#also i thing i noticed. they use he/she instead of “their” on the website so it doesnt feel very inclusive to me as a they/them nonbiny!

[autisticlee]

i've tried for years to google autism social and support groups near me for adults. not kids or their parents. I found one. but it says they meet Wednesday evenings when I work so I ignored it. today my friend who live in another country tried to help by sending me the link to it. I told her I saw it before but can't make it. she suggested I email the provided email to as if there's any other way to meet outside the designated meeting times. turns out their website seems outdated and the email isn't in service. so I sent an email to the main website email (the website is a messy collection of autism resources mainly for kids and parents) so i'll have to wait to see if they respond on this one. but i'm not hopeful. something tells me the group might not exist anymore. it's not marked on their scheduled events list and the only place they seem active is facebook, which doesn't seem to mention the group at all (at least in the ~year long amount of stuff I scrolled through)

WHY is it so hard to find anything for adults?! why is it so hard to make friends near me! everyone yells at me to join a club or group, but why are they so difficult to find and participate in!

[shefollowedthestars]

impressions ⋆🚕•⋆. 💞 ˚₊ | karen page x reader (platonic matt and foggy)

warnings: fem!reader, mentions of alcohol consumption, my writing (yes, you do need to be warned, so you can't say you weren't aware of what atrocities you were getting yourself into lmao)

notes: karen page save us all 🙏 i really loved the idea of matt and foggy's best friend dating karen and them being all smug about it and so i came up with this the other week! <3

"so, what are you visiting new york for?" you look up from your phone as your taxi driver asks you the question.

"i'm seeing two of my friends i haven't seen in ages." you reply, trying to hide your excitement.

"oh, that's nice! always good to see old friends." you nod and smile at his words, looking out the window. as the taxi drives under a tunnel it darkens the inside of the car and you simultaneously feel a fondness in your heart. nostalgia has taken over your mind the past few hours.

when you were younger, you had attended columbia and there you met matt murdock & foggy nelson and you three were inseparable. from the moment you all met, your dynamic was magnetic, loving and definitely chaotic. there was countless nights spent on the floor of their dorm pretending to do homework, but instead gossiping with foggy while matt yelled at the two of you because he was trying to fall asleep. and there was also nights were you all stumbling home from the bar drunk, laughing and forgetting all about your exams that were the next day. every single one of your peers and classmates always questioned where the other one was when only two of you were together - that's how close you guys were.

but unfortunately, following graduation, you moved all the way to california after getting offered your dream job there. it hurt more than anything to leave your two best friends behind, but you knew you had to do it. due to your guys' busy schedules you had never been able to visit them until now, and you were more excited than ever.

you couldn't wait to see the life they had made for themselves in hell's kitchen with their new firm, new apartments, and new friends. speaking of new friends, they had told you that they had a secretary, karen page, who had quickly became one of their closest friends.

and you would be lying if you said you weren't nervous to meet her. you've seen her pictures on foggy's instagram and on the daily mail's website and she is gorgeous. not only that, she's smart and from what your friends have told you, the kindest. and while you don't know exactly why, you want to make a good impression, you really, really do.

so while your breath starts to quicken, the taxi approaches your destination. you get up and walk out, thanking the driver as you step into the new world of hell's kitchen.

you're in front of an older building, but the store to the side seems like it was newly renovated. you admire the scenery for a minute and then you spot it. the sign, 'nelson and murdock' and you can't help but feel proud of your two brothers. they've managed to create something special together. before you start to absolutely sob on the middle of the street, you open the door and head up the stairs.

reaching their office door, you hesitate before knocking. you now notice that your hands have gotten sweaty and unusually warm. it only just hits you now that it's been years since you've seen matt and foggy. and despite texting and calling them consistently, you haven't physically seen them in what feels like forever and you've changed and so have they. what if things aren't the same? what if you won't be able to laugh and talk with them as you used to? what if everything's okay, but karen doesn't like you? what if it all just feels different?

"i cannot believe you are standing in front of me right now." your thoughts are interrupted by the one and only foggy nelson, staring directly into your soul. you're both frozen, in shock that you're seeing each other in the flesh. your heart's pounding in your chest and you're nervous, but elated at the same time. you can't deny this is an uneasy situation though.

from behind foggy, matt appears, a smile evident on his face. "foggy, quit doing that or she's going to have a heart attack." he laughs. he pushes his shocked friend to the side and engulfes you in his arms. you lean into him, feeling the sense of comfort that you haven't felt since college. soon after, foggy's arms wrapped around the both of you. there was a sense of solace that hadn't been this strong since the last time you had all been together.

it's comforting, but borderline suffocating being trapped in their embrace. matt pulls away. "okay, let's stop suffocating, y/n." he says with a laugh, strangely reading your mind like he always does. foggy pulls back as well and grins. you follow and readjust your jacket.

"y/n, right?" you hear a satisfying voice ask from behind you. you whip around to see a familiar blonde. it's karen page, you realize. fiddling with your fingers and chuckling softly, you nod. "yeah, that's me," you suddenly feel smaller, "karen, right?" you already know it's her, but you can't think of anything else to say. your heartbeat returns to it's loudest state.

she extends her hand "yeah! nice to meet you." you return her smile and shake her hand. her skin is so soft and warm that it flutters your heart and you feel nervous again, but in a good way. god, you don't know what's happening to you right now.

"oh don't worry, i get nervous around pretty blondes i want to impress too." matt snickers from behind you. you roll your eyes and groan. why were you worried about things not being normal? of course matt would take every opportunity he's given to make fun of you. he has not changed in these 10 years at all. in front of you, karen bites her lip and slowly sways back and forth on her heels.

she laughs lightly. "gosh, he's annoying, right?! it's okay, i'm nervous too. meeting new people is always...hard, i guess?" you nod, agreeing. "but you seem kind and cool. i can't wait to hear all of your stories about these two." she says, pointing to the lawyers.

"oh, i have great ones," you excitedly start. karen has somehow managed to make you feel calm with her words. they were right, she was the kindest. and she was so adorable about it too, the way she paused when reassuring you, slightly anxious, not knowing what to say.

you play memories from college back in your mind, randomly selecting one. "there was this one time that fog was drunk and got weirdly attached to this rock that he found outside. he kissed it, hugged it and took it home and only when he got into the shower with it and it dissolved did he realize it was literal dog shit!" you laugh, reminiscing. karen leans her head back with a giant smile on her face just thinking about drunk foggy being stupid. her smile illuminates all the rest of her features and she looks perfect.

"oh my god, tell me another one, please!" she cackles as you naturally both walk further into the office together, towards the table.

foggy buries his face in his hands and groans. "you know i'm very embarrassed right now, but i'm happy that they at least get along very well. so well that she's forgetting we exist right now."

matt tilts his head and places his hands on his hips. "oh they get along very well." he says with a smirk.

foggy lifts his own head up, raising his eyebrows. "oh really? you could hear both their heartbeats pounding fast with your stupid devil thing?"

matt nods, but suddenly foggy's face drops, their conversation reminded him of something important. "shit, matt, we have to tell y/n about you being daredevil." his voice is serious.

"mm."

"i'm sure she'll be accepting, we just have to find the perfect time. let's just hope she stays here for longer than a couple days." foggy tells him, hopefully.

"oh, that shouldn't need much persuading." he responds, pointing at the two of you on the couch.

you two, sitting thigh to thigh, laughing and smiling. to anyone it would seem like two friends just having a funny conversation with each other, but matt and foggy know you two. they know that when karen keeps tucking her hair behind her ear and that when you slightly cover your face while laughing, you're nervous. and they knew you two are so fucked for each other. they were going to have fun watching this unfold.

[seat-safety-switch]

"Get in the fucking car, loser. My name is Detective Tina Clownhater, I came from Upper Precinct, and we're going to the fucking circus. One of the clowns was found dead in among about 72 others stuffed into a tiny car, and we think it's Japanese."

"The car?"

"The clown."

I'd heard of Detective Clownhater before. Read some of her reports when they came around the inter-office mail. Circus division. She also did carnivals, which people think is the same thing, but really it isn't. As we rode in silence to the Carny District, I decided I wasn't going to like her. Mostly, it was because she still clung to an outmoded, indulgent, and inefficient mode of transportation known as the 2003 detective-issue Crown Victoria. My own City II Turbo would have been a much more enjoyable ride, but I didn't want to press the issue. Chief was already getting on my case about racking up the mileage per diem anyway.

Maybe I should introduce myself, too. My name is Archibald Shitpope, and I'm a detective for the city police. Every detective here specializes in something – they figured it was more efficient than having us all fight over the same books in detective school – and for me, my passion carried me to Japanese-made economy cars. You'd be surprised how often they crop up in my cases. This was going to be a bit outside of my remit, being a Japanese-made economy clown, but I'm a professional. I'd do the job.

I regretted that promise as soon as we stepped onto the crime scene. Besides the copious amount of blood and viscera thrown about the scene ("explosive decompression," explained Todd the CSI, in between Instagram updates of the most grotesque parts,) the clowns had been stuffed into a Fiat. An Italian-made shitbox. It's amazing they weren't burned alive. From what we could tell from interviews, the clown used to be Takenobu Unchipiero, a famous clown actor in his home country. Top of the industry, I was assured. After a series of gambling scandals, he was forced to retreat to North America, where our standards for clowns are much lower.

I was about to ask Detective Clownhater to buy some business-class tickets to Tokyo so we could "chase up some leads" – I wanted to buy an S660 while the auction market was still soft – but the amount of boiling rage behind her eyes indicated to me that she had already assumed I was going to do that. Instead, I returned to my work of checking the crime scene and interviewing witnesses, only intermittently pausing to take a look at the latest wheels posted to Up Garage's terrible website.

That's when Todd cracked it for us. While mopping up what was left of poor Takenobu, an artificial heart fell out. I couldn't help but notice its unique design: a triangular pump that spun eccentrically in a housing. A rotary engine, in other words. No normal person would have such a heart. Mr. Unchipiero was up to his neck in debt with the Wankel Mafia.

[bonny-kookoo]

Ahhhh .. I love the Someone Older couple already !! Could we maybe get a drabble, where YN takes care of JK after his accident?

Of course!

Jungkooks house is.. huge.

But it also feels a little stale almost, like an apartment you'd find on pinterest or those websites that sell furniture. Like a display home, not being lived in.

There are some traces of him here and there, but no solid proof that it's him who's made those little hints happen- there's no personality to most of the decoration or even the furniture.

You're trying your best to help, and he's grateful. Even though you have to ask a lot, mostly where what is placed, you're still taking a good amount of weight off his shoulders.

He's eating slowly, mostly because he can't move his arm very quickly due to the bruising still, but even if he could, he wants to savor this. Not even a day of you staying over, and he's already noticed the faint smell of your bodywash lingering in his main bathroom. Your sweater on his couch. Your shoes at the door.

You're filling up his empty house with something alive. Something warm to contrast the white walls.

"Are you cold?" He asks as he notices the way you keep rubbing your socked feet against one another beneath the table.

"The tiles are cold." You say, and he chuckles.

"Gotta get you some slippers then." He suggests, and you shrug.

"Maybe." You agree. Does he want to just make you comfortable, or is he hinting at something more permanent? "Where do I sleep tonight?" You wonder, watching him finish his plate as he leans back, stretching for a second- painful face to go along with it, muscles still aching badly.

"Next to me, preferably." He shrugs after he gives up trying to have his stiff muscles relax. "But you can also take the guest room, if you'd like." Jungkook tells you, giving you another option just in case.

You feel a bit conflicted.

Will he compare you to what he knew with Evelyn if you sleep in the same bed she has before? Will he remember the things they both had, the happy times when they had cuddled or made love, and start reflecting on what this is now instead? It's weird. You want to be close to him, but not in the same spot he used to love another woman.

You're so selfish.

"I uhm.." You're not sure how to properly explain your problem, involuntarily glancing over to a coat left on the hanger near the front door, and Jungkook chuckles.

"She hated this house." He says. "She never liked it. Was angry at me for months when I bought it despite her distaste for it." Jungkook explains. "I got.. rid of most of the furniture and redesigned it all after she left."

"Huh?" You wonder, surprised.

"I just didn't want her anymore. I was hurt." He shrugs. "But in every.. object so to say, I saw a glimpse of her. Mocking me." He confesses. "And I couldn't stand it."

"So you.. threw out the furniture?" You wonder, and he laughs.

"Sold it, to be more precise." He corrects gently. "But yes. That's why it now looks so.."

"Sterile." You mumble, and he nods.

"I didn't want anything like what used to be in here. A complete opposite." He says, before he looks at the coat near the front door. "That coat by the way isn't hers. It's Taehyung's wife's." He says, watching fondly how you become a bit shy at being found out like that.

"I.. oh." You simply nod a bit awkwardly, when his hand reaches out to hold yours on the table.

"She forgot it months ago, Tae never picked it up." He chuckles. "And my bedroom has.. never seen anyone ever in it but me." He further teases, making your eyes snap up to his own, a strange, boyish excitement almost in his gaze.

"I think it's time to change that, don't you think?"

[yooglefics]

Reveal — Part two: editing

Pairing: Yoongi x fem!reader ( camboy!yoongi x camgirl!reader )  Wordcount: 1,735 words Genre: 18+, mdni, remainder to not use fanfics as your only source of sex ed. Summary: Yoongi is just helping a friend help you, but is he even supposed to listen to this?. Part 2 of Reveal: recording. Read it for context. This is just why and how we got to that ending. More warnings under read more.

Includes: Mentions of selling sex content. People recording sex acts. Mentions of sexual activity ( doing things and also talking about doing things and thinking about doing more things ). Mentions of past and not past masturbation ( f and m ).  Dirty talk? I guess?. Sprinkle of possessive yoongi? Is not my fault i sweaaaar Author's note: Remember when I started writing something short and silly lmao, what a time. Btw, I have never used OF so if something I say about how they use the website is actually not true / completely wrong just pretend please lmao. Anyway, I thought it'd be fun to write Yoongi's side, hope you like it! If you do please remember to leave a comment, reblog, ask, follow and what not. Thank you for reading <3

Saturday is probably Yoongi's favorite day of the week. No waking up early, no work, and not worrying about having to do any of those the next day.

That's why he groans when his phone rings with messages from Jungkook. He knows is him because he is the only one who still insists on sending him a million messages instead of just one. 

Love the guy, but he can be annoying.

The fifth ring comes and hopping is the last one, Yoongi finally reaches for his phone and rolls to his back. 

JK: hey JK: are you awake? JK: and free today? JK: i need a favor JK: yoongi?

Yoongi: with what? If I have to leave my house is probably a no.

Both of them know that actually, even if it ruined his plans of relaxing, he would say yes. Because that's what friends do.

JK: no no. You can do it at your house  JK: I need to edit an audio for my friend JK: but I'm on the schedule today JK: and if I don't send it back quickly she will back out JK: please? 

Yoongi: ok. Send it to me. Yoongi: you own me, tho.

Throwing his phone on the bed, he gets out of it to grab a bottle of water from the fridge, getting ready to sit in his studio for at least an hour. He knows is probably a bit extra to use his expensive equipment for whatever this favor is, but if he is going to help, he is going to do it right.

Opening Jungkook's messages on his laptop, Yoongi almost wants to laugh at himself.

JK: [ killmepls.mp3 ] JK: is and OF thing, btw JK: don't listen to it in public lol

Yep, definitely Poducer Min equipment is too extra for this. But, fuck it.

The archive is already downloaded when he opens the software, starting a new project and naming it the same as the audio plus final, to not get confused. Plugging in his headphones he starts playing it, already noticing whoever this is, is pretty quiet at the beginning and he would most likely have to cut it off, still, he listens to make sure.

A few taps followed by a “hi..” is the start, and he chuckles at their giggles.

He decides to let that in, but cuts the next few seconds where only their breathing can be heard along with some clicking and fabric moving. Is too long of a pause for this kind of thing and the clicking gives a way they weren't ready to start. Sure they wouldn't mind.

They put music on? It sounds familiar but is pretty fade out, so he can't really be sure, and then “This angle is kinda…” 

That's him.

That's his voice.

“Hot,” the voice continues before he can rewind.

“You can't tell me I'm mean anymore. I'm spoiling you,” his own voice travels again on his headphones. “I'm giving you this view and I'm giving you what's probably the thing you all ask the most: hands.”

What is this? Some kind of joke?

Did Jungkook put them up to this?

“I hate him. I'm gonna sue him,” 

That gets a laugh from him, even if he is still confused about what is happening.

Maybe it's just his imagination?

Should he ask his friend?

More movement of fabric. Maybe bed sheets or clothes. More breathing, a bit faster than last time and then, a groan. 

He can leave that in.

Wait, that's right. He is supposed to be editing this. He has to go back and…

“This angle is kinda…” his voice says and he hits pause. Is really him. Is that possible?

He feels like he is imagining things.

“Jungkook, I swear if this is some kind of joke or something,” he rambles taking his phone out.

Yoongi: did you listen to it?

JK: no, didn't have time JK: why? something wrong? JK: don't tell me it can't be used JK: she is gonna be sad :(

Yoongi: who is she?

JK: dunno if i can tell you 

Yoongi: technically I'm doing a favor for her. I think is fair 

JK: good point JK: is afterhours(y/n)

He opens a new tap on his laptop, goes to the website and searches for the username through his followers. And sure enough there it is. Subscribed a month ago.

He clicks to see your perfil. The first post he can see without being subscribed is a picture of a lilac lingerie set on a bed with the caption “very early birthday present”, from a week ago. 

He considers subscribing to see more, but he stops himself from clicking, remembering Jungkook didn't even want to tell him who you were. Oh, shit. What would you do if you knew it was him editing your audio? Would you back out? Or be sad?

Now it feels kind of wrong, like if he were invading your privacy.

He clicks around on his computer again, audio track back to the zero seconds mark. He hears the “hi” and the giggles and stops it before his voice appears. 

“Okay, this is going to be posted. It was recorded with the intention of being posted for people to hear,” he reasons. “If it's not posted I'd just forget about it and if it is… I'd… subscribe? To make up for listening?”

Clearly that part is not completely made up on his mind, but he doesn't have to decide what to do right now, he has to finish editing. And so, Yoongi clicks around the software again, cutting and deleting another section, the one where you can hear his voice and even his music before.

That's it. It was a familiar track because it is his. He composed that himself to put in the background of his videos exclusively. He figured putting his own touch would help if something was posted outside his page, never imagining hearing it in the background of someone else's video or audio was even possible.

It shouldn't affect him this much. After all, people touching themselves to his videos is half the reason he likes making them. What can he say? Is a turn on to have that effect on others, it builds his confidence up.

But actually hearing it is different. 

Groan and fabric moving, a bit too close to the mic he considers doing something about it, but “I want you to touch me,” is the perfect whisper. Just the right volume, just the right words.

No more audio of SugaD can be heard now, you probably turn down the volume of the video or pause it. Yoongi is curious about it. The idea of your sounds being a reaction to his past self is doing things to him, and Yoongi would like to ignore them before getting too distracted, but is kind of a boomer not knowing exactly what your reactions are for.

Maybe he can open his video, it wouldn't be hard for him to synchronized it with your audio and—

No.

That would cross the line. Is enough that he—

“Are you hard?” your voice continues, timidly he thinks. 

Is this your first time doing this? That's why you couldn't edit yourself?

What would you do if you knew he was listening and his dick was calling for attention at all your little sounds?

He stops your recording, considers taking a break, going back to bed. But he knows just forgetting about this would be hard and in the end he would have to come back and finish helping.

He unpaused it.

More moans echo throughout his headphones and he fixes them on top of his head, as if that would help him concentrate. You just sound so pretty, and when you plead he wants to give you anything you ask for, his dick twitching with desire.

He could just— no. That'll be wrong. Is enough he is letting it affect him this much, he can't just—

His leg bounces under his desk, hand glue to his mouse even when he is just listening now. Only stopping and going back a couple times to fix the volume of background noise, making it less or more obvious depending on the flow or your moans.

A groan of his own cuts the silence in his studio when you form words again. “It feels so good, oh god.” And Yoongi wishes he knew what. Wishes he could see you, could touch you. Could make you sound and feel that good in person.

“Uh uh,” short moans leave your lips, and it sounds so much like you're agreeing with his thoughts he really considers sneaking a hand down his pants. Allow his mind to wander and imagine what you would look like under him. Or on top. Or just coming undone by him.

But he doesn't. He just listens to your recording, your breathing, your pleas and your cut out warning when you cum.

“Fucking hell,” Yoongi angrily whispers. And for a second he considers doing the SugaD special of cutting it out of the final audio, but that's too selfish.

Or perhaps is more selfish leaving it. Considering he wants the world to hear how you sound when listening to him.

Yoongi managed to leave the studio without touching himself. But is not really as impressive as it sounds since his hand is on his dick the minute he goes back to bed after listening to the final edit of your audio one last time. The excuse of being just to make sure is perfect is just that, an excuse. And your pretty sounds replay on his head while he jerks off until orgasm.

JK: thank youuuu JK: she says thank you too!

Does that mean you know he was the one editing it?

He opens the app on his phone, looks for your perfil again and debates a couple minutes his options. 

What's the worst that can happen? You blocking him? He would understand, but if he actually doesn't do anything, doesn't play his chance, he wouldn't forgive himself.

And so, he subscribes. Page refreshes instantly and a new post greets him.

[ afterhours(y/n):

Surprise, surprise. Is my birthday month but I keep spoiling you, ain't I the best? 😝 

      [ VoiceReveal.mp3 ]

                                                                         ]

Doesn't even have to listen to it, his fingers move on their own, “the cutest”, he comments.

♡ Tag list: @m00njinnie , @sexytholland , @seoullove96 , @thelilbutifulthings , @disneyprincessshuri ,

( is hereee! I appreciate u guys hehe <3 ) ( if anyone else wants to be tagged in the future, let me know )

➪ Part one. | ➪ Part three. | ➪ Updates for this verse | ➪ Ko-fi

➪ Main masterlist. | ➪ Updates in general | ➪ Request & chats ♡

[itspikamefan]

THEORY O CLOCK TIME BITCHES YEEEEEEEEEEEEEEAAH!! (Spoilers for Welcome Home Puppet Show!)

Ok so... WHat the fuck?

Like in all seriousness this shit has some SEVERELY messed up implications and I don't even know where to begin so let's just... organize all into points.

1. Wally's Disappearance

So... Wally has... shall we say, taken a backseat? He's no longer on the opening card of the website (Julie has taken his place) and he is missing from several cards in the Welcome Home section. In the neighborhood, some versions even scriible out Home completely removing Wally from the neighborhood... However... it seems Wally is not gone entirely.

For one thing, he does have an appearance on the Darling Broadcast. But also, on certain versions of the Neighborhood, Wally does actually appear in home but he's... different. He no longer looks toward us instead looking to the right at something unknown. Additionally, his PNG title is "Ringring".

Using said title gets you to a secret audio file that helps explain the rest of the ARG (Check my other post for more info). He also sounds incredibly disturbing here... His messages sound... patched? Almost like someone is talking through him rather than Wally himself talking... The message itself talks to us about "Lending an Ear" and "Listening to the Flowers". This is of course related to the ARG which we will get to later, but to breakdown the basics it's basically based on a Floriography book... All the messages he reads connects to one specific neighbor... I think you guys can guess who.

2. The Joyful Siblings

Before we get into the ARG let's talk the surface levels of the ARG, namely the amount of content surrounding our playfulest and most joyous neighbor, Julie! There's a lot of content to discuss here, but most of it is just used for ARG purposes. There are three pieces Id like to talk about though:

The Looky Loo Spring Salutations Book

The Darling Broadcast

The Devotion Album by the Joyfuls

The Spring Salutations Book is straightforward, our first and foremost introduction to Julie's Siblings! (WHo were featured in some initial artwork on the sight, but were never named or spoke till now). There's the Level Headed Straight-Woman Franny, the Dumb as Rocks High as a Kite Brother Jones, and the Sweet Calming Belle Bea. Each of them (Along with Julie) are responsible for bringing Spring to the Neighborhood! Franny brings the Rain, Jones grows the Grass, Bea shines the Sun, and Julie blooms the flowers. And they all seem experienced at it, even the Hyperactive Low Attention Span Julie. It seems like they all get along plenty fine! WHich makes one question why Julie left in the first place... Such a curiosity...

The Darling Broadcast and Devotion Album are where we start to see something might be... up. It seems the three Joyful siblings are in a band together. Franny on Keyboard, Jones on Guitar, and Bea on the flute. They even released an album on how they make Springtime... But if you notice, Julie is the only sibling missing from their grand band. They point this out in the Interview, with Jones in particular asking Julie when she plans to join the three of them in their spring time band... And Julie seems... Nervous? Upset? Scared? When questioned she immediately hangs up Frank's Phone call. She never gave them an answer... I wondered why for a while... Till I found the secret tapes...

3. The Struggles of Julie Joyful

The ARG you find through the Floriography book details Julie and Frank observing a particular flower that refuses to bloom in the spring. While Frank doesn't seem all that concerned, Julie is persistent in trying to get that flower to open. As the tapes go on, Julie's persistence turns to nervousness... Concern... And in the final tape Julie is panicking.

It's one flower, but Julie is freaking out. She's begging tearfully asking why the flower won't bloom. And she even seems to be hiding it, trying to hide the unbloomed flower from Frank... She even goes as far as threatening to get rid of it by next Homewarming, so that no one would ever know about the flower...

But why? Why all this panic? Does Julie not consider herself good enough? Or... is someone sabotaging her? Is it perhaps Julie's lying about her abilities and origins? There's so many possibilities that come from her hiding this flower... But the Implications... The fact she's willing to go so far just to hide this failing flower from the rest of the Neighborhood... Makes me question what Punishment awaits her should her secret be revealed...

Anyways this update was incredibly disturbing but SO MUCH FUN! I am so nervous and terrified for the next update but also so incredibly excited I CAN NOT WAIT!!!

[fandomsmadness]

TBHX episode 9 rant

Oh it's going to be a proper rant this time. The conspiracy theorist in me is working so much OT that X is going to snap me into oblivion any time now.

This child is so precious LHO how dare you play around with her like this

Hey but because I'm totally normal about this, speaking of X...

...BROSKI WTF ARE YOU DOING HERE??

My previous theory (I don't even remember where I mentioned it earlier) that X is making and breaking the current hero roster is so validated right now. He definitely curated the current (well, what's in the website) top 10 with a purpose. At this point, wouldn't be surprised if he went and seduced Ms. Blazing Fire to create a cheating scandal too. My man complaining about working till midnight while he's busy taking the time to toss a coin to the witch, er, sacred maiden on his way home.

This is also now right before the Yang Cheng arc which means it's confirmed that X was operational by that time (not that most of us had any doubts). My ep 5 hypothesis that Lucky Cyan was just becoming popular before the Lin Ling arc is also now validated. It's also kind of sweet in hindsight that both Shang Chao and Yang Cheng went and got tickets for Cyan's first big performance (must've cost a pretty penny) for Xia Qing's sake.

I need to start one of those red-string-connected-mystery-boards.

The next big thing (for me): Trust Value, as always. It was confusing to see Cyan's go down to zero after she mentioned last ep that it's been high since she was small. Running theory (still) is that she's the child of a hero couple, she had trust value because of that which disappeared since it was never publicized that she survived the plane crash and thus people believed her dead. She didn't notice, because by that time it had already been replaced with the Sacred Maiden trust value instead.

I was wondering how she would get it back up after losing her lucky powers as a performer. Coins for good singing don't equate to trust value, after all.

On a somewhat related sidenote, hero agencies are really just PR firms for heroes. I'm not sure if I should be thanking Liu Zhen for bringing her to DOS's attention (but you seemed surprised they wanted to sign her on, why bring her up in the first place?).

But on the note of thanking people, I suppose I should thank these morons for bringing up her past and cultivating trust value, but really I was far too busy being thoroughly annoyed instead. Like fuck off and leave the poor girl alone! Ugh.

This shot is my favourite from the whole episode (which is saying a lot, I loved the animation and art style this entire ep) because you can see how people are just squinting at and recording the worshippers lmao.

But seriously, stop forcing your beliefs onto innocent children.

Oh but speaking of forcing your ideals on children...

Alright bro, spill the tea. Who were you, what did you do, why do your powers look so similar to the X hero couple's fire powers? HOW did it go from this to The Little MermaidTM? WHERE did the zombie powers come from?

WHAT is up with you and Bad Luck Calamity?

You give Luo a guitar that has weird effects. Why? You also abandon your own Sacred Maiden in favour of tussling with Luo in the escape scene. I'd almost be convinced that you wanted to separate the two more than you wanted to stop Cyan from getting away. Did you want to keep him around as leverage to force Cyan back when you wanted to? Is the guitar bugged? Are you torturing Luo for him to be bandaged in a locked up room two years after the escape? Too many questions gah. AND WHAT THE HELL DID YOU TELL THE GUY AT THE END?

Running theory: Luo's family was in the same plane that crashed, and you just blamed Cyan for his entire family being wiped out, becoming an orphan, and being branded bad luck.

Are there any other explanations because I would kill to know. Like there's no way this is a coincidence.

But going back to the escape scene, the whole thing is weird. Firstly (and this is just funny) how does wind blowing close the gate against the wind?? What was the animation physics department (is that a thing?) thinking?

Secondly why is the guitar this important, to the scene and to the ep? This is, mind you, the Guitar with Effects. I am suspicious. Very suspicious.

Thirdly what was up with that truck driver? Who's compelling him? His eyes were purple, but it's unlikely the Dean would disrupt his own intervention (unless he wants to act like the bad guy to drive Cyan away with the guitar, for whatever reason?) Do we know a hero/villain with hypnotic powers? I'm drawing blanks.

The only other possibility is that this was Luo, which would make sense, although we have to admit that was a surprising amount of good luck for a supposed bad luck person. This would also bolster the popular theory that Zombie Mode is Luo's powers going out of control because hey, that's also purple.

Just hoping the shared purple doesn't mean anything-

My conspiracy theorist brain hurts now.

Lastly, the art sequences in this episode and the colours were so beautiful (fitting for Lucky Cyan's moniker I suppose) I simply must ogle them.

Just stunning. Also is that song out yet, because I haven't been able to hunt it down.

Now that we've caught up to the YC arc in terms of timeline, I wonder what next week's ep will bring. Fresh trauma, no doubt.

[loki-zen]

also what alternative tumblr is that person on. that he's a groomer and a sexual predator is basically all 90% of locked tomb fandom has to say about john gaius.

I mean this is a common phenomenon on tumblr i think and really it's a consequence of what's wonderful about tumblr which is that most people aren't using tumblr in a way that feeds them all the same shit through The Algorithm, they're using tumblr in ways that create completely different experiences of the website for different people. So sure, whatever, i believe them that "John Gaius is a Woke King" is all they see and they don't see stuff about him being a groomer; weirder things have happened! Apparently there are folks whose experience of tumblr is that they're always interacting with queer people who don't follow or reblog from any transfeminine people, and moreover that it's possible for people who aren't consciously deliberately avoiding transfems to end up in such a situation by accident, which sounds like a description of a whole other website to me but who knows! Maybe that's just the circles I'm in. I know there's people who claim that they block anyone who doesn't put their age in their bio on sight; logically I must assume that these people are largely interacting with a completely different "Tumblr" than the one i see and am a part of.

But yeah anyway, yeh those are the takes I've been seeing too, at least lately. I'm not engaging with that person in that debate any more because it doesn't feel like that's gonna be productive, but I think it's blatantly the author's intent that we see John from both of these angles; that initially upon first discovering his existence we do see Jod as a bit of a (Problematic, for sure!) Woke King.

After all, we grew up in a world only a generation and change into women being legally considered full adult humans - to the extent that we can be said to have achieved that at all - and the prototypical TLT reader is going to find it very personally affecting to dive into a world where a girl can grow up on ideals of butch womanhood apparently completely normalised in mainstream comics (which, yes, are likely also military recruitment propaganda); Where nobody considers it worthy of comment that a large number of the important political leaders are women; where indeed powerful women are capable of the arrogance of one who has never been required to justify herself or Overcome Adversity to get where she is; Where as far as we can tell, there is no word for "lesbian" or "sapphic" because the ordinary unmarked concept of "attraction" is just assumed to contain attraction between women, by default. It's perhaps a little easier to miss on the first read (or it was for me, with my perspective, I don't doubt that it may be different for others), but we're also looking at a world where there's no trace of racial divisions as we know them, not even the vestigial nomenclature that would lead a narrator from our universe to be more likely to at least classify characters as "white" or "black" or whatever else instead of solely describing their physical appearances, including skin tones, as if this simply wasn't a relevant distinction.

It makes perfect sense to think of a bisexual mixed race guy from approximately our world who made his space empire colourblind, queer-positive and gender-egalitarian as kind of a 'Woke King', and the positive affect we have towards him as a result of all this is imo intentionally there as a complicating factor when we notice all the rest of it.

It's like yes he's an abuser, and he's one of those abusers with (at least partially) completely genuine leftist/feminist/queer/woke bona fides, they exist and really the fact that so many people will insist you can either have those or be an abuser is incredibly helpful to them vis a vis getting away with it.

[callmecasai]

🟩THEORY#2🟩

Hello everyone, again i'm doing this at night. But while i'm having more free time because of winter holidays, i rewatched welcome home audios. And alot of interesting things catch my eye. But today i will talk about this. Sit back and enjoy :)

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FROM WHERE HOWDY GETS THE STUFF FOR HIS SHOP?

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At first I though it was just an universal thing. That howdy Has some contacts to get the stuff. But it was never mentioned, neither from where he gets the stuff or if he even has a company he could get the stuff from. But like I said in the audios there was things that catch my eye.

Let's start with bug audios: I think those bug audios are actually audios of what is happening in the neighborhood now (or maybe after the show ended). From where this though came from? Well in the website everything that was shown to happen in the show, they had their own space in the website (they had their title, description and eventually photos) but bug audios didn't have any of that. Even one of the bugs was more realistic than others. Do you Remember the audio where Howdy was helping Sally with her choice what to eat? And how he was muttering under his nose what the products she was buying actually were?

What i'm trying to say is that i think...howdy is getting the stuff from the abandoned studio

Explanation: In the other audios like "happy haunting too Boo & yours" or Wally plush commercial or during the christmas season (homewarming) Howdy used to get all the stuff from the studio the show been going on.

If we think about it in realistic way then of course the studio was getting all the stuff for howdy. (They have to fill the shelves somehow) But also all of things that was mentioned in audios were later used in episodes (i think i can call the other audios episodes) have you noticed that?

Examples: Bowling balls. In "Just so" song frank mentions how Julie keeps adding bowling balls in her games. You know where else the bowling balls are mentioned? In the bug audio with Howdy and Eddie. So that also means the studio must have bowling balls too (they could use one bowling ball but turns out bowling balls can actually crack and be destroyed. So they could kept more just in case) Also other things could be mentioned too like seed, peas, can of beans, scarf, crispy sweets,etc. Because those and more things were mentioned later or earlier too. Other neighbours had to get them from somewhere after all. Going back to the point, the show is dead for almost for a long while (if the canon data confirms that the group started searching for welcome home in 2023 then it will be almost 50 years) and there's no way someone has been provoding stuff and food for a dead show. And the puppets are at some bigger or smaller point aware of the life outside (our world) so I think Howdy can leave the neighborhood (he's been one of the closest people after Wally to the staff so he might know from where the cameras been recording) and he tries to find anything left in the studio that he could sell in his store. And that's why instead of using normal food to sell, he use objects or items as food.

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Though Remember I might be wrong. This is just a theory and please don't hate (I know none of you write hate comments which i really appreciate that. You guys are so sweet. But i'm still feeling nervous whenever i share my theories.) Have a nice day :)

[ovwechoes]

Supports & Guilty Pleasure Headcanons Sort of the same vibes as the bad habits and ‘home’ hcs i did a couple posts back, but with guilty pleasures instead! My asks are open and if you have any opinions, thoughts or suggestions I'm all ears c: they're under the cut & enjoy!

Ana Amari: Ana's definitely the type of woman who knows all the gossip, reads tabloid magazines, and is already aware of drama unfolding in the celebrity world before you do. It's her favourite thing, and she likes to feel detached from her life through the lives of celebrities.

Jean-Baptiste Augustin: You can't tell me Baptiste doesn't eat up reality tv shows where all the contestants are conventionally attractive, and they're trying so hard not to eat each other's faces constantly (Love Island, Too Hot To Handle, etc). It's his favourite thing to watch when he needs something to numb his mind, and is something he rarely shares with his co-workers out of embarrassment over how invested he gets into them.

Brigitte Lindholm: With Brigitte, she has a good grasp on her impulsivity and has an astounding level of self control. She's disciplined and she's careful with her food, especially if it's not a cheat day. However, she's not one to stray from snacking late at night. Angela's seen her standing in her PJs eating cheese out the bag at the fridge, and it's something she will never live down. When asked, she'll simply tell you she's listening to her body and she can't control when she's hungry (in a joking way). It was something she especially did growing up, as Torbjorn will tell you anytime the topic is brought up.

Illari Quispe Ruiz: For Illari, I can imagine her best and most fulfilling guilty pleasure is sleeping in. She works herself to death, with most of her nights being cut short due to the work she has to finish ASAP. She prioritises her work over her health more often than not, so she rewards herself with a decent lie in every once in a while. Because of how sleep deprived she'd be though, she would end up sleeping 15hrs straight, waking up to a whole new level of drama unfolding at HQ.

Kiriko Kamori: Guilty pleasures are something Kiriko used to struggle with - she's had every one you can think of at least at one point in her life. Currently, it's shopping online for non-essentials. She's had several apps and websites blocked from being accessed due to how much she was spending on items. They weren't even for herself most of the time; if she saw something that reminded her of a co-worker in Overwatch, or knew they were wanting something of a specific nature, it would already be bought and getting prepared before they can consider getting it for themselves. It's sweet, but also makes her bank account shiver every time she gets paid.

Niran Pruksamanee / Lifeweaver: Daydreaming is one of Niran's worst guilty pleasures in the sense that you'll catch him doing so at least once a day. He loves exploring his imagination, and loves to let himself get drifted off into his daydreams when he's supposed to be focused on something else. When he was in Uni, he was often questioned by his roommates about if he had MDD (maladaptive daydreaming disorder), because of how often he would be found daydreaming without a concern for the real world. He didn't but it made him self conscious about his daydreaming, so he rarely talks about them and when he does daydream, it's usually in private or where people won't notice he is.

Lúcio Correia Dos Santos: Lucio loves to sing in the shower - it's something he's always done and it helps him enjoy something mundane in his routine. However, when he does it's extremely loud, and he usually has a speaker that's way too loud and echoes throughout HQ. He's been warned about it before, but he doesn't see the harm in it.

Angela Ziegler / Mercy: When it comes to guilty pleasures, she tries not to indulge in them and have some restraint when it comes to habits. However, she admittedly loves desserts and will often eat desserts first or as a main meal of the day instead of savouring them last. It's something she'll never change, and if you try to tell her otherwise she'll purposely eat dessert first for a week straight just to agitate you (in a light-hearted way).

Moira O'Deorian: When Moira's not working, she can be often found in loungewear, planted on the sofa of Talon HQ, watching a nostalgic show she used to love as a teen or young adult. She hogs the tv, and is surrounded by snacks when she watches them. She loves the nostalgia, and it's a form of escape from work and the physical stress on her body from her experiments. It's the best way for her to unwind, in her opinion, and she encourages people to join her (even though she's taking up 90% of the sofa, and they'd have to sit on the floor to watch with her).

Tekhartha Zenyatta: Zenyatta's main guilty pleasure that he would talk about is watching cute animal videos on youtube or facebook. He enjoys the comfort in the innocence of the animals, and he'll go in depth on how it's cleansing for the soul, it's nourishing for the mind, things of that nature. He enjoys the time spent relaxing, enjoying something that's not negative or necessarily pointed in a certain way (like political, for example).

[p0ckiiturtle]

So, I recently started hyperfixating on an old show I used to watch called “Winx Club”. It’s a 2004 Italian Magical Girl show that was really popular and soon made its way to the states.

I’d also like to point out that this show ran from 2004-2019. Just to give you guys a heads up on how long it ran for.

While it was loved by all, it did have many, many, MANY flaws. One of which was their love interests.

Sky: Bloom’s boyfriend

Brandon: Stella’s boyfriend

Riven: Musa’s boyfriend

Timmy: Tecna’s boyfriend

Nabu/Nex/Roy: Aisha/Layla’s boyfriend/fiance/crush I guess

And Helia: Flora’s boyfriend

Notice how Aisha’s list is a bit longer. I’m gonna get into that.

They all suffer from the same thing. A thing I like to call “The Lover Effect”. Basically, when a character is introduced, but their only trait is to be another character’s love interest.

They have no other backstory. No known morals. They’re just there to fall in love with the character. And nothing more.

A lot of shows struggle with this. Mainly with their female main characters, but there are some examples of the male characters suffering from this.

And Winx Club is one of the prime examples of this.

We know little to nothing about their pasts. We don’t know what their goals are. And they’re only there to serve the main cast. The Winx. Their entire personalities revolve around them being the boyfriends of the Winx.

I think the only characters whose past we know of are Sky and Nabu’s. And even then, it’s seldom said.

A while ago, I was researching for a video based on my own version of winx for my TikTok account (shameless plug, I know). And I came across this:

It was from the old Winx website. I wasn't aware of this when I was watching it cause I grew up on the Nickelodeon one, but that's besides the point.

It clearly states here that Riven's mom left him when he was very young. And according to him: She probably left for money. Resulting in his distrust of people and his 'bad boy' attitude. Specifically in women. This was never stated in neither the show nor the comics.

This could've been perfect ammunition for a good redemption arc for Riven. Why he's so distrustful and so standoffish of all of his friends. Why he's constantly pushing Musa away. He's too afraid that they'll leave him. And the hurt will start all over again.

But no. They don't.

Instead, they give some toxic relationship between two characters where they're both in the wrong, but decide to paint him as the bad guy cause 'ShE wOuLd NeVeR dO tHaT!!!!". They constantly breakup. And then when they decide to give him the slightest amount of character development , they just drag him back down to being the asshole character. And the whole cycle repeats.

Every. Single. Fucking. Season.

I'm not even kidding.

I will give them this though;

As much as I will shit on Nick for practically ruining Winx Club, at least they tried to give him a redemption arc. But it was put into a half-assed breakup scene where he had to 'find himself'.

MUSA WAS JUST AS BAD, BUT THEY NEVER FUCKING ADDRESS IT!

The next victim is Sky.

For those who don't know:

Sky is the crown prince/king of Eraklyon. His home kingdom. The most we know about him is that he possibly has daddy issues and was in a relationship before Bloom.

Now the way they went about Sky is interesting. Because they gave him a little bit of a backstory. But not enough for him to be an interesting character to me. The most that we know is that his dad is an asshole and his ex-fiancé was just selfish.

From what I've gathered from the show.

But what else about Sky? What was his childhood like? What was his relationship with Diaspro, his ex, like? When did Sky and Diaspro first meet?

In the show, it's stated that they were childhood friends, but for some reason, I don't believe that. Maybe it's my version of Winx clouding my judgement, but I don't care. Knowing how most marriages between the elites and royalty were mainly for political reasons back then, that was probably my reason for not believing the whole "childhood friends" thing.

We don't even know his relationship with his father. The most we know is that he has an older cousin who he doesn't trust for some reason after something he did back when they were kids.

But personally, I think him somewhat revolving around Bloom could work.

Imagine this:

Ever since you were a child, you were forced into a life of perfection. Your parents were distant from you, so you were raised by the servants in the castle. You're forced into an arranged marriage to some girl who can only think about herself, from your eyes. And that's all you know. Perfection. Perfection. Perfection.

And then all of a sudden, you meet this girl. She's outgoing. She's a bit shy. She has goals. Aspirations. But most of all, she's free.

You meet her parents and you see how strong of a relationship they have with her. She has friends in her school. She's made tons of mistakes, but no one criticizes her for them. After all, they're just mistakes.

And the more you're around her, the more you realize that your childhood wasn't good. It wasn't what you wanted. You realized that you needed your parents love. But because of their status, they never gave it to you that much. Only speaking to you at dinners or whatnot.

Sky wanting to break the mold and find his true self because of Bloom could work. With good writing and planning, his character could become far more interesting than the one we were given.

Next up: Brandon.

The most we know about him is that he's Sky's best friend/squire and is from Eraklyon just like Sky. We don't know jackshit about his family life. All we know is that he's loyal and a flirtatious guy. Even when he's dating Stella, he's still flirting with other girls!

Like wtf??

Sure, he gives Stella a heartfelt speech about always loving her for who she is, regardless of how she looks. But that's basically it. And I hate that the most I can give him is killing off his dad. Like, that's the most character I can give him. Because we don't know jackshit about his past. His goals. Or anything else about him. And it sucks.

Next: Timmy

I hate that we barely see any of him throughout the show. The most screentime we get of him is when he's searching for Tecna when she gets lost in the Omega Dimension. But the fact that he didn't go on that trip with Sky and Bloom just sucks. I get that they wanted to create some cute moments between them and they didn't want Timmy, the guy who literally found her coordinates, to be a third wheel. But his girlfriend was LITERALLY SUCKED INTO ANOTHER FRICKIN PLANET!!!!! I think he has every right to be on that trip. It could've shown his desperation and fear that he may not be able to find his love.

And as much as I love him when it comes to commitment and his girlfriend, he still falls into this category. because once again, we don't know his damn backstory. Hell, we don't even know where he's from!

Like Riven, Helia, or Nex. Unless it was specified in the show, we don't know where they're from.

I'm gonna assume that Timmy's from the same planet as Tecna, which is Zenith. A futuristic planet with highly advanced technology mixed with magic.

But here's the thing: The only thing about his character that may give me that answer is the fact that he's smart and likes to make robots.

That's the only reason why.

Nothing about his character design gave that away. Which may just come down to me being nit-picky. But I honestly don't care.

And I hate that I have to assume where he's from because the show never gives us any indication from his character.

For Tecna, she had no idea how to handle her feelings for Timmy and was constantly going back and forth on logic and heart because that was the norm in Zenith. Logic was their only answer. And for that, they probably have no reason for love or feelings.

Meanwhile for Timmy, he's automatically head over heels for her and has no problem confessing his love for Tecna. That could be chalked up to just how they were raised. But, as I've said before, we don't know how he was raised.

Next: Helia

WHERE. THE FUCK. DO I EVEN BEGIN WITH THIS MAN?!

You wanna know something crazy?

Originally, Helia was supposed to be a girl. But they changed his gender and made him a boy because Flora was the only one without a boyfriend. And they didn't want her to be single.

(Even though Aisha didn't have a boyfriend and was single until season 3)

The thing that gets me the most about Helia is that he's seen as the quiet and reserved nature lover of the group. Just like Flora. But even then, we barely hear from this fucking bastard.

Like, I get that he's supposed to be the quiet guy, but it's not like he's non-verbal. He can fucking talk!

SO MAKE HIM TALK!!

At least we know from context clues that he's most likely from Linphea. The same planet Flora's from. But that's only because he's friends with the fucking princess of Linphea.

I guess you could chalk it up to his love for nature and pacifist personality, but that could be applied to anyone.

What's worse is that I couldn't even find/give him a reason as to why he's like this. I could just leave it and just say that "It's his personality. He was just born like that", but I refuse. The most i could give him was a large family. 6 sisters with him being the middle child.

Yes, I took a page out of 'Loud House', but I feel like it could work. You have absolutely no idea how much your family can shape and affect your personality.

But that's just me.

Next: Nabu

This is going to hurt me because he's my favorite out of all of the Specialists.

I want to say he falls into this category. I really do, but a part of me just doesn't have the heart to. Especially since he was basically the perfect match for Aisha/Layla.

Both come from wealthy families. Both have only known perfection throughout their lives, but are trying to break that mold and want to be their own person.

And I think it's perfect! Even if they were in an arranged marriage, they could still make it work.

You just have to develop their relationship over time. Have them do little things that makes the other fall in love with them bit by bit.

Unfortunately, they decided to fucking kill him off in season 4. Literally the season AFTER HE WAS FUCKING INTRODUCED!

And it pisses me off so much!

But back to his "Lover" trope:

See, he doesn't fall into it that much. If anything, I'd say he doesn't fall into it at all since we, as an audience, were given more than enough content of his past to make a clear picture of him.

Is this me being biased because he's my favorite? Absolutely.

And I think the reason as to why he was so loved by the fandom is because he was something new. He wasn't a copy paste of the same person but with a different personality and character design. He was something fresh.

Until they decided to fucking axe that and give us shit.

I don't wanna go too much into detail for Roy and Nex. Their characters bored me to death.

All you have to know is that Roy was the equivalent of the rebound summer fling for Aisha and Nex is like Riven, but worse. At least Riven was somewhat interesting as to why he acts the way he does. Nex is just an ass for no reason.

I get that this show is supposed to be for young girls. It's to encourage them that they can do anything. But you can have an uplifting girls show with interesting male characters.

With the reboot coming soon, I really do hope that the writers take their male characters into account and give them interesting personalities and not go down the Nickelodeon route and screw everything up.

From what I've heard, Iginio Straffi, the creator of Winx, is back to writing for the reboot. Even though his writing was flawed, I do hope that he's used these last 2-3 years in improving his characters and plot. From what I've heard, he's been working with authors from around the world. So this may be a sign of hope for the Winx fandom. Because god knows we need it.

[bambi-kinos]

To what extend do you think Paul’s nostalgia is a trick for publicity? ☕️

Most of it. Or rather I think it's a double edged sword where he gets to control what the public sees (by repeating a bunch of the same stories) and then he gets to enjoy some nostalgia of his very own. It's like when he tells the story of John liking "Here There and Everywhere." He'll mess up the setting from time to time but

1) a reliable story to associate his name with fuzzy feelings and good music

2) It does some image repair work for John so that instead of the weird amalgamation that exists now, Paul gets to present John as a good guy who liked good music and liked Paul and had gentle moments of tenderness.

I think the nostalgia is true or at least Paul is telling an accurate surface level version of his nostalgic memories. He knows his memories are not in great shape so he's also purposefully keeping them light because it has been sixty years, there's no way he can keep the details straight after that long. Paul's primary purpose with these stories IMO is to reset the narrative so that The Beatles are no longer associated with a painful and vicious break up anymore, but rather the love he remembers from being four guys on an adventure.

I don't think Paul is doing what Taylor Swift did with Tom Hiddleston where she and him fabricated a 5 day relationship or whatever complete with photoshoots to distract people from...whatever was going on, God, I'm not a Swiftie so I don't know. (Was it the Kanye diss track thing?) Like, it's very common for celebrities to just...lie lol they will just lie and make up stories for the press. I don't think Paul lies more than he has to, like watching him in Beatles 64 there's a whole minute where he's just bent over a table of his photographs and he's giving John the biggest softest googly eyes ever. That's not fake! He's genuine about that.

Otoh lol. Yes, Paul is 100% using the nostalgia as a marketing tactic. Ringo does it too a little bit, I attended one of his All Starr Band concerts in Vegas and he sang "I'm The Greatest" there! And it was great! But something very interesting I noticed was that he said "my friend John wrote this song for me..." and that got a lot "awwws ;____;" from the ladies in the audience (including me!) And that was absolutely a calculated move from Ringo. It's not as cynical as I'm making it out to be but otoh you know what I mean right? Like Ringo and Paul are sincere about adoring George and John but they're also perfectly willing to mix that into their public performances (on and off stage, in front and away from cameras) in order to get audience reactions. And no matter how wholesome it is, it's a form of manipulation.

Even The Beatles website does this to a certain extent, they're still carrying out Brian's vision of the Fab Four, a set of four musicians as a group, Do Not Separate. And we can feel the wholesome nostalgia that comes off that for sure and I think it's totally sincere from Paul and Ringo's corner. But it is also a marketing tactic.

I think there is a deeper edgier nostalgia that Paul doesn't reference very much, stuff like the mad partying in Hamburg, the Satyricon sex parties, Paul's Dirty Weekend with Linda and the "minstrel show" where he had two sex workers in two hotel rooms one White and one Black, etc. We don't hear about those things for a reason though I'm sure Paul and Ringo both still look back very fondly on that stuff.

It's also a certainty that Paul is sending out stories into the ether that he doesn't actually feel very strongly about but still play well for the audience. I'm not sure which ones they are honestly but other people would have opinions on it.

What's interesting is how seamless Paul is about blending his nostalgia with marketability. Where other celebs have to manufacture moments and conflicts, Paul has lived such a vivid life that he doesn't have to do that. He has plenty of material to draw from. And the fact that he's willing to flog it for publicity...it is something. Not sure I'd call it a power move but it is a move. And it ties into a much larger discussion about media presentation, projected authenticity vs being real, that kind of thing.

What Paul does is actually much more similar to Current Year vtubers then other celebrities. Vtubers have very personal connections with their streaming audiences while projecting an incomplete version of their personality through the webcamera. The logic in Hollywood and the music industry has always been that you have to create and project an image with very little regard for your actual personality and preferences.

The Beatles on the other hand did what vtubers do and they created an image that was based out of their lives and experiences which is what generated that feeling of authenticity that we responded to. Paul never denied being a ladies man for example. The ladykiller image is present as early as 1965 and was satirized in Help! with his come-ons to Ahme. He just never talked about the fact that he was boinking 12 women in a night because it was indecent, otherwise it was publicly known that he dated a lot.

The contrast to that is the manufactured images of many celebrities and now e-celebs with the rise of Youtube. Mr. Beast is in big trouble because he presented himself as a wholesome children's entertainer with whacky Youtube challenges but then oops it turns out he's friends with a lolicon who showed porn to teenagers in a discord server. There's a complete disconnect between Mr. Beast's image and his actual personality where he's not wholesome at all and instead hires sex offenders.

Paul and The Beatles themselves are completely different from that. We don't get the entire truth from Paul's nostalgia (which he is flogging because of his bottomless need for attention and for money) but he is willing to share a snapshot into his life that he thinks we can accept.

[thelamentknight]

The Glass Princess

Episode 12: Nothing Personal

Warnings: Mentions of Human/Sex Trafficking 

Carmen gently hummed to herself as she looked through the shopping website for her APR uniform. Headmistress Couture had emailed her that the uniform would be at her dorm room when she arrived. As she looked at the options, she also began thinking of what else to wear with her uniform. Should she wear a beret? A bow? A headband? What blouse should she wear? Which shoes would work the best?

Maybe she should ask Miette? Carmen had called her yesterday about the news right after telling her twin, and the cat beastwoman was ecstatic (though she pretended to keep her cool). Though, looking at the time, Miette was probably still in class, and then she would have her Club session and Tea time. Should she call her tonight or wait until the weekend?

Her thoughts were interrupted by a familiar Headmaster coming in out of nowhere.

“Ah, Miss Carmen. There you are.” Crowley addressed in a somewhat even tone. Carmen jumped a little in her seat from shock before answering.

“H-hello H-Headmaster…d-did you n-need s-something…?” She asked politely.

“Yes, I have one final job for you, Miss Carmen. Don’t worry, I will not trouble you anymore after this, as I am ever so kind. Come, follow me and I’ll tell you what to do.”

Carmen got up and placed her phone in her pocket. But he quickly halted her.

“Ah, ah! No phones are allowed in where I’ll take you…T-The portraits are very stingy about them…” He explained.

Carmen would’ve normally listened and left her phone there on the couch, but…in her time at NRC and knowing how Crowley was, something in the back of her mind screamed at her to bring her phone anyway. So she pretended to put her phone down.

She instead had only put her phone case down, slipping her phone into her sleeve.

Crowley smiled, not noticing Carmen’s little trick in the slightest. 

“Good! Let us go now.”

Carmen followed behind Crowley, and while the Headmaster was too focused leading the way to the location, she sneakily unbuttoned her shirt and hid her phone between her breasts before buttoning her shirt back up. The crow didn’t notice a thing.

~~~

They arrived at a seclude area of one of NRC’s hallways, with a door at the end on the dark, empty little hallway they were currently walking in. The back of Carmen’s head was scared, but she wanted to have faith in Crowley. That this was something innocent. That he was just gonna make her sweep the floor or wipe the dust off of windows or something.

Crowley opened the door and motioned for her to enter. “Ladies first.”

Carmen walked inside. The room was small, with nothing but stone wall and marble flooring.

“…H-Headmaster…” Carmen quietly spoke up, beginning to turn her head. “W-where a-are the portrai…” The last word died on her mouth.

Her heart sank to her stomach

as she watched Crowley lock the door from the inside and quickly tried shutting the door.

No

No

Carmen sprinted for the door, but she was moments too late. Crowley had shut the door before Carmen could begin trying to open the door. She tried opening with all the might she had, but alas, the door wouldn’t budge.

“N-No…Please…” She began to beg, continuing her effort to open the damned door. “You can’t do this…Y-You can’t!” She hiccuped as tears welled up in her eyes “Please Crowley, let me out! Please! YOU CAN’T KEEP IN ME HERE! *Hic* PLEASE!” She shrieked as she sobbed, beginning to bang on the door.

Crowley was completely unfazed as he placed the key on the large key ring hanging on his hip.

“Come now, Carmen, you’ll help me keep my job as Headmaster. You won’t stay in there for long. The men will come in about an hour or two to pick you up, and you are to accompany them and do as they say-“

Crowley grew annoyed as Carmen refused to listen, continuing to bang on the door and sob.

“Goodness, woman, will you quiet down! You were so well behaved and obedient when you originally arrived! I gave you a roof over your head, and these are the thanks you give me? This is simply your way of paying me back for all I have done for you.” And with that, Crowley walked away, ignoring Carmen’s desperate screams and sobs.

She sank down to the floor, her banging coming to a halt as she sobbed. She quickly unbuttoned her shirt and pulled out her phone. She frantically unlocked it as she tried calling Vil, her heart pounding in her chest. No response. She called again. And again. Nothing. She tried to text him, but as soon as she tried, her messages would instantly fail to send, ‘No service’ at the bottom of her messages.

Carmen choked out another sob, more hot tears falling from her eyes. She began to panic when she heard frantic footsteps. Were the men already-

“CARMEN!”

Wait-

“HUMAN!”

She knew these voices-

The footsteps immediately stopped in front of the door.

“HENCHMAN! I’M HERE TO HELP!” 

Grim?

“SHH! Grim, not so loud! What if the Headmaster comes back?”

Silver?

“Scheiße! I can’t go through this door! I think it has magic to block out ghosts!”

Roman?

“We’ll have to find another way in then!”

Sebek?

“Carmen? Carmen, are you okay?” Roman frantically asked from outside the door.

“Y-yes…*hic*” she weakly responded.

“Carmen, we followed you two and saw everything. We heard Crowley made a phone call too. I think he’s trying to sell you. And with how the man he called mentioned something about…’using your body to good use…’ we need to get you out of here, and fast.” Silver said, his voice wavering when he had to repeat what the caller said about Carmen’s body. 

Her heart again sank to the bottom of her stomach as she heard what Crowley’s intentions were.

“And the fact that disgusting bird just brushed that comment off and said he couldn’t care less what they’ll do to you…” Roman snarled “I’ll rip all their organs out and make them so unrecognizable their own Mothers couldn’t recognize them!”

“Nobody dares to harm Carmen! I’ll burn them alive! I’ll-“ Silver interrupted Grim and Roman.

“Listen, both of you. What Crowley is doing is low, even compared to everything else he has done, but standing here and making threats won’t save Carmen. We need a plan, and fast. We only have an hour and a half to get her out and hide her until the authorities come, and we haven’t even called them yet.” Silver said. He placed his hand on the door.

“If Roman can’t even float through this door or the walls, then Crowley must’ve placed a powerful spell on here. We need that key…”

“But h-how w-will Crowley *hic* give y-you the k-key…?” Carmen weakly asked. The four went quiet for a bit as they thought. 

“…Ask one of our Professors?” Sebek spoke up. “Silver recorded everything, so we have proof if they won’t believe us!”

“…At this point, we don’t have many options…” Silver turned to Roman and Grimm. “You two, go and see if you can find more help. Me and Sebek will find a Professor to see if they’ll help.” The two nodded and began running (or flying in Roman’s case).

“I’ll be back Carmen! I promise we’ll save you!”

“We’ll give Crowley what-for, Henchman!”

Silver then turned back at the door.

“We’ll save you, Carmen. We won’t let those guys take you away.”

A sniffle came from the door.

“T-thank you…*hic*”

First Episode // Previous // Next

[lycheeloach]

overanalyzing mordecai's letter to his mom

Transcription + ramblings under the cut

Mother, Forgive my unannounced departure. Circumstances relating to my employment have made required me to travel on short notice. It may be some time before I am able to correspond again, but you will find savings in my rented room above the dry grocery adequate for living. Give Mrs. Kovitz the name Ezra [and] she will allow you upstairs. There is a safe box in the southeast corner behind the baseboard. [combination in Hebrew, more on that later] Please use some portion of it to relocate to more suitable living space, expeditiously. Purchase somewhere if you are able. The building is poorly ventilated, m[cut off, but based on the version from the Lackadaisy website it almost certainly says 'moldy'] and unhealthful. -M[ordecai]

First things first, he opens his letter with just 'mother'. 1) he's more formal than Esther, who just calls her 'mom' (though that might be because it's a Serious Letter). 2) he also signs it just 'Mordecai'. no 'dear' or 'love' here because he's totally not sentimental at all, right? he's also bad at expressing emotions, so instead we have to extrapolate how much his family means to him through his actions.

'forgive my unannounced departure' is telling in a couple of ways. First, it's pretty much an apology, which is something we don't really see from Mordecai. Second, it suggests that he and his mom are still in frequent contact, even after he's moved out.

The way Mordecai crosses out the word 'made' and replaces it with 'required' is probably in an effort to sound less alarming- less like he was forced to skip town. But he's so pressed for time and resources that he doesn't start over with a fresh sheet of paper.

'It may be some time before I am able to correspond again' he knows he's screwed. He's pretty sure he's going to die on this train, but he focuses on what's more important- writing to his mom and telling her where to find the money necessary for her and his sisters to have a better life.

It's revealed that Mordecai is renting a room- this gives him the personal space he so desperately needs, and also might be for reasons of keeping his work and home lives separate. Ezra is presumably an alias and he may have even given Mrs. Kovitz instructions to let his mother in if she ever came by. (Sidenote, in all likelihood she was probably just his landlady but I still kinda want to know how Mordecai would interact with Mrs. Kovitz.)

SO. here's an interesting fact for you. The safe combination is the name of Mordecai's youngest sister, Hannah, who died in infancy (you can see her in Tzipporah's arms here). Characters in the Hebrew alphabet correspond to numbers, hence how her name could be a safe combination. I can't phrase this in an analytical way- Mordecai using the name of his sister who died approximately a decade ago for the safe makes me explode. It makes all my bones fall out.

Apparently Mordecai saved enough money for his family to only need some of it to move to a better place. He emphasizes the importance of moving right away, because their building is gross- more than that, the tenements had very high mortality rates, something that the Heller family experienced firsthand.

The last thing I want to say is how desperate Mordecai is to get the letter mailed, practically begging strangers for postage. He's certain he's about to be shot in the face and he still fixates on sending that letter, because if he doesn't, everything he did for his family will have been for nothing.

In conclusion, I am normal.

[missheavenfield1215]

Princess Tutu x Arcane.

I've been sketching since I saw the end of Arcane, and it was impossible not to think about them.

At first I imagined it as a costume

And then I saw a fanart of @virtualsoup and I remembered that I had to release this:

Ahiru / Jinx

And I thought maybe this Ahiru has feather tattoos instead of smoke... Why?? I don't really know, I wanted to do it as an AU but in Princess Tutu there aren't enough characters

Ahiru is Jinx and I know I have a LOT of mistakes in anatomy but I swear it wasn't intentional.

And yes.... Silco would be Drosselmeyer, because Caron is more of a father to Fakir than his own ancestor and the Raven is out of the question, as his relationship with Rue is very similar to Mel's with Ambessa.

And for the design of Drosselmeyer as a silco I based myself on a sketch I did a couple of days ago and it was like a representation of what Drosselmeyer looked like when he was young.

This design is based on the idea that Drosselmeyer looks a bit like Fakir. But on the official website it has been said that Fakir is German on his father's side since his mother looks a lot like Raetsel and she was also a foreign dancer. So the resemblance between the two is only the hair (and maybe a few personality traits but that's all).

The most complicated to draw was

Fakir as Ekko.

Fakir already looks like a mess youngster, his hair is long and unkempt because he already had much bigger problems than worrying about his appearance. So I thought, what cut would Fakir have if he was in Ekko's place?

Simple

He would cut his hair.

Here is also an example, I wanted to use the mask that Fakir wears in the episode 8 But I remembered that that mask has no detail... So I left the same mask as Ekko.

I also noticed that Ekko has hourglass paint and the only thing I could think of was the scar that Fakir had on his chest and I put it on his face (I know it looks horrible, but I didn't notice it until I was done 🥺)

And I wanted to add a couple of braids made by Ahiru while he has a lollipop (a gift from Ahiru, too)

And here's a little extra:

There are many more details and I promise to clean up this sketch but this basically is a

Fakiru x TimeBomb

GOD, I'M STARTING TO LOVE THIS DYNAMIC BETWEEN THESE TWO WITH THE ROLES OF JINX AND EKKO ❤️❤️❤️🥰✨✨

You know, Ahiru is less shy and Fakir wants to resist the fact that she arouses feelings much stronger than hate...

I also regret not having painted them or being able to show them that Ahuru's bombs would be little Ducklings, but at least I got this out of my system!! ❤️✨

I hope you liked it, bye 😘💋

[ilikepjo24]

There's a post going around Tumblr about the color palette of your name (I saw @prodogg do it) and I tried it but my name has a very boring color palette so I did Atla characters instead.

Aang:

Okay! All of them are very bright colors that represent Aang's bright attitude and there's a dark shade at the top row which brings to mind the flaws of his character. Personally, I feel like that dark brown represents the guilt Aang feels for leaving. We also have some yellow and soft red, which are the colours of his outfit. There's some light grey that reminds me of his eyes and pretty light blue and beige, breezy light his element. We have some blue, some yellow, some green and some red. True Avatar core right there.

Katara:

Ohhh~ So many pretty blues! Blue eyes, blue clothes, blue nation, blue element and so on. Once again, I feel like the dark color in the third row represents the more bitter parts of Katara personality. Her small moments of jealousy, spite and harness. I also like how all the blues are different shades, some coming close to grey, others close to green and some being pure blue. The variety of shades really shows what I well rounded character she is.

Sokka:

Oh my... That's unexpected... There's only one shade of blue! But I can see some pretty browns and greys in there that are in his colour palette. I wonder why there are so many greens... Probably because he's one of the only characters that are grounded to earth 😂 maybe even a bit too much, seeing how he's always suspicious and doubtful. There are also some snow-like colours in here, which is fitting, seeing as he's from the Water Tribe 😎.

Suki:

That's a very interesting palette... The brown colours remind me of the Earth Kingdom, but there's a snowy white in there, probably because of how close Kyoshi Island is to the Southern Water Tribe. There's also a bit of green in there, even if it's greyish, and I couldn't help but notice those dark shades of red... Is it because she relocated in the Fire Nation after the war, and is currently working as Zuko's bodyguard? I also see a few really dark shades in those top corners, although I'm not surprised. Suki is a warrior through and through, and sometimes warriors have to do some ugly things to protect their homes.

Toph:

No surprises here! I like how Toph has more dark shades than other characters, since she's more in touch with her "dark side" after participating in secret wrestling matches and pulling all those scams. Many shades of green and brown, like her element and her country. But there's also some very light greens in there, so light that they could pass as white or grey, which is unlike the usual Earth Kingdom greens. I wonder if it's because she uses her bending in a much different way that all the other earthbenders, which makes her special. Or it could be because that's the color of her eyes.

Zuko:

That palette is an interesting one for sure. There are so many dark colours in here! And as we all know, the Prince of the Fire Nation didn't have a very happy life, or a very bright attitude. There's a dark brown-red in here and a dark blackish green, along with some blues and greys and a brownish gold. I wonder if it's because of his travels to all the four nations during his search for the Avatar. And I'm loving the references to the Blue Spirit with all those blues in there. Zuko's second, secret persona is a big deal for his character, since all the times we've seen him wear that mask, we've also gotten hints for his future redemption and friendships.

Azula:

Ah, there we go. My favorite girl! Right of the top we have some dark shades, fitting for s true vigilante. There's some brown-ish gold abd black, which brings her hair and eyes to mind. A pretty shade of red, for a true Fire Nation Princess. The lack of blue surprises me, seeing as her fire and her lighting are both blue... I guess the website must believe that she is much more than her bending. And there's quite a lot of green I see... Probably because her peak as a strategist and warrior was conquering Ba Sing Se and bringing the Earth Kingdom to its knees, all while wearing the iconic green Kyoshi Warrior uniform and the even more iconic green Earth Queen outfit.