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#i felt bad using some random art from the internet
fishfission-dc · 1 year
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Batfamily Powerpoint Night! (Part 5: Cass)
<<Part 4: Jason    |    Part 6: Steph >>
[Masterlist]
Cass: (signs) My turn :)
Steph: Before we begin, I want to clarify that I only wrote the words on the slide and they are exactly as Cass told me to write them. Everything else is alllllll her.
Bruce (stressed): If you are denying responsibility I can’t imagine what I’m about to see.
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Dick: Favorite colors? Steph what’s so bad about that?
Steph: It’s... you’ll see.
Cass: :)
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Jason: Shocking from a vigilante who called herself “Black Bat”
Tim: Steph this seems fine?
Steph (sweating): Guys just wait
Cass: :)
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Barbara: Specific...
Steph: I do love those shorts :)
Duke: Steph was that your big surprise?
Steph: Oh, no. No it’s not.
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Dick: Um so when did you take that photo of my bed? And why have you been in there enough to know my multiple sets of bedsheets?
Cass: :)
Tim: I mean they are a nice color
Dick: Aw thanks Tim
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Jason: UM? THAT IS A PHOTO OF MY KITCHEN?
Tim: We already established that we regularly break into your apartment
Jason: ROY INSTALLED THOSE TILES YESTERDAY.
Cass: :)
Jason: I hate all of you. But I’ll tell Roy that you like it or whatever
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Damian: Brown, I believe I am beginning to recognize the pattern that worried you.
[Stephanie sinks into her chair]
Duke: Oh no. Flattered, but oh no
Tim: Duke. Duke what is that
Barbara: Oh my god that’s like... iOS -5
Duke: LOOK I like my phone :(
Jason: So you haven’t updated it since 2010?
Duke: i get it i need to change my password can we please move on
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Tim: CASSANDRA.
Jason: Oh my god
Tim: WERE YOU IN THE CEILING? CASS WHAT IS THIS
Cass: :)
Damian: All of your inabilities to detect Cassandra’s presence is rather sad. I would know immediately if someone entered my space or tampered with my possessions.
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Jason: So I assume you knew all about this “tampering” then, Gremlin?
Damian: move forward move forward move forward
Dick: Aw, Damian! You never show us your art!
Damian: it’s not even finished please god stop looking at it Cassandra progress with the presentation
Bruce: That is very nice, son.
Damian: ...thank you Father.
Cass: :)
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Tim: IS THAT BRUCE SLEEPING
Jason: HOW DID YOU...?
Dick: Oh my god...
Bruce: I don’t even... okay. Yeah, sure. Thank you Cassandra.
Cass: :)
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Duke: Cass, I hope you know you terrify me.
Damian: This was... educational.
Steph: I thought that would go worse honestly
Tim: I mean we already know she’s kinda creepy like that, at least the intentions are good?
Jason: Or she’s totally messing with us. And I don’t think we’ll ever know that answer.
Cass: :)
Steph: Alright well I can go next :)
<<Part 4: Jason    |    Part 6: Steph >>
[Masterlist]
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tvgirlzz · 7 months
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Gwen Stacy x fem!reader
notes: did not proofread this but enjoy 😣 also the only story I’ve really written was an English assignment on a book so feel free to give critiques if you have any 😋👍
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“Sit still, Gwen!” You laughed as she moved uncomfortably.
Gwen had snuck into your window and while you were trying to decide what you wanted to make your art project on. Your teacher said it ‘had to be something close to you and not a random thing you traced from the internet.’ It was unbelievable the amount of times someone in your class used a dog they never met before for their project. Being the amazing girlfriend you are, you decided to make your project on her.
Which brings you to now, watching Gwen squirm uncontrollably on your bed.
“How long is this gonna take Y/N? I don’t think I can feel my butt anymore.” She complained, shifting around.
“Not long, I swear! Only a few more minutes.” Your brush delicately strokes, the light watercolors slightly dripping down the canvas. Painting beautiful pastel colors such as blue for her eyes, yellow to match her blonde hair, and topping it off with a pink and purple background.
Making sure to miss no detail, you picked up a small tipped brush. Carefully painting the small dots of her freckles, to the small, visible veins on her hands.
“Are you done yet? Lemme see!” She stood up, picking at the canvas in front of you.
“No! Sit down!” You lightly pushed her back down, moving her hands so she could pose again.
“It’s supposed to be a surprise. You can see the finished product once my teacher grades it.”
Setting the brush down, your eyes scanned all over the canvas. Sighing, you bit your lip nervously. This was good, right? You knew your art teacher was a hard critic but very easy on the grading. So why were you nervous?
“What’s wrong, babe?” Gwen furrowed her eyebrows as she tried to read your facial expression. She stood up and walked behind you, wrapping her arms around your shoulders and laying her head on top of yours.
“If it makes you feel any better, I love it.” She knew you didn’t want her to see it yet, but she couldn’t help it. Your art was one of her favorite things about you. How different and unique it was.
“You weren’t supposed to see it yet..” You whispered in a downhearted tone.
She kissed the top of your head and hugged her tighter. “I know, but I can’t help myself. Your art is so beautiful.” Gwen was trying to cheer you up since she knew how much pressure you put on yourself to make these projects perfect.
“And your muse is pretty hot, don’t you think?” She smirked and poked your cheek.
Letting out a chuckle, you let your lips curve into a small smile. “Yeah, she is. The prettiest muse ever.” You move your head to look up at her.
She smiled back at her and gave you a sweet peck on the lips. “Don’t worry about this, okay? You’re the best artist ever and probably better than everyone in your class. I’ve seen some of those works and damn- it’s awful.”
“Maybe we’ve seen different works because everyone in my class is advanced.”
She gasped. “You call Ned’s self portrait advanced?!”
“That’s different, he’s just really bad at art.” You stood up from your stool, let Gwen’s arm slide off of you. Picking up the canvas, you move it to your desk where it can hopefully dry. Then, you felt Gwen grab your waist as she turned you around to look at her.
“I love you, alright? And if you don’t get a good grade on this, just know that I still think you’re the best artist in the world.” She placed one hand on your hip and the other resting on your cheek, stroking it lovingly with her thumb.
“I love you too.” You replied in a soft tone. She smiled at you and leaned down to give you a kiss.
Pulling away, she moved her hand down into your pants pocket. “Now come on, I want to lay down together and binge a show. That’s why I came here.”
“Alright, you can pick.” You handed her your tv remote and crawled into your bed. She hopped in after you and laid her head down on your chest, letting you run your fingers through her hair.
As you and Gwen spent the rest of the night watching 90’s television shows, your art project slowly dried on your desk. Leaving bright, colorful watercolor marks as Gwen’s painted face stood still on the canvas.
She was really the prettiest muse you could ever have.
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{ written by @loversrockxx please don’t steal 🙏🏽 }
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greenerteacups · 9 days
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this might seem v random but, if you haven't come across it already, i would really recommend tavi gevinson's latest online zine 'fan fiction' -- not because of the fan fiction element of it, though, but because of your evident love of taylor swift (who it's about) and your impeccable literary taste. and would love to hear your thoughts!
This was an excellent recommendation, and I loved it. I will admit that the RPF segment had me leery (RPF throws me for reasons I have yet to intellectually inspect but believe may relate somehow to the concept of voyeurism) but I'm glad I finished it, because she pulls it together very well. The dialogue in the last segment is especially great, particularly these parts:
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And this:
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And this:
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Because this gets at what I find so Gordian about Internet conversations among even relatively respectful/measured people about Swift's work and presence: we can't seem to figure out what it is we want from her. There is no right way for a woman to be more famous than most presidents. Do we want her to need us or not? Should she care about our approval or shouldn't she? Is the fact that she doesn't "feel" authentic to us the consequence of having demanded authenticity for so long she literally had to shape her personality to fit what "felt real" to millions of people, and in the process, of course, of course, inevitably, produced work that felt authentic to no one?
And then also, like. To what extent do fans use her autonomy/consent as a lever for bad behavior? I.e. does the "invitation" of personal information in her songs license us to speculate about her like she's a character on a TV show? Where is the line of appropriate speculation in an autobiographical medium? I was talking to my friend at dinner just tonight about how it's gross that people can't seem to give her the credit of writing songs that aren't 100% always About Her, and my friend pointed out that she invites comparisons to her own life by teasing names and iconography we identify with her public persona. It's like Brett Easton Ellis writing a book about a character named Brett Easton Ellis. Sure, they're not the same person, but you've invoked a symbol, and people are not being ridiculous for trying to analyze that symbol in the context of the work. In order to do that, they need to understand what the symbol is. Which means the biographical stuff actually is relevant to the text, and Swift's obvious irritation at her fans for failing to just... fuck off a little bit and let her live, while an entirely fair and morally defensible human response, is complicated by the way that her art is produced to resonate best for those who care most. Folklore and Evermore prove even Taylor is on some level aware of this, because she uses the third-person mechanic (and again in "Bolter") to differentiate those protagonists from the narrative construct of "Taylor Swift" in her other first-person work — i.e. pulling apart the Swift who is speaking and not the Swift who is singing (if that makes sense).
And then, finally: "The irony gets a bit tired. You can just say you like music. It's fine." What a deliciously recursive little bit of irony, considering it's a criticism being offered by a character whose ironic distance is itself being criticized. And the fact that the author is putting her own self-criticism in the mouth of a non-existent popstar who's deliberately flattening her take on her subject matter? Mingling valid with invalid criticism to establish a protective distance from her flaws and prove her smarty-pants intellectual self-awareness while also implicitly disowning the faults in her work, an (ironically) childish gesture of insecurity that stands at odds with the mature intellectual persona? Trying to have about seven or eight different cakes, and eat every one of them? "The irony gets a bit tired." Fucking perfect. I laughed.
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hypnag0g · 1 year
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Do you have examples of your web/graphic design-ish art on hand? I've caught glimpses and it's some REALLY excellent stuff
howdy! thank you so much for this wonderful ask, i very rarely get the chance to talk about my web/graphic design stuff, so seize any chance i can get! you'll have to forgive me for how scattered this everything is, my graphic design stuff normally ends up as a smaller part of illustrations, so a lot of it is gonna be cropped, haha.
my hypnagog header is probably the thing i'm most proud of, it was the first custom font i ever made that felt like i captured what i saw in my head. kind of a clunky way to put it but before this i'd change my header logo and general "branding" like once every three months, yet this one has stuck around for like 2ish years!! here it is in my classic colorway and my new green/orange one.
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here are a couple of my older logos for a bunch of random projects (a comic about evil horses, a defunct community project, a bunch of little glyphs for hypnagog before i settled on my current aesthetic, and one for story about evil clones)
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here are three posters i did for a couple of classes, they're more illustrative than graphic design but there's still elements that feel close enough to gd for me to post lol (a pitch poster for ANOTHER comic i was working on, an editorial piece about the recent HPAI surge, and a quick zine about my experiences with internet horror)
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and FINALLY. here's my web design stuff. full disclaimer, i learned how to code on neopets, and i've never been able to break free of it's pull, so p much everything i've ever done for web design has all been on neopets, or on clone sites that emulate it pre-2007.
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i'd love to link you these two but they're unfortunately behind a login screen on my current petsim of choice, so i hope the screenshots will do! these two are pet lookups coded from the ground up to look like social media profile pages (fun sidenote: Butch has a normal profile, Ransom is a silly hacker stereotype, and he had no choice but to "customize" his profile when faced with the insanely unsecured back-end of LUNET.)
aside from that, my other most recent web project was developing a really sleek character directory for my toyhou.se. i made all the graphics on this page and i'm super proud of it, haha.
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oh i almost forgot. i also have a bunch of really dumb banners that my friends and i use in discord in tandem with a bot that posts them on command - most of them are intentionally designed to look bad, but some of em (especially the data "webba" banner) were made with a lot of care, haha.
i think i might be forgetting some things, but that's pretty much it! my next big project is building out my neocities - i'll definitely post about it when its finished because i wanna use it as a secondary posting location for all my stuff :o]
thank you again!!!!
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the-cat-chat · 2 years
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October 15, 2022
The Fly 2 (1989)
The almost-human son of "Brundlefly" searches for a cure to his mutated genes while being monitored by a nefarious corporation that wishes to continue his father's experiments.
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JayBell: Well well well...what to say about this gem. I went into this movie knowing that is was going to be a shit show. And it was! In that way, I guess you could say it met my expectations exactly.
I actually didn’t mind the plot on paper. The idea of a lab-raised, monster-spawn, former child experiment going on a justified rampage of revenge sounds pretty fun. I also liked the idea of Martin curing himself with the same machine that led to his disease. They even give Martin an interesting moral dilemma: you can cure yourself but only if you doom another person in exchange. The execution is where it falls apart entirely.
The writing is just not good, and the acting leaves much to be desired. The character motivations are juvenile. The lab’s supposed purpose is to use the teleporting machine in order to cure people, and they really want Martin to turn into Martinfly so they can kill and study him. But why? How is studying his dead monster corpse going to help the lab at all? The lab’s handling of Martin’s case is unrealistic even for this super unrealistic scenario.
Watching the romance was painful, and I wish they focused more on Martin’s treatment at the lab and less on romance. For one, they actually time skip over the development of the whole relationship (also what’s with the stupid fly fishing gag??). So I never developed any attachment to them as a couple at all. And when they had their big “conflict,” it didn’t really have the impact that it should have. The resolution happens like two minutes later with no drama and no consequences, so what’s the point of having that conflict at all?
A few other things to note: the doctor/lab lady was mean and cruel for no discernible reason at all, and the random security guard was similarly perverted just to be perverted and provide “conflict.” He also has an unreasonable amount of power for a guard.
On a slightly positive note, it’s just as gross as you’d expect it to be, which makes it gory and disturbing (all good for a horror movie).
All in all, it felt like they were trying to force a repeat of The Fly, but with worse writing, less emotional impact, and none of the charisma of Jeff Goldblum.
Rating: 2.5/10 cats 🐈
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Anzie: I thought The Fly (1986) was traumatizing. Okay?? And yes, I thought about it for days after we watched it. Okay?? But this, THIS….. was somehow more horrifically traumatic than the 1986 movie. Okay??? And AT LEAST in that one we get to stare at a shirtless, nerdy, young Jeff Goldblum that despite the terrible hair…. (let’s just all be honest) was a looker. OKAY!!!! I will think about this until I black it out from my entire brain.
I knew it would be bad, but come on. The whole concept is out there, sure, but this this was Baaaaad. I thought the 5.1/10 on the internet was just haters not knowing true art when it was right in front of their faces. No a 5.1 is generous. The story is sooo boring and sloooooooow. And the concept that he’s five years old….just without anymore detail….. just gross. And why was the security guard such a gross freak?
And my bigggggest complaint is the dog. The poor dog! And how did they make it look like that?? And it was sooo sad. I had to look away. Actually scratch that, I have another complaint that might be more pressing. Had ANY of these people EVER seen a FLY????? Like it wasn’t enough to do the usual thing for special effects like they did in the first one- no they did that and then more! Like this thing was a giant evil gremlin. And the weird cocoons and goo on things. Ugggg. And scratch that bc my actual complaint that will haunt me FOREVER is Mr. Bartok getting what he deserves and being turned into a giant blob with just an eye and some teeth hanging out. I’m DONE. It was gross. Like they somehow did a good job with these awful things while also doing a terrible job. And I don’t know which has scarred me for life.
And least just be honest with ourselves okaaay for my own sanity. DO NOT tell me that there was no way Jeff Goldblum couldn’t have figured out how to turn himself completely human again. And THAT, that’s where the real problem of all of this lies.
Rating: 2/10 🪰 flies (it’s disrespectful we watched this the week before Jeff Goldblum turned 70)
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helpish-blog-blog · 9 months
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WHAT ARE THEY FEEDING US.
Social media feeds have become so fucking boring. I spend more time searching than I do consuming. it feels like thats intentional. Like the tech companies give us what we want via algorithms sure, but it also feels like they through in stuff they know we won’t like to keep us scrolling.
I have said it before and I will say it again, podcasts are the last place we have true freedom of art. The rss feed has all but been killed off. even Spotify is trying to kill it off in favor of propriety feeds and exlusives.
It wasn’t that long ago that it felt like exclusive art on the internet was not a thing that could really survive. And yes I said art not “content”
But now we are seemingly foaming at the mouth for walled gardens. We could live in a world where I distribute my art to multiple platforms and people partake depending on the platform they use. This is of course how podcasts work. But no. I am told I must make different “content” for all platforms. And those thumbnails better be on point. I better get my SEO on point… I have already heard this story grandpa.
It’s the same old song and dance. Up the requirements for relevancy to the point you can only have success if you have a large amount of free time and resources and ability. And typically one only has these things if they also have a tremendous amount of privilege, usually passed down through family. So, the people that succeed start to look a lot like each other and a lot like the successful people of the past.
That is the cycle we need to break. I dont think it’s some master plan or some grand conspiracy. It is just how systems of supremacy work. From the patriarchy to white supremacy classism these things all survive because of the systems. And every once in a while a new system poops up that looks like it may finally topple supremacy and quickly rules and requirements of success come in to make it hard for those without privileges to succeed.
Western music theory, proper grammar, universities, best bussiness practices, proper manners, universities, churches, and now social media engagement, SEO, content monitization… these are all set up to make sure only those with privilege can truly succeed and the the about privilege is that its number one priority is to stay privileged.
The ability to subscribe to and follow any is the biggest threat to all of this. So thats why I am not surprised that on nearly all social media platforms follower counts matter less and less and you are lucky if you get your “content pushed to more than 10 percent of your audience. No. Wait. No. You are not lucky. You are privileged.
Instagram just released a new app called threads. It’s a twitter clone but its killer feature was to instantly follow everyone you follow on instagram now on threads. But dont get it twisted and think you are actually able to follow people in any sort of normal real time way. THEY LAUNCHED WITH NO FOLLOWING FEED. Those followings are just used to fee the algorithm to serve you what they think you want and continuously scrolling.
They had a real opportunity for a stable enriching platform. But that is not the internet we have right now. We have an internet and a culture that will gladly sacrifice stability for growth. But non stop growth is no way to live. it doesn’t support actually life. Just ask…cancer.
And guess what? It’s your fault. It’s my fault. It’s our fault. We just accept it and it’s probably the most destructive thing in our society. Look it’s not bad to using algorithms to serve new things, the way streaming sites do based on what you’ve watch and on what people who watch what you watch also watch. But imagine if you opened up Netflix and it only showed you random episodes based on an algorithm.
It’s not good for us. None of this is good for us. It’s all way too damn much.
Internet 2.0 was this great promise and it was centered around a thing called an rss feed. A url that was updated every time a creator released something. This was the backbone of blggon and podcasts and YouTube and later Facebook and twitter. The problem is when private companies went public and the pressure for monetization came in to play.
It went like this.
We need to make money. How?
Ads.
Ok. So we sneak them into the feed.
There is a problem though. We can’t clog up the feed with ads. And if Mary sue only follows 15 people she’s only spending an hour or 2 an our platform so she is only getting an add or 2 a day.
Ok then let’s also show in her feed any post the people she follows comments on. And let’s add groups or forums or trending topics to generate more comments. The more comments we get the more posts show up in the feed.
Now we have a lot more content all of a sudden. Let’s do some research on what kinds of content gets more people to comment on and push that to the top of feeds.
While we are at that research thing can we also find out what gets people addicted to commenting and coming back to see who responded?
Ok. Thats working. Now people are spending a lot more time on our platforms and we can serve more ads.
Ya know now that we have all this data I bet we could write some code that replaces the rss feed with a new kind of feed that serves what ever is going to get the most engagement and keeps people addicted to our platform.
Well that worked. But some of our advertisers don’t nt like how easy it is for certain kinds of content to gain traction and there are certain kinds of people they don’t want having that kind of power. Can we do something about that?
Sure. We can prioritize things in the algorithm feed that make it easier for certain kinds of people to succeed. Then we can pay people to follow these rules and then push their content. We will make them sign an NDA so no one knows and make sure to make it look like organic growth. Then people will follow those rules and start to censor themselves.
And now we have things like “corn” instead of porn or the over use of the term unloving entering the vocabulary of society in a huge way. I am even starting to see people unnecessarily censor them selves in private because it’s become such a huge part of our culture. All because advertisers want you on your best behavior so you can help them sell more products.
Dont get it twisted. Y’all aint content creators you are an advertising platform.
Look I am futurist. A progressive. So I dont say this lightly. We need to turn things back a bit. Or it’s going to be the emotional and spiritual death of us. We need to bring back true followers. Subscriptions. Enrollment. We need to reject scroll culture. We need to get back to picking who we let into our feeds. Feeds are here to stay. But a feel should be a delivery system not the product itself.
Sharing something and following or subscribing to someone should be a meaningful activity. What we pay attention to and what we share with each other is a core of our identity and culture and we need to have ownership of it.
So how do we the “content consumers” do something about all this. It starts with intention. Asking how this behavior helps you or could help you to help someone else whether its insightful ness, silliness, entertainment, education or whatever.
When you share something on social media that someone else made dont just simply share the link. Add a caption. Share why this was impactful enough for you to want to share. If you can’t come up with a reason consider that maybe it’s not worth sharing. Not everything is and thats ok. It’s ok to create or consume things you dont share.
I promise if you limit yourself to 1 or 2 hours a day of short form social media a day not only will your happiness and social media experience improve the way you use it will change.
Embrase long form content. Consider that maybe your resistance to long form well thought out content with lots of context and nuance is not because of your shout attention span but perhaps an addiction to short instantly gratifying content created to get you used to consuming ad length content.
Aint that a bitch? Think about it. We are all basically just watching commercials all day long now. Not just short video but even the way we present text and pictures is set up like an ad. Everything is an add. So many you dont even noticed how many ads are being served to you.
I feel like “influencers” just make ads. Not just for products but ads for joining their “community” which is of course cuz advertisers figured out that community and culture are how trends are set. People like us do things like this.
And now there is this fear of long term content but I think it’s actually some bullshit. It’s not fear it’s junky behavior. Its weird justifications to not admit we are addicted to short form instant gratification.
I dont can’t commit to a 3 hour movie but I will binge watch 30 minute episodes like it’s my actual job for 8 hours.
I dont have time for that 2 hour podcast but I will spend 6 hours watching TikTok videos.
Can’t respond to my friends long ass book of a text who desperately needs connection but nah I can totally talk to strangers on the internet for 5 hours.
And then we act like we fucking know something. We know nothing.
They got us chasing being an influencer just they like did chasing being a rock star or business man. It was all made up then and it’s all made up now. If you give a shit about your well being and integrity you face an uphill slog covered in boulders that crushed those that crushed the souls of those that came before you. Even if you think you are not chasing influencer culture you should take inventory cuz I got some bad news for you… we al are.
They took this wonderful phrase “it aint what you know it’s who you know” and twisted it into this weird middle school social game of hierarchy. Perhaps we should update that. It’s not who you know its who you have a relationship with. Who claims you. Who is enrolled in the outcome of you being you.
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writing-in-april · 3 years
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Manicured
Spencer Reid x Gender Neutral Reader
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Summary: Spencer finally lets Reader do his nails.
A/N: Another short cute fic here for my twenty-sixth fic for my 30 fics in 30 days for April!! I wanted to make it short but sweet- it’s based on this request (this is not my first fic with Spencer with painted nails- check out on my MGG masterlist Painted Nails if you are over 18) Side note someone recently stole my work- please do not upload anything of mine to another site without my permission. Feel free to leave an ask in my inbox here (I promise I don’t bite) Thanks for reading and hope you enjoy!
Warnings: Nothing 🥰
Main Masterlist Word Count: 1.2k
It wasn’t often that Spencer and I had a day to ourselves, even an hour sometimes felt like a rare occurrence. Today, there was no case, no bad guys to be chasing, and there was even no paperwork to be completed. You were sat on the bed peacefully with Spencer, not daring to point that out out loud as it would obviously jinx it.
“Can I paint your nails?” You absentmindedly asked while fiddling with Spencer’s fingers in your grasp. You didn’t expect a response right away, or any at all as you had been asking to paint his nails for a while. Everytime he always said no, maybe later. So, you kept asking until he said yes.
Today seemed like a random day for him to finally agree, but Spencer tended to get you by surprise often. You almost bolted up in surprise when he simply replied, “Yes.”
Now you were sitting across from him, his hand in yours and a towel placed underneath to collect any spills. Eagerly you started immediately, already having the perfect design in mind for him. Using the brush to swipe over his nails, you then coated his nail in purple colored polish. It was his first experience having polish on his fingers.
Naturally he was intrigued staring down at you intently with his tongue slightly peeking out from his lips, like he was putting all his effort into analyzing exactly what you were doing. Just as you finished that finger he said, “This is so fascinating, you have such control over the brush.”
That had made you burst out into a fit of giggles, his tone making manicuring nails sound like the most serious thing in the world. “Practice makes perfect.” Was all you could manage to say as you tried to hold back your laughs and continue your job.
Eventually you finished his first hand, it already looked like a masterpiece to you, accentuating Spencer’s features in a striking way. He of course continued to stare down at them like he was trying to somehow see each molecule of the polish and understand how it dried on the nail so perfectly.
“I don’t think you’ll figure out all there is to know about nail polish yet by staring at it.” You said as you moved to his thumb on his left hand while he looked at his finished right.
“No, I’ll need to read some books for that.” He replied while his focus was still completely on the nails that were covered in shiny lacquer. Until he then looked up to ask you with eager eyes, “Do you have any books on it?”
“No, I don’t Spencer- I’m not a nail tech.” You laughed out once again, but found it very endearing that he thought you might have some.
“We’ll have to go to the library for that then.” Some people would say the internet would be the best bet to learn about this, Spencer always learned best by books however, and despised all technology for the most part. You then finished up with the design on his pointer finger, immediately going to the next to repeat the design on a new nail.
It was a call, of course from Spencer’s work phone, suddenly interrupted your progress on his nails. You hoped it wasn’t another case you’d both get whisked away on. He picked up the phone with his right hand, which was already completed, but still drying. Carefully with extreme precision, he answered the call and brought it up to his ear, making sure he didn’t smudge any of your hard work.
“Hello- this is Dr. Spencer Reid.” His voice had switched into his purely professional mode, while you continued to add the finishing touches to the matching design. You did make an effort to speed up the process in case he had to up and leave, though you did wish you could’ve taken your time like with his opposite hand.
“Hey- kid check who’s calling before you answer. It’s me, we have a case.” You could faintly hear Morgan’s voice come through the phone and you had to fight a groan when you heard the end of his sentence. Seems like you both were already jinxed.
“Y-yeah, ok Morgan we’ll be there in about 20.” He was now squinting down at his watch, hunched over you almost hitting your head in the process while you tried to finish up the last nail.
As soon as he hung up you were just about finished with the last little bit of your design that was a range of Spencer’s favorite color purple with some dashes of black and grey. It would certainly match most of his work clothes he normally wore, you hoped he’d keep the polish on.
“Done!” You shouted triumphantly at the last swipe of clear polish, sealing in your art. When he peered down at the finished hand curiously another pang of worry that he’d want to immediately wipe it off shot through you. “Are you- going to keep it on for work?”
He looked at you incredulously, and then completely squashed your worries with his sweet words, “Of course I’ll wear it to work, it’s perfect and- you did this for me.”
“Reid- what is on your nails?” Morgan clocked them as soon as Spencer entered the bullpen with you. He had walked in with pride, not necessarily flaunting them, but certainly not hiding them. And, when Morgan pointed them out he jutted out his fingers in pride, showing off the pretty polish that had by now dried. Though it had been a challenge for him to get all his clothes on, he didn’t end up getting them smudged thanks to you.
“It’s nail polish? Have you never seen it before Morgan?” Spencer quipped at him which seemed to have taken Morgan by surprise as his eyebrows raised up high.
Any answer Morgan could give to him was swallowed up by the giddy voice of none other than Penelope Garcia, “Oh. My. Gosh. Spencer got his nails painted!”
“Y-yes I did!” He withered a bit under the attention as he was not used to it. He bounced back quickly when he realized she wasn’t going to make fun of him.
“Where did you get them done they’re amazing?” Penelope was now holding up Spencer’s hand, and the congregation grew as more members of the team arrived to get a look at his nails. Little did everyone know who was the real artist that did them, and Spencer was happy to correct her with the real answer.
“Actually, Y/N did them.” Penelope almost immediately shifted her focus back on you bombarding you with questions on your technique. Spencer happily played a hand model, which you swore could be a career for him in an alternate universe, while you explained everything to the people around you. It was mainly Penelope who was interested, but Emily and JJ really seemed to like your color choice for Spencer saying it was ‘his color’. Even Morgan peered over inquisitively a few times, mainly when your voice jumped higher because of excitement.
“What are you all doing?”
“Looking at Spencer’s nails, Sir. Y/N did them!”
“Are you sure that’s a very professional look, Spencer?” Hitch’s hard face was difficult to read as always, you couldn’t tell if he was about to demand he take it off right away or not. He hadn’t seemed to mind when you came in with nail art on, or Penelope, you hoped this would be no different. When his lips that were almost always pressed into a thin line turned upwards you were taken aback, and even more so at what he said next, “Looks good- you’re really getting better at your manicuring skills.”
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thequibblah · 2 years
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Hi!! I have a few q re: how you manage your time with writing, your other hobbies, and job. Do you allot a specific time of the day to writing or write whenever inspiration strikes? And do you have any tips for blocking out distractions when you try to meet deadlines? Much love to you and ct 💞
hey @crimson-snitch, i think this was you with anon on by accident LOLLL. thank you for the love!
i am incredibly, shockingly neurotic about managing my writing, mostly because i've been doing it long enough that i know exactly what habits suit me best. so i think my first piece of advice would be know thyself, art of war style.
when i first worked on a long piece of original fiction, i kept a spreadsheet tracking my writing sessions, and noted down time of day, word count, what distractions i had, and how i felt after i'd finished. this, i'll admit, was pretty insane of me, but enormously helpful — mostly because i know what time(s) of day i'm most comfortable writing, and with what accompaniments (unsurprisingly, with music and without wifi).
you don't have to go that far but keeping some kind of diary about how you feel about writing is a great way to understand how your own brain works!
personally i write best undisturbed during afternoons or nights, mostly because of the lack of distractions during those times. i am also one of those people who likes writing something every day, so i try to type random nonsense into my phone at the very least. this isn't at a specific time of day, just whenever i get a few moments to myself. i tend to be turning over thoughts in my head as is, so i type out what i have planned, OR i just reread the last thing i was working on and add onto it a bit.
there was also a period of time a couple of months ago when i was doing a very good job of writing every night and leaving a note for myself in the morning — i.e. "write this scene next, don't forget to fix x detail," which was very helpful because it's hard feeling like you're staring at a blank page, even when you're me and you have three different outline formats lol
as for blocking out distractions... i am very bad at this hahaha but mostly the biggest problem is the internet, so i try to turn off wifi (gasp!) or, if i need the internet for research, i use a website-blocking app like self control to block me from actual distractions. another thing i like doing because i'm very competitive is writing in sprints or timed sessions, because then i tend to be focused enough for a short burst of time that i can't let myself drift off-course. i'm pretty sure some come together chapters are the product of 5-6 hours of straight 30-minute sprints with water breaks in between!
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sincerelyravens · 3 years
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drabble based on this image from @annonymannonym and idea from @birthdaysentiment 
wtDRABBLES - part three (READ ON AO3)
To Robbe and Sander, Wednesday had become one of their many traditions.
Their first official hang-out since the beach trip—and their first kiss that happened in the ashen remains of a failed double-date—had happened on a Wednesday evening with beer in their system and joy in their hearts. Their first unofficial date, swapping a joint and lazy kisses, had happened on a Wednesday afternoon with sunlight pouring into Robbe’s temporary bedroom in an empty flatshare. Sander had met Robbe’s mom on a Wednesday morning for coffee after she was released from the hospital and they went on an impromptu day-trip on a Wednesday to the beach in January just because Sander wanted to kiss Robbe in that damned grocery store and on the beach like he wanted to before.
To them, as a couple, Wednesday was their day—for them and them alone—and, so, they made a point of Wednesday being their day. Their day to spend their days and evenings together, giggling and laughing, kissing deeply and soundly, hands wandering beneath the fabric of their t-shirts and leather belts. Or they would go out to an art exhibit that Sander wanted to see, taking pictures in front of the frames or together with a bad angle. Or, sometimes, Robbe would drag Sander to the cinema for a movie that he wanted to see—or some random film that he found on the internet—and hold his hand in his lap, playing with his fingers absentmindedly. Even during quarantine, they would facetime for hours together, giggling and talking with one another, longer than they would on other days with no Broerrrs to interrupt them.
And, this Wednesday was no different than any other Wednesday.
Before his life drawing class had even finished, Sander had seen Robbe’s signature brown jacket standing outside of the classroom. There was a flash of purple standing next to him—likely Celeste who had spotted him on her way out of her class down the hall. Once Sander had spotted his boyfriend’s side profile and his backpack with a tiger patch through the large windows, he could not get out of the classroom fast enough. Sander scrambled to put his supplies away early, earning a nasty look from his professor as he did so, and practically raced into his boyfriend’s arms when they were dismissed.
As the two of them kissed, their masks pulled over their chins, Celeste giggled as she shook her head. “Couldn’t you have let me have him for a few more minutes, Driesen?” Celeste asked.
“Why?” Sander asked, tugging Robbe closer to him. His boyfriend let out a melodious giggle, one that sent butterflies and joy through his body like it was the first time, and buried his face into the crook of his neck. There was a faux-annoyed look in Celeste’s eyes, but Sander could still make out her cheekbones turned upward from beneath the black fabric of her mask. “So, you can steal my boyfriend away? Too bad, you can’t have him.”
Celeste rolled her eyes. “That’s okay, I’ll just talk to him later then.”
“You can talk now.”
“No,” Celeste said, a teasing look in her eyes as she started to move away from them. “Now that you have decided to join us, we cannot talk about this further.” Before she stepped away, she leaned towards Robbe and whispered, “Text me tomorrow and we can continue to talk about it, okay?”
Robbe giggled. “Of course, I can’t wait.”
Celeste winked and disappeared down the hallway.
“What was that about?” Sander asked.
Even with the forest green mask covering his nose and mouth, Sander could make out the smile on his features, bright and beautiful and his. Robbe shook his head, firmly grasping at the lapels of Sander’s jacket, before turning his gaze back to his. “I can’t tell you that.”
Sander pouted. “Why not? You tell me everything?”
“I do,” Robbe agreed.
“So, why won’t you tell me?”
“Because it’s a surprise.”
“A surprise? Is it for my birthday?” All it takes is the bashful look in Robbe’s eyes to know that he was on the right track. With how his last birthday went—having to see Robbe through a screen without being able to hold him—Sander knew that this year would be loads better than the last... and his last birthday had already been one of his best ones. Grinning down at Robbe, Sander smiled. “What did you get me, Robin?”
Robbe smirked. “Whatever it is, you’ll find out on the 27th.”
“Oh,” Sander said, matter-of-factly. Robbe smiled brighter and Sander wished that he didn’t have that piece of cloth over his mouth, obscuring it from view. “Well, I, for sure, can’t wait until my birthday to see what you have in store for me.”
Robbe giggled, the sound sending a flood of warmth through Sander’s heart. Stepping closer to him, Robbe tugged on Sander’s black mask, bringing it down to his chin again. Even though Robbe was always talking about regulations and following the rules, neither one of them seemed to not care about them in the current moment, in an empty hallway with only them and no one else to see. After tugging down his own mask down, Robbe stepped closer to Sander, sliding their lips together so effortlessly and flawlessly as they had done so many times over the past year.
Still, after a year of love and devotion, Sander could never tire of kissing Robbe, feeling all of Robbe’s feelings against his lips—without question or hesitation about how he felt. Even though a professor would likely come around the corner and scold them, and they would deserve it so, Sander sunk into Robbe’s kiss, pulling him closer by the hips, and Robbe leaned against him, his lips tugging up into a smile. Sander cradled Robbe’s face, pulling him closer, before running his fingers through his hair and swiping his thumb across the stud earring that he had—
Wait.
Pulling away from Robbe, who looked dazed and confused, Sander turned Robbe’s head by his chin to find a brand new earring in place of the normal stud—the one that Sander had bought him once Robbe’s ear was healed enough to switch them out. It was a small, dainty lightning bolt-shaped out of stainless steel. In the white light of the hallway, it glittered and shined.
“That’s new,” Sander said. He swiped his thumb over the earring which caused it to skew slightly and he moved to correct it. “When did you get that?”
“Last week,” Robbe said, sheepishly. “When Zoë and I went shopping at the mall, I saw it in the shop and... I thought of you.” Robbe’s cheeks flushed a bright shade of pink. “And, I decided that I wanted to wear it today. Do you like it?”
Sander smiled. “Of course, Robin,” he said. Bringing Robbe closer, he pressed a long kiss against his lips before dragging them down his jaw to the new earring. After pressing a gentle kiss against the new lightning bolt earring, Sander whispered, “I like everything on you, baby.”
Robbe scoffed. “More like everything off me.”
“Both is good.”
Robbe giggled, tossing his head back. His mess of curls shaking around him. Reaching up, Robbe tugged up on his mask, pulling it over his nose again. Sander couldn’t help to pout before Robbe reached out to cover his face as well. “Come on,” Robbe said. “We better get going before we end up being scolded by one of your professors again.”
Sander snorted, letting Robbe grab him by the arm and lead him to the exit. Tucking his portfolio between his side and his arm, Sander wrapped his other arm around Robbe’s shoulders and pulled him closer to him. Robbe smiled over at him, falling against his side easily. The two of them walked together, swaying on their own axis together. “So,” Sander asked, leaning close to his boyfriend. “What are our plans for this Wednesday?”
Robbe shrugged, nonchalantly before turning to Sander. “I don’t know quite yet.” Wrapping his arm around Sander’s waist, between the fabric of his shirt and his leather jacket, Robbe added, “Let’s find out.”
“With you?” Sander asked, pulling him closer before placing a kiss against his temple through his mask. “Always.”
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ordinaryschmuck · 3 years
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Why I (Want to) Love Tangled: The Series/Rapunzel's Tangled Adventure
Salutations random people on the internet who most likely won’t read this. I am an Ordinary Schmuck. I write stories and reviews and draw comics and cartoons.
When I heard Disney was making an animated series based on Tangled, acting as a continuation from the original movie, my initial thought was, "Why?"
Sure, Disney is infamous for its unnecessary sequels of the story after happily ever after, with the many, many, many failures that follow suit. Even then, though, most of these continuations were movies that kind of have the potential to tell more of a story. But what more could be said about Tangled? Sorry to spoil a movie that's over ten years old at this point, but by the end of it: Rapunzel lost her golden hair, was reunited with her parents, fell in love, and lived happily ever after. Her losing the golden hair is the most essential part of that list because how can you do a series based on a Disney princess when her most iconic feature is gone? Then I found out that the series forced a way for her hair to come back, and my new initial thought became, "Oh man. This is gonna suck, isn't it?"
Despite the hesitation, I decided to give it a chance anyway. After all, I've been pleasantly surprised before. Things like My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, The Mitchells vs. the Machines, and even The Owl House (yes, really), were shows (and a movie) that I didn't think would be that special. Only to find myself enjoying nearly every minute. So after watching Tangled: The Series/Rapunzel's Tangled Adventure, I can certainly say I was surprised...but it was entirely for the wrong reasons.
And to explain how requires spoilers. So if you haven't checked the series out yet, I highly suggest you do it to form your own opinion. Just keep in mind that it's a bit of a mess, but it can be an enjoyable mess...sometimes...let me explain.
WHAT I LIKED
The Animation/Art Style: The series swapping from 3D to 2D might have been the most brilliant decision anyone could have ever made with this series. Usually, when an animated movie gets turned into a show, the most noticeable downgrade is always the animation. Whether it’s not as detailed or not as fluid, it's always subjective that the movie is better animated than the series. But by switching up the styles, the contrast becomes objective instead. 2D and 3D animation each have their pros and cons, so deciding which one is better is nothing more than a matter of opinion. So by changing the style, Tangled: The Series/Rapunzel's Tangled Adventure avoids getting complaints of being a downgrade from the original movie. It also helps that the art style of the series is really unique.
The best way to describe how the show looks is that it's like a coloring book brought to life. At times, everything looks like it was drawn and colored in with crayons, which sounds like an insult, but in actuality, it's one of the best features of the series. As much as I love most animated shows nowadays, I will admit, they all look a little too similar at times. Then here comes Tangled: The Series/Rapunzel's Tangled Adventure, which tries to incorporate a whole new style that successfully sets it apart from most shows.
As for the animation itself, it's really well-made! It's remarkably expressive when required, while the movements are really fluid during the correct scenes. Sure the fighting can be a little floaty during some action set pieces (yes, those exist here), but the dialogue and comedic moments are really where the series shines with its animation. I may have problems with the series as a whole, but I give credit where credit is due for the perfectly executed effort that I see in every episode in terms of animation.
Rapunzel and Eugene’s relationship: This was not something I was expecting to enjoy from the series. In the movie, Rapunzel and Eugene were fine. They were the typical Disney couple that worked off of each other enough that it was always entertaining, even if it was unbelievable that they fell deeply in love with each other after, like, two days. They weren't bad, but they weren't anything to go crazy over.
But the writers for the series said, "You know what, let's make these two adorable in nearly every scene they're in." And they are!
Even though I don't believe in their relationship in the movie, I fully believe it here. Both characters have a large amount of faith in one another on top of having endless love for their partner. Like how Eugene knew Rapunzel would be fine when taking out an airship or how Rapunzel couldn't bring herself to say a bad thing about Eugene when making Cassandra a sparring dummy of him. It's legitimately pleasant to watch, to the point where I put Rapunzel and Eugene in my top ten list of favorite fictional couples. They're that good to me, and it's one of the reasons why I don't jump on the bandwagon of shipping the two main female characters together. I'm all for LGBTQA+ representation, but give Cassandra her own girlfriend. Rapunzel's taken, and most of my enjoyment of this show comes from her and her man. So, you know, keep things as they are.
Cassandra (Seasons One and Two): Seeing how I've already mentioned her, let's talk about Cassandra, shall we? Because when making a series based on a movie that had only four prominent characters, with two of them being comedic animal sidekicks, you're going to need to introduce more members to the main cast to write more potential stories. And Cassandra, in Seasons One and Two (I'll get to Season Three), is a worthy addition. She acts as a strict straight man (I know the irony) who interacts well with Rapunzel and clashes perfectly with Eugene on occasion. She was passably entertaining in Season One and developed amazingly in Season Two. Her growing frustrations with Rapunzel's actions lead to a slow build-up that made her betrayal heartbreaking but somewhat understandable. And as for the results in that betrayal...yeah, I'll get into that later. For now, I'll just say that Cassandra was a pleasant addition to the main cast, especially when she was a part of the main trio, and she's yet another good surprise that the writers supplied for the series.
The Songs: The songs are...not going to be for everyone. Most of them are passable yet kind of generic, while others sound like they belong on Disney Junior (Looking at you, "Bigger Than That"). But when Tangled: The Series/Rapunzel's Tangled Adventure makes a hit, MAN, it is a home run. Numbers like "Ready As I'll Ever Be" and "Nothing Left to Lose" are sung phenomenally, orchestrated well, and are songs I can listen to on repeat multiple times. And "Waiting in the Wings" is not only something I consider to be the best song in the series, but it's also something I'd place as high up on Disney's best due to how f**king incredible it is. "Waiting in the Wings" is a powerful ballad that manages to be both tragic yet inspiring on top of how well it sums up Cassandra as a character. The writers may not always be on top of their game when it comes to music, but songs like these prove that they know how to earn that Disney name.
And that’s all I have for the likes...Oh boy. That’s not a good thing is it?
WHAT I DISLIKED
It Peaked at Season One: It did. It really did.
Season One felt like the writers had a grip on what type of show they wanted: A slice-of-life series with Rapunzel dealing with the issues of her kingdom with a meager threat of these black rocks growing in the background. It was all cute and well-balanced for the most part, but that all disappears in Season Two. Because now it's sort of about this adventure, but because Tangled: The Series/Rapunzel's Tangled Adventure set itself as a slice-of-life series, there need to be these small-scale stories that intertwine the grand narrative being told. The issue is that the story comes to a grinding halt one too many times as fans are forced to sit through these filler episodes that, while not all of them are bad, still feel like a distraction. And by Season Three, the series does feel more focused while having some slice-of-life episodes added to the ongoing story instead of distracting us from it. But the writing isn't as strong, there are several plot holes in the narrative (how did Rapunzel's sunstone get into her dress?), and there is way too much time going back and forth on Cassandra's morality. They claim that she's a villain while arguing that there might still be some good in her, and they continue this train of thought for nine episodes when it really could have been settled in two. For me, it's a bad sign for a series when the first season is the best one. Because if it's all downhill from there, what's the point of even watching?
It Tries to be Epic: This might have been the worst decision the writers could have made.
Now, here's the thing: I don't mind grand epic tales of adventure and battles against demons. If anything, I'm all for them...when it's appropriate and fits with the tone of the series.
Tangled: The Series/Rapunzel's Tangled Adventure suffers a similar problem Frozen II has, in which the writers felt like a big, life-threatening adventure was the perfect continuation of a meager, personal story about the relationships of characters. It isn't. If anything, it's completely missing the mark about what the original story was about. And sure, sometimes writers can succeed in telling personal stories through grand adventures. Just look at The Owl House and parts of Amphibia. But with those shows, it's established within the first few episodes that action and peril will be a series staple. With Tangled, while there was some action and peril, it's all very subdued compared to how high the stakes got raised in later episodes in the show. Especially in the series finale.
And, I mean, c'mon. You're making Rapunzel an action hero?
Judy Hopps? Yes.
Moana? Maybe.
Raya? Most definitely.
But Rapunzel? The character who’s all about optimism and seeing the best of others. That's the character you're going to morph into a hero that fights against an evil demon laid dormant for years? Did you even watch the original movie? Yeah, sorry, but I just don't buy it.
If you want to tell an epic story that gets the blood pumping for fans addicted to adventure, go for it! See where the wind takes you. But make sure to set that tone as early as possible while also making sure that it fits with the characters. If not, the end result is a series that feels like it's trying to be something it’s not.
Eugene is Kind of an Idiot at Times: It should be noted that Movie-Eugene and Series-Eugene are practically two different characters. In the film, Eugene was more or less the straight man, as he often questions the wackiness in the world around him and keeping Rapunzel grounded in reality. For the series, most of that personality got transferred to Cassandra. Thus making Eugene's new role in the series act as the egotistical imbecile. Sure, he had those moments in the film, but not as frequently, and it really pains me when the writers really lean hard into a minor aspect of his personality. Sometimes there are moments when Eugene acts like his original self. But it's all small scenes that are spread apart with entire episodes where he has half a brain cell. I'm sure some people didn't mind this change to the character, but as someone who adores the movie version of Eugene, I can't help but feel disappointed.
The Villains are the Worst: Now, I don't mean the one-off villains that show up, cause some chaos for a bit, and disappear at the end of the episode. Those are characters with fun personalities, occasionally cool designs, and do their job as villains of the week. It doesn't matter if their motivations are laughably simple, as their purpose is to be enjoyable characters above anything else. So I actually enjoy those villains...it's the ones that act as season-long antagonists that really grind my gears.
The purpose behind these types of foes is to build up how evil they are throughout the season. The issue is that the writers try to give these characters, or at least two of them, a point. To be fair, this can work. Just look at Killmonger from Black Panther and sometimes Karli Morgenthau from The Falcon and the Winter Soldier. You understand and probably even sympathize with the logic and reasoning these characters have. It's just that their actions couldn't be farther from what you would do. The problem with Varian and Cassandra is that they have the motivation, but it's not written suitably for the story.
Cassandra is a whole can of worms I'll get to in a minute, but Varian is someone I can easily discuss for a brief time. Because while I can comprehend his pain for having his father frozen in yellow rock, I don't think turning evil is the best decision to go with that character. Because A. Everything is his fault. He blames Rapunzel for not helping him, but even if she didn't have a crisis to deal with, there was nothing she could have done to stop it. His frustrations are not only unjustified, but given the fact that this wouldn't have happened if he listened to his father in the first place, it feels like him becoming evil is too drastic of a turn. And B. Varian worked much better as a supporting character rather than a primary antagonist. He was just this hopeful, if not a clumsy scientist who wanted to prove himself, who causes minor catastrophes due to not thinking ahead. Turning a character like Varian into a villain is a bit of a misstep because if the guy acts hilariously incompetent as a good guy, it makes little sense to have him be intelligent and ten steps ahead of Rapunzel when being evil. If he were to become more serious and careful when helping the rest of the main cast, I'd consider that character progression done properly. But becoming a villain is just an overreaction.
However, none of that compares with my issues with the main antagonist of the series: Zhan Tiri. This goes back to my problems with the series making itself too epic. Because if Zhan Tiri existed in any other show, I probably wouldn't have any problem with her. She's built up well throughout all three seasons and is kind of threatening at times. But she doesn't belong in a series based on a movie that dealt with a small, personal issue where it wasn't even the character who killed the villain in the end. It was her love interest and animal sidekick. Even if Zhan Tiri works well as a character, the fact that it doesn't feel like she belongs in the show makes her too distracting to enjoy. And that's why these villains suck. If not poorly written, they don't belong in a series that should focus on small-scale issues. And if you can functionally write an antagonist that appears for only one episode but flounder with ones that show up in several, well, that's just embarrassing.
Cassandra (Season 3): OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOH BOY, do I have some words to express with this character. Like with Movie-Eugene and Series-Eugene, Cassandra from Seasons One and Two is frustratingly different from the psychotic IDIOT from Season Three. Basically, just take the issues I have with Varian, multiply them by ten, add them with some bafflingly stupid decisions, and you still wouldn't get how much Season Three-Cassandra frustrates me!
First off, her motivation...what the f**k were the writers thinking? The big reason why Cassandra betrays Rapunzel and motivates all of her misdeeds was that Cassandra's mother was Mother Gothal...EXPLAIN THAT LOGIC TO ME?! Because Cassandra should know what type of woman Mother Gothal was. She should know what Mother Gothal did to Rapunzel in the first eighteen years of her life. So how is Cassandra being abandoned by Gothal the central motivator to cut ties with Rapunzel, who is probably an even bigger victim in this scenario!? Seriously, Rapunzel was cut off from the rest of the world and treated as an unknowing prisoner because she was beneficial to Gothal. Cassandra was adopted into a household with mutual love and got to actually live her life. In no way does it make sense for her to be angry at Rapunzel.
Nor does it make sense that the writers try to play it off as a good thing in the song "Crossing the Line!" Sure, it sounds nice, but thematically, it gives across the opposite feelings that the audience should have. Because if Cassandra cutting ties with Rapunzel is meant to be tragic and awful, why is the music suggesting it's the best possible thing that's ever happened for the character? If you like the song, fine, but even you have to admit that it's thematic nonsense.
But, sure. Cassandra's evil now, and she considers it a good thing. Whatever. I'll take it as long as it leads to good stories...but here's the thing: In the penultimate episode before the three-part series finale, Cassandra asks a question. A question I would have never expected her to ask, despite everything that has happened in the last season. A question that was so baffling, I had to legitimately pause the episode to process the fact that she asked something so stupid. Because Cassandra, the character who is intelligent and grounded in reality, asked, "Am I the bad guy?"
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I was honestly shocked to find out she was shocked! How, in the flying, everlasting, cock-a-doodle-doodling F**K does a person like her not pick up that maybe, just maybe, she isn't the hero in this story!? Call me crazy, but endangering the lives of people you once called friends and family, dressing in black, AND HAVING A GIANT EVIL-LOOKING TOWER MADE OUT OF F**KING SPIKES aren't qualities I would give to a hero!
If Cassandra was like Thanos, a character so wrapped up in his ego that he can't even notice how evil he is, I would understand. But she doesn't have an ego. Anger, yes. But for the most part, her personality is based on having logic and reasoning. So turning her into a villain and having her unaware that she's a villain is an act of lunacy that I am incapable of understanding. I don't know who's idea this was, but whoever is to blame...you've got issues.
>Sighs<...This series isn't good, is it?
IN CONCLUSION
I like the animation and some of the characters...but that's not enough. Tangled: The Series/Rapunzel's Tangled Adventure is a mess of a show that tries to do too much for a story that should have so little. Meaning that it's a D+ for me. I want to enjoy it and give it a higher grade, especially with how much I hear people praise this series. And if you do enjoy it, all the power to you. Your opinions are valid, even if I highly disagree with them. Because for me, this is a show that I won't get myself tangled up in again in the future.
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unioncolours · 3 years
Text
A 2nd Majsasaurus Year!
Today, 22nd of September 2021, it’s been two years since I officially joined the magical world of fandom. 22.9.2019 I uploaded the first chapter to my fic Shadows and Sand, and the rest is history.
I did a deep dive into my first year as a fic writer and active member of fandom last year, when it was my first anniversary. You can read it here!
In that meta discussion about my membership of fandom, I presented it as if walking on clouds. I was so, so happy and talked during all the discussion about my happiness in fandom.
Since that post was written, my life and also my perception of the fandom I am part of has changed. Change isn’t always bad, as I really had a honeymoon phase with fandom over a year ago, and the low after hit hard.
But let’s see what I’ve been up to and what I’ve been writing! The following year provided much change and fun things! Please keep reading 💜⬇
The first fic I wrote since 22.9.2020 was a Sakura x Ino fic. I had for a longer while been interested in writing a woman-loves-woman ship, which I had never done before, and as a wlw-person myself the urge to explore that part led to Promise me this is just a kiss. The pairing itself was chosen on rather random, it had to be two women and I like Ino, so I chose the most popular Ino-wlw ship for this for convenience.
I really liked writing the fic and it was well-received! It was the first time I had written a fic that was entirely centred around exploring feelings and having sex.
After this I jumped directly onto the next idea that had been boiling inside me for a longer while. Up to this point, all I had written, except the wlw-fic, had been set in the Naruto canonverse and I was itching to try to work with a multi-chaptered modern au! The pairing was of course my beloved Shikadai x Inojin.
It was during the creation of this fic I began to struggle. This was a new genre, as this was romance only and all my other works had been action and fantasy based, except the sex fic of course. I was maybe over critical and stressed, which resulted in me having a hard time writing it. But I made it. Was the sky always this beautiful? ended up being 35k long, and in hindsight, I freaking love, love, love how it turned out in the end and what it represented. I am very proud of this fic.
I “upgraded” as a fan by the end of October when I bought myself a digital drawing tablet. I began drawing fanart of Shikadai and Inojin and preferably them two together, haha! I still draw a few days a month and find it extremely fun as a side hobby beside the writing.
We are now in November 2020. By this time, I had completely finished my zine fic, Under the Scorching Sun, which I had written during September and October, for the Shikatema zine I was kindly accepted to. I was proud of what I had created and was eager for the rest of the contributors to wrap up theirs, so we’d have a wonderful zine for sale in 2021. It was lovely to write ShikaTema again. As the zine fic was about to be released in months from when I had at first finished it, I wanted of course to write something fans and friends could immediately take part of on the internet. I had hyped myself up to a state where I wanted to write a third and final story in my series To love and never let go, my epic series about Shikadai and Inojin.
Now, I should maybe have waited another month, but I was worried the readers would give up on me if I didn’t write it right away. In December, I began writing To find hope in the Universe, with my usual speed and love for the art.
What I by then didn’t realise or even recognise was that I was very slowly turning burned out. I ignored all the signs.
In December I wrote simultaneously as Hope in the Universe a fic that was part of the Shikatema server’s Secret Santa event. The fic’s name was The Ghost Stories of our Hearts, and it was ShikaTema, as the event’s name suggests. It was fun to write and despite the final big fic, Hope in the Universe, pressing down on me, I finished The Ghost Stories of our Hearts and was very happy with the result. Sadly, at this point the burnout began taking control over me, and I never managed to reply to the comments.
The 15th of January, I began uploading To find hope in the Universe. It was a lovely experience, even if it was tainted by negative feelings coming from my decreasing happiness and the fact that it didn’t do as well as To dance above the Stars, the second fic in the series. To deal with two very contradiction emotions, loving my work, the characters, how I have painted an entire world around the characters and how I knew some people honestly loved my hard work, and then the negative feelings coming from not feeling good enough and depressed, was a difficult thing to navigate and still is when I think back to that time. It didn’t help that during the process of uploading the fic I went through grief, and I chose distraction as my coping method. I kept writing and working, the only thing I ever knew.
Our pre-order of the Shikatema zine was in full motion by this time and it was a nerve-wracking time! Mostly because of excitement but also worry. I’m super happy for my friends who were part of the zine, with whom I could share all the excitement and nervousness with. The zine ended up making good sales, which made me happy among the uploading of the long fic.
To find hope in the Universe was completed 31st of March 2021. When I uploaded the final chapter, I felt nothing. It was so weird, so spooky, to have finished a long fic and a series on top of that and not feel anything. But deep down, beneath the layer of depression, I felt great pride.
That was the emotion that broke free once the burnout left me. Pride.
I had created this empire of Shikajin, a whole alternative timeline, an alternative canon from my own head and to this day, that is my internet legacy. I love Trial of the Heart, which I wrote in 2020, but if I have to choose between ToH and this series, I will choose To love and never let go in a heartbeat.
So, even if it felt depressing and hopeless in the moment, I look now back with pride and happiness. Never forget that. Never forget that I made that.
April was a curious time. I swore to not write anything, because I had by now recognised that I was burned out and needed to rest, yet managed to scrape together three smaller fics.
The first one was another wlw-smut fic, TemaSaku this time called Another Light. I wanted to explore that part once again. I wrote it in canonverse and honestly think the fic ended up extremely nice. Perfect amount of feels and sex. It didn’t feel hard to write at all, because the setting, characters and emotions were so different from the fics I had written the last five months.
Now more interesting things lay on the horizon! A new zine, the Ino-Shika-Cho zine called Beyond a Bond had an interest check during the spring, and later the contributor application. I urged in the interest check to please give us the next gen kids, Shikadai, Inojin and Chocho – my kids and babies, and when it turned out they were going to feature, I had to apply as a writer. For this application I wrote a one shot, called It’s just hair, and I loved this spunky little story featuring the best babies that I created.
I also edited one of my tumblr fics, And then I kissed him, into a longer, better version that I later in May uploaded onto AO3. It was once again a Shikajin, a sequel of Trial of the Heart, and it was a fun little project.
Now May came and I sent in the application for the zine early, which I now am relieved I did. I am happy that I did the work for the application in April instead of May, because in May I had a few breakdowns and another grieving period, which lead to complete creative paralysis. I didn’t write a single word during May, only uploaded the two one shots I had prepared in April.
What I did do in May was to read through the Shikatema zine I had contributed to! It arrived in the mail! I was so nervous; my whole body was shaking when I opened the package right outside the post office. The zine now resides on the parade place in my little zine shrine in the bookshelf. Thank you to the mods who made this a reality!
To my great happiness my zine adventures continued as I was accepted to the Ino-Shika-Cho zine as a writer and was assigned to write my favourite characters. I felt so relieved and overjoyed, mind blown by the sheer talent among the contributors.
On the other fandom front, June didn’t continue any brighter, with stress and mental pain still having a strong grip around me, despite the very happy news that I am still so grateful for. I wrote a Yamanaka family fic which to this day hasn’t seen the light of AO3, because of negative emotions surrounding it. I turned into a complete wreck compared to me in June 2020. In June 2020 I was flourishing, I loved what I did, I loved fandom and I loved the friends I had made through Discord servers. Now I could find myself crying my eyes out over a wip not going the way I wished it would. What had happened to Bex 2021?
I was so incredibly frustrated with myself, groaning in defeat when my hands just couldn’t write. I managed to push through 6k of what I called my “emo au” – more of that later – and finish the Yamanaka fic which is still buried, and on top of that I had the zine and another fandom event, The Naruto Photo Album, to create content for. Why couldn’t I do it? Why couldn’t I find happiness in something that once was my reason for happiness?
In the end, I managed to write 15k in June. My former monthly word count used to be 30k. One could think this would turn into the end of my fic writing career, or the beginning of a longer hiatus, but I am stubborn and want to meet the expectations of the people who love my content, so I didn’t want to give up. I wanted to try. I wanted to be whoever I was before.
Funnily enough, the healing came in the shape of the most self-indulgent fic I have ever, ever written, a fic I like possessed began writing July the 1st 2021. It was nothing less than a freaking fairy tale AU, namely a Shikadai x Inojin Peter Pan AU. I can hear you laugh at the silliness of it, but this whimsical AU gave me back my love for writing. I hyper-fixated on this story quite a bit and stopped writing on everything else, something I almost never do.
Only happy boys fly ended up being 21 000 words long! I knew it was a niched story, and true to my guesses, the story has to this day very low stats. Today, two months after it was published, it has just above 100 hits and 10 kudos, so for all I know, only ten people read and liked it. I try to not care too much, since I love the story and in some way, that story saved me from going batshit insane over my emotions about writing.
At this point I had begun writing my fic from the Ino-Shika-Cho zine, finding joy in silly scenes with my favourite characters and trying to heal. The writing process was frustratingly slow, but one word at a time I got forward and as of today, the draft is done. The pre-orders are in December. At the side of the zine fic I wrote a short fluffy Shikajin story, CLEAR, a story with almost no plot, because I knew how much self-indulgence could help me.
And then, I finally began writing for real on my emo au, A gang of fallen stars, which has the first few chapters up right now! I have for the first time in six months a longer fic (if we don’t count the Peter Pan story) and it feels… good. This fic is once again a modern au, but in darker tones than my other modern au from November 2020. I honestly like what I have so far, even if I during June and July almost planned to never finish it. I am so relieved I managed to begin the upload. In September the Photo Album was released and I could show my two fics I wrote for it.
It sounds like this year has been nothing but misery, and at times it felt like it. However, there are a few fandom friends who brought light to my life when I couldn’t see it. The first ones to mention are of course my partners in crime, @notquitejiraiya and @thespookymoth. Together we created a server dedicated to Ino-Shika-Cho during the spring and it has been tons of fun with the members there! Thank you two for listening to me and for being my friends during 2021.
I also have to mention Soverel, who carefully begun taking contact through comments and likes on my twitter, and later through direct messages, and it has been a fun ride ever since. We’ve had lovely discussions which are very dear to me and your support means a lot to me. Thank you for being you and for drawing so many wonderful artworks you’ve shared with me. Haha, and for making me play Genshin Impact, even though I do it like twice a month!
Another person who has made my days so much brighter is @sugarriene. Thank you for sending me that one dm that made us chat regularly, thank you for popping up and sharing panels and your wonderful drawings with me, and for vibing head canons with me. You are a lovely person, and you make me happy.
Finally, I want to give a shout out to @yoboseyokyu for listening to me when I had to yell into the void and for making me happy with your cute posts on both twitter and tumblr.
Since September 2020, I’ve written around 195 000 words and drawn close to 35 illustrations, most of them of Shikadai and Inojin. Almost 200 000 words of Majsasaurus. I’ve created a Discord server and I’ve been part of two zines as a writer, plus a free PDF-project.
It has been a wild year. A year filled with passion for my favourite characters and ship, with the excitement that came with being part of projects and hyping them. It was a year where I learned to draw digitally, and heck what fun it was.
This also a year where I learned people can be mean to me because of what I ship and that fandom friends won’t necessarily always stay to be your friend anymore and how much it can hurt. I also learned what my limits are, and what punishment I get if I don’t listen to my own mind and rest when I have to.
It was a year, guys.
Now, onto the third Majsasaurus Year. Cheers!
And those of you, who supported me when I needed it – thank you and I love you.
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stan-joonies · 4 years
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Mine, Mine, Mine
Requested! Prompt:
26: "You're mine, i don't share,"
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The girl grinned up at Sweet Pea when he threw a lazy arm carelessly around her shoulders. He was tapping something on his phone, playing with a piece of gum with his tongue. His hair curled across his tanned forehead and his towering frame covering her in warmth.
Toni rolled her eyes.
"Absolutely sickly. You're a bunch of lovesick puppies,"
She smirked.
"At least we haven't been caught licking at eachothers--"
"Woah, imma stop you there, mutt," Toni hissed, glaring up at her. She ignored it and just smirked.
"What? It's just me and you," she shoved a thumb back into her boyfriends chest. "Ever since he got the new phone he's been completely unresponsive," to prove her point, she dragged sharp nails from his chest down to his pelvis, then back up, a gesture that would usually make Sweet Pea shiver and drag her away, or at least blush. His eyes stuck glued to the screen, however, not even humming in acknowledgement .
"Bet you're regretting that purchase, aint you?"
Y/N shrugged. In all honesty, she didn't mind. Sweet Pea had originally had a flip phone, used only to take and recieve calls. Even then the only contacts was some of the serpent elders, Toni, Fangs, her and Jughead, albeit reluctantly. Sweet Pea claimed it didn't bother him, he barely used the internet anyway, but Y/N caught the longing glances Sweet Pea sent when they past electronic or apple stores. Y/N also noticed Sweet Pea's reluctance to pull out his phone infront of anyone. He always walked out the room or hid the phone, even when taking a text. So, Y/N worked hard leading up to his birthday and managed to buy him an iphone. It wasn't the newest model, but it wasn't in bad condition and it was brand new. Now, with more storage, he had flooded his phone with games and apps and pictures and videos. He was in love with that phone.
"Not really," she sighed, smiling up at him. "Love you, Pea,"
His eyes immediately broke away from the screen, blinking rapidly. He smirked, squeezing her closer and bowing his lips to the shell of her ear.
"Love you, too,"
The bell chose that moment to screech into their ears that it was time for class, with a kiss goodbye and a skip in her step, Y/N made her way to art, smiling happily.
-
Y/N preferred to sit near the back of the classroom because there was a window right next to her with the prettiest view. Trees and flowers swaying in the breeze, a couple leaves floating delicately down to the ground.
Today, though, someone sat in the seat next to her, which she found relatively odd. Most people tended to avoid her, terrified of her boyfriends famous temper.
When she walked up to the table, the boy smiled at her.
"You're Y/N?"
She hummed lightly, smiling back at him.
"Great! I'm Joseph, i just changed schools recently. Apparently you're the person to go to if i need help adjusting,"
Y/N inwardly sighed. At the beginning of her years at highschool, her goody-two-shoes self had sign up as a future "Hallway buddy". A job that basically allowed teachers to abandon their jobs as supervisors and shove it into the hands of willing, gullible new students.
She had tried to get out of it once she had to show a boy around, one who was more interested in picking up girls than the classrooms he needed to be in.
It was only then that the school informed her that if she wanted the extra credit, she had to continue into graduation. It was frustrating but she wasn't exactly the smartest so she needed it.
"That's me, nice to meet you," they shook hands, Joseph holding on slightly after she let go.
"Great, I'm not very socially...Im not very good with people so I'm glad you seem nice."
Y/N hummed in understanding.
"There are some annoying people you shouldn't get involved with. But I'm not gonna tell you who to and not to get involved with." She sat down next to him. "I just ask you don't believe everything you hear,"
"What? About the Serpents and the fact they're this cruel, bloodthirsty gang of emos?"
Y/N glared quickly.
"One of those serpents happens to be my boyfriend,"
Joseph tensed, straightening his back.
"Right, sorry,"
The lesson was spent in silence after that, Y/N focusing on the outside window.
When the bell announced their next lesson, she hurriedly collected her things, intent to leave before deflating.
She would have to show Joseph around either way, best get it over with.
She waited at the door, watching his glum face light up when he caught sight of her.
"Thank god," he sighed, smiling. "I was terrified I'd have to navigate the halls alone, worst fear."
She hummed, quickly manoeuvring through halls.
Joseph looked at her, tapping her meekly on the shoulder.
"I'm sorry, about what i said about the Slytherins, i just...i normally stick with the crowd,"
"First off, they're called the Serpents, and if you actually wanna make friends...maybe you shouldn't just 'stick with the crowd'."
Joseph huffed, flushing.
"Right. And sorry, i had a harry Potter marathon last night."
Her eyebrow raised at the mention of her favourite movie.
"We might become really good friends," she muttered.
-
When it came to Lunch, Y/N took him to the cafeteria where they got their food. When they turned around, Y/N immediately caught sight of the group of leather clad teens. She was about to go towards them but stopped when she saw Joseph's ashen face.
"Joseph?" She questioned, noticing the hands clenching fearfully at the side of his tray.
"Sorry...i just...god..." he looked away.
Y/N groaned. Joseph had yet to make friends and so it was clear he was totally uncomfortable and self concious. She felt the weight of a familiar gaze on her and she looked away from Joseph to see Sweet Pea staring at her, brow raised, earning a decisive shrug in return .
Making up her mind, she balanced her tray with one hand, considerably harder than she thought before taking hold of Joseph's sweater.
"Come with me,"
They made their way to the Serpents, some glancing at her when she brought a random into the group.
"Hey, Toni, Fangs, Jug, Pea," she smiled down at them, smiling thankfully when Fangs took her tray and placed it near Sweet Pea,whom, once again, was concentrated on his phone. She leaned down and kissed him on the cheek, him humming slightly before he began to tap furiously at his phone. "This is Joseph, he's new. I was showing him around and thought it'd be nice for you all to meet him," she sat down, shoving Sweet Pea further up the table so Joseph had enough room to sit. Sweet Pea just grunted.
Joseph sat down stiffly, nodding at them all.
"Hello,"
He recieved echos of greeting. Y/N had a slight suspicion he wasn't just introverted. He seemed quite outgoing around her alone, waving his hand furiously and voice occasionally increasing past normal range. Yet as soon as they entered a classroom, all the colour he gained on his face was drained and he became unfortunately meek and cowered into himself.
"Joseph," Y/N muttered, wanting to vocalise her concerns "Do you have..."
"Social anxiety? Yeah," he laughed. "Really bad too. That's why i was so glad to be paired with you.
Sweet Pea's furious tapping stopped.
"Paired?" Toni questioned.
Joseph grinned.
"I'm paired up with her in art and we discovered we have pretty much every class together,"
Sweet Pea's eyes rose from the screen.
"It was a relief honestly! I would be completely lost otherwise!" The blonde scratched the back of his neck, a nervous habit her picked up as a child. "She practically had to lead me by the hand, i looked quite pathetic, honestly!"
Sweet Pea slid his phone into his pocket.
"I'm sure you would've of been just fine, you're a lovely boy, Joseph. People will be eating you up--"
Suddenly, a heavy weight pressed down her shoulders and she found herself squished into Sweet Pea's side, his mouth kissing the crown of her head.
"Sweet Pea?" She looked up at him, frowning at the swirl of emotions peeking out behind dark clouds of brown. The table was completely forgotten. Y/N trusted Toni to pick up the conversation from there.
"Hmm," he burried his face into her neck, taking a deep breath in, tensing when he smelt deodorant. "What? Why do you smell of mint?" He wouldn't admit he missed the flowery, sweet scent she was usually accompanied with.
"Oh! Joseph let me borrow his, turns out we have PE together too! I ran out of mine last week," she flashed a grin.
"You could've told me, i would've brought you some more. They're only cheap," he mumbled into her ear, growling when Y/N laughed lightly.
"You don't need to get Jealous, Pea. Honest. I like the tall, dark and handsome type anyway,"
His lips came brushed against her ear slowly, kissing it gently.
"You're mine, i don't share,"
"And you don't, I'm yours just like you're mine,"
Sweet Pea growled playfully, biting her neck briefly
"Who said i was yours?"
Y/N scowled, her hand coming up to rest at his throat, forcing his head down so her mouth was at his jaw. She bit lightly at the skin, a difficult task.
"I said so, big boy,"
She squeezed his throat lightly, Sweet Pea shivering, before turning back to the table, taking notice that Sweet Pea didn't reach for his phone once.
358 notes · View notes
thisizaraisu · 3 years
Text
In/spectre vs The Detective is Already Dead: Every Masterpiece Has its Cheap Imitation
So I’ve been thinking about this a lot lately. While I did only give In/spectre an 8/10 due to its admittedly weak pacing, it was also one of my favorite anime to come out last year. I love the character chemistry and banter, it was enough to make me forgive the pacing a million times over. And The Detective is Already Dead sets itself up similarly to In/spectre with some great character interaction and a main girl that reminded me a LOT of Kotoko (and you can take one look at my profile picture to know how I feel about Kotoko). But if you’ve been reading my posts, you’d have seen that The Detective is Already Dead was the first show I dropped this season. So while I was initially very interested in everything the show had set up, there was a point where it all went wrong, and admittedly I don’t think it was Episode 2. Today I wanna take a deep dive into both series, and explain why one is a masterpiece and one is a disappointment.
Structure
The Detective is Already Dead has the most screwed-up story structure I’ve ever seen in an anime... and I watched God of High School. My biggest problem with the way the show is structured is that the chronology being completely random isn’t my only issue. We gleam two major facts from episodes 1-3: Siesta has passed away, and her heart is within the body of another girl. For whatever ungodly reason, knowing this we go back to a flashback where Siesta is fighting a kaiju with toxic breath that could wipe out the entire nation of Japan. Now tell me, if Siesta were to be killed by this monster, would she have any salvageable body parts left over? Hell no. And therein lies my problem: the way that the story has already gone through its motions leaves NO room for feelings of stakes or tension in these flashback sequences. It’s not just the chronological whiplash that bogs the whole thing down, but the fact that we already know Siesta’s fate makes these “intense” flashback sequences utterly pointless (I’ll get to why “intense” was put in quotations later). I honestly did not mind the idol arc at all, but at the end of said arc, a new character was teased, only for her to not be introduced in the following episodes. There are SO many structural issues that I was baffled, it continually left me with more questions than answers and not in the way a good mystery series does so. More often than not, the question it left me with was “What the fuck were they thinking?”
In/spectre on the other hand is structurally sound. It jumps around occasionally but it covers events that are entirely relevant to the lives of our two lead characters and their relationship. Additionally, while the pacing is admittedly lackluster, it’s not confusing. We see the high-stakes war between Kotoko and Rikka unfold in real-time, with Kotoko’s plan to rid the world of Steel Lady Nanase encoutering numerous logical hurdles. Again, I’ll get into why this works down the line. But for now, I wanna talk a bit more about:
Character Chemistry
The chemistry between Kotoko and Kuro is a real saving grace for the show. I’m gonna be bringing up the term “saving grace” a few more times for In/spectre, and I do realize that the term is typically used for good qualities of bad media, but here’s where I’m coming from on this: pacing is something that I typically put a LOT of stock into for an anime. However, when the other qualities are so enjoyable that I can put weak pacing to the side, I consider those qualities a saving grace. All that being said, every interaction between Kotoko and Kuro brought a genuine smile to my face. The witty banter and innuendo shared between them is not only well-written, but reserved for the right moments. It never breaks the tension that the show has worked so hard to build up, rather it’s present in their initial meeting, their moments shared in the hotel, and after the conflicts they encounter have been resolved. There are occasionally tongue-and-cheek jokes thrown into the preludes to action sequences but they’re very quick laughs as immediately after we’re thrown right back into the action. The timing and writing in In/spectre is just top-notch and they’re a direct result of how naturally Kotoko and Kuro’s conversations flow and how well the two completely different leads compliment each other.
The only character Kimihiko had good chemistry with is fucking dead now. Moving on.
Action
In/spectre is not very heavy on the action, but two scenes in the show’s runtime did make my jaw drop: the conclusion of episode 1, and the scene where Kuro pulls his body across the I-beam impaled into his chest to punch Nanase in the face. Kotoko and Kuro have a bit of a “brains and brawn” dynamic going on. While Kuro is by no means unsmart, Kotoko is definitely more of the master strategist, while Kuro can use his immortality to keep their target at bay. This present is incredibly present in the fight with Steel Lady Nanase. Kuro is constantly knocked down, battered, bruised, impaled, yet he keeps rising back up to give Kotoko enough time to work her magic. It’s a plan that promises nothing but searing pain for Kuro, and throughout it all I was constantly wondering, at what point will Kuro break? This has been happening for numerous episodes, when will he not be able to get back up? The fact that In/spectre made me feel that there were stakes for an IMMORTAL BEING is, in hindsight, kind of amazing.
In direct contrast, The Detective is Already Dead really falls off after the first fight. While looking back on it, it is really dumb that Siesta was able to bring a gun onto an airplane, on first watch I honestly really liked what I was seeing in the fight between her and tentacle boy (I don’t remember his name and I don’t feel like looking it up). And what got me REALLY invested was the way Siesta didn’t actually kill him, rather faking his death and having him imprisoned. I was invested for a key reason: the show’s title isn’t exactly spoiler-free, but it got me wondering, is Siesta ACTUALLY dead? Is she truly gone from this world, or is her “death” in name only like Tentacle Boy’s, and do I actually get to see more of this enjoyable, In/spectre-style character dynamic? Sadly, this was thwarted by episode 2′s reveal of the girl that received Siesta’s heart. Again, a horrifically paced sequence between episodes that kills any momentum the series had built up.
Additionally, it was during the fight between Siesta and Petelguise that I felt the show had genuinely hit rock bottom, because they made a fight between a cute waifu in a mech suit and a kaiju that could wipe out all of Japan in a moment’s notice BORING. I didn’t touch on it much during my initial explanation of why I dropped the show, but I wanna elaborate a bit. First of all, as I said previously, there are no stakes to be found. We KNOW that Siesta can’t die here. Secondly, the movement is just so wooden, there’s no attempt at animating the fight in an exciting way, rather it just feels like they’re going through the motions to convey the words of the light novel without trying to get it to translate to video form. Finally, there’s WAY too much dialogue and it drags down the entire sequence by making the chase scene way longer than it needs to be, and given the show’s propensity to really over-season every scene with dialogue, I imagine this was the same for future action sequences as well. I dropped the show as soon as Siesta jumped onto the clock tower with Petelguise, because it was in that moment I realized: I feel literally nothing right now.
The last point of comparison I want to draw between these two shows is:
Bullshit
Thinking about the very different way these two shows use the art of bullshitting is honestly the reason I wanted to make this post. Kotoko’s solution to the entire Steel Lady Nanase conflict is, after all, the art of bullshitting. What makes it work is the fact that it’s the perfect solution to what the situation calls for. I know this is a bit of an odd comparison, but In/spectre is like a reverse version of Elf starring Will Ferrell. Unlike how at the end of Elf, they wanted to make everyone believe in Santa to restore his power, Kotoko’s ambition is to get the Internet to toss out their belief in Steel Lady Nanase to rid her of her power as a “monster of the imagination.” If people maintain their belief in this monster of Rikka’s imagination, there’s no realistic way to stop her. Here lies the biggest obstacle, however: the power of imagination is so strong that Nanase has become a very real entity, responsible for multiple murders. Kotoko can’t just magically find an incriminating piece of evidence that outs Nanase as superstition, so her only solution is to trick the people of the internet and convince them that she’s a myth. As she does this, her invented inference runs into skepticism and she has to continue to bullshit her way out of it until finally, she’s created an explanation for the recent string of murders with no holes in its argument. It’s an arduous process but one that does have to be drawn out as Kotoko very clearly and intentionally sets up explanations that would draw skepticism before inventing an excuse that refutes any potential counter-arguments. It’s honestly the equivalent to someone writing a 50-page college thesis with no research and successfully defending it.
Siesta, on the other hand, is the most annoying kind of supergenius character. Personally, I love Siesta. I think her character design is great, I think she’s funny and that she shares some really enjoyable dialogue with Kimihiko, so when the show isn’t butchering fight scenes I actually really enjoyed her screen time. So it’s not Siesta herself that bothers me, but it’s the way that the plot is so willing to let her make perfect deductions with the most minimal knowledge given to her. This also reminds me a bit of Sherlock in Moriarty the Patriot, with his ability to make perfect deductions from just a glance at the scene of the crime, but it works well in Holmes’ case because all of the necessary evidence is in that confined space. Siesta on the other hand is just magically able to decipher a villain’s motivation and weaknesses with a two-minute conversation... yeah I don’t buy it.
So that’s about it, I probably could have drawn up more contrasts if I had actually continued watching The Detective is Already Dead, but it became such an abject disappointment that I just ended up going back to In/spectre instead. You know, a mystery show where the writers and animators knew what they were doing.
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fandom-necromancer · 3 years
Text
Getting lost together
This was prompted by a lovely anon! I hope you enjoy, this one is fluffy XD
Fandom: Detroit become human | Ship: Reed900
‘Nines, that was the last bag, come on! We’re going to be late!’ Gavin closed the trunk of his car and looked over to where Nines was standing right between the house and the car. ‘Tina will look after the cats alright, she loves the little beasts, don’t worry’, he tried to comfort him, opening the car door and leaning against it. ‘We’ll come back, and they are at least a kilo heavier’, he joked. Nines straightened his back, but avoided his eyes as he walked towards the car. ‘Hey, what’s wrong?’, the Detective asked softly. ‘I thought you looked forward to this.’ ‘I do!’, Nines quickly replied. ‘It’s just my first time leaving Detroit. I… I’m not sure what awaits me.’ ‘That’s what travelling is about’, Gavin explained and stepped past the door to take his hand. ‘Don’t worry. You will love it.’ ‘I hope so’, he mumbled far too insecure for a war machine and entered the car.
Gavin sat down too, leaning over to press a kiss to Nines’ cheek and start the engine afterwards. ‘Come on. Let’s go on a road trip!’ He handed Nines a case full of music CDs and gestured him to choose one. ‘Passenger decides the music’, he explained and started pulling out of their driveway. The android frowned at the disks, contemplating whether he should tell Gavin he could always just connect to the car and play whatever song he wanted. But he guessed this was part of the experience, so he pulled out one of them without researching band names or titles written on it. ‘Excellent choice’, Gavin cheered as the first heavy guitar riffs came up. Nines couldn’t really say something to that as he had no idea what else he could have picked, but seeing Gavin grin and drum his fingers on the steering wheel he found he didn’t really care if it made his human happy.
They drove through the streets and Nines traced their route with his GPS. He got increasingly worried as they made it onto the highway and finally left Detroit. ‘All good, love?’, Gavin asked, seeing the red flashing LED. ‘Yes, just… I lost connection to an android network.’ ‘That means?’, the man asked concerned. ‘My scans won’t be as effective anymore as I can only detect what I see. I can’t supplement it with information from the internet or databanks.’ ‘Should we turn around?’ Nines thought about it. It was their first vacation since the revolution as work had kept them busy with anti-android crimes, retaliations and the rising Red-Ice trades. He had looked forwards to it and still did. He would spend time with his human somewhere neither of them had been before, just the two of them. What about that wasn’t exciting? ‘No. It’s just weird loosing a function you never paid much attention to.’ ‘I can imagine’, Gavin hummed, unsure what to say. ‘I guess that at least makes us equal?’, Nines contemplated. ‘Neither of us knows Providence. It’s a new place for you and I have no way of acquiring more information than you could.’ ‘Heh, a full-on human experience, then?’ ‘You could say so.’
They drove down the road and the longer they were on their way, the less worried Nines became. If anything, partially loosing his scanning abilities made it even more interesting. He simply couldn’t know some things and others passed too fast to get even a little bit of information. ‘How do you live like this?’, Nines couldn’t help but ask as he could see buildings to his right that might have belonged to a town called Sweaburg, but could as well be something entirely else. ‘How do you live, seeing things and having no idea what something is?’ Gavin laughed. ‘Learning to ignore what isn’t important, I guess? I mean, do I have to know everything to survive. And it can make it all the more interesting if you do find out someday. You can always learn something new, even if you lived your whole life in just one city.’ Nines frowned and tried to understand. ‘I mean, isn’t it boring knowing everything? What about curiosity and the joy of discovery?’ The android had to nod to that. ‘That’s why I like our work this much. And I’m starting to like this new perspective, too.’
He found himself smiling as he watched the world pass by, details appearing and disappearing before his programs could even try to gather information. He had become a passive onlooker and it was a weirdly relaxing experience when at the same time his eyes darted from one fixing point to the next trying to take in everything at once. Gavin found he had a difficult time concentrating on the road when Nines sat in the passenger seat almost pressing his nose to the glass like a school child on their first but ride. Sometimes he wished he could take photos like the android could, just to remember this sight forever.
They had to stop for gas soon and Nines took over for the rest of the ten-hour ride. Gavin, understandably exhausted, had tried to stay awake, but when they were an hour away from their destination, he was peacefully sleeping leaned against the door. Only as Nines left the highway and had to stop at a red light, the man woke up again. ‘Oh, we’re already there?’, he asked and sat up. ‘Sorry, I’m just really tired.’ ‘Our hotel is just down the road. Then you can sleep properly.’ ‘Nah, I planned to go take a look at the city first!’ ‘Gavin, I doubt we will get anything else done. And it’s supposed to be a vacation.’ ‘Okay, I’ll take a short nap then and afterwards we go for a walk in the evening, but that’s the only compromise I’m willing to accept.’ Nines sighed. ‘Fine.’
They checked in to their hotel and went to their room to stow away their luggage. Gavin’s nap ended up being longer than expected and with an amused huff, Nines slipped under the blanket too to join his human in this unknown place.
-
Maybe it had been the night spent in stasis, but when Nines rose to see Gavin in the light of the rising sun in this foreign room, he could barely contain the happiness that he felt. No deadline, no case that had to be solved, no clear mission to follow. Just himself and Gavin in a city neither of them knew; time reset to a new schedule counting down the days of their vacation. It was almost… liberating.
He snuggled closer to Gavin and wallowed in his warmth. The human grinned and turned around, still sleepy but slowly waking up. ‘Morning, Nines.’ ‘Morning darling.’ Gavin buried his head in his shoulder. ‘Jeez, Nines, if you keep this up I’ll never leave the bed.’ ‘We can do that if you want’, the android murmured, kissing the top of his head. ‘Nah. Let’s get ready for breakfast and then go see the city. I have something special planned for tonight and you can’t research it! It will truly be a surprise.’ ‘I can still do normal research via the internet, Gavin. Just slower.’ ‘Don’t you dare’, Gavin laughed, pointing his finger at his nose, before standing up and getting ready for the day.
After leaving the hotel, they walked through the streets without any real plan in mind. Nines followed Gavin, who seemed to take random turns and stopped at random places. Watching the people around them and the different sorts of buildings, Nines was quickly feeling weirdly at home. In the afternoon they stopped at a park near the river and Gavin got himself something to eat at the many food carts around. They sat down at a bench right at the riverfront and enjoyed the sunny day. ‘This is perfect’, Nines couldn’t help but voice the content he felt at watching the water lazily pass by, a few ducks swimming on it. A few joggers passed them, faces without names for the first time in Nines’ short life. ‘Got over that lack of information?’, Gavin asked, mouth still half full of the hot dog. ‘I’m actually considering shutting off that program completely when not on the job’, he shrugged. ‘You were right it is more interesting to not know and wonder. If I really need to know something, I can always switch it on again.’ ‘Nice. Good to know it’s not too bad for you.’ Nines looked down on Gavin and put his arm around him. ‘It’s never around you.’ ‘Aw you damn romantic android. I would hate you if I didn’t love you.’ ‘Sure.’ Nines looked out over the river and cocked his head. ‘Gavin, what did you wanted to show me?’ ‘In the evening, love. Has to be dark for it. Patience.’
At least time passed quickly with the human around to guide him around town. As the sun set, they returned to a different part of the river. Nines frowned, as he saw several people blocking his view on the water. ‘Gavin, what-‘ ‘Shh, come on, follow me. I looked this up beforehand, there should be a good spot over here.’ Gavin took his hand and pushed through the crowd, not even thinking of apologising. Pulling Nines right to the front, the android was indeed blown-away. In all his preconstructions, he hadn’t expected this: Several bonfires were lit on the water and lit up the walls in soft orange and hot white yellow. Music played and the masses stood and watched as people tended to the fires and gondolas passed through the flames. ‘Gavin, what is this?’, he asked in surprise. ‘They call it Waterfire. A festival that began as art is now celebrated annually. ‘Thought it would be something fun to be part of. Do you like it?’ Nines couldn’t pull his eyes away from the reflections on the water, the thousands of people at the shore and the flickering fires cracking on the surface of the water. The smell of burning wood filled the air and managed to overpower the different smells from the food stands. ‘Gavin, I… I never experienced something similar. Can we… Does this stretch the whole river? Can we see all of it? Can we ride one of the gondolas? I… For how long did they celebrate this? Why-‘ Gavin’s loving smile made him stop, feeling awkward for asking so many questions and letting his excitement overwhelm him. But Gavin only rose to his toes and pulled Nines head down into a kiss. ‘For you? Everything.’
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thedreadvampy · 3 years
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Ok please if you don’t mind saying - who is Stuart semple and what did he do? I’m so confused. Like I recognise the name and I think he might the an artist or something but I have no idea
He is indeed an artist! He’s a English multidisciplinary fine artist best known for his ongoing beef with English sculptor Anish Kapoor over the 2016 exclusive licensing on the process to make Vantablack colour coating, which meant Kapoor was the only artist allowed to use it. Then Stuart Semple made Pinkest Pink pigment and said it was available to everyone but Anish Kapoor, and there was a big blowup which there’s a lot of documentation of - it was very memed.
Since then, Semple has made a bunch more pigments, most of them with the available-to-everyone-but-Anish-Kapoor disclaimer, and the beef periodically flares up, although I will say as time goes on it seems to me to have got increasingly one-sided given that Kapoor has pretty much wandered off.
(I’ve used several of his colours, btw. Pinkest Pink is pretty good. Blackest Black, his attempt to make the blackest possible paint (as opposed to Vantablack which is a nanofibre coating) I was pretty disappointed in, I’ve honestly had better light capture from mid-range art shop paints. His other pigments vary in quality - some I really liked, some I was meh on, but I think Blackest Black is the only one I was actively unimpressed by)
Anyway. Where I come in is much less exciting. 
A few months ago I reblogged a post on Tumblr asking about Semple from a discourse tag (my reblog did not tag or @ anyone), and I made a glib comment where I said (very truthfully) that while I thought he was pretty decent at pigments, both his paintings and his online persona came across pretty adolescent to me.
so it turns out Stuart Semple is an inveterate name searcher (hi Stuart if you’re reading this!) 
(Side note: I actually should have guessed this from 2019 Twitter when he saw and commented on an untagged thread I wrote about him and Kapoor’s beef (which was because I’d seen an article in which Kapoor, a British-Asian man, said that the racist Prevent strategy was liable to drive young British-Asian men into the arms of terrorist groups by making it clear their country hates them reblogged on Semple’s account with a caption claiming Anish Kapoor was pro-terrorism, which, while tongue-in-cheek, isn’t a neutral statement for a white person to make about an Asian person and was a pretty phenomenally bad-faith reading of Kapoor’s actual words) and in my thread I pretty much said that when the story had broken, I, like everybody else, had found it very funny and been firmly on side with Semple’s bit, but I felt that a) after a couple of years it really wasn’t very relevant any more and it had started to feel less like Fighting The Power and more like bullying the amount of Semple’s web presence was devoted to talking about Anish Kapoor; b) that it was a shame that Anish Kapoor was increasingly only known as The Vantablack Guy given that I really like a lot of his work and c) that continuing to frame a Jewish person of colour as the Face of the Artistic Elite was a bit weird given how overwhelmingly white the high-end art world is. but I digress. Semple responded to that thread, I don’t really remember what he said, it wasn’t an acrimonious response but it was a bit Oh I Didn’t Do Anything To Tag You?)
so anyway he found my reblog and commented saying ehhh I don’t remember, something along the lines of not feeling like I was being very kind and that he was trying his best. also I think he said I had accused him of being racist? which again the actual Tumblr post literally just said I thought his art and persona came across as juvenile and I think in the tags? I mentioned that I thought it was time for him to step off the Kapoor beef. 
then he screencapped my post, including my profile picture and username, and posted it on all his socials with a kind of :( people are so mean on Tumblr :( caption and um
idk if you know this about Being A Public Persona With Tens Of Thousands of Followers but. if you post someone’s identity and say ‘I do not like what this person is doing’ it. can get messy fast.
uh I don’t follow Stuart Semple (see the original post I made) but he commented to make sure I knew he’d posted my post on Instagram and “all my followers like your wig :)” which. according to my partner who did go and look at the time, the Instagram comments were largely about how I was an ugly non-passing trans woman aka “man in a wig” which. throw the whole suitcase out. There were a good few days where I got a lot of angry anons, ranging from ‘stop bullying Stuart Semple!!!!!’ to ‘die in a ditch graphically’ to ‘how can you claim to have opinions on art when You Are On Tumblr’ (I have been a freelance illustrator for 7 years and I have a Masters in art and design) to ‘your art sucks and you’re fat and ugly’ and my personal favourite ‘how can u be cis and use she/her pronouns you dumb snowflake’
(within that furore was a whole branch where someone was like ‘sex worker huh bet you’re bad at it’ and I was like ‘yep! that’s why I don’t do it any more! it’s hard work and it involves a lot of self-promotion and customer skills which I don’t like and am not good at!’ and this was a Whole Thing where they kept trying to insult me (much like today’s anon) about my supposed failures as a Slut Who Is Bad At Sex and I kept going like ‘ok but here’s how that just. doesn’t make sense in reference to what sex work actually is so like, ok?’)
and Stuart Semple and I were also having a conversation which, depending on your perspective I would call his attitude either conciliatory or passive-aggressive, there was a lot of ‘me and my followers would never say rude things about you :) keep up the art kiddo :)’ and being charitable I would say he was trying to be nice while being angry, and to avoid escalating (but with the added context I got later about the wig comment, I think that interpretation of his behaviour maybe. has some cracks?) and ultimately he took down the posts, we had a brief conversation about keeping pet reptiles (apparently he has a lizard) and we left it on, if not good terms, at least peaceable ones. 
however I still periodically get messages about it from angry Semple stans. and I’m not sure the argument was resolved, in that I still very much think it’s fair to make criticism, including quite harsh criticism (which I’m not sure ‘adolescent’ is), on art which is put out for public display and enjoyment, and that it isn’t a personal attack to post a criticism of someone’s public-facing work and statements on social media unless you actively target it towards them (for example, @ ing them), and Semple still thinks there’s no difference between a random blog with under a thousand followers criticising a public figure’s work and a public figure with 100k followers on most platforms criticising that blog (out of context - he clipped out the post I was reblogging from and my explanatory tags, and looking at my blog you may notice that 90% of my nuance is in the tags) while giving his followers all the information to find said blog.
(also as multiple people have remarked. if you want to say it’s an unfair criticism to call your online presence immature, being a middle-aged artist who as far as I can tell has a net worth over a million who spends your time name searching yourself in order to get mad at untagged mild criticism from strangers on the internet and share it on all your socials for your followers to join you in Being Big Mad is uhhhhhhh. it uh. it’s not like. not super thin-skinned and immature)
(also also I just googled his net worth and unsurprisingly I can’t find a source on it I’d consider reliable, but I did find multiple articles about him getting in trouble for breach of contract and nonpayment for gallery employees, including two accusations of him writing a big defensive blog post then changing it after a few hours to a very short post saying I LOVE YOU so like idk how true that is but it does seem. consistent with the above interactions.)
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ibelonginthepast · 3 years
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Hunk for the character ask thing??
AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH HUNK!!!! FINALLY!!! I am such a ho for him sorry
Sexuality Headcanon: i have no particular fixed pref, he could be straight, but i like to think he's bi throughout. I think he is a believer of fluid sexuality, so he doesn't really fits himself in a label. He goes along with whoever he likes.
Gender Headcanon: I sometimes like to hc him as a trans man (ftm). He/him pronouns. He was cultured into toxic masculinity. He has had his struggles with it. He was teased for being soft because of his anxiety issues. His tendency to be emotional and expressive. He has had been a victim of toxic masculinity constantly, even adopted it and perpetuated it further for a while before giving up. He is passionate about healthy masculinity and really understands it now. He is a fierce feminist and in for breaking the patriarchy.
A ship I have with said character: the thing is i hate Canon. I dont like the first sight first meet fall in love kind of thing they did with hunk and shay, but with what I headcanon shay as, I think she is perfect for him. He would balance her head on approach to stuff, and she will balance his tendency to ponder. He is a total simp for shay. He's a sucker for a simple calm life, while shay is on the ambitious side, and he fully supports her.
A BROTP I have with said character: hance is a given. heith! I will fucking die for this. I love thinking up stories of how Keith, despite being the one to struggle to open up, will inevitably fall for hunk. Hunk is just so approachable, so welcoming, so loving. I see hunk as also very fierce. He will stand in front as a literal physical shield to protect the ones he loves. He is dedicated when he loves and he never gives up on anyone. This is something he will share with Keith. One of the only people who will relate with Keith on a soul level on this. Punk!!! I love it. So much. Hunk is just amazing at platonic relationships. Hunk takes care of pidge a lot, they are his sibling. They simp on tech together ofc!! Even tho Shiro is everyone's dad, hunk cares for him, brings him his energy drinks and blankets all the time cause let's be real Shiro is low-key wishing death all the time and does not care for himself. Hunk is one of those peeps who scream SHIRO! NO! everytime Shiro makes a bad joke about death. Hunk's caring nature extends to everyone. Allura again is bad at taking care of herself, and he helps. He defo teaches allura samoan box braids!!! Coran too. Hunk bakes with coran sitting beside, chatting unrelentlessly but here's the thing, Hunk doesn't tolerate it. He genuinely likes listening to people and knowing them. One of the reasons he goes so well with Lance.
A NOTP I have with said character: humph he could go with anyone ngl. Shunk is extra weird to me, Shiro is a dad through and through i ew shaladins.
A random headcanon:
Despite what people think, hunk thinks he struggles with words. He uses food to express love. If he feels distant with anyone, he cooks for them.
Hunk does get tired after caring for people so much, but he has healthy nice fam around him who he lets take care of him too. He knows he needs to care for himself, and after some time of struggling with it, he now proudly take care of himself as well.
Hunk has struggled with severe anxiety. He has had panic attacks, complete meltdowns. His family was a bit pressurizing in terms of his career and all, and he has always felt responsible to get an excellent job in the stem section to make his parents proud.
He got into stem because of his parents, but he developed his love for it later too. He genuinely started finding STEM very interesting.
He contributed in making of fun robots in school's stem centres all the time. He had a teacher who was obsessed with making anime monsters, and even though hunk himself hates gore and shit he had fun making those and sometimes watched those weird ass animes and talked about how those wild ass writers were defo on weed while writing the script. He bonded over weeb stuff surprisingly with Shiro ;)
He hasn't been the smartest forever, like pidge. He actually worked his way to it. He is very dedicated, hard working and passionate.
He has undiagnosed ADD, but it hasn't interferred with him fitting in much. He has been able to do his work, and he recognized some tricks to focus early in life. His anxiety drives him to work as much as it distracts him. he just discovers his ADD later in therapy.
He makes pretty notes. He has an unhealthy obsession with pastel yellow highlighter.
Hunk is very well equipped with samoan tattoo art designs and understanding them. it's something his grandparents taught him since forever. His grandfather did tattoos and he saw them when he was little. He wants to get atleast some sort of soga'i miki. He's been always conflicted about wanting Pe'a cause its so beautiful and masculine in expression and not wanting it because it's so painful and permanent.
Because he has lived in America his whole life, he has struggled with his national identity a lot. He gets taunted by by family in samoa for being American and for speaking english better than samoan. He doenst always fit in well in america either for obvious reasons. He has struggled with feeling like he belongs. Its something he bonds with Lance on.
He is passionate about dismantling the social organization in samoa and its ill effects. He understands the systems and talks about their unfairness. This is something his distant and traditional family members get annoyed at him for.
He talks passionately about the freedom struggles of samoa and the samoan civil wars. He likes listening to stories of freedom fighters of samoa and great leaders. He is very critical of European colonization and takes no shit from europe apologists.
He is low-key a Satanist and likes to tell people about how God was super sexist to Lilith and how absolutely bullshit her banishment was,, how Satan is the coolest first feminist and made her the queen she is, and how Satan is the coolest dude for being the first rebel and equalist. He talks about how he gave us knowledge, and it created the world we are in rn or else we would still be all dumb and naked in the garden. His family is Christian and religious, he has read stories from bibles and come to the conclusions himself.
General Opinion over said character: i am horribly sad but I swear to God one cuddle from this cinnamon roll will cure me of everything
IMP NOTE: I am not samoan, but I read about countries where my favorite characters are from sometimes. I have started reading about che and communist Cuba for Lance too ;) All this info is from the internet, and I cannot say for sure its all good and true. If I am wrong with anything, please point it out.
THANKS FOR THIS! Now go drink water <3
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