#that gen z number might be a bit surprising

[gatitties]

War & crack

─Task Force 141 x young!reader

─Summary: some headcanons about your life working with TF141

─Warnings: cliché¿, reader is a gen z

Part two / Halloween special

so... I've been consuming some content about CoD and I know the least about the franchise but the few things I've read have been so good that I couldn't resist writing something too 🫢, sorry if something is out of character since I don't know many things

— You are a threat to society.

— Your parents sent you to the military in the hope that your bad behaviors would disappear, realistically, they were not prepared to be parents either.

— Parental neglect, what a surprise.

— You had many bad influences in your adolescence and free access to the Internet without parental control was like throwing gasoline on the fire.

— Theft, extortion, assault, harassment, banditry, disobedience to authority, fraud, driving without a license, breaking and entering, kidnapping, arson, arms trafficking...

— You had a good record of minor criminal records, the vast majority due to bad friends, but you were already an accomplice.

— Which led you to the fact that when you reached the age of majority, you were enlisted directly into the army without being able to have a choice.

— It wasn't as bad as you thought except for the amount of physical exercise you were subjected to, but you knew how to put up with it.

— Despite being young, in the three years that you served as a cadet, you were sent to many missions, perhaps with the hope of dying since the generals sent you to the front lines of the battle.

— You didn't care, you were feral, careless enough and craving adrenaline, you liked to dance with death in every fight.

— You were the first to run whenever you could to start the attack, after all, all you liked to do was hit, stab or use close-range weapons.

— You lost an arm because of that, you didn't care much because now you have a prosthesis with decorations to your liking.

— Then you were sent to Task Force 141.

— None of the boys expected someone like you, they definitely had a bit of a hard time adjusting to your personality.

— You were a strange combination between Ghost and Soap, going from being a grave to being an explosion of emotions at any moment.

— The first time you saw Ghost you thought he was giving you a side eye and you gave it back to him.

— Later you learned that it's his normal look but you give him the dead look every once in a while.

— Soap and you are not a good combination when you know each other better, he will just give you approval to all the stupid things you see on the internet.

— Gaz might join, but most of the time he just warns you that Price won't be amused.

— Price will look at you like a parent disgusted (but not surprised) by some of your nonsense.

— Confidence sucks, and when you're spouting darkly humorous jokes or about the ways you want to kill yourself because something goes wrong, Price isn't in that boat.

— It's not worth it if you justify it with 'my traumas, my jokes'.

— Honestly, everyone is worried about the number of times you've said you were going to kill yourself for the slightest inconvenience.

— They don't understand most of your current meme references, maybe Gaz, being the second youngest, will pick up on something.

— They were so confused with your attack tactics, because you had practically none, you just jumped in with luck to hit everything you could, which worked every time.

— You will train with Ghost because you are not aware of your surroundings when it comes to fighting.

— The first time they saw your prosthesis they thought a bullet had hit you in the arm, but when you laughed and removed the metal arm shouting 'everything is possible when you're physically disabled' they swallowed their concern.

— You show affection with punches, you punch Soap's shoulder, Gaz's back or Price's side, Ghost... you prefer to communicate with your eyes because the last time you punched him in a friendly way you almost ended up with your shoulder out of its place.

— They can't take you seriously, they really do try but it's impossible, you look like an impulsive teenager who they are babysitting even if you're in your twenties.

— At least it's like that outside the battlefield, you get more serious or focused on the missions.

— Gaz saves your ass whenever you get distracted, which is most of the time, you tell him that he has won heaven but if death wanted to kiss you you weren't going to refuse the offer.

— Seriously, stop with the jokes about your death or depression, Price will get you a psychologist.

— It seems like a joke but Ghost and you end up getting along quite well, it's a quiet and pleasant dynamic, without pressure.

— As with Soap, you know how to adapt a lot to everyone's personalities, as if you were a sponge that absorbs all the likes and disappointments of the boys to get along better.

— You don't give a shit about your own life but you're fighting tooth and nail to protect others.

— Which leads you to almost die once, on top of that, Price scolded you for jumping to try to save them, you didn't care, you'll do it again.

— Squeaks or bangs in the wee hours of the morning? It's you moving the few pieces of furniture in what you can call your own room.

— Someday you'll give the boys a heart attack (Ghost maybe not) because you walk in the dark at night since you tend to stay up late.

— Price will scold you for not sleeping well and drinking so many energy drinks or coffee.

— You will leave random objects in the boys' rooms, like, last time you bought little ducks of different colors and hid them.

— Price denies with a small smile when he sees a yellow duck with a cowboy hat as a paperweight.

— Gaz laughs when he sees a blue duck with an aviator hat in the drawer where he kept his records.

— Soap finds a yellow duck with an umbrella hat next to his bath stuff and fiddles with it when he has time for a long bath.

— Ghost narrows his eyes at the sight of a black duck with sunglasses and gold chains under a pile of clothes in his room, he sighs leaving it in the small window of his room as decoration.

— You are strictly prohibited from bringing any type of animal into the base of operations as a pet, once you wanted to have a raccoon, a tarantula, a snake, you even named a cockroach you saw in the kitchen.

—Just- no.

— So you chose to have a carnivorous plant as a pet, it was acceptable at least.

— You are also prohibited from cooking without supervision.

— You're like a new world for them, but honestly, they wouldn't know what they would do if something happened to you now that you've earned their love.

#cod mw2 #cod #reader insert #young reader #fem reader #x reader #cod x reader #tf 141 #tf 141 x reader #tf141 x fem reader #gen z reader #platonic reader #simon ghost riley #kyle gaz garrick #john price #john soap mactavish #sfw #headcanons #cod headcanons #call of duty #call of duty x reader

[ukrfeminism]

We’ve been chatting for about half an hour when Eloise lowers her voice to a whisper. Until now she’s been confidently talking through the ups and downs of being a 19-year-old woman in a world she finds unsteady. 

She’s annoyed that, on TikTok, the advertisements she gets are keyrings with rape alarms and “stabby kitties” (a cat-shaped metal keychain with pointed ears sharp enough to cause damage), feels that modern feminism sometimes goes a bit too far, but having grown up in the age of nudes, she doesn’t really trust men. Which is unsurprising considering the story she tells me next.

“So a boy I know was asking a girl at his school for nudes,” she says, quietly. “And then when she refused, he threatened to rape her.” The boy was 14 and had recently posted an Andrew Tate video to his Instagram page, which was Eloise’s first encounter with the online influencer. 

“It said stuff like how women are your property and that it doesn’t matter if women say they’ve been sexually assaulted; if you’re with them that’s your right. I didn’t like it,” she adds.

Tate has made several appearances in the headlines this week. On Tuesday, a Romanian court rejected his appeal to ease the ban on him leaving the country as a legal case against him – in which he’s charged with human trafficking, rape and forming a criminal gang to sexually exploit women – continues. He denies all charges against him. The following day, Ipsos polling for King’s College London’s Policy Institute and the Global Institute for Women’s Leadership found that one in five men aged 16-29 who have heard of Andrew Tate have a positive view of him.

Separately – or, arguably, perhaps not – another survey published in the same week underpinned a renewed focus on the attitudes and beliefs of Generation Z, this time from the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS). The research asked just over 3,000 adults of varying ages – 50.6 per cent of whom were female – about their understanding of rape and serious sexual offences, and the law on consent, and drew troubling conclusions.

Overall, 74 per cent of people surveyed understood that it can still be rape if a victim doesn’t resist or fight back, but the number fell to just over half (53 per cent) of 18-24-year-olds who had the same understanding. Less than half of respondents from this age group recognised that victims might not report a sexual offence to police immediately, that being in a relationship or marriage doesn’t mean consent can be assumed, or that if a man has been drinking or taking drugs, he’s still responsible if he rapes someone. More than 70 per cent of over-65s recognised that even if no physical force is involved a person might not be free or able to consent to sex, compared to just 40 per cent of young people.

Previous generations have become used to hearing that rape myths and misconceptions continue to persist, but that’s precisely why this week’s grim trinity of headlines stings. “There tends to be a public assumption that things are generally always getting better,” says author and feminist campaigner Laura Bates. “Actually, views like these are incredibly widespread among young people.” 

Bates regularly works with schools, talking to pupils who often tell her that “rape is a compliment”, that “it’s not rape if she likes it” or, “it’s your boyfriend, you have to have sex with him”.

She adds: “Attitude surveys have to be taken seriously because they are a real red flag that we’re going backwards – we’re seeing much more extreme and concerning misogynistic attitudes among the youngest generations than we are among the oldest. We have to face up to that and ask, why is that happening?”

Gen Z has never been neatly contained. Growing up as the first digital natives in the chokehold of crisis – climate, Covid, cost of living – has seen them praised for their social awareness, but disenfranchised and forgotten by politics. Their extremely online nature has given them unprecedented access to the world and other people – but, of course, that’s a double-edged sword.

“The internet has made everyone’s voices louder, but that means the most misogynistic people in the world are heard more too,” says Niya Clement-Hickson, a 26-year-old marketing designer from London. He says his generation has been “kind of ruined” by social media.

“You’d be surprised at just how many people around my age will argue that Andrew Tate is not as bad as he seems.”

When I spend an hour talking to 16-year-old Tate fan Manus from Ohio on TikTok, he says exactly that. He’s relatively timid and seems unsure of what he thinks at times, but came across Tate aged 12, being drawn to his motivational speeches, humour, and attitude towards making money. “[Tate] kinda showed me how people really are in reality,” he says. On Tate’s assertions that women are the property of men, he says those beliefs are simply from the Bible (though Manus himself is Muslim).

He maintains he’s never seen Tate speak violently about women, and when I send him leaked voicenote recordings of Tate saying that he enjoyed raping a woman, Manus is certain it’s fake “probably to make him look bad”. I ask for his views on feminism and he responds that feminists now want “superiority” and “more rights”. What rights exactly? “More rights in general,” he says, vaguely.

This opinion is not a rarity – there’s a pervasive idea circling comments sections and pub corners that the pendulum has “swung too far”. “Some of us warned that when you continue to suppress their identity by telling young boys that they are inherently toxic, they’ll start acting irrational,” one comment under an Andrew Tate post this week read. But it’s not just boys who hold this idea. Early last year, a survey from Ipsos UK and the Global Institute for Women’s Leadership at King’s College London echoed this and some of Eloise’s views that feminism has gone too far. They found that 52 per cent of Gen Z and 53 per cent of millennials believe that we’re now discriminating against men. Less than half of Gen Z respondents said they defined themselves as a feminist.

Was it coincidence then, to see that shortly after the research was published in March 2023, the year of the girl was in full swing? A persistently pink summer was punctuated with girl dinners, #tradwives – modern women who believe in traditional gender roles – and stay-at-home girlfriends sharing their daily rituals on news feeds. New York magazine’s The Cut declared it “Woman in Retrograde” as the year came to a close; a cluster of reactionary elements to a significant demise of mainstream feminism.

This shift back to traditional behaviours is also present in younger men, says Niya. “A lot of guys feel that their role is all about providing money, being a protector. But they feel they deserve to get something out of the interaction. They just can’t deal with being told no.”

In terms of consent, does he hear attitudes that put women in danger? “Absolutely,” he replies. Niya didn’t learn about consent in school – “I don’t think it was ever talked about beyond ‘don’t have sex until you’re old enough’” – and thinks this is quite common for men of his age. For Maya, who’s 24 and neurodivergent, the line of consent is difficult to pinpoint and somewhat shaped by social media. There’s a “disconnect” from what she really wants – and is able to articulate – in the moment.

“I think that we do have less and less sex and more and more porn,” Niya adds. “And I think that once porn is your main and in some cases, only engagement with sex and women, then that is going to completely screw up how you see sex.”

Do all roads lead to porn? Probably. Clare McGlynn, who is a professor of law with particular expertise in sexual violence and online abuse, says: “We know that algorithms promote more extreme content, more hate – and many, many younger people, men and women, are getting this. Millions of people, as we speak, are watching mainstream online pornography that is racist, sexist, misogynist and violent in its content. Of course, it’s shaping attitudes and lives.”

“There’s certainly a pressure on young boys and men, for example, to be taking and sharing nudes – they’re part of a culture that is encouraging them to,” McGlynn explains. During a study, she looked at what material was presented on the homepage of popular sites – she found landing pages which were filled with sexually violent material. “So it’s also not them even actively choosing that material; we’re part of a culture that is grooming young men, teaching them expectations around sex – and asking them to accept and normalise it.”

What appears clear from the survey conducted by the CPS is a dangerous lack of understanding of what constitutes a crime. “I do lectures on criminal law and I’ve had students come up to me afterwards and say that they didn’t know they had been sexually assaulted or raped,” McGlynn adds.

Laura Bates says that we’re in the midst of a “crisis of sexual violence among young people”. 

“Deeply misogynistic misinformation is being spread to young people online at a rate that most people just have absolutely no idea about,” she says. “And there is a massive knock-on effect.

“Some will look at these surveys and go, well, what does attitude matter? But you have to draw a connection between these really worrying attitudes about rape and the fact that nearly 80 per cent of young people told Ofsted inspectors recently that sexual assault is normal and common in their friendship groups.”

So what can be done? More responsibility and accountability from social media companies, says Bates. Tate’s content – some of which reportedly shows him attempting to beat a woman with a belt; she later hides behind a locked door – has been viewed more than 11 billion times on TikTok, she says, adding: “That’s more than the population of the planet.” Last year, advocacy group HOPE found that more 16-17-year-old boys had watched Tate’s content than had heard of Rishi Sunak. “I think it’s really important that the government supports high quality, age-appropriate sex and relationships education,” she adds. 

Actively listening to and engaging with boys – as seen in initiatives like the state of New York’s Starting the Conversation campaign – is also important. Boys must have a safe and judgement-free environment to express themselves: the more their experiences of rape culture are internalised, the more difficult they are to see.

The Online Safety Bill, which was enacted in October last year, she says, was a missed opportunity for change. While it asks for more transparency on social media platforms and imposes sanctions for those not following the act, along with criminalising cyberflashing and sending unsolicited nude images, “it went 250 pages without mentioning women and girls once, until campaigners changed that”, Bates says.

“It’s so much more effective to focus on prevention of radicalisation than trying to unpick it once it’s happened,” she says. “Young people really are prepared to listen and prepared to change their minds, it’s just a shame this isn’t happening in every school.”

“It does make me worried about how safe the world is going to be,” says Eloise, who will begin her twenties in the summer. “What if people really start thinking that women are property again?” Then, she’s quiet again. “I really hope it can change.”

#Articles #community #MVAWG

[what-gs-watching]

"It's not my fault you're like, in love with me."

So while I was trapped in the house for days on end because of ridiculous weather, I kept whinging that I just wanted to get out and see the new Mean Girls. My sister was not surprised at all to hear it, assuming I would have gone the day it came out. 

Because I’m old, old enough that the original movie came out when I was a teenager and it was a big fucking deal. I remember going to the theater with my bestie and being completely obsessed. We all wanted to be Lindsay Lohan at that point, 2004 was a crazy time, and we were incredibly impressionable. So, Mean Girls was everything.

To be fair, it definitely wormed its way into the culture. My sixty-something mother-in-law knows ‘fetch’ and my metal headbanger favorite dude friend appreciates that on Wednesdays, we wear pink. Millennials get it. I’m honestly not even sure how many times I’ve seen it. If my life depended on it, I could accurately quote most of it.

So, I was excited to see the new one, and a little weary. 

But it was cuuuuuute, y’all. I purposely didn’t read anything about it, so I was slightly surprised that it was basically literally the same story, but I guess that makes sense. The whole schtick is that it’s a musical now, so I can roll with that.

One thing I will say though, it’s hard for musicals to make perfect sense. You lose some of the story by trying to flatten it into a catchy number. So it didn’t feel as comprehensive or fleshed out  as the original (which sounds insane because Mean Girls is just a story about girls being bitches, but still). 

I also really appreciated that they kept a good bit of the classic lines that everyone wants to hear. You have to have “stop trying to make fetch happen, it’s not going to happen” and “Yo go, Glen Coco!” it’s literally not Mean Girls without that. (LOL at the explanation though that 'fetch' is slang from an old movie.)

They did strip out some of the weirder aspects, leaving out the gym coach hooking up with one of the kids, which was sketch to begin with, even in 2004. And Karen trying to make out with her first cousin, which, yikes. So ya know, progress. 

But it did feel like they took some of the bite out of Regina. Like, I got that she was supposed to be mean, but there weren’t a ton of actions to reinforce that. Or even a ton of interaction between her and Cady. The frenemy-ship wasn’t fleshed out as much as I wanted it to be. 

On the bright side though, I didn’t expect the actress they chose for Regina. Body positivity, gang! And the cast was a lot more diverse. 

But, no one is ever gonna best Lohan at the role of Cady. Sure, New Cady was cute, and she did her best but honestly, she did not have the same kind of presence or charisma. But I’m probably biased as hell. Like I’ve said before, I just want Lindsay Lohan to get her life back together. 

ALSO, this is just me complaining, but I absolutely do not fucking understand fashion right now. Like, I just…I can’t. It’s weirdly 90’s, and it wasn’t cute in the 90’s originally and it’s not cute now. I was not in love with Cady’s “makeover” and that was one of the funner aspects of the original. Which could just be me projecting because I wanted to wear all of the shit that they did in 2004 but I was not that cool, gang. So now I’m the old guy who wants gen Z fashion to get off my lawn. It’s not their fault, but it’s still confusing. 

The point is, it was a fun way to spend two hours, and I love that Tina Fey and Tim Meadows reprised their roles. I will love anything Tina Fey does, forever and always. And she loves Mean Girls so much. So I’m going to, too. And I might bump “Revenge Party” because who doesn’t love a party that ends with a head on a spike? 

Did we really need this movie? Maybe not. But I suppose we can let the zoomers in on the fantasticness that is Mean Girls. Y’all can have a piece of the crown too, I guess - it’s just plastic, after all.

#mean girls 2024 #mean girls musical #what g's watching #revenge party #cady x regina #regina george #cady mean girls

[bahja-blix]

Helluva Boss S2 EP 5 (Unhappy Campers)

Helluva Boss S2 EP 5 Review! 

🌵My opinions and views might be different from yours and that's okay! I'm entitled to my opinion and so are you! It is a free country where we should express how we feel about whatever it may be. Use your voice and let it shine! 

🌵🌵I've done some research on blogs that shared their thoughts and watched Helluva Boss S2 EP 5 (Unhappy Campers) several times over to get an insight of my own thoughts and put them all together in one. In other words I will be using other pieces of info from others whom have already critiqued the show and use their thoughts as inspiration! 

🌵🌵🌵I will be answering asks about this episode or Helluva in general so send away your thoughts especially in the comments section! 

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I'm going to highlight some things I actually did like about the episode before I critique it as I don't wanna completely end off on a negative note and throw in a bit of positivity, So let's begin!! 

🌵 Number 1 I really liked the fact that *Gasp* IMP is actually doing their job? 🥳🤯 I can't believe it neither because I nearly forgot about it lol! Man, If only there wasn't so much pointless filler in the previous episodes where they don't do their job and just screw around. I was genuinely surprised and I'm glad the episode went that route! 

🌵 Two, in the beginning Millie was spot on in this episode when it came to figuring out who they needed to kill as She quickly found some clues and facts like an actual detective from a far. I really liked that! 

🌵 Three Moxxie was funny in the episode to me. When he was interacting with the gals I couldn't help but laugh at his attitude and him getting roasted. 

🌵 Four nitpick but I like how good Millie looks as a tomboy and the clients design I like too so ya! 

🌵 Before Barbie ruined it for me I liked this one line she said in the episode! That line being: 

"Do you have any idea how easy it is to manipulate teenage humans?"

To me, I felt like it was a commentary on my own generation and real life. How my generation is very easy to manipulate and influence especially nowadays. I felt like it was relatable because that's the truth! 

Teenagers and kids in general *cough* gen z can be Very influenced or manipulated. The younger a person is the more likely they are to be influenced by bad people especially if that said person is seen as cool, popular, or in with the IT crowd. Trust me I've been there as an actual Gen Zer back in my edgy teen years. Only difference is I grew the hell up! 

🌵 With that done let's get into how I feel about the episode because….There's a lot to unpack here!

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🌵 When I first saw the title card I thought that Moxxie was going to be the main, Main focus in the spotlight and not Millie because of how the title card looked alone with a confident Moxxie and a disappointed Millie. Just like how Moxxie got the spotlight in other episodes such as Harvest Moon Festival (Where Millie should've had the spotlight in that episode) and just like how Stolas and Blitzo did in multiple episodes because God forbid the Stolitz show actually fucking ends so we can get actual character development for our fucking female characters that desperately need it.  However, that wasn't the case this time! It was Millie who actually got the spotlight most of the episode more so than Moxxie. 

🌲 We open up with Blitz looking for his sister Barbie Wire, where we find out (Later in the episode at 18:47) that he wants to help his sister and catch up her and it's all sweet in stuff, except I don't care. Blitzo is angry and upset over the fact that he can't find his sister so he storms to his office while Moxxie and Millie are trying their best to help a client who got killed at their camp site. Moxxie asks Blitz for advice and Blitz tells Moxxie to figure it out himself therefore Moxxie is put in charge as the lead. Mox promise's to find his killer and he says He says and I quote "This will be the cleanest, well prepped, most surgical hit they'll ever have" end quote… implying they will solve this case quickly only to completely contradict itself because it takes them a whole week (according to their universe) to drum up some BS they pull out of their ass to get some Jimmy guy killed by the end of the episode and while Moxxie is supposed to be the most logical one in IMP Moxxie messes everything up and the plan takes longer because the writers wanted to shit on Moxxie again because

"hee hee funny funny no one like him lol"

🌵 Moxxie sets up a plan where they go to a campground and play dress up again, Like they did in the cherubs episode.

I have several questions!

How come Barbie Wire who is an imp, can literally fucking shape shift without using any sort of magical source however, Moxxie, Millie and Blitzo can't? In Seeing Stars they had a chance to actually explain why but chose not too! Where's the fucking grimoire? They can use the grimoire to open portals, use spells, summon, but they can't use it for disguises… The Grimoire itself is so flippin useless that it shouldnt've even been introduced in this show. Furthermore, Why the Hell is Everyone in this goddamn universe so utterly stupid? Okay I know why but still… Like okay the girls Moxxie tries so incredibly hard to befriend, question him for the way he looks n stuff but when they see Millie they don't question her at all like???¿?¿? K lmao

🌵 At the campground Moxxie and Millie recap their plan in the most cringy way possible and then they move on And part ways. 

🌵 Moxxie tries to befriend the gals in the most wack ass way but gets his ass roasted. The gals leave and Blitzo continues to find his sister. 

🌵Millie is the most badass at the  camp because that's how Millie is… Moxxies badass wife that doesn't even have to try at all in fact the episode makes sure that everyone loves her because Viv said so that's why! 

🌵First off all the song Millie sings is God Awful, her being overly popular at the camp grounds is so fucking forced and completely out of knowwhere. She joins a volleyball game and dunks on some kid and that's what makes her popular? Lmao K, 

🌵 Mox gets jealous of Millie because he's not the focus in the episode! It's Millie for once. After a small argument Millie suggests that Mox does something that he's good at so they can go and continue with their plans. 

🌵 Oh come the fuck on dont tell me Moxxie is this fucking cringy like he has shown he can perform and sing better that that! *Facepalms* 

🌵 Moxxie screws up yet again and everyone hates him even more so he goes crying on the toilet. Millie comforts him and that's sweet and stuff. Mix tries again, and again, and again, he fails spectacularly and then Moxxie gets upset Yet Again! 

🌵 Mox goes on about how he has a "Job" to do and that the job has to be done "His way" because God damnit he said so! Only it wasn't Millie that messed up the plan at all because had Moxxie actually listen to his wife this time the episode would've fucking ended and the filler wouldn't happen now would it? Moxxie is the one that messes everything up and it takes Millie up on stage to unintentionally kill who their looking for with a firework that just so happen to go flying into the location that Moxxie, Blitzo and his sister were fighting at. 

🌵 The Falling Out

Millie and Mox *gasp* have an argument? Couldn't believe it either lol! Millie admits she doesn't feel important. That no one is proud of her and this and that. Millie sweetie you fucking LOVE killing, killing is your life. it means the whole world to you and now you're pulling this outta your behind? They literally could've finished the job had Moxxie listened to her. Then Literally not even a minute and a half later this shit happens… 

🌵 Moxxie gets up on that stage like the diva he is and constantly validates his wife for being the biggest badass ever to walk earth while at the end of his speech creeps everyone out then goes and looks for the suspects but only after Millie points out some sus activity. Mox runs into Blitz and gets called out for his fuckery not finishing the job he was tasked to do.

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🌵 The Barbie Wire Situation

Okay I'm going to be tapping into sensitive ground here so please keep in mind I'm going off of the themes in the episode that are presented to me as the viewer. I have read others posts about Viv and the backlash she got about Barbie but regardless, these are my thoughts, this is your final warning and here we go!

🌵 Going back into the beginning At the 3:44 minute mark when Moxxie and Millie go and find out whom possibly killed their client Moxxie states "Hm, You know, these kids are a bit younger than I was expecting" and then followed up by telling Millie to not be sexual around them Implying that the campers are minors which is why I (like others) questioned the situation especially later in the episode more as time went on! (Moxxie telling Millie to not be sexual is completely contradicted in the last bit of the episode simply because horny ass Viv just couldn't hold it in anymore)

🌵 Barbie was okay until she decided to be a creep ass in the episode at the beginning of the 16 Minute mark of her flashing her boney ass at the audience… Viv once again gets her ass in that hot water when people call her out for her abysmal writing. I've heard that people saw her say that The "Teenager Jimmy" is 18 or 19 but the scene itself to me was unnecessary and still downright creepy. 

Like? The show literally could've thrown in a bag of weed or edibles if the show really wanted to go there knowing the nature of the show anyway and that would've made more sense since you yourself Barbie are a drug addict who makes young impressionable teenagers smuggle drugs. 

🌵 Later Barbie says "I don't wanna hear it "Kid". She calls him kid which is really weird but I mean…there's literally grownups irl that call older teens kids anyway so I mean I Guess it can be taken either way. But here's the thing though this Jimmy guy sure acts like a dumb immature kid with his "WHAAA?? Heeeyyy No I'm not" attitude like lmao 😂 which is it is he older or is he younger? Pick one! 

But I mean hey, Who knows maybe this guy who sounds nothing like a 18/19 yr old really is an adult or maybe Viv is just a damn liar that's pulling something out of her ass to get herself out of that hot water that she put herself into! It was the first day of the episode and people will talk more as time goes on! 

🌵 A slow-ass fight within the episode ensues but it's nothing really all that special compared to what we previously got like with Truth Seekers and Western Energy as examples.

🌵 In the end regardless if Barbie tried saving him that Jimmy guy died anyway because of Millie and her fireworks that blew his ass away... quite literally LMAO

🌵 Glad we actually get some sort of context or insight on Barbie and Blitzo's relationship within the 18:44 minute mark, Where we learn that Blitz literally ruined her life in the past however, here's the thing… we don't even get to see what actually happened in their past. It's just a bunch of filler instead of developing this character you tried hyping up. Why did Barbie go to rehab? Was it the drugs? Or something else? Why does Barbie hate her brother so much and never wants to see him again? Why doesn't the episode fucking explore their relationship properly? Viv why the hell did you try so incredibly hard to hype up this character if there wasn't going to be jack shit with her? 

Hnnnnggg

🌵 The episode DID NOT need the incest "joke" at all in any way shape or form. Viv and her horny writing staff just Had to add that in there be shocking and subvert expectations when in reality it didn't like? We've already seen Those two humping in the air on stage before in the goddamn cherubs episode. lmfao sweet home incest Alabama am I right? 

The End! 

🌲🌲🌲🌲🌲🌲🌲🌲🌲🌲🌲🌲🌲🌲

🌵 Wow! Definitely NOT a fan of this episode at all! It's a meh episode that actually did get me to laugh a few times. This episode should've been split into two parts. One where we could get to explore more about Barbie and her relationship with her brother Blitzo and another where the writing staff could write an actual BETTER Millie episode where she actually gets better character development than small pieces of development! Those Asmodeus crystals are unexplained and never explored on! The Grimoire is fucking useless as hell, this episode should've been in season one based on the fact that unlike season one of Helluva Boss season two is completely different! They actually do their jobs in season one but two? Nah Fam! Like every episode of helluva boss there's a ton of errors in it, Blitzo is an asshole but that's how he always been, Moxxie being ranchy AF especially when talking about his period as if he's the greatest thing in the universe was Not Funny! Barbie is a groomer, regardless if Viv claims this Jimmy guy is, 18 it's still creepy and was completely unnecessary. The incest jokes in the episode were completely horrendous and didn't need to be in the episode at All, and lastly… 

🌵 Loona Does shows up at the very last second of the episode! She sure does exist does she? There's the bait! Come and Get It!

🌲🌲🌲🌲🌲🌲🌲🌲🌲🌲🌲🌲🌲🌲

Did I miss anything you'd like me to talk about? Ask me anything! Do you agree or disagree? 

Comment, like, share around, critique and always give feedback as everything is appreciated!

🌲🌲🌲🌲🌲🌲🌲🌲🌲🌲🌲🌲🌲🌲

#helluva #helluva spoilers #helluvaboss #helluva boss #vivziepop helluva boss #helluva boss critical #helluva boss spoilers #helluva boss blitzo #helluva boss critique #helluva boss criticism #helluva boss loona #helluva boss s2 #helluva boss moxxie #helluva boss millie #helluva boss season two #helluva boss season 2 #helluva critical #anti vivziepop #vivziepop critique #vivziepop criticism #vivienne medrano #vivziepop #vivziepop critical #asks open #ask me shit #ask me literally anything #critique #Bahja-Blix

[dustedmagazine]

Skee Mask — C (self-released)

For anyone else, C would herald the arrival of a great talent in electronic music. Paced to perfection, indebted to electronic music history without necessarily being in service to any one variant of it (well, beyond dub techno), emotionally ambiguous and rich with sonic detail, C satisfies from start to finish — so it might come as some surprise to listeners that this is, in fact, merely Munich producer Bryan Müller’s third compilation of unmastered bits n’ bobs inside two years. To have broken through the way he did with 2018’s Compro only to retreat to these self-released full lengths in the wake of 2021’s equally potent double album Pool is a power move of the highest order.

Müller’s retreat has a few dimensions to it. In addition to the well-publicized withdrawal of his catalog from Spotify in early 2022, he’s also backed away from the more overt careerist framing of full-length after full-length via his usual home over with the Zenker brothers at Ilian Tape. Instead, he’s chosen to jettison a glut of perfectly good material via Ilian Tape’s nameless ISS series, of which 007 comes closest to being a fourth LP (though it could just as easily be a single unbroken song). In short, he’s releasing music at an unprecedented rate and it’s all somehow interchangeable, equally capable of being on an “official” album, a stray 12” or some supposed compilation of odds n’ sods.

Lest you think the quality is any less for its release format, opener “MDP2” signals the familiar terrain you’re about to traverse and should immediately put to rest any apprehensions over quality. Cascading pads wash slowly, gently over you, like a double-speed William Baskinski; as a scene-setting piece, it’s among my favorites of his. The first percussion doesn’t appear until the soft breaks of “Bassline Dub” nearly seven minutes into the album, and “Keygruv” is the first really dance-friendly track, but even then, Müller switches up the beat barely half a minute in, which feels off-kilter until you realize he’s just thrown a dummy, the brain recalibrates, and the groove reveals itself.

The spritely, broken Windows 98 loop of “One for Vertigo” is probably the most sonically distinctive song present, though “11616” sounds straight out of the pause screen of a PlayStation first-person shooter and gives it a good run for its money. “Minitx” is the “hardest” dance number, featuring a controlled screech and a muted countermelody going on deep beneath the surface that’d play well at your local darkwave night. The barely there ambient swoon of “Blok” acts as an excellent breather late in the tracklist, introducing the concluding triptych that also features the fourth-world excursion “Pitchacid” and a twinkling, gorgeously subtle “thnk you” on the outro.

In a time where discussions of so much electronic music too often veer wildly between the poles of dancefloor hedonism in the face of authoritarianism and ambient’s significance thanks to pandemic lockdowns and whatever TikTok contortions its Gen Z content creators amuse themselves over, C is a quiet, gentle reminder that there is always the option to step back, to remove yourself from the vortex, to breathe and let yourself live at your own clip, on your own terms, to your own satisfaction. Forget dictators and algorithms; power comes from within.

Patrick Masterson

#skee mask #c #patrick masterson #albumreview #dusted magazine #electronic music #Bryan Müller #Ilian Tape #ISS series #electronic #dub #techno #house #ambient #breaks

[ofprincessesandqueens]

@eizohwa In mainland Europe, being a "soft" doesn't help. In Spain, Letizia does much better when she goes back to her journalists roots & shows her professional side versus when she is a wallflower appearing at state dinners. To give you an example, Spain is one of the countries in Europe with the highest numbers of females neurosurgeon. They love badass women. It's not the 1950s/1960s. Very different from the UK where professional women are more seen as "too" everything. Like Kate would have never survived in the Dutch or Spanish court. Her outside image is way too soft while we like a bit more of edge/outwardly showing steel (that she has but is way too subtle about it). I think I am not the only one who love how equal those 2 pairings work but @ofprincessesandqueens and @felipeandletizia are/lived in Spain longer than I did so might be able to speak more to it and who knows, you might be on to something!!

I kinda agree with you, actually. Leti get the most widespread praise when she is allowed to communicate and go full journalist. I know Vanessa thinks if she dressed more like a queen is suppossed to dress and were to put on a hat she would be more liked but I disagree. How she dresses is not an issue and she would be so clowned if she were to dress like a BRF royal, sorry. Like, sure, we all loved when she showed at Fred and Mary's wedding in that red dress, but that didn't made her popular. And one of the things she is more praised about is that she distanced from Iñaki and Cristina first, while for Felipe it seemed it took more time.

IMO, the thing lies with Casa Real not allowing her to have a personality. In my opinion, they tend to repeat strategies so they tried to replicate with her what they did with Sofia and I think that only made her appear distant. She is intelligent, funny and charismatic, but with the Silent Consort 2.0 treatment people can't see that and I think if they had worked in that it could have been easier for her. And now that we are on it, as beloved as Sofia is, I'm not sure her whole persona would have worked nowadays.

Regarding Kate. I don't think she would have been unpopular here necessarily but for years I scratched my head trying to explain why her popularity in polls seems to stop at the millenials? I consider her likeable so that's why I was always so surprised to see how popular she is among all age groups and then there is that sudden cut with the gen z where they seem to not warm up about her. And the conclusion I reached is that maybe the Gen Z simply doesn't find relatable her stay at home mom persona, so maybe you are right, who knows xD

#eizohwla #like this woman covered wars people need to be for real

[nickgerlich]

Data Driven

I have long been fascinated by how people do things, and specifically how they consume products. There’s always more ways than one to do anything. Just ask the folks who make Ziploc bags. They learned after the fact that people were using them for many applications other than just shoving a sandwich inside them.

It is in understanding the user experience that manufacturers and developers can fine-tune their offerings, as well as learn what the most important aspects of a product are. Assumptions made by managers, engineers, and new product teams are often rendered laughable once real customers are left to their devices.

The same holds true even for social media platforms. Pew Research just conducted one of how US users spend their time on TikTok, the Chinese-owned app that has drawn the ire of 34 states. In Texas, we cannot use TikTok on any state-owned device or network. Some have concluded this also means a state agency, such as a university, cannot advertise on TikTok, even though that is where their target market is hanging out. And, as conveyed in a recent email to faculty and staff at WTAMU, it extends even to personal devices that are used to do state business, such as accessing work email and the Blackboard app.

Ouch. That one may have to undergo a little legal scrutiny. I don’t use it, but I cringed when I saw what I perceive to be over-reach.

But back to the TikTok study, which included a survey of 2745 users as well as 869 more who volunteered to allow their accounts to be observed. By virtue of the study’s design, this is an opt-in sample, which, while revealing interesting findings, cannot necessarily be generalized across all 150 million US TikTok users. A random design would be needed for that.

One of the bigger takeaways—and no surprise, mind you—is that 25% of users create 98% of the content. I have observed the same phenomenon across other social media platforms. That’s another way of saying that the vast majority of users are consumers, compared to the creators in the smaller group. Furthermore, it means that most users check in to their TikTok accounts for other uses, such as information and entertainment. I have seen a funny variant of this on Facebook, when someone posts a comment to a controversial subject by saying, “I’m just here for the comments.”

There were another significant findings in that only 52% of users have ever even posted a video, and are more likely to simply watch the “For You” feature, meaning they allow TikTok to push content. This is the preferred means, as opposed to looking at accounts they follow.

This echoes the entertainment aspect of TikTok, as well as other social media sites. It fills my Facebook, Instagram, and Threads feeds. If the provider can make their site even just a little bit stickier by pulling us into content it thinks we will like, then it means they can sell more advertising. Remember, these are all advertising platforms masquerading as social media sites. Don’t believe me? Facebook’s ad revenue is estimated to be $171 billion this year.

While the study provides insights, it might be more relevant to dive into specific demographic groups, which definitely skews young. For example, 60% are between 16 and 24, while 80% are between 16 and 34. Only 25% are between 25 and 44, which, although it is an overlap of the other data, shows the drop-off by age. Narrowing the focus would provide more granular information, especially as it pertains to generational cohorts like the Millennials and Gen-Z. Even though Gen-X and Boomers are distinct minorities among TikTok users, they too should be studied to determine what usage differences, if any, exist.

The broader lesson is that we must always be in pursuit of this kind of knowledge, no matter what products or services we sell. There’s gold in the numbers. It’s up to us to mine and refine it.

Dr “Data Nerd” Gerlich

Audio Blog

#marketing #TikTok

[mysocialtrust]

Veni vidi vici tattoo

Trying to be friendly I asked if they were the names of his kids. All images and Tattoo Design ideas shared only for information purpose. He had the words 'Veni, Vidi, Vici' tattooed on his arm. We do not claim anything as we translated and re-published using google translator. It will remind you to always keep doing the right things and have faith in all your battles! Need more inspiration 101 amazing veni vidi vici tattoo ideas that will blow your mind! | 150 101 amazing veni vidi vici tattoo ideas that will blow your mind! | 151 101 amazing veni vidi vici tattoo ideas that will blow your mind! | 152 101 amazing veni vidi vici tattoo ideas that will blow your mind! | 153 101 amazing veni vidi vici tattoo ideas that will blow your mind! | 154 101 amazing veni vidi vici tattoo ideas that will blow your mind! | 155 101 amazing veni vidi vici tattoo ideas that will blow your mind! | 156ĭisclaimer: Curated and re-published here. If you want a tattoo that will stay with you for a lifetime and have a deeper meaning, give the veni vidi vici tattoo a chance. On that noteĪs you can see, veni vidi vici is an interesting saying, with an important message that both men and women should praise. You can decorate the veni vidi vici design in numbers, roman numerals, and eye-catching details if you like bold tattoos. Sie haben vielleicht schon einmal davon gehrt oder gehrt, obwohl Sie nicht wussten, woher es eigentlich kam. Those who don’t like small ideas and love unusual placements should opt for this veni vidi vici tattoo. Semi-Permanent Tattoo Temporary Tattoo For Adults Realistic, Natural, Waterproof & Doesn't Peel Off Easy.ink Real AF Semi-Permanent Tattoo Lasting 1-2 Weeks Note, this is NOT a sticker. Vici Stomach Tattoo Designs 101 amazing veni vidi vici tattoo ideas that will blow your mind! | 149īelly tattoos are not common tattoos. Veni Vidi Vici Lion tattoo The lion, king of the jungle, and the famous quote by a great leader. Though most females prefer to have their tattoos on the lower back portion of their bodies so they can easily show it off. Want to get away from Gen Z for a little bit Have some big Gen X energy Maybe you just want to pop in and. something nice and easy for a first tattoo.7. Lower back Veni Vidi Vici tattoo Great for both men and women. Contents show 1 Source: Pinterest Veni, vidi, vici: These famous words. If u guys have any other suggestions i'd love to hear it. into and pursuing tattoo removal to rise Knows not just Latin and English. but so far it looks really good !ītw, you have any thoughts about having any physical side effects when getting tattooed ? The veni, vidi, vici tattoo speaks volumes about the person wearing this ink. It’s no surprise that you’ll see this phrase tattooed on men and women alike. It translates to, I came, I saw, I conquered. Hmm i realize i'm just justifying this to myself haha. Veni, vidi, vici is a Latin phrase attributed to Julius Caesar. i mean i don't see why it should be seen as trying to copy zyzz (even though that was the direct inspiration), rather taking a leaf out of a great man who uttered an immortal phrase 2 millennia ago The meaning and a translation stand for ‘I came, I saw, I conquered’. He used this phrase before getting his victory in a war. The unique meaning of this tattoo implies that a person has found and seen wisdom, an understanding, or a new belief that no matter the degree of difficulty, nothing will ever bring this person down. The Veni Vidi vici tattoo is a Latin phrase that was said by Julius Caesar. I get that, but in my country at least i don't see a lot of people running around with it (mainly bec here the bb community is smaller, and therefore less mainstream knowledge of zyzz)Īnd i'm thinking it might be personal to him but the message is pretty universal and can apply to everyone (like you) trying to effect changes and overcome challenges. The veni vidi vici tattoo can tell the world about political struggles, economic pain, or a journey to a new religious path. It's all on how you feel about it, i personally wouldn't walk around as a copy, but rather try to come up something unique for myself. There's a lot of people running around with that tattoo nowadays. I think the tattoo has some class to it, but it was personal to him.

#Veni vidi vici tattoo

[makethatelevenrings]

Start of Something New // Shangqi x female!reader

requested: yes!

WARNINGS: alcohol consumption

summary: a first meeting gone wrong...but right?

You honestly weren’t one for karaoke, but your friend was determined to drag you out tonight and “do something different”. The strobing lights of the bar made your headache but the burn of tequila was helping take the edge off. The party rooms were full and that left the two of you in the main hall where progressively drunker individuals took to the stage to serenade us with slurring voices.

“You gonna sing?” your friend shouted over the din of the noise. You shook your head with a laugh and took another sip of your drink. Your eyes cast over the room and landed on the guy singing on stage. He was practically laughing through the lyrics of “Jolene” as his friend cheered him on.

“He’s good,” you commented.

“He’s cute,” your friend shot back. “And he keeps looking at you.”

You let out a snort at her inane suggestion and focused on the singer as he finished his final declaration to the imaginary Jolene. His eyes strayed over to your place on the bar and you offered him a small smile before ducking your head to avoid his warm gaze.

The night kept going on, even after you thought you and your friend were thoroughly buzzed. She had sung twice due to the resounding cheers her first performance had received from the crowd. You were clinging to the dizzying feel of your alcohol-addled mind when your friend appeared and grabbed your hand, dragging you up and onto the stage.

“Woah, woah!” Your protests were cut off short as she shoved a microphone in your hands and promptly fled the stage.

“Looks like we’ve got a duet tonight folks!” the emcee announced. You raised your head to find the guy from earlier standing before you, an identical look of surprise written on his features. A nervous laugh escaped you and he grinned, somehow easing the pit of nerves that threatened to swallow your voice.

The familiar piano melody began over the speakers and you bit your lip to hide your smile which only made his own smile grow wider. This song was a classic and thanks to the tequila running through your body, you were prepared to give it your all.

“Start of Something New” was a gen z classic, damnit, and you were determined to put on a show.

But what you didn’t expect was for you to have a real life Gabriella Montez moment when he stepped closer and you finally met his eyes. You might have even gasped at the feeling that punctured your chest and burrowed deep in your heart. He had the kindest smile and eyes that told a story that you wanted to sit and listen to for hours.

Lifting the microphone, you began to sing your part. Giddiness ran down your spine and into every crevice of your body at the absolute joy on his face. It encouraged you to keep going, your voices mixing and blending in a mish mash of drunken and decent singing. The crowd was eating it up, but you couldn’t tear your eyes away from him.

“The start of something new…” your voices trailed off as the song came to an end, chests rising and falling with exertion.

“Hi,” he breathed.

“Hi.”

“I’m Shaun.”

You opened your mouth to respond but your friend appeared from the crowd, waving her phone. “Yo! We need to go! Chelsie just texted. They need people for the morning shift. Uber is almost here.”

“Shit.” You really wanted to stay or at least get this guy’s number, but you needed the money and that meant you needed the precious few hours of sleep. Regretfully, you placed the microphone on the stand and glanced back at him.

“Maybe I’ll see you again.”

With that, you grabbed your friend’s hand and disappeared into the crowd just as Katy climbed onto the stage. “C’mon man, Soo and John are meeting us for brunch, remember? We gotta make ourselves look decent before Soo goes on another one of her rants.”

Six hours later, Katy and Shangqi found themselves seated at some fancy San Francisco brunch place with a desperate need for mimosas. The sunglasses weren’t helping with the hangovers they both suffered through.

“Hi, sorry for that wait,” the waitress announced as she approached the table. Shangqi lifted his head to find the mysterious woman from last night. He immediately raised his sunglasses and blinked the sun and disbelief out of his eyes.

“Hi,” he greeted once again.

Heat rose to your cheeks and you smiled at the handsome man. “Hi. Long time, no see.”

#shang chi #xu shang chi #xu shangqi #shang chi imagine #shang chi x reader #shang chi and the legend of the ten rings #shangqi #shangqi x reader #marvel imagine #marvel x reader #mine #requested

[a-small-batch-of-dragons]

No, It's Definitely Funny

Prompt: Can I request a second part to "Let's Call It Funny" where Bucky, Sam, Steve, and Peter unite forces to confuse and concern all the other avengers (with at least one instance where two or all of them respond to something by pretending to jump off a building?) Love you! -Auggie

Does it count as being back on my bullshit if I never left?

Read on Ao3 Part 1

Warnings: none, unless you need a warning for gen z humor

Pairings: it's still found family hours

Word Count: 2259

Peter’s gonna be honest, he may or may not have some competition for the funniest person in the Tower right now.

Because let’s look at the list here:

Traumatized? Everybody and their private jet’s worth of vintage and designer baggage needs therapy.

Queer? If you think Steve Rogers, Bucky Barnes, or Sam Wilson is straight, you need to tell them everything they’ve ever done to make you think they’re straight so they can stop doing it immediately.

Superhero? Yeah, okay, shush, now you’re being stupid.

Neurodivergent? Have you seen the way these men behave? Definitely the model of Perfectly Normal Person™, what on earth are you talking about, absolutely 100% Normal™.

The only things he’s still got going for him that the others don’t are high-schooler and trans. That’s not a lot when it comes to the fact that hey, two of them are from the Great Depression—let’s be honest, they’re the OGs when it comes to fatalistic humor—and they’ve all got years of practice.

Sure, Peter’s got some trauma-given raw talent, but it’s not refined by years and years of throwing yourself off of buildings and out of planes to avoid having conversations about your emotions.

The day Aunt Nat dropped all of SHIELD’s files on the Internet and Peter found out that Steve yeeted himself out of a plane—without a parachute!—to avoid Nat’s prodding about getting a date was the best day of his fucking life.

“Don’t you go stealing my moves there, kid,” Steve had scolded playfully, winking over the rim of his mug.

“Try and stop me, I dare you.”

“And this is why,” Tony had sighed, looking every bit his 79 years—“Hey!”—as he watches this interaction go down, “you have a parachute built into your suit.”

“I’ll just wear my old one, don’t worry about it.”

“That heinous thing that’s just a cut-up old hoodie and goggles? Peter, no, that thing is being held together with safety pins and hope!”

“I mean, me too, so it’s fine.”

“Peter!”

“Also, like, it’s the one I almost got crushed to death in, so it’s got the emotional trauma seasoning already.”

“Wait—“ Bucky had sat up— “you almost got crushed to death by a building? Sheesh, kid, you’re really flirting with the reaper, huh.”

“It wasn’t so bad, I had training from the years and years of carrying the weight of my sins crawling on my back.”

“At least ask Death for his number next time, he’s not returning my calls.”

“Sergeant, I swear to God—“

“Actually, Death uses they/them pronouns, I asked when I met them last weekend.”

“What the fuck did you do last weekend?”

“Really? Oh cool, well, can you get their number for me? We had a date back in ’45 that they missed.”

“Yeah, sure, no problem.”

“Tony, why are you screaming? Not keeping dates is a very serious matter.”

“Trust me, I speak from experience, Tony, it’s not a good habit to get into.”

“You should respect your elders and not scream while we’re talking to you, mister.”

“All of you shut the fuck up.”

See? On one hand, it’s great to have more partners in this venture of making Tony’s hair turn grey—he’s that age, it’s bound to happen any time soon now— “One more crack about my age, kid, I swear.” — but on the other hand, Peter is seriously losing his massive lead on funniest person in the Tower.

The other thing he’s worried about is Sam’s ability to make it so the others can’t actually worry about him.

Because—listen, Sam Wilson is a fucking national treasure and all you fuckers better acknowledge that. It’s no secret that the Captains take turns going out with the shield, all of them answer to ‘Captain America’ because that’s what they are, but no one—and Peter will never say this under threat of death because he does not need any more of the Steve Rogers’ Puppy Dog Eyes™, thank you very much—no one does it better than Sam.

And that means that Sam fucking Wilson can turn a fatalistic, self-deprecating joke into a motivational speech that doesn’t feel disingenuous or cliché at all and everyone is too busy processing the philosophical revelations they’re having to scold him for his, frankly, outstanding sense of humor.

It’s not fair and Peter can’t do it.

He tried. Once.

Didn’t go very well.

No, he’s not gonna talk about it, let’s just move on.

Sam has offered to catch him a couple of times when he gets himself a little too deep into the Mamma Spider™ or Iron Dad™ trap of feeeelings, and he gratefully scoots out of the way when Sam sits down next to him and just makes another joke.

Sam is also a fantastic role model for the brand of ‘I’m going to the store and only have twenty bucks, stop asking for your will to live back’ jokes.

“Hey, Pete!”

“Yeah?”

“Let’s go, bodega run.”

“Can we pick up some hopes and dreams, too, all of those got scribbled out in fat red Sharpie yesterday.”

“I said bodega run, not Court of Miracles run.”

“But Sam~”

“Listen, kid, if you manage to find your hopes and dreams in this bodega, keep an eye out for your childhood innocence, that might be on the next shelf over.”

“Deal.”

“Do you two need some more therapy appointments?”

“Only got fifteen bucks, man.”

“I’m literally a billionaire!”

Peter eagerly studies under this pinnacle of humor and keeps his worries to himself.

Because if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it, and Peter’s sense of humor is wonderful, but he is a tad intimidated by the amount of variety the others have got going for them.

“You’re a fucking terror, Spider-ling, that’s what you are.”

“Not true! I was ‘a pleasure to have in class.’”

“Oh, is that why you’re taking ‘Little Shit’ lessons from Barnes and Rogers?”

“And Sam! Don’t forget Captain Wilson, he is an invaluable part of this team. I’m surprised at your ignorance.”

“Pete—no, that’s not—“

“I’m ashamed for you, Mr. Stark.”

“Listen here you little shit—“

Anyway…

Steve and Bucky have a habit of telling these like, really awful jokes that have Peter in stitches for half an hour. It’s not fair and he doesn’t get why they’re so funny because they aren’t, and yet here he is, laughing anyway.

It’s probably some combination of Steve’s perfected innocent face that he wears when he has to do interviews and Bucky’s habit of not giving a single solitary fuck. But they’re able to make the worst jokes with completely serious expressions and it’s not fair.

“Hey, can you guys come help me with something?”

“Sure, Peter,” Steve says instantly, bounding over with his 95-year-old Golden Retriever energy as Bucky trails behind him like a cat that’s sitting in your lap because he wants to, not because he likes you or anything, “what’s up?”

“I have a history project on WWII due tomorrow and I haven’t started it yet.”

Bucky snorts, taking a swig of coffee and sitting down on the floor. Which, same. “You got your eulogy planned?”

“Drafted, sighed, notarized, but Aunt May said no so I gotta do this.”

“Well, if Aunt May says no then I guess that’s that.”

Tony, from far away in another part of the Tower, has a sickening feeling that May Parker has once again proven that she is the most powerful parent and there’s nothing he can do about it.

“I, um,” Peter mumbles, fidgeting with his pen, “I want to be respectful of your boundaries, and if you don’t want to talk about anything then—“

Because it’s one thing for someone to make jokes about their trauma and another for someone else to go poking and prodding at it.

“Hey,” Steve interrupts softly, nudging him with his knee, “first off, thank you for saying that and we appreciate your respect, but we got you. You worry about enough, sweetheart, let us take care of ourselves.”

Peter gives him a look.

“When it comes to this,” Steve amends, having the decency to look a little sheepish, “we’ll take care of ourselves.”

Bucky scoffs. “Uh-huh.”

“We will, Buck.”

“My therapist will be real happy to hear that.” He looks up at Peter and winks. “Besides, what good is our trauma if we don’t pin it up and display it for good grades?”

Peter huffs, the joke undercut a little by the way Bucky knocks his foot against Peter’s and Steve’s arm stretches over the couch behind him.

Peter has to resist the urge to lean his head onto Steve’s shoulder, because then Steve’s hand will come up and ruffle his hair and Peter’s eyes will droop slowly closed as he loses himself in the warmth and safety of Steve’s embrace and then Steve will lean down to press a kiss to his temple and—

Right. Homework.

“What’s it on specifically,” Bucky asks, clearly spotting the temptation on Peter’s end, “home front? Overseas? Time period?”

“Uh, it’s an analysis of total war.”

“Like, how much of the country was devoted to the war effort?”

“Yeah, basically. It’s talking about how the Nazi War Machine made their war total and how that extends to a lot of other countries, but also about the reasons why the war was fought—“

They delve into a conversation about total war, Peter pointing out how Italy’s motivation for territory keeps it from being a total war on their part, Bucky speaking to how the different dynamics worked in various countries and the fallout, Steve bringing up how much of the home front was devoted to bringing attention to the war being fought overseas. Then, of course, as is inevitable, they devolve into storytelling.

Peter’s notebook—with notes! He did his job!—is set aside as he gives in to the need to let Steve cuddle him on the couch. Come on, the man is warm and big and gives good hugs, how is he supposed to not? Bucky sprawls out on the floor, leaning back on his hands as he smiles fondly.

“You know,” he remarks casually, “I fought a Nazi in my pajamas once.”

Peter blinks sleepily. “Wait, really?”

“Yeah, though how he got in my pajamas, I have no idea.”

Peter snorts. Then he giggles. Then he’s collapsing into Steve’s side, positively sobbing with laughter.

It’s not funny.

It’s really not that funny.

But here he is, fucking dying, and he doesn’t even have the wherewithal to welcome the sweet embrace of oblivion.

“Okay, note to self,” Bucky murmurs when he’s calmed down a little, wiping away tears, “sleepy spider likes corny jokes.”

“Just don’t break our baby spider, Buck, Momma Spider would kill you in cold blood.”

“Listen, if Natasha Romanoff kills me, don’t prosecute. That’s on me.”

Peter can’t do corny jokes. He really can’t. He just sounds like he’s a recording so old it’s unintelligible and it’s bad. He has a reputation to maintain here!

However, there is one sense of humor that Peter is very eager to learn and adopt, and hey, it might actually be Iron Dad™ Approved!

It’s a rookie mistake, asking Bucky Barnes for a hand, but in his defense, Peter was left unsupervised and was distracted.

“Hey, Bucky, can you give me a hand?”

“Sure thing, Peter.”

Something nudges his arm and he looks down. It’s Bucky’s metal arm, bumping up against his elbow.

It’s a cheap joke. It’s bad. It does not deserve Peter’s laughter.

He snorts anyway.

“That’s on me,” he says after a second, “you know what, that’s my fault.”

“What, is this not what you meant?”

“No, no, you’re fine.” Peter scruffs a hand through his hair. He looks down at the prosthetic again. “Well, that’s disarming.”

Now it’s Bucky’s turn to snort. “You gotta hand it to me, though, it’s a good joke.”

Oh, it’s on.

“No, no, of course, I understand. You really can’t let an opportunity like that slip through your fingers.”

Steve chokes on his next sip of coffee. “Stop making the kid shoulder the burden of making puns with you.”

Sam raises an eyebrow. “Don’t palm this off on someone else, Steve, you’re as bad as he is.”

“Oh, it’s not that bad.” Peter shrugs. “You just gotta knuckle-down and find the right one.”

“Do you have any idea how many times I’ve had to reach for puns?” Bucky hefts his arm.

“I’m gonna go out on a limb and say a lot.”

“Jeez, Pete, good one.”

“What, are you not finding them humerus?”

Sam’s gone, Steve shortly after. Bucky just grins proudly at him.

Then there’s a massive thunk from behind them. Peter turns around to see Tony slamming his forehead into the counter.

“You are all going to kill me,” he mutters, glaring up at them, “all three of you.”

“Oh, come on, Mr. Stark, Captain Barnes would never hurt you.”

Tony raises a skeptical eyebrow.

“After all,” Peter grins, gesturing to Bucky who is doing a very good innocent face—he must’ve been taking notes from Steve— “look at him, he’s completely armless.”

“Peter Benjamin Parker—“

Okay, so maybe it’s not Iron Dad™ Approved.

Oh, well.

#dragonbabbles #marvel #the longest running con in the mcu is people thinking steve isnt an extra hoe #mcu #marvel cinematic universe #peter parker #tony stark #steve rogers #sam wilson #bucky barnes #fic

[moonttaeil]

im a nerd and let me explain to you what happened on Wall Street so we can all laugh together. 

to start this you must first understand how the stock market works okay I'll try to put this out as SIMPLE as possible bc that shit COMPLEX. okay, big companies list their shares on the stock market (ws) and these are released on the game.

the game consists on buying shares with the expectation of a price rise after they bought them, meaning that they earn money with that BUT! always assuming the risk of also loosing money-- just like playing with a slot machine lmao 

but this phenomenon is not something “normal” since it is governed by the oh so lovely “supply and demand” we’re so used to see everywhere: higher demand, price goes UP. lower demand, price goes down to hell. 

therefore the purchase of shares itself, when the purchase is done massively, obviously generates a price increase (which is the objective sough when one buYs shares). on this context, the projections made by wall street are very valuable!! if wall street projects that a company’s shares are going up = a lot of people buy them, AND if all of those people actually buy them = the shares will obviously go up. and that's how the project is fulfilled. much of the financial market is driven by these self-fulfilling prophecies. 

the eternal debate is whether this system should be regulated by the state or, on the other hand, if it should be left free to the total market freedom lmao (this last option caused a terrible worldwide crisis like 10 years ago and no one remembers it??? excuse me??? Lehman brothers???)

but Nikki what is actually happening in Wall Street right noooow????? WELL! LET! ME! EXPLAIN! TO! YOU! WHAT! SHORT! SELLING! IS! FIRST!

short selling literally means to borrow a share for a certain amount of time and, in that time, sell it and buy it again. now, If the price goes down =you earn money; if the price goes up= you lose money. let me put this as an example with numbers so your brain can imagine it better: 

you borrow a share for $10,000 for 5 days and you sell it.in that time the stock drops to $6,000 and you buy it AGAIN to return it, right? what happened? you keeping the $4,000 difference!! yay!! if the market rises up to $12,000, you would've lost $2,000. 

this is actually cool because you can earn a lot of money in a really short period of time but there's a.....slight.....problem: the purchase of shares has unlimited possible profit (a share can grow to infinity) and limited loss (the most you can lose is 100% of what you invested). nn the other hand, short selling operations are the other way around for the same reason: they have limited profit (you can earn up to the full original value of the share you borrowed) but the possible loss is unlimited (again, a share can grow up to Infinity). that’s why they’re called short selling operations lol what theyre trying to do is to minimize the risks! it can happen that a company has a catastrophic fall in 5 days but it is very rare that such abrupt increases happen in such a short time.

people are literally betting for a company to fall so they can earn money. haha. this operations are prohibited in most of Europe but not in the US because everyone knows they’re the cool kid and their parents let them do whatever the fuck they want hell yeah!!

okay but Nikki what really happened in Wall Street this week??!?!?!?! calm down kids bc this is where the fun comes around: as you might imagine, while it is difficult to predict which companies will rise, it is a bit easier to know which companies will fall. There are companies that have been falling for years and will continue to do so. these companies are under a great amount of short selling because people know they will continue to fall.

but THEN! A GROUP OF HOMIES ON REDDIT STARTED TO DEBATE ON THAT! my dudes literally decided to hit THE MARKET AND Wall Street. what they they do? they agreed to buy, all together, shares of a company called GameStop (this company has been falling for years ok). this company has been on a steady decline for years so many TOP FUNDS IN THE WHOLE MF WORLD have been short selling with their shares?!?! but these days they ran into the surprise that, instead of going down, it went up. yeah you know what happened. 

Two weeks ago, a GameStop share was worth $ 17. Right now it's worth $ 337.

this means that, if a fund put 10 MILLION DOLLARS in a short sell against GameStop at the original price, they will have to pay now 200 mILLION. ASTRONOMICAL. 

and my homies didn't only do it with GameStop, they decided to start lifting many companies that were considered to be dead such as BlockBuster and Blackberry (lmao I had one of those, did anybody else!? they were cool af) anyways!!

the funny thing is that in the last 24h the biggest fish of wall street have paraded through the media (ALL OF THEM FREE MARKET TITANS WHO HAVE BEGGED TO DEREGULATE) now asking for regulations to avoid this kind of things :((( how sad :(((

the fund that has lost the most is M*lvin C*pital, one of the most important, powerful and ruthless funds in the world. the fund warned Wall Street yesterday (GameStop was at $ 160), that if that company kept growing, they would go bankrupt. and wall street allowed them to leave the short selling them earlier (violating the contract they signed!!! talk about privilege my dude!!)as an exception to avoid their bankruptcy and, by domino effect, the bankruptcy of many other funds. they saved the companies but they had lost an immense amount of money. 

on the other hand, somewhere in the world, there's a group of high-schoolers (the range of age of that reddit group was between 16-18 which makes everything funnier go gen z! go!) from middle-class families, who, from home and their computers, put into the game $100 of their savings and now they had earned around $2,000. and they can still earn more if stocks continues to rise. 

#Nikki talks #Nikki is a nerd i know #but ISNT IT INTERESTING?!?!?! #ECONOMICS ARE FUCKED UP!!! #THE STOCK MARKETS ARE SO FRAGILE IT IS SCARY!!!!!

[contextualstudieslorena]

IS BEING A PART OF THE LGBTQ+ COMMUNITY A TREND?

+Throughout the years’ many people are seen coming out as queer. And nowadays it is even more common to see queer characters in media as something that is becoming normalised. For example, in this early graph made by Gallup, (an American analytics and advisory company based in Washington, D.C.) we can see that the amount of people ‘coming out ‘ and identifying as a part of the LGBT community grows every year. Yet, it is seen to be more common in people who are born from 2002 to 1997, that being generation Z. After that, being Millenials, who are followed by generation X. Besides that, it can be seen that few traditionalists identify as LGBT, for a reason that I will be talking about in this essay.

We can also see in the graft that those numbers rise throughout the years. And why does this happen? Is it because Millennials and Gen Z started a new trend of being queer? Or is it because they feel more comfortable talking about issues that used to be hidden before.

Queer representation has indeed been growing a lot, if not in movies or magazines, Kids nowadays can spot a drag queen only looking through social media, or even Netflix, a Movie platform that has been seen adding a lot of queer characters to their movies and shows. If Netflix is doing a good job at bringing awareness and representation that is another conversation but compared to 10 years ago, it is noticeable that every day queer representation grows more and more.

Yet, the only place we can see this is in media, as there is not much of it in the regular history classes we have at school.

It is also important to note that kids can be very moldable. They spend more than 11 years of their life copying exactly everything they see, that being something positive or not. And that happens so often, that a boy died in Indonesia after trying to copy the fictional superhero Spider-Man. ‘Police are investigating if a five-year-old boy in Jakarta was trying to mimic Spider-Man after he jumped out a window to his death after being told he couldn’t watch the latest movie in the franchise.’. And as surprising as this can be, it shows kids and teenagers can be influenced by something so much, they will try to mimic it, which might be happening to all the Gen Z adults who grew up with media shoving down LGBT content down their throats. As well as that, they can also be following their friend’s choices to come out and can be even lying to their own selves for attention.

I could spend an enormous amount of time writing about how social media can affect peoples sexuality and gender but I’d rather do something more educating and look at the past. Where humans started coming together as tribes and living in a society, having to deal with the presence of each other and create romantic and social relationships.

When talking about same-gender relationships the queer community mentions how normal gay relationships are in nature. Petter Boeckman, Norweigan Zoologist would say that more than 1500 species of animals have been seen having some type of homosexual interaction, those not only being mammals but as Boeckman stated "We're talking about everything from mammals to crabs and worms. The actual number is of course much higher. Among some animals homosexual behaviour is rare, some having sex with the same gender only a part of their life, while other animals, such as the dwarf chimpanzee, homosexuality is practised throughout their lives." as well as that, he then compares chimpanzees to humans who identify as homosexual "If a female has sex with a male one time, but thousands of times with another female, is she bisexual or homosexual? This is the same way to have children is not unknown among homosexual people.". However, Petter wasn’t the only one who found homosexual interactions between animals, Kurt Kotrschal, a known biologist for researching these types of behaviours has confirmed that these ty pes of relationships are beneficial for the species.

I am mentioning animals not only to show that homosexuality is natural to other species but because they can be even more related to indigenous people.

Indigenous people are the ones who can be seen the most in contact with nature. They have decades of history of not having any contact with other human beings than the ones that were located in the same tribe as them, and as much as they would fight with other tribes and move around they still had their tribes, where they would create relationships in and settle their tents. They didn’t have any contact with books and science before the colonizers came in 1500 and even after that many tribes weren’t discovered by them in the middle of the Amazon forest, so many of them didn’t even get to be influenced by the Europeans and their racism and misogynistic views and homophobic religion.

The point I want to make is that indigenous people are the ones who are the closest to animals, and if they saw an animal do a homosexual interaction, they would probably see it as something that is intended to happen and not weird, as animals don’t have a perception of that is morally wrong or not. They are a part of nature, different from the Europeans who colonized them who were already influenced by the church and their extremist ideas. And as much as it would be wonderful to have indigenous people be so open-minded as they were, Colonization happened, and with that, so did a period where Europeans found the need to force their catholic beliefs on them, as well as bringing many diseases and suffering. Cieza de Leon, a chronicler of the conquest in Peru once said, and I quote ‘ Within a somewhat different framework. During the colonial years, indigenous morality changed, partly as a result of contact with the Europeans.’She also believes and argues that indigenous people had a spiritual justification for doing anal sex with their partners ( which is now seen as something Queer people are more familiar with), that being in a same-sex or straight relationship. This spiritual justification had to do with their religious beliefs. While Colonial Latin American societies would see anal sex within their own beliefs, Iberian societies would see sodomy as a way of showing male dominance.

There are not that many pieces of evidence of Queer indigenous people in history, as the colonizers would murder them and force them to stop being who they truly were. However, there’s an engraving that shows a little bit more about their experience as trans indigenous people in colonial times. In this engraving made by Theodor de Bry in 1594 as part of his Les Grands Voyages, we can see how this homophobia is well represented. In the art piece, 8 men are shown wearing noble clothes, and between them was Vasco Nunez de Balboa, a man known for being a Spanish nobleman who conquered Panama. But what is atrocious about this art piece is what is in front of them, 3 men being eaten alive by dogs after being demanded to do so by the nobleman, after being seen dressed as women. However, what is most ironic about this engraving is the way it’s presented, which plays when seeing the men standing above them. Who present themselves in a feminine way earring clothes that could nowadays be considered quite puffy and girly. This engraving is only the beginning of what queer indigenous people had to go through, of course not mentioning the amount of evidence of homophobia that was probably erased through the time. To summarize Brazil’s colonization process, the European view on lust, nudity, polygamy, cannibalism, sodomy and homosexuality which was normal to indigenous people, was considered to be against nature and gods will, and their job was to basically baptise as many natives as they wanted and shove catholic ideas down their throat.

Yves d’Evreux, a french capuchin priest delivered a highly dramatic letter, that presented his reaction on how he encountered an indigenous that could be considered a trans man. His trip to Northern Brasil (1613-1614) surprised him , as he reacted in a negative way towards them. As he wrote ‘There is, in Juniparan, in the Island, a hermaphrodite, in the exterior more man than a woman, since he has the face and the voice of woman, with fine, flexible and long hair, however [he] was married and had children (...). (d’Evreux, 1874, p. 90) he then mentions this man again, as he ran after him with the French to ‘purify his soul’ and kill him, he was then captured and chained under the fort of Sao Luis and was obliged to say the following ‘You will die for your crimes, we approve your death and I myself want to light the fuse for the Frenchmen to know and to see that we hate your evil deeds [...]: when Tupan sends someone to take your body, if you want to have in the Heaven the long hair and the body of a woman instead of that of a man, ask Tupan to give you the woman’s body and to be resurrected woman, and you will be in Heaven on the side of women and not of men. (d’Evreux, 1874, p. 232). This however is just a glimpse of what transgender people had to go through during colonial times and still to this day. The queer community is a community that is supposed to help everyone, but that doesn’t focus much on the history of indigenous people and how much they suffered.

In conclusion, as much as nowadays, people can be highly influenced by others, the LGBTQ community has been around for a rather long time and it is not something that the newest generation has made up. From the colonization times till nowadays, queer people have felt oppressed and the necessity to ‘stay in the closet’ and not be their true selves while being afraid of getting judged or even murdered by random people or even close ones. However, nowadays people have been talking more about important issues such as homophobia, sexism and racism, which is making queer people feel more comfortable Even though, they are still fighting for their rights, and they’re still in the long run, protesting for all the people who have died since Europeans somehow decided that god found their sexual choices to be unnatural and demoniac. Now, what is left for us to do is to create a healthy environment and show more representation in media every single day, so more queer people feel comfortable without having to spend their entire lives fighting and running away from who they are. Being queer is not a trend, but queer people have been being hidden from us our entire lives. They were always there, and they are always going to be there.

Bibliography:

Partal, Y., 2021. Are there gay animals in nature? Homosexuality in the animal world. [online] Zoo Portraits. Available at: <https://www.zooportraits.com/animal-homosexuality/> [Accessed 5 April 2021].

Sigal, P., 2003. Infamous desire. Chicago: The University of Chicago Press, p.2.

Fernandes, E. and Arisi, B., 2017. Gay Indians in Brazil. 1st ed. Springer.

News-Medical.net. 2021. 1,500 animal species practice homosexuality. [online] Available at: <https://www.news-medical.net/news/2006/10/23/1500-animal-species-practice-homosexuality.aspx> [Accessed 9 April 2021].

New York Post. 2021. 5-year-old boy dies ‘trying to be Spider-Man’. [online] Available at: <https://nypost.com/2014/05/04/5-year-old-boy-dies-trying-to-be-spider-man/> [Accessed 9 April 2021].

Jackson, A., Thomas, M. and Steffen, A., 2021. Homosexuality Is Natural. [online] Exposing The Truth. Available at: <https://www.exposingtruth.com/homosexuality-is-natural/> [Accessed 9 April 2021].

Buchholz, K., 2021. Infographic: 5.6 Percent of U.S. Adults Identify as LGBT. [online] Statista Infographics. Available at: <https://www.statista.com/chart/18228/share-of-americans-identifying-as-lgbt/> [Accessed 9 April 2021].

Pictures:

1475. Spanish Explorer Ordering Native Indians To Be Torn Pieces By Dogs Copper Engraving 16Th Century. [image] Available at: <http://www.latinamericanstudies.org/debry-atrocities.htm> [Accessed 9 April 2021].

n.d. Two indigenous women kissing at an LGBTQ+ pride parade. [image] Available at: <http://@indigenasLGBTQ> [Accessed 9 April 2021].

n.d. Trans (We’wha (Zuni) circa 1849-1896 Mexican Indigenous woman. [image].

[allywrites-aceauthor]

"Trial," Apollo huffed, hyping himself up.  "Trial trial trial." He bounced on the balls of his feet.  "I'M APOLLO JUSTICE AND I'M FINE!" he yelled to no one in particular.

Trucy was scrolling through her phone.  "After yesterday, I've been looking up memes from the 2010s," she explained to Apollo.  "I actually found a good video explaining some of them. You might need it for the case, since the victim was memed to death." Apollo looked at what Trucy was showing him.

The video began, starting out with a catchy beat, when the voice of Richard Paul Astley blared through Trucy's speakers, singing, "We're no strangers to love, you know the rules and so do I."  Apollo facepalmed. Trucy giggled manaically.

"Trucy, this is SERIOUS!" Apollo shouted.  "My boyfriend is facing the death penalty!"

"The death penalty?" Trucy asked, surprised.  

"Yes the death penalty!  It's always the death penalty!"

"Yikes... So uh... Who's the prosecutor?  Now that Klavier's the defendant..."

Apollo sighed.  "Franziska Von Karma."

Trucy jumped back.  "Von Karma's prosecuting and you're not wearing armor?  I'm surprised, Polly, I didn't know you were this brave!"

He stared blankly for a second, then got it.  "OH HER WHIP!" he cried.

"Yeah!  Exactly!  You're a gosh darn idiot, Polly!"

"Oh shoot, I am."

The trial began, and Prosecutor Von Karma seemed to lack her usual accessory.  "Would the prosecution please begin their opening statement."

"Very well then.  On April the 20th, the foolishly foolish fool sitting in the defendant's seat was performing at a concert. He was being heckled by the victim,  one Cannaz Chisburger. Later, Mr. Chisburger was found stabbed in the face until death, with a note that said 'Stabbity dabbity. Dab on the haters, your life has been yeeted to me' in the defendant's handwriting.  That is all," exposited Franziska.

Apollo gulped.  He was facing off against THE legendary Franziska Von Karma.  Her. Whip lady.  

"Why are you staring into space, foolish fool?" Franziska questioned smarmily.  Apollo flinched, assuming she was going to whip him. Instead, Franziska whipped... and then nae-naed.

"The FUCK?" Apollo mumbled to himself.

"Polly?  What was that?" Trucy asked, a little scared.

"If I told you, you wouldn't believe me."

"Oh."

Franziska took a deep breath.  "Detective Faraday recommended I work on my... anger management.  She chose this foolish dance move for me instead of my usual choice of emotional outlet."

Apollo let out a, "thank goodness".  He was nae-naed at again by an angry Franziska.  

"Order in the court!" the judge shouted.  "I have allowed a lot in this court but I will NOT allow a dance-off!"

"So Mr. Wright can cross-examine a parrot but two sensible lawyers can't have a dance-off?  Ridiculous, your honor," Apollo said instantaneously.

"I'll have you know that parrot was an important witness, Mr. Justice," retorted the judge.

"Not according to Manfred Von Karmaaaaaaaaaaaashit."  Franziska stared daggers at him. Apollo gulped. "Anywho, case!  Is there a witness?"

"Well, first we have Detective Ema Skye.  If she would please approach the stand…?"

Ema stepped up to the witness stand.  "What's up, fuckers. I'm Ema Skye, I'm a Snackoo because you are what you eat, and I also do detective shit I guess.  But that doesn't matter."

Apollo cringed a little.  "Ema, no-"

"Ema yes!  I'm the best detective you got on this case so do you want to lose horribly or find out facts from Ema Skye the Science Guy?"

He sighed.  "Ema Skye the Science Guy, please."

"That's what I thought! Now," Ema said, holding up a whiteboard, "the crime scene looked like this." She divided the whiteboard into four quadrants.  "There were four dressing rooms, each with some mirrors in them. The first room had one screen." She drew one vertical line in the first quarter. "The second and third had two." Four vertical lines were drawn all together in the next two quadrants.  "And in numero quatre, we have two mirrors as well, but…" One vertical line and one horizontal lines were added. Apollo stared at it for a second, then facepalmed.

"Ema, this is just Loss!!!"

"No, it's the crime scene!"

"You foolish fool!  It's the crime scene!"

"What's Loss?" Trucy mumbled.  Apollo just stood there, floundering.

"At a LOSS for words, huh?" Ema said smugly.  

"Shut up Ema."

"Sorry.  Anyway, the victim's body was dragged through all four dressing rooms, ending up here." Ema circled a point in between the final two folding screens.  "Someone saw the Fop dragging the body with a knife wedged in its forehead."

"A perfect segue to our next witness, Anna Gorl," Franziska said.

A middle-aged woman with bleached blonde hair that went over one shoulder, like Klavier's.  She had a spray tan and wore a Gavinners tank top.

"Witness!" Franziska demanded, doing the whip.  "Name and occupation!"

"Anna Gorl, number one Gavinners fan!" she squealed. "I can't believe I'm in the presence of THE Klavier Gavin."

Apollo slammed his desk.  "Impossible! I'm the number one fan of the Gavinners!"

"Name ten of their hit singles," she challenged.

"Wh- MY BOYFRIEND IS IN THE BAND!"

"Oh… honey," she said condescendingly.  "You know Daryan's not in the band anymore."

Klavier piped up.  "Fräulein, I am his boyfriend."

"Oh…"  She looked disappointed.  "I just assumed because of the hair…"

"I WAS THE ONE WHO PUT DARYAN IN JAIL!" Apollo cried, incredulous.

Franziska cleared her throat, getting everyone's attention.  "Witness! Your testimony!"

"So, I was backstage after the concert, when I saw Klavier arguing with that one rude man.  All of a sudden he did that dance thing that all the kids were doing ten years ago. Then he was dead.  I followed him when he dragged the body around. I saw him write the note."

"Fräulein, who, pray tell, invited you backstage?" Klavier asked.

"I- er-"

"My witness snuck backstage.  What of it?" Franziska said snottily.  Klavier cursed under his breath.

"Hold on one second.  Ms. Gorl, Did you REALLY see Klavier Gavin?"

"Of course!"

"Say you saw Klavier Gavin with the body again, please."

"Alright, I saw Klavier Gavin dragging the body." Apollo's bracelet tightened.  He saw her smile droop a little whenever she said Klavier Gavin.

"Gotcha!  Did you really see Klavier Gavin?" Apollo yelled.

"I er- uh-"

"Maybe you just saw… yourself?  In one of the mirrors, I mean," Apollo suggested.

"B-But the note!" Franziska stammered.  "That was in Piano's handwriting! What about that?!"

"Why would a murderer write a note?!" Apollo questioned.

"He wanted attention, foolish fool."

"Are we sure that was his handwriting?  Not just a forgery?" 

Franziska looked incredibly offended.  "Are you implying that I would forget evidence?"

"Nononono not at all!  I'm saying the real killer… like… Ms. Gorl, do you happen to have Mr. Gavin's autograph?"

"Oh yes!" she replied proudly.  

"Then you could have EASILY analyzed and replicated his handwriting."

Anna gasped.  "But- but why would I-"

"Simple.  You're the real killer."

"Objection!" Franziska shouted.  "We have no proof it WASN'T your client."

Apollo thought back on the note.  "Actually… Ms. Gorl, what does 'yeet' mean to you?"

"Uh, taken away from and given to, I suppose, why?"

"Now, Klavier, tell us what yeet ACTUALLY means."

"To throw, why?"

Apollo smirked.  "Klavier Gavin, a true member of Gen Z, would NEVER misuse yeet like it was in the note.  What do you have to say, Ms. Gorl?"

"I- er- I-" she started crying.  "I DID IT!"

Klavier was given a not guilty verdict.  They regrouped in the lobby.  

"Herr Forehead, why did she do it?" Klavier asked, a bit concerned.

"Well, she says she's your number one fan.  She couldn't let it slide when someone heckled you.  So she did what she thought she had to."

Klavier hugged Apollo and they were kind of having a moment when Rick Astley's gorgeous voice blared from Trucy's phone.

[rosykims]

A-Z HEADCANONS // DUNCAN THEIRIN

i was tagged by @nordxz thanks so much tash !! i'm gonna answer this for duncan, my babey and the next gen son of alistair and ella cousland 😊😚😘

i snappped while answering these and accidentally wrote 6 pages and almost 4k words so uh. loooooong infodump ahead.

Alignment: What would be their D&D alignment? How might it come into play?

duncan very easily falls into the lawful neutral category, like i dont rly need to give his alignment too much thought unlike with some of my other ocs. duncan is.....hmm. hes a very KIND person, generous and selfless, and tries his best to make people happy, but i wouldn’t necessarily say he's good, considering a lot his issues lie with his inability to act, or stand up to others. he’s guilty of very blindly following the law, or other people's ideas of what's right, and he doesn't really feel confident enough to rely on his own conscience for most things. so i'd say while he tries to do the right thing and act within the law, sometimes he goes against his own values out of fear or confusion or, simply out of ignorance, since he was born into a life of privilege and can't always distinguish what's right and what’s believed ykno

Beverage: What do they most like to drink, and why?

duncan shares a weird trait with both his brother and sister where they all just inexplicably ?? don't like alcohol at all. so stuff like wine and liquors is off the table. he absolutely LOVES tea though. u know that one scene in scott pilgrim where the gal is going thru her list of like 72 teas? thats him 100%. it's his lifeblood at this point, he has SO much of it and a perk of being the heir to a monarchy means he's got a lot of foreign merchant acquaintances, so he tends to order in different blends from all over. he's a chronic insomniac, and he uses it as a crutch to get through the days some times. modern!duncan still loves tea but obviously has a stronger love for coffee, since its far more effective!

Co-Habitat: Do they live with anyone? What’s “need to know” before moving in?

duncan currently lives in the residential dorms of the college of enchanters, while he's sort of aimlessly studying a bunch of subjects he's already mostly adept at. firstly, duncan is VERY sick lol, he was conceived while ella and alistair still hadn't found the cure for the joining, and essentially he inherited both of their darkspawn taint so 🙂🙂🙂 thats always a good time. so anyone who lives with him needs to prepare for 1) him being sick obviously,, throwing up, coughing up blood, looking like a corpse virtually 23 hours of the day lol. and obviously the fear that one day he might actually die. but also 2) he suffers from grey warden nightmares for the same reasons, hence the insomnia. he can go a concerning number of days without sleeping and usually only takes strategic cat naps when he needs to, but obviously he has his limits. it's very rare that he goes a full night without waking up in a cold sweat due to nightmares so. we stan one depressed king ! oh he also is Incapable of locking the door to his apartment. he always forgets and hes too tired to care about people stealing his stuff fkdkdjdjd he would probably make more of an effort if he had someone living with him, but old habits die hard so !!!!!!

Decor: What kind of home do they keep? Are there any defining details?

honestly , duncan's house is very devoid of clutter or personal items in general, which is sad. he definitely would have a lot of decor if he could, but since his current housing is only temporary while he's in orlais, he doesn't really want to get... comfortable ykno. other than that, duncan's home is always kept impeccably neat and clean, for two reasons. firstly, growing up in denerim's palace really engrained into his head the importance of keeping up appearances, so its sort of a subconscious ritual of his at this point. but i think more importantly its because of all the nights when he cant sleep, so during the night with nothing to keep him from dwelling on his thoughts or nightmares, he really needs the distraction, and cleaning gives him something to do. duncan really needs to feel like he's doing something, like he's managing, like he's able to achieve something so cleaning is just one little way of taking ownership of his life.

Escape: What do they do to de-stress? How successful is it?

nsfw warning but uhhh..... he has a LOT of sex basically dkdkdksk u wouldn’t know it by looking at him tho ! bc hes very polite and nervous and kinda shy?? but hes also charming and obviously attractive so he doesnt really lack for interested parties. mainly he just sticks to one night stands, with no strings attached, and it helps him take his mind off things when hes exhausted or its late at night and hes afraid to go to sleep. otherwise he also has had some friends with benefits but usually his personal life is too complicated for a serious relationship. aside from that, he also reads a LOT, writes too – when he has the time/energy – and obviously cuddling sessions with his cat, moira dkdkdk

Fluff: What hits their soft spot? Does anything turn them into emotional goo?

so ik above i said that duncan doesnt do serious relationships but thats,, not through any will of his own. he LOVES love and is a complete hopeless romantic , but unfortunately for a number of reasons he's just very unlucky at love ! 😔 so having an emotional, intimate connection with someone that isnt just sex is super healing for him, since he's not used to it at all. being with nadaia is such a positive thing for him, just knowing that his feelings are reciprocated and that he's valued and wanted.

Grudge: How bad does an insult go over? Do they hold a grudge long?

i think it depends on who its directed at !! duncan usually ignores any insults directed at him because he's grown up being so scrutinized by the public and for the most part, fereldens are very weary of him so he hears A LOT. most of criticisms about him he just.. automatically accepts as fact and really buys into them, bc he has such low self esteem. but as for other people, and ESPECIALLY loved ones thats a very different story!! he's not exactly the type to start throwing punches if anyone says a bad word against someone he cares about, but he WILL personally see to it in his own sneaky way that they get whats coming to them dkdkkdjd usually he'll either find a way to expose their dirty laundry, embarrass them in public, prevent a promotion, something like that lol. this goes double if the insult is directed at nadaia or his family.

Hobby: What’s something they do for fun that might be surprising?

ive already mentioned that he's an avid reader and he likes to write occasionally, but he's also a talented musician! He can play harp and lute, and has a beautiful singing voice ! tho he never EVER sings in public and u have to be like,, a ride or die for him to even consider singing in front of u.

Insomnia: What’s their sleeping schedule like? Snorer? Sound sleeper?

well like i said he's an insomniac so sleep rly is a vague, barely recognised concept to him at the point dksksksk he also experiences sleep paralysis during especially bad nightmares, honestly he rly hit the misery jackpot and i feel so bad like hes indisputably my most tormented oc 🙃🙃🙃 so yea hehe doesnt really thrash around during nightmares but he sweats A LOT and sometimes talks in his sleep. during sleep paraylsis obviouslyy he goes COMPLETELY rigid and still which is terrifying for everyone involved lol. on the rare occasion that he is able to sleep he is out like a light lol he would sleep for 17 hours if he could. in saying that because he is also a Strategic Napper he is usually comfortable falling asleep ANYWHERE, because hes so tired comfort really isnt a concern lol.

Jaded: Do they buy into the “happily ever after” ideal? What’s their standard?

no he doesn't unfortunately 😔 or at least i should say he doesn't believe in it for himself - he's pretty convinced that he won't live til 30 and he's existing on borrowed time as it is, so he hasn't really put a lot of thought into his own happiness or the pursuit of his own goals because he doesn't believe he'll be around to see them realized

Kin: What’s their role among their relations? Do they consider others family?

duncan is the firstborn son of king!alistair and ella cousland, my canon warden. he's also the eldest brother to roslyn and bryce theirin. he's also, obviously , the half brother of keiran, tho none of the theirin kids are aware of that oof. his role, officially, is to become king when his parents eventually pass. its NOT something he wants, due to being so sick and unsure of himself. despite what his parents tell him, he doesnt believe he will make a good king and is really terrified of the notion in general, i guess a little like alistair was in dao. duncan kinda,,, avoids his duties, to the point where he literally LEAVES to live and study in orlais. he still does what he needs to do, keeps in correspondence with people he needs to, but its all bare minimum stuff because hes just. so afraid of it lol. he has a mostly good relationship with his family, despite that – theres some resentment between him and his sister, rose, but thats a whole entire story we dont have time for dkdkskdk

Law: What do they think about abiding rules? Are they selective about it?

like i said before he's pretty adherent to the rules and laws of society tho i do see that as more of a flaw than anything. he doesnt really feel comfortable stepping outside the norm and tends to accept that other people know best ! even if he disagrees he's usually too unsure of himself to speak up. that does change quite a bit once he and nadaia grow closer, since SHE is big on bending ridiculous or unjust rules, but he's always gonna be a bit of a follower i think 😒

Magic: In a magic series or not, are they accepting, or is each instance a shock?

he's accepting!! he's a mage so it would be wild of him if he didnt lmao. during his childhood/adolesence he was kinda harsh on himself and had a lot of internalized guilt for being a mage, bc this was obviously still fresh after the mage rebellions. he resented his own abilities and just wanted to be normal, but that was also him projecting a lot of his other problems as well. he had amazing teachers who helped him come to terms with his abilities, and the best of all was my inquisitor, ashara, who is kind of like a very distant, scary aunt who always had a soft spot for him. she helped him – and alistair and ella – RIGHT after they discovered he was a mage, and she was really the biggest role model in his life when it came to magic. duncan has always looked up to her skill and control and confidence, and tried very hard to match that.

Network: Are they connected to the people? How much do they reach out to others?

duncan has an ARMY of acquaintances and connections due to his family, but doesn't really have a lot of people he considers his close friends. he's super friendly and he gets along with most people, but like ive said before serious relationships including friendships are always a bit complicated for him bc of who he is as a person lol. as for reaching out, he's a very independent, introverted person and so he tends not to seek out other people unless he's close to them or has no other choice. he's very self conscious about being a burden on people or being to “needy" so he holds himself back and sometimes comes across as a little cold.

Offspring: What kind of parent would they be? Would they prefer one, or multiple?

he.... probably can't physically have kids unfortunately due to his condition, and as a result he's never really wanted to think too much about it, or imagine a scenario that he believes he cant have. but if it WERE a possibility, or if he felt stable in his own life enough to adopt, he'd probably be comfortable with just one child to completely spoil. he would be such a good father, albiet maybe not the coolest dad ddkdkdks i think nadaia would be the one who got up to the crazy shenanigans and let her child get away with everything, and duncan would be more of the nurturing, responsible one. he'd be a MASTER at telling bedtime stories, would kick ass at homework assistance, and would sing his kid to sleep every single night (until they got too old for it obviously). ooooo im so IMMENSELY emo abt this au now that i think about it

Pistol: Is this character skilled with a weapon? What’s their opinion of violence?

duncan is a very non-violent person, but he does believe that sometimes violence is necessary and will BE violent if he needs to – only in self defence scenarios though. he's an adept mage, and very skilled with a staff, but he isn't a fighter, really – more of a defensive, protective figure.

Question: How often do they feel doubt? What topics are they defensive about?

oh the doubt is constant with him 🙃🙃 he has a lot of deep routed dread about his own morality and whether or not he's a good person or if the maker will accept him when he dies. he's andrastian but TERRIFIED of the notion that its all actually real, bc then he doesnt know where that leaves him. he has this weird existential dichotomy where he doesnt know if hes closer resembling a grey warden or a darkspawn bc of his tainted blood. he also doubts his abilities and his magic bc he's afraid that the taint just,, makes him inherently a corrupted thing. he doubts himself on a more basic level with like, being a good brother, a good son, a good king when the time comes. he wants to be a good student and partner but sometimes his health makes him feel like he cant, and it weighs on him so heavily, almost all the time. basically he needs a hug so badly its not funny 😔😔😔

Reminder: How are they at remembering daily needs? What falls through the cracks?

uhh its very selective !!! for the most part he's very good at taking care of himself, mostly because he NEEDS to otherwise his health gets out of control, but sometimes he tends to prioritize one set of needs above another,, which usually means not sleeping (the most common), forgetting to eat, not letting his loved ones know when he's having a poor health day which usually results in him getting really sick and nobody is around to help him. he also forgets to do certain things like lock up his house, buy foodstuffs, reply to peoples letters n stuff like that.

Sing: Do they like music? Do they listen often/sing/hum/play songs in their head?

yes and yes !! duncan loves music altho its a very personal and private thing for him. he's pretty naturally gifted with music and gets it from ella, who taught him a lot of what he knows. he has a gorgeous singing voice (i kinda hc something similar to dan smith’s vocals from bastille!) that he rarely uses bc he only ever sings when he's alone or if he's forced to by a nosy loved one or something lol

Touch: How do they handle contact? Is their personal bubble big?

duncan doesn't mind being touched !!! in fact in most situations he welcomes it, as long as its like,,, appropriate and not some random stranger obviously. he grew up with ella and alistair who obviously are VERY affectionate people so he loves giving and receiving hugs from friends and he doesnt flinch or feel weird about just? random natural touches or anything. his ~love language~ is also physical touch so he LIVES for cuddling with nadaia and holding hands and anything like that. however !!! his little sister rose HATES being touched by virtually anybody and in any capacity, so he's very aware that not everybody is okay with touch, and is always careful and considerate of other peoples boundaries. he usually waits for the other person to make the first move, or simply asks them first !

Upcoming: How much do they think of the future? Do they make long-term plans?

he doesn't at all 😔 i mentioned this before but he doesn't see himself living very long, and its really impacted his outlook on life. he is afraid to commit to a lot of things, even if its something he really, truly wants, because he doesn't want to get his hopes up for things. it also keeps him from forging positive relationships. a lot of it has to do with him just being overly polite, but he refuses to make the first move with anything, or communicate what HE wants out of something. for example, his relationship with nadaia could have progressed so much faster if he had just,,, told her what he wanted. she had to make a lot of the first moves in the relationship because he just,, doesnt know how to take chances i guess !!! we love a Deeply Flawed king

Vice: What bad habits do they have? Is there something they would be ashamed of?

Some harmless ones are ; him talking to his cat constantly dkdskd also he has very poor time management skills so he's almost always a few minutes late, forgetting to lock his stuff up, and slouching, probably !!! some more serious ones would be like,, having sex with strangers as a coping mechanism lol, not speaking his mind and instead just letting himself be a doormat, also INTENSE avoidance of his problems (moving away to orlais for 9 years to avoid his fear of being king for example 🙃) tho i guess they fall under the same category oof.

Wardrobe: What’s their fashion style? Do they have any staple pieces?

duncan dresses nice, for the most part !!! again, it's mostly to do with growing up in court and having to keep up appearances, but also hes just. a nice bisexual boy who wants to take care of himself ykno, and that includes hygiene/clothing/grooming etc ! he's maybe a bit TOO reserved tho, he mostly wears dark colours like blacks, greys and brows, but hes been known to wears reds/blues/whites as well, and there’s a lot of subtle yet beautiful details on his more formal attire that might go unnoticed by a casual eye. a lot of his clothes are specifically tailored but he's also fond of big oversized sweaters for when hes just hanging out ! he's got a not great relationship with his body lol so he usually dresses very conservatively, with long sleeves and pants and usually more than one layer, but hes also a thot so !!! pants be TIGHT dksksksks

X-Ray: How’s their health? Any problem areas? Do they take care of themselves?

Djdjdksksndjddjkekdidksjs OKAY WELL if u have read this far than obviously u kno the answer to this question. if ur just skimming tho first of all ur valid ! second of all duncan is VERY sick. he was conceived when ella and alistair where still searching for the joining cur, so basically he inherited the darkspawn taint x 2 and nearly died a bunch of times as a baby/young child. obviously idk how the cure storyline is gonna resolve but my hc is that bc the darkspawn taint is something he was BORN with, not just something that happened to him via ritual, his body is much more impacted by it so even if they are able to find a cure, it wouldnt work THAT well and his health would still suffer bc of the prolonged damage. so physically, he deals with a LOT – intense migraines, insomnia, nausea, fatigue, problems with breathing and fevers and stuff. obviously mentally hes.... not doing great either, tho he’s trying his best. sometimes his insomnia gets so bad he starts hallucinating visions from his darkspawn nightmares, and sometimes he just feel paranoid in general that he's actually an Evil Darkspawn and hes just somehow managed to convince everyone hes a normal person – sort of a weird blend of imposter syndrome and body dysmorphia its. complicated. anyway he has very low self esteem and tends to think hes a huge inconvenience to everybody, and when he was a teenager he went thru a period where he was very suicidal, and ANGRY and afraid 😔 he’s doing better though, now that he has learnt how to manage most of his symptoms and he's not suffering in denerim court. nadaia is also a huge help, though he tries not to become too heavily reliant on her, since he's had bad experiences with depending too much on other people.

Yack: What’s their favorite thing to talk about? What do they go on about?

skskdkdk im already crying hehe 🙂 duncan is so introverted and self conscious of being “Too Much" for other people so he tends to keep his thoughts/interests to himself and stick w just. boring small tall or non invasive questions relating to the other person. BUT if u show an interest and he trusts u then oh boy. hes an absolute dork. he loves talking about magic and having really intense conversations abt the technical sides of it (he and dorian would get along SO well) but he also loves history !!!! before he began studying at the college of enchanters he received multiple ??? qualifications?? (idk if thats the right term but u kno) from the university of orlais, one of them being orlesian and ferelden history. also anything to do with the grey wardens, the blights and darkspawn for personal reasons obviously. He's a VERY good storyteller so he somehow finds a way to make even the dryest topics seem very compelling and Cool – varric would be proud !! he finds the orlesian Great Game fascinating, and he enjoys sharing wild anecdotes about the things he's seen asshole nobles get up to. thats always thrilling skdksksk ALSO. He has a secret interest in necromancy and the mortalitasi (its only a secret bc hes the heir and that wouldnt look ... great lol ) but he only ever really talks about that with nadaia, who finds that stuff almost as interesting as he does. also, finally, he loves talking about nadaia 😊😊😊😊 hes the type of guy who will always namedrop “my girlfriend" into any conversation, loves telling people about her accomplishments and how Cool she is ..... he loves her a Lot is what im getting at sksksks

Zodiac: What’s their astro sign? Does it fit? What would you pick, if it’s unknown?

duncan is a pisces babey like his mother !!! tho he could also be a virgo but,,, i think for now pisces works better for him. he's very smart and introspective and creative, but he has some issues with critical thoughts, avoidance and melancholy like ive mentioned. also pisces is a water element so i guess that makes even more sense, since hes an ice mage 👌👌👌

okay !!! im done !!! i cant believe i wrote all that but i guess if u didnt know abt duncan before, u absolutely do now dksksks im so sorry to anyone who actually read thru all of this, u really are braver than the troops

#/ long post #god im so sorry idk how read mores work on mobile so im just go... leave this and go #anyway consider this a crash course on my Favourite Boy #i love him so much i rly just... start writing abt him and physically cant stop #tagging literally anybody who sees this as thinks its neat btw. just pretend i put @urnamehere and go for it ! #oc: duncan

[iloveposse]

Send a number ask 1-30

Mwahahahaha...don t blame me for the ling ass post, blame my dear hun^

Ok...so

1)how old werr you when you firat fell in love?

Now see this bothers me cause love can be very different. Cause romantically id say 14, but i do believe we must understand that when that is boiled down, the love and caring part is the same as in a platonuc sense, it s just added on attraction if sorts that makes it romantic. So truly, the first time i genuinely met someone i cared about deeply and, id say, loved a lot, more than anyone at the time, i was 13. And that was a pivotal point because i realised that being loved is a strength and power while loving someone is a great weakness.

2)name the first person who broke your heart.

My parents. Fuck them.

3) hiw many different best friends have you had?

Over a dozen by title, 3 that actually meant something

4) do you have a best friend?

Yes

5) do you have a specific talent?

The talent of being average. Im good at everything i try (except riding a bicycle)but im a jack of all trades, master of none

6)do you fit into any stereotypes?

Hmmm...don t think so. I guess depresses millenial/gen z kid?

7) sexuality

Confused mess

8) fav animal

Tarantula brachypelma, peacock spider, snakes, sloths....i love all animals more than people 😚💕

9)favourite pet names

Darling, pumpkin, asshole, the unknown material

10)what do you think love is....

WHAT IS LOVE? BABY DON'T HURT ME, DON'T HURT ME, NO MORE!

11)when did you discover your favourite band?

Hmmm 14, but last month i listened to palaye royale for the first time and i already know almost all their songs....still finding favourite bands

12) do you want to get married?

Ah, now this is important, see i am undifferent to it, i find the idea of parties and people repulsive and legal bindings are not the sort of bondage im into.....but...if against all odds someone i somehow really loved wanted to marry me i would fucking kill putin and make gay marriage legal for the person (or more reasonably just move to another country)

13) do you want to have kids?

I have a huuuuuge phobia of pregnancy and i have serious anger issues stemming from a meh childhood.. .i would fucking suck with children, but i think i could handle adopting a teen.

14) when did you have your first kiss?

Like for realsies like 2 and a half years ago (14 i believe, at a cinema, right next to a mutual best friend who didn t find out her friends were dating till like ages after, it s actually a hilarious story)

15) nope

16)have you been cheated on?

Technically no

17) how many times have you fallen in love?

Idk, twice romantically, and also back to like the first question, though it might not be defined as falling in love, i do love my best friend very much, like more than anyone else. this whole post is basically gonna be an ode to her.

18) have you ever rejected anyone?

I tend to get very violent and/ or cold towards people when they show me a smidgen of affection so never got the opportunity cause i scare em off....im surprised i even have good close friends.

19)have you ever cheated?

Omg....U CONFESS I CHEATED ON A HISTORY TEST ONCE BUT I FELT BAD AND MADE MISTAKES IN PURPOSE IM SORRYYY

relationships ..no

20) have you ever been in a ling distance relationship?

All of these do not really apply i dated someone once, it ended horribly, i think i just really wabted to answer the 2 i saw when i first looked through this. But i am a lass of great determination and i will do this

21) romantic or sexual aspects of relationship?

Ummm i prefer the aspect of having someone who gives a rats ass about you and who you give a rats ass about. But like. Sexual stuff is cool too, not gonna discredit that.

22)na

23)na

24) favourite thing about best friend?

Where do i even start? She s marvelous! She s incredibly smart, intelligent and she studies a lot. But she also has a great way with people. She s incredibly dimplomatic abd resppectable. She could be a world leader! But she s genuinely kind but not to a fault. Shes extremely trustworthy

However she s also very funny and cool and just a blast to hang out with. We re basically two sides of the same coin. The basics are similar (smart, hardworking, determined, sense if humour) but then she s just so much better than me at almost everything. She s brilliant.

25) do you want a significant other?

Idc about the label, i just want someone who i can trust and talk to about everything and vice versa, cause i don t like bothering my aforementioned best friend. She s too sweet and worries too much.

26)do you like anyone?

Yes, my 2 friends, my cat, and someone i barely ever talk to (also a couple of lovely people from this hellsite that im not tagging cause they ll be forced to try to figure out wher they re mentioned in this mess)

27) who was the last peraon you loved?

Well right now i love my friends and....ok i get that this is like a romantic question and as i said i had one shitty relationship that ruined a fucking awesome friendship, and though i still care about the person and xould talk to them, but it s just said. This whole topic is sad.

28)do you have a celebrity crush?

Though many celebrities are very attractive both inside and out i do not have crushes on them for i feel uncomfortable thinking that.

29)name a song that makes you want to fall in love?

Um....any song directed to someone else? If we re getting music into this i just want to violently sing my affection at someone. Especially ma cherie by palaye and the only hope for me is you by mcr and smithereens by top.....all of the emo bops

30) do you think you ll be happy later in life?

Hahahahahahah. Um...this hits too close to home. There are moments when im semi happy but...ye...i ve kinda been stuck with the same mood in the background for years and it isn t great. Here s to hoping it doesn t engulf me and that one day (hopefully soon) i won t be surrrounded by people i hate so much i gave my stomach erosions (not kidding, the doctor said it was stress making the burning sensations that s caused by stomach acid basically neating away at various areas inside the tum)

Heeey venting actually made me feel better! Like a bit.. Thank you @thegreenpea. Cause yes im making you scroll through all of this just to let you know that i do love you very much and i appreciate your existence and the moments whenever we talk :)

[is6621]

VSCO and Gen Z: There’s More to the Story by Hannah Fay

Last week I presented on VSCO as a platform for brands to reach Generation Z in a way that feels more organic than traditional social media channels. It gets much of its appeal from a lack of ads, a sense of authenticity, and a reputation as a place of refuge from the pressures of more evaluative platforms like Instagram and Facebook. I was surprised to find that most of the class was generally unfamiliar with the app (other than name recognition)! Below I’ll talk about some of the points that I didn’t get to during my presentation and address some of the questions the class asked a little bit more in-depth.

USING VSCO

During the questions portion, I got asked a lot about the mechanics of the app. Here’s an example of the steps a user might take to edit and post a picture (see replies as well). You’ll notice that not even close to all of the options available are used -- this is where VSCO’s appeal for photo-editing comes in. A seemingly endless array of tools like “white balance,” “shadows tint,” “grain,” and “vignette” enable users to create an infinite amount of filter combinations even before taking the presets (or VSCO-developed filters) into account. A certain amount of the presets come free to use upon downloading the app, and some can be purchased in-app (more on that later). They’re designed, according to CEO & Co-Founder Joe Flory, to recreate the look and feel of real film, lending a sense of authenticity that Generation Z can appreciate.

This is where VSCO can differentiate itself from Instagram, and why the two are able to coexist. Instagram simply does not offer the scope of editing tools that VSCO does -- users will often edit a photo on VSCO and later export it to post on Instagram. For users like this, VSCO is the artistic medium, and Instagram is the means for social connection. This is something that the company’s creators would be OK with, seeing themselves as running a creative company -- not a social company. I’ve also included some screenshots below to illustrate what the user sees in-feed in lieu of a display of likes/reposts. While the user could admittedly count the number of likes and republishes their image receives by hand, this is not the primary focus of the app.

HOW THEY MONETIZE

The app is free to download and free to use for all. Most editing tools are available for free, along with a healthy amount of presets (aka filters). The branded filters I’ll discuss more below are also available for free. And, again, VSCO does not allow ads on their platform. So how in the world do they make money? In the past, essentially the only way was to sell filters. A “shop” icon leads the user to a store offering packs of filters in sets of 4, 6, 8, 10, and 12 for prices ranging from $0.99 to $3.99. But this was difficult in that the purchases were one-time and therefore a somewhat limited source of revenue.

Enter VSCO X, the company’s subscription service rolled out as an invite-only exclusive in late 2016. It’s since then expanded to be available to all users, and is mainly responsible for the company’s 91% growth in revenue in 2017. For $20 a year, the 1 million plus members of VSCO X get unlimited access to all filters and presets, including some created to emulate the look of Fuji and Kodak film, and including some that cannot be purchased separately in-app. Users can access additional editing tools for color balance, and can utilize VSCO’s Sens technology to edit videos with all available filters and tools. Check the video here (or the replies) for an idea of just how extensive the filter library really is. 

Why does VSCO X appeal specifically to Gen Z? For this generation more than any other, their online presence is as much an expression of self as their physical presence. The ability to get their photos to appear exactly as they’d like with relative ease matters. Also important is the fact that the influencers Gen Z knows and loves use VSCO for their own editing. They’re already well accustomed to paying for services like Netflix, Spotify, Hulu, and more on a monthly basis. Although $20 sounds like a lot, it translates to roughly $1.60 per month. That’s much less than other common subscription services seen now as a necessity -- so what’s the harm in one more?

BRANDS THAT USE VSCO

I mentioned in my presentation that brands could work with VSCO in two main ways: one, they could collaborate on branded filters and collections, or two, they could use the VSCO Connect Beta to be matched with content creators.

Nike, Levi’s, and Oakley are some of the best-known brands that debuted their own VSCO filters. When said presets are released, users receive an in-app popup inviting them to download for free and giving a little background information on why the brand has chosen to work with VSCO and what the filter represents. For example, Nike’s TECH preset was released “to celebrate the release of the new Nike Tech Pack,” and invites the user to share their own photos using the TECH preset and #techpack hashtag. As for all branded presets, photos tagged in this way are added to a grid or collection of other user generated images. VSCO further aids the brand by inviting the user to view said collection via a linked post in their normal feed. Generation Z would, in general, form an affinity for brands that interact with them in this way: “How cool is it that Levi’s (or Oakley, or Krochet Kids, or Nike…) provided me with a brand new filter, for free, that fits my aesthetic perfectly?”

Chobani, Strava, Nike (again), and Timberland, on the other hand, are some of the better-known brands that worked with the VSCO Connect Beta. As discussed in class, any company that wanted to take part in the service was asked to submit a brief creative summary stating the goals of the campaign and/or brand and the vision to be realized. VSCO would then have their AI technology (called AVA) step in to scan millions of profiles and match companies with five or so content creators that align with company vision. At this point, companies can select one of the five to produce content in about four weeks’ time. The finished product resembles user-generated content more heavily, lending brands a sense of  authenticity that Gen Z appreciates. Gen Z will also be happy to know that the brand is giving lesser-known content creators not signed with agencies a chance to further their careers -- marketing with a cause.

MORE ABOUT AVA

The biggest rising star of VSCO is their AI technology, AVA. AVA does more than simply recognize that an image is of a dog or a tree or a slice of cake. According to VSCO co-founders, AVA can assess the mood of the photo, and what feelings it might evoke. How does it manage to do this? Its technology rests upon four years of human “tagging” data, during which time human VSCO employees rated photos on how it made them feel, what it reminded them of, and what they thought about it. Still, AVA is not left to her own devices, so to speak, now that the main tagging project is over. Employees at VSCO continue to screen her results and in case she gets something “wrong.” This data further hones AVA’s ability to view art and photography in a way somewhat more abstract than the average AI technology.

This explains why the technology had become the backbone of the VSCO Connect process. Chances are, a company does not care about finding a content creator that only photographs shoes or flowers or pine trees. It’s far more likely that a company might say they want their upcoming ad campaign to be bright, clean, and upbeat -- AVA can discern which creators are best at capturing those feelings much more quickly and efficiently than the human eye.

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