potential to “get out” of their situation but ruins all of his chances. He acts out for attention and is defiant, often participating in illegal scams. When Lip goes to college he instantly feels out of place, in his conversation with Helene in “Southside Rules” we see that he won’t rat out Kev because: “Southside Rules”. Part of the problem here is that he has an extreme amount of hostility towards Frank which is why Lip tries hard to not become like him and diverts all of his attention away from Frank. Lip develops his own alcohol addiction and ruins his chances at achieving any extreme goals. Lip also falls into the trap of a “trickster mentor”. Youens is arguably just like Frank. He is intelligent, but also a drunk, so Lip is drawn to him to be “the father he didn’t have”. This is why it hurts when us, as well as Lip, are let down by Youens in court, and when we learn Lip wasn’t the only student he catered to.

Now, I’d will to return to Ian in a bit and first talk about Debbie who takes on the role of “The Hero”. Debbie is extremely self sufficient and we see that in the later seasons she attempts to fix the dysfunctional home life. For example, in S9 she begins to do home renovations. And in S10, while she did act a lot like Frank, by getting debt cards for the family, and having a budget, along with a chore list, it shows that she is reaching for some form of normalcy to pull the family up. I personally think she appears to be doing this more for herself but, without Fiona she does try to be the one running he house. In earlier seasons she is over-responsible for her age and wants to be treated like adult, all while catering to Frank.

Carl to me is “The Mascot” to Frank. He is “the dumb one” and that is played for comedic relief. In the earlier seasons, Carl is the one that constantly helps Frank. The family roles are devised in relation to Frank, and Carl is one of the last kids to see him for what he really is. While Carl is violent he also has such love and compassion for his siblings, telling Debs not to wear white when she gets her period, taking care of Liam, and even though he really wanted to go to the West Point mixer in S9 he offered to stay home with Lip, when Lip was going through a tough time. Carl’s generosity and commitment/praise to Frank shows that he tries to lesson the burden that is Frank’s addiction, all while assisting Frank in his schemes.

Now, Ian and Liam share the same role of “The Lost Child”, but in different ways. Ian is the third kid in the first half of six, and Liam is the third child in the second half of six, so it makes sense. Ian is the middle kid (and also technically not Frank’s), who separates himself from the rest of his siblings. Ian’s story arcs have always been with outside characters to the family (with characters such as Mandy or Mickey). In S1E7 the family is faking Frank’s death, Ian is not a part of that plot line till the very end because once again, his His storylines are separate. He is on his own, being independent. When Monica returns in S1 the family deals with it together, however Ian runs to Mickey. Ian also searches for a purpose (like the military, EMT, gay Jesus) to strive for so that he won’t feel so lost. Ian is extremely goal oriented. Another point I would like to bring up is his relationship with Monica. She is “the runway” and he feels the same. Being bipolar also makes Ian feel isolated because he worries that his family will view him like Monica. He is the only one dealing with it as well and instead of wanting to change, he wants people to accept him for who he is. Liam on the other hand fills this role because in the later seasons he begins to fly under the family’s radar. He deals with the repercussions of all of his family member’s actions and is often roped into Frank’s bullshit scams even while growing up. Liam was “a prop” at first and now is all alone with much older siblings. In S10 Lip asks Liam where everyone is, and Liam says that he misses having everyone around. He is lonely.

Keep in mind that these are my opinions and if you have any thoughts or disagree, I’d love for you to send me an ASK so we can discuss it!! I Find this really interesting and if you do as well, look up “ Dysfunctional Family Dynamics”, loads of info will pop up! I have much more to say for specific characters (even Sammi who acts out in rebellion wanting boundaries in S5a) but this was just my “quick breakdown”. If you made it through this whole thing, you’re the best. Thank you! 💙

[waterrtribe]

just here to let u kno i would Love to hear ur thoughts on katara as the mom friend 👉🏻👈🏻

lksdjfklsdfj okay disclaimer: i’m not very articulate so i don’t have a full coherent Thought about this so get ready for some word vomit and a scary glimpse of the disconnected thoughts in my brain. i promise, what i lack in coherency i make up for with my love and passion for this show and for katara herself. also this got long so...bear with me. 

i’ll start off by saying that i think about the episode The Runaway a lot. It’s the one where Katara and Toph get into it about how Katara tries to mother them all the time. at one point sokka explains that their mother died when they were so young that in his mind, Katara basically took over Kya’s place. he said something along the lines of, “when i try to picture our mother’s face, i just see katara’s,” a line which still makes me very emotional every time i watch.

anyway, i see katara being The Mom Friend with sokka, with aang, with toph, and it’s very sweet!! i love the Gaang’s dynamics and how much they all love and support each other. still, i can’t help but feel kind of....indignant on katara’s behalf?

i think it’s because i’m older now, so i’m just hyperaware of these characters’ ages. when i was watching this show in 2007 i didn’t understand quite as much. all of the weight of their trauma and responsibility really hits me harder now. so i see the rest of the gaang get to act like their age a lot of the time and just be able to be Kids (as they should!!), but with katara, it seemed to me like she gets to do so less than the rest of the gaang.

i know we can say “well that’s just because she’s the mom friend and it’s part of her personality.” still, i can’t help but focus on the fact that the reason katara is The Mom Friend in the first place is because of a combination of her mother dying at such a young age and her having to step up to fulfill that role plus the general gender roles instilled in her while growing up. i think i’ve seen some posts floating around that mention how sokka and katara ended up adhering to more traditional gender roles because sokka had to fill his father’s shoes after he went off to war and katara had to fill her mother’s after she died. so going off of that, sokka and katara both bear responsibilities and pressures that they shouldn’t have to when they’re just children.

there’s still a difference between the two, however. sokka is still a very goofy, fun-loving character who can make cheesy jokes and get into all sorts of hijinks. he’s allowed to be childish, and it’s fun to watch him be childish. katara, on the other hand, always has to be the mature and levelheaded one. when i think about this contrast, i think about The Desert episode from book 2. they’re wandering the desert and katara is the one keeping them on track. aang, of course, has his own worries about appa being taken, and toph is unable to navigate the desert very well because she’s not used to moving in the sand. that leaves sokka and katara to lead the way. but then, sokka drinks the cactus juice. don’t get me wrong--i’m aware that whole bit was comic relief and adds levity in a very emotionally heavy episode, and i love it a lot! but i still can’t help but notice that sokka is the oldest, and he’s the one whose character arc is about growing into the strong leader that he becomes in book 3. yet, katara is the one leading the way here while sokka’s allowed to check out and be our comic relief. katara’s never really allowed to let loose in the same way.

i can think of two instances where she’s allowed to let loose a little and both of them end up with her facing serious repercussions for them. there’s the part in the first episode when she goes penguin sledding with aang and she’s enjoying herself and she says, “i haven’t done this since i was a kid!” and aang replied, “you still are a kid!” which is so telling (also this reminds me of when aang basically had the same exchange with zuko later but this post is long enough without me talking about zuko lol). katara hasn’t really been able to be a kid since her mom died. and when she allows herself to be one in this scene, she and aang end up accidentally setting off a booby trap from an abandoned fire navy ship which lights up a flare that leads zuko to her village. the other instance is in the episode i mentioned earlier, the Runaway, where katara wants to have fun with Toph and pull a scam with her in an effort to stop being The Mom Friend and just be A Friend, and that ends with them being arrested. even when it was her turn to pick a vacation spot in the library episode, she picked the misty palms oasis because it sounded relaxing, but that didn’t even go the way she wanted it to because the oasis was no longer an oasis. there are so many times where katara wants to just be a kid and relax, and the narrative seems to almost punish her for it.

(quick note: i can think of some moments where katara isn’t necessarily levelheaded and is impulsive and that’s in the cases when she’s actively trying to fight to protect and help people in need, which still kind of proves my point because she’s not impulsive for herself and for the sake of acting her own age; it’s to fight oppression and injustice. and that’s not childish at all.)

this extremely long ramble brings me to my Thought about how katara is a perfect example about how quickly we expect young girls, especially brown girls, to grow up. katara is a kid just like the rest of them. she’s a powerful warrior just like the rest of them. she is a war hero just like the rest of them. but she also has to be the The Mom Friend. and i think, despite the fact that she’s able to fight the gender roles forced on her by becoming a warrior, she’s unable to escape them entirely. this isn’t to say she can’t enjoy being the caretaker and being the mom friend, but that doesn’t change the fact the writers wrote her that way in the first place.

that also leads to my dissatisfaction with katara’s life post-atla. it seemed to me that despite all of katara’s power, her accomplishments, and her drive to fight for what she believes in, ultimately, motherhood prevails. this isn’t necessarily a bad thing. i’m sure katara loves being a mom!! she’d be great at it!! and there is nothing wrong with a woman who wants to be a mother and only a mother!! nonetheless, from a narrative standpoint i can’t help but resent bryke a little for making it so.

i’ve had conversations about this and people have mentioned that the legend of korra is a show that should stand on its own so the less amount of contact with atla characters, the better, and i agree to some extent. but what strikes me is that they brought in zuko to participate in the action at one point. toph shows up as well to help her family. but we get very few interactions with katara as anything other than a healer, a wife, a mother, and a grandmother. that doesn’t sit right with me.

i can’t help but think about the episodes in the legend of korra season 1 when they’re dealing with Yakone, the bloodbender. katara doesn’t really come up at all even though the episode introducing bloodbending, the Puppetmaster, was one of the big katara-centric episodes. at one point toph mentions that katara hasn’t joined in on the action because she’s old and tired, so she’s ready to leave these things to the young ones. but even in the flashbacks to Yakone’s trial, sokka, toph, and aang are all there, and katara isn’t. you would think that when faced with a bloodbending enemy, katara would be there, but she’s nowhere to be seen. that will always bother me.

anyway, my point is that katara is the embodiment of what we want young girls to be. we want them to be mothers. we want them to be caretakers. we want them to act like grown women, and we punish them when they don’t. katara is The Mom Friend because she stopped being a child when her mother died. that’s why katara always talks about her mother’s death and why it had such a huge impact on her. when kya died, katara took over her role as a mother for her entire village and for her friends and later, for her own family. katara became a mother as soon as her own died. kya’s death forced katara into womanhood. kya’s death marked the death of her girlhood. kya’s death is when Katara became the Mom Friend.

i just really wish that the narrative gave katara more chances to be a child again and recover her lost girlhood just for a little while.

so yeah. those are my thoughts on katara as the mom friend. i hope this was satisfying in some way if u managed to get through this whole thing 😭 

[riverrunscold]

I saw your tags, please info dump to me about your ocs, I wanna hear all about them!! 😊

Sorry I'm late getting to this ask! But I'm so ready to info dump!

Sorry if some of this is worded weird, I took it directly from my character notes which at the moment are doubling as my story developing notes.

Brief story description (so far):

A murder mystery story with the main characters, Rosemary Josephine Wynn, a skeptical detective and Cromwell, a trans spiritualist who is also a dumbass and excitable.

It's the 1920s, these two are working out of a small building that they rented out together, they have been friends since Rose first met Cromwell during an investigation. She loved ribbing him about ghosts not being real and enjoyed how flustered the man got. Though she also disagrees with the business he runs and once thought he was scamming people until she realized he actually believes the shit he sells.

Now, onto the characters!:

Rosemary- Rosemary is a black woman who dresses pretty similar to what women would in the 20s but would include more masculine outfits from time to time when she's conducting detective business. She found people took her more seriously that way but during the story maybe she stops wearing the masculine garb altogether when she realizes that she wants to be able to be herself and still be taken seriously. She also starts styling her hair in more ways, instead of trying as best she can to straighten it every morning or hide it under a hat. She also tends to have a more masculine bravado which she developed over the course of her career, influenced by her three brothers also. She has muscular arms and could beat you up in her favorite pair of heels if she wanted to. Her celtic zodiac animal is the Snake (something Cromwell references often). She's strong, strong-willed and strong-headed. Not at all spiritual, focuses on objective facts more often than not. Makes it a bit hard for her and Cromwell to get along at first. Rosemary is very in her own head and anxious but very silent about it, having experienced a lot of mental and physical abuse from her mother growing up. Her mother raised her as a work machine since she was young, never really stopping to teach her lessons about emotions and sometimes actively punishing her when she displayed them. She was less strict on her brothers, Rosemary thinks it's because she was her least favorite but her mom knew how hard it was for black women to get ahead in life so she made sure she focused on her studies and being good at multiple things (though it does not at all excuse her behavior). Therefore Rosemary ends up emotionally stunted later in life, not opening up often out of subconscious or conscious fear of repercussions. Throughout the story, Cromwell, being the outgoing nonjudgmental guy he is tries to help her open up and ends up being able to do that throughout the course of the story. This could possibly all crescendo into a point in the story where Rosemary shows her affection towards Cromwell through actions, not being great with emotional words or sometimes words in general. Maybe she puts herself in-between Cromwell and someone wishing to do him harm, being the stronger of the two and not wanting him to get hurt. This could possibly be at the expense of her own well-being. This could be a big turning point, Rosemary outwardly showing affection towards someone for the first time in possibly her whole life aside from her brothers. Rosemary suffers with PTSD, a result from her household abuse. She also has a hard time actually getting into relationships, watching her parents own degrade when she was younger. She's also terrified of being left by someone she lets herself get attached to, which is what happened with her dad. Since she has PTSD it often shapes the way she thinks or reacts, which will be incorporated into the story during her perspective chapters.

Cromwell-

Cromwell is actually his last name but he uses it instead of his dead name, one of his teacher's having called him by his last name once making him realize how much he loved not being referred to as his first or as Ms Cromwell. He's not out to anybody, just keeps connected to underground trans channels who also happen to frequent speakeasys around town. He's also Scottish, Cromwell being a Scottish name. He has red hair and freckles all over but his eyes are two different colors, it's almost not noticable. One's blue and one's green. He's a dumbass but I love him. Most people have a hard time understanding what he says because of his accent, a lot of people roll their eyes at him when they hear him speak. He doesn't speak much though because of the uncomfortableness he feels about his voice being too feminine for his liking. The only person he talks to with regularity is Rose but that's only because she basically forces him into arguments about ghosts. Don't worry though, they're all good natured on Rose's part, Cromwell's just dramatic. He also wears very worn clothing, a trench coat and white button up that were both too big for him. He also wore slacks with holes that were caused by moths and, so he claims to Rose's upset, spirits (He's mostly joking when he says it. Mostly).

Him believing in ghosts so much may also have to do with him wanting to be able to contact his sister who had passed away years ago but not even Rose knows about that until later on. His sister was really the only support he had in his family. Cromwell also taught himself how to sew, helped by his mother teaching him when he was younger, so he could create his own binders and give them to other trans men he knows. His celtic zodiac is the Fox, having been born March 31st 1899, making him 21. He's very spiritual and emotional, but very extroverted and wants to know others. He's also a tad flirtatious. He helps Rosemary get more in touch with her feelings or at least tries to. He started with giving her complements but that quickly turned out to not be at all effective, she tended to react to them with sarcasm or annoyance. Cromwell has ADHD. His symptoms also show through when the book shifts to his perspective.

Some thing I didn't mention, they are probably one of my favorite ship dynamics, the skeptic and believer, introvert and extrovert, opposites attract. I love that shit. Also slight rivals to friends to lovers babyy!

This also might be slightly based on Mulder and Scully but shut up xD

[fedoremelianenko69-blog]

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If you attempt to skimp on the coffee portion merely to make your supply last a couple weeks, you will wind up with a weak batch at the end.  For you to be able to relish your teas k-cup, all you need to do is to punch holes on both the bottom and top faces of the cup.  As stated previously can do a couple of things to keep more water in your entire body, but drinking the ideal amount constantly is the ideal solution.

Ideas, Formulas and Shortcuts for Coffee

As people become health conscious, knowing the excellent side of a specific product is insufficient.  Having said, the significance of having the ideal machine may not be overstated.  There are a couple distinct paths out there for OCS.

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The Key to Successful Coffee

Greenwell Farms can supply you with premium excellent coffee beans, which will provide you with a good cup of coffee in every brew and at a fantastic price.  Coffee beans will probably contain abundant quantities of three big polysaccharides.  It is perhaps one of the most popular coffee variations worldwide.

You don't need to be a coffee connoisseur to give it a go.  Any bean can be employed to create decent espresso.  Obviously, it's due to best grown coffee beans that you purchase from outside.

[everlarkingjoshifer]

Trump signed an executive order to abolish what he did....

I don’t normally come in here to post long political pieces. However, after the disgusting comments that I’ve read on social media as Democrats held a press conference to speak about children being ripped apart from their parents at the border, is more than I can take. So, because I am pretty fucking annoyed with all the baseless accusations, and major misinformation I would like to dispel erroneous conclusions along with the comments I have been seeing on social media.

Immigrants are taking our jobs!

No Becky, they’re not. Immigrants are bringing in jobs and taking the low wage, often dangerous and non-union jobs that YOU don’t want to take. How about you go pick those strawberries in the blazing heat for as little as 6$ an hour, doesn’t sound very appealing right? So if it’s not good enough for you because you want a cushy job, what makes you think Immigrants want to do it too? They don’t, but they’re so desperate to make a living that they’re willing to do anything so long as they can provide a better future for their own families, something you can easily understand. As a matter of fact, while you enjoy your burrito know that none of it would be possible if it wasn’t for an immigrant who brought in their culture and food to enrich our country. Yeah, that big old Mexican franchised fast food joint? Would not have existed for your high school kids to work at, so while your sitting on your ass enjoying someone else’s culture, know that none of it 

would be possible without an immigrant.

Immigrants are taking our resources and our taxes pay for them to live here!

 Noooo, Immigrant individuals cannot ever receive federal based help such as SSI. They can’t even get health insurance. Some states do hand out some help to aid immigrants but it would only be something as small as being able to use the WIC program which is very limited. (I’ve used it when I had just given birth). As a matter of fact, white citizens are amongst the highest percentage who receive federal assistance and immigrant people pay INTO our social security and taxes without hope of ever getting that money back. If you want to talk about needlessly spending your money on immigrants then you should definitely be against the barbaric procedures that are happening right the hell now. There are companies profiting from your taxpayer money in order to house children that didn’t need to be housed in the first place. It’s all a big scam and those 1 % who don’t really need the money are making millions that you’re paying into JUST because you want to be a paranoid idiot. It’s a pretty simple concept actually, it’s called security theater. Except this theater is of the Third Reich.

They’re bringing in disease!

See, now you just sound like a Nazi, and come on, we’re not exactly one to speak about diseases when you’re refusing to vaccinate your fucking kid because of “big pharma, unfounded conspiracies, and autism”. Cry me a fucking river, Shania. The whole notion of disease comes out of fear of the unknown but we cannot throw a stone at someone else knowing we do the same. We won’t vaccinate and now measles, chicken pox, whooping cough, and many other diseases are on the rise because you’d rather let your kid die than have autism, which by the way has been dispelled at every turn by various scientists.

Obama/ Bush administration were the ones who implemented the law of child separation. 

Oh Brandon, you xenophobic dick. First of all the Obama and Bush administration NEVER placed an order of removal between the parents and their children. What is true is that there is no law saying these current atrocities have to be carried out. Crossing the border illegally is a misdemeanor that can get you jailed for up to 20 days or so and then you’re automatically sent to your country of origin. The immigrant parents who are caught with their children are never separated from them and there are no real lasting repercussions. If I was to take your reasoning into account then that would mean people who have had a DUI, or those who have been arrested for public disturbance should have their children taken away as well? Secondly, when the Obama administration implemented certain facilities to house kids it was due to an immense influx of unaccompanied minors who were immigrating to the USA by their damn selves. Most, of these children, were from Central America and were not deemed a threat to the nation after very careful vetting. These kids ranged between the ages of 12-17 years old and they were TEMPORARILY housed or often placed in foster homes with other immigrant adults till the Government could get a hold of their parent. Of course, everything wasn’t always handled perfectly as there were a ton of problems because sometimes the foster parents would refuse to answer their phones to various federally appointed counselors or even gave the Government the wrong information. Some of the facilities in which the children were housed were not as top notch as we expected and there were abuses happening at the time. But by that point, the children were really alone. They didn’t come in with their parents to protect them and sadly things didn’t always go the right way. The few kids who were separated from the adult were either trafficked here or were in deep danger of those adults that surrounded them

They should come here legally if they want to enter the country!

Kathy, you sad simpleton. Looking for Asylum is not against the law. Actually, the ports of entry for refugees are being blocked by ICE agents to deter them from reaching the United States legally. Usually, when an immigrant came to the port of entry looking for asylum they would have to bring proof which then they would be taken to a holding facility where their case was carefully reviewed and then after about a month or so they would either be allowed to stay or leave depending on the severity of their situation. Now, Looking for a way to come to the united states legally especially in countries that are extremely corrupt is very difficult. I myself applied for a visa in order to come to the united states twice and both times it was denied even though I was a 4-year-old child who was about to die of a severe heart condition. If it hadn’t been for a charitable company that had put their name behind me and petitioned for me to travel I would never have even set a foot in the United States and I would never be able to write this because I’d be dead by now. That’s how difficult everything is. The immigration system is so broken and instead of looking for a solution you shining citizens can only proclaim your distaste for a president that hasn’t been in office for over 2 years. Obama, Bush, or Clinton are no longer running the country. Take responsibility for the mistakes YOUR amoral president is making.

But MS-13! 

Ms-13 is a Mexican terrorist group that has been used as a cop out to paint innocent people who are Latino and Hispanic in an unflattering light. Gang members don’t really want to come here, their profit is not here. They are already immensely powerful in Mexico, why leave if things are good for them? It makes no sense and if again I were to take your reasoning into consideration I would say that other countries should never allow an American entry because they could be from the KKK. What makes sense is to have a racist, xenophobic, sexist president using something like gang violence in order to disenfranchise a group of people who don’t match his ideas for the perfect immigrant. Case in point, he very clearly said he would like Europeans (meaning Caucasians) to immigrate here (They wouldn’t. Europe is not perfect but at least it has universal health care among other things.) Mexicans, meaning all Latino because that how you all like to categorize us not realizing that Latinos are very diverse but those of us who are brown in complexion are rapists, killers, we’re infesting the country, we’re bringing disease, we’re animals among other ludicrous things Trump has said about the Latino community and for the record, not all immigrants are Mexican. Most at this point are from Central America. It's the same as not all Asians are Chinese, not all black people are thugs and not all white men who wear penny loafers are entitled pricks who call on their daddies to fix their problems. You see how stereotypes work? Those of you who applaud him while desecrating the flag by wearing it as a shirt or bandana and eating off of flag emblazoned paper plates like to think you’re somehow better and patriotic because you won the lottery by being born here. It’s as simple as that and if you want the immigrants to fix their problems back home maybe tell your government not to meddle in their democratic systems. It’s a cop-out to make yourselves feel better about the atrocities that are happening.  

Build the WALL! 

Yes Brayden, because a wall is gonna stop a bunch of plane riding immigrants to come to the United States. Newsflash, most people who end up here illegally came here legally through a visa but overstayed their welcome. Most of the people who came here otherwise, seek asylum, which is not illegal. There are actually very few people who cross the border illegally and stay here. No one wants to leave their life, culture, and language behind unless it’s absolutely necessary. The wall will stop nothing. Separating kids and now babies from their parents have not deterred the parents from continuing their long arduous trips to the United States. The wall only serves as a trophy for the GOP to pat themselves on the back and say what good little legislators they are. It’s a sign of oppression and a sign of unwelcoming. It’s as if I had a picture of Jesus in my living room but a satanic altar in the next room. It’s counterproductive and we’re the ones who are gonna pay for it. Mexico will pay for nothing even if Trump is holding these children hostages. The procedures are very eerily being carried out in much the same way the Nazi's carried out their atrocities. First, they block all potential legal ways for the marginalized group to carry out their mission legally.  Then, they used false rhetoric and fear monger civilians so that the marginalized group can be dehumanized and therefore easier for the government to carry out whatever it is they are planning without dissent. Then they sanitize the living conditions in which the immigrant group are living in. Finally, they discredit or all accounts that are cited by reputable resources in order to keep the masses confused and ignorant. It's exactly what happened when the Japanese were placed in internment camps.  

Immigrants will never assimilate to our way of life!

Say the people whose grandpappy’s and Nanas never learned English and continued to live their lives the way they did in Poland. English is not a designated American language. No language has been designated to the USA, you morons.

Immigrants should look for a way to legalize their situation.

Ok, how about you fork over $20,000 while working a minimum wage job that you can’t quit from no matter how bad it is because if you do there’s nowhere else for you to work at without breaking the Law. Immigration lawyers are some of the worst wolves in sheep’s clothing I have ever met. I spend about $10,000 just to get a green card while having nowhere else to live but at my Mother in law’s tiny ass house in the middle of the ghetto while pregnant. I slept on the floor with my husband because the place was so small we couldn’t even put a bed in there, much less afford one. When I was about to apply for citizenship my Lawyer up and left after I had paid her the money to file in the citizenship paperwork. She disappeared and I have no way of recuperating my paperwork from her. Thankfully no everything was lost but I am not an isolated incident, there are countless stories of people who have been duped by lawyers and there are more fast food joint in the USA than immigration courthouses. So you guys do the fucking math. It takes so much of you and so long for you to even reach the tip of what American citizens expect from you. 

They broke the law, therefore they should pay the consequences.

We break the law every single day Khayyley, it's not an exaggeration or even something that I'm making up. I live in Connecticut and lord do we have some ridiculous laws like, husbands who cannot kiss their wives on any Sunday. If a cyclist goes above 65 MPH they have be stopped by a police officer and we're not allowed to educate dogs. (lol, what?) Anyway, the point is we don't get citations, incarcerated or even have enforcement carried out for the most menial lawlessness so why should we punish these kids who have done nothing wrong? This used to be the country that was known for checks and balances, the country of separation of church and state. Somewhere along the way, we've lost ourselves and we've become the country of checks and cherry picking. The country that puts babies in cages and we don't allow the staff to offer any comfort. These are not "summer camps" and we shouldn't find a way to sanitize the word cage but we have gone so far off the deep end and our expectations for our leaders are so low that we may as well be licking the ground. These are kids who are screaming for their mothers and fathers who may never see them again just for committing the sin of being born brown, something that they obviously have no control over. It's a harrowing reality but their voices are falling on deaf ears as politicians use the bible to excuse their horrid laws as they smile because they're the ones all cozy with big fat paychecks provided by their citizens. We're duped into thinking that these current politicians have our best interest at heart when in actuality they don't. Just because an abusive parent says they care about you doesn't mean they actually do. The GOP is a cesspool of corrupt, self-serving, amoral group of people with Trump at the head.

 Our Lawmakers are making due with what they were handed.

How, exactly how have we been improving the country? The rich are getting richer while the poor still have to rely on governmental help that is slowly dwindling while those very same poor people have to deal with being called moochers. Our children are dying off at alarming rates because our government wants to continue catering to the NRA's demands as they go about spreading baseless lies and flimsy excuses for mass shootings. Our healthcare system is a fucking joke and we sit idly by as Men in power oppress our women because they don't want to bring a child into a world full of problems that cannot be easily fixed. We cater to our very own terrorists who use the bible in order to justify themselves and call it "freedom of speech" yet we call people color sons of bitches for simply daring to protest peacefully for the flagrant disenfranchisement of his fellow people. We slap the, what about isms and point fingers to others without realizing we're the ones putting them in those positions while simultaneously squashing the education system in order to keep future voters ignorant. Republicans can't be voted in if we have intellectuals willing to question their agendas. It's much easier to have dumb, compliant, narrow-minded morons in order for them to make that money. Can't you see what it is they're doing? They are dehumanizing these people and saying that they're all criminals and or will become criminals in the future so that the white elitists can feel alleviated of all culpability in order for them to be able to sell their soul to the administration that is quietly pocketing civilian's money. Money, that they say will go to charities but never do. It doesn't matter if these kids have television, air conditioners, or even a meal because they have been so traumatized by being ripped apart from their parents that even if they were being housed at the Ritz Carlton the practices would still be inhumane.  

But Trump signed the executive order, stop complaining already.

Wow Tammy, first of all, he didn't need to. Separating children from their parents is not a law, never has been. The separation of children who were accompanied by an adult usually happened if the child was found to have been a product of human trafficking, which by the way, has a very low percentage. Instead, the manner in which these kids are being handled now is more cause for worry because they can fall prey to actual human traffickers. Case in point, the over 1,000 children that were mysteriously lost and haven't been found yet and no one has any clue where or how they might have disappeared. It's insane for you to think that just because these kids are in these prison camps they're somehow being treated correctly. These children only see the light of day for 2 hours and the rest they spend it inside and security measures have been implemented to keep the child from escaping as if they were high-security inmates. They're being treated like prisoners and now they're being forcefully injected with psychiatric drugs in order to keep them from crying. I don't think I need to tell you about the long-term repercussions these drugs can have but I will anyway. It can cause obesity, adult onset diabetes, dizziness, listlessness, and are left incapacitated. Easy prey for any trafficker. it's callously barbaric. These kids are set up for a plethora of mental health problem that will never go away. This new executive order was unnecessary and Trump just needed to feel like a dictator because that's what he truly wants. He doesn't believe in a democracy. He values people like Stalin and Kim Jung Un and insults our allies (sorry Canada!). The paper he signed keeps families together yes, but at the cost of their freedom because they are to be kept in what I would guess to be newly built facilities that will most definitely be paid by us for an indefinite period of time as opposed to deporting them back to their countries after about 20 days. It'll be a real concentration camp and I wouldn't be surprised if gas chambers and fire pits begin to appear all over the United States and all Latino immigrants are rounded up regardless of whether they are legally here or not.

We should worry about our own citizens instead of immigrants who are only a distraction to our own problems. 

You're right up to a point. We should definitely worry about our citizens and maybe worry about our very own problems that plague our nation, yet we don't. We should be working towards implementing Gun control and worrying about human rights abuses towards people of color, but we don't. Instead, we blame those very people that are being needlessly maligned because we'd rather think it's their fault as opposed to us saying that we fucked up, that we cannot do enough to help our own people. Immigrants aren't looking to distract us from our own problems but the GOP sure is using that scapegoat in order to confuse us and turn us into megalomaniacs who claim to care for this country while rationalizing the heinous laws that this administration is implementing. Understand that just because I sympathize with the plight of immigration it doesn't negate my love or even my worries for the problems that are in my country. I love this country and I'm thankful to this country for all its wonderful opportunities. I believe we can be better and I don't think we're perfect but we're definitely capable of being great indeed. It was before and I'm sure we can be now and in the future.

   Listen, all I’m trying to really say is that the things that are happening are beyond horrible and at such an alarming speed that I am scared for the future of my country. This president is giving a pathway for all the fascists to wave their flag and complain about how they suffer at the cost of people they refuse to understand or even get to know. It's giving way for racists to be open about their disgusting assumptions by calling it honesty, and "well I'm just telling it like it is, and everyone else was thinking it, anyway". 

Just like President Snow from the Hunger Games, Trump is using children to shield himself and get what he wants. This is no longer a, “I wonder what a dystopian future would be like.” situation we are there already. This is the Handmaid’s Tale. This the Hunger Games. This is Nazi Germany, and the trail of tears coming to fruition all over again and we’re allowing it. So, come November if you do not vote blue and later regret not doing so then it will be entirely your fault that this once great country will crumble and burn to the ground with only the ashes to left as a reminder of what it once was. Our founding fathers would ashamed of us and we should too. Have a little humanity and compassion but if you're not capable of that, at least know that your stance will follow not just you but your entire lineage till the end of time just like the Nazi regime was because you are most definitely on the wrong side of history.

[minijenn]

Nothing's Changed

In nights like this, Stanley Pines sat alone in the living room as he recounted the events of recent days that have left their mark on him and all associated with him. After 30 long years, he managed to acquire all 3 journals that his estranged twin brother wrote down himself that not only had the info of every paranormal anomaly in Gravity Falls but it also held information about the Crstal Gems and Gemkind. But none of that barely concerned him, he was more focused on the instructions that told him how to restart the portal, the secret device he’s been working on for so long, the very thing he’s lied about this whole time. In one single moment, he felt genuine happiness over the fact that he could bring Stanford back, even if there was a chance that his actions would result in the universe being torn apart, he thought that it would’ve been worth it to see him again…

…But he was wrong.

He wasn’t asking for much really. He didn’t expect the poindexter to just forget everything’s that’s happened between them, it just would’ve been nice for him to express some semblance of gratitude for bringing him back which would be the first step in repairing their broken brotherhood. But nope, instead of a happy reunion, he got socked in the face, Stan didn’t even know Ford could hit that hard since he was never the one known for his brawn, that was more of the former’s thing. Then came Ford completely getting on his case for opening the portal, it was like listening to Rose all over again which fueled his rage. But that rage turned into guilt and regret once he came clean about all the secrets he’s kept from Dipper, Mabel, Steven, and….Amethyst. He could care less about the wild accusations thrown at him by Pearl, it hurt him to see the look of disappointment from the only other person he would call friend, Dipper said that he understood but the old conman could tell his nephew’s trust in him was shaken, and he expected nothing less.

Not even watching The Duchess Approves could ease his soul, all that he’s done in the past; lying to his family, faking his death, taking such risks, all to bring his brother back, and this is all he had to show for it.

The kids were sleeping and Ford was no doubt down in the hidden bunker, doing some nerd thing, not caring about his own flesh and blood’s inner turmoil. Well he wasn’t having any of that, Stan got up and made his way to the gift shop where the vending machine was, where he typed in the code to the hidden passage. It was surreal, he would go down to turn on the portal, but this was a whole different intent. Once he took the elevator down, he made it to what was left of the portal room, there was some tarp hiding that machine, but his main focus was the scientist at work.

“Ford.” he spoke out, getting his twin’s attention.

The six-fingered scholar’s brow furrowed, showing his discomfort at seeing him. “Stanley, what are you doing here?”

His tone was cold and apathetic, but Stan continued. “Came to see what you were doing down here.”

“If you must know, I’m trying to see if there was any ill effects that resulted from you staring up the portal.” Ford replied, getting back to his work.

The conman crossed his arms, skeptically. “Ah, you’re paranoid, Sixer. As far as we know, you are the only thing that came out of that thing.”

“That we know of.” Ford countered. “I’ve seen a lot of things in the other side of the multiverse, dangerous things.” he clarified with a grave tone. “I can tell you right now that if even one of them ever made it to our world, the disastrous effects would be enormous.”

Stan rolled his eyes. “Still think it’s nothing to worry about.”

That little comment made Ford remark with a bitter tone. “Of course you would.”

Stan may be old, but his hearing aid served him well. “What’s that supposed to mean?” he demanded.

“Oh nothing.” Ford shrugged with a faux-relaxed manner. “It’s just no surprise that you wouldn’t be so concerned with the repercussions of your actions, and heaven forbid you trying to fix them.”

“My actions?!” Stan repeated with a scowl. “How long are you gonna keep giving me nothing but crap over doing the one thing that brought you back home?!”

“Maybe when you realize exactly how much you had put our entire universe at risk!” Ford snapped back, standing up. “Why else did you think I included warnings to not activate it in my journals?! Everything around us could’ve been wiped out before we could even blink!”

“But it didn’t!” Stan pointed out, gesturing to himself and the other. “Look at us, we’re still kicking, still acting like when we were 5 abd fighting over the remote with Shermie!”

“But it easily could have, that’s what you refuse to comprehend!” Ford ran a hand through his grey hair. “Did you even think about how much of a danger it posed to Dipper and Mabel, along with Steven and the Gems? They were right there when the portal acted, had things gone differently, their fates would’ve been on your hands! Did you care more about reaching your vain ambition than their safety?!”

Okay, that was a low blow, but he was right. Stan clenched his fists as he thought about what could’ve happened to the kids and the gems, they could’ve gotten sucked in like Ford….or worse….. “Damn.” he whispered.

“Then again, this is you we’re talking about.” Ford threw his arms up. “Besides being a lying cheapskate who scams people out of their hard earned monetary objects, you’re also an impulsive knucklehead who jumps into things without thinking of the consequences, just like-”

“Like what, that damn stuffy college?!” Stan cut him off. “You still gonna whine about that?!”

“Only to prove my point.” Ford retorted. “To give you an example on how your brash attitude makes trouble for everyone else. If only Rose got to you.” he shook his head with a somber expression as remembering his departed friend brought him sadness.

“Oh here we go again with how great Rose was!” Stan bellowed. “You know you say that she was such a great friend to you, but what friend would be okay with not even putting in the effort in saving your life! Here’s a fun little tidbit, ol’ Pinkie tried stopping me from turning that machine of yours back on, even when she knew that it was the only way to save you!”

“Good!”

Stan blinked twice as he tried to process what his brother just said. “Wait, what?”

“It’s good that Rose tried to stop you!” Ford clarified. “It showed that she had more common sense than you ever did, I have no doubt that she wanted to save me but knew that using the portal to do so was out of the question, you should’ve listened, it would’ve saved everyone from the trouble.”

Stan was angry before, now he was furious. “You’re telling me you would’ve liked being trapped in whatever hell you were in than to come home?!”

“If it meant safeguarding the universe, then I was prepared to make that sacrifice.” Ford said with an affirmed look. “Rose made the same choice by deciding not to tell you where the 3rd journal was, even if it meant never seeing me again. You didn’t understand back then and I don’t expect you to do so now, but there are some things that are better left closed off from us.” his mind briefly flashed back to a single eye. “Instead of doing the logical thing, you just went with your instincts which always spelled disaster, like the screw up you’ve always been.”

Stan couldn’t believe it, even when he was informed that even Rose, his so-called close friend wasn’t willing to open the portal, Ford still chose her over his own brother. And that last remark, the thing many people have called him, his father included, that was the last straw. “You know what? Fine!” he turned around and went to the exit. “If I’m such a burden to you, then maybe I should just leave you alone!”

As he watched his brother leave, Ford couldn’t help but think he may have gone a little too far…maybe he should apologize…..no, there were more important things to do.

Stan went back up and stormed into his office where he threw his desk over with a hell, he thrashed things around, breaking many stuff into pieces and once he was finished, the old man sat down and looked at his reflection in the mirror. “Nothing’s changed…..” he whispered as tears threaten to drop. He was expecting things to be different, but no, it’s the same as it was before: he was still the screw up, he and Ford still had issues and people he knew thought little of him….

Nothing’s changed at all.

[magagerie]

A Con Gone Wrong

“How did you meet him?”

The long black nails stopped their trek through auburn locks. Julian made a small groan at their ceasing and looked up to the small apprentice beneath him. Wally’s talons stilled on his head where it lay against her chest. Her kohl lined eyes lay fixed on the scratchy sheets just besides Julian’s knee where they laid in Mazelinka’s home. She’d slipped out of the palace for the day, the drovel of court hurting her eyes with how much she rolled them at the pompous officials around her.

“Who?” her voice vibrated against Julian’s cheek, the rising and falling of her breath lulling the man into comfort. “Asra?”

“Mhm.” Julian rubbed his face into her satin blouse before flicking his gaze back to her face.

“Oh.” She nodded nonchalantly into the distance, lavender blinking the gangly man into focus with a smile. The gold hoop on the center of her lip caught in the faint candlelight with her grin, the deep blue they were painted today complimenting her brown complexion.

“Well that’s an awfully long story.” Wally teased, her finger going back to smooth through his hair.

“I’m not going anywhere.” A smirked flashed across his face before it fell once more. “Are you?”

She regarded him impassively, a wide smile soon breaking across the magician’s face. “Not unless you’re coming with me.” Her arched brows waggled down at Julian, a strand of hair falling from her powder blue mohawk.

“Then tell me a story, Cadwallader.” Julian encouraged with a proper grin, his neck stretching to look at her.

“Okay, okay.” Wally maneuvered into the pillows further, “Get off me first, my toes are fucking cold.” They wiggled for emphasis.

He huffed a laugh and granted her request. Julian rolled off the small woman with a faint wobble, his long legs nearly falling off the bed with the motion. His large hand trailed down her thigh as he left her long enough for Wally to shove her feet under the cotton blanket covering the bed. He made sure to keep his palm over the light lavender slacks obscuring parts of her leg, Julian too aware of the large expanses of skin still left bare to his wandering eye.

“Alright, come here.” The apprentice waved the fugitive doctor closer once she was properly settled. Wally did nothing to hide the smirk that settled on her face from his staring, seemed to preen under it even.

Julian raised his eyebrows at Wally (definitely without a blush beginning to color his face) and followed suit, laying on his side and placing his head on her bare shoulder, “You wouldn’t be so cold if you wore more clothes.” He poked the wide cutout on her thigh, the tawny skin soft under his touch.

“You wear too many clothes!” Wally countered, sticking her tongue out. The pair piercings at the tip winked as they made their way back into her mouth, after which a wrinkled nose met him instead. “I can’t understand how you’ve lived in Vesuvia for ages and still think that 5 layers of clothes are necessary.”

“I only wear three.”

“Still too many. You look much better in none, dear.” Wally’s long fingernails dug into Julian’s hair once more and tugged at the strands for emphasis. A moan slipped from Julian’s lips before he could stop it.

“You’re-” Julian’s face turned upward with the pulling of Wally’s grip. His tongue flicked out over his dry lips, eyes glazing over momentarily. A flush painted most of his face before he swallowed and tried again, “you’re changing the subject.”

“Nope!” Wally grinned down and dark blue lipstick branded itself on his temple, “I’m just teasing you.” she spoke into his skin.

“Wally,” Julian had to fight the whine bubbling to the surface, “please don’t.”

“Fine,” she leaned away from him, smirk still firmly in place, “You’re no fun.”

A beat of silence.

“So you wanted to know how I met Asra?” she finally began, sounding like she’d forgotten his original question.

Julian nodded.

“Alright, so~” she drew out the ‘o’ for a few seconds, attention grabbed instead by the wax dripping down the candle. She stayed transfixed, the slow bead moving down to the wooden table beneath and stilling as it cooled. With a shake of her head, Wally realized she’d still been holding out the vowel and a blink later, her mouth closed.

“So I met him in the marketplace, or was it by the old plague wards? I don’t know, but either way it was in a back alley! I had my shitty little table set up, a bunch of rings on my hands to cover the green marks they left behind from the day before. Do you know how easy it is the make cheap ass rings look expensive? Even without magic! You just shine them up right and make sure the paint doesn’t flake in noticeable places and you’re good to go! Honestly, if you wanted me to spiff up your-”

“Wally.”

“What?”

“You’re getting off topic.”

“Oh fuck.” A flush crept over Cadwallader’s freckled cheeks, the subtle red dusting over her nose as a pout pursed her lips, “Where was I?”

“Literally at the beginning.”

“Shit.” She took a deep breath. “Okay, time to get serious. Just punch me if I derail again, okay?”

“I-”

“Thanks for agreeing! So, as I was saying, I met him in some random back alley at my divination stand. I had the usual shit up that you see at a fortune teller’s table, right? Like the cards and crystal ball and everything. Well this fucker just walked up and his clothes look travelled. Like exotic silks and embroidered shit and just seemed like he had money to burn, and who was I to deny him the pleasure of giving me money? So I called him over with my best smile and batted my eyes dramatically cause it’d worked on all the other bastards before him, and I was all like ‘for 4 gold pieces I’ll read your palm and tell you your dead girlfriend’s name’ or some shit and guess what? He bought it!”

Wally was using her hands at this point, back bent over Julian’s head where it had slid down to her hip as she gestured into the air, obviously enjoying her story as much as Julian enjoyed hearing it. “This poor sap came up to my booth and gave me his money and bought into my stupid, vague reading. It was all ‘she died tragically before her time’ and ‘you’ve gone to great lengths to preserve her memory, but fret not, she’ll always be close to you. Closer than you may think.’ and all that other mumbo jumbo that crackpots usually give you like shitty fortune cookies. Do you know what those are? My father use to get them all the time from his homeland, just these plain ass cookies that didn’t even have sugar- barely any vanilla!- and the outer edge had runes scrawled into it like a stamp just giving you something stupid like ‘your future is bright but only if you keep your gaze on the sun’. But like, which sun? And why would you do that anyway, you’ll lose your eyes if you look too long, even babies know that! What kind of dumbass-”

“Wally.”

She stopped, blinked, looked down at him.

“I told you to punch me.”

“Maybe next time.” The Doctor smiled at her fondly before waving a hand into the air, “Please, continue.”

Wally blew a raspberry at him. “I gave him his reading, took his money, and watched his smile with a ‘what the fuck’ expression. It was like he knew I was full of shit but humored me anyway. There wasn’t pity in his eyes, but it felt like it so it made me mad. I swindled 15 more coins from him by giving two 3 card spreads and a ball gaze. Hey shut up, don’t laugh, I haven’t actually seen his balls, I’m sure you know more about them than I do, Ilya. What, are you mad now? Don’t poke the bear if you don’t want it to shove your dirty laundry in your face, boy.”

“He eventually left and I did too. There was a few more customers after him, but they were are simpletons. They didn’t weird me out as much as he had. His final remark was ‘I look forward to my next reading, Cadwallader’ and it was bonkers cause that was before I gave my name to clients. Usually I’d just draw them in and then run as soon as I got their money so they couldn’t find me once they realized I was full of shit. But, Asra was different. He didn’t give me his name either, but I knew it. And that was fucking weird. I barely remember my mother’s name… Actually, I don’t remember her name, but I knew his? The fuck is up with that? But that’s how it was. It rattled me, but not enough to stop conning chumps. That was the only way I was living at that point!”

“It was about two weeks after that that I saw him again.” Wally’s voice shifted, more distant in her memories than it had been. Julian looked at her through his eyelashes, good eye finding her face blank, the magician too lost in thought to notice his staring.

“What happened then?” his voice barely broke a whisper.

“Well at first I didn’t think much of it! I’m use to seeing people dicking around in the square, it didn’t feel anything special. Until he made eye contact.” The scam artist shivered at the memory. “It was fuckin’ terrifying, Julian. Like, if I could describe to you just how close I was to shitting my pants in that moment, I would. It was like,” A pause. “if Count Lucio’s goat painting showed up and offered to give me a blowjob at 2:37 in the morning. In front of his wife. It was bananas. Well, not to say I wouldn’t enjoy a blowjob at that time, but what about the repercussions? I don’t wanna get caught fucking a dead noble! Which would I get hung for: being a homewrecker or a necrophiliac? That’s just too close for comfort man, I’d rather keep the freaky shit in the privacy of my own slice of Hell, not in the common for the world to see. Having my bits out in public is something I’m willing to try once but that’s not how, I’d much pre-”

A love tap knocked Wally on the side of her cheek, stopping her in her tracks. Her mouth hung open mid sentence briefly before her tongue flicked out to wet her lips and she closed them.

“Sorry.” she looked sheepishly at the man at her side.

“Why were you scared?”

“I’ve never-” She stopped of her own volition this time, eyebrows knit together as she tried to pick her words, “I’m not- I’m not use to people seeing me like that. Like they know me. People usually just glance over me or stare because of my dashing good looks,” a smug smile crept across Wally’s lips before she could stop it, “but his stare just got me. It knew me. Honestly, the only time I’ve ever seen that look, it was followed by a curse and a fist in my direction so I booked it. I only grabbed my decks and just hauled ass down the alleys until I thought I was a good distance away.”

Laughter cut through beside her and the magician stopped, “What?” she asked.

Julian’s grin softened and he glanced back up at his living cushion, “The image of you running. As you couldn’t have ran off with your whole stand.”

“Hey, it’s a lot bulkier than you are! Do you know how hard it would be run with a table?”

He laughed harder, a tear pricking at his good eye.

Wally’s hands extended as she mimed its size, “It was this big, Julian! I can’t throw it over my shoulder like I can you! It wasn’t as noodly, the shape it was was the shape it was going to be, no bending allowed. Now I could have maybe ran with it over my head and tried to pole vault over a wall with it. Gods, that would have been fucking hilarious. Just running from the law and all of the sudden boing! out of that bitch like those rubber balls kids chuck at walls to see how far it’ll bounce back. But I wouldn’t bounce back, I’d bounce away into the night like a fucking lemur.” A pause. “Fuck, I did it again. You’re no help at all Julian.”

“Hey now-”

“No, this one is entirely your fault and you can’t tell me otherwise. You’re the one who interrupted. And you wanted to hear this story in the first place.”

“I’m sorry.” His tone of voice said this was only half true.

“Shit, where was I? Right!” Wally’s manicured finger went in the air as she remembered. “So I booked it, right? And I finally got far enough where I felt safe and took a breather. I’m use to running through the streets and all. With what I do, especially when people realize that I’m full of shit most of the time, they tend to want their money back. Or to leave me another gift in a black eye. Either way, they keep my calves in great shape, as you can tell-” A toned leg popped out from beneath the blanket.

“I can, they’re very nice.”

“Thank you.” Wally nodded proudly. “So I’d gotten a fair distance away. But like a weed, he just popped up outta nowhere at the end of the alleyway! I didn’t even have enough time to pull out Susan!” Her arm flung out towards the small stack of cards sitting alone on the dresser. It was a deck Julian had never seen before, different than the set Asra had used to read him in their past. There were fewer in this one, only 40 cards, and the images depicted on their faces were unlike any he’d ever encountered.

In their short time together, Julian had only asked once to get a reading from Wally.

Her response?

‘Even you don’t hate yourself enough to want that.’

“He was just on me! And I tried to be like ‘oh hello, stranger, can I help you on this fine day?’ but we both knew that was bullshit. As I sat there, waiting for the retribution that the gods had promised me ever since I used Susan to change that first legal document, I felt no fear. For it was to be, a just ass whooping. And plus, you’ve seen my biceps, I’m good. They were even more impressive 2 years ago. But he didn’t want to strangle me for telling him his dog that died seven years ago was the reason he could never find the socks he was clearly wearing that day. Nah, that was when he offered to teach me proper magic. And it was fucking wild, man!”

She looked back at Julian, eyes wide, “I know I’ve said that a lot during this tale, but that doesn’t make it any less true. I was so confused by it I was tempted to flick him in the forehead to prove he was real, and was really close to doing it too! And then Faust popped out, and she reminded me of a slightly less cool Lysander, and I was gone. My contract was binding, my shit was moved in, and that was all she wrote. My tale of ‘holy shit that story is just wild enough to get me to this wild moment in my life’ is over and now you know more bullshit about me than you probably wanted.”

Julian was quiet. “I can’t believe it.”

“It’s the truth, man.” Wally shrugged, jostling the man resting on her shoulder.

“I can’t believe you almost cursed Asra.” There was a beat and Julian started laughing, the whole bed shaking with him.

“Hey, he woulda deserved it.” The smile that found its way on Wally’s face soon broke into her own giggles. She flung her head back into the pillows and wiggled down into the mattress so she and Julian were eye level.

“You’re not wrong.” The laughter didn’t leave his voice when he replied and regarded her fondly. Julian’s light eye found hers and a sigh left his lungs.

“You’ll find I rarely am.” Wally smiled before quickly stealing a kiss from his still parted lips.

Julian blinked as an impish grin spread across Wally’s face. The slight smudging of her lipstick caught his notice when she pulled back. “What was that for?”

“You’re attractive and I have no impulse control.” She said flatly before stealing another one.

This time, Julian’s arms snaked around the small magician’s back before she could pull away, his larger frame dwarfing hers as he deepened the kiss. A giggle bubbled up Wally’s throat and she reciprocated, eager to feel more of him across her skin. A lavender clad leg lazily slid up Julian’s as she slotted herself into his empty spacing, filling her senses with nothing but his touch and taste as she claimed him with her own. Nails and teeth and soft groans filled the air the further the past got from their minds. It all fell away until the only thing left was Wally’s fingers pressed into Julian’s hips and the touch of his lips against her ribs. But it still wasn’t enough.

She wouldn’t be sated until he was a mess beneath her, drunk off her touch and begging like he did best.

ao3

[quintisiscanon]

This was a post that was supposed to be up 2 months ago during the hiatus. But school work and procrastination. So here it is.

My views on Scorpion S3 as a whole. Or basically after like months of hiatus and how I viewed that hell of a season. And some theories for S4B. 

Warning: this will be me talking about how I feel, so I will not mince my words. Especially since I haven’t felt that positive about this season. If you don’t want to see a negative view on this season, please don’t read this post. That is also the reason behind why I am not tagging this in the main show tag. But I do kinda hope that you can read this post with an open mind (should you choose to) and understand why myself and some other people in the fandom feel this way about this season. 

Most of this post was done in the hiatus, but the portion after the false positive point was done after S4 premiere. 

#1 Nobody is perfect (except for Ralph)

This was a point that is being shown in this season over and over again. Just think about how people were supporting Toby or Happy, Walter or Paige in the various situations. It may seem like they are perfect, and are faultless in the situations. But I honestly don’t think so. The different situations (Tim, fake marriage, false positive, loss of memory, etc) helped to show us how they would react in such situations. Sure. It is messy. I or you may not agree with what they/he/she have done. But it showed that they are not perfect, and that is an important concept to get. Because if a character is viewed as perfect, that is really dangerous.

Do remember that it is fine to think that there are things that your fav has done is problematic! You don’t have to agree fully with what has been done.

#2 So… much… drama…

This point is really ironic. What made me love about the fandom is how free from drama it was back in S2. Sure, there were small fights and issues. But there weren’t anything major. It was really peaceful as compared to the previous shows that I loved. But S3 was… eventful. Honestly speaking, I don’t think that we will get back to that level in early S2. There were so many fans defending either Toby or Happy, Walter or Paige in the various arguments. I do think that it is good to have fans that are being vocal about who they support. But I just wished that it could have been like less volatile-ish? Idk how to put this across but I wished that there were lesser chances where fans had to pick a side. But I guess that this will increase as the show has more seasons.

#3 More team scenes please?

God. This was definitely something that I hated about this season. Like there were so many situations that made it seem like the team members were on different teams. This resulted in lesser scenes of the team just being happy and enjoying stuff. Like there were really little scenes of them enjoying themselves just because they can? Sure, you can say that it is due to the situations and how there were more pressing issues to handle. But I hated how it greatly reduces the chances to see them having fun just because they want to have fun. So I just really want to see more scenes of them having fun.

#4 Fake marriage

Pretty sure I have said my piece about this scam like 2 million times but here is my final thoughts on this issue. Sure, I am a lot better about this as of right now. But it does not mean that I am okay with the idea of Walter and Happy being secretly married for like 3 seasons. I can totally understand why it had to be kept a secret. But it would have been nice for Happy to try and subtly hint Toby that it could have been better if he doesn’t propose at that point in time. Then again, she could have thought that he wouldn’t have gone through with it. (I have like a lot to talk on this matter but I am gonna cut it short.) But my main question about this even up till now is that was Happy going to cut the marriage short if Toby didn’t propose? Like say if Toby doesn’t propose in the short future, will Happy just stayed technically married to Walter while dating Toby? 

Also, I am kinda upset with how this storyline was executed. This could have been done beautifully and had so much potential. But alas, it wasn’t really executed to the best. (I will expand on this last part in point #5) As a result of this fake marriage, I was super uncomfortable with Plight At the Museum, and most of the Walter and Happy scenes later on. At least up till the S4 winter hiatus. (I don’t do the whole forgive and forget thing easily. So yeah…)

#5 False positive

I was super excited about a Quintis baby. Still am but I am very sceptical now. (which I will touch on in the S4A part later on.) Like I loved the idea of them preparing to be parents. Like they were so afraid and unsure of this whole thing and I was sure that they will definitely get through it. Then came along the reveal which was a sucker punch to my gut.

At that point in time, I didn’t feel that the false positive arc was used to divert the attention away from the fake marriage. But looking back at it now, it really felt that way. Like we were so occupied. Let’s take a look back at that period of time shall we? At that time, we had Tim and Paige dating (I think???), the fake marriage shit, false positive, Toby being an overprotective dad, Happy being worried about being a mum, and some other stuff that I cannot remember. Like they just threw this arc in front of us and pushed the fake marriage to the back. I did love the arc back then and I would have loved it even more if it wasn’t used as a distraction.

#6 The lack of repercussion and …stuff

This is mainly in relation to the fake marriage part. I hate how it has been swept under the rug immediately after the reveal of the false positive, and how Toby was just suddenly okay with Happy being married with Walter in the next ep. The small mentions of the fake marriage is nice. On the other hand, it feels like a slap that felt like just a device to create shock throughout the fandom. Like it didn’t have any lasting impact? Or even take the center stage on how it was being resolved? “But Happy was pregnant then! That surely is more important! We also got the whole lying-to-INS thing!” Dude, I get it. But the pregnancy could have happened later on at a timing where it could be fleshed out properly. It should have been done with the same level of details (or perhaps more) as Cabe’s case in S4. Imo, that was really the ideal scenario for the fake marriage. There were certain timeline issues that came with the first few eps of the season. It was really jarring and didn’t make much sense. Should Happy be pregnant by the end of S4, I hope that if there isn’t a time jump, it will make sense in S5.

Some other smaller points that doesn’t fit in other parts

I get that Happy and Toby is the side couple. We only get to see them in the garage or when it relates to Walter. I truly get it. That’s why we don’t get to see them do a lot of stuff. But I am getting really sick and tired of missing so much on them. Especially when the main couple is finally canon and we get so much details on them. (Don’t get me wrong. I am happy that they are together and for the shippers too. The shippers deserve the happiness and details. But it’s just really jarring to have so much from one couple and hardly any from the other.) Like can you believe that we only saw them hold hands once up till S3 and two times up till S4? *I might be wrong but that’s what I remembered. 

The ep that they did in remembrance of Megan was really beautiful. I still miss her lots and wished that they continued the Megan Dodd Paediatric ward but… *shrug*

Cabe stepping up and being a dad to Happy was really nice and heartwarming. Even though I still doubt that the… timing of Patrick’s jail time was innocent (I feel like it’s setting up for Cabe to be her surrogate dad), but to see Cabe there for Happy was really nice. 

The S3 Christmas episode was a god damn mess and I wished that I have the ability to erase that episode from my memory. 

If it wasn’t for the Toby and Paige convos and Sly being an adorable human being, I would have burnt Plight at the museum from my memory. Because that’s how much I hate it. (Namely the scenes in the museum.) 

Dirty Seeds Done Cheap is an amazing ep. Like I have no words that can explain how much I love that episode. 

Essentially my view on this season is that you could have taken out S3 and just have Cabe meeting and falling in love with Allie, Sly running for Alderman, Happy and Toby getting married, Walter and Paige getting together over the hiatus and start with S4. Because that’s how much S3 lack an impact on S4 and the characters were. 

I guess that’s my opinion on S3. Being a bitter person that throws shade here and there (and still do when I watch the eps now tbh.) Also, just in case you are wondering how and why I am still watching this show despite so much anger and complains, I am just kinda taking a step back from this fandom and drama. I am not as involved as before because I got kind of tired of how things are going and some personal stuff. I am just turning my brain off a lot more when I am watching this drama. At certain times, I am just viewing this season/ep/parts as if it’s an AU. I was seriously intending to stop watching after S3 concluded but I ended up missing Toby and Happy way too much so…

I didn’t manage to finish the S4 recap before hiatus ended (because way too much bitter shit that I have to delve into) so I am just going to end this post with some theories on how S4B may pan out. I am not updated on any spoilers other than the ones from BTS and official spoilers so I might totally off.

Valentines’ ep should be interesting. I am still kinda suspicious of that Mr Grey line that Happy threw out. 50 Shades is coming out on V Day this year and I heard that this is the one that the female lead gets pregnant? Probably a stretch but a pregnancy thingy may be coming this way. Or maybe more mentions of that storyline. And this is the first Valentines’ that Walter and Paige are gonna have as an official couple! So that’s gonna be fun. 

Amy is said to be a recurring character so I suppose she is gonna appear again? Or it could be a typo in the ep 13 character list. I am just really excited to see how her appearance could have an impact on Toby and Happy.

I still feel that Collins is going to have an appearance in the S4 finale. Maybe he could have gotten one of the characters again? The last two eps should be tied together as per usual so that will be interesting. (But I think Joshua Leonard is in NYC now so I am not really sure about this theory.)

No. I don’t think for a second that Flo is here to be the third wheel in the Walter and Paige relationship. I know what the Nicks said and I think it was just to stir up something in the fandom. I do think that she might become Sly’s love interest though. 

I have another crazy theory that is based on some BTS but I am not sure. Like I feel that there are conflicting information in that BTS that makes it tough for me to come to a conclusion. So I am going to keep it to myself for now. 

[redundantmedia]

Ok, I said it.  Having less than 100 subscribers on the powerful music website Youtube.com will hamper your music career.

(Ok, maybe it won’t kill it, but I needed a snazzy headline that attracts you to this article)

Photo by freestocks.org on Pexels.com

You see, once you obtain 100 followers, you are able to get a custom URL, a uniform resource locator.  So like Youtube.com/BillieEilish, or youtube.com/jayz, or whatever, you catch the drift.  Curiously, I was going to put youtube.com/nas however it is not the Nas you may think of Nasty Nas, who raps with a razor blade under his tongue, Nas the God’s Son, If he ruled the world and so on….  It is some guy apparently named “Nas” who was able to get 100 subs quicker than the Nas we all know and love.  This brings us to another point, check out my next article called “You can never be too social”

Without the URL that is customized by your liking, you are stuck with youtube.com/29458942858435438573948932823432948284932892857884928320342384 or something else that you and no on else will ever remember.

It can be difficult to get the 100 subs, and to remember what that allows you do to.  Speaking of which, I totally forgot about the URL, as well as have not done much to push the actual subscribers for my channel.

So, I would love to take the time to push my channel and click this link to check me out and subscribe.  I follow back, and comment back, just drop me a comment that you found me on Redundantmedia.com and I will get the message.  It is great to network with real people.

What kind of things would you see on my Youtube.com page?

 How to set up midines with the Akai MPC 

Sample Nintendo NDS chiptune sounds into Akai MPC

Use an Ipad 2 as a controller for the Akai MPC

How to replace RAM in an Akai MPC 4000

and MORE!!!!!!!

So there is a high incentive to get 100 subscribers on youtube.  There are a few ways to do this.

1.  Im sure you could pay for it on some of the shadier sites on the internet.  I doubt this would be a good idea for anyone, unless you needed it in a hurry, and didn’t care about any repercussions from Youtube, or losing money due to a scam.

2.  Produce great content.  By filming and producing great content, and helping people or entertaining them, you will have people naturally subscribe, because they enjoy the content.  It makes sense, if you watch a cool sewing channel, or beat making channel, and you enjoy the content, you will naturally subscribe.  For the only reason that you want to see more of that content, and it is easier to sub and get the good stuff from that channel.

3.  Join groups and channels on youtube.com, facebook.com, reddit.com and related.  There are many groups on Facebook.com for sub for sub, or Hip Hop Music, or Chicago Folk Music, or Munich Trap, or whatever.  In many of these places, members will sub to your channel if you subscribe.  I have a facebook group you can join for free located at Take Me To Music Town on facebook.com.  Join and say hello!

4.  Ask friends and family for support.  You can create an email template, messenger template, or other direct message template.  You can send to friends and family, and give your link.  Something like,

“Hey guys, you should really subscribe to my channel.  here is the link!  Thank for the support!”

You can remind your friends if they have a gmail account they have a youtube account, and they can log in, comment, and like your videos.  Since, they are there, they can also subscribe, and help you get to that magical number of 100!

I love QR codes, as they are an easy way to share a website or other important information. With newer iPhones, all you have to do is open the camera and it will put the link at the top and click!  So here is a QR code to go directly to my Youtube Channel:

While I don’t condone stealing or thievery of any kind.  I think you should steal as many of my ideas as possible.  Meaning, make those QR codes to your posts, get an email list of supporters, get facebook, and check back here for more FREE tips to get your Music Career popping!

  How to kill your music career; Have less than 100 subscribers on Youtube.com Ok, I said it.  Having less than 100 subscribers on the powerful music website Youtube.com will…

[terpsichoreed]

Alright y'all, it's ramble time. TL;DR - angery.

I get out of work M-Th at 4:30 PM. The drive home is much longer because of I-75 NB traffic. I usually arrive home around 5:25 each night. Today I left work at 4:50 and got home at 5:15. In the heart of rush hour, there was practically no one else on 75. One time two weeks ago I left work at 4:50 and got home at 5:50. Fucking rush hour traffic. But not today because of all the concerns about the virus.

Let me rephrase: I left work later and arrived home earlier than I normally do.

At first I thought this c0r0n@ pandemic was just mass hysteria. That it was blown way out of proportions...

On the drive home, my iPod decided to NOPE tf out. I chose to forgo act two of "The Likes of Us" in favor of NPR. Turns out things are getting pretty serious. All major events and colleges have been canceled and/or shut down. Health officials are quietly and politely saying this is actually a big deal.

Just so we're clear: there's been a travel ban for non-white people for a while. But now Trump has put a travel ban on all European countries that don’t have a golf course he owns. And he openly, blatantly lied about c0r0n@ virus. He grossly mishandled the situation (starting months ago) and had his cronies try to cover it up. In an attempt to keep low the reported number of confirmed cases, Trump became obsessed with maintaining his image. He didn't want to lose voters by reporting the true numbers and possibly falling out of favor.

Today my boss decided we’re not gonna buy Lysol disinfectant wipes (which are on backorder) and we’re gonna make our own cleaning solution. I cleaned my desk to test the homemade solution. It’s terrible. Doesn’t work at all. There’s this weird sticky film that it leaves and nothing feels like it’s actually clean. No matter how many times I spray, my desk still has dirt particles when I ran a clean paper towel over the surface I cleaned twice already.

My boss’s wife is a teacher. Rochester schools are canceled tomorrow. But the wife isn’t off the hook, no, she has to go to a seminar on “social distancing”. So Phil is gonna stay home with his kids tomorrow...

And so it begins... the world is shutting down...

Boomers are losing fortunes as the stock market falls, meanwhile millennials can't afford homes. Schools are closed, but people can't find sitters for their kids so they miss work. Then they can't afford treatment when they get sick, or they can't take the time off work without consequences. Either miss work due to illness and face repercussions, or go to work and risk infecting others. Hospitals and doctors expect to have too many people to treat and not enough capacity to house/treat all those infected.

Speaking of, this happens to be flu season, allergy season, and sinus infection season which only further adds to the panic.

At first I thought this was fear mongering.

One person can’t truly have as much power as the general public thinks, can they? People need someone to blame, right? Are Trump’s followers gonna turn on him when they are inconvenienced?

To summarize:

stores are out of everything

there is no one out anywhere

Broadway has shut down

Trump lied (is this really news though?)

politics are a joke and everyone, no matter the party, is corrupt

sheeple are stockpiling supplies because they personally don't want to get sick, though there are still plenty of kind people actively trying to prevent others from getting sick

the American healthcare system is beyond broken

health insurance and big pharma continue to be total scams. Insulin used to be $30 a bottle and now it's 600.

If we invoke cancel culture until summer, there's a likelihood of prolonging the high numbers of patients. We need to keep hospital supplies stock with plenty of room so resources aren't spread too thin. If we aren't proactive about preventing the spread of disease, then everyone will get sick all at once. That would be really bad. I can't fathom how bad.

2020 was supposed to be amazing. Started out strong but quickly fell to shit (at least for me personally) on February 15th.

[writings-andstuff]

Coincidences Part I (Bucky x Reader)

Okay, so this is me attempting at one of those “I texted you by accident and we ended up talking and I actually think you’re a pretty decent human being” tropes. I don’t know how it’s going to work out because this is the first time I’m doing something like this, but I dunno.  Maybe it’ll be cool. 

Anyways. 

Without further ado: Happy Reading!

Pairing: Bucky x Reader (Modern AU if that’s what its called)

Words: 4259

Warnings: I mean, swearing a little. But none other than that. 

Excerpt:  Blowing a sigh through your nose, you realize you probably should just leave it alone and not answer at all. Then again, you are slightly curious to at least find out who texted you. They obviously thought they were talking to someone else, so it couldn’t hurt to maybe steer them in a different direction. Maybe.

*After writing this first part, I have determined that this is going to have to be a multi-part fic. Yeah. This got away from me, but I’m gonna try to post the parts in succession. 

Tagging: @langinator @beccaanne814-blog @fairchild21 

Series Tags: @melanie451 @sebstanwassup @colagirl5 @winenighthoe @hillrich @gotnotfeature

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New Message from: Unknown

3:32 p.m hey u still wanna get that drink sometime? 

You stare at your phone in confusion. What the hell? Last you could remember, you hadn’t given any stranger your phone number, and you certainly hadn’t agreed to any drinks. 

Blowing a sigh through your nose, you realize you probably should just leave it alone and not answer at all. Then again, you are slightly curious to at least find out who texted you. They obviously thought they were talking to someone else, so it couldn’t hurt to maybe steer them in a different direction. Maybe.

You glance at the clock perched above the doorway to the kitchen. It’s after 3:30 so, technically, you aren’t due for a break for another half hour. The diner is pretty quiet, though, so maybe it won’t hurt to just slip out for a little bit. 

The door to the kitchen creaks as you open it, throwing your apron up onto the hook and casting a frown at Nat, who is sitting on a stool, scrolling through her phone. Man, is she lucky that the manager had to take the day off. At the griddle toward the back, Wanda is humming as she flips a grilled cheese. 

“I’m taking my break early,” you declare to your friends. Nat barely acknowledges you, nodding once and making you want to pull her phone from her hands and hide it from her. Ever since she’d begun dating Clint, she’d been stuck to her phone like glue to paper. You raise a solitary eyebrow. 

Wanda turns from her grilled cheese and leans against the counter. “It’s early.”

You nod. “I know, but it’s dead out there.”

“Pete?”

You smile. “Of course.” 

Peter Parker had been coming into the diner a few days a week after school to do his homework and pick up dinner for his aunt after his uncle died. It happened so often, that the manager actually offered him a job, but he declined, saying that he already had one and that he didn’t want to spend any more time away from his Aunt May than he already did. 

Wanda turns back to the griddle and pulls the grilled cheese from it with her spatula. She sticks the grilled cheese in a foam container and closes it. 

“Is that for him?” you ask. Wanda simply nods, walking over to the desert display and cutting a piece of cheesecake off, putting it in another, smaller container, and putting both in a bag. 

“You never saw me do that,” she warns you, as she walks toward the door to the kitchen, bag in hand. There’s a challenge in her tone that you’re definitely not going to indulge. 

You look around the room with a thoughtful expression on your face, before landing back on her with a questioning tilt of the head and knit brows. “I never saw you do what?”

She grins at you and pushes through the door with her back, turning expertly just as the door is about to open fully, and holding it with her elbow as she walks out. 

When you turn back, Nat’s finally looking up and away from her phone. 

“Look who decided to join us,” you joke, walking forward toward the back exit. 

“She’s a softie,” Nat says, looking through the window at Wanda, who is handing a grinning Pete the bag with a finger to her lips. “She knows she’s going to have to pay for that, right?”

You shrug. “The kid’s been through a lot, and everyone loves cheesecake.”

“Not me,” Nat says, looking up at you where you stand to her right. 

“You’re weird,” you shrug a single shoulder. “I’ll be back.”

You make it about halfway down the hall before Nat calls out for you again. “Don’t do anything I wouldn’t do!”

You don’t answer. Nat wouldn’t answer a strange text message. Nat wouldn’t even acknowledge said text message. Maybe you shouldn’t either. But the curiosity is killing you. Forget the cat, it has nine lives. You don’t, and if you don’t find out who this is, you’re going to die. Definitely. 

It’s obviously not going to be anyone you know, because the number is unknown, and part of you knows that. The irrational part of you is winning out, though, and you can’t help it. Don’t want to. 

It takes another ten minutes of contemplation, of writing and re-writing a text, to actually get to the point where you say, “Fuck it,” and send it off. 

3:48 p.m Uh. who is this 

Damn, you forgot a question mark. Should you send one? No, double texting is weird. Then again—

Your phone buzzes in your hand and you frown down at it. The sun is too bright right now and your phone screen looks more like a mirror than an open message. You cup your hand above your eyes, against your eyebrows, to block the sun and squint at the screen until you’re sure you can possibly make out the words in the little gray bubble on the screen. 

3:49 p.m its james

You suck in a breath. James. You definitely don’t know a James. Does he think you know him? Probably, or he wouldn’t be asking about getting that drink. Obviously, it was an aforementioned thing, but not with you. 

Another few minutes of quiet contemplation in which you figure out what you should say, landing on something neutral and truthful.

3:54 p.m I don’t know any James’

Shit. Is he gonna know that the apostrophe means that you don’t know any people named James, plural? What if he thinks it’s a typo? That’s two typos in a row—

Your phone buzzes again and you narrow your eyes at his response.

3:55 p.m we met at that cafe a few weeks ago and you gave me your number

Nope, never happened. And you’re going to tell him so. 

3:57 p.m i think i’d remember if i met someone in a cafe and gave them my number. Any chance you got a false one?

The response is immediate and arrogant. 

3:57 p.m no chance

For a moment, you’re not sure what to say to that. Should you call him out on his arrogance? Should you just stop talking to him altogether? Should you keep trying to convince him that you definitely never met him in some weird cafe?

The last one sounds best, but it is a stranger—you’ll never meet him—and you really wanna call him on his shit. 

3:59 p.m big talk for a guy who most definitely got a fake number

This time, the response takes a few minutes, as if he’s had to read it a few times and then formulate a response. You smile to yourself, convinced you won that one and then confused because when did this turn into a competition? You never get to call people out like that because you’re always too scared of the repercussions, so you usually just keep your mouth shut. But a stranger through a phone is different waters altogether. 

4:04 p.m so…ur not dot?

It took him five minutes to say that? 

4:04 p.m no

4:05 p.m then…who r u?

Should you do it? Should you tell him your name? Based on the area code, he lives around you, which is weirdly coincidental. There’s always a chance this is a scam or something, but he does seem pretty confused. It took him five minutes to figure out he’d been duped and you were telling the truth, so…. 

There’s also always the off chance that he’s been in the diner and has seen you. 

Then again, he might never see you or meet you. It’s Brooklyn. A pretty big place to just randomly run into a person you accidentally texted. Still, you don’t want to give him your real name. You do what any sane person would do: you give him your middle name.

4:08 p.m Y/M/N

4:09 p.m oh thank god

You frown.

4:09 p.m ?

4:10 p.m u r a girl, right?

4:10 p.m i kno you didn’t just assume my gender

Fuck, the w is missing from know. Oh well. This one must have him stumped again, because his response doesn’t come for long enough that you think he’s busy or something, until it comes in. 

4:16 p.m uh, no?

4:17 p.m Relax. I am. And you’re a guy, I presume?

4:18 p.m look whos assuming now

You’re slightly offended that your joke just backfired so badly. You inwardly cringe and look back down at your phone, breath ghosting over the screen in the frigid air. Damn, you forgot your coat inside. Wiping the condensation off the screen from your frozen breath, you quickly type back. 

4:20 p.m Certainly not me. I’m presuming. Different. Also, what girl has the name James?

4:20 p.m Jamie

4:21 p.m different

4:21 p.m touche. im a dude

You’re indifferent about the answer, but you realize why he was a little freaked out at the possibility of you being a guy: the first thing he’d texted you had been asking you out for drinks. Then again, now you were assuming sexuality. But he had thought he’d been asking out someone named Dot, and that seems like a pretty feminine name. 

Ugh. Your head hurts.

You sigh, unsure of what to say next. Turns out, you don’t have to think about it too much because he texts you a moment later. A double text.

4:23 p.m sorry if this is wierd. yknow. txting a stranger

You’re smiling, and at first you’re not sure why, until you realize it’s because he’s misspelled weird. As much as you don’t want to be annoying, you can’t let it go. 

4:23 p.m weird*

4:24 p.m ohhh we have a grammar nazi

4:24 p.m i don’t know what you’re talking about

4:25 p.m you just corrected me

4:25 p.m totally didn’t. I was echoing you

4:26 p.m what about the * 

4:26 p.m autocorrect

4:27 p.m mhmm sure and I was born in 1917

4:28 p.m man you’re old

4:29 p.m srryy duno wht u sid cant see thu my catarcs

It’s at this point that you’re covering your mouth with a freezing hand, laughing your ass off. This James, whoever he is, is hilarious. You grin at the screen as you type your answer, before noting the time. You’ve got to get back to work. At this point, you have been talking to James for almost an hour, give or take ten minutes or so. 

You have to admit, your break flew by faster than any of your breaks ever had. 

4:30 p.m alright mr. cat arcs. I have to get back to work. it was strangely fun talking to you

4:31 p.m wats tht deery

Just to piss him off:

4:31 p.m dearie*

4:31 p.m oH its on, grammar nazi

4:32 p.m look who’s suddenly been cured of his cataracts*

The next text isn’t a message but a picture—a screenshot to be precise. He’s saved your number to his phone with the contact name Gramar Nazi. You laugh, but there’s a strange, excited feeling in your chest that makes you grin stupidly.

He’s saved your number to his phone. Does this mean he’s going to text you again? Does he want to? If you’re being honest, you want him to. 

Still grinning like an idiot, hands numb from the cold, you save his number to your contacts as Mr. Catarcs and take a screenshot of it. 

4:34 p.m grammar* 

Then you send him the screenshot of his contact. 

4:35 p.m lol see u later grammar nazi

The door behind you swings open and Nat’s standing there, frown on her face. You let your phone drop to your side as she knits her brows at you.

“You forgot your coat,” she says, as if that isn’t obvious enough. “Also, your half hour break was up half an hour ago. The dinner rush is going to start soon.”

You nod. “Yeah, I know. I’ll be in in a sec.”

Her frown deepens, if that’s even possible, and she tilts her head at the phone in your hand, still open to the message between you and James. She nods at it.

“Who’re you talking to?”

“No one.”

She eyes you suspiciously but doesn’t say anything, opting to prop the door open with the wooden wedge. You totally forgot to put that in when you came out here. It’s a good thing Nat came to get you or you’d have to walk all the way around to the front. 

Finally, Nat retreats back into the relative warmth of the diner. 

You shoot a really quick text back to James before entering the establishment:

4:38 p.m later cat arcs

4:38 p.m wah

You laugh, but don’t respond as you walk down the back hall toward the kitchen. What are you getting yourself into? Who knows, but he’s funny, and everyone knows you need a little more funny in your life. So you push your phone into your back pocket and pull your apron over your head, trying to rid your mind of James and failing miserably. 

When you finally get home after switching out with the graveyard shift, you’re exhausted and ready to just fall into bed. 

Instead, you peel off your clothes—which smell unpleasantly of french fry grease and coffee—and shower away the diner stink. It’s while you’re getting yourself dressed again that you remember James. You’d been so busy that he’d been pushed to the back of your mind during the dinner rush and hadn’t re-appeared since. Until now. 

You sigh and pull on a pair of leggings and a T-shirt before checking the clock. 8:08 p.m. Perfect. 

You grab the only other key on the key rack in the kitchen and exit your apartment, locking the door and walking a few steps down the hall to the apartment next door. 

Unlocking the door, you don’t even check to see if he’s home and opt instead to collapse onto his couch. Sure enough, you hear a deep voice down the hall talking on the phone. He doesn’t even know you’re here. 

You met Steve Rogers—what was it?—two years ago? Probably somewhere around there. The two of you were just out of college and just beginning to live on your own. Steve, who had moved in a few weeks before you, had helped you unpack almost all of your boxes. You’d gone on to learn that he was an art major starting his own studio and that he had lived in Brooklyn his whole life. After finishing college, he’d decided to move out into an apartment not too far from his childhood home.  

You couldn’t say the same thing. You’d lived your whole life in Manhattan, with its annoying cabs and its bright lights. Miss it desperately. 

It takes Steve at least five more minutes to come out into the main living room, still on the phone. 

“—g deal.” A pause. He makes his way into the kitchen, barefoot and wearing sweats. He still hasn’t seen you. “I’m sure it’s not, Buck. You’re overreacting.” Another pause. Now that he’s in the kitchen, he’s facing the counter, which faces the couch. 

His eyes widen when he finally sets eyes on you and he frowns, mouthing, “What’re you doing here?” 

You shrug and mouth back, “Bored.”

He smiles and waits for Bucky to finish talking to him over the phone. “Y/N’s here.” Pause. “Yeah.” Pause. He pulls the phone away from his cheek for a moment to address you. “Bucky wants to know if you enjoy breaking and entering.” Of course he knows you’ve just waltzed in unannounced; you’ve done it before.

You scoff and hold a hand to your chest in mock offense. “I’m offended! It’s not breaking and entering if I have a key,” you say holding up said shiny item. It glints in the poor lighting of the apartment. 

Steve repeats what you said back to Bucky, who says something else. “No, I’m not—” a deep sigh. “Fine.” He looks at you again. “Bucky wants to know what you’d do if I was ‘with someone’?”

You raise your eyebrows. “Like Peggy?”

Steve blushes almost imperceptibly, but you catch it, and he nods once. 

You shrug. “Leave.”

“Leave,” Steve parrots to Bucky, who must say something on the other line that Steve doesn’t like, because he shakes his head vigorously, despite the fact that Bucky can’t see him. “You’re gross, Buck.” 

You tilt your head. 

“Bucky wants to—”

Groaning, you pull yourself up from the couch, walk into the kitchen, and pluck the phone from Steve without giving him a chance to protest. 

The line crackles for a moment, as if Bucky has been driving and has just gone under a tunnel, but it clears up in another moment, and you breathe into the receiver. 

“That was annoying,” you say. “What does Bucky wanna tell me?”

Bucky laughs. “Bucky would like to know if you enjoy stealing his best friend.”

You look up at a very worried Steve. “He’s my best friend too.”

Breathing a sigh of relief, Steve smiles at you and turns to put a filter in the coffee machine. You grab the coffee from the cupboard and hand it to Steve as Bucky replies. 

“I knew him first,” is his retort. 

“First is the worst,” you rebut, grabbing a few mugs from the drying board and retreating to the couch again. “Second is the best.”

“You can’t hear it,” Bucky replies, his voice higher than usual in the phone. Everyone, you think, sounds higher-pitched in the phone. It’s gotta be some sorta known fact or something. A scientific fact. Gotta be. “—but I’m sticking my tongue out at you.”

You poke your tongue out from between your lips and are extremely grateful that Steve has his back to you to prepare the coffee. “Me too.”

“Are you two done?” Steve says in the background as you stand again and sit on one of the stools on the other side of the counter. 

“What’s he want?” Bucky asks. 

“Wants to know if we’re done talking,” you repeat. “Think he misses his hubby.”

On the other end of the line, Bucky cracks up, laughing so loud that someone yells something—toward him, you guess—that you can’t make out. Bucky clears his throat and whispers, “Bye, Y/N. Gimme back my man.”

You laugh as Steve sets a cup of coffee in front of you, made just the way you like it. “Bye, Buck. See you later.”

Handing over the phone, you blow on the surface of your coffee, watching as Steve takes the phone, slotting it between his shoulder and ear, and gingerly brings his coffee over to the counter you’re sitting at. “Yeah,” he says to Bucky. “Yeah, I know. I’ll get on it, promise.” Break. “See you tomorrow. Night, Buck.”

A few seconds later, he hangs up the phone and turns his attention toward you. “You have work tomorrow?”

He’s talking about your other job, the one you went to college for: editing. You work at a low-budget publishing company and you spend all day reading over articles on topics you couldn’t care less about for grammatical mistakes. It’s your job during the week, but because it’s low-budget, you also work at the diner. Graveyard shift Tuesdays and Thursdays, regular shift Saturdays and Sundays. 

Mondays are your days off of everything, and today is Sunday. 

“Yeah,” you agree. “I took off Friday, so I figured I’d make it up by working tomorrow.”

Steve sips his coffee and then gives you an apologetic look. “At least it’ll be worth it.”

“Yeah,” you scoff. “Go out clubbing with you, Peggy, Bucky, Sam, and Wanda. Cause I’m really a club-going type of person.”

Steve’s sympathetic look makes you feel sort of bad for snapping. “I know. I’d rather be home painting or something, but Peggy and Bucky think it’s a good idea, and Sam was all for it, so.” He takes another sip of his coffee. You haven’t touched yours yet. Too hot. “You said Wanda’s coming? Guess Nat and Clint are—”

“Going out,” you nod, finishing for him. “And Bruce and Stark?”

“Some science thing down at the plant,” he sums up and you shake your head. 

“Geeks,” you scoff. 

“Geeks,” Steve agrees with a nod. 

You end up talking to Steve for another hour before leaving. When you get back to your apartment, you hang the keys on their respective hooks in the kitchen and grab your phone from the counter before making your way to your room. 

You undress and get into your pj’s before getting into bed and lying on your side, clicking your phone open. 

There are four notifications waiting for you when you open it. The oldest is a Snap from Nat: 8:12 p.m. The next one is a message from Wanda, the preview reading something about the time for Friday: 8:31 p.m. Third is a message from your mom asking how work was and if you want her to drop off pasta for you tomorrow night: 8:54 p.m. The last one is—

New Message from Mr. Catarcs at 9:18 p.m.

Against your better judgement, you open that one first. 

9:18 p.m i was wondering why u were so familiar and i figured out that it’s cuz u remind me of this girl i kno

10:03 p.m oh?

You open your other messages while you wait for an answer from him. Nat’s Snap is a pic of the sign outside of the diner—the chalkboard one—before she took it in, with the specials written in the manager’s handwriting. It’s colorful as hell and sports the worst drawing of a chicken you’ve ever seen sitting right next to the words Chicken Marsala. How had you missed that earlier? 

You giggle and send one back, covering the camera with your thumb and writing ‘Wow’ in the black screen with red ink and some of those a-okay hand emojis. 

Still no answer from James. It is now 10:06. 

You tell your mother that you would love some pasta for tomorrow night, and ask her if she could send over a little more than usual so you could share it with Steve since he loves her cooking so much. 

Still no answer. 

It’s while you’re in the middle of telling Wanda that you’re going to pick her up around 7 on Friday night that your phone buzzes with a new message from James. You quickly send off the message to Wanda and click on the message from Mr. Catarcs at the top of your screen. 

10:12 p.m yeh uve got the same attitude as her

10:13 p.m that a good thing?

10:15 p.m depends

10:15 p.m on?

10:15 p.m what ur like in person

You’re not sure what to do with that, so you let it sit for a little while before answering. 

10:18 p.m guess you’ll have to get to know me better before that happens. need to make sure you’re not a serial killer or something

10:19 p.m im not a serial killer. r u?

10:20 p.m not as far as I know

10:21 p.m as far as uknow? what? u got smth to tell me

10:22 p.m definitely not

10:23 p.m unconvinced ur gonna have to try harder

You laugh. 

10:24 p.m nah its fun to think about you wondering if i’m a jeffrey dahmer wannabe

10:25 p.m im scared

10:25 p.m certainly you’re not scared of lil ol’ me

10:26 p.m certainly not

10:27 p.m i can feel the sarcasm all the way over here

There are a few minutes of radio silence during which you think that you haven’t had a conversation this entertaining in a long time. It’s fun talking to James, and it makes you both slightly nervous and very excited to see what happens. It’s that edge-of-your-seat, staying-up-even-though-you’re-exhausted-to-answer-a-text feeling. It feels like high school. You grin down at your black phone screen and wait for it to buzz. A few seconds later, it does, with an incoming text from Mr. Catarcs.

10:31 p.m its fun talking to u grammar nazi

10:31 p.m you too, mr. catarcs

10:32 p.m im gunna get u to use txt lingo

10:32 p.m yeah right. good luck

10:33 p.m just wait. ill do it. dont need luck. ive got skill

10:33 p.m LOL. i repeat: good luck

10:33 p.m mad skillz

10:34 p.m good night catarcs

10:35 p.m u forgot a comma

10:35 p.m you*

10:36 p.m just u wait. imma do it. gnight grammar nazi

[isaaxor]

What’s really happening in Mexico City rn

Mind you, all of the things you'll find written in here are from my own personal experiences, and what I've been able to gather on my own or from several media, I've tried to apply the best of my judgment but, in the end, this is my personal point of view. If you happen to be from another part of Mexico I'd love to hear your story. And if you think "But, why do I even care about this? This is an english speaking site" maybe you're right but I still thought it would be good to reach out a little, just in case.

Also, I apologize in advance for any grammar mistakes you might find ahead.

--

Truth is, the situation here has been pretty surreal. I was not born yet in 1985 when the first massive earthquake struck Mexico City and, honestly, I've lived a pretty good and comfortable life in this batshit crazy place of a city for 25 years, the only places where I've ever seen such devastation, in some way, have been the news and movies, all which always take place somewhere so far away from home.

Well, it's been so odd, and difficult, to see all these things happening only a few minutes away from my apartment, a few which were places that I knew personally and now they are completely gone. In fact, ever since yesterday my reality was definitely twisted in one way or another, once I was out of the building where I work at, hearing the ambulances and helicopters ram through the smoke clouds and all the rumors from people who managed to get a decent connection on their phones "this and this place fell to the ground!!!” but being unable to know for certain, it's been wild.

I don't have the words to express how fucking lucky I was; my entire family is fine, my home was not damaged at all -hell, not even a book was outta place- I still have my job and basic services like water, electricity and internet, obviously. With that said, I thought it would be selfish of me if I didn't go out and lend a hand, well, all I can say from the time I was out there is:

The government has done very little to aid the population for the first 30 hours after the earthquake it was the citizens nonetheless who donated all the supplies, packed them and sent them to different places, it's been them who led most of the rescue brigades and dug through the ruins in order to help those who are buried and it was also them who provided medical attention. Fortunately, the response from the people has been amazing, such, that there's no more help needed inside of the city, all areas are covered, however people in rural towns still need plenty of help.

Also kudos to all the help that has been sent from around the world like Spain, America, Japan, Israel, Panamá, El Salvador Perú, Colombia, Costa Rica, Chile and Honduras.

There's also a tiny but significant part of the population who has been dedicated to saving all the affected animals. Some people seem to be upset by this but if there are dogs risking their lives for human lives then, why not simply shelter them for the time being?

At the same time, people have been told NOT to go out if they got nothing to do outside their homes so they don't block the streets or overcrowd a rescue area. Not only that but there have been some reports of looting, scamming and robberies at gunpoint so it's highly recommended not to leave your home (if it's still in good condition of course) since it's chaos overall. Talk about douchebags.

The next presidential election is less than a year away, citizens have been demanding that at least 20% of the money destined to advertising should be donated to rebuild and fix the damages caused by the earthquake, mind you, that money comes from the citizens' taxes. All the political parties, except for one, already expressed that they are NOT willing to donate, they say "We are out of time to make any kind of modifications in the law and the law says that redirecting that money to anything else but elections would be a crime, we need to respect the law." ...Really dawg? We all know that big part of that amount goes straight to your pockets. As politicians, we didn't expect anything from you but as human beings, we thought you would still have some empathy left.

The fallen buildings were both newish ones and very old structures. Sadly, it seems like there won't be any kind of repercussions for the people who gave the thumbs up to built these paper-like buildings which lacked the right papers to even be raised in the first place AND for the people who gave permission to still inhabit the old ones which might have been already damaged back from '85.

Even if the death toll does not compare to the one from '85, it's still sad to see that even after 30 years we are still NOT prepared to face a natural disaster that is so common in this part of the country. The annual drill is a joke, tbh, one drill a year is imo not enough and people don't even take it seriously. Likewise, even tho there are several alarms installed around the city not all of them work properly or they don't do it on time, everybody can agree that at the time of the earthquake there was not a single alarm ringing.

Obviously, classes are dismissed until next monday, depends really on how the situation progresses, altho plenty of people will be working normally tomorrow. I'm just begging at this point that any aftermath won't be nearly as bad or cause little to no damage to the already weak structures all over the country. As for myself, I got my backpack ready with food, a lamp, medicines, my important documents among other things.

If you, for some reason, want to donate to the cause, please, please, please, investigate thoroughly first!!! Like I said, scammers are ready to take advantage of the situation and anyone can easily post fake images about donating but with their own account number. I cannot stress this enough, only donate to trusty foundations.

I always considered myself as a cold-hearted person, always indifferent towards stuff like this, but it pains me greatly to see the city I grew up in suddenly in a situation that I thought I would only see on tv (first the massive floodings due to Irma and now this) hearing about all the people trapped under the rubble and not being able to do anything about it and witnessing people ready to take advantage of the misery of others. I'm also a little relieved, however, seeing how most people answered the call in one way or another, all I can say is that mexicans are always willing to raise up no matter what kind of shit we go through, Mr. Trump, I'm looking at you. Hopefully, things will improve soon...