#bottom line business

[delphinidin4]

I am allergic to the word "success". I have been ever since middle school, when it was plastered all over the planners the school gave us.

Screw success. Try for contentment.

#success #life #advice #istg success is short for be a good little capitalist minion #school wants you to succeed because if you get higher scores they get more funding #jobs want you to succeed because the faster and better you work the better for their bottom line #the word success has become code for buying into the lie that the most important things in life are money and your job #that everybody should care about business first and foremost #that winning is more important than trying #and trying is only good if it eventually leads to winning #fuck that #the purpose of life it's not success #the point of life is to live it.

[sysig]

Delusions (Patreon)

"Could I have your hand, sir?" Max didn't move, which Dexter was, sadly, getting used to.

"Sir?" Max jerked, then turned and stared at him, lost and blank. "Your hand, please."

Max's hand lifted shakily, and he laid it gently in Dexter's upturned palm. Dexter gave a quick and quiet "thank you," then turned it over in his own hand, observing him closely.

Too closely - his knuckles were rough and his fingernails were dull and cracked in places. His once-soft, not-a-day-in-his-life-subjected-to-hard-labour hands were now, already, toughened and split and scarred in places, especially the heel of his palm. He turned it over again, this time to stop looking so intensely. He had only wanted to give it a cursory glance to begin with.

"Do you know what I see, sir?" he asked as conversationally as he could manage, running his fingers along Max's abused flesh. He seemed to be at least half paying attention, his eye gazing down between them, and he'd occasionally twitch, encouragingly Dexter thought. He seemed to want to curl around him, then stopped and shook, his hand squeezing into a fist. Dexter coaxed him back out, encouraged him to hold himself lightly.

"What do you see?" He was almost startled by Max actually continuing their conversation, that happened so rarely now, shaking and quiet as it was. He took a deep breath, was he really going to do this?

"I see a hand, with five fingers." Max remained quiet, though his brow curled, and a guarded look came into his eye, though he still wasn't looking at Dexter. He felt a pang of guilt, but he had to try. "What do you see?"

Max's eye unfocused and began to water. He looked up, but not enough to reach Dexter's gaze in return, instead staring through his chest, and he felt just as hollow and empty as he must look to him.

"Do you take me for a fool, DAX?" Quiet and as close to angry as he'd heard since they'd been here.

No, not angry.

Betrayed.

He swallowed down the stinging lump at the back of his throat. He had to put on a brave face, had to keep his composure if he wanted Max to get better. That was the only thing he wanted, more than anything.

"Of course not, sir. Genuinely, what do you see?"

Max pulled his hand away and turned his body, his bandaged side facing Dexter. Shutting him out, pointedly. Dexter's empty hand curled into a fist, he was no better.

"Please, don't..." Max took a shallow, shuddering breath, and several beats before he spoke again, even quieter. "Don't ridicule me." Dexter could hear his breath catch, and he wanted nothing more than for this all to just stop.

"Sir, I didn't-"

"I've had enough of that." He shook his head stiffly, the action strange and wrong, like he had forgotten how. He stilled, his head turned even further away. "More than enough."

#Doodles #SCII #Helix #ZEX #Dexter Favin #And a drabble-fic under the cut #I ended up writing that the night after I read - I was a bit too inspired while busy so it's a little on the unfocused side haha #I would've cleaned it but I worry it wouldn't make it out of that stage! Please enjoy it for now <3 #This set is mostly periphery ideas - inspired by events rather than directly shown ♪ I suppose the first two kinda count tho #But they're more directly of the little scene I wrote ouò Poor ZEX </3 #And Dex! He's usually so capable! But he's stretching himself so thin ahh it's hard to watch in the best way #Of course he doesn't want to give ''Max'' over to just anyone - anyone at all really - both of their trusts have bottomed out #But how much could he reasonably care for him in that state? When he's still being actively haunted and most importantly - Not Max #He needs helps he needs support he needs to sleep and shower but a second with his eyes off Max and - then what? He'll immolate from fear #It's hard to imagine him crying but pushed to this extreme? To the thought of losing Max utterly and completely? Hhhhh #I do also just love him being possessive even outside of how terrible the situation is - he's always had his glimpses but this situation #Brings out the worst in him <3 In terrible ways #Really his method is just setting ''Max'' up nearby and prompting him over the sound of the shower like that's not nerve-wracking at all #Like he already doesn't answer half the time if that #As for the mini fic I was really interested in Dex's line about indulging ''Max's'' delusions #Apart from the fact that they're not delusions - not that anyone believes him outside of the Institute - what it means to indulge is weird #I saw one example of how to handle delusions that stuck with me - how not to deny them outright while also not reinforcing them #Since it's not actually helpful to be told ''That isn't Really happening to you'' when to you - to ZEX - it really is! How invalidating #And so rather to take the approach of ''I don't see/feel/hear what you are - I can't find any evidence of it myself'' and extrapolating #Dex taking the approach of ''What reality are you experiencing right now?'' and trying to build from there! #Unfortunately ZEX has already been treated like....well like all that - he's not in the mood for games even well-intentioned ones #He /knows/ he's in a human body. He can feel that and see that and understands that. It doesn't change who - what he /is/ #The idea of a completely broken ZEX is so sad to me :( He's so strong and prideful and vivacious - Max really is another him </3 #It's not the same but he was saved from death! To fall into torture... But even despite that I want to see him succeed! As much as he can #Even in that small and shaking way I want to see him be hateful and spiteful - angry. Powerful <3 Fighting ♥

[mafaldaknows]

X

THE BOTTOM LINE 🤑💰🤑

#salvaging her brand #building his #the bottom line #fame and reputation #expensive #it’s business baby #always be closing #can’t knock the hustle

[moving-to-dreamwinged]

wife hmmmm i have n ot thought about mywifee enough today. Boy Where Are You Get Over Here

#.mei chats #. 🔮 #i was busy but also i get Down. when i see stuff on here sometimes and feel inadequate and negative about the whole ship thing etc etc #yall know how that is / i think ive posted about it like loads before bc it happens a lot but hSNDFHSDFNS #it makes it hard to even think ab non self-shipping stuff related 2 him which is just so. auughhh/.😢 but its just so hard overall ya know.. #bottom line is i have BARELY THOUGHT ABOUT HIM TODAY AND THATS MESSED UP!!!!!!!!!

[chamerionwrites]

“There is enormous pressure for members of these institutions - churches, universities, other organizations - to cover up any scandal. To protect the witness of the church. To protect the brand. Just enormous pressure, because often these people have invested their own lives in these organizations. It’s their way to be faithful Christians; they are really dedicated to the mission, to the purpose. And so when the guy on top becomes enmeshed in scandal, there is a strong impulse to circle the wagons, to cover it up, to keep a very positive face forward and not let this scandal bring down the ministry because of what it could end up doing to the witness of the church, to the witness of Christ himself.

These forces are extremely powerful, and they end up creating really devastating results. We see countless examples of victims - women and children - who end up being blamed, end up being ostracized. Members of the community end up backing the perpetrator rather than defending the victims [...] And add to that this mentality of Us vs. Them. That they out there are out to get us - the media is out to get us, non-christians are just waiting for any opportunity to attack us, to mock us, to discredit us. And so you do not want to air your dirty laundry. You want to batten down the hatches, you want to protect the brand. That impulse has been incredibly powerful across American evangelicalism and within these organizations. So what happens then is that the problems that could be addressed before they turn into really horrible or horrific situations are not addressed. These abuses of power are allowed to continue, and they get worse and worse. Abusive situations are allowed to fester, and these really become toxic spaces, toxic organizations - and the human cost is enormous.”

Kristin Du Mez, quoted on Gangster Capitalism S3e3

#tl;dr the exact same dynamic as every activist group or nonprofit organization or sleazy business that has ever closed ranks #to protect an abusive person with power for the sake of the cause/mission/bottom line/~greater good~ #just yknow more hymn singing and horribly exacerbated by the good ol evangelical persecution complex #walking away from omelas #cw abuse #cw rape #trauma #also #toxic positivity #cultures of dissociation

[carefulfears]

californication's commitment to the "i can fix him" model is fascinating me...they string you along as an audience in nearly the exact same manner that hank strings his family along...they give you little glimpses, a couple of times an episode, of something salvageable or commendable, in the hopes that you won't completely write them off, just as karen and becca will forever cling to those little glimpses of the person who made them happy "once upon a time," who made them briefly believe in a happy ending, who was the partner and father they once came home to...they won't ever be able to leave him behind and if the writers play their cards right, neither will you. californication was written about as "the show that showtime forgets to cancel" for seven years.

#the 1 difference is that i don't think hank as a character does it on purpose and i DO think the show does it on purpose (to the audience) #which is why it really interests me #it's like showtime as a network was love-bombing us and trying to keep us from leaving him (hank). incredible #i might write about this for the newsletter as i keep watching idk #i'm unsure if this makes sense but the bottom line is that the writers WANT you to think that hank ultimately could be saved #if only he had karen back. if only he spent more time with becca. if only he published his novel. if only he got sober! #and that's what hank as a character thinks too and it's what karen and becca think!! so they stay!! and the audience stays!! #it's their ENTIRE storytelling model and therefore it's a BUSINESS model #this isn't even a knock on californication i was watching it until 2am i'm transfixed

[leaf-in-a-flower-garden]

I love Daleth but think their design is a little... bland. So I gave him a tiny redesign, just to add a little character to them. (Click for better quality)

Also obligatory wip designs lol

#this was fun #i might do other redesigns of other spirits that need more to them #not really any of the elders though because i think theur designs are good... except Prairie ill probably redesign him #probably blushing umbrella stealer and hooray-ing single momery valley person will be next cause i want to change them #theyre too cool for such bad designs (imo) #sky cotl #skyblr #sky children of the light #sky: cotl #sky elders #daleth #isle elder #i was really undecided about how i wanted to redesign daleth cause i love his design's features but i dont like how it lays on him #i was really on the edge about still having those line things on his main robe (can be seen in the picture) but ended up going without it #as said in the bottom text; i dont want to make them to busy or full.. i want to keep it simple but recognisable #and I felt that the lines may cross the very thin line of busy and simple with them #but yeah i like #how he looks like a housewife welcoming his husband home from work in the bottom left of the second image so silly

[lexa-griffins]

Poor Clarke can't get a quiet day on the farm with her toddler and wife 🤣 How does the talk go with Madi when she explains where chicks actually come from ?

Clarke has absolutely no peace 😂 its always something with those twos. Lexa can say whatever about how much like Clarke Madi is but if there's one thing Madi takes from Lexa is a knack for the drama.

It goes as well as you can expect from trying to explain things to a toddler who had a -5 attention span. She's brief in it tho, tells her when theres a male and a female chicken the egg the chicken lays will be a little chick and when its just the female they get they eggs they eat.

It gets weirder when Madi wonders how mommy had her then. Did she come from an egg too? Poor Clarke was not ready for that. Toddlers are fucking weird dude. She may leave her with Abby for a day and let granny deal with all the innocent toddler questions about reproduction 😂

#letter opened #farm clexa #lexa is happy watching from afar its none of her business 😌 #she has the babies and clarke explains to them how they got here thats the deal 🤣 #so i think the bottom line is that that pregnancy scare Madi has can be blamed on clarke #look at that! just like in canon we can blame everything on the poor girl 😌🤣

[kyuala]

hmm

#having Thoughts that maybe i shouldnt be having #so i have a friend who's handsome hot nice kind sweet funny etc he's like the whole package #yesterday one of our friends told him i didnt have his contact saved on my phone and we (jokingly) made a whole thing out of it #so he took the convo from our gc to our private messages to let me know he had mine saved WITH A SUNFLOWER EMOJI NEXT TO MY NAME #bc ATTENTION according to him i am little flower and im radiant like the sun so = sunflower #like 🥹🥹🥹🥹❓❓❓❓ #n then he told me i didnt have to change my pfp bc i alr looked pretty in it then he called me his love and today #we're all going to a party our friends' cheerleading squad is hosting right and he won't go bc he'll be busy that day #i was moping in the gc bc i wanted the promotional prices (im the only one who doesnt go to their uni n non student prices r higher) and #they weren't available anymore so he messaged me to tell me he'd help me go?? i said how he said he'd pay me the difference i was like 💀 #so i said okay it's only like 10 bucks and he sent me 20 like hello? i know this doesnt sound like much but we're all broke college students #so like? why did he do it #he said if he wasn't able to go he'd like to at least help me go then sent me extra w a cute little message telling me to enjoy the party #and have fun and calling me a sweet pet name now im like . Confused #bottom line is idk if he's flirting and i probably won't bc a) he's already said he doesnt know to make a move on pretty girls and b) here's #the catch: we have a mutual friend who confessed to me like 3? months ago. i turned her down for a number of reasons n i also knew they had #hooked up before so when i said no ig they started hooking up/going out again? and i wasnt fully aware of that until like. last month #and prior to that i hit on him at a party at our friend's house and all he did was stand there kinda speechless 💀 #so i took it as a no n moved on but now idk if its bc like. he was alr w her or he just got shy or if he actually just didnt want it at all #and im just imagining things. and circling back to it: i guess i wont find out bc 1) he won't do anything 2) idk whats the current status of #their relationship (ig over bc they weren't all over e/o at our last function) and 3) even if theyre not together anymore i absolutely would #not try anything behind our friend's back or w/o her knowledge or consent bc they did have something doesnt rly matter what it was and #shes still my friend above all so i gotta be mindful of her feelings for me AND for him and abt us or whatever #so yea thats something thats been on my mind since yesterday #im not like. suffering over it btw its just something on my mind that i wanted to share #i probably wont even do anything about it and then forget abt it next week lol #mari.txt #but also feel free to like comment on this or something i love it when yall r nosey lmfao

[redhead-reporter]

📸 👀

º ✧ 。mj's camera roll ft. @overclocks !

#top line is giving “tony in his natural habitat” and bottom is giving “tony in his *natural* habitat” you feel me ? #tony's mad she has both ? take it up with friday #mj && tony tag tbd ! #º ✧ 。 let’s not make this all about business aesthetic

[daydadahlias]

Hi! Are you okay? Sorry but you haven’t updated on here in a while and I’m worried.

#ok hi im done faking my death #so sorry abt that guys #uhm was not my intention to be gone for a week #was kind of thinking it would be like 2 days lol but stuff kept coming up #just. irl things and then like overarching feelings blah blah u dont need my life story #the bottom line is !! im totally good !! #im sorry i didnt get to this ask sooner!! #im alive and well etc etc have lost no limbs and have no illnesses except i got stung by a wasp the other day and BOY does it hurt #anyway i will promptly be queuing a million posts bc ive <33 missed a lot of things on here <33 and need to decorate my blog <33 #dw i followed info abt the luke show diligently on twitter #and have some operatives in the field reporting back #and i will also get to the asks i have unfortunately neglected #sorry kids #i apologize genuinely if anyone was worried abt me but also do know tumblr isnt the only thing i do ! #and if something happened to me irl i have friends who have my password to notify people #so silence usually just means im busy in the real world!! or just not vibing. and even then i always come back <3 #nothing to be concerned abt ^.^ #i will say. kind of humorous that. my last few posts were abt how i wont be leaving the fandom and then i promptly dipped for a week #that's my bad sdfghj that was not on purpose #i just ended up having a lot of stuff to do and was too tired to make posts at the end of the day #anyway. now that im resurrected uh. magnolia day :) and also... i have a lot of stuff to reblog #ok !! #hope this covers all the bases #ily #pigeon #anon

[transpanda-1]

It sucks that Min Min is the most popular/recognized character from ARMS when she is by far the worst written/designed character in the cast

#chirps #and trust us. we checked. we tried. #her story is. nothing. she has no motive to fight her parents business is already successful #it literally doesn’t state why she had a dragon arm or know kung fu. she just did #her design is. fine. but mediocre and easily forgettable #all of her voice lines are her shouting out the names of noodle dishes. she doesn’t *say* anything else #her story is she wins a trophy because she loves noodles so much her name is noodle noodle in Chinese #she just happens to be the top tier but every other aspect is bottom of the barrel #I think every single other character is more interesting/better designed/better written than her #🎹kadie💜 #she’s popular because she’s a top tier. nothing else

[failbaby]

I’m sure there are cishet celebrities whose marketing teams tell them to do things that attract a gay audience, but I would rather those people make a billion dollars off of gay Spotify streams than ever see another lgbt teenager be forced to come out to hundreds of thousands of people before they’re ready. Calling real people out for “queerbaiting” is invasive and destructive regardless of what you consider queerbaiting to be

#oc #bottom line. you can argue all you want about whether real people are technically capable of queerbaiting #and i think they are if they're cishet and deliberately tapping into queer culture to make money off of queer people #but you never know if that's what's happening #they could be closeted they could be questioning or they could just be doing what they want and wearing what's comfortable for them #so it's better to just mind our own business #yeah it's possible that harry styles is a cishet man trying to appeal to young queer people by wearing gender nonconforming outfits #it's also possible he's not cishet and it's also possible he just likes skirts. we have no idea #the harm of shaming someone for being closeted or for being gnc because it’s comfortable for them will always outweigh the benefits of #calling out possible celebrity queerbaiting

[dramarants]

I've said this before but as much as I was screaming at my screen, this is an opportunity for ttj to raise roots somewhere that not only includes the love of his life but also relationships without ridonkulous power imbalances among a supportive community and a new way of life outside the expectations set upon him since birth. who knows, maybe he'll choose to embrace his devil god fate lord knows the tension would not only be palpable but sexy af or maybe he'll become the supreme ultimate botanical sword master but he finally gets to be an active agent of his own life, choosing people, values, and goals for his own future, and hopefully, his journey (and lss's own growth returning + learning her identity) will reunite them knowing they're stronger, happier, and simply uplift each other when together. ttj's enduring love surmounted death and five centuries of agony to bring him to her place in the immortal realm, now it's up to them to figure themselves out and truly make it their home.

#till the end of the moon #I can see ttj becoming a devil god who's more devoted to his space goddess heiress/overseeing mortal trials than wreaking havoc #or embracing the cang jiumin persona to continue to fight fate itself and defeat the devil god with lss #whatever it is I see a transformation which could foster healthier yet equally passionate love and fulfillment down the line #with room for classic ttj unhinged dramatics ofc hehe #just gotta wait for the fluffy mushy pursual scenes that should come in the meantime bc w/o them my nerves might kill me 🙃 #or maybe lovelorn/yearning lyx visuals will get me through #LMAO either way cackling at my irritation w/ this devil business parting them in a drama about a girl conflicted about loving a devil god #and my weird faith that this show ends happy - for all I know lss ends up killing ttj for real & I'll live the rest of my life hollow?? #like he loves her till his last breath thinking it was really unrequited & she lives on in guilt/grief for the greater good till her time? #or he regresses and rages against her denial and ends up destroying the immortal sects and they lose each other? #I don't see it but #how fucked up would that be?? #omg what if he sacrifices himself protecting the immortal realm bc he's learned to love the world as she does 😭 like a bittersweet ending #okay I'm rambling and stressing myself out more - bottom line: ttj might have some growth and maybe lss too #ranting #edit: the way I was correct and incorrect in the worst ways

[elftwink]

just saw a tweet that was like "imagine if 9/11 happened 2 mos earlier and 7/11 had the worst PR crisis ever" like that wasn't basically what happened to corona beer in 2020

#granted. pandemic obviously not the same impact as terrorism #& also we stopped calling it coronavirus or varients of that by like 2021 iirc #the switch to covid-19 was like. not smooth by any means but it did happen #but i do recall in 2020 when liquor stores were one of the only operating businesses #everyone being like damn... sucks to be corona rn #havent looked at the data though so idk if their bottom line or pr was impacted that bad #anecdotally i think the people i knew ended up drinking more corona that year. for the bit #alcohol / #also i forget who it was but to whoever rb'd that tweet to my dash #im not vagueing you i didnt rb it because i dont have the energy for an ID rn lmao #good idea generator #also circling back to my first tag. want to re-muddy the waters actually pandemic and 9/11 very similar #with perhaps the most major difference between the two being government willingness to do anything about it #or arguably controversially their willingness to pretend to do something about it in order to use it as a cudgel on the international stage #but we dont have time to get into All That with any sort of nuance #esp not in the tags of a one sentence post about corona's pr problems

[mistressemmedi]

Pierre has liked a bunch of IG pics of this Kika girl last year, while he was dating his ex, Kate, who had a thing with Lando before dating Pierre. Lando liked a pic of Kika BEFORE Pierre, and before dating that portuguese girl Luisa, who is from the same modeling agency as Kika. Kika is a nepo baby. Her mom is a TV presenter in Portugal and she got her first jobs because of her mom's fame. Kika was in Abu Dhabi last year (cheering for Max). Pierre was there with Kate and Lando with Luisa.

Girl (gn), I-

That's a lot of info.

#i need at least 4 to 5 business days to absorb all of that #anyways the bottom line is that once again Pierre outfucked Lando? #man knows no peace #anon #q&a