#y’all are getting this earlier than Reddit

[bowserbowser29]

Wrong Power Hour

[wesleysniperking]

Omg y’all. I know some people aren’t religious. And I’m not pushing anything onto anybody. But I just discovered something that stopped me in my tracks. This actually isn’t even really new to any Usopp fan, at least on Reddit 🤷🏽‍♀️ .

It’s another Elbaf theory (more so a connection).

Beware of spoilers!

So, I don’t know if Oda is a religious person, or even knows the story of David and Goliath. He very well might simply be irreligious. And as my sister put it, the best stories told by anybody are unknowingly from inspired by the bible. Oda has named some characters and things that come exclusively from the Bible.

But it has just hit me that Usopp is the David from David and Goliath. Okay, y’all have probably heard that (if you know you know). When some people have stated their Usopp Elbaf theory some have referenced David and Goliath. But get this…

NOT ONLY DOES DAVID FIGHT GOLIATH WITH A SLING, but what is significant is that David was also a shepherd. What do shepherd’s do? They take care of and guard sheep!

And Merry, her design and theme was that of a sheep! And y’all know how badly Usopp fought for her. He was willing to challenge his own captain over her, and that took guts and a strong asf conviction.

Of course of course, Usopp saw himself in Merry. He thought that if the crew could easily discard Merry they’d do the same to him. But that still doesn’t necessarily discredit my idea.

Usopp still fought for Merry because she had life, and was nakama. Like a true shepherd.

This is a passage in regards to the David parallel I’m trying for:

But David said to Saul, “Your servant was tending his father’s sheep. When a lion or a bear came and took a lamb from the flock, I went out after him and attacked him, and rescued it from his mouth; and when he rose up against me, I seized him by his beard and struck him and killed him. Your servant has killed both the lion and the bear; and this uncircumcised Philistine will be like one of them, since he has taunted the armies of the living God.” And David said, “The LORD who delivered me from the paw of the lion and from the paw of the bear, He will deliver me from the hand of this Philistine.” And Saul said to David, “Go, and may the LORD be with you.”

David is pretty much saying that he’d fight tooth and nail for any of his sheep, and Usopp did so for Merry. And if I want to get a little punny here, sheep does sound like ship. And with this same conviction David was willing to fight Goliath.

But in all seriousness, there are a few parallels that I just can’t stop thinking about.

I asked my mother about the biblical figure David. And she told that he started out as this small shepherd boy and grew up to be king. Now Usopp isn’t a king. BUT 1) I know he’ll eventually become the king of shooters AND 2) during the Enies Lobby arc and Thriller Bark arc he donned the Sogeking persona. So, like David he did become a king, temporarily (and will STILL become a king). I know it doesn’t sound quite clear. But I think y’all know what I’m trying to say.

(Edit: Actually, there was an opportunity for David to become a king earlier than he did because he’d been chosen to become king from birth, but he opted to wait since he very well did have the earlier opportunity to slay Saul and take the throne…but he didn’t. Like Usopp wasn’t ready to take the Sogeking/Sniperking throne just yet).

Therefore, I must reason with myself. With Usopp being such a king during the Water 7 and Enies Lobby arc, and being right about Merry, I think the only reason why he apologized was to be humbled. I think that’s one of the only ways I can put it since I’m not truly certain if Usopp needed to apologize but we’ll save that for another day, or get over it.

Yet, I go back to David’s story, and I think about what happened after he became king. He became very problematic. Messing around with married women and what have you. So, Usopp needed to showcase humility. And Usopp did so by wholeheartedly apologizing to Luffy and the crew after leaving and rejoining the Straw Hats. Usopp can’t be too big headed.

Also, another thing I gathered was that David is known as the warrior king in the Bible. This aligns with Usopp’s dream and ideal: to become a brave warrior of the sea.

God chose David because he had a good heart. Don’t get me wrong, Usopp has his flaws (who doesn’t?). But that doesn’t mean he isn’t compassionate. He was willing to go to considerable lengths to have Kuro’s crew NOT touch the village. Despite not having 8,000 men to back him up, Usopp was willing to fight alone. He was adamant in saving the village with or without Luffy, Zoro, and Nami. Like David’s faith in God, Usopp’s conviction (the impossible an afterthought) gave him the faith to make the decision alone. The decision to fight with only his wit, determination, and superb marksmanship.

Therefore, Usopp has a good heart. He is the chosen one in his own way, simply because he’s just a normal person continuously underestimated because of his lack of physical strength.

Moving onto my next point.

Ever heard of the term the lamb of god? If not, I understand. But the lamb of god represents sacrifice. In Christianity this is the belief as implied in the Bible. And Merry, the ship Usopp fought so hard to save, sacrificed herself! She sacrificed herself to save Luffy and the crew! So that the Straw Hats could live!

I got this from journallive.com:

To be called a Lamb of God means that God gave Jesus to be killed like a lamb for our sins so we could live forever.” The majority of Old Testament passages that mention “lamb” refer to a sacrifice (85 out of 96). As a nation, Israel began its history by putting lamb's blood on the doorposts and lintels of each house.

The Strawhats aren’t immortal but we all know they’ll have a long lasting legacy. Merry is one of the reasons why they were able to move onto the New World (even if she wouldn’t be there with them), and live out their dreams. Back to the the David parallel, it’s significant to realize that Merry saved the crew mainly because of Usopp’s care. If he hadn’t taken care of Merry, Merry wouldn’t have developed a spirit. Merry wouldn’t have saved the crew. Simple.

It kinda makes me tear up just thinking about it. But like Christ, Merry sacrificed herself to save those she cared about. She sailed away with the crew one last time before she died to save them.

I understand if anyone reading this may debunk my words simply because they think I’m reading too much into things. But I don’t think I am, because like any Usopp fan, I think his actions during Water 7 hold a lot of meaning. Some say he did some stupid stuff in the Water 7 arc because of a stupid boat. But it wasn’t that.

So, how does this tie into Elbaf?

Well, a user on TikTok (m05s_3nergy) theorized that when the crew are in Elbaf, there will be a moment where they’ll encounter a formidable foe, and before the crew (or Luffy or another crewmate) step in, Usopp would step forward and let them know that he’ll deal with the enemy himself, and to move on without him.

Now, it’s up to anyone at this point to explore the possibility of him biting the dust or not.

One of the things I can conclude about each theory is that they all sound really cool, and I really do hope that Usopp will get a moment that’s similar to one of them. To have a David and Goliath moment isn’t as far-fetched as some would think because the most obvious parallel is less subtle than some think. Usopp admires the Elbaf giants and he’ll eventually be in the land of giants (Elbaf has been confirmed 👀). With Luffy’s track record they’ll come across trouble quickly, and as found in most of the arcs, a LOT will be going on. How can Usopp not have a moment to shine? When David dealt with Goliath it took smarts. He acquired 5 stones and with his faith in God, he was able to defeat Goliath.

Before anyone thinks that the Franky-Egghead hype and Zoro-Wano hype is what Usopp-Elbaf hype is. I think you’re mistaken. Since Little Garden, Usopp and Elbaf have been associated.

Usopp has befriended 5 (or was it 6?) giants from Elbaf. I can ramble on some more. But I’ll stop here. I just wanted to talk about the David and Goliath parallels and religious themes.

I might make a video on this very topic. There’s more research I need to do. And many more parallels I must make. So stay tuned.

Related link here

Conclusion:

Usopp = David

Slingshot = Sling

Goliath/Philistines = Formidable opponent/admiral/Evil Elbaf giant

Israelites = Strawhats and Elbaf dwellers

One person already beat me to it when it came to my David being a shepherd parallel: https://www.reddit.com/r/WildAnimeTheories/s/Pi1h3PhNuN

The user expands on other theories I find valid as well. They’re worth reading.

Reddit users just love the David and Goliath parallels:

1: https://www.reddit.com/r/OnePiece/s/4jciG5CbiD

2: https://www.reddit.com/r/OnePiece/s/G8UNHHox2Z

3: https://www.reddit.com/r/OnePiece/s/F9XOlBV2st

4: https://www.reddit.com/r/OnePiece/s/vs0zolxht6

5: https://www.reddit.com/r/OnePiece/s/OB5WlCEjVZ

6: https://www.reddit.com/r/Piratefolk/s/zjqJPslEsp

7: https://www.reddit.com/r/OnePiece/s/VRfJoJCPJg (this post makes more connections).

8: https://www.reddit.com/r/OnePiece/s/7gNionwEhO

9: https://www.reddit.com/r/OnePiece/s/IbupOpfYwO

10: https://www.reddit.com/r/OnePiece/s/8iNZsaQpfE

11: https://www.reddit.com/r/OnePiece/s/7akm49XfYK

12: https://www.reddit.com/r/OnePiece/s/mpDbdWCOar

13: https://www.reddit.com/r/OnePiece/s/P0GW2ZZiun

14: https://www.reddit.com/r/OnePiece/s/6s9IdE1Tec

15: https://www.reddit.com/r/OnePiece/s/iJDeiyvmrc

16: https://www.reddit.com/r/OnePiece/s/Dh4XYYToxj

Many more theories and links I’ll provide in another post.

Usopp fan club (feel free to join)

#WaitTillElbaf

usopp fan art credit: msprinklez (@danbooru)

[notarailroad]

It’s funny how worked up people get over corset YouTubers when they’re just one of many groups that overglorify the past, something that I think has ramped up over the past 5-10 years as people fatigue on Internet life and feel disconnected from their communities. There are whole segments of the left that have uncritically swallowed the idea that medieval peasants lived a better, easier life than people in the West do today based on “nothing to do between planting and harvesting except wait” and “rich people at the time say they just sit around, must be true since it’s an eyewitness account”. Anti-girlboss rhetoric has given rise to so-called feminists who think it’s better to be housewife than participate in a problematic hustle culture (why women specifically? Don’t look too close). Homesteading YouTube and Reddit is RIFE with people who act like packaged foods are ushering us into an early grave whereas earlier food systems were almost completely without problems (malnourishment and caloric deficiencies are a post-war phenomenon y’all). This isn’t even getting into genuinely abhorrent views like “it was better when men were men and women were women” or “it was better when everyone went to church” that many people with influence still REGULARLY espouse. I don’t know, I just can’t get my hackles too up about these vaguely annoying faux dress historians on YouTube who are a little too enthusiastic about their interest area and I don’t understand why people are so fucking worked up over them specifically. I guess it’s just ubiquity? I think in the beginning of the pandemic lots of people got into sewing masks and these channels got a boost in popularity and the misinformation they were propagating just got loose on TikTok and everyone got annoyed by it. Fair enough but I think the reaction I see here whenever the word “corset” come us is way overblown.

[fulokis]

Found a Reddit thread about people discussing leaving after Milton and asking others if they would do it too, and the amount of replies saying it’s Florida we get hurricanes astounds me.

Like I’m sorry are y’all really that dense that meteorologists the people who study the weather were getting choked up over how quickly this thing got its act together? Is hearing these people who are typically calm and collected about these things anxious and upset not harrowing?

And to those on the coast saying to move inland, not realizing that inland gets impact from these things too? Sure it’s not the surge but flooding, wind, tornados? They all still impact inland it’s not like it hits the coast and dissipates that’s not how massive systems like these work. Several areas inland had flash flood emergency’s for Milton, the nws doesn’t lightly hand those out. Oh and those tornados from Milton? Other than being wedge tornados that Florida rarely gets, killed people and one has already been rated as significant. These impacted areas forecast to not be hit hard by Milton at all.

There were others saying that if you don’t like hurricanes move to where there are blizzards as if this past winter wasn’t mild as hell for a good portion of the conus. Like Buffalo the city that got that monster storm back in 2022 didn’t really have snow this past winter mild.

Perhaps instead of thinking that these people looking to move after Milton are weak maybe you should be looking at the fact that Florida just got hit with major hurricanes with only a week separating them. And yes that’s a fact of living in Florida, but I also think that this should be raising concerns, because the question then becomes how many times do you rebuild before it becomes to expensive to?

Fort Myers is still cleaning up from Ian and now they also have to clean up impacts from this storm. The big bend got hit by a major last year, then a hurricane earlier in the year and a couple weeks ago by Helene which was a major hurricane.

I drove past that area the other day, the one Helene impacted, I was well off the coast and there were trees snapped in half with their bark stripped off, trees knocked down billboards torn. Not to mention the rain dropped on the Carolinas.

When do we say instead of “it’s Florida we get hurricanes”, this is concerning? And yeah you could bring up 2004 and Florida being hit with four hurricanes but I raise you all this is the first time since records began in 1850 (that we know of, since satellite improved data) that Florida has had major land falling hurricanes three years in a row.

This is what happens when the oceans are so warm. Hurricanes thrive on warm water, they in reality are designed to redistribute the heat in the ocean. But that hasn’t been happening this year, maybe it cools down for a week or two but then it goes right back up. That’s part of how Milton was able to be so intense so soon after Helene went through.

In the end I think Floridians need to be more concerned with this trend, because if it keeps up who knows how many lives will be lost because people think it’s Florida hurricanes happen.

[choicesficwriterscreations]

Choices Fandom Appreciation Week - Meet the Writer

This has been a wonderful week of love and appreciation in our fandom! To celebrate, we randomly selected a writer to share a little bit about themselves and their work with us. Please allow us to introduce the winner, Kat @writer-ish!

Blog: https://www.tumblr.com/blog/writer-ish

Name (and/or pet name): Kat

Birth Month: May

Nationality: Canadian

Current residency: Canada eh!

Languages you speak: English, Greek

Masterlist/AO3/Choices Fanfic Archive:

Quick Links: https://writer-ish.tumblr.com/post/660820759362551808/hi-there

Masterlist: https://writer-ish.tumblr.com/post/656714909442244608/choices-open-heart

1- Is there a meaning behind your url name?

Well, when I first joined Tumblr for Choices purposes, I was @brooks-eden, which was sort of my throwaway jokey account name for what I’d assumed would be only a lurker account. How wrong I was.

After almost (over?) a year in fandom, and also dabbling in another fandom, I decided to change it to writer-ish. It has a double meaning: one, I’m a writer… sort of. And two, it’s like saying “writer ish” aka writer shit. My writing stuff. Does anyone still talk like that? No?

2- When did you start playing Choices? What's the first book you played?

I started playing Choices in late 2019 but didn’t really get into it until the pandemic hit full force in early 2020. The first book I played was The Royal Romance. Team Drake!

3- When did you decide to join Choices fandom?

I decided to officially join the fandom in September 2020 (aka the busiest month of my life thus far 😂), but I had been lurking at that point for a bit and had also spent a few months on Choices Reddit lol.

4- Go back to your archive and tell us what was your first post on your Choices blog was about.

My very first post that wasn’t a reblog from another person was a text post that just said “Wait, some of y’all are happy about Chapter 13??” It got 1 note.

5- How long have you been writing fanfiction?

I’ve been writing fanfic (not Choices fanfic) since 2006 online and probably even earlier than that with pen and paper. Yes - pen and paper.

6- Share the first fanfic you wrote with us. Do you still like it or would you change anything about it?

I wrote “Hopeful Hearts” which was a retelling of the Gala chapter in Open Heart Book 2. I basically used the script to delve into the thoughts and actions of Ethan and MC for the first half of that book. You can read it here: https://writer-ish.tumblr.com/post/632549312844513280/hopeful-hearts The second story I wrote was a follow-up to Hopeful Hearts aka the smut part of that chapter.

The first thing I ever wrote for Choices was my text fic series about MC in Vegas: https://writer-ish.tumblr.com/post/631012282125680640/mc-texts-ethan-from-vegas Thus began a text fic journey that would span months and two Choices books. Seriously, the most fun I had writing in this fandom LOL.

7- What are your favorite Choices books to write about?

Open Heart, Open Heart, and Open Heart. :) Although, special shout out to Platinum and Foreign Affairs, the only other two books I really enjoyed reading other people’s fic for.

8- What is your specialty as a fanfic writer?

I think I’m pretty good at capturing voice and characterization, especially in text fics. Otherwise, I’m not sure! It’s hard to wade through all my crippling insecurities to identify something as strong as a “specialty”!

9- If you could write only angst, fluff, or smut for the rest of your writing life, which would it be and why?

Oof, probably angst (with a side of smut). I just love the anguish, the pining, the “will they-won’t they” of it all. I love torturing my characters, just a bit. Fluff is nice, too. It just doesn’t come as naturally LOL.

10- Do you ever recognize yourself in what you write?

This is a good question! I do think my writing is easily identifiable (to me lol) but I’m not sure if I have a clear “voice” to others.

11- What element of writing do you struggle with most?

Writing.

No, seriously. My days are so jam-packed with so many different responsibilities, it’s very difficult to find time to write and, when I do, it’s a struggle to get into the right “zone” to do it properly.

I would kill for days (weeks?!) of uninterrupted time where I could just write whenever I felt like it and not in 10-20 minute windows at the end of the night when I’m too exhausted to keep my eyes open.

12- Is there any neglected work of yours you wished you would finish?

Yes! I have a Q&A sent to me by the lovely Leah (@lem-20) that has been sitting in my Drafts. I’m dying to finish it. And I will - one day!

13- If someone you know in real life who isn’t involved in fandoms asked to read your work, would you let them? If yes, what would you recommend they read first?

Sure, I guess lol… My husband knows I write fanfic but he’s not scrambling to read it all. If anyone else wanted to, I’d probably toss them my masterlist and then yeet myself out of there.

14- Are there any writers (published authors and/or fanfic writers) who influenced your writing?

Definitely Bree and Ruby were huge inspirations to me as I started off in this fandom. I also loved @raleighcarrera’s fics and @coldshrugs, who isn’t Choices, but is one of my favourite writers across fandom. Published authors who inspire me are Lisa Kleypas, Madeline Miller, and Sally Rooney.

15- Which one of your stories would you most like to see as a movie/series?

Hmmm… any, as long as the money is right. Bahahaha. No, but really, I loved “makai”, my Hawaii story: https://writer-ish.tumblr.com/post/649645215457624064/makai A whole movie about Ethan and MC in Hawaii? Yes, please.

16- What’s your favorite emoji?

I’ve always had a soft spot (pun intended) for this lil sheep 🐑

17- Do you write original stories?

I do. 🥰 Stay tuned.

[florrickandassociates]

TGF Thoughts: 5x09-- And the end was violent...

It’s been a busy week, but I didn’t want to wait until after 5x10 aired to write this. This recap may be a bit rushed (read: I am going to make an effort to just skip over scenes I don’t care about; we’ll see how many of those there actually are). I didn’t love this episode overall, but I thought it was a huge improvement over 5x08’s parking ticket fiasco and wish it had immediately followed 5x07.

Bless these episodes for not being overly long

Oooh, the opening sequence is long and I have nothing to say about it! Thanks for making my life easier, writers!  

The point of this opening is to show that there are lots of problems with the official court system—inefficiencies, inconveniences like broken elevators, overcrowding in prisons (though, uh, I don’t think the actual problem there is that there’s not room to incarcerate more people)-- that might make cops open to an alternative like Wackner’s court.

I know the cop thread kind of started with last week’s parking nonsense, but surely there was a way other than the parking nonsense to bridge the gap between 5x07’s prison system and 5x09’s focus on Wackner’s court suddenly being a replacement for criminal court, too.

(Y’all, I have SO MANY questions about how Wackner can POSSIBLY judge criminal cases, but they’re all just variations on... UH, GUYS, ISN’T THIS ILLEGAL? LIKE SUPER DUPER ILLEGAL?)  

I see that there is a filming notice when the cops bring a dude into Wackner’s court, and that the notice says that by entering on the premises you consent to being on film. I do not think that this sign being displayed would hold up as evidence of anyone consenting to be sentenced to a private prison on criminal charges.

New question: How did Wackner Rules get on the air so fast? And are they just filming endless episodes in real time? They just film anyone who walks in?  

I think there is supposed to be a subplot about Marissa liking fame and attention; it is almost a little too subtle to be meaningful. I see a through line from her sleeping with that editor dude last week to her smiling at the flowers in this scene to her scenes with Carmen later this episode. Unfortunately, I need a lot more for this to work.

I don’t need Marissa to be a hero who constantly does the right thing and calls out Wackner on crossing the line, but I’m really sad that this is what they’re using Marissa for when we were due for Marissa calling Wackner out (in a meaningful, lasting way) like two episodes ago. It’s felt odd to me that she just sticks around and assists Wackner and Del when they’re doing things like putting people in private prisons and comparing the show they’re making to The Apprentice. Any subtle shift in Wackner’s decisions that has signaled to me that he’s gone too far is something that I can say with certainty would signal the same to Marissa. Marissa’s outspoken and passionate, and we have seen enough reaction shots to know she knows things are going bad, fast. Am I really meant to believe that because she likes Wackner and she likes fame, she’s not going to do anything more substantial than look upset from time to time? Not only does that feel out of character, it’s also just boring.  

And, it speaks to another problem I’m starting to have with the arc: they needed to get to the point faster. Once Wackner said “David Cord’s private prison,” this stopped being fun. It would’ve stopped being fun for Marissa and it stopped being fun for viewers (seriously though, the change in tone on Reddit between 5x07 and 5x08/5x09 is VERY noticeable). So why did we follow that up with some repetitive filler bullshit about parking spaces and then start getting back to the point in this episode? I’m sure they’re going somewhere big in 5x10, but you can’t follow an explosive reveal with more status quo.

(Also, lol, I think the parking space thing was meant to be a fun silly absurd little way of entering into themes about authority and Wackner trying to legitimize his court, but it was about an issue so relatable and illogical that I think it feels even harder to believe than the, like, whole concept of a secret court in a Copy Coop.)  

Time for Marissa to look concerned again! She’s confused about if the case is real or not, and when Wackner says it’s real, she says it’s not for their court and it’s crossing a line. She is absolutely correct. Wackner’s like, let me know if you think I’m crossing a line after I rule, and then he makes a silly flailing gesture that Marissa can use as a signal.

I actually don’t hate that scene; it is a good scene. I am only snarking on it because it feels like familiar territory and it belonged in an earlier episode.

Am I correctly understanding that these cops wanted to be filmed bringing a man against his will to a fake court with a private prison? And that they wanted this to air on television? Okay.

I will say that I believe the motivations of everyone involved except Marissa. Wackner thinks he’s doing good for the world. Del is getting good TV (I mean, I still think that Wackner Rules title sequence is shit and the show Del seems to be making is terrible, but that’s besides the point). Cord has so much money he’s untouchable and this is fun for him. The cops just don’t want to deal with bureaucracy when it comes to someone who they basically caught in the act.  

Court! Stuff! Happens!

Wackner sentences the guy to one year in “David Cord’s private prison.” Again, I know they have to say this for exposition/storytelling reasons, but I continue to find it hilarious that David Cord would want his name to be used in this way (because he like, absolutely would not want his name to be used this way).

The cops like Wackner’s verdict so they tell all their friends to also take their cases to Wackner. What could possibly go wrong!  

Like, yeah, there are problems with the criminal justice system—and some of them are even the ones these cops are mad about—but this is ABSOLUTELY not the answer!!! You cannot just take people off the streets and place them in private prisons because they were forced to enter a filming zone for a TV show what the actual fuck

Love David Lee still having candy on his desk. Some things never change.

Allegra, who was welcomed by the partners of RL last week, is interviewing for a job with David Lee. I don’t understand. Doesn’t David Lee have to approve new partners at RL?  

Please don’t mention real estate on Mars, Allegra. You’ve made me think of Jason and how bad season seven was.

Allegra is feeling a bit different from Elsbeth this episode, though she very much still has some Elsbeth energy. She is very strategic and blunt in a way Elsbeth isn’t, and she seems a little more focused and intense.  

“I notice, in a partisan world, the person in the middle controls the agenda,” Allegra says of her alliances with both Liz and Diane. This is interesting. What are Allegra’s goals here? Just to have power? Does she have a vision for RL? Is it just a good paycheck?

(My guess is it’s about power and money for her. I don’t think she is going to be the ally Madeline wants. I don’t think anyone who voluntarily signs up to be a name partner at a firm owned by corporate overlords is a natural ally for Madeline though, tbh.)

(I really hoped this arc would explore that just a tiny bit more. The longer this conflict drags on the more convinced I become that the whole question of if it’s appropriate for Diane to lead a black firm is moot. It’s an interesting and complicated question, but with some distance from the plot, it becomes pretty clear that in this particular situation, RL isn’t a black firm. It’s a subsidiary of a large multinational corporation.)

(The show seems very aware of this and keeps having plot points like Diane using David Lee to keep her job and having Madeline call out all the awful clients they have... but it needs to go somewhere.)

(This also may be why I’m more down on the end of the season—in the middle of the season, nods at the things I’ve been thinking are appreciated references. At the end, they’re more like plotholes or reminders of the questions we should actually be spending time on.)

“Are you shitting me?” David Lee storms into the room as Liz and Diane are working. “David, we are shitting you about so many things, you’re gonna have to be more specific,” Liz responds. God, funny!Liz is maybe my favorite part of season 5?  

Liz calls David out on his power, noting that he also reports to STR Laurie. So it seems like Liz and Diane can make decisions on their own, and STR Laurie can overrule them, but not stop them in advance?  

This little ad about an ice cream chain is like, 15 seconds too long.  

Carmen is back!!!! She’s helping Rivi sign a deal with an ice cream chain so that they’ll turn into a distributor of weed.  

Why do we have to watch a SECOND commercial?  

The farm wants Rivi to stop dealing other drugs if they’re going to enter into this deal.  

Allegra, another character who seemingly has no qualms about representing drug kingpins, quickly impresses Rivi.  

I understand why there is an interpreter for Rivi’s wife. I do not understand why the interpreter interprets conversations BETWEEN Rivi and his wife. And then he’s translating the sign language into Spanish? But also Rivi speaks fluent English in half of these scenes? WHAT is happening?  

Allegra is also different from Elsbeth in that with clients, you’re NEVER going to underestimate her. You might not follow her at first, but she’ll get to the point clearly and concisely and without telling you how much she likes your lipstick.

But like at 13:44 Rivi signs something to his wife, and when she signs back the interpreter tells him what she’s saying. This is so so so clearly for the audience but I wish it had just been captions because it makes NO SENSE that the interpreter is in on this private conversation between two people who both know sign language!?  

Rivi and Isabel now LOVE Allegra. Diane and Liz are like, okay!  

Cop stuff happens.  

Credits!!! If you haven’t already, be sure to check out indiewire’s piece on the making of the credits—it's fascinating.  

Brooke directed 😀  

Marissa the celebrity is signing autographs in Wackner’s court when the cops bring in some young men affiliated with Rivi.  

NO, GOD NO, NOT THIS DEVIL’S ADVOCATE FUCKERY. The problem I have with the Devil’s Advocate, in addition to it being fucking annoying, is that it is also the exact opposite of what Wackner’s court is all about. Wackner is about facts and really hearing people out, and from what we’ve seen, Devil’s Advocate is about... stereotypes and pop sociology so bad it’s essentially just racism?  

“These young men are the victims of a system that arbitrarily declares some drugs illegal, and others, like alcohol, not. They should be released. To hold them is to perpetuate an unfair system,” Devil’s Advocate says. Good lord, a 7th grader could write a more persuasive speech than this bullshit.  

WHY IS DAVID CORD PROSECUTING THIS, WHY IS THE TRIAL ABOUT WHETHER OR NOT DRUGS HARM COMMUNITIES, WHY IS THE DEVIL’S ADVOCATE SOUNDING LIKE A WHITE BOY IN AN INTRO TO SOCIOLOGY CLASS WITH HIS REFERENCES TO THE WIRE, WHY IS ANY OF THIS HAPPENING OMG MAKE IT STOP HOLY FUCKING SHIT THIS IS BAD

Why is Marissa the court clerk being called upon to be defense, WHY IS THE DEVIL’S ADVOCATE JUST SCREAMING “DEFUND THE POLICE” WHAT THE FUCK

I’m sorry, I am going to rant about this more, I truly cannot get over how fucking stupid the Devil’s Advocate is. He just starts screaming “defund the police”??? To what end?! Why does Wackner want this in his court?!  

I revise what I said earlier. Devil’s Advocate isn’t just sounding a white boy in an intro to sociology class. He is sounding like a white boy who showed up to an intro to sociology class absolutely hammered.

Marissa, correctly, argues that the arrestees should be taken to Cook County. Then she hears that they work for Rivi and she knows this is bad.  

Cord calling Marissa out for her firm representing Rivi: Another thing that would NEVER air on Wackner Rules.

David Lee seems surprised Liz and Diane did not get rid of Allegra. I don’t know why he is surprised, I think they made it very clear they don’t see him as an authority figure.

STR Laurie is now demanding (another) 10% in cuts to pay for Allegra. Liz says they’ll pay for her with the money that used to be for Adrian and Diane notes that Allegra has more stature than Adrian. Interesting.  

David Lee then decides to be both sexist and racist for really no reason at all. Pleasant!  

Showing Carmen as competent but not yet as strategic as Allegra is a really nice way to underline that Carmen is still a first year even if she is very very good.

Liz, Diane, and Allegra talk about cost cutting. Allegra is like, no, we need to spend more, which makes sense, both for the reasons she outlines and because when you bring on a powerful name partner, your need for lower level support does not DECREASE, it INCREASES.  

I know this scene is meant to show Allegra thinking outside the box, but I am a bit surprised that (1) Neither Liz nor Diane push back on the 10% cut and (2) When Allegra suggests hiring back all the associates and then some, Diane seems to think Allegra doesn’t understand they’re talking about cuts? Like, obviously she knows the topic of conversation, Diane.  

“We don’t run our own business. We work for a global conglomerate,” Liz notes. Yup. Right point, wrong context lol.

Diane and Liz are just too smart and strategic to have to be told ALL of this by Allegra... especially Diane, who is not only smart but also used to dealing with management.  

And worse... Liz and Diane think they made a mistake with Allegra because of this? I mean, I guess if your goal is to permanently work for a big corporation that will slowly chip away at your budget because they can and to never make any waves because that might disrupt the status quo, sure, Allegra isn’t who you want! But do Diane and Liz REALLY want the status quo?  

I hope they find a way out from under STR Laurie next year, as much as I hate the firm switching, because it’s just such a boring dead-end when Diane and Liz don’t actually have power or control.

OOOH I like Del asking Liz what SHE wants wrt the whole Diane situation. She says she wants to “stop fighting” and for Diane to “stop using her racist clients to keep her job” and for “the firm to be led in the right way by the right people.” So sounds like she wants to work with Diane, then? That last one is as vague as can be, but I think we can infer at this point that Liz is more concerned with stability and a work environment she likes than idealism.

God, Liz and Alicia would’ve gotten along so well as adults lmao.

Del tells Liz that “women at work always want to be thought of as nice. Women always want consensus. But you know what, baby, sometimes you just gotta say, ‘Fuck you, and you and you and you. Alright? This is my business and it’s my decision.’” I see where he’s coming from (even though this sounds like something my nemesis the Devil’s Advocate would say) but I am not sure I agree that’s Liz’s problem here.  

Actually, maybe I do agree with Del. I think Del’s saying to say FU to Diane, but what Liz clearly actually wants to do is say FU to Madeline lol

Liz asks him to change the topic. Where ARE they? Is this a restaurant or an incredibly nice backyard?  

Del changes the topic to how his boss wants him to come back to LA, but he wants to get Liz’s thoughts on their future. Liz asks him to start since men are better at saying what they mean (ha, love her giving him shit for that).  

He basically tells her he wants to stay and she says he should stay. Aww.  

Rivi’s house is... certainly something.  

Isabel is concerned because three of their boys have disappeared. She, naturally, suspects they’re at police blacksites.  

I’m sorry, did Marissa not elevate the Rivi case in Wackner’s court to the partners’ attention!? Rivi blames the dairy company, even though this does not... make that much sense?

This escalates into the murder of cows?? What... the fuck.

Now Marissa finds Carmen and loops her in! But only now that she knows Rivi’s looking for them and Rivi’s about to, like, kill Christian Borle’s character whose name I’ve forgotten.  

Marissa’s position on this is that Wackner will just let the boys go so Rivi shouldn’t know about any of this. Rivi would just kill Wackner. And Carmen is like, Rivi will just kill Christian Borle if we don’t tell. Fair point.  

Carmen, being an actual adult (sorry Marissa, I usually love you), is willing to admit when she’s in over her head, so she walks off to go get Liz for help. Yay!  

Rivi is not impressed with Wackner’s court or Marissa. He and Isabel want either Carmen or Allegra. Liz says Carmen will do it, I think meaning Marissa will do it but Carmen will be client facing.  

I love it when we get to see Liz just be super competent. It’s not a rare occurrence, but it’s just very, very clear in this scene how much better Liz is at handling this situation than Carmen or Marissa would’ve been and I like it when the show makes time to emphasize that even on a show full of hypercompetent people, some people are more skilled than others at handling some situations.

Liz, Diane, and David meet with STRL over Zoom. Allegra somehow pops up on the meeting but also joins as a cat because you know what the cat lawyer on Zoom needed? To be parodied on TGF. Ugh

OH MY GOD I DIDN’T PUT THIS TOGETHER SOONER BUT IT’S A CAT LAWYER YOU GUYS. This will mean NOTHING to any of you because it’s about an inside joke I have with the friend who got me into TGW, but indulge me in a little nostalgia here, ‘kay? So in like 2012, there was a trend on Tumblr where everyone would photoshop cat ears onto their favorite TV characters and my friend and I were like, why would I want to put cat ears on my favorite character, idgi. So then we started photoshopping cat ears on to the most unlikely characters and we landed on David Lee. We referred to David Lee as a cat for a really long time. Like, if we were to talk about David Lee today we would probably still call him Cat! David Lee.  

Allegra starts trying to work her magic on STRL.  Diane literally runs down the stairs to try to stop Allegra. I am not sure why Diane and Liz are so anti-Allegra during this conversation which is only happening so they can have the funds to keep her on board!  

Allegra tries to share a burrito with Diane and Liz and says she stands by her strategy. Liz finally says she’s not sure this will work. Allegra is understanding.

I respect that. Allegra may as well go all out and see if she can make this workable.  

(That said, this is pretty much the opposite of her whole staying neutral thing from earlier!)

No one is in the audience at Wackner’s court when Carmen shows up, yet the musician who I like only very slightly more than Devil’s Advocate is still on call. Just STOP.  

Overall I’ve liked the Wackner arc and I’m excited to see it wrap up tomorrow, but lemme tell you: it had better wrap up tomorrow. I am NOT open to dealing with this for another season.

The musician takes orders from Cord? The cameras are rolling? Rivi is there? WHAT?  

I know that NONE of this makes sense, but some things make exceptionally little sense and I just can’t.

Guys, remember the parking tickets?!  

Oh, excuse me, the ice cream company is actually a yogurt company.

Rivi notes that there are three boys missing. Wackner only has two.  

I am a little surprised Rivi has managed to be successful with that temper. Idk what skill set you need to be a top drug dealer, but he attacks people like three times an episode and that seems like a really good way to not build trust and to also get yourself killed?  

Liz and Del talk about what happened in Wackner’s court. Liz asks how they deal with liability. I guess she isn’t Del’s lawyer, then. Del says they have releases and people want to be on TV. Liz says what I’ve been saying, which is that Rivi doesn’t want to be on TV. Del says there are ways around that and references the show Cops as though that’s enough to make this question go completely away.  

Liz references The Apprentice, for those of us who didn’t catch the reference last week and/or for those of us (me!) who wanted to pretend that Wackner wasn’t somehow a commentary on Trump and star power. Ugh.  

(I don’t necessarily think it’s a bad point, I just am not sure that I think it is the most interesting point about the Wackner plot.)  

“Remember how we all watched and laughed and thought it was funny when they fired people?” Liz says. “We? No, no. Hmm, you... you never watched The Apprentice,” Del responds. She did not. Hahahahahaha I love this exchange. It feels very real.

Liz seems less concerned with Wackner and more concerned with Del’s eagerness to turn Wackner into a larger than life personality with a devoted following, which, yes, thank you, Liz, this is actually a much better and more interesting point!  

“That came out of nowhere,” Del says. “No, it didn’t,” Liz responds, correctly.  

Del talks about how Liz represents Wackner, along with murderers, rapists, drug dealers, and yet she wants to draw the line at reality show producer who makes people famous? He’s got a point, even if I’d argue that choosing a romantic partner is not the same as running a business.  

“Would your firm turn down [the producer of The Apprentice] if he wanted to join the roster?” Del asks. “Good point,” Liz sighs, resigned. She’s not happy he’s right, but she knows he is.  

Sigh. I already said some variation of this, but this season seems to have all the right ideas floating around, it’s just choosing the wrong ones to explore deeply and the wrong moments to mention other ones. Things like Liz worrying that someone she’s considering starting a serious relationship with might have some personality traits she doesn’t love can be done through throwaway lines that quickly come back to being about work/plot (that’s what happens in this scene, basically) and I love that. But the existence of STRL and the influence it has over whether or not RL is a black firm at some point can’t be dealt with through references. Wackner becoming increasingly off the rails can’t be turned down to a simmer after reaching boiling point. RL’s unsavory client’s can’t just come up in moments like this; they have to play into a central conflict.  

Like, what good is it to constantly remind the audience that RL represents a ton of “bad guys” if you’re not going to go anywhere with that other than making Liz and Diane occasionally be like, “hmm, good point.” when called out on their client list? This could be a really, really good piece of a larger puzzle about the culture at RL, and instead it feels like it’s a card they play whenever they need some moral complexity. Just... go somewhere with it, please. Either stop pretending that RL are the good guys or have them seriously deal with their client list.

Anyway, then Liz and Del talk about his possible LA move. It’s kinda inconclusive; they talk about work just being work.

Outside of court, Carmen doesn’t believe that Wackner only has two of Rivi’s boys.  

“I don’t know why you’ve been wasting so much time with this joke court, because it’s not gonna magically turn you into a real lawyer, Marissa,” Carmen lashes out. Oooo. Now this is interesting, can I have an extended version of this scene and also all the other Carmen/Marissa scenes that we should’ve gotten in the episodes Carmen was barely in?  

I understand Carmen’s frustration, especially since I imagine she worked pretty damn hard to get into/get through law school. And, as fun and smart as Marissa can be, she does get bored easily, try to skip over the dull moments, and moves on and still always lands on her feet. I can see how that would rub Carmen the wrong way, especially during a stressful moment.

Carmen isn’t exactly a rule follower, but I’d say she is someone who is very conscious of the rules, and, I think someone who values structure more than she lets on (I especially see this in her decision to stay at RL instead of work independently/with Lester).  

Marissa calls Jay for help!

Allegra talks to David Lee, with Liz and Diane in the background. Allegra makes her argument to  David Lee again and it goes over well. I think the writers think there’s more suspense in this plot than there is; it’s pretty obvious from the start that Allegra is correct and Diane and Liz are only correct if the goal is to avoid all conflict.

What is David Lee’s role at STRL? Is there anything else in that office besides awful HR and RL? He talks like he is more RL than STRL and that doesn’t track with what we saw of STRL last year.

Marissa spots a flyer that leads her and Jay to where the missing boy is: another fake court. This was inevitable—I think one of the very first things I said was that Wackner himself seemed fine and decent, but what happens when someone else decides they, too, want to be a judge because they said so—and I’m glad to see the writers go this direction. I actually think this would’ve been an effective build after 5x07 and would’ve kept turning up the tension, so again, most of my issues with this arc lie in 5x08’s momentum killing bullshit. It’s hard to get back into this plot when they lost me last week.

Shocker: Wackner having a reality show inspired more copy cats who take cues from the show and think Marissa is a celebrity.  

Vinetta, the judge of the second court, puts people in “time-out” (read: imprisons them in her basement) and... yeah, I don’t care how kind she is to them, this is not okay! The solution to the prison system is not for people to turn their basements into prisons!  

I don’t know that the writers are TRYING to comment on this here, but there is definitely something to be said about communities that the legal system repeatedly fails finding alternative measures of justice.  

Vinetta is nice and seems reasonable as a judge, but she also has a basement prison her judgments are influenced by her religious believes so, uh, yeah, not good!!!  

Wackner, however, thinks Vinetta’s court is GREAT! He wants to go see it, because “it’s finally happening.” What’s happening? “Justice,” he says. Uhhhhhhh, no. This is just so dangerous, even if everyone involved so far seems to mean well.  

I’m very curious to see how this little thought experiment wraps up (again: I say wraps up because I cannot deal with the thought of this being more than a one season arc).

One thing I love about the Wackner arc—my 5x08 issues aside—is its slow burn. The writers did a phenomenal job of getting me to take Wackner seriously at first, then slowly started to take all the things that seemed great and reasonable about Wackner’s court to their extremes (while still making his judgment on any individual topic* sound). It’s a very fun and entertaining thought experiment, and I think that’s why this arc has largely succeeded for me, even though it’s so far removed from reality.  

* Exceptions to this include policing, prisons, cancel culture, and, of course, parking spaces.  

[tuffduff]

Cuffed (Duff McKagan x Reader)

Pairing: Duff McKagan x Reader

Words: 2052

Request: @niksixx​ “Hi hiii I know you said I could request something, but I don’t have anything specific in mind, so if you’re feeling up to it, maybe you could whip up a cute/romantic/fluffy Duff piece??? Thank you in advance and don’t feel pressured 💕”

A/N: Thanks for the request, Momma Motley! 🖤🖤🖤 OKAY, so this was inspired by a story I read on Reddit about two people realizing their feelings as they got arrested for climbing the roof of a building. Idk, the idea of Duff just makes me long for a free and spontaneous love. I hope y’all like it. 🤍🤍🤍

Taglist: @ubernoxa​ @reigns420​ @the--blackdahlia​ @stradlin-cold-heartbreaker​

They say you’re lucky if you meet at least one person in life that really knows your soul rather than keeping a large array of close acquaintances. You were never really one that believed in the power of the universe until you met Duff; that kind of unspoken understanding was much too powerful and unfathomable for you to understand. There was simply no other explanation. He was your absolute best friend. He knew everything about your life up until the moment you met, and from that day forward, he was almost always around for every new memory of your life.

When he decided to up and move to LA, you went with him. What did either of you have to lose? You stayed together in a roach infested shabby apartment, watching the helicopter lights outside your windows as you slept on the ground, the both of you blaming the predicament on the other.

When things started happening for Guns N’ Roses, sometimes it’s was harder to see Duff. He was always busy, and the mini tour loops they started doing often took him away, but once you were reunited, it was as if you picked right back up on the moment you left off.

“I don’t want to go home yet, Y/N.” Duff told you as the two of you staggered out of the closing bar one night when it was closer to morning. You always tried to be the responsible one if you went out drinking, so you still had your wits about you. Duff could handle his cups and wasn’t entirely wasted, but you knew that wild look lighting his eyes.

“Well, bar’s closing, Duffy.” You told him, crossing your arms and looking around the mostly deserted street you were on. “Where do you suggest we go, the roof?” You had fueled the bright look in his eye, and suddenly he was marching away to the back alley of the building. “Duff! I was kidding!” You laughed, running behind him and trying to keep up with his long legs.

“C’mon, Y/N. You always said you’d jump off a bridge after me if I went. Or at least, you told your mom that one time.” Duff’s face lit up at the sight of a ladder leading up to the rooftop right next to the dumpster piled with trash.

“That was a joke!”

“So, you would let me die without you?”

“At that point, you would be choosing to die without me.” He thought for a moment before he nodded.

“Okay, so that means I’m taking you with me. Got it.” He grabbed your arm to pull you in front of him and positioned you in front of the ladder. Your stomach fluttered as he patted your ass a little. “Go on, it’s easy. You just have to put one foot—there you go, like that.”

“You don’t have to be so pushy, you know.” You told him with a pause. You had climbed high enough on the ladder that you were now eye level with him for once. “You know I was gonna follow you anyway.” He smirked back at you because he knew you were exactly right.

“Hurry up, slow poke, you’re holding up the line.”

You climbed all the way to the top and could see all the glittering lights of LA, all the tops of the palm trees swaying in the gentle breeze, the same breeze that was tousling Duff’s hair about. Your eyes focused in on the dark patch of hair, the memory of you dyeing it for him in your shared tiny bathroom hit you, as it often did.

At that moment, Duff caught your eye and smiled, moving in closer to you.

“See all of this? You were gonna miss out on this view if I weren’t here.” Despite his words, his eyes remained on you.

You took him in, finding him more interesting than the backdrop of California around you, the way his sloppy sleeveless tank top slight hung off his shoulders and exposed a strip of his tummy. The padlock chain around his neck, you had been there to fasten it for him after he bought it. His dark jeans with the wholes in the knees and worn leather belt that had less than a few more wears in it before it broke entirely. The brand-new cowboy boots, his latest purchase, that made him trip over the sidewalk earlier that evening when you arrived at the bar.

A joke passed through your mind, a smart remark—you two were always joking—but instead, you answered him seriously.

“There’s a lot of things I would’ve missed out on if it weren’t for you.” The look remained in his eyes, not quite something you could pinpoint, but it was making you feel alive, rushing through your body. As you were admiring the way his lips parted to speak, his face was suddenly a flashing light show of blue and red. Then, the sirens hit your ears.

“Shit.” Duff said, looking over your head to the street below. You whipped around and could see what looked like at least 4 cop cars pulling up.

“What do we do?” You hissed, turning back to Duff in a panic; you had never been arrested before.

A bright spotlight illuminated the both of you and your mouth fell ajar. Duff calmly looked below you to see the cops already starting up the ladder and waved.

“Well, we can’t make a run for it.” He replied to you, before he began laughing. At first, the sound of his laugh felt out of place—this was not the time for laughter. And that thought was what made you laugh too. You were both gone at that point; once one of you started laughing, neither of you could stop. You had to sit down because you were laughing so hard by the time two cops poked their heads over the top.

“Hey,” Duff managed to say calmly, which only made you laugh more. They pointed their flashlights at the both of you and maybe realized you weren’t exactly threats, but rather, two dumb kids who had decided to climb a roof.

“Are you aware you two are trespassing?” One of the cops asked, almost sounding mildly amused.

“Yes,” Duff replied.

“No,” you replied at the same time, making the both of you break out into childish laughter again.

“...Alright, we’re gonna need you both to come on down now. Let’s go.” The officer was firm with his words despite the half smile he had on his face. “Have you been drinking tonight?” He asked as he shined a light directly in Duff’s face.

“Not enough.” Duff replied, to which you bit back another laugh.

“Why did you climb up there?” The officer questioned once you were back on the ground.

“We had nothing better to do. I always see these ladders and wonder where they go, you know.” Duff answered honestly, as though he were discussing weather. The light amused look remained on the officer’s face as his partner looked at him in disbelief. He turned to you now.

“Do you always follow his lead?”

“For the better part of 7 years, yeah.” You replied, and this time it was Duff laughing.

“Would you follow him off a bridge too?”

“We were just talking about that!” Duff laughed while you shook your head.

“Well, I’m afraid tonight you’re going to be following him to jail. Turn around, both of you, and place your hands on the car. You’re under arrest...” for a moment, you froze up and looked at Duff with wide eyes before you had no choice but to comply.

“Fuck,” you heard Duff mutter under his breath as the cop read you your rights and secured handcuffs on both of you. You just shook your head at him before you were both stuffed into the back-seat side by side, left and right. The car doors shut and sealed you away from the open breeze. It almost made the moment sink in more, but you had the strange urge to hold back a laugh again.

“Why can’t you be more famous?” You broke the silence between the two of you, causing another fit of giggles.

“We should’ve tried to run. Jump from rooftop to rooftop,” Duff joked back. You wondered why you felt so calm. You wondered what you were gonna tell your parents. You turned and looked at Duff, noticing the black strand of hair turning red and blue over and over, his eyes watching the police chat with one another and start paperwork. His eyes then flitted over to you and you both stared, picking back up on the moment you were having on the rooftop, the electricity of seven years too overwhelming to be contained in such a tiny space.

“Kiss me.” Duff said suddenly. Your heart jumped. You surely weren’t hearing right; those words would have never come out of Duff’s mouth. His tone had a slight edge, it walked a fine line between a command and a plea.

“What?” You asked in confusion.

“We’re never gonna get a chance like this again,” Duff pointed out.

“With you, I might.” You couldn’t help but joke. But his eyes, they stayed on you, and that feeling Duff always brought with him came rushing over you again. What you felt on the rooftop you could now pinpoint: it was what you felt riding down the highway with the top down screaming along the lyrics to Iggy Pop. It was what you had felt from the very first moment you met Duff. A roaring coursing freedom. The insistence to be wild at heart, to be you, to exist as you are because with him, you were enough already. With him, you were free. Cuffed and caught in the backseat of a police car, you were still free.

You leaned up without any more hesitation and pressed your lips to his and it was as if your fate was sealed. The deal was done and the ink was dry; there would be no turning back. His lips molded to yours before you felt his tongue swipe over your lower lip and you parted your mouth more, pushing the kiss deeper. Never before in your life had you wanted to tangle your hands in his hair more, to hold his face in yours, to feel his hands roam your body. You both had to pull back after a moment due to the discomfort of the position. You had no time to speak; the police officers opened back up the door.

“You two live around here?” He questioned.

“Down the street.” You replied, still unsteady from the surprise kiss.

“Alright, here’s the deal; we’re gonna let you two off the hook, so as long as you get straight home, okay? Consider this a warning. And don’t go trespassing again, alright?”

The cuffs came off. You knew good and well not to say anything; this was really just luck of the draw and with any other cop, it could’ve been a lot worse. But those thoughts left your mind as soon as they took off, disappearing as quickly as they showed up. The night was still again, the breeze just as gentle, but your heart still felt wild as you turned back to Duff.

“Duff, I—” he cut you off with another kiss, one hand on the back of your neck and the other latching into your waist, pulling you flush against him. You indulged yourself to what you couldn’t before and tangled your hands in his hair, something so familiar and yet so new.

“That was a close one, huh?” He murmured against your lips. You could feel him smiling. You thought of every time you had seen the same smile before and now knew exactly how his lips felt. How they tasted.

“Lucky us,” you agreed, smiling back. “It’s funny; you would be the first person on my list for my one phone call at the station. After you, it’d probably be Steven and I doubt he would answer.”

“I’d call Izzy. He’d probably answer and hang up.” Duff replied. You laughed at the idea. Duff then grabbed your hand, again, a familiar but new situation. “I like this version better.”

[thejudgingtrash]

Last but not least: PJO hot takes part IV!

Alright my dudes. I think we’re still in this game for one final round. Anyway here’s wonderwall. And Part 1//Part 2//Part 3!

Percy had actually knowledge about the Greek myths. He didn’t waddle in blindly. Where did y’all even get that?

The new possible Irish myth saga will be PJO 3.0 aka Magnus Chase 2.0 aka The Kane Chronicles 1.2.

Riordan already got the names of gods of that possible saga wrong

Riordan‘s Asian characters only know bitch or bland mode, huh

Stop babying Annabeth for fucks sake. Seriously

How the fuck did Sally afford several private schools for Percy when they were poor as fuck? I guess Gabe had to have a some somewhat decent job but then again playing poker/being a gambler and stealing from your stepson ain’t a cute move

Hazel should’ve been Thanatos‘ kid. To break the classic 12 Olympian mold (yeah Hades/Pluto technically isn’t one but he’s still team major gods) and also to throw the damned Hitler/Pluto aesthetics away

Did any of the kids break their limps or get permanently disabled at some point? Or do they just... die (and mostly stay dead)? I forgot

Where can the kids at Camp Half-Blood actually sneak off to fuck? Percy is legit the only one to claim his own shit as his love bunker. The rest is just fucked I guess or has first hand traumatic pre-college experiences

”Percy cursed“. Literally why, Riordan. Let the kid say fuck. He has earned the rights to do so a long time ago

Did I mention that people lack of basic reading skills in earlier takes? Anyway. Here’s another reminder!

Tbh the gods are egotistical fucks and have killed people for the fuck of it. I don’t see Poseidon being even close to okay with Sally marrying Gabe or Paul

I still don’t understand why Frazel is a thing

Most of you don’t understand how movie production works but that’s okay. Just know that everything inside your head will never be realized and there will be drastic cuts and additions to the books (again)

The electronics not working thing doesn’t even make any goddamn sense? Hermes is the god of the Internet. Does this mean that demigods can use the web just fine but simply can’t call each other? This really came back to bite Riordan in the ass now did it? Wouldn’t it make more sense to use old means of communication once you’re trying to reach more important/godly people or electronics fail in an accute situation?

Turning everyone heteroflexible creates the image that you’re simply liking a character for the fact that they are LGBTQ and not the character itself, just saying. More representation sure, but that itself isn’t a personality trait and shouldn’t be the main focus of a character unless it’s really defining in the story line (Nico‘s arc partially for example)

Tbh, HOO should’ve been aged up mentor Percabeth protecting CHB, with the rest of the gang fucking up Greece with aged Reyna + Nico perhaps. I might post an outline on that AU someday (someone should remind me about that tho)

On one hand you have in depth discussions and people diving into the matter and talking about every nook and cranny and on the other hand people are more then just fine with stereotyping and deflecting. Whut. Okay

Why are people shipping the lie that is Jasper/Jasiper

Stop romanticizing the gods

Dark!Percy is just a cheap way for you to turn Percy into an overpowered asshole and that’s that tea

Being in a relationship isn’t a personality trait, my dear shippers

Riordan‘s timeline is off because the coke rush didn’t last that long

The wasted potential of everything past PJO makes me want to cry

Percy’s fatal flaw isn’t stupid, Riordan just didn’t flesh it out properly which is why there were no real repercussions. A fatal flaw is supposed to be hindering you and not a compliment

The fact that adult people still can’t take jokes about their favorite characters is fucking insane part II

Why the fuck did the Stolls get tossed aside? Bruh. The potential? The stigma as a Hermes kid? They trying to redeem their cabins honor? Imagine one of them as a prophecy kid in HOO (and they’d switch and swap to confuse everyone)? Yes??

Every single one of you that essentially is team poc!Percy because he had a rough upbringing deserves to get slapped. Poverty, abuse, a single parent, etc. doesn’t equate to being poc?!?!? Smells racist just saying

Turning Hazel into Nico‘s sister was cheap af

Stop romanticizing and down playing the myth aspect. Tragedy is essential and will haunt demigods. Thank you, next

Also stop babying Percy

Let’s be honest none of those fuckers make it to college

Annabeth Chase is fucking WHITE part II. She’s not biracial, she’s not ”exotic“, she’s certainly not fucking black. She’s white with a little hint of a tan. That still makes her white. Do you really want to turn her into Ariana Grande 2.0? A fucking botched orange? This is your Annabeth aesthetic? Artists get it fucking right unless you state that you portray her as [spraytan headcanon] which is still fucking cheap let’s be real. Orange Annabeth isn’t part of the kulture

Regardless of the reception of the PJO movies, I’ll never forgive you people for letting Logan Lerman aka the OG white boy™ flop. Throw Tom “lipless but okay booty“ Holland and Timothée ”I missed a few meals“ Chalamet the fuck away!

Tbh a less romanticized version of the camps would’ve been more interesting. I’m still put off by CJ (and also the fact that CHB is a summer camp), but had there been more fights and actual deaths that had happened around the camps due to training, etc. you would’ve understood immediately why demigods dipped before the age of 18. The antithetical nature of sweet summer camp and people dying left and right would’ve been amplified

Did Reyna at some point in time even have the time to breath with all of the shit that went down? Her life is simply 24/7 stressful. I get that she wanted to bounce and no longer be in a tiring and demanding position but the hunters ain’t it sis

It’s okay to admit that fanon artwork or fanfics don’t deserve the webspace they are wasting. But phrase that probably in a nicer way

PJO Calypso wasn’t annoying. HOO & TOA Calypso on the other hand...

Alex Pettyfer would’ve been a better Luke Castellan but Jake Abel did an okay job

Percy isn’t an idiot. You are one for believing so

Riordan corrected the stance that Muslims don’t shower during Ramadan (literally how in the fuck did he come up with that in the first place?!) in upcoming MC books. Can he use the same energy to rewrite HOO tho??

Luke’s portrayals in SoM and TTC were straight up trash

Historically accurate PJO would’ve been everything

Monsters can detect demigods by smell. Camo wouldn’t do jack shit ffs

Jason is still bland and making jokes/pointing that out is more than okay

Omfg accept the fact that characters can have multiple facets all good and bad. Reducing them to one specific trait makes them boring and bland. Also it stereotypes

Getting mad over the fact that Clarisse has a boyfriend is still fucking insane

Not everyone needs to be a fanfic writer or an artist, a theorist or someone that analyzes everything phrase by phrase. As long as you’re in the fandom to enjoy works & discussions and remain on the saner side of the spectrum you’re good. You’re valid. Don’t forget that.

Not wanting to stay in a fandom and merely enjoying some of the fruits/benefits as in art/fics/headcanons is also super valid

PJO Reddit, Tumblr, IG and Twitter are a cesspool of chaotic mess and straight up trash but Tumblr > Reddit >>>>>> IG >>>>>> Twitter

Tbh: just try to enjoy a decent book series. It’s all not that deep

[spectraspecs-writes]

Black Mirror: tumblr in the world of Nosedive

Yeah, here I go again with my thoughts on a Black Mirror episode. This morning’s TV fare was the episode “Nosedive.” To those who haven’t seen the episode, the premise is social media. Each person has the same type of phone coupled with ocular implants that allow you to identify a person on site, connect with their social media, and rank them, one star to five stars. Based on your ranking, you are either denied services or jobs, or get extra benefits. We follow Lacie Pound, a 4.2 desperate to get higher, to be a prime influencer. This gets her more money, a better apartment, better job, all that stuff. The plot follows her as she sinks lower into infamy. Not like villain stuff, but pretty much everyone hates her by the end and she revels in it, being free of the quest for a higher ranking because she’ll never get it.

What I was thinking about earlier is the fact that everyone uses the same nondescript social media. It looked to be picture-oriented like Instagram, and certain pictures for higher rankings than others. And since you could be ranked by your real-world actions, your public life was basically your Instagram life. I personally don’t have an Instagram, so I don’t know much about it.

Point being, though, that was the only social media in the episode. I doubt that it was the only social media in the world. Meaning, if your life is so public that strangers can affect your social standing, I think a lot of people would crave some anonymity. Which is where tumblr would come in.

Tumblr is the antithesis of “Nosedive.” Because each blog is not directly connected to the person. Take my brother’s blog. My brother is just on here to follow some artists. He doesn’t reblog hardly anything. His blog only has two posts on it. If it were so connected to his person, so integral to his progression in society, his feed would be loaded with military history, pictures of trains, and the occasional Zoey picture because you can’t go wrong with cute dogs. If social media was his life there would be more of his life on there. And performative socializing can be exhausting, so logically he would seek a place to stop performing.

Or take me. I’m not a big picture taker. Most of the stuff on my phone is stuff I might need later, or pictures of Zoey. It’s pretty much the same on my iPad, with the addition of art and art references. If my social standing depended on taking pictures, then you would see a lot of activity between 7 am and noon, which are my peak productive hours anyway, and things would drop off in the afternoon. Or I’d keep up that level of activity all day and crash at home like I normally do. I, too, would seek a place to be myself. Where I don’t have to perform.

Enter tumblr. With a few exceptions, none of you would recognize me if you saw me in person. There are two pictures of me on this blog, and you would have to dig deep for them. I’ve shared selfies with a few friends, and a similar subset know my actual name. This is on purpose. This was the plan in the first place. I don’t want people connecting me with this blog. I’m different in person than I am here - more on that in my other Black Mirror analysis, “Be Right Back.” And so is my brother.

Personally, I like the weirdness here. None of us care about the approval of strangers on the internet, not so directly that we cater to them if they ask. I would not stop posting about kotor if someone asked me to. I know none of y’all would stop posting about any of your particular topics if I asked. And there is no social incentive for me to keep posting about kotor. Even the existing kotor fandom on tumblr has no idea I exist, or if they do they’re being awful quiet about it (and frankly I would appreciate more noise. After all I reblog their art. Doesn’t anybody love me? Doesn’t anyone care about Sid the Sloth?) In fact, most of the time, if someone says “stop posting X,” the response is just to double the output of X out of pure spite. And why? What’s the social incentive? What does this get us in the broader tumblr society?

Nothing. There is no tangible reward. Notes are fleeting. The joy of being liked sticks with you, but fame too is fleeting, with a few notable exceptions. And even in those few exceptions, I just assume they have large follower counts because they blog like there’s an audience. But so do I. I guarantee you, my follower count is smaller than you think. My sustainability blog is higher, but the fact that the blog has a focus combined with the fact that my voice is rarely there may have something to do with that. Tumblr-focused accounts on other websites like reddit and iFunny could steal from any blog. There isn’t really an algorithm pushing the big posts to get bigger, like there is on other social media. So influencers aren’t so much of a thing here.

I am... not popular in real life. I’m a pleasant enough person, but I’m not constantly socializing because I have to budget my energy. If I spend it all chatting, then when I come home there’s nothing. I also tend to be quiet because I’ve learned that access to my constant internal bogus monologue is off-putting to most. If I come off as callous or brusque it’s only because I don’t want to come off as annoying. So my ranking in “Nosedive” would be mid level and probably stay there. I’m friendly. But I’m not going to ask questions about your life. There’s too much going on *up here* to focus on asking questions to which the answers are irrelevant. I do a lot of polite listening but if you look deeper there’s nothing there. I’m waiting for a question or something that catches my interest. And I’m used to being ignored. So rather than waste your time with babbling, I’ll keep my mouth shut. Do people miss out? Probably. But as I said there’s a lot going on *up here* and I don’t want to subject you to that if you’re not interested.

My dad would have a high ranking. That’s just the life he lives. He is always trading polite pleasantries with people, to the point where us three autistic people in the house can get a little annoyed. “Stop talking to strangers, we have things to do!” Mom’s ranking would also be mid level and stay there, for the same reasons as me, but she does have a tendency to talk a lot. My brother’s would be a high 3. He’s very pleasant, but he’s been dinged a couple times by people who were wrong, so that would hurt his ranking. But Mom and Dad are already themselves. I on the other hand have come to learn that Specs is a person that does not put a good foot forward. Specs does not make good first impressions. It is best to hold them back until my irl has made their impression and been received well. But Specs is a personality that needs to come out. And they are best expressed here, and will be for the foreseeable future. No matter how dystopian it gets.

[sarah-sandwich]

2020 fanfic year in review

Thanks for tagging me @volantium!!

how many stories did you publish? 5 - which is incredible bc if you’d asked me at the beginning of 2020 I’d have guessed 1 lmao

total word count? 320,404 which !!!!woah!!!! The entirety of Don’t Freak Out (136,254) was technically written in 2019 but that’s still 184,150 for 2020 which woah!

what fandoms did you write for this year? parkner and spideypool

did you write more, less, or roughly the same you expected you would? wayyyyy more! 2020 was my first year posting fic since I burned out mid-2018 so honestly I’m still half-waiting to burn out again or for the flood to turn into a trickle

what story you wrote in 2020 are you most proud of? You’re Freaking Out because it was such a big step outside my comfort zone and it was so stressful to try and follow up the success of Don’t Freak Out but I did it!

did you take any writing risk this year? YFO was sort of a risk I guess... Plot-heavy fic isn’t my forte haha

what is your most under appreciated story? YFO. I did the math on all of them and it’s sitting at a 4% kudos to hits ratio which isn’t surprising. I knew it wouldn’t do as well as DFO bc I did a genre flip mid-series and since DFO is so long, anyone who wanted plot-heavy parkner wouldn’t want to suffer through 140k of fluff nonsense to get there. This is super interesting bc my spideypool fics did wayyyy better than my parkner fics but anytime I post my spideypool promos here on tumblr I get crickets. Where are you spideypool fandom?? Reddit? Did y’all move to reddit???

most unintentionally telling story? Probably The Little Barnacle. I didn’t intend to write aro!Peter but boy howdy did he turn out super aro in that one lmao

most popular story of the year? According to the math I mentioned earlier that would be The Little Barnacle sitting at a 20.5% kudos-hits ratio (compared to 4% for YFO lmaoooo) but in my heart I feel like it’s Don’t Freak Out (which was only 5.8% if you’re curious). It was my first fic ever to break 1k kudos (also the only one but who’s counting haha) and I feel like it’s what most people here on tumblr know me for.

most fun story to write? Paradise (spread out with a butter knife) for sure! All the banter! All the humor! Fluff city! Disaster adult Peter Parker! I love it so much

biggest fanfiction related disappointment of 2020? YFO but like I said I didn’t have high expectations for it (so does it truly count as a disappointment? hmmm). Sequels always do worse than the original and I did that illegal u-turn with the genre so ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ it is what it is

biggest fanfiction related surprise of 2020? DFO blowing up. I got so lucky.  When I wrote it in 2019 I had no way of anticipating what real life would be like in 2020 and that a lot of people would be really on board with a reliable weekly dose of fluff.

Tagging: @shadedrose01 @queenofmoons @wayward-fairchild

I haven’t been keeping track of who has already done this so if you already did it, reblog and tag me so I can see? Or if anyone else wants to give it go, do it and tag me!

[blackberryneximide]

I would love to see all of the WHF asks answered 👀

oh wow okay!! (also shoutout to @cluster-quartz​ for asking 🌿 which I’ll obviously be answering here <3)

(This post gets long so read it below the cut <3)

🌱. Rank the endings

I spent both Arthur’s and Ollie’s angry crying at them, but that’s like. not a BAD thing.... so probably Arthur at #1 for how much built into that ending (I am still furious at him for wrecking the mines like that though), Sally at #2 because thank fuck she’s alright and Gwen’s alright and it was great to see everything being calm and okay, and Ollie at #3 because even though one of the revelations really threw me off (I’d guessed about Margaret and Jack’s relation since act 1 and I was so ready to not get surprised), I just like Ollie less (i’m sorry dude ;-;.. I was here for Margaret...) Though I gotta say, that bit where Margaret's accent slips?? Oof. Hit me hard.

🌵. Rank the stories/characters

My character ranking (including DLCs) goes (from fav to least fav) Sally, Vicky, Roger, Arthur, Nick, Ollie. TBF, I really do love everyone, I haven't seen a nuanced cast I was this engaged in in forever, so while I can rank them, there really isn’t that much difference between tiers.

Stories?? oooh man that’s so much harder ;-; Sally and Arthur both at equal #1? and everyone else?? IDK? they’re all so well done? I love them all?

🌿. Opinion on Sparky!! (Arthur’s pet)

I completely forgot Sparky existed!! ;-; But I love geckos, so, I love Sparky too.

🍀. Opinion on the Kickstarter video

Obviously good enough to get me to back it? No but, I do remember absolutely being enamoured with Uncle Jack at the time as a result? Having just seen it again for the first time since, I love it! I think it sells the vibes perfectly and I love how rapidly the director messes up the tone and the lil 4th wall break to show the team at the end. Maybe I’m just used to watching really awful Kickstarter trailers these days, but I do love that one.

🍃. Fuck, Marry, Kill with Arthur, Sally & Ollie. Fuck Arthur, marry Sally, kill Ollie :3 (also i stg at this point i have to mention i don’t hate Ollie, i just like him less, so it completely fucks him voer for this sorta ranking lol)

🍄. Anton Verloc, smash or pass

I’m uh.. gonna leave y’all with the filename for one of my pieces of fanart and you can work it out uwu

💐. Favorite theory about the game

(EDIT: Oops i forgot to answer this one! ;-;) oh goodness, yknow, I’m not sure? At this point, I still struggle to remember what’s a theory and what’s canon, what with the way the game leaves all those lovely little plot holes for you to fill. I’m not even familiar with that many of the fan theories, I think, apart from my own - so on that note - my inbox is so very, very open to fan theories uwu

🌹. OTP!!

oh I lvoe too many ships!! that’s tough! I’m a big Roger x James fan, but Victoria x Prudence and Arthur x Sally all rank really highly for me as well ;-; Plus I’ve ended up being into Nick x just about anybody and shipping bobbies with half the town too :/

🥀. NOTP!!

sally x robert byng and sally x verloc treated as genuine ‘aren’t they nice together?’ ships can stay the hell away from me at all times :) I just want sally away from her abusers is all

🌷. BROTP!!

Sally and the Weird Sisters??? I haven't really thought too much about brotps for this game but I really enjoy their dynamic and I just want Sally to have more freinds ;-; ACTUALLY! Sally & Nick??? They get high together a lot and Nick plays his old awful songs that nobody else but him loves and that’s not an excellent brotp foundation idk what is

🌺. How did you find out about the game?

Not..sure? I think my mum may’ve found it and gone “hey, aren't you into weird British 60s things and also video games?”

🌸. Did you played the pre release of the game? Which one? From 1 to 10 how much do you think the game has improved?

I definitely played a pre story alpha build, and one of the builds when they’d just started implementing Arthur’s story. I think it’s improved massively - the earlier builds leaned so heavily on survival, which, even now, not a massive fan of. I remember wanting a lot more substance, it was mostly ‘Arthur running through a field’ simulator, peppered with the occasional event (Apparently the thing with the ghost of Arthur’s mum is still in the final build but I haven't encountered it since. I remember it being such a weird encounter, out in the middle of nowhere, and it just stuck with me.) But to put it on a scale? 10 outta 10 on improvements - thank fuck they went ‘ah. story.’

🌼. Percy & Arthur, Sally & Gwen or Ollie & Margaret?

Sally & Gwen!! BuuuUUt! I have a really really soft spot for Percy and Margaret ;-; I love that they’re only seen through memories, compared to Gwen, that we get such a weird, biased recollection. That Percy is only remembered when Arthur gets the right stimuli, and that Mags is remembered constantly, but always wrong. There’s such a great contrast in the fallibility of people’s narratives between all three of them?? I love it???

🌻. Have you listened to the game’s OST? Which song is your favorite?

YeSSSSS!! For Make Believes tracks - You’ll Never Change My Mind, though I’ve been listening to a lot of Cheer Up lately. :3 For the soundtrack - House of Curious Behaviours is my definite fav, though Lovely Day For It, Dead Chuffed and Brassed Off are all close favs :D

🌙. Favorite side character!

Prudence Holmes!! I got stupidly invested into Prudence’s narrative when chasing up some weird urban legend about being able to save her life in Act 1 (spoilers, you can't) I always enjoyed that you were, to quote the name of the achievement, hot on her heels, like there was a real chance you could bump into her while escaping.

⭐️. Opinions on the bobbies!!

I started off weirdly indifferent about them, but, y’know? That musical number? good for them! I think they’ve got some of the funniest dialogue too tbh...

🌟. Do you have a oc in the universe? If yes, show us!!

So while I may’ve written so much for my own take on the white bobby, he’s still technically, not my oc, BUT! His wife most certainly is! 

Her name’s Paula Bacon (sidenote - she’s got that surname bcus the white bobby appears to me ingame as ‘constable bacon.’ is that set or his name randomly generated? Whatever the answer is, his sharing a surname with Roger does mean I get to pretend they’re related somehow ) and she’s a really sweet, caring person, who I think, is more patient than the people around her deserve. She’s fairly attentive to her surroundings, and a natural curiosity means she’s often the first to put things together. Whether it’s classic British reservations, or her particular temperament, she’s always very conscious to conform and keep her head down though.

⚡️. Do you check the official We Happy Few website or their sub reddit frequently?

I’m on the subreddit at least a few times a week as u/neverlia :) I mostly seem to answer lore and gameplay queries haha

☁️. Do you have a favorite mission?

Church! Of! Simon! Says! that one gets so splendidly batshit that i can’t help but love it

☀️. Do you follow Compulsion Games on social media?

Yup :)

[kamandzak]

OOooooooof sad things ahead

It’s been a while, y’all

Context: Andrew finally reaches out to his deceased boyfriends parents and receives a response after a very telling doctors appointment. Telling his sisters will be the worst of all. [Scene not complete]

Recommended listening: Funeral for a Tree from The Lorax

tw: suicidal ideation

Other excerpts and bits and boops: x x x x

Anita Davis Hello, sweet Andrew. We hope you are doing well. We haven’t been great about keeping in contact with you and are  sorry about that. Truthfully, we weren’t sure how to talk to you either. You provide another reminder of Greg and for a while, it’s going to sting. Please call us sometime and let us know how you are doing on all fronts, or email if you’d rather not talk on the phone. That was the first thing Greg told us about you and we know that habits die hard. Love you eternally.

I stifle tears as I sit in the waiting room of the doctors office, palms sweating and Tessa across the street at the local Goodwill, searching for dinner plates. I had expected nothing other than support and understanding from the Davis’ but seeing it in front of me is a reminder how much I love them.

I feel foolish as I read and reread Anita’s text. If I knew what she was going to say, why didn’t I reach out earlier? This sort of text is the exact kind of thing I have needed since Greg left. Why was I so afraid of talking to them? Why am I currently still afraid of responding and saying the wrong thing? 

I only knew Greg for four years. They knew him for twenty-four. In comparison - a boyfriend versus someone’s parents - my inability to carry on with some sense of normalcy seems trifling. If Anita can talk so openly about Greg’s death and our relationship, why can’t I let myself do the same thing?

Tessa: Checking out now Will be over in a bit!

She’s hoping for some sort of good news; I can tell by her punctuation and the fact that she’s been giving me updates for the last hour. Just got in! Look at these bad boys. Aren’t they the ugliest things you’ve ever seen? Are you in the office yet? Good luck!

But the truth is, Frank was right. It is stage three. Turns out four years of sporadic doctors appointments and even less consistent medication does nothing but bad for someone with a chronic disease that is worsened by lack of self-care. I’m a day, week, month, year away from death and there’s nothing anyone can do about it.

Still, I’d rather talk about myself dying than Greg. You’ll see him again, the self-help books and commenters of Reddit tell me, and with each passing day of being sick, that reality comes more and more into focus. It almost can’t come soon enough.

My research calls it suicidal ideation: You just think about suicide all the time, which I do. Sitting at home, sitting in Tessa’s car, even in the doctor’s office or when we’re all seated together for a sibling dinner. How easy it would be, I think, to take a knife from the counter, to open the door of the moving car and throw myself out, to cross the overpass near the doctor and leap, to finish Beth’s red wine with a bottle of aspirin. Death is everywhere in every sense of the word. I don’t know how to stop it.

Tessa: Here!

I sigh and rise.

Not only do I not know how to stop it, but I’m not sure I want to.

We ride in silence until home, where I’m surprised to see three other cars. God damn it, Tess.

“Don’t tell me we’re having another intervention.”

“I’m eternally optimistic, Andrew. You know that.”

“So you called them here before we even knew what was going to happen?”

“We need all the good juju we can get. Here, I got some groceries. Help me.”

I want to run. I want to run far away from the sad stares and hiccups and tears that await me on the other side of the door. Disappointing Tessa with news of my slow demise was going to crush my heart enough. I couldn’t do the same to the others.

I reach into the trunk, extracting bags, arm brushing against my sisters.

“Andrew!” she yelps. “Your hands are fucking freezing!”

“Yeah. Bad circulation. That happens when-.” I cut short. 

“When what happens?”

“I’m not having this conversation more than once. Get in the house and we’ll talk.”

That’s all it takes, really, and Tessa’s attitude flips on its head. I watch her rush inside and as a UPS truck trundles down the road I wonder what it would be like to throw myself in front of it.

I need to go to therapy.

“Tess says it’s bad,” Penelope starts as we all sit on Tessa’s king-sized bed.

“I didn’t tell her anything.”

“You told me you’re not having this conversation more than once,” Tessa quotes. “If it were anything good that wouldn’t be the case. If you want to talk about something else first, we can. We can talk about Gr-.”

“I would rather talk about anything other than him,” I snap. “Even if it’s confirming everything you guys assumed.”

“What do you mean?” Clara whispers. “Don’t tell me Frank-.”

“He was spot on, Clara. He went to school for years so he could diagnose me with Stage 3 HIV from miles away. Smart guy, huh?” I huff against the silence.

The words are in the open; the poison that rots away at my mental status trickles through the air and into my sisters ears and souls.

[jq37]

thoughts on this week's ep?

**spoilers for broadway brawl**

***Before we start, I remembered as I was typing this one of the important notes I lost from last week’s recap: Interesting that Christmas seemingly went off without a hitch. I expected Santa to come back into play somehow (like, someone would check on him to make sure Christmas was still on or he’d call them in to help or something) but he hasn’t, at least not yet.***

My guys, my guys, my guys. Was that something or was that something?

I think I am on record as saying that combat is my least favorite part of ttrpgs generally speaking because I’m here for the RP but when a combat episode shines it really freaking shines (see eg: that first combat ep of Bloodkeep where everyone went full Galaxy Brain except for Matt who couldn’t hit a single thing) and this is such a good example. This is easily a top five ep of the season for me, maybe top three so let’s get into it and break down why it was so awesome.

We start right where we left off with Titania and members of her court having come into the theater to beat the tar out of Misty mid-show.

Quick note: At the end of last ep, it was set up so that Misty was thrust on stage right after hearing the mirror was on stage which would place this fight right at the top of Act 2 but at the start of this ep, Brennan seems to indicate that it’s taking place during what would be the closing number. Which would make more sense but imagine you go see a play, the first act is super dope, and then the second act is an insane, minute long fight that’s pretty unconnected to the plot and then a buff, naked, beautiful man tells you the show is over and you should leave. Wild. Anyway.

Pixies with tommy guns in inherently funny.

So one of the things that makes this fight really great is the way it directly ties into the story in a way besides “These bad guys are in our way.” Misty is using this show as a part of her reincarnation spell so if the show is messed up, it fails and she’s on her last life. Brennan has a cool mechanic of making her roll death saves every round at a difficulty lower than her modifier (which is s/t crazy like 11) but that gets harder with damage done to her and performance checks failed by other players who decide to jump on stage. It’s a great way to make the battle feel like it has more personal stakes and it’s my fave original Brennan mechanic since the Family in Flames Sophie’s Choice situation.

(I love that the death save counter is changed for theater comedy/tragedy masks for this. Nice touch.)

Em, Esther, and Wally are also at the fight which is clutch.

Also, Sondheim is specifically here which is an insane detail to add just because.

WILD that no one knows what’s going on with the ritual initially because, as Lou almost does, getting all the civilians out is the smart move and it would COMPLETELY ruin Misty’s plans instantly.

Lou having Kingston take the stairs bc’s he’s 50+ years old and has no time for that nonsense has equal but opposite energy to him doing extra rolls for Fabian to do unnecessary parkour before a simple attack because Fabian’s Like That.

Murph fireblasts the hell out of Titania’s foot soldiers right off the bat from outside of counterspell range which is very cool.

“Give me a performance check for the cockroach.”

“You’re upstaging me bitch?”

Another great thing about this fight is that because of it’s theatrical nature, everyone’s RPing it more than a usual battle ep (or more intensely maybe is what I mean).

Titania hypnotizes Don Confetti and his goons into fighting for her.

“She doesn’t know she’s in a play but she does sing most of her dialogue which is helpful for you.” Titania is just Like That.

Pete drops an erupting earth and drops a sick 37 damage on those same minions Kug got.

I didn’t notice before but yeah, Ally does roll die like a f-ing beyblade champion.

Emily hearing Murph’s low key, offhand comments and cracking up is great.

“Get Sondheim!” (Emily and then Ally: WHAT?!)

Actual living dude Stephen Sondheim being involved in this fight is just so ridiculous and fun and crazy.

We go around to Misty’s turn and she has to beat a 28 (upped from 10) and she fails which feels worse than a normal failed death save somehow.

Lou, in a very good RP move, tells Pete to tell Misty to end the show so she can tell them not to so the group has a valid reason to not evacuate which is a thing they (or at least him and Ricky) would obviously want to do.

Sophie, the madwoman, jumps out of the balcony, grabs a costume, then runs on stage. Emily’s glee at being told that her grabbing the costume will give her advantage is great. She’s always trying to figure out how to make the most of her moves. She is the living embodiment of the concept of method to madness (which is from Hamlet since we’re talking Shakespeare today). 

Ox is constantly dying (Brennan!) but also it’s like, why was he even there before the fight started? I’ve never seen a non-service dog in a theater.

Ricky: Is this part of it?

Oh, forgot to mention that everything that happens on stage is kinda shielded by the Umbral Arcana so everyone watching thinks it’s part of the show, which is a cool plot detail.

Ricky gets fULLY NAKED (Emily, with perfect comic timing: Now do I roll with disadvantage?) and leaps into the fray. He casts Protection from Evil and Good on her which (1) He does by Magic Mike body-rolling on her while he’s naked and considering how much shorter she is that her raises some interesting questions about positioning and (2) is the most clutch use of this spell I’ve seen in a while. It’s a spell I always wanna take as a Paladin because it makes sense character-wise, but I’ve never been able to actually use it because we’re never fighting fiends, fae, or celestial.

Brennan’s dime change change reversal of the critic’s comments on Ricky’s body rolls when Zac re-rolls his 11 makes me glad I never had to face him in a debate team setting.

Ally: What’s Esther’s deal ;)/Brennan: *Esther’s Weapon Stats*

“Your only secret you’ve ever had in your life is that you have a crush on her.”

Wally has a beautiful singing voice and a working knowledge of Midsummer's which is wild.

Lou’s periodic, “My man”’s when Ally/Pete does something cool. He’s very dialed into being Kingston.

Ricky’s aura keeps everyone near him from being charmed and Misty saves everyone else w/ a nat 20 counterspell. Few things in D&D are more satisfying than a well executed counterspell.

Titania trying to get Pete to be her consort or something when he just over the super posh Priya is very funny.

“I mean between me and Sondheim, get Sondheim!”

“DO WE HAVE HOMEWORK TONIGHT?” (“We did have homework.”)

Anyway, Misty has one success now!

Misty tries to use puppet to get Titania to drop her crown and it doesn’t work. Brennan says the crown is Crown of Stars which I looked up and it’s actually a spell, not a physical crown, but I’m assuming he used the mechanical effects of the spell on a physical item.

Brennan doing all these musical/singing bits when he absolutely doesn’t have to. I love it.

I love Ricky and Sophie being the two martial fighting heavy hitters of the group. Like, the two fighters, having the spellcasters’ backs.

I hope the one kung fu fan in the back of the theater never sees another Broadway show again because he’s gonna be so disappointed. 

“I’m just so inspired by that beautiful penis.”

Murph, out of character, verbally acknowledging how insane what they’re doing is. I love when someone pauses in a game of D&D to just recite what’s currently happening out of context so everyone can appreciate how crazy it is. D&D. Gotta love it..

Emily and Siobhan have a quick conversation in the background about whether Sondheim did Les Mis or not (not, that’s Claude-Michel Schönberg) while Brennan and Murph are Ring nonsense.

I also was mildly suspicious of Alyssa so I’m glad Kingston checked her out.

The entire roast of Brennan when he’s selecting D6s is an instantly iconic D20 moment. I can’t do it justice. You kinda just have to see it.

“Someone call Wizards of the Coast!”

Em, Wally, and Alyssa go out when Titania puts out a huge spell that blinds Kug.

“Yummy, yummy, tastes like ass.”

On Misty’s next turn, she rolls a fail which makes it 2 failures to 1 success. Brennan mentions that a nat 1 counts as 2 failures and a nat 20 counts as 2 successes. I’m sure that won’t be relevant later because you can’t foreshadow things when dice rolls are completely random.

Misty fails on puppet again again and Titania goes full Wicked Witch of the West on her and starts Jonesing for those shoessss.

Emily’s Emily(tm) move of the session is doing a flying leap at Titania, hitting her with a stunning strike and having Brennan retract the Box off Doom he was pulling out because she can’t save when she’s stunned. She just plummets out of the sky.

Don Confetti respecting the sacrament of marriage as he goes full Opera ghost and tries to garrote Sophie.

Ricky (still naked) grabs the crown from Titania, tosses it to Misty, and, with some improv and a good charisma roll, makes the show suddenly make sense to the very confused but entertained audience.

I’m so glad that Murph decided to turn into a bear and that they made the Winter’s tale ref. I should have had faith in Brennan and Siobhan, the theater nerds. Exit pursued by a bear y’all.

Lou and Emily bonding over being proud of their die for rolling well when they lend it out for a big roll.

Really wish Pete had wild magic surged in this fight. Just to add that extra bit of chaos. 

With a very good turn (no damage taken, no performances failed) Misty only has to avoid snake eyes to get through this turn. She leapfrogs over that low bar and rolls a nat 20, instantly fulfilling her win condition. At this point, the play is superfluous and Titania is still down.

“Brennan lost and now he knows reddit is gonna eat his ass.”

OK, remember how I said earlier that Misty seems like the kind of character you nudge a little temptation at just to spice things up? Yeah, her killing Titania and getting the crown of the Seelie Fae makes me a liiiitle apprehensive, but we’ll see how that turns out.

“I killed my queen! This is America we don’t have royalty here.”

“Bear, I don’t know who you are, but take me on your back, let me ride on stage.” —creator of West Side Story, Stephen Sondheim

Misty charms the critic at the show to make sure they get a good review which is such a fae thing to do.

Kingston’s clearly not loving attacking Don and Co. post “real fight” what with his whole Do No Harm thing (well, that’s Dr’s but same principle applies I assume) is a good character detail. For that matter, so is Ricky just taking Titania’s crown and not beheading her which he super could have done while she was down but it would have been very incongruous with everything else about him.

Brian “This isn’t Loony Tunes” Murphy throws Sondheim as a projectile weapon at a pixie who snaps the pixie’s neck and then does a monologue at the audience.

I love it when someone rolls low on an insight check and Brennan gives them useless info and then they repeat it in their character’s voice.

4 mins from the end of the ep, Siobhan realizes there are two Perrys in this story for the first time and has a bigger reaction to that than almost everything else in this ep except her nat 20.

Ricky looks for costume faun legs to cover his fully out dick instead of costume pants or even his own pants.

Misty starts glowing with reincarnation energy and she runs into her dressing room for privacy. Also, she still super hasn’t told anyone what’s going on. (ALSO, assuming she’s gonna make the world think she died, it’s gonna be wild for the company of the show to have their leading lady put on the performance of her life and then die on opening night).

“Who am I to refuse a crown when it’s placed so deftly upon my head?”

You know that behind the scenes thing where Brennan is like, “Yeah, I knew Siobhan was gonna steal that book,”? I got some of those vibes during the crown scene.

The implications of what Misty did are gonna be left until next ep but Brennan says something about her creating her own court and it looks like she’s recruiting followers in the promo. IDK how I feel about that (these stories tend to have great power--especially tied to powerful magical items--as a corrupting force) but I am very excited to see how it goes down! See you then!

[irvinenewshq]

This is why Dunkin Donuts clients are outraged by the brand new rewards program

Dunkin’ Donuts has introduced a brand new rewards program, and it’s wreaking havoc amongst their coffee-loving clients.   Final week, the corporate overhauled its program often called “DD Perks” and changed it with “Dunkin’ Rewards.” Beneath the outdated perks program, clients might earn 5 factors for each greenback they spent, and 200 factors (or $40) was sufficient to earn a free drink of your alternative.  Beneath the brand new rewards program, nevertheless, that $40 will solely get you a cup of tea. To earn sufficient factors for a free cup of espresso you’d must spend $50, however that’s not together with lattes and chilly brew. It’s important to spend $70 to get a free “crafted” drink, which incorporates an espresso, a chilly brew, or a refresher. And it’s $90 for a “premium” drink, like Dunkin’s signature latte.  Some clients aren’t glad about it.  The Dunkin’ Donuts Reddit discussion board is ablaze with complaints concerning the new program. There are a number of posts by which customers share how a lot they dislike the brand new rewards program, with one receiving near 200 feedback.  “Don’t attempt to piss on me and inform me its raining, Dunkin,” one Reddit consumer wrote. “Have been getting much less with the phantasm of extra.” “I’m in a state of disbelief,” mentioned one other Reddit consumer, detailing how far more cash they need to spend to get the identical perks. “I’m sick. That is horrific.” One other mentioned the period of time it will take for them to earn a latte with factors was “completely egregious.” Twitter customers weren’t a lot kinder, and because the announcement they’ve flooded the platform to share their disappointment—there are nonetheless new Tweets coming in each jiffy, complaining concerning the change.  “Now as an alternative of spending $40 to get a free drink from Dunkin, I’ve to spend about $60-$70 with the brand new app/rewards replace? Y’all what,” one particular person tweeted. “I do know inflation has been dangerous however $20-$30 extra for a free drink? Y’all gotta be joking. Please say it’s a joke.” Now as an alternative of spending $40 to get a free drink from Dunkin, I’ve to spend about $60-$70 with the brand new app/rewards replace? Y’all what I do know inflation has been dangerous however $20-$30 extra for a free drink? Y’all gotta be joking. Please say it’s a joke. @dunkindonuts — michelle (@mishyyfishyy13) October 6, 2022 Others wrote that the brand new program is pushing them to stroll away from Dunkin’ Donuts espresso altogether.  “i swear i’ll begin boycotting @dunkindonuts until they modify the rattling rewards system again,” one consumer wrote on Twitter.  In a Steadily Requested Part on its web site, the corporate wrote that it modified this system as a result of “our members deserve extra.”  However some common clients weren’t having it. “I hate how they attempt to spin it within the FAQ prefer it’s a giant win for all of us clients when it’s an entire downgrade,” one reddit consumer wrote.  Dunkin’ Donuts President Scott Murphy informed the Wall Road Journal that the corporate modified the rewards program partially to mirror the prices of creating a few of these drinks. He added that clients can now redeem factors for meals choices, which they have been unable to do earlier than, and earn rewards after spending much less cash.  “Change might be laborious for folks,” he mentioned.  Dunkin’ Donuts didn’t instantly reply to Fortune’s request for remark.  Join the Fortune Options electronic mail checklist so that you don’t miss our largest options, unique interviews, and investigations. Originally published at Irvine News HQ

[sunshinecoastqldnews]

This is why Dunkin Donuts clients are outraged by the brand new rewards program

Dunkin’ Donuts has introduced a brand new rewards program, and it’s wreaking havoc amongst their coffee-loving clients.   Final week, the corporate overhauled its program often called “DD Perks” and changed it with “Dunkin’ Rewards.” Beneath the outdated perks program, clients might earn 5 factors for each greenback they spent, and 200 factors (or $40) was sufficient to earn a free drink of your alternative.  Beneath the brand new rewards program, nevertheless, that $40 will solely get you a cup of tea. To earn sufficient factors for a free cup of espresso you’d should spend $50, however that’s not together with lattes and chilly brew. It’s important to spend $70 to get a free “crafted” drink, which incorporates an espresso, a chilly brew, or a refresher. And it’s $90 for a “premium” drink, like Dunkin’s signature latte.  Some clients aren’t blissful about it.  The Dunkin’ Donuts Reddit discussion board is ablaze with complaints in regards to the new program. There are a number of posts during which customers share how a lot they dislike the brand new rewards program, with one receiving near 200 feedback.  “Don’t attempt to piss on me and inform me its raining, Dunkin,” one Reddit consumer wrote. “Had been getting much less with the phantasm of extra.” “I’m in a state of disbelief,” stated one other Reddit consumer, detailing how far more cash they need to spend to get the identical perks. “I’m sick. That is horrific.” One other stated the period of time it could take for them to earn a latte with factors was “completely egregious.” Twitter customers weren’t a lot kinder, and because the announcement they’ve flooded the platform to share their disappointment—there are nonetheless new Tweets coming in each couple of minutes, complaining in regards to the change.  “Now as a substitute of spending $40 to get a free drink from Dunkin, I’ve to spend about $60-$70 with the brand new app/rewards replace? Y’all what,” one individual tweeted. “I do know inflation has been dangerous however $20-$30 extra for a free drink? Y’all gotta be joking. Please say it’s a joke.” Now as a substitute of spending $40 to get a free drink from Dunkin, I’ve to spend about $60-$70 with the brand new app/rewards replace? Y’all what I do know inflation has been dangerous however $20-$30 extra for a free drink? Y’all gotta be joking. Please say it’s a joke. @dunkindonuts — michelle (@mishyyfishyy13) October 6, 2022 Others wrote that the brand new program is pushing them to stroll away from Dunkin’ Donuts espresso altogether.  “i swear i’ll begin boycotting @dunkindonuts except they modify the rattling rewards system again,” one consumer wrote on Twitter.  In a Regularly Requested Part on its web site, the corporate wrote that it modified this system as a result of “our members deserve extra.”  However some common clients weren’t having it. “I hate how they attempt to spin it within the FAQ prefer it’s an enormous win for all of us clients when it’s a whole downgrade,” one reddit consumer wrote.  Dunkin’ Donuts President Scott Murphy advised the Wall Avenue Journal that the corporate modified the rewards program partly to replicate the prices of constructing a few of these drinks. He added that clients can now redeem factors for meals choices, which they have been unable to do earlier than, and earn rewards after spending much less cash.  “Change will be laborious for folks,” he stated.  Dunkin’ Donuts didn’t instantly reply to Fortune’s request for remark.  Join the Fortune Options electronic mail listing so that you don’t miss our greatest options, unique interviews, and investigations. Originally published at Sunshine Coast QLD News

[michelleplayswithfire]

2020 was one of the worst years of my life.

I mentioned that in an earlier post, but not in further detail.

Instagram has been great, but it has also been a distraction that is beyond bothersome, and hopefully in 2021 I can control it by just not checking up so much on what somebody is doing in their normal lives, whatever what they think normal is.

But it was a thing to do when I was bored and I was feeling down most of the year. Reddit was about the same thing, and I thought I would meet a long term friend or a possible boyfriend on there because I didn’t want to go back to dating apps, but it didn’t work out and now it’s no longer a top priority. 

I’ve been on Instagram since 2013 (before Facebook turned it to shit), and I still don’t know the ins and outs of it, and I don’t think I want to.

I made a goal in 2020 to not let social media consume me and to just stay off of it for a while, but later on it got boring and bad things were happening to me, it was as if seeing what someone else was doing, some stranger (celebrity or “celebrities”) gave me much joy than what I was experiencing in my personal life, and I don’t like that. It’s not the person that I wanted to be. 

To be honest, I couldn’t care less what George does in his day to day, but after my breakup, the old feelings started to unravel and develop intensely, and here I am posting all these photos of him. I still want to meet him sure, but like everyone else, I don’t care what he does in his day-to-day. The podcast is amazing though, but I still wish that it was more fan or email-focused so to speak?

I think it’s awesome for men to open up about their mental health, and I’m not saying this because I’ve been emailing to them like crazy, but what I thought was one thing turned out to be another, and it took me a while to grasp what exactly they are doing.

In 2021 I want to be aware that my world doesn’t revolve around people like George. My life doesn’t involve him. The interwebs might think that it does, but it’s only because that I like him just that much. I don’t speak to people in real life at all about him, and not everyone that I know knows who he is unless I tell them. I did that with my last boyfriend, and he just wasn’t into his music.

So I just want to go back to the stuff that I enjoy, was 80s music. I know more about that whole decade than everyone I know who has lived through the 80s. And I’m not gonna focus on him so much. I care about him from the outside but that’s just about it. 

That was why I dumped photos of him because I knew at some time things would come to a full stop. I still love him (whatever love is), but I want to move on for my mental health.

Also, I’ve mentioned on Facebook that in 2020, I’ve broken up with my boyfriend, I changed my psychiatrist and my therapist, I was kicked out of my house of 2 years, moved to another county only to be moved back here, moved to my house now where I was called racial and homophobic slurs (I’m not gay), threatened with assault, and someone called the cops on me on the same night. Happily, they’re all gone now and I have to adjust to changes yet again. I didn’t want to live. Then I got a job, was making good money, but it was stressful due to transportation and, as of today, I’m back to being unemployed.

I’m happy because I’m not feeling stressed of getting out of bed, putting on my makeup and getting dressed to catch the bus. It was a near two-hour trip, and the Uber rides took a big chunk of money on stuff that I really wanted to enjoy. I didn’t make friends there, I had headaches there, and I feared that I was gonna be stranded in another county with no ride to go home. I don’t have to deal with that anymore. I’m happy about that.

But anyway, hope 2021 is good for y’all, and have a happy new year. Thanks for following me!

-Michelle