#all i have left are the extras - i've intentionally not read the extras for any of the series yet because i figured i would get to a point

[benevolenterrancy]

*glances at svsss' vol 4 worth of extras, aka 'the whump and smut pile'* you haven't seen anything yet

You guys are seriously taking an axe to my self-control;;; I'm trying to make this series last longer than a single month!! I'm trying to savour things!!! I'm trying to read something else and give the series a bit of breathing room before I pick up the last book but I want the "whump and smut pile" I want that so much I feel like a dog that's getting a treat waved in front of its face .·´¯`(；´д｀)´¯`·.

[blighted-lights]

i have to do every meme u rb bc friendship code. but tfp soundwave, my most jealous wife. gimme the hcs 🫵🌸

(TFP Soundwave, IDW Sunstreaker, IDW First Aid, and IDW Ravage have all been asked for! Feel free to send in an ask for any character that isn't one of these four 🌸❗️Not limited to followers or mutuals, so go wild!)

First Impression: Oh, this design FUCKS. My first watch-through of TFP happened when I was very young so I cannot remember much of my first impressions of each character, but I do remember really, really liking how Soundwave looks in TFP. More than that, I LOVED the idea of Soundwave being a stealth aircraft + his full-face glass visor. While Knockout was, and is, my favorite character in TFP, Soundwave was also very up there when I was first starting to watch the show. Keep in mind I was a kid so I wasn't having many mega-brained thoughts on him quite yet. I thought he looked sick as hell, he was cool when he fought, and I wanted his gender.

Impression Now: It's a mix of two things. One, not only does this design fuck, but given the chance I'd tap in a heartbeat, no one could pull me out. And two, he's um... well. He's not much of an actual character, is he? I believe he is one of the Decepticons we see the most, but it feels like he's in the background for most of his scenes. And aside from his loyalty to Megatron and his care for Laserbeak, we don't really know that much about him. He doesn't really have personal relationships with the other 'Cons outside of Megatron and Laserbeak, he doesn't have any hobbies from what we can tell, he's got a bit of a snide sense of humor sometimes but not often, and he's mostly shadowing other characters when he is on-screen. Plus, we never get to see extra moments with him like we'd get with the rest of the Decepticons. It's a bit of a shame. He's still one of my favorites of TFP, but his rank is a bit lower on the leaderboard now that I've watched the show a few times.

Favorite Moment: Very hard pick. There are a handful of scenes that I really, really like with TFP Soundwave, but I think the one that stands out to me the most is when Laserbeak is injured by Wheeljack and Ratchet, he abandons his fight with Wheeljack to go to her once he gets her signal. This is probably the most characterization we really get to see for this Soundwave. I go back and forth on this scene a bit because it feels icky that Ratchet and Wheeljack refer to Laserbeak as an it/a drone so often, so it's one of my least favorite scenes in general, BUT it's one of my favorite scenes for Soundwave because we get to see his care for Laserbeak.

Idea for a Story: I would LOVE to read/write a fic or see art of Soundwave returning to the Decepticons after being captured by the Autobots and learning that Megatron intentionally did not go to save him. Like I am sure this is something Soundwave understands already, but I want to see him realize that he was essentially abandoned and left in Autobot hands by the one person who he'd sworn loyalty to above all others. Soundwave was going to be tortured. He could of died. And Megatron wasn't even willing to go after him, despite everything Soundwave did for him. I would eat this UP.

Unpopular Opinion: Do I... do I have an unpopular TFP Soundwave opinion? Not sure. I'm not sure if I'd really call it unpopular, but it's an opinion I don't see very often. I wish we got to see Soundwave outside of Megatron's influence. And I don't mean having Soundwave while Megatron isn't in charge- we had that before. I want to see him act outside of Megatron's will. The leader/servant dynamic is one that is only interesting to me if there is conflict between the two parties, OR if there is an equal level of respect and care between the two. That is not the case with TFP Megatron and Soundwave. Sure, Megatron values Soundwave, as Soundwave is one of the only consistently competent people around, but he doesn't care enough about Soundwave to protect him. Value ≠ care or respect. It just means Soundwave is useful to Megatron.

Favorite Relationship: Soundwave and Laserbeak. Easily. She's the only person Soundwave seems to give a fuck about outside of Megatron, and it's very clear that this care is returned, as Laserbeak was the one who went after Soundwave when he was captured by the Autobots. I wish I had more to say here but Laserbeak is even less of a character than Soundwave, so there isn't much to go off of. I also like that this Soundwave actually has a gap in his armor that Laserbeak docks to, rather than just his usual tape-deck. It makes it obvious that the bond he has with Laserbeak is singular, as there are no other cassettes present in the TFP show, and it makes it feel more personal.

Favorite Headcanon: Soundwave does not have a conventional face under his mask. I might not know WHAT is under there, but I do know that I hope it is cool as fuck, and a face isn't going to cut it. Give me a mess of wires connected to his glass visor. Give me a single glowing optic and a fucked up mandible mouth. Give me anything that isn't two eyes and an average mouth. Make him fucked up!!

[sonkitty]

The Sideburns Scheme Post #0 - Before the Beginning

Introduction

I'll actually be talking about more than the sideburns throughout these posts. I don't know if I'll really go through the minisodes later because I just plain don't get these parts, but I'll decide that when the time comes. For this one, I figured I could take the extra time to do it even though I highly prefer present day Crowley to any and all versions of him.

...

Sideburns Check

The sideburns are longer than we've known them to be on Crowley compared to season 1. They are even in length and similar in texture whereas later present day scenes in season 2 will actually show subtle differences even between the sideburns themselves.

Compared to what we'll see in later scenes, these sideburns are not the longest-length we'll be seeing in the bookshop and close to the end of episode 6 when Crowley is standing at the door to his car.

They more closely match a length like what the car gives with a demonic presence and what they will be for Crowley during extensive parts of episodes 5 and 6 when they don't reach their longest-length.

So, generally that puts them at a supernatural reading in this open space. Well, Earth and humans don't exist yet, so that matches some understanding of how they operate in the present day storyline.

If there is any rank idea to just play around and guess at, in the context of this scene, I would go with Throne.

Generally, I figure Crowley's highest rank was "First-Order Archangel," due to the deliberate framing in episode 6 when a recording of Gabriel claims to be the only one in the Universe. Still, his rank could have changed during his time as an angel, and this version of Crowley doesn't seem to be as high as what I would expect for a First-Order Archangel.

The Throne idea is from a few clues combined from both seasons. He had a noticeable ornate throne in his flat in season 1. Beelzebub summoned him directly onto a throne in S2E1. Muriel specified "Throne" as one of the ranks required to possibly unlock Gabriel's file. Stuff like that.

...

Streak Check

There is no evident more saturated streak of red in Crowley's hair here, which is to be expected in this context. The streak is mainly on for a great deal of the present day story and 1941 minisode but not in other memories. He's got an energetic active curl on the top of his head though. There's also a part in his hair that is above the center of his left eye. Above the center of his left eye is a key place to generally find that streak later.

...

Earthly Objects

For myself on trying to figure out Earthly Objects, the three objects present were eventually understood as a clue to the existence of the Rule of Three within the game itself. Likewise, Crowley's use of the book, for me, was eventually a clue that a supernatural touch onto an earthly object still counted as a touch.

Earth gets a special mention during the scene.

...

Story Commentary

Before the Beginning starts us off with an angel who eventually becomes Crowley. We are intentionally not given his name. While I've seen other posts refer to him as "Starmaker," I'm just going to stick with calling him "Crowley" anyway because that's what the subtitles did. If I remember things properly, I think it's noteworthy that Crowley himself never says his own name the whole season, for any given time period.

Nonetheless, we have entered season 2 a lot differently than season 1. God is not here to narrate. For this segment, no one here is to narrate. We saw Crowley first. Crowley is going to effectively bookend the entire season overall.

We learn some new things, but we're going to learn more clearly later that this story is not to be trusted as it is directly presented to us. Something is very, very off with reality. Among God's last lines to us in season 1 was, "Perhaps the recent exertions had had some fallout in the nature of reality, because while they were eating for the first time ever, a nightingale actually did sing in Berkeley Square." The second part sounds sweet, but the first part with "fallout" and "reality" is something to keep in mind, given what we'll be seeing later.

Not only is something off with reality, something is off with memories. This part is a memory.

It's generally over my head on whatever is going on with this memory beyond stuff already mentioned. I have loads of speculation but nothing I really find worth sharing.

Personally speaking, I don't care much for this scene. I have an extreme fondness for the demon part of Crowley that is Crowley, especially the snake. I'm also a total sucker for black-feathered wings, which are purposely not here. I hope that, given the context of the scene itself, this part is setting us up for seeing Crowley's actual Fall in season 3. It's not exactly an expectation, but that's what this scene makes me want to see.

...

The Sideburns Scheme

[alexissara]

Being A "Diversity Ball"

I am a Latinx, Trans, Woman, Disabled, Polyamarous, Neurodiverse, Asexual, Lesbian and that sounds like a lot right? It really isn't that much though we just simply allow people the grace of not having to say all these things. A White, Cis, Man, Able bodied, Neruotypical, allosexual, monogamous, heterosexual doesn't have to say anything about themselves, that is just all assumed. It isn't strange to have all these labels what is strange is having to say them, having the things that are considered deviant to the social power. The core difference is that I could elaborate further on any of these labels because to me their more complicated so even my "long list" is a little reductive.

The "normal" person doesn't have to think critically about all these things [because they probably would find out they aren't all of those things] so even if it is more complicated they are unable to elaborate on what it means for them to be straight, cis, able-bodied, neurotypical, they don't need to think about any of that.

I think we're supposed to feel a bit of shame for being ourselves, for sharing it, for it being in our bio or something, like that is making it all our personality but really we are communicating to others in whatever way we think is effective, I am one of your people. We are always choosing what we include, what we don't include. We don't write our personal definitions of what these words mean to us but the opposition gets to kinda blissfully exist as the absence of identity, the option of it. The reality is if things aren't in our bio we're still living it but when your in a place of privilege you don't need to engage those parts of yourself.

Here on tumblr I've intentionally left out a lot of detail in my proper bio since their so small and because I want to see how people treat me if I let them assume things about me or have to do the research. Ironically I had someone do the research on me once here on tumblr, they dug through my stuff to find out I was trans to then insult me. Like I was talking about Lesbian stuff, as I do, and they had to be like "Ha, I win, you are a trans" like seeing a photo of me you clearly weren't confident given you looked it up and screen shotted me saying it rather then posting a picture of me.

Even when we try to like "not be loud" about parts of ourselves those who hate us are happy to try and negate us, to pit parts of our identity against us. One of the worst parts of being a BIPOC queer is when cis/het BIPOC people try and say our queerness is a white person thing. These people have never read history in their fucking lives, like our ancestors more then likely were super fucking gay, gayer then history would say because a lot of history was destroyed. These intercommunity discourses can really suck cuz we're asked to engage against ourselves as if we can neatly join these teams.

Of course the reality is that being all these things mixed together are interchangeable, they create a unique ID for us. Like we can't see the world through the lens of just one of our accesses of marginalization but we see them through all of them. We can't so easily detach and remove parts of ourselves. We can be in the closet, not talk about something, hide stuff, but we understand our own realities.

I believe we should embrace ourselves, radically accept who we are and not worry about if it's like extra or whatever to have a million labels. The fact is the labels are just short cuts for us, like it's useful the more we have the more we can explain at a glace.

This pride, be yourself, be annoyingly yourself, who gives a shit, the reality is everyone else is as many things as you are, we're made of the same junk we just end up built different.

If you were going to throw money at someone randomly, a little ball of labels, you could do worse then me, maybe check out my Patreon or Ko-fi.

[lancerious]

now I ask YOU questions! >:3

40, 46, 29, 23, and 31

YUS more questions >:D

Q: Favorite memory

A: Um. Uh. Ok I have a lot of "favorite" memories which nullifies the meaning of the word lol, BUT considering how a huge part of my online presence is me obsessing over Lancer, I'll mention a memory that relates to him :>

The memory is...simply my first playthrough of Deltarune Chapter 1! I knew a decent amnt of the game at that point, including the general plot lol, but I wanted to see what the game was truly like. I know I played it in either my junior or senior year of highschool, can't remember which one it was. I also believe it was on a school break, whether it was summer break or a smaller one

ANYWAY, I played the game in the dead of night, everyone else at home was asleep. I had to play quietly as to not wake up anyone lol, and...oh my GOD, I fell in LOVE with the game even MORE after that, its characters included! Actually PLAYING Chapter 1 made me love nearly ALL characters SO MUCH more, ESPECIALLY Lancer. I kid you not, I remember laughing at every single line Lancer had, he was just so therapeutic for me. I have such a vivid recollection of my first playthrough, and there's TONS more I would say but then this post would be a goddamn novel & I'm still only on the first question lol

But yeah, I still adore this memory, and I always come back to Deltarune Chapter 1 if I ever feel down, because man, it works WONDERS <3

Q: What my last text message says

A: It's a link to a page for tickets to watch Coraline in theaters this August. If links don't count, my last text message is...literally just "Ok", that is actually it lol

Q: Favorite film(s)

A: YESYESYES I was hoping for this one!! I have two fav films, one animation & one live-action

My fav animated film is...Coraline, who would've guessed! I do prefer the book but the film is GORGEOUS, and it's in stopmotion which I also love! Coraline as a whole is such a wonderful story & has a very important lesson in it too, hidden behind all the pure insanity the movie has. It's just so great <3

My fav live-action film is Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children! It's based on the books of the same name, and while I DO have the books, I haven't gotten around to reading them just yet. Therefore, I don't know how accurate the film is, but I LOVE IT. I LOVE IT SO MUCH. The movie NEEDS more attention it is hands-DOWN my favorite fantasy movie! It's not perfect, nothing truly is, but I absolutely ADORE it ^-^

Q: Fear(s)

A: I have a fair amnt of these! I'll list a bunch here

Any sudden sounds, ESPECIALLY if they're loud. A couple notable examples are the fear of balloons popping, alongside fireworks! I LOVE both of them, ESPECIALLY fireworks they are SO beautiful, but I'm always worried of the inevitable loud sound that will follow. For balloons I'm much more wary bcs I don't know WHEN the balloon will pop, whereas for fireworks it's mostly a concern of how LOUD each firework will be

Broken glass! The reasoning for this fear is that I cut the big toe on my left foot when I was a young kid from a broken glass shard from a shattered lightbulb. Ever since then I've been SUPER nervous around SHATTERED glass. I'm fine if the glass is intact, but once it's shattered I stay FAR away from it

Being forgotten is a big worry of mine. I think a decent amnt of people can relate to this. I've had past experiences where this occurred, so I'm extra sensitive to this, even if I don't show my worry outwardly

This somewhat goes with number 3: being rejected. I do NOT mean this in a romantic way, this is purely platonic. I have had SO many instances where I was rejected in some way & I don't have a lot of tolerance for it anymore

Overloading is another one. This primarily focuses on me bombarding people with the things I'm interested in, which has resulted in a few people rejecting me, see fear #4. This causes me to intentionally hold back EVERYWHERE, even in places where going on positive rants is encouraged

Finally, to end this list on another relatively "goofy" fear, there's bees, wasps, hornets, anything that stings! People have different reasons for being afraid of these insects, but mine is simply the fact that I have NEVER been stung, not once. I don't know if I'm allergic or not; I'm mostly afraid of the pain it could cause me as I have a VERY low pain tolerance. I literally panic every time a stinging insect comes into my field of view

Q: 3 random facts

All right, time to bring out the randomness in me >:D

When I was VERY young, probably toddler age at most, my head got whacked by a tree/branch, it was definitely some part of a tree at least lol. I got a tiny bump on my head as a result, it's still present to this day :P

I DESPISE melted cheese. It's obscene. Get it out of my sight. IhateitIhateitIhateitIhateitIhateit

My favorite candy bar is Kit-Kat! Funny enough, that's actually my nickname to some people bcs of how much I love them

Bonus fact bcs I felt like it, I've written stuff, Ik some people know this already lol but still. I have abt 10 rotating ideas constantly in my mind that I've never put to paper but I hope to do so someday <3

TY FOR THE ASK <3

[stressedlawsecretary]

Today's Focus

04.26.24 - I'm being soft with myself; it's sunny and gorgeous but it's also allergy season and it's kicking my ass. I rely on OTC allergy medicine, and occasionally I'll intentionally stop taking it to see if the pollen has cleared up. Unfortunately, I live in a place with three distinct allergy seasons, and at this time, it appears I cannot go without; my head hurt so badly I left work early yesterday and it's all sinuses. I'm going out for more today, but thank god it's the end of the week at least.

Work - So, like I said, I took off early yesterday, and SJC emailed me after I left asking me to fix the formatting of a document she accidentally fkd up. Other than that, and maybe an efile (I haven't checked if it's mine yet or not since I'm on the notification list for an AAG that's no longer 'mine') I foresee it continuing to be extremely quiet.

Background Noise - I am remote working, since it's Friday, so the background noise will be mostly the DVR. This is good, since the number is above 90% again and my father has told me there's like 12 hrs he's watched that I need to catch up on. Today if I pick up my tablet to watch YT I'm just watching the videos on the Watch Later in order; no specific focus for today, though I will skip beauty & wrestling videos as I watch those over the weekend.

I watched 25 videos on YT yesterday, which is quite good I needed to make some progress on some things.

Study - Friday & the weekend is where I try to read/finish open Wikipedia pages. Since I've been struggling with sinuses, I'm unsure how much reading I'll be able to do; it'll be hard enough to stare at a screen and format a document while my head is pounding. Ibuprofen can only do so much.

It did affect me yesterday; I only got four pages into one book, and two into another, and aside from a few Horizon/Post Office scandal articles and a random press release that's all I could accomplish. I am le tired man.

Extras - Friday means I clean out the catbox and prep it for the weekend; if I have any energy whatsoever I'll try to get some extra chores done. I am making a haddock meal tonight, after shopping with the hunny; we're prepping for Saturday's meal, which I think will be homemade fast food (chicken finger subs & filet-o-fish sandwiches.) I have three more episodes of Carranger before watching Garo over the weekend and switching back to Turboranger to finish it up next week. The second season of Freakazoid is not particularly long so that might get finished up as well, along with a couple more episodes of Krapopolis on the DVR and maybe some of the Bob's Burgers I got on there as well. I struggled to write yesterday, so I'm hoping to do better today if my headache doesn't overcome me.

[jakesimfromstatefarm]

not jealous | jake sim

summary: jake sim is not a jealous person. at least that's what he tells himself. so why does he find himself going through your phone when a certain "bluejay park" decides to text you?

pairing: jake sim x y/n [ft. mentions of jay park]

genre: angst, fluff 

warnings: angst, cursing (very minimal), one slightly suggestive sentence, jake being cute, some more angst lol, slightly cheesy bc jake’s just too cute ugh

wc: 3.8k

a/n: ok i loved writing this, which is why i went on to almost 4k words LOL oops. but anyways, i love jake a little too much and this type of scenario has been running around in my head for a while now so i decided to put it into words. also i may have created this blog just so i could post this somewhere LMAO anyways yeah this was my first fic so hope you guys enjoyyyy <3

Jake Sim is not a jealous person.

At least that's what he tells himself. To be fair, in his past relationships, he never showed any jealously. Then again, he doesn't know if he can call those relationships, "relationships". Does a fifth grade relationship with a girl who he was once dared to kiss during a game of Truth or Dare in the basement of a classmate's house during their 11th birthday party count? He doesn't remember being jealous when the same girl was later dared to kiss his classmate, Sunghoon. (Funny enough, that's how the two boys came to be best friends 'til this day, but that's a story for another time.) 

But really, Jake doesn't think jealously is one of his traits, even if he's now almost 20 years old without any experience with love other than his current relationship with you and that short-lived romance in the fifth grade. (What was her name again? Jake would have to ask Sunghoon later.)

So he doesn't know what clicked in that brain of his that lead him to this current situation he was in. He doesn't know why he felt a little spark of anger in him when your phone, which you left right next to him on the couch while you went to take a shower, kept buzzing with texts from "bluejay park". He doesn't know why he couldn't kept his eyes distracted from the messages, although your phone was constantly lighting up because whatever it was Jay had to say to you, he would not shut up about it. He doesn't know why he questioned what your relationship with Jay was for a split second.

In fact, you're close with all of Jake's friends. That's one of his favorite things about you, you get along so well with all his friends you might as well replace Jake himself in the friend group. So he doesn't know what tells him to take a little glance at your phone—at the messages.

But he finds himself doing it anyways.

Hearing that the water in the shower was still running (you were always the type to take long showers), he quickly grabs your phone and scrolls through the lock screen just to find that he couldn't even read the messages since you had your notifications set so no one could read them unless the phone was unlocked (darn you and your settings!) Thankfully, Jake knew your passcode––and you knew his too––or he thought he did. Until the iPhone vibrated, telling him the passcode was wrong.

He must've entered it too fast or something. So he tries again.

And again.

And again.

Until the iPhone switches its screen to say: "iPhone is disabled. Try again in 5 minutes."

There's no way. You never change your password. And even if you did, you would tell him—you two even had each other's fingerprints saved into each other's phones in the past (you know, before the world decided that Apple's home button was too lame and decided to just completely get rid of it). If there was an option to save multiple faces for Face ID, you two would be that couple that saved each others faces in your own phones.

That being said, Jake sat there, your phone in hand, frozen. Why was your phone locked? Why was Jay texting you 10 texts per second? Why did he feel guilty about this entire situation?

He hears the shower switch off and in that moment, he swears he feels his heart beat just a little faster. He tells himself there's no way you'll be out before the 5 minutes are up. You followed a really meticulous skincare routine (one that Jake memorized by now) that took an extra 15 minutes of your time after each shower.

"Hey Jake?" Your voice calls out from the tiny bathroom door crack that you left open before you hopped in the shower, "Is my phone out there? Do you mind bringing it to me?"

Fuck.

Jake shifts on the couch. Taps his foot on the ground. Returns your phone to its original spot. Clears his throat.

"Don't you want to get dressed first?" he calls back, quite timidly.

He can hear you stop moving around in the bathroom. Probably telling yourself what an odd response that was. To be fair, it was an odd question, considering the fact that you two have been together for so long, it’s not like he hasn’t seen you undressed before...intentionally or not. 

Next thing he knows, the steam is rolling out of the bathroom door and you're stepping out in your towel, eyebrows raised.

"If you didn't want to get up from the couch, you could've just said so, you lazy butt," you smirk at him as you walk towards him and the couch, leaving a faint trail of water drops behind you. Jake's eyes follow your figure as you go to grab your phone and lift the screen towards yourself.

That's when he freezes. You do too.

You cock your head, as if asking yourself why it was disabled. He can hear the gears in your head turning.

"Jake, did you try to unlock my phone?"

He runs through all the possible excuses he could blurt out. Come on Jake, think of something! But he knows he can't lie to you.

Too many beats of silence pass by.

"Maybe," he finally says—or more like murmurs. He looks up to you like a child looking up at their mom, who just them caught stealing a cookie from the cookie jar. To his surprise, you don't show any hint of anger. A flash of confusion—and is that worry he sees?—crosses your face for a split second before you shrug and turn towards your room to change, dropping the subject. It was natural for you two to use each other's phones anyways. So then why did you have that look of worry?

Jake knows you well, a little too well. But that's what you love about him. He can easily read all your emotions. One of the many things he picked up from dating you for almost two years now. But why would you care if he tried to get into your phone? Why would that worry you? All the possibilities run through head and his own worry begins to increase. He trusts you. He does.

So then why does the thought bother him throughout the entire day? Why does he bring it up during dinner later that night, when you're both cuddled on your sofa, slurping take-out ramen while rewatching your favorite k-drama under the thick blanket that you always keep in your living room for nights like these?

"Huh? Of course I've heard from Jay today, we had that conversation about that stupid meme you boys kept laughing about in the groupchat we're all in, didn't we?" You answer him when he asks if you've heard from Jay lately. You sit up from your warm spot under Jake's arm to put your empty bowl on the coffee table in front of you. When you lean back, you look up at him,

"Why do you ask?"

"Oh, it's nothing, just wondering," he says, avoiding your eyes by keeping his own trained on the series currently playing on your TV. This would be your third time rewatching this series together. He would never complain to you though, he knows how much you love it and if he were being honest, he was secretly attached to the characters—not that he would ever tell you, he would never hear the end of it from you and the boys.

"You're being weird. Just tell me, or did you forget that I can practically read your mind," you say with a giggle and shove to his side, the one you were currently warmly cuddled into. Jake wasn't the only one who learned how to read emotions; you could read him just as well as he could read you. And like you, that's one of the many things he loved about you. But maybe not in this case.

He toyed around with the contents inside his ramen bowl with his chopsticks.

"I just..." God, how does he word this? Why was he having trouble explaining it? You were the easiest person to talk to. To him, you were the only person he could tell everything to.

"Jaywastextingyouabunchearlier," he blurts out quickly, but not quickly enough for you to miss it.

He feels you shift under his arm. He feels the air in the room shift. Tension.

"What?" Now you're sitting upright, legs criss-crossed in front of you on the couch but turned, so your body is completely facing him. He mirrors you, sitting up to put his ramen bowl next to yours on the surface, but he stays facing the TV.

"Your phone kept going off because of him when you were showering," he says with a little more confidence. But inside, he was nervous as hell, the same nervous as when he asked you out for the first time many moons ago. But it's too late to back out now, he brought it up first, anyways. Guess we're having this conversation now, good going Jake!

"Is that why you tried unlocking my phone earlier? I mean I thought you were just trying to leave selfies on my phone like you always do but you were trying to read my texts?" You question, slightly raising your soft voice. He doesn't know how to react, he hates confrontation.

"It wasn't like that, Jay just kept spamming you and like I—why was he even texting you in the first place? Then your phone got disabled because you changed your password, which you never do by the way, so I–"

"I changed it because my little sister kept getting into my phone when I went to visit my family yesterday! Did you really think I was hiding something from you? You know I can text whoever I want, right? You don't own me."

Okay so now he's managed to make you angry. Good going Jake, part 2!

"Okay but what does Jay need from you so bad that he has to send you like 50 messages at once?" He's standing now. So are you, eyebrows furrowed together as you collect your bowls from the table.

Standing there, bowls in hand, you say, "Jake, that's none of your business! It wasn't even that big of a deal, I don't know why you felt the need to nosy around."

"Well, if he's texting you non-stop, then obviously it's a big deal! We wouldn't even be having this conversation if you would just tell me what you guys were talking about," he murmurs back, eyes narrowing. You scoff as you trail into your kitchen. He follows behind and stops at the other side at your kitchen island as you place the dirty dishes into the sink.

"No, we're having this conversation because you obviously don't trust me! It doesn't matter what we were talking about, it doesn't matter who I was texting! I could be texting your mother and I shouldn't have to tell you what we were talking about! That's why we're having this conversation," you say as you turn back to face him from the other end.

He hates this. He hates fighting with you (which is a very, very rare occasion). He hates that you think he doesn't trust you. He hates his insecurity eating at him, telling him to keep questioning you on why you and Jay were talking in the first place. He was aware that you were close with his friends, but it wasn't until the texts he realized just how close you are with them. It's not that he didn't trust you, he just didn't know how to act when it came to you and other guys. God knows how he got lucky enough to meet you, let alone date you, so the thought of him losing you to someone else actually terrified him. Not only were you his first real relationship, but he wanted you to be his first and only one in life. You were it for him.

"Why did he text you." He deadpans from his side of the kitchen.

You scoff with a hint of exasperation. "You're kidding me."

You stare at him. He stares back, quirking an eyebrow, as if restating the same question back, as if testing you.

You're fuming now. Why was he making it so hard? Why was he doubting you? Out of frustration, you start laughing, which scares him. That can't be good.

"Fine. You wanna know so bad? Take a look,"  you're one tone level away from screaming as you take your phone out of your pocket, unlock it, and open up your conversation with "bluejay park", sliding the phone across the island to reach him.

Jake stares at the phone which now lies there, unlocked, facing him. Isn't this what he wanted? It is, right? That's why he started this dreaded argument with you in the first place.

Then why does he feel so fucking awful?

He looks back up at you, to see you sighing and looking up at the ceiling, as if trying to force your forming tears back into your eyes.

Yup, he feels horrible.

"Happy? Happy to know we were just trying to plan a surprise birthday party for you but you and your jealously just had to know huh, Jake?" You quickly state, voice cracking, as you tried not to choke up. You weren't sad that he found out about the surprise. You were sad that it felt like he didn't trust you. That he thought you were the type of person to do god knows what behind his back. You hated the feeling of not being trusted. Especially by Jake, of all people.

"Fuck."

Jake's face (and heart) falls with the most broken expression you've ever seen. But you're too sad, angry, tired (a mix of all?) to care. Your only goal right now is to not let him see you cry.

You hurry past him, across your apartment, and into your bedroom, slamming the door behind you, leaving behind a shocked, and regretful, Jake.

His heart shrinks when he hears the door slam shut and a little more when he looks down at the still unlocked phone in front of him. He didn't have the heart in him to look at it anymore. Of course he trusted you, he knew what you said was the truth.

He mentally screams at himself for assuming the worst––for thinking that you, a literal angel, would betray him.  First, he thought he was losing you to someone else. Now, he was afraid he just lost you through his own actions. 

He hesitantly sulks over to your door, softly knocking when he reaches it.

"Y/N?"

No response.

"Y/N, I'm so sorry. I didn't know, I let my—”

"Jake just please leave me alone for now," he hears you painfully say from a distance, meaning you're on your bed. He knows the door's unlocked—the lock on your door hasn't been working for a long time now, despite the many times he tells you to talk to your landlord about it. But he doesn't find it in him to open it. He knows he messed up. If he saw you in there right now, crying, he wouldn't know what to do. He wouldn't know what he would to do himself, knowing he was the reason behind your tears.

He nods in silence, knowing you can't see him, but does so anyways and returns to his spot on the couch. He could leave right now, go back to the dorm with the rest of the guys, let you have your space like you wanted. But his heart hurts at the idea of leaving you sad, angry, or a combination of both. He can't leave this unresolved. He fucked up, he has to fix it.

And so he sits on your couch for another hour. The clock on the wall behind him continues to tick as the silent tension in your apartment continues to grow. When it hits 11pm and he's sure you've slumbered off into sleep, he quietly enters your room.

He can see your figure in the dark, your back facing the door as you're curled up into yourself under the comforter. He feels his heart drop a little more when he imagines you crying in that position from earlier. He slowly peels the comforter open and gets into his side of the bed, careful not to bother your sleeping figure.

Laying there, staring up at the ceiling, he's never felt more like a stranger in your bed. It's not that he hasn't slept over before, god knows he's probably slept over at your place more than he has in his own bed. But right now, in this moment, he just felt awful. Like he didn't deserve to be in such close proximity to you. How could he be deserving? He violated your privacy, made you feel like you weren't trusted, doubted your relationship.

These thoughts run through Jake's head as he stares up at your ceiling fan, wishing he could turn back time to a few hours ago, before he checked your phone, before he let his insecurities get to the best of him.

You can feel the dip he makes in the bed behind you when he gets in. Of course you're not asleep. There's no way sleep could reach you when you had the recent events constantly replaying in your head like a broken record.

You knew Jake with all your heart. You didn't have to look at him to know he was probably laying there, hurt, staring up at the ceiling, drafting what to say once you wake up—or once he knows you're actually still awake.

You decide to break the tension by turning to lay on your other side, facing him.

You were wrong. Thanks to the little sliver of moonlight shining through your sheer curtains, you can see him, now laying on his side, already looking at you with so much regret in his eyes. You can almost hear the cracks in your heart physically forming.

His eyes widen when he realizes you're still awake. He opens his mouth to say something, but not before you quickly shift over to his side of the bed and embrace him in a tight hold, burying your face into his chest. Without any hesitation, he returns the gesture, arms holding your body as close to him as possible. As if once he let go, he'd lose you forever.

He lets out a sigh of relief as he breathes you in. He didn't even know he was holding his breath all this time.

"I'm so sorry. I'm so, so sorry Y/N," he mutters into your hair. He feels his hoodie getting wet from where you buried your face. He pulls you closer, if that's even possible, feeling his own eyes heating up with sadness. He would never forgive himself for making you feel this way.

"You know I trust you right? Please know that. I shouldn't have assumed the worst when I saw your phone. I...I let my insecurities get to the best of me."

You move your head from its home on his chest to look up at him, as if asking him to elaborate. This was new to you, you didn't know he held insecurities in your relationship. But it wasn't because of you, no, you were his entire world. Losing you meant losing everything.

Jake's never been the best at saying his feelings. That's why it took him so long (with the help of his six best friends) to finally confess how he felt about you. He was afraid of letting people in if they could easily walk out. Maybe that's why he never let anyone into his life before you. But oh, were you an exception. The second he met you, he knew he was fucked. But thank god he did, because thanks to you, he's been able to be more open, more vulnerable. He's able to talk to you about anything and everything. He doesn't have that same fear of losing people anymore, not when he has you in his life to reassure him every step of the way. But right now, in this moment, he doesn't know how to tell you that his new fear was, in fact, just losing you.

The sheer idea of you not being a part of his life anymore terrified him. 

"I hope you know you're never going to lose me Jake, if that's what you're insecure about," you softly mutter as you wrap your free arm that's not stuck in between both your bodies around him to gently play with the ends of his hair. It's as if you could read his mind, he loves that you know him so well.

"It just sucks that you could even think I would ever do something as awful as what you were assuming...with one of your closest friends nonetheless," you continue.

"I know. I know, and I feel terrible. I'm so sorry. I know you would never do anything remotely close to that, and I know you would never intentionally try to keep anything from me," he sighs. He shifts so he can lie down on his back, bringing you with him to lie on his chest, never letting you go once. "It's just...I just don't know what I'd do if I ever lost you Y/N. Everyday, I ask myself what heroic thing I must've done in my past life to deserve this life with you and I can't help but think you could just as easily be stripped away from me."

As much as your heart breaks listening to him rant, you feel your love for him grow even more. You knew how hard it was for him to put his true emotions into words, and him telling you this reminded you how much trust he had in you.

After some moments of silence, moments of him drawing random shapes onto your back, moments of you two just holding each other like it was the end of the world, you speak up.

"I love you. I'm sorry for making you doubt yourself—"

"No, it's not your fault, I can't help but think things like that. I just don't know what I did to deserve you, and I know that I need to be mo–"

"Babe let me finish," you say with a little giggle in your tone. He immediately stops and mutters a little "sorry". How cute, you tell yourself.

"I was gonna say," you look back up at him so you're making direct eye contact now. "You're the only one that's ever on my mind, Jake. I can't help the way you think, but I can assure you that there is no one else I would rather be with. And I mean that for the rest of life."

You snuggle back into the comfortable hoodie he's currently wearing (you make a mental note to yourself to steal it from him later) and decide to ease the tension,

"So you're stuck with me for life, sorry to inform you Mr. Sim."

Jake lets out a laugh, looking down at you to see you returning his smile with a cheeky one.

"I love you. So much," he says so sincerely, so genuinely, that you almost tear up again from how content you were. Now you were asking yourself, what did you do to deserve him?

Jake Sim is not a jealous person.

No, he just loves you.

A lot.

[seekingthestars]

tagged by @koalammas!! thank youuu 💞

buckle up ladies and gents time for some rambles okay go

1. Are you named after anyone?

nope lol my middle name was going to be Rose after my great-grandma on my mom's side, but my parents didn't want to offend either side of the family by using a name from the other side of the family so they ended up opting for completely random names for me and my brother hahaha

2. When was the last time you cried?

around april 21 (friend's funeral, her brother was speaking during it and i did not keep it together)

3. Do you have kids?

nope! only my cat, who i love and adore with my entire heart, she is my sweet lil angel muffin

4. Do you use sarcasm a lot?

kinda depends i guess? sometimes?

5. What is the first thing you notice about a person?

ohhh good question hmm i guess if i'm just seeing someone in passing, probably appearance? otherwise how they interact with and treat other people.

6. What’s your eye color?

brown, but leans a little hazel-ey some days.

7. Scary movie or happy ending?

agree that i like satisfying endings that are also hopefully happy! but between these two options, happy endings, i cannot do scary movies or tv shows or anything, i get freaked out and then can't sleep lol

8. Any special talents?

i genuinely don't know L O L i don't know what would constitute a special talent??? i can memorize song lyrics pretty quickly and then they sorta embed themselves into my brain forever, does that count??

9. Where were you born?

southern usa!

10. What are your hobbies?

video games, watching movies/dramas (though i do not always have the attention span for it lol), reading, crafting (i like physically making things with my hands since i just do design on my computer all day for work! i like trying lots of different things, recently been trying a little bit of hand embroidery. also painting little ceramic figures and stuff like that), cosplaying. i've been trying this year to build taking a walk into my daily routine, not sure if i count it as a hobby or not lol

11. Do you have any pets?

my sweet sweet rileycat!!!! i love cats!!!!

12. What sports do you/have you played?

am not a sports girlie LOL i did tap/ballet/jazz for six-ish years when i was younger! in high school i took theatre classes and was in the plays/musicals instead of sports.

13. How tall are you?

5'4" which is like 162.5cm??

14. Favourite subject in school?

oh i love english, i always loved english. and math! i actually really loved math up until i took calculus. my calculus teacher was horrible, he made you feel stupid for asking questions and he intentionally made the tests too long to finish in a class period and made them extra confusing, it left me in tears more than once. cried at school bc i failed a lot of those tests. anyway i got a 5 on my AP exam for calculus (highest score) so i understood the material, my teacher just sucked and made me hate math after i'd loved it my entire life so ✌️

also loved my theatre classes in high school ahhhh

15. Dream job?

i think something working with cats / big cats / red pandas would be really fun. not a vet necessarily, i don't think i could handle it lol, but like a cat rescue or animal sanctuary maybe??? idk honestly

but yeah mostly agree with the "something that won't drain me and actually leaves me with savings and a will to live" answer. i like my current job/workplace/coworkers a lot more than my last job, but i still don't know if i'd want to be in this field until i retire, that's so many more years and clients sometimes make me wanna bash my head into a wall lol

i have a hard time with the ~dream job~ question bc i've just never felt like i had a "calling" or any overwhelming grand idea with what i've wanted to do with my life, i'm just vibing my way through somehow

Bonus: any significance to your blog's name:

NOPE lol when i was making this blog uhhhh 12 years ago everything that i wanted at the time had been taken and this was the only thing i could think of that i liked that was available and it was just something random 😂 i've thought about changing it but idk it's been too long now LOL

[babyjask]

I need caffeine, mental stability, and my least favorite thing to admit to need, help. MOST of my Tumblr posts are jokes or my art, BUT I am also a writer... er, more I want to be a writer. I've written short stories, fanfics, poems, and auto-biographical cathartic word vomit before, but now I'm trying for the big guy, a real book. A real, full novel. All original characters, setting, and storyline. And, I've done quite a bit of that already. I have a solid idea and base for the story and the characters... but I could still use some help here. So, basically, I wanted to throw out some of my ideas and plans and I wanted you guys to give me opinions and things you might like to see come of the story if you were to read it.

In this world, there are the mortals and the immortals, different races fall into different categories, immortals like elves, fae, and nymphs, are typically unkillable, one can only be felled by a weapon of magical origin. And since the war between all the races a thousand years ago, the immortals tend to keep to themselves, hidden away in their magic cities. One day a seemingly mortal man is found unconscious and bleeding out with an arrow through his shoulder just outside elf territory. The elf that found him took him in and with the help of others nursed him back to health. When the man expressed no interest in going back to the other human and even exhibited fear toward the prospect of going back, the elf offered to let the human stay was him as he had the space anyway. Slowly the elf and the human get to know each other and start to fall in love with each other. The elf teaches the human how to read, write, and fight. They spend almost all their time together. Through the skills, the elf thought him, the human learns that he is not in fact human, but chooses to keep it to himself. Later the elf and the human get into a fight and the human reveals that he is not in fact human in a desperate attempt to get the elf to see that he would be fine, but it only makes things worse. They separate after the fight and the "human" gets captured by the people who had imprisoned and tortured him before he'd been found by the elves. Once the elf comes to terms with the new information, he goes to save the "human" from the actual humans, and take him back home. They have to adjust to their new life together, but they get their happily fucking ever after. Because gay boys need a happy ending goddammit.

Also, just some extra world information that fits into the story without really being plot, but the elves are a gender non-conforming race, so the main elf character is actually trans masc/afab/ftm and there are also non-binary, gender fluid, trans fem/amab/mtf, and agender elves, it's just a normal thing for them. (yes, there are still cis elves, but the point is as a society, it's perfectly normal to change your gender identity) (I basically ctrl alt deleted transphobia in elven society)

I have fully thought out all the details for the main three characters (the elf, the "human", and another character I intentionally left out of my brief description to keep things vague) if anyone wants to know more about them.

Other than that, any questions, ideas, opinions, or encouragement that you guys have I am open to and would love to read and possibly incorporate into the story. Any help you can give is appreciated, even if it is just liking this and telling me you want to read more, sometimes all I need is encouragement and to know that people actually want to read what I'm writing. Thanks!

[demonslayedher]

Buri-senpai~, thank you for your praises! I ask for your thoughts a lot and you should get to them whenever you have the chance! And the charm story was amusing (watch out on stormy days)! Hoping for great results on your nerd test! So, here’s a thought I had about the demon slayer mark. Do you know what would’ve been interesting? If the curse of the demon slayer mark was a lie perpetuated by Muzan hundreds of years ago. Weren’t the upper ranks able to roughly identify the ages of humans? 1/6

2/6 If so, all Muzan had to do was kill those marked slayers before they turn 25 (another reason why being linked to all the other demons would be beneficial - if they encounter a marked slayer, Muzan could locate them). Like he made a show of killing the marked slayers from hundreds of years ago, and tells those that managed to survive the encounter (because of the sun rising or Muzan intentionally left them alive so that they can report this and scare the other slayers) about the “curse.” 3/6 Or maybe he was only with a marked slayer, told them about the curse, said that dying by him would be easier, and a Kasugai crow reported back to Oyakata-sama about the curse. This was reported and this tidbit had been passed down to each succeeding Oyakata-sama. Those that wanted to keep their life for a bit longer would try to avoid achieving the mark by retiring. This whittled out the slayers and this meant Muzan wouldn’t have to deal with as many marked slayers. 4/6 Of course, if the loss of life was caused by the constant use of the mark, it would definitely impede on the lifespans of the demon slayers that lived so long ago. If this was a curse perpetuated, Muzan was able to manipulate Michikatsu, a powerful swordsman, and have him show alliance towards the demons. It’s just an interesting thought because Himejima just doesn’t drop dead like many of them expected (and Tanjurou is just a constant mystery, if that is a mark on his forehead). 5/6 The cut off at age 25 also doesn’t really make sense to me. Muichirou would have ~11 years to live, while someone like Giyuu would have ~4 years to live. Personally, it would make a bit more sense if you’d only have 10 more years to live once you’ve obtained it or something. On that note, what do you think would be the marks of Rengoku, Uzui, Shinobu, and the rest of the Kamaboko squad, and where would they be located if they did manage to achieve the mark? 6/6 Would Genya even be capable of achieving a mark? Nezuko also had demon crests (I think) in her demonic form, but is there any reason why they were in the form of vines? Okay, bye bye for now!

'Sup, Kohai Anon! Thanks, and thankfully no storms have struck me down (yet). I should get my Nerd Test results by the end of the month, and if I didn't pass this time maybe I'll become a wrathful storm god myself.

As for questions on the mark, I've touched on some of these unknowns in a handful of posts before, like how suspicious Tanjuro's forehead is and what that might mean about Sun Breathing's mitigating effect or the mark's unclear effect on life expectancy. We really don’t know if everyone underwent a sudden death or if it was a decline, nor is it clear how well Kokushibo reads age, and what method of counting age he uses to do so. "25" might had just been shorthand for "die by mid-20's" and just because Amane doesn't have records of anyone living past 25, that may not mean it was impossible, they just don't know of anyone who did. (Perhaps after Sengoku-Rengoku died, Yoriichi lost all contact with the Corp and no one knew how long he survived.)

With Muichiro automatically having more time than the others, indeed, like you suggested, this may not have been the case. It could be that the others in the Sengoku period usually attained it in the prime of their early 20's, and therefore only survived a few more years, and Muichiro--even with extra youthful vitality on his side--may not had made it anywhere close to 25. Himejima lasted about as long as Kokushibo predicted (at most, slightly longer), but since he had plenty of other injuries, it's hard to say what his actual cause of death was and how much influence the mark had or not.

Which is all to say, rather than keeling over at the stroke of midnight on one's 25th birthday, by virtue of all these unknowns, there's already a lot of wiggle room built in to canon. (Is this kindness granted to us in all the cruelty, Wani-sensei? Are we allowed to have hope??)

As for Muzan spreading that rumor, it's an interesting idea which I find rich with fanfic premise material, but in the context of a strict canon reading, I don’t think that's quite Muzan's method of doing things. Rather than targeting any particular demon hunters, he wants them unanimously dead. At least in how he scolds Akaza, he sees them as so lowly (however annoying) that Pillars are only slightly more of a thorn in his side than regular rank and file members, and the addition of Breaths to make them more annoying piqued his curiosity about what would happen if he turned one, but even with marks, those swordsmen are all, in the end, mortal. The anxiety about the mark worked well for Muzan in getting Michikatsu to his side, but ultimately that was only the straw that broke Michikatsu. Muzan might had been able to convince him on merit of being stronger than his brother in the first place.

On the other side of things, although the Corp is composed of humans with human faults, on the whole, they're of a brave caliber and know they face death every night. While some would hold back in fear of what rebound a mark would have, most are committed to anything it takes to defeat demons. I think the absence of Yoriichi, who started the chain reaction of lots of people attaining marks, is the main reason it became so rare.

(Does this mean Tanjiro's biggest contribution with his Hinokami Kagura was just being a ray of sunshine on everyone?)

It's also interesting to contemplate how a Sengoku Rumor like this might had spread by accident, with partial information from crows or partial understanding on not only Ubuyashiki's part, but also Muzan's part. Again, do we have room for hope, Wani-sensei? Do we??

Now for fun stuff, consequence-free curiosity! Marks for more of the cast! The following are merely my own headcanons:

Rengoku: A flame-shaped mark over his heart. Nobody can say he didn't have one in that battle that way! I like it being a "hotly" debated mystery.

Uzui: Fireworks on his bicep.

Shinobu: Appears on the inside of her wrist or ankle (so you can't say she didn't have one), or at the nape of her neck. A butterfly, or a wasp. I headcanon that she didn't meet the physical requirements to attain one, as in the end, not being defined by her weakness was a major element of how hard she works, and I liked that not everyone unanimously reached the same heights. But I'd like to think she got close! Maybe even heated her blade a bit on that last stab!

Kanao: A flower next to her eye. Maybe a peony?

Inosuke: A charging board smack in the middle of his back.

Zenitsu: Lightning strikes along his jawline (so it basically looks like the injuries Kaigaku gave him, 'cause I wanted him to keep those)

Genya: As the mark is tied to Breath, no, I don't think he'd be capable of getting one. Unless this is an AU where something clicks and Genya finally gets it, and then gets really, really good at it with a whole lot of hard work (like someone with a math phobia getting an advanced degree in it), then I think he's limited to only picking up demon crests like temporary tattoos. He's a cool kid who gets to wear a whole bunch of them.

Nezuko: The answer may lie in her kimono, the traditional asanoha pattern! This hemp leaf motif symbolizes continual growth and development, which a lot of theorists in the Japanese fandom tie to how Nezuko keeps rapidly expanding on her unique skill set. Especially in a battle like the one she had against Daki, the vines are symbol of how quickly and strongly she can grow.

[sanctuaryforalluniverses]

Hi! I want to start with saying I've been following you for a long time and appreciate this blog! I really hope I'm not coming off as rude by sending this. I noticed a recent post about a NYT article on the source of COVID19, and I'm naturally p skeptical of tumblr posts with just a headline bc of this websites... history. There are a lot of people whose goals are more to turn people against media, especially media associated with the left like NYT, so I thought you might appreciate a fuller look at the article (bc. i have a subscription which not everyone can access lol).

The first few paragraphs explain the headline, but I think it's important to note that it represents both "sides" of the issue, saying it is unlikely that the virus was intentionally created, but experts are looking for more thorough investigations.

Some other relevant information brought up: - Explains Dr. Shi's credentials, as well as cites other scientists praising her work, and cites from her statements multiple times (ex below)

- Explains the WHO's previous investigation and wish for more transparency, as well as other inquires into the lab. (the post stated, or at least heavily implied, that the article was the NYT trying to fit the recent statements from the Wuhan Institute into a sensationalist theory, whereas this article was reporting on the medical community's recent interests into investigation, as referenced below)

All in all I think that post was someone reading a headline without reading the article critically. In many ways it is reporting on people's mistrust and the opposing evidence, not trying to fuel it.

Again, I really hope this isn't obnoxious and if it is, feel free to delete it! I just thought it was relevant to other stuff you've shared, and you might have insight on it.

First, I'm so sorry I'm just now addressing this - I think Tumblr has decided to stop bothering to notify me when I get asks, and because I have ADHD and the memory of a cheese grater I never remember to check.

On the post, though... you do make excellent points, but the truth is that the original poster had a point as well. I spent more than a decade as a journalist (though not for the New York Times, true), and the original headline contained none of the nuance included in the article. I don't necessarily blame the writer - editors often do the headlines, and accurately portraying the story is seen as being far less important than dramatic, attention-grabbing headlines - but on a topic like this the headline is the strongest impression the story is going to give off.

Especially on the platform like the New York Times, which has a ludicrously vigorous paywall. I tried four or five times to screenshot headlines for literally any of the multiple stories (and opinion columns, which conveniently have no need for fact checking), but because I had apparently breathed wrong at some point earlier this month I couldn't even get to the screen that let me see the headline. When you bury the content that thoroughly, your headlines are even more important.

Especially because the New York Times absolutely wouldn't shut up about this for a solid couple of weeks. Now, one of the big secrets of the news industry (though I suppose it's not much of a secret) is that we get bored FAST and have NO SHAME. From what I can gather, there's no real story here - scientists have said "COVID probably DIDN'T come from a Chinese lab, but we don't know that for sure so hey let's spend whatever money we're not pouring into the military on this." That's, at best, one article, but

And I didn't even need to go past page 1. Now, once again I'm not allowed to actually read any of the articles, but a quick look at the headlines and opening lines suggest they're just the same information regurgitated in different formats. I'm sure it gets clicks, but that's not good journalism (also, they're resorting to rumor - the only reason to put "is said" in a headline is if you can't actually back it up and there's a chance you'll get sued).

Especially when you look at the one non-opinion article that popped up in the last month (which is suspicious itself, for the record - if they'd had a scrap of new information, they'd have written 6-8 more articles around it):

This is where it gets really interesting. According to usual headline rules, "Still No Direct Evidence To Support Lab Leak Theory" would be the most obvious headline to use here (or, let's be honest, in literally any of the above articles). And yes, this is an interview, but a Wuhan scientist is not a well-known enough figure in the U.S. to carry the weight of the headline (which is proven by the fact that they had to emphasize she was a virologist in Wuhan). Also, even though extra words are usually death in a headline, they specify that this person isn't just a virologist, they're a Chinese virologist (and therefore their opinion that there was no lab leak is of course naturally suspect). After the punchy, inflammatory list of headlines from above, the fact that this is the first boring one (and still manages to be mildly inflammatory) is suspicious as hell.

So, in short, you were right about that individual article and I in no way blame that poor writer. But the New York Times should be fucking ashamed of themselves.

[bluerosesburnblue]

Hi blue! ❤️ I've been in a lot of discords where alot of the KH fandom confirms their belief in the SRT. I have a pretty decent understanding of lore so far. I got into some nice debates where fans defended the SRT soley off an existence of a different wordline. I'd ask "So if Sora was able to pull all the guardians into a different worldline... Xehanort could've just targeted the princesses of heart - why would he follow them.. if this theory was Canon??" And I'd just watch then hit silence.

To add context to my previous, I don’t understand how Riku being Sora’s light has any reason to even be included in this theory. To me, this theory should’ve had the focal point only on the idea of multiple world-lines, but having looked at all your blogging in that regard, the clear and excessive inconsistencies in their theory shows that the sleeping realm wasn’t the focal point. I follow some of the writers of the theory… And after sharing the doc they only celebrated Riku and nothing else             

Honestly, thank you for your effort in breaking it down. I knew I wasn’t crazy when I thought that something didn’t really seem right with the theory. I watch a lot of KH theory videos on YouTube from small creators with no shipping bias and they’re honestly very creative and genuine with their work. I understand how they feel about their ship, I love Kairi so much and would cry if she got her own game. I just think they should’ve left the Riku thing on its own and kept it away from this theory.             

Hey there! And thank you! I’m gonna talk a lot so to keep this from clogging up everyone’s dashboard, it’s going under the cut

I think I may have touched on it a little bit when I was explaining why even if the writers say this isn’t an “it’s all a dream” theory, I still feel like it has enough similarities to be considered one and… you’re absolutely correct. There is no reason for Xehanort to follow the Guardians into a new worldline. We don’t even know if he’s capable of it. We also don’t know if his planned universal reset just works in the worldline he’s in, or if it would erase all of them. We don’t know anything about worldlines other than that it’s a term Luxu used, like, twice

If Sora and Co. hopped worldlines, Xehanort would just grab the Princesses and win. If Sora and Co. hopped into the Sleeping Worlds… then Xehanort would also just grab the Princesses because the heroes still aren’t around to stop him if they’re in the Sleeping Worlds. It might take a little extra time, especially if we go on their assumption that Kairi is dead since now he’s gotta go find Princess #7 again. Because let’s not forget that this theory also claims that Kairi did not hop worldlines and that the Kairi we see is a Chirithy she’s piloting from the other world. That she died in

(Personally, I think there’s a fundamental misunderstanding of Xehanort’s character throughout the whole theory. He’s not a master planner. If he was, none of his plans would have ever failed, and he makes very clear in DDD that the plan to use TAV was intended to succeed. He is a master opportunist who’s excellent at making sure he has just enough irons in the fire that if one plan fails, another’s already going. The issue is most prevalent in the part of the theory where they try to claim that he planned the paopu scene. And uhh… any part where they make it sound like Xehanort has big plans involving Sora. He doesn’t.

His plan in DDD was opportunistic. He never planned for Sora. Sora was this thorn in his side who was constantly messing up his plans. If you know that no matter what you do this boy is going to mess you up, then how do you remove that threat? Either kill him, which is unlikely as Sora also makes for a decent Light if need be, or bring that power onto your side. He also didn’t like… give YMX time travel powers just to get Sora. That was another opportunistic iron to add to the fire. Like, if I knew that I was going to do something that would give me time travel powers and that I could pass that on to other versions of myself, why the hell wouldn’t I go back to the earliest version of me that could make use of that? That way I have the power… literally from a very young age and continue to have it my entire life. It’s a paradox, sure, but a damn effective one. He would’ve had Ansem go back to give YMX the power regardless. Knowing where Sora was at the time was just a byproduct, and one that he later found a use for

But after the plan to force Sora to join the Darknesses fails… Xehanort doesn’t really have to do anything. He knows that Sora’s a meddler who will fight for the light and is easy to goad into emotional actions. That’s one less Light that you have to worry about getting to the battlefield, because the kid will do it himself. There’s no need to have Kairi involved at all in terms of the paopu fruit thing? There’s no need to plan literally since flinging child Kairi into the abyss out of curiosity for her to make Sora fall in love with her. Like, again... he doesn’t really have a grand plan that he’s been implementing from the start so much as he has several plans that all require roughly the same or similar pieces. Xehanort only makes extra effort for himself if he feels like it could serve multiple purposes. He doesn’t see Sora as worthy, so he’s going to expend the most minimal effort on him. That’s one of the things that I think this theory fails to understand most; Xehanort doesn’t really care about or have grand plans for Sora. So long as the boy fights for one side or another, Xehanort’s already got what he wants

So with Xehanort being such an opportunist with so many contingencies... why would he pass up the chance to do things the easy, if more time-consuming, way by just... staying in the world without the heroes and succeeding with Plan B while knowing that there’s no one around to stop you?)

But, rambling about Xehanort’s characterization aside, you bring up something that I was planning to talk about once I finished going through the theory. My plan at the end was to go over what I felt that it did right or wrong writing-wise. And one of the things it does wrong is that it’s actually several mini-theories very loosely tied together that don’t prove each other

Making a theory about what you think a worldline is is its own thing. Making a theory on KH3′s connection to the Sleeping World lore is its own thing. Making a theory that Riku is really Sora’s light is its own thing. Making a theory that Kairi’s been controlled by Xehanort this whole time is its own thing. None of them correlate

The only reason to include all of them together, and this is going to sound really jaded, is if you intend to trick people into believing that your interpretation of Riku’s and Kairi’s contributions is canon. Because if they’re presented together, then it comes with the implication that if you accept that part of their theory is true (the definition of worldlines, the connection to Sleeping Worlds), then you have to accept that all of it is (Riku is the one whose act of true love saved Sora, Kairi’s contributions were all planned by someone else and therefore less legitimate than Riku’s, etc.).

And I don’t think I’m wrong to read that intent into it. From what I’ve read of the theory so far, they’ve made their shipping bias outright clear (calling the video files soriku_sleuthers as though they’re looking for evidence supporting their ship, spending an entire section on proving that Riku’s “most important person” is Sora and that the feelings are romantic...). Spending about .2 seconds on any of the creators’ Twitter accounts also makes the fact that really all they care about KH-wise is Riku’s part in the SoRiku ship (not even Riku as a character, because they get his character so totally wrong in the theory, but just what Riku contributes to the ship)

I don’t know if it was intentionally done by them or not. It’s possible that the natural ship bias clouded how they interpreted events in the game, too, to the point where they legitimately think that their interpretation is just obviously correct because the content that they interact with most and longest leads to that idea. I’ve already talked about how confirmation bias clouds the entire theory so thickly that they unintentionally discredited everything in it by that alone. But the point remains that the only reason that I can see for having an entire section on how perfect Riku is and how pure his love for Sora is, and another on how Kairi is Xehanort’s pawn trapped in another worldline, is because the easiest way to legitimize those as “canon” is to attach them to something that you think you can prove is canon

Except there’s so many holes, so much misinterpretation, and so much... I almost want to say forged evidence because that’s the only way I can describe what they did to Xigbar’s speech on Olympus, that there’s a mountain of things that can be logically and soundly proved to be incorrect and absolutely no decisive evidence so far proving that any part of what they’re saying is true

I’ll give them some credit, though. The SoRiku stuff doesn’t take up the bulk of the theory and is apparently subtle enough that even quite a few SoRiku shippers don’t think it’s even really a part of the theory. But that ignores the fact that while they have a ton of “evidence” unrelated to the ship, the inciting incident that the whole theory revolves around is the idea that Riku’s act of true love in sacrificing himself to save Sora (attributing Kairi’s sole salvation of Sora to both Riku and all of the other Princesses of Heart) allowed Sora to transfer everyone (except Kairi) over to a new worldline and also the Sleeping Worlds. It may not harp on it, but the theory absolutely pushes SoRiku as the canon ship if you want to believe that the theory is canon because they wrote it so that the events they’re describing cannot happen if it isn’t

It’s why they couldn’t keep the Riku stuff out of this theory even if they wanted to. Even if it would’ve made for a more believable theory. He’s the only part of this damn thing that they really care about

Again, I’m going to go into everything I think this theory does wrong at some point. And I’m sorry that this got so long and ranty! Seeing old followers go in and reblog the debunk stuff right now, which is attracting new followers like you is actually really fun and heartening to watch and I’m so glad that you liked the content enough to tell me! I wish the theory hadn’t become what it is. I wish this debunk wasn’t something that was even necessary. But I am grateful that it’s given me the opportunity to chat with a lot of people, yourself included, about this fandom! Up until I started this project I was relatively unknown in the KH fandom. I really hope that the upcoming debunk stuff meets everyone’s expectations!

[the-quiet-fire-of-defiance]

This is actually a topic I've been thinking about for a while but dithering back and forth about discussing. I fully expect to get some stupid responses and I'm not sure if people will 'get' it, but I have to try.

Anon, this isn't a criticism or rebuke of you. I know that you meant well, and you're certainly far from the first to say that Aotearoa is Middle Earth. But that's kind of the problem.

Many foreigners think of Aotearoa as real life Middle Earth. People pay obscene amounts of money to come here and get the fantasy that they're actually in Tolkien's world, whether that's through location tours or Hobbiton or other tourist experiences. I don't think those tourist experiences are a bad thing. But the "New Zealand is Middle Earth" thing has long made me uncomfortable, although I haven't been able to express why.

Then a few months ago I read this article called "Aotearoa is not Middle Earth". It's an excellent article and it pins down exactly what was bothering me.

Aotearoa is not a blank slate to reimagine as a white European fantasy. Colonisers have always seen us as a pristine empty canvas for European desires, but our history and culture is inseparable from the land. The people who come here and try to imagine it as Middle Earth often mentally erase what was already here and rebuild it to fit their image.

When people come here and imagine themselves being in Middle Earth, who do you think they imagine populating it? The white elves, white men, white hobbits and white dwarves of the movies? Dragons, monsters, orcs, river daughters? There is one thing that is almost certainly not in their imagination: us. Somehow, there are never any Maori people in Middle Earth.

It takes our land and re-imagines it as Europe (but with dragons!). Worse, it takes our land and imagines it without us.

To take a quote from the article:

By making Aotearoa a proxy for England, you say Aotearoa is England, and by saying that, you’re recreating the mindset of the people who stole our land, who beat our language and culture out of us, who signed a treaty swearing to keep our sovereignty intact then left it to rot in a cellar in Wellington after a judge decreed it null, and Māori “primitive and barbaric” savages with no legal rights.

This is made even more complex and painful by the racism in the books and the films. Like the writer of the article, I don't think Tolkien was a bad person and I don't think he was consciously or intentionally racist. But the racism and colonialism in LoTR is so deep that it's an integral part of the story.

Then there's the casting of the films. The casting of the 'good' peoples was exclusively white (in fact, potential extras were turned away during casting for The Hobbit because "hobbits can't be brown"). The orcs, evil creatures, and so on? Overwhelmingly Māori. To a truly insane extent. That was the only role open to us, to make Māori into animalistic monsters. So yes, it's painful.

When I hear people call Aotearoa “Middle-earth”, I see my people once again turned into monsters on their own land.

Look, I love Lord of the Rings. I love the movies even with the pain of the racism. I love my airport's stupid Tolkien decorations, the sleeping Smaug and noodle-canteen-crushing eagles (RIP to the terrifying giant Gollum though). I love watching the movies and seeing the beautiful backgrounds, my heart filling with a love so deep that it hurts for this land and this people and my home. I'm proud that the movies were filmed here. But Aotearoa isn't Middle-Earth, and I'd like people to stop saying that it is.

---

(A small note: the article uses some te reo Māori (Māori language) words that might confuse people outside of Aotearoa. Kākā = a species of native bird. Tangata = people. Whānau = family. Tangata whenua means the indigenous people of the land, and used in the Aotearoa context means all Māori people. Mana whenua means the tangata whenua who have tribal authority over a particular area.)

HOLD ON A MINUTE!!!

I HAVE CONNECTED THE DOTS!!!

Everybody knows that New Zealand is Middle Earth.

So doesn't that mean

That Old Zealand

Is

Beleriand

I hope I don't come across as a spoilsport but it's my understanding that there's currently a debate going on over whether this country should be known as New Zealand vs Aotearoa (which is the Maori name), which has brought to my attention that this is a more sensitive topic than I had previously known. I'm not accusing you of being insensitive or anything, but since my understanding of the issue is very, very superficial, I am not entirely sure how appropriate it is to make this kind of jokes. Maybe it's fine! But I Don't Know so I'll err on the side of caution here and not riff off your joke

[datingadviceonreddit]

I apologize in advance for the rambling. I'm writing this while having a panic attack so forgive me if the grammar is off.I haven't had a date in my entire life and my social situation is incredibly bleak. Im in college now which according to everyone is the absolute easiest time to meet girls, have fun at parties and hook up. I have already wasted 2 and a half years without a single enjoyable memory, meaningful friendship or romantic experience. I am essentially repeatedly dying during the tutorial stage of adult life since from what I hear things get much more difficult and competitive from here on out.I know its unhealthy to compare myself to others but I can't help but die a little inside when acquaintances tell me about all the wild sexual encounters they've had. Just yesterday I was talking to a girl who told me about the giant orgy she was invited to on Halloween and was bragging about how hot the guys were. I talked to a hockey player who told me stories about a bunch of girls who were basically his fan club and would get drunk and fuck him and his buddies after games.I hate having to smile, laugh, crack jokes and pretend like I know what that's like while on the inside I'm screaming in anger and frustration that my entire youth passed me by while I was stuck in a self induced depression coma.Even if I was able to cure my mental health issues and start a weightlifting routine (and actually stick with it this time) even if I got new clothes, fixed my acne and my eyesight, and spent a hundred bucks on a new hairstyle I would only have a year of college left. I've missed out on so much it literally throws me into a rage whenever I think about then past; I usually force myself to take a nap so I don't end up lashing out at anyone.I hope I don't sound like I'm entitled to love or sex or anything. I was a niceguy for a while but I understand now that the fault is mine alone for not making myself attractive enough during high school to have a sex life in college. I just wish my depression didn't make it 100x harder than it needs to be to follow through on any self improvement plan.I want a girlfriend (or just friends in general) more than anything else in the world and I'm seriously considering intentionally failing a semester just to give myself more time in college to meet someone. I cant accept leaving school all by myself never having ever experienced young love.I know its stupid and irrational but I honestly don't think I'd be able to go on with my life carrying the weight of such a tremendous failure. If no one finds me valuable enough to be friends with or date then how will I ever survive in the real world where I need a job and connections just to eat?Ive read all of the self improvement stuff on this and other subreddits but I can't gather up the willpower to make those changes when I recognize how it will be too late to reclaim my college experience even if I by some miracle do succeed in maximizing my "inner game". Is there anything I'm missing? Any way an average guy with no social circle whos mediocre at almost everything that doesnt involve math or physics can find himself a girl (or just some friends would be cool too I guess) in under a year? Assume that I have to start totally from scratch because I recently transferred schools and basically have to.Thanks for listeningTl;dr: Desperate loser (20M) wasted 2.5 years of college floundering under depression and self hatred, now wants to know if there's hope of improving my physique and social skills enough to land a gf before college ends or should drastic measures be taken (like hiring an escort, using steroids, getting aesthetic surgery, staying in school an extra year, etc.)? via /r/dating_advice