#like honestly if they kept the society going (because that was INSANELY popular)

[henrysglock]

honestly, it's like ppl forget that they are all teenagers (who aren't always emotionaly stable anyways) who have tons of trauma, and no safe space to deal with it, especially in the context of the show settings...plus government nda's and shit. Like, give Mike and el a break, they're kids who love each other and care for each other undeniably, but love and care don't have to mean romantic relationships, el just got a flavour of life and what she needs is love and support, not to be in a relationship !!!

Exactly, Nonnie! They're both screwing up for different reasons, there's no malice in it. It's just a whirlwind of mistakes and trying to live up to other people's expectations/wanting to be loved/fearing abandonment. They're literally 14-15 years old, and all of them have Been Through It.

El was like 2 days out of the lab, chock-full of dissociative amnesia and abuse trauma, and everyone expects her to Be Normal Immediately??? No fucking way. She's been through the wringer and she's experiencing Everything All At Once for the first time in her life. In her first year or so outside the lab, she's kept in Hopper's cabin the whole time. She goes from one form of isolation to another. Zero added socialization outside of a relatively crappy father figure (sorry Hopper stans...he's just not stellar). Even by ST3, she still doesn't know who she is or what she likes outside Mike and Hopper and their expectations of her. She didn't even really grasp the concept of doing what she likes, that she's allowed to have likes and dislikes outside what other people dictate to her. So to expect her to be able to cope in ST4 is insane to me. She's had exactly six months of socialization, and even then she was thrown into it with next to no support. The American public school system is a joke when it comes to student support, Joyce was busy with work, Jonathan was absent...it was just Will. Will was her only lifeline, and she's trying so hard to be normal, be liked, be what she thinks Mike wants her to be, what she thinks she should be...and she has no idea how to make that a reality without lying. WHICH MAKES PERFECT SENSE. Of course she lied! Everything is falling apart because she has a limited support network as ususal, and while yes that did make her a bad sister to Will/bad girlfriend to Mike...She's doing the best she can with what she has.

It's absolutely insane to me how well she's doing based on her circumstances. She's done incredibly well, coping with discovering that the outside world exists and being dropped into society like a baby into the ocean. So no, Mike doesn't get it. Mike can't get it, and that's not his fault. Was it insensitive of El to shut him down like that in ST4? Yes. Was she wrong? No. She also has like 2 years TOTAL of social skills to work with, so let's cut her a break. Was it insensitive for El to exclude Will at the airport? Yes. Does it have a logical explanation? Yes. If El can control the day/keep Mike to herself, she can keep her lies from being exposed. She can still be the popular, normal girlfriend she's been roleplaying as since she left Hawkins. Let's cut her a break.

Does that negate how Will and Mike feel? No. They're entitled to their hurt. It was hurtful. It was also a mashup of coping mechanisms, lack of support, and unwitting ignorance. El is a "bad" sister and a "bad" girlfriend because she doesn't know how to be a good one.

It's not malice, it's mistakes. I'll die on this hill.

And Mike/Will? They're just teenagers trying to figure their shit out. Everyone makes mistakes at that age. Everyone acts a little like an asshole. Mike is dealing with so much social fear, trauma, insecurities, depression, and queerness in the 80's on top of it. Will is dealing with all that...plus trying to support El. They're going to fuck up! Not only are they just kids, they're also in a multitude of impossible situations.

Cut them a break.

#give our trio a BREAK they're doing their best #asks #byler #anti mileven #el hopper #will byers #mike wheeler

[whetstonefires]

Reverse Unpopular Opinion: Naruto

Hm! Only Positivity huh? I still don’t know why this is defined as Reverse Unpopular; some of my least popular opinions are already Thing Good.

Okay I actually really liked how Naruto (the manga, which I followed week to week for most of high school lol, hurrah for scanlators and rip mangafox) carried off the Big Twist about Itachi. The followthrough could have been better, as is the case with basically every element of the story, but the basic sell of Itachi’s real motives just landed really successfully, in my eyes.

There are a few reasons for that--mostly that it was the endpoint of quite a lot of direct buildup, of weird choices by Itachi that seemed just like his weird personality at a glance but which added together made foreshadowing, plus actual foreshadowing, followed by his absolutely bananas behavior during the climactic fraternal battle and the panel comp for his last words. Which really got me in the heart before I even had context.

But also that it snapped into place with a lot of the story’s strongest existing themes and tied them together in what looked at the time like the potential for a strong wicker sort of framework.

About the harm their society did its people and especially its children by molding them for war, and how seductively meaningful that shape could feel, going back to Haku. About cut-throat intra-clan bullshit going back to Neji.

About the weird emphasis placed on the concept of genius and its enforced advancement, going back to either the early Chuunin exam arc with Lee or earlier with Sasuke’s basic characterization. And about the fuckery that isolation wreaks on the psyche and how easy it is for authority figures to take advantage of vulnerable children, going back to literally the first chapter.

A lot of the time these twist-reveals that some baddie was Actually A Victim All Along are really unsatisfying, because they tend to diminish the horror of their crimes and even argue they were Justified.

With Itachi, the true story of the Uchiha Massacre was worse. Konoha’s government or a subset thereof (it was never clarified who was complicit) actively coercing a thirteen-year-old child into helping to kill his entire family and taking all the blame so they (that is Danzou) could avoid the potential repercussions of a civil war in the worst way possible while eliminating the Uchiha as internal political rivals is so much more deeply horrifying than a genius just snapping. Systemic rot is so, so much worse than individual violence.

(That’s why we as a society are encouraged to view crime as an individual thing, after all, and the prototypical criminal mind as the serial killer driven by nothing but deranged psychosexual needs.)

The fact that everything Itachi put Sasuke through was out of love and a desperate need to keep him alive, because Sasuke was who he loved most and the only thing he loved that he was allowed to save, that is so much more awful than it being out of hate. That that very love was cynically used to corral this child into leaving the corner he’d been backed into at an angle useful to others.

It’s obscene, but it pulls so many elements of the setting and characterization together.

And even though Itachi’s scheme technically went off exactly as planned, the narrative does not embrace it as in any way a good plan that reflected good judgment or even sanity. Which was nice.

The new version of What Really Happened is worse and it adds dimension to the past events being retconned rather than flattening them, which is cool and honestly difficult to pull off.

Also I love the premise of Itachi being, by nature, a very gentle person. Because that hasn’t stopped him from being a mass murdering serial killer, when the correct pressures were applied. He hates violence. He hates people being hurt.

No one ever cared what he wanted. And his family pressured him into a particularly violent and traumatic version of their murder career extra young for the prestige. And that was why, when more pressure came from different angles, he was already someone who could shut down his personal volition and kill whoever he was supposed to kill, no matter how much it hurt him.

They made him into a knife and he was turned against them. I go wild for that. It wasn’t right or fair and so many people died who weren’t directly at fault, but it is a closed circle. Which I find narratively satisfying.

-

Itachi also played interestingly against Gaara, the series’ previous benchmark for its recurring theme of Utterly Broken Boy, because he was walked a steady path down from Being At All Okay by the demands of the adults in his life, then took a really big hit, then just kept getting worse and worse without ever really snapping completely, but also without anybody ever even coming close to saving him.

While Gaara was betrayed by his family much harder and faster and in many ways more comprehensively, went completely insane when the big hit came, and then with Naruto’s help pulled himself together and ascended to a position of power, and began making things better and having positive sibling relationships.

Another thing that always struck me about the Real Itachi Backstory is that, because the breaking of him was conducted so much within the system--without kidnapping or sand demons talking in his head or social collapse or abandonment or even overt abuse or torture, unsanctioned wetworks divisions and insane cousins impersonating insane great-grandfathers notwithstanding--he makes it much easier to see the parallels between the way the ninja world eats its brightest stars alive very young, and the abusive expectations the real, contemporary school system tends to lay on high performers.

Fugaku’s abuse of Itachi is in some ways understated for fiction but also utterly deranged, in terms of the kind of gore and horror he pushed his genius child into confronting at such a young age. But it’s still sufficiently normalized within his society that it looks enough like a normal dad demanding outstanding academic achievement at all times to be really...the opposite of trippy. Strangely grounded for a relationship whose core  element is ‘refused to let son choose not to be a child soldier.’

I’m torn about the level of intentionality there.

Of course, salt incoming lol I can’t hold it back, praising this kind of thing in Naruto just brings attention to how the resolution of the story was unsatisfying, because it ultimately disengaged from all its major themes other than self-sacrifice and friendship being A Big Deal in order to bring a big finish and a firm conclusion.

Which...man looks like an even stupider decision in hindsight considering it now has a sequel. Hah.

#ask meme #naruto #uchiha itachi #kishimoto pulled this kind of twist a lot of times #a lot a lot #and i think itachi was the most successful #although the followthrough and payoff after that point was #utter pants #because the narrative lacked the courage of its convictions #as is common in this genre lmao #reverse unpopular opinion #a nonny mouse #ask #hoc est meum

[rpmemesbyarat]

RP meme from Scream Queens Ep 1 "Pilot" & Ep 2 "Hell Week"(Note: Offensive content, use at own discretion)

Something really bad happened.

Did you just get your period all over yourself?

This isn't my blood.

Who told you you could have a baby here tonight?

I'm sure I can walk if I can just get some Gatorade.

I don't care if you can walk.

How are we supposed to get you to the front door without everyone seeing you all gross and postpartum?

No one wants to see that at a party.

This is super embarrassing.

I didn't even know I was pregnant.

You guys, they're playing "Waterfalls."

Is that a baby? Amazing.

I am not missing "Waterfalls" for this. "Waterfalls" is my jam.

Give the baby some mojito to quiet it down.

How do you know she's dead?

These are my minions. I don't know their names. I don't want to know their names.

I have a colonic at 10

Life is a class system.

Oh, still a lot of puke to scrub.

Yeah, you have an amazing skill at telling people what they need to hear.

I'm sorry. Did I ask you to pull down my panties and blow a compliment up my butt?

I hate sororities, and I hate you.

First of all, I'm not a lesbian.

You see, out in the real world, people just don't talk that way to other people. It's not normal.

Well, that sure sounds suspicious.

No one forced that goat to get as drunk as it got.

Historically, short people are sneaky backstabbers, like Napoleon or Paul Shaffer.

I could actually handle that you're built like a Thai ladyboy, but what I can't stand is that you think you're my heir apparent.

Don't you want me to spray-tan you?

I would honestly rather not have you around.

The police still can't figure out who filled that tank with hydrochloric acid.

It's good enough for me, and the D.A., who, last I heard, considers the case closed.

What is that skirt?

Your organization might want to find a lawyer.

I'm a pretty smart cookie.

I would not get personal with me, sweetheart.

I don't fight fair.

I am sentimental.

Look, girls are vicious, okay?

I don't have any of my own memories.

Just like we planned. Three-second silent hug, and then you leave.

Ooh, somebody call CSI, because there was a murder scene in that bathroom.

Someone puked in the sink and I'm pretty sure I saw an actual ringworm climbing up the wall. I'm not afraid of anything, but that bathroom scared the crap out of me.

This is gonna be a year of infinite possibilities.

Hold this. It's too heavy.

You didn't knock!

Look at them. They're the dregs of society.

Each one of these gashes is worse than the next.

She smells like hot dog water, and probably sprained her neck giving blumpkins down at the local bowling alley.

Look, I'm not saying that all heterosexual sex is rape. I'm saying all heterosexual sex is gross, and that deep down, every woman knows this.

All that girl's after is a whole lot of bikini burger.

Hey, girl, can I just ask you, what's up with your outfit?

God knows what they're talking about, basic bitches.

What fresh hell is this?

I need you to stay popular, 'cause if you want to stay at the top of the list of the pieces of ass I'm getting, there's criteria. And the criteria is you got to be popular.

Okay, I'm gonna stop you right there, because I'm getting really pissed off.

Stop fake crying.

Anyone you dated would be popular. I mean, they would be popular because they're dating you.

My ego, it's super strong, ok, but it's not strong enough that I can just go around dating garbage people.

Like, yes, I could find a random girl who wasn't popular, and, yes, if I started dating her she would then become popular.

But you said you loved me.

I do sort of love you.

I would love you a lot more if other people loved you, too.

Okay, I need you to leave because you're bumming me out

We're just trying to have a nice day hitting golf balls at hippies.

Pretty girls, like you and me.

That's why I'm gonna burn your face off.

Ugh! You burned the milk!

Next time, I get you fired, or worse.

Actually, I just want a regular coffee. Those white girl pumpkin spice lattes annoy me.

I like to think of myself, uh, as an investigative reporter.

I had to get a restraining order.

I tend to get a bit passionate about things.

Look, you intentionally led me on.

You kept acting like you liked me just so you could humiliate me.

Enter, ye who dare.

I love a creepy collage.

It's about kicking the living crap out of someone when they disrespect you.

I was just in your room, where I noticed you have a sizeable shrine with evil burning candles, photos of me with my face scratched out and pairs of my stolen panties.

How about I just drown you in it?

Well, of course she's dead! You just burned her face off!

You don't die from getting your face burned off.

There's a dead woman in your kitchen.

I'm going to the authorities.

That's not how I saw it. And my witnesses agree.

You're an awful person.

Who wants cocktails?

How did my life turn into this?

Have you seen the way girls dress on this campus?

I'm sitting in the same office I used to throw bricks into.

You're awful in bed. Are you aware?

I'm gonna take a pair of your panties.

I'm gonna barf on your face unless you get out of here.

Try to figure out who gave you such disgusting mommy issues.

You loaded a dead body into a freezer.

What are you proposing?

I want to help you with your exposé, secretly feed you info.

You need eyes on the inside.

I don't know what to do with the body.

Are you saying dead bodies don't turn you on?

You are so lame, you know that?

God, I love all that death stuff.

Show me the body.

Show me the dead body.

This blood oath will ensure solidarity among us. We are all related now.

I just Googled "blood oath" and this is what came up.

What does this oath even mean?

I just need you all to not say anything about what happened, and I figured a blood oath was cheaper than buying you all presents.

Wait, what about STDs?

Idiot, you don't get STDs from blood oaths.

You get STDs from dirty toilet seats and drinking the water in Mexico.

Um, "STD" stands for "sexually transmitted disease," which means that it's transmitted sexually.

When were you in Mexico?

You know what, forget the blood oath.

I can't stay silent!

I'm calling my mom, and I'm going home.

Okay, Pissy Spacek, you and I have a few differences we need to iron out.

I want you to be one of my minions.

It's the gateway to the top of the heap.

You put on a good front, but you're miserable.

Don't you think any of that has anything to do with the fact that you've created an atmosphere based solely on negativity and raw ambition?

Can we talk for real for a second, please?

I mean, you're so confident without being mean. What antidepressants are you on?

Don't you see that all that's happened isn't a crisis? It's an opportunity.

Yeah, no, I tried. See, I really tried. But all of this flowery, peace-on-Earth crap, it makes me want to puke.

You haven't even seen half of what I'm capable of!

Totally spit in your coffee, bitch.

I don't mean to be a contrarian, but I'm enjoying this.

Is that killer noises or am I hallucinating?

I'm gonna ask one more time, will you speak up?

What can you tell us about the murder?

There's an exodus right now.

The risks are real, but we need to close ranks.

I don't feel comfortable with a man protecting me. It's representative of the patriarchal, post-colonial culture that encourages violence against women.

We buy a pig and feed it the body. Pigs will eat anything.

Don't go skating on those poop lagoons, because if you fall in, you'll drown in the poop and come springtime, there'll be nothing left of your body.

Here's what you should do. Pulverize her teeth, burn off her fingerprints, and disfigure her face. Once her body is unrecognizable, we can create an incision on her inner thigh and drain out all of her bodily fluids. That'll give us more time to deconstruct the body.

Truly grinding down a body takes a lot of work. You need a really good food processor, and you run the risk of fouling the plumbing, which is why you should only do it if you know how to clear out meat and bones from a drain pipe.

I'm willing to help in any way possible.

You're obviously a psychopath and those ideas are insane!

Why are you trying to terrify us?

Can I call you Mom?

I feel so loved and protected by all of you.

Actually, it's a new pop culture trend where young women desperately in need of role models call other girls they look up to Mom.

I thought you'd be cool with it.

I mean, I did just give you several ways to dispose of a body.

Okay, fine. Just stop talking.

You are so friggin' creepy!

Someone just mowed off a deaf girl's head in our backyard.

I mean, as you can see, I'm not licensed to carry a sidearm.

Wait, so you don't have a gun?

I have pepper spray. And I have a walkie talkie that I can use to call the police, who do have guns.

What good are you?

Get the hell out of there. Run away, real fast.

Now, I would give you my number, but my cell phone is off right now.

If you want the place clean, maybe you shouldn't have burned the maid's face off.

Don't you wonder what's in there?

People have been whispering about that house for years, that it's haunted, that something really bad happened. I mean, there's no way there isn't some real-life story behind it, right?

I'm gonna have to break in.

I mean, I don't think anyone's gonna get killed in the 30 minutes we make out, right?

Can you stop talking?

You're kind of ruining whatever was good about it.

Please try to understand the situation I'm in.

I don't give a rat's ass about your job.

You know, I find good parenting incredibly attractive.

You're a snoopy little bugger.

Whose bloody clothes are those?

Supposedly, it was a super fun party.

We're all gonna pay for this.

I think it's all crap. Just a myth.

What happened to the baby?

Sometimes I picture myself like Derek Jeter, you know?

I'm gonna choke you out.

There's a serial killer on the loose.

Please don't say you want to choke me.

I'd love having sex with your corpse.

I'm sorry. This isn't working for me.

Well, I sort of am your boyfriend, and I'm protecting you by having sex with you.

No! I don't need a man to protect me.

How could I have wasted this much time?

Is my self-esteem really that low?

I'm sorry. I think we need to take a break.

I need you to leave right now!

You know, it would really help me feel better if I could just crawl into bed with you for a few minutes.

Are you gonna touch my wiener, or you gonna leave my wiener alone?

I'll leave your wiener alone.

Where are your hands?

He has a huge boner!

Why don't you go in there and ogle his big old boner?

Okay, uh, first of all, I'm not gonna go ogle his big old boner, because I'm not gay.

Look, I'm sorry everybody wants to have sex with me. Okay? I can't help that.

I'm hot. Everybody wants to get with this. Women, men, animals in the zoo, plants, probably.

You're gonna have to go right now, 'cause I am breaking up with you.

Excuse me, I broke up with you!

I regretted what I said, and I just wanted to come here and tell you that I am so sorry.

Well, I accept your apology. And now I'm breaking up with you.

Do you know why I'm breaking up with you?

You can't deal with how hot I am.

Sorry, I just broke up with you.

Can you please put some clothes on?

Um, they said, uh, I shouldn't be alone, you know, in case I fall asleep and die.

Can I just get you a robe or something though?

So you're saying I'm the killer?

Okay, this isn't about me thinking you're boyfriend material.

God, I was so gonna go to third base with you tonight, too.

What if we stapled their earlobes?

Private like the parts on a man you like putting in your mouth?

I want to publicly come out as gay on my own.

I mean, you guys have to accept everybody, right?

I actually think that's illegal.

I will come after you, do you understand that? I will destroy you.

I trust you'll consider my offer.

Name one bad thing that ever happened at a Best Buy parking lot.

You're just, like, super attractive.

Um, well, I was trying to be inconspicuous.

It's better than losing your life.

I have a thing for playlists.

Someone's got a poo belly.

Sweet Yeezus, I don't even know where to begin with you.

Bitch, I'm about to smack you so hard, your tampon's gonna pop out.

I heard screaming.

So you think the serial killer is still up there?

Upstairs to get the killer before he gets away!

You just said that you think the killer is up there, and that's where you want to go?

This is freakin' terrifying!

The killer is in the house! You hear me?

I need my damn inhaler.

What, am I supposed to be scared?

Don't even come out. We plan on getting drunk, and I don't want your bad attitude ruining it.

We're headed down to White Stallion to pick up some sluts, baby!

Yes, okay, I burned her slightly, but stop saying that I killed her.

That was a tragic accident.

I am a kind and devoted and loving friend to all.

I'm not some crazed psychopath.

Maybe you're the killer.

I will not be put on trial.

The truth is we don't know who the killer is, and, yes, I suppose it could be someone in this room.

You want to go first?

I banged, like, 50 chicks.

What took you so long?

#rp meme #rp memes #rp starters #roleplay memes #roleplay meme #roleplay starters #scream queens

[gloopyteazsblog]

Ranting Time!!!:

Marapets is EXTREMELY racist, misogynistic, fatphobic, ableist, is an insult to people living in poverty or have lived in poverty in the past, mocks anorexia, participates in cultural appropriation, and is way too inappropriate and misleading for children.

But what is Marapets exactly? Marapets is an online pet website for kids that allows you to take care of your own pets, play games, explore the world it takes place in, interact with NPCs or other players, dress up your characters in costumes or clothing, and take part in quests. It's also pretty well known at this point for being almost a blatant rip-off of an older pets website called Neopets.

Racism and Cultural Appropriation: Marapets has turned people's cultures into simplified costumes for your pet to wear, and most of these costumes use colors that represent actual skin colors or colors that are normally used to mock poc (People of color).

Examples:

The Native Costume: Your pet's fur color becomes red with little white stripes and the usual idea of what Native Americans traditionally wear.

The Chinese Costume: Pet fur color turns yellow with the stereotypical idea of what Chinese People wear. This changed later on, when the fur color just turned red and white instead, but it still has the same old outfit.

The Pilgrim Costume: Pet fur color is now a more peachy, white skin color, with the usual Pilgrim Outfit.

The Sports Costume: All the other pets' fur colors are still a more peachy or greenish color, except for one pet, who wears the basketball costume and now has a brown fur color. Looks like the stereotypes continue.

The Voodoo Costume: Just Google it yourself, and you'll probably understand why this is cultural appropriation.

The (Other) Native Costume: Yet again, just Google this.

Of course, there are even more racist costumes like the ones mentioned above, and many of these costumes are in fact retired, but this should still be taken into account. If you want to see more examples of this, then I would suggest that you check out the Marapets Wiki and Izzy's video about Marapets, where she goes into even more detail about this depraved shit, along with how the artists are treated and the creator's reaction to any kind of criticism. The reasoning for why many of these costumes are retired (Judging by the Marapets Wiki yet again), is because of the lack of popularity or because of the fact that they just aren't appealing anymore? So basically, it's just a bunch of excuses for this, instead of taking accountability and explaining why this shit is very racist and disrespectful to the actual people out there who have these kinds of cultures.

Ableism, Fatphobia, and the treatment of anorexia:

The Mental Costume is an example of the ableism in this game. The way physchopathy and mental illness is treated is very disturbing. They present people with mental illness as the kind who need to be in an insane asylum, with a lack of freedom while being treated like they're starving savages who don't have any sense of control and need to be kept away from society completely. Their reasoning as to how these pets have mental illness is also pure bullshit and misrepresents people with mental illness. I'm sure that theirs even more signs of ableism in this game, but I would suggest that you try and find this for yourself if you truly want to.

Fatphobia: Characters who are obese are treated like lazy, cheating, drunken, dirty, or extremely hungry pigs. Many of these traits are normally combined into one character, and they also misrepresent obesity. These characters are constantly being portrayed as bad people or as the kind who just make excuses for themselves when it comes to their weight. And no, I'm not trying to deny the fact that these kinds of people do in fact exist in the world, but the way this game handles subjects like these, is very inappropriate. Not all people with larger body types are unhealthy in that regard, not all overweight people are overweight because of their own habits or actions, and not all of the people who are unhealthy because of their weight who participated in bad eating habits and used to exercise every once in a blue moon, make excuses for themselves. We need better representation of people who are overweight or just have larger body types, without constantly excusing their issues as completely normal, either. (I encourage that you all take a look at the "Obese Fairy's" bio as well, but as a fair warning: It's probably going to make you pretty uncomfortable.)

Anorexia: Remember how I was just talking about ableism not too long ago. Well guess what? This is also extremely disgusting and disgraceful to people with issues like mental illness. Except this time, it's anorexia! (I'm not entirely sure if Anorexia is a mental illness or a disorder though, so please take some the stuff I say here with a grain of salt, but I would still argue that this is somewhat like the kind of ableism I was just talking about.) Anyways, yes the Skinny Costume was a thing, and it honestly seems a lot more like Anorexia tbh. And the fact that it's just used as a costume doesn't really help Marapets's case either. (This part is also going to lead me into a couple other points that I have against this game as well, so just keep that in mind.)

The treatment of people living in poverty: The misrepresentation is also a serious problem in this aspect as well. The Hobo Costume of course frames homeless people as dirty hobos, along with one of the NPCs in this game. The Homeless Fairy is a character that doesn't have an actual place of his own, because of some sort of serious issue that occurred, and he only appears to want fame. The Trash Fairy is a character who was an alcoholic and had a gambling addiction, causing her to lose her job and become homeless. She was portrayed as a cheater, overweight, and dirty. This character was later on revamped into the Lazy Fairy, who is still portrayed as a dirty, obese, lazy, homeless, and a cheater as well.

The Inappropriate Content and other Misleading Shit: First of all, the fact that children playing this game have probably seen the Skinny Costume and now feel bad about their bodies, even if they are completely healthy, is pretty gross. Even though the characters with the costume on look pretty sad, the name is still pretty iffy, and the fact that society normally expects for people to be skinny in order to be healthy, doesn't make the situation any better. There's also the issues surrounding plastic surgery originally being in this game, presenting toxic beauty standards, along with some of the more provocative clothing and the misrepresentation that I've already gone over. Some of this information came from a site that I don't exactly remember the name of, but when I do, I'll be leaving it in the Sources section. Then there's also the Guillotine Fairy, the Headless Pet Costume, and the other overly bloody and violent shit that could probably be found in this game.

Conclusion: This game is extremely toxic and not appropriate for its target demographic. And I've barely even scratched the surface of this situation. I really hope that you will all do your own search when it comes to finding some of the information that I haven't presented in this post. If you have any questions for me about the things that I've just discussed, don't be afraid to ask! And thank you all for taking the time to read this, and I hope that you have a good day.

Sources: Izzy's video about Marapets, that one website that I forgot the name of, the Marapets Wiki, and Google Images.

#Marapets #Please read #Yay more racism/s #fatphobia #Rant #Please kill me #this took me too long

[prince-toffee]

She-Ra #0

- Karma -

[Two Years After The Defeat of Horde Prime]

Plumeria

The moonlight of the many Etherian moons rained down and coated the greenery of Plumeria. Plumeria was one of the smallest kingdoms on the planet, there wasn’t anything fancy or kingdom-ly about it. No enormous castles, not even real towns, just a bunce of tree-houses and empty fields. Which in a way was perfect for the refugee clones, the open fields were filled with makeshift tents, with tired, injured, and or defective clones with conditions that had to be looked after, taking up residence in them. Over the two years more and more shelters accumulated since the defeat of Prime and his main armada. It all worked out fairly well, with the clones populating the ground and the Plumerians residing in the trees. They much like most Etherians had mixed feelings about the clones, some were more welcoming than others. Fortunately brawls didn’t break out as often as in some other parts. It was clear that the Princess of the land, Perfuma, wasn’t too thrilled about their presence, but she put on a smile and played nice.

Modulok wasn’t quite sure what the title of ‘royalty’ or ‘Princess’ meant on this world, but it seemed as if the success criteria involved owning some land since there were apparently hundreds of Princesses, some with kingdoms the size of a town, or a nightclub, believe it or not. How the political landscape worked, he did not know. But he didn’t really care either. It was peaceful that was all that mattered to a surgeon and medic like Modulok. The settlement at Plumeria was one of the smaller ones, nowhere near as developed and packed as Doormat or the New Salineas. And again that’s why he liked it, quiet, far away from anything and everything, a grasshopper here, the rustle of leaves there. However something always seemed to go out of its way to find him. Case in point his quite drunk brother, Vultak, who barged into Mod’s tent in the middle of the night.

Vultak clumsily stumbled into the tent, two glasses of some sort of alcoholic drink in hand. He set the glasses on the operating table Mod was currently working on. Before Mod could protest, as he opened his mouth Vultak raised his pointing finger up to him to stop him. V then proceeded to drag a chair from the side to the operating table. V sat down and took a swig emptying one glass. The drunk clone just stared dazed at the patient Modulok was operating on, but caught a glance coming from Mod that was disapproving.

“Do you mind?”

“Not at all, carry on.”

That drew out a sigh from the medic, he was all too familiar with those snappy comebacks as well as his delusional pessimistic rants and ravings, which Mod was sure were about to follow. The two just looked at each other, a sedated individual between them, it was quite a comedic scene to be hold if there were a third party observing.

Modulok had lost his arms in one of the countless wars and had replaced them with cybernetics which could split in two giving him the total of four arms to work with. As a defect Modulok had blood red lenses, eyes and teeth. Not to mention his skinny frame, and lack of weight, and inability to gain weight. He wore a black and red tech suit, not bulky like Hordak’s, much thinner with tubes and cables hanging here or there. Under it you could see his bones and rip cage pressed tight around his skin, in some areas the white bone broke through the skin forming vein-like patterns across his body - common side effects for defects. A unique defect to Mod was that his skin was coloured red, it didn’t mean much, but others thought it looked neat.

Vultak was far more odd and different, some clones even called him the strangest clone alive. One of the oldest living too. V was a defect too, defects liked to stick together, at least most of them, not Modulok specifically. Vultak was thin too, like a walking toothpick. Vultak’s top half of his head was a red glass-looking dome resembling a radar display. No eyes. However a long witch-like nose. And shark-sharp teeth, though that was common with all clones. Possibly his most iconic aspect were his retractable wings being able to extend out of his under-arms, unveiling metallic feathers as sharp as knives. Various experimental technology was incorporated into his arms, giving his wings the ability to cause micro-hurricanes, and gusts of wind. And flight, obviously.

Also, he was thousands years old.

“V, you clearly want something so just say it and get it over with, the less time I spend with you the saner I’ll remain.” Modulok stated tiredly knowing fully well conversations with V could be exhausting. He leaned on his right arm which he placed on the table.

“What? Come on, can’t a brother just want to hang out with his other clone brother from another mothership?...” Mod was unamused and unphased, in the pause and silence his expression did not change. “And also my dearest, most awesome, talented brother, who is a doctor... I could... use some of that reeeeeally good tastin’ medicine that only a certified medic like you can hand out.” Vultak gave him a smile and tilted his head.

Mod gave him an eye roll, “I am not handing you the pills!”

“Oh come on, Mod! This stuff’s getting out on the street anyway! You’re not upholding some moral high-ground, you’re not holding society together! Come on, please, just one.”

Modulok waved him off, shaking his head. “Absolutely not. And I’m not trying to up hold anything, I don’t care what happens out there, but it just so happens that when some stupid non-sense takes place out there it means I’ve got more work here.” In a way he was right, Modulok was the most famous medic from the Galactic Horde, known across countless galaxies, being a defect medic and a medic for defects, that increased his infamous status. If anyone, any clone was in need of aid they turned to him for help, to say Mod was busy would’ve been an understatement. “Don’t even get me started on those pills that Hordak and Dryl made, I have no idea what they were thinking.”

The Isle Pills. Small capsules of biochemical engineering, synthesized from the ‘infected’ ‘tainted’ plants of Beast Island. That was the way people described the island, there were many theories about the landmass, a lot of scary campfire stories, disputes about whether it even existed. Its existence was apparently confirmed by the Princess of Dryl. Something about backstabbing and being imprisoned on the island, the clones weren’t sure, and they didn’t care much. But the nature of the island had been kept secretive, partially perhaps because the lab-partners studying the location don’t know many thing about it either.

It is also to be noted that they, the pills, weren’t meant for wide spread public use, apparently the Drylian Princess herself was against the production of it. But somehow they got out. Modulok was sure Hordak wasn’t thrilled that his experimental treatment for his defection was being distributed like hot buns at a bakery sale.

The pills have an altering affect on the consumer’s mood and how they perceive reality. Where the island would have enraptured an individual in their own fears and insecurities, somehow those mad-scientists altered the effect of the flora to envelop the individual in numbness and sleep-like paralysis. Hordak no doubt developed the pills as a way of coping with his defection and all the pain that came with it. So the product became quite popular with other defects. Including V, to no surprise. The pills were addictive and seemingly untested, and someone was making a profit off of it no doubt.

“They probably weren’t thinking, that’s what! If you ask me that Hordak guy is insane. All his bad decisions always seem to bit us in the rear.” The infamous Hordak, a general from a previous life, a defect that was sent to the frontlines by Prime personally, some even have speculated that he was meant to be Prime’s next bodily vessel. So in a sick twisted way, that defect saved him. Funny how life works.

Hordak somehow ended up on Etheria, he doesn’t even know how, somehow he amassed a large following and took over half a continent, destroyed a lot in the process. People hate him, his face, and that means of course many weren’t thrilled about hundreds of thousands of clones falling from the sky and finding a home and shelter on Etheria. Honestly, Modulok didn’t like him much either. Vultak unlike Mod actually quite liked Hordak as he served under him once, V trusted him.

“Mod, they would’ve hated us with or without him at the helm, at the end of the day he’s one of us, the whole universe hates us, we gotta stick together.”

“Where’s your ‘screw everything’ mentality gone to?”

V downed his second glass and wiped his mouth, “Washed away and washed down...” V just stared at the now empty glass inspecting it suspiciously as if he was looking if the glass was withholding additional liquid from him. It became obvious that V was thinking, contemplating something, he placed the glass down with a ‘clink’ on the table. “...I’ve been getting the nightmares again. And it’s getting worse, it always does. It’s not long ‘til the nightmares start coming out during the day, while you’re awake.”

Modulok understood, of course he did. He too had went through some harrowing experiences, war is never a good thing for the mind. Mod was an excellent surgeon and doctor, he can do some miracles with scalpels and bandages, he could take care of physical wounds. But there were wounds and scars that he couldn’t heal.

Vultak continued, “Do you believe in karma, Mod?” The question gave the medic pause, he didn’t quite know how to answer that, and he was sure this was one of those questions you don’t answer as V was going to no doubt continue and give his own answer. But the short reply would’ve been ‘no’, Mod didn’t believe in any higher power or any metaphysical concepts such as fate or destiny, it all rather felt far-fetched to him. “That our actions and deeds from our previous lives affect and decides our fate and fortune in the future?

That the future takes roof in the past? You do good, you have good fortune, a good life awaits you. You do bad, you have bad fortune, hell’s coming your way. Revenge and retribution on a cosmic level. It’s the universe’s way of punishing the evil and the wicked, that’s us by the way.

And we do deserve it, don’t we. I mean we’re literally walking, breathing, war machines, our sole purpose was to destroy, perpetuate war and cause all around carnage.

Everyone always wants to blame Hordak for Etheria hating us, but every single one of us has had a part in conquering half the damn universe! Countless worlds either chained or turned to dust, all thanks to us, all of us.

All the terrible things we’ve done, and now what? We just get to have a happy ending? No. No, no, no. Karma’s just getting ready, reeling back, ready to backhand all of us to oblivion. We gotta suffer first... Karma’s balance, karma’s proportional. Which isn’t good for us since we did a lot of wrong-doings. Remember the Siege of Denebria, the War for Primus, the Taking of Trolla, the centuries-long Massacres at Epsilon-19, everyone wants to forget that hellscape death-trap. But we just can’t, some things claw their way back to the surface from below all that brainwashing-sauce.

And that’s just the horrid stuff we remember!... Can you imagine how many lives we’ve forgotten? How many years we’ve lost? How many people we’ve forgotten? That four eyed freak robbed us of everything that made us, us!... All that stuff’s gonna bite us in the back.”

Modulok simply listened, he was used to V’s rants and ravings, but all that... seemed different. Usually V made out everything to be a joke, never taking anything serious, he was a jokester. The nihilistic joker seemed to be subdued, some sort of seriousness, some existential dread on his face. Vultak was genuinely opening up to Mod, and he appreciated that. But it was a shame they had to get drunk first before having conversations like that.

Mod became gradually more worried as V continued with the dialogue, after he paused and just began to stare blankly at his glass again Modulok responded, “I appreciate you opening up, kind of, V, I just wish it didn’t take the influence of alcohol... [sigh] Look, V, I know tomorrow is never certain, and that we all carry the weight of scars on our brittle shoulders... but please believe me when I tell you, that everything will be okay, everything will get better. Don’t drown yourself in poison. The world’s not falling apart, and neither should you.” Mod placed a hand on his brother’s shoulder, trying to comfort his friend.

Vultak simply looked up at his brother, his face blank, he knew Mod meant well, but it didn’t help much to comfort him. And so V hopelessly replied, uttering almost a warning, “Just you wait doc, the sky’s gonna come crashing down on our heads.”

#hordak #horde clones #horde prime

[amazingmsme]

Cabin Fever

AN: I had 2 different prompts for a Sam & Bucky fic where Sam cheers him up, & my sad yearning ass stuck in quarantine ran with it! Hope y’all enjoy!

The world has endured many struggles, many challenges, but she will always heal. But in the time it takes to get there, it can be bad and ugly. Bucky had seen more bad than good to be honest. Born near the end of the First World War, he grew up in a post war state. Many people who he should've known had died, and those around him shared that hole. Which is why the 20's were such a breath of fresh air. Everyone wanted to party and live high, but they soared too close to the sun, and the economy crashed.

He spent his adolescent years struggling to live through the depression. It wasn't easy, nor was it pretty, and he went to bed hungry every night. But through all the shit that had been thrown his way, he had Steve. Then, more war. He was afraid and angry with what was happening, and knew something had to be done. He made some amazing friends during that time, and lost a good few. That was when he and Steve became frozen in time, the latter quite literally so.

He doesn't remember too much from his time spent as Hydra's murdering puppet. It's all flashes of pain, fear, and screams. A hand on a throat, feeling as the windpipe gave way. A finger on a trigger from a distance. A knife plunged deep into a chest. It was all him, and yet, it wasn't. It was as though he was in an empty theater strapped to a chair, being forced to watch this horrific movie play out before his own eyes. For the longest time, he had no control. He wasn't an active part of his life. And then he broke free. He managed to escape, and was wanted for his crimes. He even managed to split up the avengers, the guilt overwhelming him. If he had just stayed low, none of that would've happened. 

And then those weird fucking monster things came down from space, yearning for blood and ready to destroy anything in their path. They fought good and hard, and he honestly thought they would win. The next thing he knows, he missed out on another four years of life that he won't be able to get back. His best friend in the world was now an old man, getting to live the life he had missed out on. He wasn't going to lie, that hurt. A lot.

But scattered amongst the wreckage of his life, glimpses of light shone through. His mother's warm embrace and gentle hum. Steve's bright smile and even brighter laugh. He and Natasha connected on another level that you couldn't even dream. T'Challa was understanding and a good friend to him while he was staying in Wakanda. Shuri was an actual saint, giving him a new arm and offering friendship in a dark and lonely time. He and Sam became reluctant friends, then took a shine to each other. Their sense of humor is one in the same, and they share the same taste on a lot of things. He was kind, funny, witty, compassionate, strong, the list could go on forever. And he was falling hook line and sinker. Utterly and completely head over heels.

Then just when he believed things might be looking up, the whole world shuts down. He remembers from what his mom said, there had been a pandemic in 1920. The Spanish Flu, if he remembered correctly. And now, exactly 100 years later, another pandemic rose from the ashes like the most hideous phoenix. Just when he was finally able to go out and try to live a normal life, another obstacle drops in his path. He had a whole list of things he wanted to do and places to see, and now he doesn't get to do any of that. Trapped within four walls and slowly going crazy.

He had every right to be mad. Nothing, it seems, would ever work out in his favor. And to top it all off, he was stuck with the man he wanted to kiss so badly but couldn't for fear of ruining what they had. He wanted to rip his fucking hair out.

Sam, god bless him, tried his best to keep him in good spirits. When news of covid-19 first spread, he had said, "There's still plenty of things we can do inside! I have Steve's old list of things he needed to catch up on, and I know you haven't heard of any of this stuff either, so we get to start from the top!" He excitedly pulled out the notepad, a few items down the list having been crossed off. "And the best part is, I keep remembering things I forgot to add, so we won't run out."

"Yippy," Bucky said in a flat tone. Sam nudged him with his elbow.

"Hey, there's some good stuff on here! There's tv shows, movies, and some of the greatest songs and bands of all time. You ever heard of Queen?"

"Who?"

"Oh my god you need my help," Sam said playfully, running a hand down his face. Bucky's lips quirked up ever so slightly.

At first he was okay. The constant influx of content kept him busy and his mind occupied. But he soon fell into a rut. Pacing the floor, he'd listen to his favorite songs Sam had shown him along with some new ones. Stare out the windows feeling empty, longing for society to pick up again. After watching a movie or two, he'd get fidgety and need to move about. He really enjoyed binging shows though. They sucked him into their world and wouldn't let go. Maybe because it was so different than what he had growing up. Thankfully they both knew to stay away from anything war themed or that might trigger his PTSD. But he'll be damned if he hadn't been completely obsessed with Breaking Bad.

But there were so many options, so many shows to watch that it was overwhelming. With so many things to pick, how could he choose? And out of the movies and shows, and the genres within those categories, it was simply impossible. And so he would cycle through in search of something to watch, only to come up empty handed. Things got better when he stopped trying to decide and let Sam pick for him. Sam really knew what's best.

God if he wasn't here, Bucky would actually go insane. He catches himself staring at the man even more now. Glancing out of the corner of his eye or full on staring, he just can't stop looking at him. He liked to keep his hair cut short, shaved down close to his head. His facial hair was neatly trimmed, the lines always smooth and precise and framed his mouth perfectly. His smile was so fucking bright it was almost blinding. That smile made his days better, and he tried to be less of an ass, just to see it more often. And his lips were full and soft, and he wanted so badly to be able to kiss them. His eyes were a gorgeous shade of dark chocolate, and you could get lost in them if you weren't careful. You could find yourself falling into them, deeper and deeper with no way out. Back when they were first shut in together, he remembers Sam playing the song Brown Eyed Girl. They had smiled as they listened to it, then slowly, began to dance along. That was when he knew he preferred himself a brown eyed man instead.

They were supposed to be watching some old scary movie that Sam claimed to be a classic. Had even said it was one of the most popular ones of all time, but he thought it was just plain boring and ended up watching the man beside him more than the screen. I mean, what was thrilling about a man in a hockey mask hiding in the bushes trying to kill teens? To him it was just lame, and no amount of fake blood could change that. Sam, as always, picked up on his mood.

"What, you don't like it?" Sam asked. Bucky jumped at his words and tore his eyes away from him, looking back at the movie.

"I never said that."

Sam shrugged, "Well you seem to be watching me more than the show." Bucky's face lit up a slight pink and his eyes widened slightly, not realizing he'd been caught so easily. Sam chuckled and bumped their shoulders together. "It's okay, I don't mind," he said to help ease his conscience. "But we can watch something else if you don't like it. Or we can do something else, I don't mind."

Bucky rubbed the back of his neck. "Yeah I'm not really into this," he admitted.

"Alright, no problem," Sam said. "You want me to pick, or do you want to choose something?" Bucky snorted, crossing his arms.

"Seeing as you picked this shitter, maybe I should be the one to pick the next one," he teased, snatching the remote. "What was that one Disney movie you told me about? The one where dogs eat spaghetti?"

"Oh so suddenly my choices in movies are good again."

"Just shut up and tell me what it's called."

"Well I can't do both," Sam joked. Bucky's mouth hung open in a shocked smile that he tried to mask as offense.

"Just tell me the name smart ass," he demanded. Sam was fighting back his snickers as he answered, "Dogs eat spaghetti."

"Dude I know that's not it!" he cried out.

"Yeah but you don't know what it's actually called!" he laughed, having fun withholding the information.

Bucky didn't mention that he just remembered the name of the movie. Instead he steadied him with a look. "Tell me, or else," he said with a playful growl.

Sam wasn't deterred in the slightest. He puffed out his chest as he said, "Make me."

Bucky grinned, wide with a hint of evil. "Oh I plan to." And then he pounced, pinning Sam down on the couch. He immediately started squirming as soon as fingers collided with his sides. His laughter soon followed. Bucky was completely entranced.

Sam threw his head back, allowing the laughter to flow freely from his mouth. He brought his knees up to his chest in a ball as he rocked from side to side, occasionally batting Bucky's hands away. "Dahahahamnit Bahaharns!"

"You know what you have to do to make it stop," he taunted. His hands journeyed up to dig into his armpits, making his laughter jump higher.

"SHIT NO NOT THERE!" he shouted, feeling his fingers scratch at the hollows. He squeezed his eyes shut as he cackled, completely unable to make the sensations stop. Bucky had a devious idea and bent down, blowing a wet raspberry against his neck. Sam squealed before dissolving into hysterical giggles.

"Nohohoho okay! Ohohokahay, I give! Ihi'll tehehell you!" Bucky continued the tickling for a second longer before backing off to let him breathe. Sam gasped in some much needed air. "Lady and the Tramp," he admitted. "It's Lady and the Tramp."

Bucky's smirk got even wider. "I know." Sam's eyes flew open and he glared at the other man. "What?"

Bucky shrugged his shoulders, "I remembered."

"Oh you little shit!" Sam cried, smacking his arm, making him laugh. "Now it's your turn!" Bucky stopped laughing, feeling butterflies begin to flutter in his stomach.

"Huh?" As soon as the question left his lips he felt Sam's body collide with his own as he was tackled. He held his arms in front of him to shield himself, giddy giggles already bubbling up in his throat.

"You didn't think I'd let you just get away with that," Sam teased, leaning closer. Bucky subconsciously scrunched his neck.

"Actually I kinda did."

Sam smiled, hovering his hands over his stomach with wiggling fingers. "Then you deserve everything you're gonna get."  

"Nohohohooo," he whined, knowing exactly what was to come. Sam made sure to keep his fingers a few inches above his stomach to keep him on edge. When he finally descended, he clawed into the muscle and vibrated his hands into the flesh. Bucky tried to hold his laughter back, he really did. But as soon as he saw the twinkle in his eyes and the goofy smile, he couldn't help the giggles that slipped out.

"Wow, you're more ticklish than you look," Sam commented. Bucky's face scrunched in confusion and embarrassment.

"Thahahank you?" It came out more as a question than a statement, and Sam had to fight the physical urge to aawww.

He moved on to his sides, squeezing up and down. His laugh became a deeper, more full sound. He grabbed onto Sam's wrists, but didn't bother pushing away. Instead it felt as though he was pulling him closer... He decided to make a mental note of that for later use.

He decided to drill his thumbs into his hips, making him buck and thrash wildly. Sam chuckled, "Is this how you got your nickname? 'Cause you buck like a wild bronco when tickled?" Bucky's cheeks grew darker at the question.

"Fuhuhuck you!" Sam gasped, never pausing in his work.

"How rude! And here I was just trying to strike up a friendly conversation!" He scratched along his waistline, drawing out mad cackles that left Bucky breathless. Sam was having the time of his life. "Who knew you could make so many sounds," he teased.

Bucky shook his head back and forth. "Juhuhust shuhut up!" Sam cocked his head to the side in a quizzical manner.

"Why? Does it make it worse?" When he didn't answer and only whined in response, Sam grinned wider. "I'll take that as a yes."

"You're sohoho mehehean!" he called out, unable to fight back, not that he really wanted to.

"Yeah? And you're cute when you blush," Sam barely realized he had even said it. It just slipped out and couldn't be taken back. Luckily the only affect his words had was darkening the already red blush. Bucky threw a hand up to hide his face as he giggled through his fingers.

"Nu uh, no hiding," Sam said, tickling under his arm and bringing it crashing down. His other hand trailed farther down, squeezing his thighs. Bucky actually screamed, his laughter hitting a whole new range. Encouraged by the new reactions, Sam brought his other hand lower. Bucky snorted when he squeezed the side of his leg, close to his knees. Sam raised his brows, an evil grin plastered on his face.

"Oh, is this a bad spot?" He skittered his fingers over his thighs, the thin sweatpants doing nothing to protect him. His eyes were squinted shut and his mouth hung open as loud laughter poured free. Sam moves to scratch the backs of Bucky's knees, making him snort once more.

"Nononono plehehehease!" Bucky pleaded.

"I'll take that as a yes," Sam chuckled. He raked his nails down the back of his knees, and Bucky practically screamed. He slammed his knees to his chest, which subsequently pushed Sam forward as well. He lost his balance and lurched towards him, catching himself by bracing his fall with his hands on each side of Bucky's head. They both froze, staring into each other's eyes. Bucky's laughter started to die down, his eyes glistening with unshed mirthful tears.

"You okay?" Sam asked, wanting to make sure he didn't go too far. Bucky nodded.

"Yeah, I'm good." Sam hadn't seen him smile like this in months, and it warmed his heart. "I, I needed that," he admitted. Sam smiled softly, the expression on his face could only be described as pure adoration.

"I'm glad to hear that." There was a beat where it was silent. And again, without thinking, Sam acted. He found himself leaning down and couldn't stop. It was as though time itself had slowed. And then in a rush, Bucky sat up and locked their lips together. They kissed for a moment before Bucky pulled away, still catching his breath.

"Still wanna watch that movie?"

Sam nodded and they cuddled next to each other on the couch. Bucky had an arm around his shoulders as Sam rested his head on his chest. The movie started. And if Sam was drawing lazy, tickly shapes into his side, Bucky didn't complain. Only would huff out a laugh every once in a while, squirming into the touch.

The earth may not be in a good place right now, but she will heal. Bucky was sure of it.

#bucky barnes #sam wilson #avengers #quarantine fic #avengers fic #avengers tickle fic #winterfalcon #winterfalcon fic #ticklish!sam #ticklish!bucky

[sluttyopinions]

The Blunt Reality of Attack on Titan

August 4, 2020

Written by Samantha, Slutty Opinions

OPENING

People usually tend to associate anime and manga with being crazy over the top action packed experiences. Attack on Titan is a series full of exactly that. It’s a hugely popular franchise known for having insanely cool action and bombastic music. People flying around doing impossible feats and fighting fantastical enemies that are larger than life are common. Despite all this flash and excitement, the series never lets you forget the harsh reality of the world itself in a unique way, effectively separating it from many of its peers.

This grim reality is basically used to beat the audience over the head over and over, at times too liberally and too often as some would argue. I personally think how the original author of the manga that started it all, Hajime Isayama, entwines every aspect of his story with cynicism and grimness is one of the major reasons why I love the series, and I’m willing to bet it’s a big reason for a lot of fans whether they know it or not. Before I get into the details, I will say that I won’t be putting in any real spoilers of either the manga or the anime so if you’re just curious about what I may have to say, you can keep going. I’d also like to mention that I am more of a recent fan, but still a big one. I’ve seen the entire anime and have been trying to catch up on the source material, so my knowledge and opinions will be limited to that amount of content.

THE TITANS

For anyone unaware of the basic premise of Attack on Titan, the last remnant of the human race has been trapped by huge humanoid beasts in an expansive settlement surrounded by walls. It is humanity’s job to fight off these mindless monsters and survive behind the walls. The titans are a large part of what creates the identity of the series. Seems kind of obvious since it’s literally the title and all. The way these titans are integrated into the action and the story of the show is a large part of what prevents Attack on Titan from simply being another generic action series that ends up forgotten as a flavor of the month. It seems like I’m not giving the series enough credit because there is a LOT it does right otherwise such as pacing, story structure, characters, and so on that combine to make an incredible experience that has captivated many. However, I still stand by the idea that the titans help make the franchise feel truly one of a kind.

Everyone who’s ever seen the titans has probably noticed how grotesquely and uncannily they are designed. In the manga, the whole world and the way many things and people are drawn especially all have very creepy vibes to it all. While it would be a huge stretch to claim Attack on Titan is a horror manga, it’s common sense to acknowledge it’s strongly influenced by horror. The absolute sense of uncertainty and powerlessness these monsters present nearly every time they’re on screen is overpowering to both the characters that must deal with them and the audience as well. 

Isayama creates a feeling of dread involving these beasts insanely effectively. Any encounter with them even if it is merely 1 or 2 of them can always lead to sudden death. There is never safety in the presence of the titans even for the most skilled. Their pure size and physical ability is nearly never downplayed. While the humans have their own special weapons and crazy abilities, the titans are hardly ever presented as mere battle fodder or mulch. Titans happen to be very good at killing people and the delivery of it all makes it feel believable. Keeping the antagonists intimidating and serious is very important for the overall feeling of Attack on Titan. 

At times it can even feel like too much. The idea of any character dropping dead at any time can be very discouraging when you’re trying to get invested in a cast or just getting started. Sure that amount of pure “edge” in itself is appealing to a lot of people, but edge without purpose or substance makes for very bad entertainment in my eyes. It’s honestly in fact one of my pet peeves. I did not expect to like Attack on Titan for a long time due to this reputation it had for being brutal and random. Just not my style. When I actually gave it a shot however, I realized the writing is a lot more purposeful and I’d even say forgiving than I expected. While at times being an emotionally exhausting experience and definitely pessimistic in many ways, this series treats the terrible events that occur left and right with proper gravity and maturity.

THE NATURE OF WAR

Attack on Titan has a lot to say about a variety of subjects. It’s honestly much more subtle and intelligent than I even thought with my initial blind viewing of the anime. Reading the manga through the same events really gave me an appreciation for the thought and detail that goes into Isayama’s writing. The most obvious subject he focuses on is something that is probably less than subtle however and can be spotted quickly by anyone who has seen or read even a bit of the series. 

That subject happens to be the horrors of war. On the surface the story seems to be just a simple story of man vs beast and it wouldn’t make much sense for it to have anything to say about war. While the circumstances involved are very fantasy-themed and at times ridiculous, it still at its heart is a narrative about war and how humans cope with it, both those on the front lines and those who watch from afar. 

The grim and serious nature of the series is the way it is directly thanks to that theme. If life wasn’t always at risk, if it wasn’t treated as fragile, if death wasn’t respected and dwelled on and treated with the utmost permanence and seriousness, this theme would not work the way it does. Anything less runs the risk of just looking like glorification while merely saying the opposite. Admittedly there’s a lot of people who still somehow think Attack on Titan glorifies war but that’s a whole other subject. A very impactful and relevant part of the story is one early on where humanity wins a huge battle, yet no one bothers to celebrate merely because the overwhelming weight of the dead hangs heavier than any related relief ever could. This kind of grim and depressing, yet honest storytelling about war is very common throughout the plot.

What it means to be a soldier, the intricate overlap of society, media, government, and economics on war, the will and the reason to fight, the sanctity of human life and the nature of sacrifice and finding meaning in meaningless and constant death are all discussed often and in detail in Attack on Titan and the grim realness of everything that happens in the story and the overall feeling of being unsafe it conveys are deeply important to allowing these themes and discussions to work as well as they do.

PHILOSOPHY AND PSYCHOLOGY

The last major aspect of the story that I think benefits greatly from the unrestrained reality and brutality of the series is the very unique philosophy and psychology that Isayama presents. Most of the points and lessons the characters learn through the story are not pleasant ones. Everything the characters go through and the utter bleakness of Attack on Titan’s world shapes everyone’s worldviews. People take small steps and make concessions to have hope in this world. Optimism is present plenty, but the way the characters experience optimism is still rife with sacrifice and harsh undeniable truths. 

This very unique perspective compared to a lot of similar media is refreshing in its own way and kept me questioning what I knew. You couldn’t often easily predict the conclusions characters would come to because they are not what you may have come to expect from other media. One major character, Erwin Smith, is a great example of the kind of ideas Attack on Titan will throw around. His character is labeled as a demon by some, but a hero by the same people as well. The necessity of pain and sacrifice underlies all progress and achievement and he knows it and so do many others, even if it’s hard to accept. Having to create guidelines bound by the rules and expectations of reality only makes them that much more applicable to real life and real war. 

Despite all this, the series never feels outright preachy. Characters dwelling on the meaning of what’s happening to them is specific to which character and which circumstances. It doesn’t feel nearly like the author is writing an essay about the way things are or should be while using characters as mouthpieces and more just people in a hard situation trying to make meaning out of the meaningless suffering around them. Agreeing or disagreeing with any point as a reader or viewer isn’t portrayed as wrong in any case it’s more a vehicle for thought as well as phenomenal character building.  Like real war, none of the questions presented have a genuine correct answer. The character Levi himself at some point in the story even admits that as a veteran in battle, he can never be truly sure of his choices.

CLOSING THOUGHTS

The amount of respect and purpose Attack on Titan treats its frequent suffering with is key to the experience as a whole. While a series with just good writing all around and good reasons for its fame, something that in my opinion makes it feel like something special and something that captivated me is the overall gravity of the story. Without being effective at intensity and discomfort as well as in dealing with said discomfort, the story just wouldn’t feel real. And if it doesn’t feel real, it won’t feel like it matters. This series matters quite a lot to myself and many others and I hope this is at least a glimpse as to why.

#attack on titan #psychology #article #manga #anime #hajime isayama #analysis #reality #no spoilers

[miwii]

So what were your thoughts after finishing gurren lagann?

I'm sorry to say, I didn't like it much. I definitely enjoyed the show more post time skip than I did pre time skip though, but not by much.

There were moments that I came close to absolutely loving the show, but they didn't last long enough to cement that love. Be warned, unpopular opinions are incoming!

As far as things I liked; 1.) The development of every single secondary & side character was unbelievably fun to see. I was far more interested in seeing what they were up to than I was anyone else, because I didn't think the core cast was going to change much. (And they didn't.)

2.) The overall development of the world they were in was fucking phenomenal and it's a shame we don't actually get to spend a whole lot of time seeing much of the newly developed world before they fuck off into space to do fighty robot things. The environment post time skip is far more interesting and rich than the environment pre time skip. (I understand fully that this was intentional, obviously.)

3.) The last few episodes were an absolute visual treat. Colorful, fluid, masterfully chaotic. Just a lot of fun to watch.

4.) The way the plot unfolded was insane and so captivating. The climax of the story was *almost* worth sitting through every other unlikeable thing about the show.

5.) I really, really, really appreciate how the show ended. I've always admired that just about everyone was capable of piloting Gurren Lagann and that it wasn't reserved solely for the main character. Passing the key to Gurren Lagann on to Gimmy was very heartwarming to witness. Even though I think Darry would have been a better pick, but that's just because I love Darry and she is my waifu.

Things I didn't like; 1.) Nia (before becoming an anti-spiral), Simon, and Yoko did not change *at all*.

They *almost* made Yoko a likeable, useful, and interesting character when she took on her identity as a teacher. Of course, they reduced her back to being a one-shot with her rifle and fodder for fanservice all in one episode. They also repeated their cheap tactic of making Yoko the source of a random, unnecessary, last minute romance for another character moments before that characters death in an attempt to make me care more and, once again, it failed miserably.

Nia, prior to becoming an anti-spiral, has not shown any development in the seven fucking years that have passed and that is a massive oversight. Someone as inquisitive and curious about human life as Nia should not be nearly as ditzy, airheaded, and oblivious as she still is. Nia seems to understand childbirth and pregnancy (as she is fully aware of the birth taking place in the episode and doesn't question it or seem surprised in any way), but doesn't understand marriage? I refuse to believe that in the seven years that have passed, Nia doesn't know what marriage is or have a better understanding of human life. They kept her a clueless idiot for the sake of preserving the cute innocence that being dumb comes with, but it was very underwhelming when I wanted to see Nia a well integrated and educated member of the new society.

Simon. Fucking Simon. I loved him. A great character with great development who had his own unique identity and was genuinely a joy to journey with, and they decided to strip all of that away and turn him into a carbon copy of Kamina. He just became less and less Simon as the episodes went on and by the end I just couldn't be bothered to like him anymore.

Aside from this, I really hated the way Simon and Nia's relationship developed. We all know they had feelings for each other, sure, but in the seven year time skip they didn't bother to establish some kind of formal romantic relationship? It just felt rushed for Simon to go from having a friendly and professional relationship with Nia to asking her to marry him. (Especially when Nia doesn't understand marriage which is something Simon should be aware of given how long they've known each other.)

The on time I came close to crying throughout the entire show was when they showed us a glimpse of Viral with his family. That hurt my heart like nothing else.

Nia's death (along with every other character death) was not the least bit surprising or impactful, especially given that we are told Nia is going to die long before it happens. Deaths in Gurren Lagann also suffer from the lack of suffering. None of the characters who die seem the least bit bothered by their deaths and neither does anyone else. It just makes it really hard to care when the characters themselves don't seem to care.

Overall, I'd give it a 6 or 7 out of 10. I realize my thoughts on the show are not popular or shared by many others, and that's alright. I honestly enjoyed my housemates reaction to the show more than the show itself and I would absolutely watch the show over again if I got to watch it with him. It's one of his favorites and I adored his excitement for the show.

#mine #answered #tengen toppa gurren lagann #gurren lagann #kamina #simon #yoko littner #anime #unpopular opinion #ready for a lynching #spoilers

[basement-office-log]

Some Thoughts about BTS...

So... this is basically, the story of how I got in and out of the BTS fandom. (Okay not exactly out because I’m still casually following them nowadays)

How I discovered them is ironically, like many of you, through youtube. It was just before the Run era I guess??? (around the end of 2015). Like somewhen between the Dope and Run era that I got in the fandom.

I guess I can consider myself as one of those depressed fans (lol), I actually remembered there was a option in the BTS fan survey around their BS&T era(???) that said “are you the kind of person that is easily depressed” and I ticked yes.

Almost instantaneously, I fell for the song “Butterfly” it was just the prologue that released back then. The MV was beautifully made, with a sad happy yet depressed undertone, perfectly described how I’m feeling back then.

I first noticed I’m depressed back then in 2015 (let’s be honest, college makes everyone depressed), more like “ahh so this is what being depressed is”. 

And what now... I’m writing this after a tiring long day at work so things may jump back and forth... 

Both their HYYH albums, I had gone through countless late nights listening the tracks on repeat, those are still my favourite albums up till today. Beapsae, instead of partying, that was the song that kept me awake till 5 a.m. ahh those memories... Same with Dope, I did not read the english lyrics until the hundredth repeat lmao. I was actually expecting the song to be about how cool I am, come to oppa and I’ll make you the princess kind of lyrics but ehh boi you surprised me with those raps hmmm....... 

And... Jungkook, I did not like him when I first got into the fandom, to be honest. Because he’s younger than me and also he’s the center, main vocal of the group, despite the youngest. I remembered I was like, wow cocky brat isn’t it. Hehhhhhh but I grew to like him over time anyway, he’s cute, talented, good looking and all but still, it would be hella a headache if I were to have a younger brother like him.

It took me a year to like Jungkook because... The more I look at stuff, he’s just a regular boy, growing up, working hard, trying not to disappoint his parents and people around him. In a sense, aren’t we all just like that? There really is no reason to hate. 

Another member is Jimin. He’s another member that I don’t quite like when I just got in the fandom. We all know that he acted a bit flirtatious during his debut days, up to the Danger era, honestly, his eye make-up makes me feeling uncomfortable to look at him. That’s the first thing. The appearance and the way he acts, in no way I’m trying to say he’s ugly, because if I were to compare myself to him, umm I probably looked like a bum lol.

It took me a lot longer to like Jimin, it’s until the Spring Day era that I thought, alright Jimin is charismatic and cute, admit it. Hah yea... Now, this is when the second stage of not liking Jimin comes. I started to fear him. It’s weird I know, why would I scared of “the mochi of BTS” Let me tell you why.

It’s scary to see how hard a person can work, that his goal is probably more important than his life. It makes me think that I am not and will not be a person like this, living is more important than what I am achieving. I wouldn’t want to risk my life doing things, however important that thing might be. Well people said, you will never achieve your goal like this if you don’t put your life on it. But I don’t care about that, but at the same time I’m feeling guilty about that. 

It might be a Korean thing, we all know Koreans worked insanely hard because of society standards. Or it also could be a Jimin thing, Nevertheless, this man have my respect. The respect that I keeps me away from accepting him.

I’m kind of in the neutral range with Suga, J-hope and Jin like they are cool, fantastic, great people. 

-----

This is almost 24 hours later, since the last paragraph. Again, a long and tiring day, after work, prolly a few minutes away from losing consciousness (a.k.a. falling asleep lol)

This shit is going to be very VERY long, nah it doesn’t matter because no one is going to read this anyway, even if I tagged BTS below, I’m writing this for myself.

I’ll just briefly talk about RM and V before going into my main topic today, (all because I cut myself off yesterday to hit the hay ekkk).

Rapmon bro, the reason why I decided to look into this group is because of his mixtape. I have 2 of his tracks in my old phone back then, everything was gone when my phone literally died a few months back. (The whole album is available for free download anyway so its all good) I have no interest in hip hop or whatsoever back then, but I became interested in hip-hop just a little after listening to his mixtape album. He is really someone I look up to, honestly, it’s no easy job to be a leader, not just in idol groups but just in every field in general. I tried becoming one because my mother always expect me to be one, after a few attempts (it was back in high school by the way) I thought it’s just not my thing, I’m more of a following instruction kind of person, I do my part and make sure everyone is okay. But that doesn’t mean that I don’t want to become a leader like person. In the future, maybe... But my depression went really downhill these days, so I’m not sure if that day will come. But I do aspire to become someone like him.

V or I prefer calling him Tae. He is my first bias. His existence just screams “RELATABLE” to me, (minus his looks) He seemed to be struggling with words whenever he tries to say something. That also is something I had to deal with on a daily basis. It’s like when you have good looks, everything you did is cute, but for me, it’s more like an annoyance. So I tried to keep quiet as much as possible. Nevertheless, I just hope that I will meet someone that will understand the way I talk like the other BTS members did with Tae, have a best friend like Jimin and... yea.

BTS hmm the annual sit and talk for part of their BTS Festa thingy, it’s called the Dinner Party this year hmm cool. I stopped watching after the first 30 minutes, for the exact reason why I also did not watch more than 5 minutes of last year’s sit and talk.

We all know that, they had achieved tremendous success for the past few years. A lot of their songs often circle around their hardships and what fuck the haters?? If that make sense. Whenever they have talks like this, I always bail myself out there, and yea I never install Vlive back after I got this new phone because there really is no reason to catch every live and Run BTS episodes now.

This was not long before the DNA era, I always found myself having thoughts like:

“So you have started to avoid BTS hmm?” Yea right, took me a while to admit. I used to not miss a single notification. There is no more random videos on the BangtanTV channel as they get more and more popular, there is just backstages and really just back stages and behind the scenes of their daily schedules and tours. It shows that they are working hard, really hard. Which leads me to the next question.

“It feels uncomfortable isn’t it, comparing yourself to a worldwide famous group of artist?” Hmph. I worked hard, really hard. I even live by the motto, do or die. But that doesn’t seemed to be enough. People around me, always told me that I should push myself more. I DID, I REALLY DID, BUT WHY CAN’T YOU SEE IT.

“But BTS can, why can’t you?” I’m just going to work harder, I tell myself. I don’t have to face the same pressure as BTS did, I’m having it way more easier. But at the same time, there is seven of them in BTS, but there is only one me.

The voice at the back of my head, you are not helping.

I swiped away all notifications from BangtanTV ever since. 

Because seeing them having each other around reminds me how am I not going to have friends like this, how I’m never going to achieve this much. But mostly it reminds me how lonely I am.

By the time the Mic Drop remix released, I started having what I called the depressive episodes. I think I’m going to describe them as a waking nightmare, all the thoughts in my head are killing each other, fighting for the limited space in my head. Which ever thought that dominate my mind is the winner. I stared into blankness, tears and snots all over my face, hyperventilating while finding excuses to tell people what happened to me if anyone ever sees me. 

Honestly I don’t think people is going to read this... but the tag is down there just for the slightest hope that people that come across this will know that, ahh there are people like this out there too... Some of you might think, this is pathetic, attention seeking but at the end of the day, I just want some closure for myself. I need to admit that, no matter how much interviews I watch, how much memes I’ve seen everyday, they are not going to be my friends. They will forever be the people in screens, and I belong to the 97% of the population that will lead a normal life.

Here I am, the Fake Love era that comes to a close. I can’t even bring myself to listen to the whole album, because chances are, some of the lyrics are going to trigger the shit out of me. Same goes with Suga’s mixtape, J-hope’s mixtape.

I really miss the days where they made simple love songs like the ones in the Dark and Wild album. Blanket Kick is my personal favourite. 

I’m sure there are still a lot more that I had in mind but I just forget what is it about to include in this. I’ll get a part 2 done when there is time. 

BTS now just feels like the popular kids I went to school with, now graduated from a school named ARMY, they are like the ex-classmates I bump into once in a while. Thank you, for the best 3 years in my life. I had lots of laughter, times that I forgot about my sadness and your warm words that took me through difficult times. You are the reason that I survived until today and also the trigger of some of my episodes. 

SInce it’s already past midnight, I wanted to say Happy 5th debut anniversary, stay healthy (to both BTS and ARMY out there) be happy and may you all be reaching higher and higher till you celebrate your 10th anniversary. (or maybe longer)

*Just a sidenote, as a Malaysian fan, I’m just going to keep calling Rapmon, Rapmon because RM is our effin currency, I don’t want to be reminded of money issues whenever I thought of you. As far as I know, you do have a beautiful name as your mother definitely did not named you Rap Monster. It’s just that stage name exist for a reason. And I think I know at least 5 Jins in real life, so the wide shoulder hyung is just going to be Kim Seok Jin in my head haha yea.

#bts #unpopular opinion

[nazrigar]

Hey there everyone! WHOO! Finally got a reprieve, as I’m done with my drawings for my final project, now I have to continue typing the written parts.

Done largely in part because I love the lore, practice drawing human characters, and to pass the time whenever I need a breather from from college.

While researching for the lore of Dark Souls for my In-progress AU Comic, I noticed how LARGE the mythology of Dark Souls and the deities that reside, along with the fan speculation of which god corresponds with whom and etc. In spite of all this, from what I can tell, outside of Gwyn’s family, there has never been a, for lack of a better term, “compendium piece” of the gods and goddesses of dark souls, so I made my own :D

Because some gods are not represented in imagery, I decided to design how they might look if they ever showed up amongst mortals. I owe a lot to Tumblr, Reddit and the DS fandom as a whole, the amount of theory and lore discussions are always gold, and of course, the lore-lords like @vaatividya and @silver-mont, their vids are always interesting to watch :)

From the Top Row: The Bearers of the Lord Souls

Gravelord Nito: No need for an explanation here xD

Gwyn, Lord of Sunlight: Drawing him was easy, but here I wanted portray a very stern, no-nonsense god king who really, REALLY is someone you don’t want to piss off, and someone who is almost NEVER happy and/or satisfied.

The Witch of Izalith: I’m honestly surprised there’s not much fanart of how her face might look like, so I pitched in. She basically resembles her daughters, but with a more matriarchal vibe, with a stronger jawline and sharper eyes to reflect that. She’s also very tall, towering over Gwyn and just slightly edging out NK in height.

The Furtive Pygmies, featuring Manus and a Pygmy Lord: With the Ringed City revealing that there were SEVERAL pygmies, I had quite some fun with the speculation and possibilities of how the Pygmies as a whole looked like.

Personally? I simply interpret them as humans but more, with more power over the dark soul, but otherwise having different roles in society like regular folk, the Ringed Knights are Warriors, the Lords are the rulers, etc.

I put Manus amongst them, why? Because no way should ONE man be able to have THAT much abyss power just because he’s a human. Since the dark soul is divided amongst humans, I interpret him having a huge chunk of the Dark Soul (as per these two threads), and thus was simply a mighty sorceror who happened to be really, REALLY old, even by Pygmy standards. Plus I always wondered... How does one torture a dead man? The Mad King was described as undying, so according to my own logic, he wasn’t totally “dead” when he was buried. His grave could signify him wanting a modicum of peace, after all, his entire race was basically put in a glorified prison by Gwyn... Sensing the growing madness within him (probably due to sheer isolation), he probably decided to “die” on his own terms in Oolacile... then future idiots proceeded to listen to TOTALLY NOT SUSPICIOUS AT ALL SERPENT and dug up his grave.

The random Pygmy Lord is basically representing one of the first Pygmy Lords.

Second Row: The Children of the Gods

The Nameless King, Firstborn of Gwyn, God of War: In a short period of time, has become my favorite character amongst the gods... There’s so much of a story to tell from him, his relationship with his family, the reasons as to WHY he betrayed the dragons, and thanks to lore threads a-plenty, I interpret him as one of the most honorable and dedicated of the gods. He watches over his warriors of sunlight even if they ARE humans (whom Gwyn HATES) AND he protects Dragons. Despite meI head-canoning him bigger than Gwyn and is in general a wall of muscle and armor, he’s STILL shorter than his sisters.

Gwynevere, Goddess of Fertility: Gwynevere here I interpret as one of the nicer gods, so I made her expression to reflect such. Because Gwyndolin’s illusion of her may be simply him projecting what he remembers most of her and thus potentially exaggerating certain aspects, I toned down a lot the “Aphrodite-esque” glamor, in favor of a more personable look, though still decked out.

Filianore: The daughter we know even less of than Gwynevere, but thanks to a certain reddit thread that discussed how dedicated NK was to her via the floral carvings that is present in Archdragon peak... She must have been someone who NK was VERY close with, so I interpret her as the “Always trying to bring life to the family” kind of sister, though closest to her eldest brother.

Gwyndolin: The Dark Sun himself. Not much else to say here, I just wanted to draw him happy for once... Because WHY FROM? He really, really needs it.

The Daughters of Chaos

Quelana, Mother of Pyromancy: Due to her own title, I interpret her as the Studious Daughter, incredibly dedicated to her craft and always finding out ways to further her pyromancy... Until the Chaos Flame incident happened of course... Then she became wracked with survivor’s guilt...

I also interpret her as being the responsible one looking out to make sure her sisters don’t do anything too brash... Though in hindsight, that would make her suvivor’s guilt worse.

Quelaag: The most well known Chaos Daughter, and whom I interpret as The Aggressive Daughter, hence why she’s the only one of the sisters with a melee weapon. As the most in-your-face daughter I head-canon that she is the one who lowers down her hood the most, especially when she feels like challenging someone. Also VERY protective of her family.

Quelaan, The Fair Lady: Last but not least, I interpret Quelaan as always having been the shyest and nicest of the daughters. Her hood is more drooped down compared to Quelana, to highlight her shyness.

Fun fact, while trying to find her real name, turns out the name Quelaan was the name the community gave to her, and just became established fanon, so I just opted to name her just that.

Third Row: Other Members of the Larger Pantheon

All-Father Lloyd: Gwyn’s uncle, founder of the Way of White. Now there IS speculation that he’s not real, but here I interpret as the real deal, and thus looks like a wimpier, older version of Gwyn, yet still has an aura of authority. I used a bit of Paladin Leeroy for his crown, because I interpret that, when he REALLY needs to get his hands dirty, he too wields a mace, setting an example to all paladin-esque worshipers after him.

His clothes are tattered despite being the godly equivalent of a pontiff, to highlight two things:

One, despite him being a “lord”, his tattered look is to signify he is not “above” the rabble/his followers.

Two, I head-canon him becoming slowly more insane and full of hate toward the undead,as more and more of his family and friends either dies off or leaving home... He eventually disappears for unknown reasons and becomes forgotten.

Fina, Goddess of Love: The most popular candidate for Gwyn’s wife, or at least his first, I wanted to design her with the Embraced Set in mind, just modified to look more queenly rather than armor. Going by the general fanon, I interpret her as the mother of both NK and Gwynevere, but due to unknown circumstances, just up-and-left. Why? I dunno I haven’t thought that deep :(

Also wanted to try out and giving her a different look, skin-tone and facial wise compared to all the other gods and goddesses out there.

Velka, Goddess of Sin: My favorite goddess, her lore and weaponry associated with her is cool, but even with DS3 and all its DLC, I wish we got to know more of her and how she even became the one to hold the title of “goddess of sin” and how she absolves it. She is also, I noticed in fan-art and fanfic, the other most popular candidate for Gwyn’s wife.

Due to the fact that both Gwyndolin and Filianore are associated with illusions and magic, I interpret her as the mother of Filianore and Gwyndolin. She has sharp features and very pale skin, and share’s Filianore’s dark hair.

For her design, I compared aspects of the Statue of Velka from DS3, and both Oswald of Carim and Cromwell the pardoner. I didn’t want her to strictly dress like Oswald and Cromwell, so I incorporated more feathers to her outfit to give her a more “regal” look, as befitting a goddess, and not just pardoner. Funnily enough, with her book of sins and outfit, she also gives the aura of a medieval judge.

Caitha, Goddess of Tears: The third goddess associated with Carim, and one that I intentionally kept her eyes hidden. Mentioned in both 2 and 3, I want to reflect her constant “mourning” nature, and since ‘Gentle Prayer’ is associated with her chime in DS3, I thought her being in a position of prayer would be most appropriate.

Nahr Alma, God of Blood and Murder: Take Titchy Gren, make him more beast-like in proportion, now make him the size of Father Ariandel with the animalistic agility of the Orphan of Kos or Slave Knight Gael, and you have the God of Blood himself. I interpret him as a kind of god that is shunned by the rest, and is mostly treated as an attack dog, and nothing more. REALLY resents the other gods.

#dark souls #dark souls 2 #dark souls 3 #ds #ds2 #ds3 #deities #gwyn #lord of sunlight #witch of izalith #gravelord nito #nito #furtive pygmy #pygmies #manus #pygmy lord #the ringed city #gods #godesses #nameless king #gwynevere #gwyndolin #filianore #quelana #quelaag #quelaan #the fair lady #allfather lloyd #lloyd #fina

[percyjacksou]

i'm really upset about the news about damaged like us and farrow being white like the addicted series was so white it was insane. like they made everyone white and then they justified by saying they wanted to show the rich elite like their aren't rich poc. like why did garrison have to be white, or even sam, or their daisy bodyguard. their was only one character of colour in the whole addicted series and it was the shop keeper of the comic bookstore and she had like one line. it just makes me -

think they don’t care like they only have characters in their less popular series but like addicted has like 11 books and its ur most popular work. i really don’t wanna read about rich white people and their angsty problems after 11 books its getting kind tiring. like sometimes the characters come off spoiled. espically conor who thinks he’s a genius because he knows a few SAT WORDS and went to an ivy league and how got his job because of nepotism also loren being a ceo thats just ridiculous and the authors just refuse to even address this issue. I’m starting to think they just don’t care. and i’m just done.

he doesn’t even have a degree of any kind if they had more diversity in race and class in the stories to see make the character see sense sometimes. like i was reading the addicted after all made me want to scream. like they cant like it was the worst punishment in the world to be chosen to work as a ceo of a major company when so many people work their whole lives and never even make it that far due racism or sexism or both and their complaining

 i don’t even get me started on that scene in skop when conor and rose were like something along the lines of the world will stereotype beckett because he likes dance and as a black women that just made me side eye them because really this white rich kid is going to be stereotype really?????? anyway i’m kind of tired of this series and i don’t think i can read 11 more books about white rich people and how hard their life is because their famous they have no self-awareness.

and the authors just refuse to even address this issue. I'm starting to think they just don't care. and i'm just done.

damn u went off ur right tho i’ve said most of this before on twitter but they don’t care the only reason they act like they care about diversity is bc they know they have a huge non white fanbase, lbr non white rich people exist the addicted series didn’t have to be so white but if rich poc were so out there for them loren and willow could’ve easily been poc since their mom isn’t even part of their society or what ever bs they kept going on about, the series as a whole is so messy i didn’t realise before how annoying rose and conner are, rose is literally the epitome of white feminism and connor thinks he’s einstein bc he went to private school, it was just eleven books of the same white people problems over and over again, the same could be said about the aerial ethereal books when they said they were making another book i thought they were finally evolving since everyone thought it would be a timo/john spin off, could u imagine a book about a biracial gay couple, but no it was about luka who nobody even liked and sure baylee was half black but if u saw the first fan cast they had for her you’d know her being black was an after thought for them. honestly im done with kb especially after the whole farrow thing its obvious they’re not even trying to change.

#lol when i said all of this on twt they unf me too so theres that #anon #Anonymous #ask

[purple-pen-reviews]

Look Who’s Back [German: Er Ist Wieder Da] (2015)

Rating: 9.4/10

Look Who’s Back is a 2015 German comedy film directed by David Wnendt, starring Oliver Masucci, Fabian Busch, Katja Riemann, Christoph Maria Herbst, and Franziska Wulf. It is based on a novel of the same name, written by Timur Vermes, and features certain parts containing Oliver Masucci engaging with actual German citizens as the Hitler character mixed with scripted segments. The film’s plot revolves around amateur reporter Fabian Sawatzki (played by Fabian Busch) discovering a man who appears to be Hitler (Oliver Masucci), and trying to make him famous on the internet. The two traverse the German countryside, shooting comedy skits as well as various political vignettes. Eventually, Hitler and Sawatzki score a TV show deal, where Hitler begins to gain serious political traction.

The film presents an several interesting morals, one of the most important being about how history is subject to repeating itself, and that we are usually too busy telling ourselves that “it could never happen to us” to see it actually happening to us. The movie goes about doing this masterfully, and in a way that is paralleled by the character of Hitler itself. It starts off as a hilarious, mockumentary-style comedy film, but slowly transitions into a serious drama that presents hard-hitting moral questions. Both the comedy and the drama of this movie hit the nail on the head, and it is both gut-bustingly funny as well as ethically intriguing. There are two excellent performances in this movie, one being Oliver Masucci as Adolf Hitler. Masucci’s interpretation of Hitler is spot on - there were times during the movie that I got so invested in his acting that, for just a split second, I believed that I could actually be watching the real Hitler walking around Germany. This suspension of disbelief is further aided by the film’s second excellent performance - the citizens of Germany. Much like the American film Borat (dir. Larry Charles, 2006), Look Who’s Back features many unscripted moments of the main character interacting with regular people. I hate to say that some of the best acting done in this film isn’t acting at all - many of the lines from this movie are the actual opinions of actual people. Which is eye-opening, because you would think that people wouldn’t be so quick to agree with a man dressed up as Hitler, yet scenes involving just that make up a good 15 minute section of the film.

Regardless, Look Who’s Back is both an excellent comedy and drama film, and I would recommend anyone who enjoys dark comedy or historical/political satire see this movie (currently available for streaming on Netflix) immediately.

One of the best parts about this movie is it’s excellent comedic timing. Oliver Masucci’s Hitler narrating the ridiculous events happening around him create some of the most quotable moments in movie history. The level of quotability of this movie is on par with that of a Mel Brooks or Monty Python classic.

 The movie begins as such, with Hitler narrating himself as he wakes up in modern-day Germany, and from there, the comedic roller-coaster begins. Hitler stumbles around, being mistaken for a street performer, is almost run over by a mob of segways, and then maced by a woman who thinks he is insane. Blindly, he shambles over to a newstand, discovers the year is 2014, and passes out into the arms of a newspaper salesman. During this time, the jokes come full throttle like charging bayonets, and only stops when the story switches over to several expository scenes about Fabian Sawatzki, Mr. Sensenbrink (Christoph Maria Hurbst), and Ms. Krömeier (Franziska Wulf). The movie slows down, and in my opinion, gets pretty boring, and the writing is pretty cheesy as well. The jokes don’t flow as well as the others during scenes without Hitler. Attempts at comedy during these parts seem forced, and aren’t all that funny. The whole time during these scenes, I was thinking to myself, “when will we get back to Hitler?” - which is disturbing, when taken out of context...

The history nerd in me was laughing out loud at some of the things Hitler says in this movie, like “Turks in Berlin? How remarkable! The Ottoman Empire managed to turn the war!” and, “Yesterday I was moving the 12th army... Today, it’s a newspaper rack!” However, the jokes in this movie aren’t just for history buffs - in fact, most of what Hitler says is pure comedy gold, due to Oliver Masucci’s excellent deadpan performance as the most reviled man in history (who seems completely aloof to the fact that he is regarded as such). The line between Masucci’s comedic performance and his dramatic performance is almost indistinguishable, meaning you never see a joke coming until it’s hit you straight in the face. One second, he’s grilling Sawatzki on how to defeat Poland in a land war, and the next, he’s unintentionally making a joke about the dry-cleaners “blitz cleaning.” Most of the comedy from these scenes comes from the belief that, if the real Hitler actually had to go through these absurd situations, he’d probably react in exactly the same way. 

The scenes where Masucci, while impersonating Hitler, discusses politics with real German citizens made me laugh when I watched this movie the first time, but upon rewatching it, they became less funny. At first, I kept thinking, “How crazy would you have to be to openly agree with a man dressed as Hitler?!?” but as I watched the movie for a second, third, and even a fourth time, I realized these people weren’t all that crazy. Sure, their beliefs about politics and society were ignorant, but were the people themselves evil or crazy? Not at all. Every single one of the people Hitler met with were sane. They were just normal citizens with different points of view. Whether or not their opinions were correct is a subjective matter, but were the people themselves wrong or evil for thinking that? No; and that’s another one of the subtle messages that this movie conveys. You don’t have to be crazy or evil to have these kinds of opinions. We’ll come back to that subject later. 

(Side Note: there was a scene in which Hitler discusses how the effects of race-mixing are detrimental to people with a German woman in the movie, and I just so happened to be watching it with two women who are of mixed-race descent themselves. It wasn’t supposed to be funny, but given the circumstances, we laughed the hardest at this scene.)

I cannot stress this next sentence enough; everyone needs to watch the scene with Hitler and the dead dog. It’s absolutely hilarious. Going into this movie the first time, my friends and I thought that Look Who’s Back was going to be some stupid, badly acted, horrendous foreign film that we could ironically laugh at. This scene was the moment we realized that this movie was a cut above the rest. This movie vastly exceeded my expectations, and this scene is exactly why. The only gripe I have with it is that the dog, when Hitler shoots it, is very obviously fake, but can I even complain about the fact that I obviously didn’t just watch somebody shoot a dog? Is that really even a complaint?

There are many more funny moments, including when Hitler goes to the Central Square in Bayreuth to raise money by drawing caricatures of people, the montage of Hitler & Sawatzki’s exploits around the German countryside, as well as Hitler and Sawatzki’s banter on the road, but I wouldn’t want to spoilt everything. Just go see the movie. You won’t regret it. 

Two of the subsequent scenes seemed weird; one being the YouTube community’s reaction to Hitler’s new popularity as well as Hitler’s weird narration of his feelings about Katja Bellini (Katja Riemann) seem out of place, and honestly, a little unsettling. I feel like the movie would have been fine without them. 

I also find problems with Sawatzki’s decision-making skills. Why would he bring this killer new idea to Sensenbrink, who obviously hates him? There has to be other options for him. Later, he does the right thing by giving Hitler’s new manuscript to Katja, but that only exasperates my point. Why did he even bother going to Sensenbrink in the first place?

The scene in which Hitler discovers the Internet is decidedly reminiscent of Monty Python’s Flying Circus. When asked to type into the Google Search Bar what he is interested in by Ms. Krömeier, he types, “weltherrschaft,” which is the German word for “world supremacy.” Makes me giggle every time. His infatuation with Wikipedia, his struggle to find a username, and his complete bewilderment with modern technology only adds to the suspension of disbelief I previously mentioned. 

Look Who’s Back also makes excellent use of foreshadowing. Firstly (and in a more minor way), while Sawatzki and  Krömeier are making out on  Krömeier’s couch, a menorah hits Sawatzki in the head, foreshadowing that the  Krömeier family is Jewish, which becomes a conflict of interest later in the movie. Secondly, there is a line in which Hitler describes Sensenbrink as a man who, “hopes he is a success, but he’s only an accessory to success. Because he suspects this, he fears the moment it is revealed that the success is neither his, nor was he an accessory to it.” Sensenbrink’s moment of realization comes when he sees how much success Sawatzki is receiving from Hitler, and how little he himself is receiving, as highlighted by the insulting minor role he plays in the movie’s script. Interestingly, he says the line, “You could’ve gotten Benno Furmann or Bruno Ganz,” when commenting on the no-name status of the actor portraying him. Fun fact: Bruno Ganz was the name of the actor who portrayed Hitler in Downfall (dir. Oliver Hirschbiegel, 2004). My theory: someone didn’t like the fact that Oliver Masucci was cast to play Hitler during pre-production, and this line was added to the script out of pettiness. 

It is around this point that the movie takes a turn for the dramatic, and there are some shocking parallels to current-day American politics taking place all throughout this movie, but none more so than when Hitler begins going around the talk-show circuit. He even says his plan for the future is, “to make Germany great again.” Sound familiar to anyone? Also, quotes like, “You know how many people are cheering him on? Not because they think he’s funny, or ironic. They think what he says is cool! They think he’s right!” and, “People can’t stay mad at Hitler for very long. Even the people who hate him go buy his new book, just to see what his next crazy move is,” as well as, “Back then, people were laughing at first too,” from later points in the movie are very telling. I won’t go so far as to say that anyone should take my words as correlation between Hitler, the most reviled man in history, and any current politicians, but I would say that this movie does have a message to tell us; that we cannot let ourselves become blind to the repetition of history. 

There is also a line that Hitler says that I feel perfectly encapsulates the movie itself. He says, while on a talk show talking about how some people see him as a comedian, “I want to reach people, and you can’t reach someone who isn’t listening.” This movie begins as a comedy, but over the course of the movie, important questions begin to pop up, until you’re hit over the head with the movie’s ultimate message at the end. That’s what makes for a good movie; when the experience of watching is it improved a second time around. Rewatchability makes good movies great.

The scenes where Hitler interacts with various political groups were hard to follow, as I am rather ignorant on German politics. However, from these scenes comes one of the greatest insults of all time, delivered by Hitler about a group of vegan Neo-Nazi cooking show hosts; “They want to be the heirs to national socialism? They are nothing! Build the Fourth Reich? They can’t even build an Ikea shelf!” However, these are the last truly comedy-oriented scenes. The last truly funny moment in the movie before it makes a turn for the dramatic is a parody by Sensenbrink and the MyTV staff of the breakdown scene from Downfall. 

The scene where Grandma Krömeier recognizes Hitler is phenomenal, as well as the following scenes where Sawatzki begins to realize who he’s truly dealing with. Even if you don’t particularly enjoy the dark comedy of the first and second acts of the movie, you need to watch this movie for the drama of the third act. The final scene in which Sawatzki confronts Hitler has some of the best dialogue of the entire movie, and drives the point of the movie home hard. The music accompanying this scene is perfect too. Enis Rotthoff really did an excellent job scoring this whole movie; every scene’s music perfectly accompanies it’s content, and nowhere more so than the final confrontation between Sawatzki and Hitler. He isn’t John Williams, to be sure, but he’s at least got all of his bases covered as far as matching musical tone to cinematic tone. The movie ends perfectly, too, with images of actual right-wing demonstrations over a song. 

By the end of this film, my jaw had completely dropped to the floor. I was amazed at how slowly and steadily this film had transitioned from one of the funniest mockumentary comedies I’ve ever seen to some of the most impressive storytelling I’ve seen in the last few years. This movie was so amazingly believable; not I thought it would ever be possible for Hitler to return from the grave, but certainly that if Hitler were to ever come back, it would 100% happen like this.

I loved this movie, and it greatly exceeded my expectations from what I thought it was going to be like. Go watch it now on Netflix; I don’t think you’ll regret it. 

#Look Who's Back #Er Ist Wieder Da #2015 Movies #movies #foreign films #german films #David Wnendt #Oliver Masucci #Fabian Busch #Katja Riemann #Christoph Maria Herbst #comedy films #donald trump #trump #adolf hitler #hitler #nazis #mockumentary #entertainment

[slightly-depressed-niko-boy]

Flaws ch. 1

Nico cursed himself. Why couldn't he be at the least a little careful? Why couldn't he watch his actions and words? He felt so dumb, but it was already too late. Nothing could change his fate now.

But what on earth was he thinking? 'Oh, let's insult government which can kill me without a bigger effort in front of thousands of people! Yes, it sounds like a great idea!' Was it something like that? No, no... Nico wasn't thinking at all back then. He was simply too reckless. Maybe if he considered the way his words may affect his safety, then it would not end up like this... But he hadn't considered shit.

Nico slowed down. He'd been running for good twenty minutes. It was enough, wasn't it? He didn't even know where he was anymore. Well, the city was huge in general, so it was quite easy to get lost, but still.

The skyline was sprinkled with luxurious skyscrapers, and each was more impressive than the next. Comparing to the cities in the neighborhood, the quality of life was very high in this area, and it undoubtedly had attracted a lot of attention. Surprisingly, despite the popularity, the city was lacking in any touristic attractions and so. Instead, it was filled with hundreds of places of work, transport, and education. Nico hated the buildings there. He thought there were lacking in privacy. Big windows were something what every building, no matter of its purpose had. Some of the offices and schools barely had regular walls anymore. They were rather made of glass, making it easy for everyone to see what was going on inside.

The fast trains and vehicles, in general, were coming in handy. It was easy to get from one place to another in less than a few minutes, and it didn't require a lot of effort from you. The modern technology was indeed very useful, as well. You could do almost everything by just clicking a few buttons, the Internet was full of the most helpful information, and it was great to do quick researches.

But Nico saw the bad sides of all of this, too. He wasn't certain if the rest of community was dumb or they didn't want to admit how awful their lives in fact were. Or maybe they weren't stupid ones, and Nico was for expressing his hatred? The whole society seemed to be perfect from the outside. What was the problem, then?

First of all, a constant use of vehicles, all the newest inventions and lots of factors were creating air pollutions. Very dangerous air pollutions, actually. When you looked forward, you could see a picture perfect city, brand-new technology, silver buildings, beautiful skyscrapers. But when you looked up at the sky, everything was gray. Literally. Instead of beautiful blue sky, you saw gray clouds. It seemed as if it was always a rainy weather there, although, in fact, it was not.

Nico also hated the government, the laws, everything that was making him do things against his own will. You would think everyone did. You would think people were smart enough to do something against the awful, animal-like laws, but no. Apparently, after what met Nico, they were as dumb as the authority was. Or maybe they weren't? Maybe Nico was simply an idiot for trying to have his own opinion and expressing it in public. Maybe he was an idiot for not shutting up when he should. Maybe he was an idiot for not thinking about the consequences. Maybe. Or not.

The whole community was built on the idea which Nico liked to call 'we are leaders so we can do whatever we want, and if you disagree, then we'll see you at your own funeral' or something like this. Even if the rulers were the biggest fools and had no idea about their own work, you couldn't complain. And if you did... Well, then they would quickly eliminate you.

Nico looked around, trying to analyze his surroundings. There was a large building in front of him. It didn't seem to be very different from the others. It was high, so it appeared to be touching the dark clouds up above; huge windows were showing off almost each floor, besides several last ones on the top and there were large elevators visible inside.

On his right, there was a train station. He saw a lot of people waiting there, and it made his guts squeeze with anxiety. There was no way he was going there. If any of those people heard or saw that he was wanted, then he was screwed.

He looked back at the building and swallowed thickly. There were obviously a lot of cameras. But honestly, what was the difference? He bet that the whole city was full of recording devices. If he was lucky enough, he could get out of there by the back door or just... hide somewhere inside. It was not the best plan, but he couldn't think of anything better at the moment. He shouldn't stay in one place for too long, right? Eventually, someone would recognize him, and it wouldn't be anything good. He was not sure if his condition was good enough to run now. He needed to rest for at the least a few minutes, or he would pass out from exhaustion.

Nico ran his hand through his hair before hanging his head down as he headed towards the entrance of the building. What was the worst thing that could happen? Cameras notice him? Someone recognize him? He would handle it, wouldn't he?

The building inside was as big as it seemed to be from the outside, if not slightly larger. Nico entered a long hall with flat, gray walls and marble floor. The dullness of corridor was not encouraging at all. There was literally nothing. No people, no furniture, nothing.

He kept walking, just to see an elevator at the end of the hallway. He glanced back to see if there was anyone behind him, pressing a button so the elevator would open for him. He stepped inside and instantly closed the transparent door, leaning against the wall. There were around three hundred floors. At the least, Nico assumed so. The number of buttons was apparently smaller. He couldn't get why.

Nico pressed the button with the highest floor and crossed his arms, waiting as the lift moved. One, two, three... It seemed to take forever. He watched the door carefully, observing the changing views. He would hang his head down whenever he saw any people, but the lift didn't stop.

Eventually, he felt a sudden pause. He thought that he reached his destination, but it wasn't it. Someone stopped the elevator. Nico tensed up, clenching and unclenching his fists. They knew he was here, didn't they? Oh, it was clear that they would find him. Why was he even trying to escape? It was pointless, wasn't it? No, no, he was not going to let go so quickly. He was going to fight back, if necessary. The door opened, and a tall guy entered the lift. He pressed some button, without even looking at it, before turning and standing next to Nico.

He couldn't help shifting a little away as he stared blankly at the floor. He didn't want to gain too much attention or stare at the other, but he still glanced up at him with a corner of his eye. He had curly blond hair, which he apparently tried to smooth back, assuming after a hair gel glistening in his hair. It didn't work the best, though, as some of the locks changed their position, making an attempt look almost ridiculous. But Nico had nothing to laugh about. He reminded himself that this guy could be here to arrest him or something. But he stayed quiet as Nico kept eying him. He was tanned, and there were freckles splattered all over his face and down his neck. Nico assumed his whole body was covered in them, but it was impossible to see because of the dull white uniform made of a long-sleeved jacket and usual jeans.

Somehow, the guy must have noticed Nico staring as his gaze flitted to him and their eyes met. Nico immediately looked away, nervously picking on his nail. He felt the other's stare on him, and it was awfully uncomfortable; as if he were reading his mind. Although Nico didn't look up anymore, hoping the blond would quickly leave an elevator, he still heard a quiet hem. He kept his eyes glued to the ground as if it was the most fascinating thing in the world, ready to stop the lift and run. He excepted the guy to be a cop, to arrest him, to attack him, to threaten him... But neither of it happened. Instead, he spoke up softly with the gentlest voice Nico's ever heard.

"I've never seen you around," He stated, "You're not working here, are you?"

Nico didn't reply at first. He licked his lips nervously and scoffed, looking up with a corner of his eye, noticing that the other was still staring at him.

"I think you already know the answer," He said in a somehow calm voice, although deep down he was screaming.

The guy nodded a little and leaned his head back against the wall, crossing his arms over chest. He was still eyeing Nico carefully, which made a panic rise in his chest.

"Can I see your ID?" He asked with the same polite tone, but Nico was too suspicious to trust his friendliness. There was no way he was giving him his ID. He wasn't insane yet.

"Why?" Nico asked, instead of answering and arched an eyebrow in rather a hesitant manner.

The blond shrugged. "You seem lost, I thought I could lead you to your destination." He explained simply, and Nico scoffed.

'Well, if my destination is jail or a coffin, then no, thank you,' he thought to self, though he didn't dare to say it out loud. He only shook his head and gazed at the screen above the door which showed changing numbers of the floors. He swallowed a dry lump in his throat thickly and tugged on his bottom lip, finally speaking up again.

"I'm fine, thanks," He said, precisely pronouncing each word. But unluckily, the blond didn't seem to get it. It annoyed Nico. How can one not understand simple phrases? Was he stupid, stubborn or was he actually a cop? No, if he were a cop, he wouldn't start a small talk with him. He would go straight to the point.

"I'm Will," He greeted, holding out his hand to Nico. He cringed slightly at the idea of shaking hand with him but managed to force himself to mimic other's movement and shortly shook his hand, moving it away almost right after. Will gave him a weird look and raised an eyebrow. "And you?" He questioned, apparently not satisfied with the lack of an answer.

"It's your floor." Nico pointed out instead when the elevator stopped. Will glanced at the door but didn't leave immediately. His eyes flitted back to Nico, and he saw him chewing on a lip nervously. He seemed to think about something for a moment before shrugging it off and stepping towards the exit of the lift.

And then, when Nico thought he was free and ready to keep going; the alarms went off. His eyes widened as red lights blinked inside of a lift, letting out such loud noises he thought he would go deaf. He looked around, and his eyes flitted back to the blond, who seemed to be confused and terrified at the same time. Nico didn't blame him. Who wouldn't be? Well, if he were trying to arrest him and were the one to turn alarms on, he wouldn't act like this, would he?

Nico wanted to try and run, but Will was faster. He took a step forward, attempting to leave an elevator but he couldn't as if there was some kind of force field.

"What the hell?" He shouted, banging his hands against the invisible wall. "I want to go out!"

Nico gazed around, noticing a small camera in the corner of the lift. It was way more visible now when its lens turned reddish, and Nico was mad at himself. He was not careful enough again, and he hadn't noticed it earlier. He hit the device with his fist, but it didn't cause any damage to it. It made him even more furious.

He turned around to the other, who was desperately hitting the force field and groaned, "Stop! It's for nothing. We're stuck."

"And how can you know that?" He asked, turning on his heels to face him. His bright eyes were wide and an eyebrow arched.

Nico swallowed hard and sighed, "I just do. Just calm down, okay?"

"I am the calmest person on the earth, mister... What even is your name?" He snapped, running his fingers through his blond locks and tugging on them slightly in an anxious manner.

"Nico." He responded, gazing over Will's shoulder at the door. It was closed, and he didn't even realize when an elevator started moving. But instead of going up, the numbers of floors on the screen began to get lower and lower...

"What are you even doing here? You just come here and- and disturb my work! I am supposed to be in the office at the moment. Do you have any idea what you're doing?" Will rambled out, shaking his head. "They're going to kill me, oh my, oh my, oh my, do you even...- How am I supposed to explain it? I got stuck with some guy in an elevator and... Oh dear, I'm so dead, I'm so... I'm so dead! What... Where are we even going? Why me? Why not Cecil?"

Nico felt a sudden urge to kick other's shin. Why wouldn't he shut up? The alarms wouldn't shut down, stupid red lights kept turning on and off, and that guy wouldn't stop rambling about how screwed he was. Nico was screwed, too. Probably even more, than the blond was.

"Could you shut up?" Nico snapped, clenching his fists, "I can't focus when you babble and babble! I get that you're panicked, but fuck, shut up!" He hissed through gritted teeth.

Will instantly closed his mouth, staring at Nico in shock as if he did something unbelievable. His light locks fell over his face, and some of them were sticking to each other because of the amount of hair gel in them.

"It must be a mistake," He added quietly after a moment, and a small frown appeared on his features.

Nico sighed, and his eyes flitted back to the camera in the corner. "No, it's not..." He mumbled out under his breath.

They both were screwed.

#feedback please #solangelo #nico di angelo #will solace #will x nico #nico x will #percy jackson #heroes of olympus #solangelo au #dystopian au #Flaws #my fanfiction #fanfiction #solangelo fanfiction #fanfic #my writing

[childrenofhypnos]

Chapter 4: Sandman

“Pick up your feet, Ashworth!”

“I’m half a lap ahead of everyone else, Marcia! My feet are up.”

“That’s Professor Montgomery!”

“You’re only three years older than us!”

“Practically an old lady, and I’d still run faster than you.”

Marcia Montgomery, weapons expert, annoyed Emery on good days and made her homicidal on bad ones. Marcia had planted herself at the center of the gym, burly and tall as an Amazon, to watch the students run laps. Her orange hair shone bright beneath the gym lights.

Emery rounded the turn of the track and looked back. The rest of the class labored on behind her. None of them were slower than her, they just paced themselves in the beginning while Emery sprinted ahead. Wes floated in the middle of the pack, absolutely invisible unless she was looking for him.

Average. He was so average. He had the frame and muscle to support both speed and strength, so Emery wasn’t sure if he hadn’t realized it yet or if he just didn’t know how to make his body work the way it should.

They finished the lap. Marcia barked, “No resting! Weapons out, five more laps! I’m tacking on three every time someone slouches!”

The group rippled silver and gold as dreamform weapons appeared from pockets and pieces of jewelry. Swords, knives, whips, bows. Emery pulled her Peacemakers from her bracelet and they grew to their full size. She looked back again after the next corner. A bubble had formed around Wes to make room for his war hammer.

The thing was honestly the most ridiculous weapon Emery had ever seen. The head of it, a blunt smashing face on both sides, was as big as Wes’s chest. Had it been a real weapon, it wouldn’t have stayed in one piece, much less been weighted correctly.

Their dreamform weapons were supposed to come from a subconscious place, the type of weapon chosen from some deep well of human history inside them. At fifteen, forming their weapons for the first time, it was a game to see if they could guess from what time and place the weapon had originated. Emery’s had been easy: late 1800s America, maybe the most contemporary weapons formed by a dreamhunter.

Wes’s though…the only conclusion their classmates could come to about that hammer was “compromising for something.”

Marcia yelled, “Everyone get on pace with their partner for the last two laps, or it’s ten more for everyone!”

A groan erupted behind Emery. She glanced over her shoulder to meet Wes’s eye without slowing down. Frustration flickered in his face, and anger in everyone else’s. Wes gripped the hammer in both hands and shouldered his way to the front of the group, then sprinted to catch up with Emery. The hammer shouldn’t have been much of an issue, since they’d been trained to alter weapon weight the same as weapon size, but Marcia had crushed them into the ground with the morning’s workout, and the run was the last stretch before the end of class.

Wes reached Emery and slowed to her pace. Sweat dripped from his hair.

“Way to be a team player, Ashworth,” Marcia sniped. Emery ignored her.

“Don’t collapse,” Emery said to Wes.

“I might collapse, but at least I didn’t run ahead to make myself look better than everyone else,” he replied between breaths.

Emery’s nose prickled. “Have they given us a new assignment yet?”

“It’s only been three days since the last one, and we were just assigned partners. They’re not going to load us up with missions right away.”

“I’m sure Terms and Recs has plenty. I’ll ask.”

He glared at her. “Stop trying to get rid of me.”

“Stop making it so tempting.”

Marcia’s glare drilled into Emery’s side for the rest of the period, until Marcia dismissed them with a look of disgust, despite that they’d all completed her workout to perfection. Then, when they didn’t get out of the gym fast enough, she threatened them with a hundred suicides during their weapons training later that day.

Emery waited until the other girls had cycled through the locker room before she took her shower. The few there still gave her looks as she passed through. They were fleeting glances, not meant as accusatory but coming off like that anyway, and Emery ran through her usual list of wonderings if they hated her, or resented her, or just wanted her gone.

Poor Emery, top of the class, superstar parents and granddaughter of the dean, guaranteed to pass her Insanity Prime.

They didn’t have to say it. She didn’t blame them; she’d hate her, too, if she was in their position.

She took her shower and walked across the quad with her hair coiled in a towel. The Crossing buzzed with day division students recently woken up for breakfast, and Emery slipped in with the crowd to climb to the cozy second-floor balcony that looked down on the atrium food court. Doors to the student council offices lined the wall opposite the railing, marked beginning at XV and ending at XX. A council for every grade of weapon-wielding dreamhunters, fifteen to twenty.

Emery pushed her way through door XVIII. Inside, dusy paintings of old Ward members lined the walls, velvet curtains draped from the tall window, and a stout round table sat in the center of the room, decorated today by a very explicit ice carving of Fabian Fenhallow and a dolphin.

Emery jarred to a halt. “What the hell is that.”

Three heads popped up around the table. The first was Emery’s boyfriend, Joel Cullweather: bright-eyed, dimple-cheeked, a smile lighting his face as soon as he saw her. The second, Lewis Kowalski, was looking familiarly disgruntled, still wearing a backpack loaded with pins that said things like Fenhallow Theatre Society and Ask me about my accents. And the third, the bushy-tailed to Joel’s bright-eyed, was Kris Arevalo, who was small and round and always smelled like a mixture of chemicals from the research labs and some kind of lemon body spray.

“Isn’t it great?” Joel leaped to his full height, spreading his arms toward the sculpture. “Yael in the kitchens is an ice sculptor! She made this for me.”

“But why?”

“He asked for it.” Lewis rocked back onto the carpet instead of standing. “Please tell him to get rid of it.”

“I think it’s…um…charming.” Kris stood next to Joel, wearing a look of apprehensive support.

“Why a dolphin?” Emery asked.

“I thought the Fenhallows were into dolphins,” Joel said. “Jacqueline talks about them all the time.”

“I think Jacqueline is into dolphins, Jojo. And not…like that.” Emery pulled the towel out of her hair and tossed it over the back of the nearest chair, then examined the sculpture from another angle while she fluffed out her roots. “Speaking of Jacqueline, she’s going to be pissed when she sees this. What’s it for?”

“I want to mount it on top of the atrium fountain. No warning, no explanation.” Joel’s smile was radiant.

“A prank.”

“Yes.”

“And when, exactly, do you plan on mounting it?”

“No idea. Suggestions?”

Lewis grumbled something that sounded like Hypnos’s balls. Kris kept smiling, but passed a quick hand over her eyes when the smile turned hysterical. The sculpture was dripping.

“Three AM,” Emery said. “When they lock the food court for an hour for morning prep.”

Joel beamed.

The door behind Emery swung open. Jacqueline Fenhallow strode in, her phone pressed to her ear.

“No, I told him if he put his name down on the project, I was going straight to Professor Min to—” Jacqueline’s gaze landed on the sculpture. She paused mid-stride and mid-word, mouth gaping open. “Ver, I have to call you back.”

She snapped her thumb down on her phone screen.

The string of expletives that left her mouth had even Emery’s ears burning.

“In what world is this okay? Who did this? Joel? Emery?”

“You really think I did this, Jackie?” Emery spat, falling into a chair. Lewis shot her a look like, You didn’t start it, but you were definitely helping Joel make it worse.

Jacqueline’s lip curled in signature Jacqueline disgust. Emery admired that lip curl—it was an art form. “I shouldn’t be surprised. No one here respects the Fenhallows anymore anyway. It’s not like the school is named after us, or anything.”

Jacqueline took the seat next to Emery with a scoff, looking anywhere but at the sculpture. Emery motioned to Joel, who hustled to move the sculpture to a table in the corner. Then he, Kris, and Lewis joined them at the table.

Once a week, the class eighteen student council met during their free periods to go over student council business. The five of them had been their student council since they were fifteen, reelected over the years for various reasons. Jacqueline, Kris, and Lewis actually did a good job and campaigned well; Joel and Jacqueline were both among the popular elite of Fenhallow’s day class; and for Emery, being constantly reelected student council president was a bit of a joke among her night division classmates. The more unpopular she became, the funnier the joke was.

Emery was the only dreamhunter among them, so for them, the politics of the night division students was just gossip.

Jacqueline pulled a neat purple planner and sleek purple pen from her bag and scooted her chair up tight to the table. She flipped her straight black hair over her shoulder and primly cleared her throat.

“Why aren’t you the president, Jackie?” Emery asked, slinging her legs over the arm of her chair. “You’re so prepared.”

Jacqueline picked through the pages of her planner, carefully keeping her head up and her eyes down. “Because the people wanted you, Queen Emery. God forbid we have a non-dreamhunter student council president.”

“It’s really not that bad—” Kris began.

Both Emery and Jacqueline silenced her with stares.

The truth was, at fifteen years old, Emery was the only dreamhunter student to run for a position on her class’s student council, and the dreamhunter students didn’t dislike her enough at the time to suffer a council without one of their own representing.

“Can we start?” Lewis said.

Emery met Joel’s gaze across the table. He was watching her, his gaze attentive but not worried. He smiled a little, shook his head. They both knew that when Jacqueline said Queen Emery, she meant it with affection. They’d been friends for too long for it to mean anything else.

“First order of business.” Jacqueline marked something in her planner and turned curtly to Emery. “You get that hot piece of meat Jager as a partner and you want to give him up?”

Emery choked. “Since when are you interested in men?”

“Since never, but that doesn’t mean I can’t appreciate.”

“And since when does being partners with someone mean I want to do with them—whatever Fabian is doing with that dolphin? Also thank you for implying in front of my boyfriend that I want to sleep with another guy.”

“I dunno, Em,” Joel said, “if you wanna do a polyamorous sort of thing…”

“That sounds great, Jojo, but I am not interested in Wes.”

“Well, I thought we were going to do actual business this morning,” Lewis said, reaching into his backpack for his homework. “How naive I am.”

“So did I!” Emery cried. “Why does everyone want to talk about this? I went on one mission without him, and everyone’s acting like it’s the most INTERESTING NEWS EVER.”

“That whale was pretty big,” Kris said. “And I saw Ridley Jager earlier today. She told me to tell you to watch your back.”

“Ridley—now Ridley Jager is threatening me? Because I stiffed her brother? She’s a pipe cleaner with arms, and she’s nicer than you, Kris. What’s she going to do, beat me with her smile?”

“I also have it on good authority that your downswing in popularity among the night division has caused an upswing for Wes.” Jacqueline’s straight, neat eyebrows rose. “He’s being invited to parties.”

“Who told you that? Veronica?”

Jacqueline shrugged.

“Okay, let’s get some things straight.” Emery held up her hand, one finger raised. “One: I am not interested in Wesley Jager.” Another finger. “Two: I never will be. Three: Any rumors you hear are false and not to be believed.”

“So you didn’t get flattened to a roof by nightmare whale vomit?” Lewis said.

“I’m gonna stuff that notebook down your throat, Lewis,” Emery replied. “Four: I only have to be his partner for another month, so if we could get through that time without any more questions, I would really appreciate it.”

Jacqueline rolled her eyes. “Fine, whatever. I’m just saying, it’s a way more interesting topic than the Ward Review.”

Lewis shoved his notebook away. “Yes! Real work!”

“The review isn’t for like three weeks.” Joel sank into his chair until his long legs straddled the center column of the table. He tapped his shoe against Emery’s ankle. “What do we even have to do? Decorate the student center? Play a little song when the rep comes in?” He did a jig in his chair. “Oh please Mr. Representative, don’t close down our schoooooool…”

Emery snorted.

“No one’s closing down Fenhallow,” Jacqueline said. “And don’t act like we haven’t gone through this before. Class Eighteen’s job is to make sure the campus is informed that the representative is visiting so that we project the best image possible—Emery, care to stop buzzing?”

Emery’s phone vibrated against her leg. She’d planned to ignore it, but at Jacqueline’s stare she finally glanced at the screen.

“Huh. It’s my grandpa.”

“What’s he calling you for in the middle of the day?” Joel asked.

“No idea.” The call ended before Emery could answer. A moment later, Grandpa Al sent a text.

“‘Meet in my office as soon as possible,’” Emery read. She stood and reached for her bag. “He never texts me.”

“We just started,” Lewis said.

“Sorry—send me notes or something. We should meet again later this week. Dinner! Let’s get dinner on Thursday. Cool? Cool.”

“I hope everything’s okay!” Kris called as Emery hurried out the door, at the same time Jacqueline said, “Effing Ashworths.”

~

Emery spotted Wes heading toward the front doors of the administration building as she strode past the statues of Fabian Fenhallow—clothed and dolphinless—and Iltani. Wes came from the other direction, and he saw her when they reached the bottom of the admin building steps at the same time.

His face fell. Emery started up the steps two at a time. Wes picked up the pace bethind her. Emery reached the first landing and pushed herself faster.

“Are you serious?” Wes hissed.

Emery reached the front doors first. She pulled one open, and Wes’s hand caught it over her head, holding it while she ducked inside.

“Hi, David!” Emery darted past the receptionist with Wes on her heels. David watched them pass with a nonplussed look. They raced up the stairs and down the second-floor hallway, walking as fast as they could without running, Wes’s hands clenched at his sides, Emery’s damp hair swishing behind her.

She stopped just before the dean’s door so that Wes was the one who grabbed the handle and tore it open. He froze, framed in the doorway with an angry red face, and looked over at Emery.

“You are a child,” he muttered.

Emery smiled and slipped into the room past him.

Inside, Grandpa Al stood at the window behind his desk, wearing a smart tweed suit and tie. The only other person there was Marcia, her wild hair clipped back and her arms bare despite the chill in the weather. She looked at them with a fierceness that sent a shiver down Emery’s spine, worsened by the fact that Emery rarely found herself put off by Marcia’s looks, especially after a morning of Marcia running the students into the ground.

“Is this about class today?” Emery said. “Because I didn’t do anything—”

Grandpa Al turned from the window. “No, it’s not about class, Em. Wes, sit—would you like some tea? Marcia chose a nice Oolong.”

Marcia’s teacup sat, steaming and untouched, on top of the bureau beside her.

Wes sank into one of the chairs before the desk. “No, thank you.”

“Do you have any of the Krasnodar left?” Emery stretched over the desk to peer through the glass-front cabinet by the window, at the many assorted tea packets and containers inside.

“I’m afraid you finished it off last month, and your mother hasn’t been back to bring more.”

“Well, never mind then.”

Wes’s cheeks slowly returned to their normal color. “If this isn’t about class, then why is Marcia here?”

“Professor Montgomery,” Marcia grumbled, side-eyeing him.

“Well.” Grandpa Al clapped his hands together. “I have a mission for the two of you.”

Emery lowered herself into the second chair. “A mission? Why didn’t it come through Terms and Recs?”

“It didn’t come through Terminations and Request Fulfillments because this isn’t a nightmare hunt or a checkup. This is something I’m hoping the two of you will be uniquely equipped to handle. I called Professor Montgomery in because I wanted her report on your progress in class. She agrees with me that a…remedial lesson might be what we need to get the two of you on the same page.”

Emery narrowed her eyes. “You just said two different things. Is it a special mission only the two of us can handle, or is it a remedial lesson because we don’t work well together?”

“Both,” Marcia growled.

“Why are you so angry?” Emery asked.

“I’m always angry.” Marcia grabbed her teacup, downed it in one quick swig, and set it atop the bureau before marching out of the room. Emery and Wes watched her go, then glanced at each other.

“Do you know what that was about?” Emery said.

Wes shrugged.

“So.” Grandpa Al settled behind his desk and wrapped his long fingers appreciatively around his own steaming teacup. “As I said, this isn’t a hunt for nightmares. This is a search. For a person. Another hunter, actually.”

The clock ticked on the wall.

“We’re hunting a dreamhunter?” Wes said.

“You’re searching for a dreamhunter,” said Grandpa Al. “We have reason to believe he’s here, in the Sleeping City. If you do find him, under no circumstances are you to engage him. If you find him, you are to report your location and circumstances immediately and vacate the area. Searching for him isn’t dangerous per se, but we are going to leave his confrontation to our full-time dreamhunters.”

“So who is he?” Emery said. “Why aren’t full-time crews already looking for him?”

“They are. Which is why I’m not worried about you two joining them. I hope you might be able to see something they might miss. This is an ongoing night mission. After your classes, you’ll be expected to enter the city and follow any leads you might find.”

Wes looked hesitant. “You still haven’t said who he is.”

Grandpa Al sipped at his tea. “We’re calling him ‘the Sandman.’”

Emery snorted. “The guy who throws dust in your face and makes you go to sleep?”

“There’s a bit more to the story of the Sandman than that, but he’s along those lines, yes. He went rogue several years ago and disappeared, but he was trained here at Fenhallow. That’s a large part of the reason we need to find him. We believe he is tampering with the Dream in relation to the citizens of the Sleeping City, causing trouble that could raise the rate of escaped nightmares exponentially.”

“Why are we only hearing about him now?” Emery asked. “That’s not a small thing—shouldn’t the whole school know? As the ones who’ll have to fight those nightmares if it does happen?”

“It hasn’t happened yet, Em,” Grandpa Al said calmly, “and we’d like to keep everyone from panicking while we remedy the situation. If it comes to a point where the administration believes the school needs to be involved, the campus will be informed.”

“Dangerous rogue dreamhunter, possible nightmare parade through the city, can’t tell anyone…sounds fun. So what does this guy look like? How are we supposed to find him?”

“You won’t catch him walking along the street in broad daylight. Even with a disguise, he wouldn’t risk anyone who knows him seeing him out and about. He’s a skilled hunter, but he radiates the Dream the same way an escaped nightmare does. That part of himself he can’t disguise, not the way a dreamkiller can. As for how you find him, that’s part of your mission. Let’s see how resourceful you can be.” He cleared his throat. “Both of you. Together.”

“We get it, Grandpa.”

“You have today to prepare. Tomorrow night, I expect you on the streets. This has already been filed in your mission logs, so don’t worry about the paperwork.” Grandpa Al smiled over his teacup. “You can return to your schedules.”

They got up to leave.

“Don’t forget,” Grandpa Al said, going back to his paperwork, “he’s not a nightmare. He’s not a dreamkiller, either. If he were either of those things, he wouldn’t be as much of a problem as he is.”

“A dreamkiller would be less of a problem than a dreamhunter?” Emery stopped with her hand on the door handle. “How? Dreamhunters aren’t as strong.”

“No, they aren’t. Not before their Insanity Primes.” Grandpa Al glanced up at them over the rims of his glasses. “But a dreamkiller has stability. A dreamhunter cresting into their Prime does not.”

(Next time on The Children of Hypnos —> Stumbling Into A B-Horror Movie Plot)

#children of hypnos #nightmare hunters #ya #yalit #ya books #books

[operationrainfall]

The most remarkable thing about Dragon Con is that it keeps getting bigger every year (over eighty-five thousand people attended this year and the event expanded into the Peachtree Center for the first time) and yet it is still clearly a fan-centric convention where each con-goer’s voice actually matters in determining track and panel content, what guests to invite, and more. As a result of that, there is something for everyone who has a fandom, no matter how obscure or obscenely popular it is. This year, I purposefully dove into several of the lesser-known tracts at Dragon Con to see just what they were all about. While visiting panels put on by more obscure tracks such as X-Track, Skeptics Track, and more, I was surprised and excited to see that each track has its own distinctive charm and history, even if it does not necessarily have heavy-hitting guests like David Tennant or George Takei representing them at a panel.

Even the cosplay that soaks every inch of Dragon Con can come from any fandom or desire: Jareth and a common chair/table were just two of the cosplays I would see during my Dragon Con experience. (Images taken by me).

One such event, put on by the Alternate and Historical Fiction Track, was the Sunday late-morning Annual Dragon Con Tea Duel that was put on by the American Tea Dueling Society, which is part of the The Honourable Association of Tea Duellists. The rules were simple: each duelist must pick a biscuit (a British term for a cookie) off a tray, dunk it in extremely hot tea for a count of five with two fingers, and then whoever’s biscuit breaks first or whoever eats the biscuit first loses. The prize for the ultimate tournament champion is a fez hat to wear. If this sounds absolutely ridiculous and fun, that is because it totally is. Never one to back down from a challenge, I tea duelled with COMPLETE anime-esque style and flair. As I stared down my opponent, the boiling tea having mildly burned my fingers as I held the biscuit in, I ultimately lost as I ate the biscuit in an illegal fashion. The winner was ultimately crowned, to the cheers of the audience, as part of a three-way winner-takes-all tea duel to claim that 2020 Dragon Con Tea Dueling fez.

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Tea dueling is a very serious sport. Here we have two sets of duelists, an instant replay call reviewing, and the kettle that the tea is kept piping hot in for duelists to dunk their biscuits into. (Images taken by me).

If your fandom is just critical thinking and is not really any TV show or movie, then Dragon Con also has you covered. Another panel I attended was Magic & Wonder, which was part of the Skeptics Track on Saturday night. This was a magic show put on by Curt Anderson and Matt Dillahunty that blended humor and illusions with inducing the audience to exercise critical thinking about the world surrounding them. The illusions and banter were extremely well executed, and the audience was left with a clear message: think for yourselves and examine the world around them. Oh, and the audience was told to be sure to use science in their daily lives and to critically think about what they are told and what they believe, with this message being tied into the art of magic. I had never seen a magic show at Dragon Con before, and I loved every moment of it. There were different styles of magic used, including mentalism, disappearing magic, and more. I was impressed with the quality of the entertainment provided by the Skeptics Track, even though this was the first year that I ever visited any of their panels.

Curt Anderson and Matt Dillahunty imparts lessons about critical thinking and being skeptical of the world around each and everyone of us as he performs illusions at Dragon Con 2019. (Images taken by me).

Until this year, I had never heard of X-Track until I made the conscious decision to attend this panel. X-Track bills itself as a Dragon Con track that focuses on the paranormal with government conspiracies and more. To find out more, I attended a panel that was titled Make the Bad Men Stop, 2019 edition, v2 as the very last panel before closing ceremonies that was put on by X-Track. This panel was hosted by Widget Walls and the NeedCoffee Crazies, and turned into a free-wheeling and incredibly deep discussion about both already released and soon-to-be-released movies. The topic of conversation ranged from Quentin Tarantino potentially directing a Star Trek film and CBS/Paramount’s rationale for staying quiet about that, the uncanny valley aspect of the upcoming Cats, and about the just-released Peanut Butter Falcon. During all this, the X-Track panel played prize bingo with the audience who can spot the panel say or do things that were listed on a bingo card. It was crazy and insane, and a panel that clearly was meant for anyone who had an interest in whatever type of genre film.

In a unique first for me, I got to watch people play Bingo during a panel on the X-Track. Take a look at the squares, and you can see that these panels are meant to be a good time. (Image taken by me).

Finally, I made a visit to the Filk Track for Open Filk and also to see the Brodingnagian Bards perform. For those of you who don’t know what filking is, it is fan-made fandom music. And at Open Filk, anyone who has written a song or just wants to sing/play another person’s song can get up and sing/play to everyone else present. Open Filk is as non-judgmental and fandom-inclusive as it gets, and literally all fandoms are welcome to sing, to play, or to just listen and enjoy. During my hour with Open Filk, I heard everything from Cthulu and HP Lovecraft filk to a well-performed expansion upon Dolly Parton’s classic Jolene that takes the song to some incredibly dark depths. Then later during the Brodingnagian Bards performance, they performed both original songs, cover songs, and filk songs that reached from Star Wars to Lord of the Rings with an autoharp, vocals, a mandolin, and a recorder. I have heard them perform before, and it is always a great show that they put on to an always packed room.

The Brodignnagian Bards return to Dragon Con once more to play filk and original music. (Image taken by me).

All of this came to a head as I finally attended the Dragon Con closing ceremonies. Even though the ballroom room was packed, after a brief speech, the staff present took comments -both good and bad- from the audience. And this is where Dragon Con showed that they care about what the con goers have to say, and that the lesser-known tracks were just as important as the big-name tracks that recruit the big-name guests. There were positive things (the sheer amount of diversity panels and events for people of color to participate in) and negative things (panel line issues in the Marriott Atrium during Friday/Saturday/Sunday nights that choke off crossing the atrium floor space). No matter what the comments were made though, it was clear that these opinions mattered to the staff in a way that I am honestly not used to from other conventions. Dragon Con can, with over eighty-five thousand attendees, easily take the path of doing what they want without having to listen to the public and profit handsomely each year. It’s the fact that the staff actively listens, and actually appears to care about the feedback and how to best implement it, that sets this event apart from any other.

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Fan-interpreted cosplay, screen-accurate cosplay, and everything in-between is more than welcome at Dragon Con from all fandoms. And this even includes Goombas from that ill-reviewed 1993 movie Super Mario Bros. Dragon Con is the place to go if you want to show off your cosplay and all the hard work you’ve put into it. (Images taken by me).

I have been attending Dragon Con both before and after I started writing for this website, and I make it a point to attend Dragon Con every year because of the amount of care and emphasis that this convention places on everyone feeling welcome no matter what that person is into. And even though Dragon Con is now just under a year away from happening again, I cannot wait to go once more. And even though I do not have an interest in the paranormal or in alternative history or other lesser-known fandoms, it is clear that they are well-represented at Dragon Con in tracks that are run by people who clearly love those genres and are organized by a staff that wants to make sure that everyone, no matter what their interest is, feels like their fandom -and the cosplay that goes with it- matters.

With over eighty-five thousand people attending Dragon Con 2019, there is a fandom -and friends- present for everyone. (Image taken by me).

Tickets for Dragon Con 2020 are on sale now for eighty-five dollars for the two weeks following Dragon Con, and if you are a fan of anything, then you really should not miss out on it.

Did you go to Dragon Con 2019? What panels/tracks did you attend?

Let us know in the comments below!

Dragon Con 2019 Brings Life to Lesser-Known Fandoms The most remarkable thing about Dragon Con is that it keeps getting bigger every year (over eighty-five thousand people attended this year and the event expanded into the Peachtree Center for the first time) and yet it is still clearly a fan-centric convention where each con-goer's voice actually matters in determining track and panel content, what guests to invite, and more.

#Cosplay #Dragon Con #fandom #Filk #Jareth #Labor Day #Magic #Septics #Tea Duel #Tea Duelling #X-Track

[blueraith]

Because I Was So Fucking Bored

I decided to take up reading Actual Published Books (TM) again. A lot of fanfiction was updating as fast as my eternally bored, temporarily out of work, crazed, self needed. It was one of the very few leisurely activities I could take on without getting constantly questioned. I couldn’t decide what fictional book I wanted to buy, and didn’t want to take the time to research any, so I decided to go non-fiction. Besides, haven’t read a non-fiction book in literally years.

In the end, I settled on The Coming of the Third Reich by Richard J Evans. Always wondered how the fuck Germany allowed themselves to be taken in my Nazism, and also because of recent events. My high school always hand waved the World Wars. Like, ‘oh, yeah, then there was this war with the Germans, ‘Murica came in and kicked their asses, saved some Jews, and that was the end of it. Read this diary about this kid and that’s about as far as we’re gonna take you.’

So, I’m reading this book, and I can’t help but draw some alarming similarities to what happened with Germany, and what is happening now. Similarities, mind you, not one-to-one causation, before any mentions of Godwin’s Law comes up. Because, as it turns out, the German political landscape was much more complicated than ‘Eviillll Natzis!’ At least, before said evil Nazis came to power. What I was most alarmed by, was America’s rising fanatical Nationalism and how that relates to both World Wars. (I have also been listening to Dan Carlin’s podcast on World War I.) Turns out that both world wars had countries with raging cases of nationalism out the wazoo. But Dan doesn’t really get into the meat of nationalism like this book does.

There were several reasons Germany ultimately dove into that fanatical, and outright murderous case of nationalism. First, the book points out that one can’t assume that Germans were fatigued or lazy in their voting. The opposite is actually the case, Germans were apparently great voters. Turn outs of around 80%. That’s insane by American standards. These Germans lived in a very different time. Politics were often the center of their social lives. These guys made clubs for pretty much everything. If you were interested in joining a book club, for instance, you’d probably have to join one that fit your political ideals. If you were a Social Democrat, then you’d join a Social Democrat book club. But wait, there are two different types of Social Democrats, because the party split along nationalist issues. So, if you were more into nationalism, you’d probably want to join a Independent Social Democrat book club.

And that’s really a symptom of why Germany fell into control of the Nazis. Their political parties were insane. There were six major political parties at any given moment during the Republic years. (The years following the end of WWI and the start of WW2. Wiemar Republic years, basically.) The Social Democrats were the most popular, but their parliament was ultimately unstable because of how many parties there were, and there could be more, smaller parties, than those six if the major parties had any schisms like the Social Democrats ultimately did.

Another was the resentment of the Treaty of Versailles, which is probably the most well known symptom of the rise of Nazi Germany. Germany, and the world, fell into a great depression, but nowhere was this economic collapse more pronounced in Germany. They suffered a case of hyper inflation, one of the worst cases history has seen before or since, and the treaty was not helping any matters with the reparations. Many Germans resented that their government’s money had to go to these other countries, more specifically the French in particular, while their economy collapsed around them. And this hyper inflation was extreme. Before its start, around four German marks were needed to match an American dollar. Towards its height, well over a billion marks were needed to match the dollar. That’s right. Over a fucking billion. I’m not exaggerating whatsoever. Prices in stores were often written in chalk because they would change on the hour.

But these two issues are specifically German. America did go through a depression recently, but nowhere to the extreme as the pre-WW2 hyper inflation that Germany suffered. We have two political powers, and therefore aren’t as unstable and hard to predict as Germany’s six.

Where we are similar to pre-Nazi Germany is our growing sense of nationalism and paranoia that something is out to get us. In Germany’s case, it was the Jews, the ‘societal unfit,’ and the gays. Ours are illegal immigrants, Muslims, quite frankly black people, and—similarly—the gays. In Germany’s case, many far-right pundits blames the Jews first and foremost for their country’s complicated and far reaching issues. They blamed the Jews for the economy, accused them of getting rich while of the rest of the people’s misfortune. They blamed them for society’s move to secularism, ironically, and for ‘stabbing the army in the back’ during WWI.

In our case, American alt-right figures blame illegals for taking jobs that not a single white, middle class, American male would ever want to take on. They blame the Muslims for not ‘policing their own’ and committing what are honestly statistically rare terrorist attacks, and are ignoring the fact that growing nationalism and xenophobia are causing a radicalization of young, conservative, white males who are actually committing more acts of terrorism than radical Islamics are. Black people are protesting against issues of institutional racism, and white people are attributing this only as an unjust attack against their ‘people’ and ‘culture’ along the right. And the right are blaming LGBT issues for ‘distracting from the real issues’ and are attributing the community to a growing sense of immorality. Also similar to the Germans and their views of ‘the gays’ pre-Nazism.

And, now that I think about it, perhaps our political spectrum is similar to the Germans’ all those years ago. With the split of the conservative voting block into the Republicans and the Tea Party movement, and the Democrats with an as of unnamed voting block that is more socialist in nature. These were more than likely Bernie Sanders voters. Both splits are, in my opinion that I have admittedly not researched very heavily so take this with a grain of salt, probably what caused such an odd choice of presidency that Trump is. He is not what the good ol’ boys would have wanted in the Republican party. The GOP utterly failed to see where the wind was blowing with their more rural and working class voters and didn’t adjust. Just kept throwing up rich white guys with political pedigrees for generations behind them. My own family often spoke of how they wanted someone in power who wasn’t ‘part of the system’ and ‘politically corrupt.’

As for the left, the Democrats had a similar issue. Bernie Sanders isn’t someone they ever would have chose for their front runner. And depending on who you ask, allegedly sabotaged him appropriately. Anecdotally, I have seen many left and liberal voters complain that the system was broken, declared they wouldn’t vote, or even voted for Trump themselves because, while some of Sanders voters were economically left, they were extremely to the right on social issues. This likely doomed Hilary’s chances in the long run.

And this isn’t even getting to Germany’s issues with staunch, traditionalist values. Many Germans feared a loss of cultural identity following their loss of WWI. This was the time of the Roaring ‘20s, remember, and world wide rise of secularism. Feminism was sweeping through several countries, Germany included. Sex was increasingly on the rise thanks to contraceptives. All of this saw a swift backlash of the religious, sexist, or traditional. The Catholic Church, both in the Vatican, and the leadership in Germany, wrote harshly against contraceptives. Men, young and old, of the far-right started ever more clubs against both feminism and voting rights. There was this rather extreme doubt towards the Wiemar Republic during this time. The Army and courts staunchly refused to uphold laws in any neutral capacity. The courts in particular were egregious. Often giving slaps on the wrists for actual political assassins of the far-right because their ‘selfless nationalism’ was ‘inspiring.’ This due almost entirely to the fact that the judges in these courts were from the time of Imperial Germany and still wanted the Kaiser to return to power. The resented the democracy, and so did the army. Many traditional Germans wished for a return of an authoritarian figure as staunch, powerful, and unyielding as the Bismark had been. In fact, here’s were the Treaty of Versailles comes back because Republic supporters had signed it, many traditional, far-right Germans blamed the Republicans for forcing them in this humiliating position.

Again, this is not a one-to-one comparison. Thank God, because America would be in a lot of trouble if we were in such a mess as Germany was back then. In all of that, where we are most similar to Germany is this growing backlash among young men towards issues like feminism and the left. I am on Reddit quite frequently. I see, anecdotally admittedly, many young men grow a resentment towards what they call ‘feminazis’ and, more rarely thank the lord because this term is particularly cringeworthy, ‘libtards’. Reddit is primarily made up of young men from 18-30 years of age. Most of them are American or Canadian, and white. There are some alarming Reddit communities where some of their more radical members’ resentment towards women and feminism is extremely apparent. The Red Pill, and its many spin off communities, MGTOW (Men Going Their Own Way), and at its most radical, Incels. Which, disgustingly, stands for involuntary celibate. Now, those are extremists. There is a more general sense of sexism within the most popular communities too. Any /r/news story that features a woman getting arrested is likely to have an upvoted phrase of ‘pussy pass denied’ in there somewhere. There is even a subreddit of the same name, actually. I regularly see young men post about fearing marriage because apparently women are all out to get what are likely, given how young Reddit actually skews, non-existent, imaginary assets. TumblrInAction is a community entirely dedicated to these guys going out, finding the most radical feminist posts they can, reposting them of Reddit where they mock them, perpetuate lies that this is what modern feminism looks like wholesale, and pretends that many of the more extreme posts aren’t satire in and of themselves. In many parts of Reddit, feminism has grown synonymous to crying wolf by ‘special snowflakes,’ ‘SJWs,’ and ‘feminazis.’ Or, women who have become manhating, boogeymen out to get them in particular. Granted, this is just Reddit. I use them as an example here because this is a community largely made up of young men and it is easy to watch them propagate ideas and thoughts among their many communities in real time. I am certain there are other sites where this can be done, but I honestly have no desire to visit some of the more extreme.

Where this concerns Germany, there was this growing sense among the far-right that German women were not doing their duty in raising and tending to the next generation of noble, strong, young German children, though they were most concerned with boys. German women had gained the right to vote, they were getting jobs increasingly, and the birth rate was falling due to the use and education of contraceptives. As I mentioned, clubs were literally made to protest feminism. There were also clubs created that focused on hiking, camping, singing nationalist songs, all excluding women. For the most part, far-right Germans blamed their women straying from the ‘German ideal’ on Americanization. This was also a time when censorship was lifted, and movies, books, art, and radio shows were increasingly embracing modernism.

I’m not about to claim that America is about to become a dictatorship as murderous as Nazi Germany. But with the rise of nationalism, the fact that many white supremacists and racists have come out of the woodwork and homophobia too, it has become apparent that we are forgetting what can happen when these types of ideals are allowed to perpetuate without consequence or thought. Nazism ultimately dehumanized many of the groups they victimized to an alarming degree. Portions of America are doing this to a lesser, but still alarming, degree. The right has grown to fear these groups as a threat against them and the stranglehold their constituents have held for decades, when in reality, they aren’t ‘losing’ anything by the country becoming more egalitarian across the board. And as this is happening, both political sides are becoming more radicalized in response to the other. I cannot claim who ‘started’ the whole thing, nor do I care to. I believe this problem is more along a feedback loop, a circle of cause and effect. It does not matter who started it, ultimately our politics are becoming more partisan. Our government is becoming increasingly unwilling to cooperate across the aisle. And this is creating a political fatigue for voters across the nation. Moderates are growing less in number because the noise, irrationality, and extremism is becoming exhausting.

And this issue is getting perpetuated wholesale, across the board. I cannot even begin to assess how to fix it without sounding like a keyboard warrior. There are extreme and hostile minorities in feminism. And, despite it being a minority, for some reason, groups of young men, like those on Reddit, seem to believe that they are the majority. They react by dismissing feminism entirely, which fuels the extremists on the left, Reddit reads it again.... And the problem moves up and up. The left focuses on immigration amnesty, the right reacts with xenophobia, the left tries to streamroll over the issue because of the racism, the right reacts with more racism....

Ultimately, the Nazis came into power because of a variety of reasons, but you can boil it down to nationalism, political instability, and a growing sense of paranoia from without and within. You can see similar themes in America right now. How to fix it, who knows. All I know is that America’s radicalization is ultimately growing more violent and reactionary on the right. Hopefully they won’t grow as bad as Nazis. You know, despite the fact that there are literally neo-nazis coming out of the woodwork lately.

#politics #i was super duper bored during the hurricane #this is my report on what i have read so far