#mostly his activities 2000+

[sensitivehandsomeactionman]

SPN & Jensen archive resources

This is a memory aid for my own reference, but it may be of interest to some of our more archive-oriented bloggers. I'll keep adding to it as I think of more.

thebreakfastpanel.tumblr.com/Timeline - J2 events index and photos from 2005-2016. Last active 2/2022.

@detailtilted - Enhanced J2 con videos. Currently active.

supernaturalwiki.com/Scripts_and_Casting_Sides

TV Writing (SPN scripts) mirror site

@fandomdebunker - confirms/debunks fandom claims if they can determine via evidence; run by Destiel-friendly bloggers. Last active 8/2024.

clairdelune-sb.tumblr.com/tagged/manip - an archive of side-by-side manips and originals. Last active 3/2019.

https://jensenackles.net/gallery/ - promotional photos, photoshoots, and candids

Recommendations by detailtilted:

https://www.youtube.com/@kirathehyrulian/playlists - YouTube playlists collecting all the con videos known to man that feature Jared and/or Jensen, in chronological order. It's still an active work in progress with 1,763 videos covering up to about 2011. There's also a playlist for general interviews/media/etc with 810 videos starting from pre-SPN and going up through more recent post-SPN interviews. https://www.tumblr.com/littlebeelife/701285083877900288/jared-and-jensen-in-conventions-throughout-the?source=share - Has photos from most of the conventions that J2 were at together in small thumbnails that make them easy to scroll through. Helpful for figuring out where the many unidentified photos and con video clips came from. Latest image is from Nov 2024.

[andresylupin]

maybe i've subconsciously pushed back against "The Teeth of the Tiger" because it's the one novel where you have to reconcile with the fact that, well:

[lemonynuggets]

6, 13, and/or 28 for the music asks? :3

yayayay thank you for the ask <3

6: A song that makes you want to dance

uhh I haven’t been listening to much music to dance to lately, so I’ll go with famous last words by my chemical romance because I’ve been vibing to it a lot…

13: One of your favorite 80’s songs

does Welcome to the Room… Sara by Fleetwood Mac count? I can’t listen to that song without thinking about yttd head in hands

28: A song by an artist with a voice that you love

Against the Kitchen Floor by Will Wood, he just has a very characteristic voice and his range is insane!! I’ll never not be impressed by Will Wood’s vocals, though there’s so many artists with voices I love <3

[vonbabbitt]

ok since people asked about the evil au. also please keep in mind this is a very 2000s/2010score au. its edgy and campy for fun

Isono Miki: Ultimate GFE Streamer

leans HARDCORE into GFE. constantly trying to manipulate money out of lonely people to fund a super bougie and comfortable lifestyle. snakesnake basically

Harada Keizou: Ultimate Butcher

butcher for the sole reason that he truly does enjoy chopping up and segmenting animals

just way over the top campy "haha i love killing and blood soooo much!!" 2010s deviantart creepypasta style

Chiba Airi: Ultimate Scammer

does exclusively ads for scummy faulty products and subscriptions and supplements so she can make mad bank

when we were discussing this in call we just kept saying "buy supplements" over and over and over again so thats the vibe

Kamimura Kazutoshi: Ultimate Cleanup Crew

its the same job but now he does it on the opposite side of the law

works directly in tandem with hasegawa, cleans up evidence and gets rid of bodies etc

personality wise....hes mostly the same LMAO

Hayashi Mai: Ultimate Hitman

doesnt ask questions. gets the job done

just in it for the thrill of the hunt. personality mostly the same but gets a bit feral edgy style when shes getting closer and closer to catching her target

Wada Masanari: Ultimate Con Artist

works with chiba and handles her phone lines

impersonates people's voices to give them the run-around when theyre trying to do something like cancel a subscription ("i wanna speak to the manager" "hi yes this is the manager now.")

buy supplements

Sasaki Hitomi: Ultimate Dictator

hey man gotta do something with those leadership skills

absolutely ruthless war criminal. this one is probably the most evil i think

Ojima Takeshi: Ultimate AI Artist

"nakamigawa i actually really like this design but i honestly think you could buff it up a lot with midjourney"

calls himself a "prompt engineer"

"wow cool drawing! i ran it through chatgpt to improve it a bit"

just a hardcore AI bro. thinks AI art is the absolute effing best and definitely real art

Okazaki Hanano: Ultimate Superhero

okay so shes not evil anymore

we thought it would be funny if in this evil AU shes just good now

still the rival of tsuno manami though

Hama Ran: Ultimate Occult Evangelist

just a straight up cultist

considers himself an "angel hunter", hunts down alleged "angels" and kills them in the name of his cult

tries to rope other people into his cult evangelism style

Tsuno Manami: Ultimate Supervillain

yeah pretty much what it says on the tin here

shes evil now

except shes actually good at it unlike okazaki

wants to take over the world or perhaps just blow it up maybe

Hiroaki Nakamigawa: Ultimate Model Coach

coaches young fashion models extremely harshly and pushes his fashion VERY hard

basically just yells at and insults these teenagers until they get eating disorders or quit forever

BRUTALLY mean

Tamba Ruiko: Ultimate Detective

except she absolutely fucking sucks at it

her detective-ing is an active detriment to everyone and actively sabotages crime scenes

she has no idea she sucks

Hasegawa Ken: Ultimate Information Broker

one smug motherfucker

works directly with kamimura in their little two man mafia

collects peoples information and uses it to blackmail them out of a massive amount of money and resources

Watari Nishino: Ultimate Demolitionist

we thought arson was way too basic

so now she blows stuff up with huge bombs

just for fun i guess. and can fun ever really be evil? certainly no way

Yanagi Shigeki: Ultimate Pick-up Artist

teaches those sigma male courses on how to pick up women

massive chauvinist

treats women like cattle and acts with the full intention of picking up as many of them as possible

[veren-cos]

Bachelors distracting you!

Stardew Valley Bachelors x reader

You need to get work done but they want your attention, and one way or another, they will get it :3

Not proofread, and not very cohesive between characters. Tried to keep it Canon. May or may not have succeeded.

Sam

"No, babe, a new season just started I have to get going on my crops!"

• Would definitely pout and try and hold your hand to prevent you from leaving the house

• As you got out your money and some leftover seeds from last year, he would (not so sneakily) get out his guitar

• He would then start playing a brand new song for you

• Like. Has been saving it for something, and it wasn't quite done, but he just had to get you to stay!

• Then when you tried asking him about it, he would say "no, I'm sorry, I have to work on this song more!"

• Basically mocking you from earlier saying you had to work haha

• This would successfully get you for like an hour, it makes him happy.

Alex

You were bustling around town, and he wanted you to talk to him, even if just for a bit!

• As soon as he saw you enter town he started lifting weights.

• And the more he saw you enter and leave buildings he started using heavier ones, trying to get you to think he is soooooo impressive.

• Eventually when you come to his house BUT DONT TALK TO HIM (how dare you/j) he does that jock boy thing where he wipes his sweat with his shirt

• A cocky bastard (affectionate) who just wants to see you flustered and pause for a second to admire him.

• Yeah. That definitely distracts you as you leave.

(God he is such a dude bro (affectionate-))

Sebastian

You were busy doing work around the farm, and he wanted attention but didn't want to outwardly bother your day.

• Ngl he would either work on his motorcycle purely because he knows you think it's hot, or he would play his synthesizer.

• Depends on how confident he is feeling that day, but he knows both of those need to be done eventually anyways!

• He rarely practices his synth, and knows it fascinates you.

• It's just so cool he knows how to play it!!

• If he works on his motorcycle, you just watch because you are trying to figure out what he is doing

• You want to be able to actually know what he is talking about when he tells you about it later!

• Either way, he knows he grabbed your attention for a little bit, and that's enough for him

• Definitely would not be up in your face about it tho, he is very low key about like. Everything-

Harvey

• Wouldn't try to distract you from your farming or anything

• Knows how important your job is

• Would however distract you from menial activities like reading or watching TV if you haven't given him enough attention that day

• Would start cooking

• Like something he knows you really like, but also smells so it would get your attention

• Also plays music. Like some early 2000s girly pop music. He loves that stuff but doesn't play it often because he thinks it's embarrassing he likes it (it isn't I love that shit)

• But yeah that grabs your attention from whatever you were doing

Shane

• Starts bringing the chickens outside of the coup!

• Knows you think they are cute

• And he knows you think he is cute when he is taking care of the animals

• Plus it's also practical for him to do animal stuff so you can farm

• But yeah he doesn't really want a lot of attention, just wants to see you smile for a bit!

Elliott

He just wanted to see your face stick around for a little longer! Didn't want you to go, even when he knew you had work to do.

• Would play his piano!

• Works like a charm because he always has something new

• You wonder when he has the time to practice new pieces all the time

• You sit next to him for a bit, leaning on his shoulder

• After he finishes the song, he let's you go back to whatever you were doing.

• He got in enough time with you for now, but he would make sure to get all of your attention later

An* I had like no ideas for Harvey and Shane. Sorry if they are kinda clunky- This was mostly inspired by my ideas for Sam and Alex, but this was fun to write!! Also, these lowkey make no sense, and they weren't proofread, so just take the concepts loosely and run with it! :)

Rasmodius, aka The Wizard (by request)

I imagine that this would be when you stopped by to visit him but had to leave to go work. Like y'all weren't living together.

• Would use magic!

• A silent spell that makes little illusions around the room.

• He is a little shy, so like Sebastian or Harvey, he wouldn't outright say anything.

• But he makes everything so pretty you can't help but stare for a while.

• The lights danced near the ceiling, a mirage of all your favorite colors

• He gets your attention for a while, and it keeps him content until he sees you again :3

Masterlist

[mantequillamcwhoremick]

SP Sports Headcanons because why the fuck not

I was rambling to this about @m4rz1t0ne and decided I'm just gonna make a whole post about it because why the hell not. Most of these are gonna tie into what we already know about the characters but I was having some fun playing around especially with Kenny's for projection reasons so let's start with him.

Kenny

Given (gestures at all of Mysterion) and various other canon instances where Kenny has shown skill/talent in strength and agility, I feel like Kenny definitely would participate in some kind of sport. Not only that, but socializing seems to be his outlet for everyday stress (even if he often stays quiet in social groups), so I think he'd naturally wind up in a crowd where they do something sporty/exercise together. However; I don't see Kenny joining a team or be disciplined into a sport by classes or a club. Other than the fact that classes can simply be super expensive, I feel like Kenny is someone who'd appreciate flexibility and spontaneity in his schedule, given how unpredictable his day to day life is.

Considering how adaptive he is, he'd end up in the most random crowds and learn stuff from other people, and thus I think the most fitting types of sports for him are Street Sports. Particularly Parkour and Breakdancing (yes, dancing is a sport. especially Breaking.) because they're very accessible, since they don't require any equipment or special environment, unlike Skating sometimes does. Perhaps he'd do Calisthenics as well, depending on if he has a fitting space to practice. The Pandemic duology (s12, ep10-11) as well as his opera singer arc in Quintuplets 2000 (s4 ep4) convinced me he is a music enthusiast so I definitely see him enjoying dancing and getting immersed in Hip Hop culture (see Noreen's post for more elaboration). Maybe he'd get into other Street Dance Styles too, just all around finding community among other working class people like him.

@kennytheworkingclasshero

Kyle

Kyle might be the one most intrinsically motivated and ambitious out of the main characters when it comes to sports (yeah sorry this is about Mr. Garrison's Fancy New Vagina). More so than Stan if I may argue, who seems to have more extrinsic motivations like approval and validation. I see Kyle enjoying mostly team sports, canonically Basketball and American Football, but I'm pretty sure he's also a Soccer guy (at the very least socially) and I definitely see him playing Tennis. All around ball sports seem to be his thing, and I can see him want to pursue any of his current sports interests disciplinarily. I'm sure Mr. and Mrs. Broflovski would put him in any kind of classes if he expressed interest, given that they can afford it and because it's healthy to regularly exercise, so I imagine they'd like to encourage that.

Other than that, I feel like Kyle would also join the Track & Fields (athletics) team at school at some point. He definitely seems like the guy to have a gym membership and actually actively use it, especially to blow off steam (lord knows he needs it sometimes. understandably), or go for a run occasionally for the same reason. I don't really see him as a boxer, but I'm sure he'd buy boxing gloves and regularly use a punching bag to get out his frustrations if given the chance.

Stan

So we know Stan was the "star player on the football team" in Big Gay Al's Big Gay Boat Ride (s1 ep4), but that hasn't really been touched up on again in more recent seasons. Apart from that, the encouragement Stan received from the entire town and the ease with which he flaked from the game to look for his dog instead lead me to believe that most of the reason Stan would actively be on a sports team would come from external validation rather than genuine interest. That isn't to say he can't be sporty; he definitely is a hobby ball sports player, we see him managing the Football team on the playground in Raisins (s7 ep14) and he plays Basketball on occasion with his friends-- but I feel like that's it. He'll play team sports for fun, for camaraderie and because he has a knack for leadership, but other than that, he gives me strong vibes of someone who has a gym membership and DOESN'T use it. He'll choose to sit down and write a song, play on his guitar, get together with his band or other people to jam, play board or video games all day or even watch a Denver Nuggets game before he'd spend his free time willingly exercising.

Keep him away from gym memberships because he'll just blow away his money. Give him a couple friends he'll go out to play basketball and football with every now and then, instead.

Cartman

Well. Like Stan, he is a hobby playground team sports player at most-- we've seen this often enough-- and I'm pretty sure he mostly enjoys this because he can rub his victories in his opponents' faces, or be team captain and order everyone around (like we saw him reprimand Craig briefly in Breast Cancer Show Ever (s12 ep9) while they were playing football) but I feel like his interests don't really lie too much in truly improving his skills. I do see him getting into Boxing or Kickboxing, or maybe Karate for the coolness factor or maybe other Martial Arts, because I'm sure he'd love to be good at kicking ass. But I feel like he's the kid who begs, yells at and convinces his mom to sign him up for a class, then be sick of it by the third session and yell at his mom for making him go. He'd also whine whenever he has to take a hit and threaten to sue his sparring partner for grievous bodily harm, before he sneaks up with an unfair move and knocks them on the ground much harder than necessary.

But I believe he does enjoy watching sports a lot, and get unnecessarily aggressive over his current favorite team (it changes every week). Bro probably does know his shit about all the NBA and NFL tea, and he goes crazy during soccer world championships depending on how the American team is doing. Are they winning? America4ever, suck it losers. They're losing? Watching the soccer world championship is for fags anyway, and he'll tell you that every day at least five times, unprompted. He probably also plays a shit ton of FIFA and mansplains the details of the sport to Kyle which pisses him the fuck off because Kyle ACTUALLY knows his shit about soccer from personal experience. (thank you, @m4rz1t0ne)

Butters

So in Sarcastaball (s16 ep8) Stan so graciously said:

"You don't suck at football, Butters, you suck at all sports."

Which, well. I'm not gonna argue that Butters is clumsy (he trips over his own cape in The C**n (s13 ep2)), and-- if we may accept this as canon-- probably has a hard time with ball sports because of his fucked up left eye & consequently lack of proper 3D vision. This rules him out as a fit player for almost every playground sport-- basketball, football, soccer, dodgeball; making Stan's conclusion that he "sucks at all sports" a valid conclusion to draw from the narrow worldview of a typical boy. However, which sport HAVE we seen Butters continuously enjoy and excel at?

Dancing.

I swear to fucking God. Put this boy in an Allstyle dance community NOW. I'm talking Hip Hop, Tap (he was in the state championchips for fucks sake), Popping, Ladystyle, idc BALLET. He'd enjoy ballet, let him dance ballet. I need an AU where Butters is put into the toxic ass Ballet industry by his parents since very young and while he enjoys the dance he's constantly immensely pressured in ways no one sees except for the stage light technician Kenny McCormick who got the job hoping to make some extra cash and they fall in love and it distracts Butters from his training .

Anyway. Butters may not be one for traditionally masculine boyhood experience playground sports, but you'd bet your ass he'd excel on the dance floor. But he's canonically also one for one of the most fancy, sophisticated and classist ass sports on the fucking planet: Equestrianism.

I don't think I need to say more, this is just canon information. I guess this is just me trying to put together a compilation to prove to Stan that Butters DOESN'T suck at all sports. He may not be the most coordinated, but you bet your ass that when there's music or a horse involved he can learn to be the most graceful creature on the planet. Even if he flings his shoe at the ceiling and kill 8 people in the process.

[drdemonprince]

Hi Devon, I keep finding out that more of my trans friends are actively in the middle of leaving the U.S., and my partner keeps saying things like 'well we need to make plans in case we need to get you out of here.' Is it weird that my first instinct is to push back on this? I don't really want to leave, and I am clear-eyed enough about how being an immigrant works and how little connections we have, plus the global rise of fascism, that I just don't really understand how this could be, for us, the best option.

For reference, I am white and genderqueer, and though I have been on T for a while and had top surgery I still get mostly gendered as a woman (I think this has to do with my being fat and not making much effort to pass or deepen my voice). But we live in a blue state with lots of good laws supporting trans people, and I work in a supporting workplace. So I am in a pretty safe spot, all things considered.

Yeah honestly, I think a lot of white Americans who are considering leaving the country are a little bit deluded by white supremacy and eurocentrism into thinking that there is a better place they can flee to, with decent trans healthcare, where they will somehow be welcomed, and able to find jobs easily, rather than face anti-immigrant sentiment.

Of course, it is true that white American immigrants are valued more compared to other immigrants, but the degree of certainty with which a lot of white Americans are behaving as if leaving the country is an easy solution is pretty divorced from reality I think. Especially when you take into account what accessing hormone replacement therapy looks like in a majority of other countries. It's worse! In every country in Europe other than Spain, they don't have informed consent, and they have extremely long wait lists to get care if at all. It's often much harder to change one's documents or name, depending on the country.

I speak to a lot of European trans people and I know that in a majority of those countries, trans acceptance is a lot farther back than what you can find in most American cities. This country is obviously fucked in a great many ways, but if you really have an understanding on a systemic and historical level as to why that is, I don't think you'd be looking at Europe as an answer or a refuge. they are where we inherited all of those problems from! our country is fucked up and evil because it's filled with a bunch of white settlers!

I suppose Canada and Mexico are a little bit more promising in certain ways, if I was going to flee somewhere those would be the places I was considering, but it would still be pretty supremely fucked up for me to do so and leave behind so many of the trans people who don't have the luxury of doing so. It just isn't a solution. It's kind of a white liberal fantasy that has been popular ever since Bush came into office in the early 2000s.

I think it makes a lot more sense for a trans person in a red state to flee to a blue state and then to contemplate a cross-country move when a majority of these countries that they're considering are extremely hostile to immigrants, particularly ones with disabilities, reduced employment prospects, or any other vulnerabilities, which trans people typically have. American people tend to believe that our lives are so important that any place would take us, which is kinda disgusting in its own right, but it doesn't really work out well to hurl oneself into non-citizenship even when you have those massive advantages if you can't promise those countries the 'benefits' of american economic and cultural supremacy. which most of us can't.

[vallification]

reiner braun headcanons!!!

notes: au/noncanon oriented, some apply to canon too, maybe a few mature themes!!!

let me know your thoughts!!!

reiner’s eyes are a warm, golden hazel and he has super long eyelashes

reiner has a very basic sense of style that serves mostly for functionality. jeans or cargo pants, polo shirts, t-shirts, sweatshirts. most of his sweatshirts and hoodies have his college logo on them

however, he has a love for big jackets. canvas carhartt jackets are his favorite.

he absolutely plays american football. he’s 6’2 and 210 lbs, what the hell else would he play?

reiner has a year-round tan because he loves being outdoors.

he loves animals and would definitely have a big dog.

reiner loves the call of duty games and plays them often with connie, eren, bertholdt, and annie

reiner loves camping, hiking, and bonfires. he’s the guy who’s obsessively tending to the fire every time

he also loves photography. it’s not a huge thing, he only uses his phone, but he loves taking pictures of beautiful sunsets, scenery, nature, and candids of his friends

he drives an old black chevy 1500 that he bought for $2k. it has like, 200k miles on it but that’s his baby

reiner wears tom ford oud wood cologne

reiner hates surprises.

reiner and bertholdt still have sleepovers where they sleep in the same bed. they’re both way too large for it to seem comfortable but they manage

reiner is a huge history buff and loves historical docudramas. he also loves old western movies and raunchy 2000s comedy movies, he has a TON on DVD.

reiner’s love language is acts of service and enjoys taking care of things for other people

there’s not a meal he loves more than steak and potatoes followed by pie and ice cream

he has a huge sweet tooth and he actually taught himself how to make pie from scratch! however, they’re usually not the most beautiful looking desserts.

reiner is Not a smoker but sometimes connie can get him to take a couple hits off of whatever he’s got

sometimes reiner underestimates his strength so now he has a tendency to be very gentle with things

reiner is an incredible singer and loves to sing to himself in the car and the shower, but he’s usually too shy to sing in front of anyone (i got this idea from @/tangerineserenity, but i’m not sure if they’re still active)

reiner wears a black casio watch and a thin black chain necklace, both gifts from his mother.

he looks after gabi often because they’re close and she also likes the outdoors

reiner is not the most assertive guy but given the circumstances, that can change in an instant. it’s scary!!!

he’s very much a romantic and he doesn’t do the whole casual thing

reiner takes an antidepressant so despite his size, it’s easy for him to drink wayyyy too much. he usually sticks to nursing a few beers

reiner is a fantastic wingman.

[asherousstuff]

"No, You not a colleague, you a fuckin' colonizer" - Kendrick Lamar (Not Like Us)

I keep going back to that line since Lamar isn't wrong. Drake colonized what hip-hop used to be.

Back in the 70s, 80s, and maybe 90s, hip-hop was a culture revolution. It was anti-drug and anti-violence. It was where black people specifically could air out their anger. It was a form of empowerment and self-expression while simultaneously calling out political, social, and economic issues, media did demonised hip-hop during this time a lot due to this, which wasn't palpable to a lot of white people, (not saying that white people didn't enjoy it or also sang hip-hop). It was primarily seen as Black-American music, something they could claim as their own

Then, after the 2000s and the start of 2010, there was a change due to some people, and one of them was Drake. He didn't really understand what hip-hop (also known as rap) actually meant. So when he used it, his lyrics were mostly about women, sex and that. Sure, there were some times that Drake songs were serious, but it wasn't what it was before.

And since Drake became popular, it also dragged hip-hop into popularity, which led to what hip-hop actually meant and stood for to fade. Intentionally or not, Drake colonised what hip-hop stood for with his own meaning, and other rappers followed suit. It also meant it became more palpable to white people. (Media stopped demonising hip-hop after this because it lost the roots of political and social activism it had)

If you're wondering why hip-hop started to have a white rapper problem, this is kind of why, but there are also other reasons. Drake isn't the sole reason, but he is a cause in it.

Lamar ain't wrong that Drake was a colonizer because he colonised what hip-hop meant.

Added: Someone reblog that Drake is a popstar. While he is considered a popstar and does pop music now, he's started in hip-hop music, and the main inspiration came from hip-hop that influenced his style. Drake even has the most number one singles in R&B and hip-hop charts. It was a style he did steal from.

[nthspecialll]

Do you have any modern day Arthur headcanons or like what he would be like in this day and age? 😗 Especially if he’s a millennial or something so he’s been forced to grow up in a modern setting if you know what I mean?

I think Arthur would mostly be the same, even if the circumstances are different I think the situations which shaped him would majorily be the same.

Also everything underneath will be headcanons because there isn't really anything canon to go of off.

Naturally Arthur would have been shaped by the time and age and likely be more... By the lack of other words 'woke', like he already is in 1899, now imagine him growing up in the 1990's/2000's, brother isn't just going to be accepting but also active in making others accept.

Would probably still enjoy the more outdoorsy life. You can expect if he doesn't live in a wood cabin in his day to day, he will own one where he will go in weekends/holidays/off days, like any way he can be allowed to sneak out there he will.

I am a FUCKER for grill Arthur who is in charge of the gang's barbeque on grill night, standing with a smoke in one hand, a beer ready on a nearby table as he turns the spare ribs.

Still a bit of a rougher dude who isn't as open with talking about his feelings to other men.

Still owns a horse, doesn't really participate in competitions or anything, just trail rides around his cabin. When he isn't there the horse is in a loose housing system near his main house. He also has some fuck ass little pony to keep it company that is mean as shit. He naturally doesn't ride it, but it comes along on trails as a loose horse that carries snacks and stuff. He has trained it to not run away.

... I need a fic like this not going to lie.

[mango-dot-yum]

This is a follow-up on a post I made a bit ago after discussing it with my friend @141n3!

(original post here:)

My original post was mostly focused on how Greaseball is emotionally abusive to Dinah, but I didn’t mention how he is canonically physically abusive as well.

In That Was Cheating/There’s Me, Greaseball physically pushes Dinah to the ground. I cannot think of a version where Greaseball doesn’t do this(not saying there isn’t, just saying in most productions he does push her). As most people know, there is never a situation where it is okay to push your partner to the ground when you’re mad at them. And Dinah immediately apologizes, showing he’s done this before and that being physically abused is normal in their relationship.

In the OLC, the 2nd and 3rd class sleepers have this interaction with Dinah and Greaseball:

This is plain and simple. The sleepers(who I assume to be Dinah’s friends since all the coaches seem to be friends) mention how Greaseball beats Dinah. Why would they say this randomly, unless they have seen it happen, or Dinah has told them about it? And the fact Greaseball doesn’t say anything is odd if he isn’t actually doing anything. Greaseball clearly cares a lot about his image, it’s why he gets so mad when Electra steals his spotlight. Why wouldn’t he be like “I am not beating my girlfriend, I actually love her so much and she’s the coolest!” so the sleepers don’t go around spreading “rumors” that he beats her?

Also, there was a comment on the wiki from years ago which I want to talk about, because I want to talk about the fandom perception of Greaseball- specifically in relation to Dinah- and how it comes off as misogynistic, most of the time unintentionally.

Like I said, this was YEARS ago. While what this person said is problematic, don’t look for them on their social media platforms or anything. That’s not cool. People can change.

First off, they’re implying the sleepers only said this because they were jealous of Dinah and GB. This is something that is commonly said when women come out about abuse. “Oh, she’s saying (male celebrity) is abusive to (male celebrity’s wife)? She’s just mad that (male celebrity’s wife) is happier and richer than her, lol.” Everyone is a product of society, and society portrays this type of response as typical from women. That doesn’t make it okay, but I don’t think that(or the rest of this) was intentional

Secondly, I want to talk about the downplaying of abuse. “Could Greaseball have gotten a bit handsy with Dinah in an argument from time to time? Sure” “She fell, but it’s not like he grabbed her and YEETED her to the ground!” He does grab her and push her to the ground, but the phrasing here makes it seem like anyone who says that is dramatic. This also happens in real life with real abuse victims. “Y’all are so dramatic, (victim) had a little red mark for an hour or two after a tiny slap on the wrist, it’s not like (abuser) beat them until they’re black and blue!”

Portraying the fandom as the ones in the wrong was also a choice. Like I said, I was a lurker in the fandom for years so I didn’t actively engage in it. But from what I saw, people were downplaying Dinah’s abuse like people do now- even more so back then! Were there people mischaracterizing her? Absolutely. Does it mean Greaseball did nothing wrong? Absolutely not. Greaseball himself(and many other characters) see Dinah as a quivering, docile baby lamb which is part of abuse. Dinah does say things and gets shut down, yeah, but what does she do after she gets shut down? Does she stay with what she said? No. In That Was Cheating, she apologizes to Greaseball. After GB leaves her for Pearl, she gets mad at Pearl and cries to her friends. Her being shut down repeatedly and accepting it proves the abuse even more.

I don’t want to talk about the kink thing too much because I am a minor and I don’t want to shame people, but I do want to mention that this is what is said when a woman in relationship has bruises and is also known to have an aggressive partner. “(Guy) would never do that! She probably likes it and asks him to do it”

Now, how does this connect to the current Starlight Express fandom? Because people still refuse to admit Dinah is a victim. I have done this before myself, in a post I deleted because I realized that I shouldn’t have said that. “Ik they’re toxic, but they’re so cute!” Is it a crime to like a ship? No, but fiction DOES affect reality in many ways. If you turn a blind eye to abuse and misogyny in fiction, you eventually will in real life.

Part of this is because the show itself has made Greaseball less of a bad person over the years. I get why, you don’t want a terrible person who mostly still gets his way in the end in a musical meant for kids, but it does impact perception of him. If you see a bunch of content of and based on current Greaseball, you might start to attach his new character to his older one.

I don’t want to be overly negative, especially because a lot of people in this fandom that I have met are such kind, genuine people. But we all need to acknowledge our own biases towards racism, misogyny, and any form of bigotry in media to be better people. What we consume and how we consume it affects us.

(Note: this is NOT to hate on Greaseball introjects, fictionkins, or Greaseball fans. This was me having a good conversation with my friend about a character, and I also wanted to bring up how important the way we consume fiction is.)

[pseudosis]

begging. crying. gnawing at my damn cage bars. modern university au zuko blurbs or headcannons. sis please.. crumbs at least im literally burning

-🍃

❴ 𝐌𝐎𝐃𝐄𝐑𝐍 𝐔𝐍𝐈𝐕𝐄𝐑𝐒𝐈𝐓𝐘 𝐀𝐔 𝐙𝐔𝐊𝐎 𝐇𝐄𝐀𝐃𝐂𝐀𝐍𝐎𝐍𝐒 / 2000s ❵

﹒︴Zuko went to college on behalf of his father’s expectations, he and Azula went to two different schools in completely different countries based on how he treated them. His son ended up at a nice university, but not as prestigious as the one he sent his daughter off to.

﹒︴His alt phase had begun back in late high school, him slowly growing into the fashion and experimenting in the worst, more overly dramatic outfits and makeup ever. He looked ridiculous for a time until he finally found the style that he thought suited him best in his senior year.

﹒︴He shared an apartment with both Aang and Sokka in a complex right by the main part of the school. His room consists of horror movie tapestries, band posters, signed vinyls, and his guitar hanging up on the wall with his aux on the ground next to it. It’s the ultimate room for anyone in the alternative scene.

﹒︴Building from the last paragraph, Zuko loves to play his electric guitar, it’s a coping mechanism for his fluctuating mood swings. Growing up, he had a hard time regulating his emotions and would often get in serious trouble for it, so instead of acting on how he feels, he can express it through something harmless like striking certain notes on the instrument. His neighbors definitely hate him for constantly blasting the sounds from the guitar on the aux.

﹒︴He has a plethora of different piercings which are mostly on his face, a smiley, eyebrow piercings, a septum, a dermal, a vertical labret, snake bites, a tongue piercing, multiple ear piercings, and a prince albert pierc- [GUNSHOTS]

﹒︴Along with piercings, he has a lot of tattoos, both forearms fully done. And some other smaller pieces on his abdomen, back, and fingers.

﹒︴Zuko can’t keep scissors out of his damn hair, and he’s constantly dying his hair black every time he can. He keeps his hair short as hell, creating a suffocating biohazard from the amount of hairspray and flat iron smoke without much heat protectant. You know, him actively cooking his hair alive? Yeah. Think Trent Lane from daria type of hairstyle.

﹒︴Honestly Zuko loves all types of music, except country, and will try anything as long as he thinks it sounds good. But his ultimate favorite genres are nu-metal and emo/alternative. He likes bands like slipknot, korn, system of a down, evanescence, deftones, lacuna coil, kittie, limp bizkit, my chemical romance, three days grace, bullet for my valentine, mortician, panic at the disco, and the list goes on.

﹒︴A myspace whore…No but seriously, his myspace would be so detailed and intricate for no reason at all. And you know his ass changes the songs every day. He usually posted stupid clips of him, sokka and aang at the skatepark, the skits that they make, his makeup/hair routine for those curious, and other videos of all kinds.

﹒︴Had an obsession with lucky charms cereal when he had no money to go to the school restaurants.

﹒︴Also loves watching adult swim, favorite show happens to be robot chicken.

﹒︴He smokes a lot of fucking weed, like he loves getting high with the other two boys and on the occasions when he has a girl, then he would love to get high with you.

﹒︴Has this weird ass party trick where he can spit out soda/liquor from out his snake bite openings. Doesn’t do it often since it gets infected and the infection is the worst.

﹒︴The boys often throw parties in the apartment which a lot of people go to, Zuko isn’t the life of the party but he definitely needs time to grow comfortable, happens whenever he’s intoxicated in some type of way.

﹒︴Zuko meets you as a freshman at the college he’s going to, and you two happen to share a class together first thing in the morning. In the middle of the lecture he comes into the classroom pretty late in a bunch of thrown on clothes and he looked sleepy as hell. No bag, no supplies, just himself and a singular notebook. He sat next to you towards the back of the classroom, because you by chance sat in a seat that was next to his usual spot. He plopped himself in his seat and immediately let his head fall on the table

﹒︴His first ever words to you were when he needed to actually take some notes and he shifted his head towards you to ask groggily if you had a pencil he could borrow. And of course you gave him one, it’s such a minor moment but it was a generous one.

﹒︴This continues for a while whenever he would be too tired from a party the night before to properly prepare for class, you would share stuff together. And whenever he would accidentally leave without giving it back he would humbly return it back to you at your own apartment, from which you told him where it was.

﹒︴He isn’t on his phone often, he was more of a laptop kind of guy, if you happened to have myspace then yeah he would definitely text you so much more. If you wanted to.

﹒︴Zuko texts with so many acronyms and shortened words, for example, “hey wsp?” or “c u tmr” Kinda dry to be honest, unless you like talking about music and fashion, then the conversations would be so much more interesting. He also sends you party invites since he thinks you’re that cool.

﹒︴He loves taking naps in between classes with his narcoleptic ass.

﹒︴Really loves to thrift, he’s one of those guys you gotta watch out for at the thrift stores unless you wanna see him take all the good stuff.

﹒︴Constantly stacking up on tons of petty pieces of jewelry of all kinds like rings, earrings, necklaces, chains, etc.

﹒︴Likes to rip off the sleeves of crusty old band tees he found at the thrift stores to add to the crunchy look of them, he likes when they look like they’ve been through hell and back.

﹒︴He goes to illegal car meets sometimes with Sokka and Aang. Zuko’s really good at driving, and knows how to drift, do donuts, burnouts, and then he usually rides out of there before the cops arrive at the scene. Has had to get his car fixed up multiple times because of recklessly driving away from police, most of which he has had Sokka do if it wasn’t anything serious.

﹒︴If he’s dating you, he loves taking you out on late night drives to get away from the party. You two have the time of your lives blasting music and riding around with the windows down.

﹒︴He absolutely adores it when you kiss him on the lips and whatever you have on (lipstick, lipgloss, stain, liner) gets on his own lips. Zuko will definitely walk around with it on and not wipe it off until he goes to wash all of his makeup off

﹒︴He talks about would love to have kids one day, despite being all rowdy now, after college he will in fact get serious enough to raise some kids of his own. Zuko often held off on the idea because he wants to get in his right mind first and get an income coming in so that they’re comfortable.

﹒︴Zuko in this au has bipolar disorder, so don’t take offense if he switches mood or changes his mind on you. It can be very inconvenient at times but he’s trying to get better without relying on medication. It seems like one minute he’s completely comfortable talking to you, and the next moment his anxiety can render him speechless unless you speak up first.

﹒︴His grades are decent, since this is in fact college and he needs to further his knowledge on economics and business in general if he plans on taking over the family business. He’s not really good at turning shit in on time, a professional procrastinator on homework.

﹒︴Has a massive cologne collection, the best ones too so if anyone ever needs any to smell amazing, ask him.

﹒︴His room is often a mess of clothes on the ground, being the fashion freak he is, his ass is digging through the articles of clothing he has and forgets to clean up before he leaves out. Ends up not cleaning it up until he has literally nothing else to do, or if someone comes over.

﹒︴Absolutely hates doing dishes and is constantly buying paper plates, cups, plastic utensils, etc.

﹒︴Constantly taking fit pics with those digital cameras. Possibly created mirror selfies.

﹒︴Has so many fucking bb belts it’s genuine insanity how he just collects them.

﹒︴Iroh thought he always looked so silly with his style, like in a funny way. Why is he wearing multiple belts? Why does he purposely ruin his makeup? What happened to the sleeves on his shirts? You know in a curious parent kind of way.

﹒︴Is the type to create an entire song about you on his guitar since he just loves you so much. More of an instrumental rather than a complete song with lyrics because he’s not too big on singing.

﹒︴Despite listening to the obvious metal/alt music, he listens to a lot of the songs his mother constantly sang when she had the time to, like Teena Marie’s “Out on a limb” or Sade’s “The sweetest taboo.” It resurfaces the memories of his mother singing her heart out to them like she was performing for an audience, and he always remembered her having the most beautiful singing voice he’d ever heard. It brings him comfort when he really misses his mom sometimes.

@PSEUDOSIS 2024 all rights reserved so please do not tamper with / use ai prompts / repost / or translate my works without explicit permission from me .ᐟ all banners and layouts are made my by me, feel free to dm if any questions arise .ᐟ

[casscainmainly]

hii, do you read fanfics? and if yes, do you have any fic recs for cass, either as a solo character or focused on her relationships with the rest of the batfam?

Hi!!! I'm not the most well-versed in fanfics, but I have read some great Cass ones. These are mostly going to be solo Cass focused, since I haven't found that many great ones with the Batfam.

Volving by @shobogan

This short fic kills me everytime. Set after the end of Batgirl (2000), it's honestly the conclusion I wish we'd gotten. The dialogue for Cass is on point, and I'm quite picky about Cass dialogue! I also recommend shobogan's equally amazing Equinox, which is a Brenda/Cass story.

Hot Girl Shit (The Feminine Urge To Die Young) by @havendance

An astonishingly clever fic that places Claire Clover (Gotham Girl) into the events of early Batgirl (2000). No knowledge of Claire is strictly needed though, the author makes it really easy to follow along. The parallels are unmatched, the feels are tremendous, it's just a great fic everyone should read. Also recommend havendance's Cassandra Cain vs. The World!, where Cass has to fight Kon's seven evil exes (it's as hilarious as it sounds).

Nourish by Ptelea

This fic is as sweet as its theme - Cass gets a moment with each of the Batfam, bonding over fruit. The writing is beautiful, and the Jason section in particular is stellar. The fluffiest fic on this list by far!

what's past is prologue by Icestorm238

Cass only appears in the sixth story in this series, but the entire thing is worth reading. A Dick-goes-back-in-time-to-save-Jason fic, the character twists and turns are so good, and there's an excellent Steph-centric story here too! Even if you don't care for the other characters, Cass is incredibly well-written in her section, a rarity for whole Batfam fics.

When Pinioned Birds Take Flight by @iowriteswords

This series (Robin and Other Flightless Birds) is well known, but this story is the most Cass-focused, and doesn't necessarily require knowledge of the prior fics. Though this is an AU, Cass is anchored in canon, and her relationship to Babs in particular gets a lot of development in the last part of the fic.

Not as Cass-centric as any of these, but bad signal by prismatical is an excellent story with some great Cass moments. The fic is definitely more focused on Dick, Jay, and Tim, but Cass isn't just a prop here and is actively involved, so I'd still check it out!

I wish I had more recs, I know there's some great Cass stuff out there I haven't found yet. Thanks for the ask, hopefully other people can chime in with their own recommendations!

[eds6ngel]

✮⋆｡°✩⋆˙ a christmas miracle

a 'when i kissed the teacher' spinoff.

summary: you and steve were in a weird situation. you weren't actively trying to get pregnant, but you weren't exactly being safe either. so, how will steve react when he opens his final christmas present?

warnings: dad!steve. mom!reader. fem!reader. afab!reader. 90s!au. mentions and allusions to sex. mentions of pregnancy. pet names. kissing. tons of crying. alena being too young to understand pregnancy (kinda cute tho). alena being a cutie pie as always. some worries over steve's reaction. but mostly fluff and comfort!! [1.9k].

author's note: hi everyone!! i am back!! my first semester of uni is finally over, so i can get back to fic writing a little more! i couldn't neglect my happy family like this, so i've tackled a pregnancy fic! i've never been pregnant, but i do wish to be in my life, so all of my research has been for my own benefit and utilised in this fic. if i'm inaccurate in any parts, please let me know for the benefit of the readers and myself!! ♡

It was hard not announcing the news to Steve. Having to attend your first scan without him was heartbreaking, but the look upon the nurse’s face after you told her you were going to wrap up the ultrasound photo, along with a card saying “Merry Christmas Daddy” and a pair of small, cream, woolen socks, just confirmed your decision was the right one.

You and Steve were in a sort of weird situation. You had stopped using protection, but weren’t in a position were you were actively trying to get pregnant. You agreed that any time from now was an okay time for the two of you to have a child, but also weren’t bothered if the pregnancy tests came back negative.

But, a little Christmas miracle decided to form inside of you, the test showing two lines on December 11th, 1999.

Steve and Alena had gone grocery shopping for an hour, the perfect opportunity for you to wrap Steve’s gift.

Rolling out the wrapping paper, you placed a grey, fluffy blanket in the centre, before laying on top the Christmas card which read:

Hi Daddy.

I’m six weeks old today!

I can’t wait to meet you soon! I’m planning to enter the world on August 20th, 2000.

My mom is keeping me very safe right now as I grow, but I’ll still be listening out for you from inside my home.

See you in nine months.

Love, your future child <3

And as you were about to place the ultrasound photo next to the cream baby socks you previous put underneath the card, your eyes started welling with tears once more.

Was it the hormones? Maybe. But, something in you felt this was all natural. You were growing a human life inside of you, one that has half of your DNA and the other half the love of your life’s. That was something to bask in the intense emotion of.

With everything laid out neatly, you reached over for the sellotape, folding over the edges and carefully sticking them in place.

Wrapping the gift in a pretty cream bow, matching the socks inside, and adding a label reading “To my darling Stevie,” you added it to the pile of increasing gifts in the corner of yours and Steve’s bedroom.

Now, just a week to go until he gets his surprise.

You cradle your stomach, despite the size not increasing at all yet, and whisper to your unborn child “A week and he’ll know, my love. Your beautiful existence will be known.”

“Mom! Dad! Wake up! Wake up!”

You are awoken by the sound of your bouncing ten-year-old, aggressively rocking your fiancé as he groans loudly, his eyes adjusting to the light peaking through the window.

“Mornin’ pumpkin,” he murmurs, you opening up one eye as Alena’s full set of brand-new adult teeth smile right at you.

“And what are you doing up so early, missy?” you ask, the clock on the bedside table next to Steve shining a bright 6:00 in the morning, illuminating the room in a red glow.

“Mom” she drags out, rolling her eyes playfully, “You know what day it is!”

You tap your chin lightly, playing along with the joke, “Hmm… I feel as if I may need a reminder.”

“It’s Christmas Mom! And I may or may not have seen all the presents you left underneath the tree…” her vocal pitch increases, looking away in a guilty look as Steve reaches up and pulls her down into his body, the girl screaming as he ruffles her hair.

“Did someone be naughty and peak underneath the tree?” he grits through his teeth, Alena shouting in a reply, “I didn’t mean to, I promise! I saw it on the way to your room!”

You begin to tickle her sides as Steve holds her in place against his chest, making the girl scream in delight loudly, “Is someone now on Santa’s naughty list?”

“Mom…” she pouts her lips, a grumpy expression adorning her face as you sigh sadly, “I know sweet cheeks, you don’t believe in him anymore.”

“I’m sorry…”

You hold out your arms as you wrap her in a warm hug, “Don’t be sorry, baby. I knew you would realise eventually. You’re getting too old!”

She gasps and looks into your eyes, crossing her arms over her chest, “I am not old! You and Dad are old.”

You start giggling in shock as Steve just opens his mouth wide, “You better watch yourself, pumpkin.”

“Yeah,” you hold up a finger in warning, before pointing it over to Steve, “Dad doesn’t like being reminded he’s in his mid-thirties.”

And now it is Steve’s turn to attack you, but instead with aggressive kisses, littering them up your neck and across your face lightly, Alena now old enough to understand the playful love between the two of you. “You’re almost thirty as well, you know.”

“Two more years to go, babe. I’m still in my prime development decade,” you smirk at him.

And it wasn’t just you who was developing.

A loud gasp can be heard along with the shredding of paper as Alena holds up her latest gift, “You actually got me it?”

For such a small gadget, the Barbie Digital Camera cost you $70, the most expensive gift yet, but maybe not the one which will cause the biggest reaction.

“Of course I did! It’s the one thing you kept pointing at in the magazine!”

She giggles with a bright smile, “Thank you! Thank you!”

She launches herself at you, the motherly instinct in you clutching onto your stomach to protect your unborn child, hoping Steve didn’t notice the movement. The surprise would be known in the next half an hour.

“And after you’ve taken your photos, we can connect it to Dad’s computer and see it come to life! How cool is that?”

“Can I take it to school?” she asks, clutching the box in her hands.

“I assume you can! But, just ask Mrs. Critchley before you take it in, okay?”

“Okay!” she smiles, plopping herself back down on the carpet to open the rest of her gifts.

Your hands began to sweat. Alena was all done opening her presents, patiently waiting for you and Steve to unwrap yours.

Steve let you attend to your gifts first. Everything from a brand-new necklace designed with a rose quartz, matching your engagement ring, to the latest Nokia phone, you were thankful for everything he had bought you, praising him with many gentle kisses and warm hugs.

Now, it was Steve’s turn. You specifically told him to leave one present until last, leading him to give you an eyebrow raise and a shrug before simply agreeing, used to your weirdness by now. You got him everything from a new cologne to a new pair of Nike shoes, the soles of his old pair wearing thin from how much he was working over the Christmas holidays.

But, after one final kiss, it was finally time.

“Can I open this now?” Steve jokes, the nerves deeply settling in your stomach. You don’t even know why you were worried, you had stopped using protection in mutual agreement, knowing kids could be a possibility from that result. There was just a voice in your head trying to convince you an awful reaction would occur.

“Uh, yeah… Yeah, you can.”

“Hey,” he puts an arm on your shoulder, “Why are you so nervous?”

You lightly chuckle, “You’ll find out once you open the gift.”

Even after all of these years, Steve still wasn’t the smartest. Verbal cues were not his strong suit, but my God could he read body language like a champ.

He gives you a confused look before unwrapping the cream-coloured bow, delicately tearing apart the paper as his eyes immediately notice the ultrasound scan.

He may be oblivious, but he isn’t that oblivious. He has one very similar in his bedside table drawer of his sweet ten-year-old daughter sat next to him.

The tears form at his eyes before he can even recognise them. Small sniffles enter the atmosphere as his hazel eyes make contact with you, “Are you serious?”

And the tears follow suit for you, nodding frantically as he leans across the floor to collect you in his arms, crying into your shoulder.

“How far along?” he mumbles into your shoulder, tears dripping onto the red fabric of your dress.

“Read the card and you’ll find out.”

Steve was too drawn into the ultrasound scan to even notice the card you had gotten him. Releasing from the hug, he keeps a gentle hand on the small of your back, picking up the card and carefully opening it, reading the words you had written, the tears increasing as he noticed it was from the perspective of his baby.

“Wha— How? When did you get this done?” he stutters out, still in complete shock of the entire moment.

“Pregnancy test has been in the bathroom trash can for two weeks. I was scared you were going to notice it for a while, but then I remembered it’s you, and you don’t notice anything,” you giggle, Steve not even bothered by the joking insult, too caught up in his own emotions, “And two Thursday’s ago, I didn’t go to work. Went to the hospital and got the scan, and just hung around Starcourt until the time I would normally come home.”

“Well, you fooled me,” he chuckles, leaning in for a kiss which you gladly accept, cupping his cheeks as you smile into it.

“I love you so much, beautiful girl. And I love the baby who is growing inside of you. You’re so strong. Your body is so strong. I just— I can’t wait. I can’t wait to meet them.”

His hand had migrated down to your stomach, gently cradling the unborn child inside of you.

Alena had finally looked up from her Etch-a-Sketch, noticing the tears falling down both yours and Steve’s cheeks, your hands holding tightly onto each side of his head as your foreheads were leant against each other, kneeling on the soft carpet of the living room.

“Mom? Dad? Why are you crying?”

Steve turns around to face his daughter, you looking softly into her eyes, “Because Mom is having a baby, sweetie.”

Steve passes her the ultrasound scan, her face scrunching up in confusion as she points at it, “Why is it just a black blob?”

Steve begins laughing as his head falls onto your shoulder, sweetly rubbing up and down the sides of your waist.

“Because when a baby is first made, it starts out as a black blob and then grows into the full size baby we all know and love,” you explain gently to her.

“Hmm…” she takes in, before asking her next question, “But how did it get there?”

Your eyes widen as Steve’s hands stop on your waist, refusing to lift his head and look at his daughter.

You smile through the awkwardness, remembering that her sex education lessons would start in a matter of months, “You’ll find out soon, baby.”

thank you ever so much for reading!! do you guys want any more pregnancy related fics? i really want to do some research into post-partum for myself, so do you want me to skip straight to that, or tackle other things like morning sickness, gender reveal, baby shower, stuff like that? feel free to let me know!! ♡

taglist: @livsters @bakugouswh0r3 @nix-rose @ihatepeanutss @suitelif3 @clincallyonline17 @crowssixof @starkeylover @eris-rose-86 @frostandflamesfanfic @tlclick73 @steveshairspray @superlegend216

[martialartslover7]

Weird Wednesday Headcanon: Inner Sakura is a STAND!

Let's be honest, guys, the only reason why the female characters in Naruto got held back so much in their overall potential and fighting prowess, was because of Kishimoto's, very likely, and I mean, VERY LIKELY (we don't even really know, all I am saying is, everything that happened so far in his material, and some of the things he said in interviews about the female characters, doesn't do him any favors), underlying misogyny, since...

Off-topic, but c'mon. Demon Slayer would like to have a word with him. The entire IP was written by a female mangaka, and yet she managed to make both males AND females in her story, equally as interesting and compelling. Sure, it was more on the simplistic and straightforward side, it's Shonen after all, but it was really well done, regardless. And even the "housewife" archetype was done in an appealing fashion, with Tengen's three wives, who were more than stay-at-home housewives, they were his bodyguards too, they kept active to not lose sight of their, now sadly, physically handicapped husband. Sometimes, you don't need to make every single aspect of your IP so deep and philosophical to be good. The point, "more is less", exists for a reason. And once again, because this is a mentality I kept seeing on Reddit and Twitter, just to remind you all, who will try to get all smart on me:

THIS. IS. FICTION. YOU CAN WRITE, ANYTHING YOU WANT! NOTHING LIMITS YOU! ESPECIALLY NOT WHO ARE YOU!

Like, this is fucking ridiculous, you really mean to tell me, that, just because you have a penis, all of a sudden, you can't relate to the problems of women, as though, they are an entirely different species from you? WHAT NONSENSE IS THIS? If you write, you write, nothing should be limiting you, unless maybe, you tackle serious, real-life problems, then it's best advised to do a little research first, before tackling them in a tactful way, but aside from that, NOTHING should hold you back.

Anyway, venting over, back to the topic at hand.

You know what'd be a serious buff to Sakura, overall? Outside of gaining access to the 8 Gates, thanks to Rock Lee and Guy?

...taming Inner Sakura, and turning that joke character into a dangerous weapon. And the way it works, at least if you were to go off of what the 2000s PS2 era was showing off with her, Inner Sakura is an inner, astral projection, manifesting in the real world, and making you eat her dust. Not convinced? Check it out:

C'mon, people! There is no doubt about it. Sakura. Is a STAND USER. And that stand of hers, is like if you were to fuse the lady that King Kong kidnaps, with himself. It just makes you ask: Why wasn't regularly used by Sakura? It could just be a unique extension to her Genjutsu toolkit, in that, her Genjutsu, is so painful, it has real-life effects on you. Basically, her anxiety and delusions are so strong, along with her wild, livid imagination, her mind ends up creating this astral projection of her inner turmoil. And with that, Genin Sakura, buffed to hell. And before becoming a healer, she is mostly a wrecking ball.

All she needs to do, is catch you in her Genjutsu raidus, and you're toast. She will toss and punch you around, like a little kid, venting its frustrations on its plushie.

Just imagine how devastating that technique might look for reals, and the reason I am saying this...

...mentally replace Jotaro with Sakura, and just picture Inner Sakura bombarding, her opposition, who might be, hypothetically, Kabuto, who is tormenting Naruto from afar, so Sakura decides:

Kate Higgins. Chie Nakamura. I will pay you, real-life money, just to replicate this, while replacing the ORA with CHA.

PEACE.

[declanowo]

Favourite Movies of April

This month I decided to choose what to watch in a unique way, that being to pick a movie off my watchlist from every decade (since the 30s), alongside watching through the Re-Animator franchise alongside a smattering movies that act as research for my novel!

Pulse - 2001 

Horror movies that use technology as a vehicle to scare are often a favourite of mine, from Videodrome to Ring to the likes of FearDotCom, I love the way the style can be used, either to great effect or an amusing outcome. Pulse, uses technology in a genuinely haunting manner, it blends traditional ghost stories with a modernised world. 

It expertly makes use of dual protagonists to explore themes of loneliness and isolation in an age where connection was only growing easier and easier, and this early 2000s Tokyo backdrop is such a perfect time capsule, this era of the internet, working with dial up and dim screens, there’s a veil of unknown that only aids in blending the more classical ghosts with this technology. 

It’s eerie to its core, and when you scratch away at the surface, push closer to the dimly lit screen, making out the features clearer and clearer, it soon becomes bleak and hopelessly terrifying. Of course, the ghosts and imagery are scary, yes, but the existentialism and grainy fear the movie is steeped in is what makes this movie so haunting. 

Re-Animator - 1985

When I first watched re-animator, I remember finding myself somewhat in a slump, struggling to focus on anything, watch anything - it had been a rough day, and I decided eventually to watch this movie in the background of another activity, and it brightened me, yet I couldn’t shrug the feeling I had done myself a disservice not offering the film my full attention. 

So rewatching the first movie, and then the trilogy as a whole for the first time, I came to see just how great this movie is. For the past year or so my pinterest has been swamped with fanart of Herbert West and his assistant Dan, and almost instantly I came to remember why there is such an obsession with these characters, especially as a pair. As the third movie demonstrates, it’s their pairing that makes this story so interesting and compelling, living in Dan’s reality rather than the mad yet great West’s mind is vital to telling this story, because when this grounded eye is removed, there is a great loss to both the narrative and these characters. 

It’s such a great take on the zombie formula, it’s Frankenstinian by design, and the over the top characters blend perfectly into this world. With an earworm of a score and some breathtaking practical effects, the movie is near perfect for any mood, it captures such an enjoyable atmosphere, the cinematography is beautifully colourful, it’s amazing. 

Also, as someone who loves set design, Dan’s bedroom is made up of pretty much just a bed and Talking Heads poster and it’s perfection. 

Revenge - 2017 

CW: Rape

Although I’ve wanted to watch this movie since I saw The Substance, I’ve been putting it off for a while given its subject matter. As it goes, I tend to avoid Rape Revenge movies, for a plethora of reasons. But given it was directed by a woman (Coralie Fargeat), I decided to finally give it a go, mostly because of the movie’s costume design; I’d had the star earrings glued to my brain for months. 

To start, the costume design is great here, and the star earrings are even more fun in the movie. 

So much about this film works so perfectly, from the gorgeous cinematography to the rich characterisation, I found the film to be tasteful and subvert typical tropes found in its subgenre, which oftentimes placed father figures as the characters seeking revenge. Here Jen does everything, it’s over the top in its gore, sequences are filled with unrealistic scenarios which build up this resilience a character like Jen has, the phoenix frequently used as a motif for her rebirth. 

Truly, this is amazingly crafted, it’s tense, uncomfortable and cathartic as all hell. Plus, of course, the ear rings too. 

Bride of Re-animator - 1990 

Everything that I loved about re-animator I adore here too. The movie offers a more overtly comedic tone, fixating more so on the relationship between Herbert and Dan. Their relationship here is even better than in the first, it’s such a natural way to further their bond, I love it all. 

Most who discuss this film will note how fun it is, yet how disjointed the story itself is, feeling like a mass of parts that ultimately tangles come the end. While I do agree, I view this as a larger positive - you’re just spending an hour and a half with these guys you love to watch. 

Maybe my least favorite part of the first film is its ending, and this movie is no different, in fact, I think I feel fairly similarly about these movies. This might be one of the best sequels I’ve watched. It stays true to the original in so many ways, yet it builds upon its central themes, while introducing new characters and a more gothic aesthetic, alluding to the titular Bride (of Frankenstein), who plays a far smaller part in the film than one would initially conceive based on the title alone. 

This movie is such a fun time, I would recommend it to anyone that loves the first film for its central characters. 

Invasion of the Body Snatchers - 1956

Invasion is a movie that I have felt incredibly compelled to watch for a while, unsure whether to pick the original or 70s remake as my starting point, but ultimately, I stuck to the original. 

Stewing in an American Cold War zeitgeist, it would be fairly easy for me to dislike the movie, as often happens with me and 50s movies. Yet, there’s something so profoundly terrifying about the premise of this movie, the titular body snatchers allow for a constant sense of paranoia as the characters navigate this movie, their seemingly unfounded fears becoming a reality, their cries for help ignored, something particularly potent when looking at the 50s too. 

There’s so much to love here, but I particularly loved the practical pods, the “birth” scene particularly stuck me in how beautifully it’s filmed with a great use of canted angles and set design - the greenhouse is perfect and reminds me of my first Goosebumps book Stay Out of the Basement. 

Crash - 1996

When I first heard the concept of Crash, I was desperate to watch it. A psychosexual movie about car crashes sounded hypnotic, especially when Directed by Cronenberg, although I did briefly ponder how one builds a story around this central idea; frequently, I find myself confronted with that exact issue - I’ve had a great idea, yet now I need to craft a story around it. Yet this is where Crash shines, it’s able to tell a deeply profound story with such an abstract concept. 

Thematically, it reminded me a lot of Tetsuo: The Iron Man, the idea of industrialisation and loss of human connections by proxy. It’s rich, beautifully shot and dripping in eroticism. 

As someone who has no interest in cars at all, this film managed to so deeply capture my attention, there’s something for everyone to love within its walls. Cronenberg’s movies continue to appeal to me in such a grand way. 

Pan’s Labyrinth - 2006 

When I studied film at college, this is undoubtedly the movie that I fell in love with the most. While I enjoyed most of the film’s and held a great appreciation for their craft, it was Pan’s that managed to nest inside my mind.

At first, I found the war centric plot to dampen the movie, it was the fantasy I was enamoured with, completely infatuated with these creatures and the gorgeous set pieces. Yet over time, I’ve come to appreciate the woes of the war too. It's a perfect exploration of how escapism becomes particularly vital to us in times of great hardship, when all we carry is our mind and the world around us grows too weary, where can we escape to? 

Ultimately, it’s the fascists that attempt to dampen Ofelia’s imagination, it’s these domineering figures that attempt to conglomerate her, because to exist in a single, exact binary is the ultimate fascist dream. To craft fantasies, we can escape our own realities, process them, and above all else, allow ourselves to live. 

Watching behind the scenes of Del Toro working on this movie instantly endeared me to him and his work; I love the creative stride he carries, and Pan’s means so much to me as a result. 

Dead of Night - 1945

I’ve recently been reading MR James’ Ghost Stories, an anthology collection of his works, and prior to that, I read an anthology of Ludmilla Petrushevskaya’s “Scary Fairy Tales”. Both of these have aided in my realisation that I adore anthologies, and yet still, I was shocked how much I fell in love with this movie. 

Told with a framing narrative of a man who is experiencing a recurring dream that he can’t exactly remember, yet he knows contains every member in the house he’s just entered, the movie has the characters recounting their own unexplainable, haunting tales. I want to briefly touch upon them all. 

The Hearse Driver 

Although short, this segment does a great job at setting the groundwork for the style of horror this movie is seeking to share, these are ghost stories at their core, steeped in fantastical, unexplainable experiences. It’s snappy, reaching its peak swiftly, which allows for a striking conclusion and segment that doesn’t overstay its welcome. 

The Christmas Party

There’s a beautiful contrast that separates the pieces of this segment, from the crowded blocking as the children flock around our protagonist, the loud cheering soundscape and warm feeling, to having smaller spaces, claustrophobic yet empty cinematography, there’s a colder air, the set design feels far more desolate, and the sound design is near silent, eerily so. 

The Haunted Mirror 

At the core of this story is the way we force ourselves to overcome fears and signs that warn us of something awful oncoming as a means to assimilate into society better. When we feel profoundly uncomfortable by something and yet, we deem it to be far better to swallow our anxieties, to make ourselves, our minds and bodies feel terrible, just to fit in. It writhes at the centre of this story about a haunted mirror, of a singular experience that festers much further as a result of shrugging off foreboding warning signs. One of the best here. 

The Golfer’s Story

Far brighter in tone, a comedic tale to bridge the far more harrowing stories. Honestly, I found this to be funny, I enjoyed the concept of a ghost tethered to his old friend on his wedding night, although I did leave feeling as if it were somewhat out of place against the other movies, there’s a curiousness to the comedic throughline that holds this segment up.

The Ventriloquist's Dummy

This segment is the reason this movie is best known; its influence cannot be understated, going on to inspire countless stories of Dummy’s coming to life. It’s terrifying, the blending of reality and sanity is beautiful, it’s the most ambiguous of these stories and it thrives as a result. Michael Redgrave's performance is beautiful, truly haunting to watch his descent into madness as he fears his dummy Hugo may leave him for a different ventriloquist. Deeply haunting, and undoubtedly my favorite segment. 

I’d be remiss not to mention how great the wrap-around is at building tension, and the entire movie is worth watching for the final sequence alone. Viewing the film as a boiling pot, it excellently incorporates every aspect of its stories to tell a final, dreamy story that had me dumbfounded at how terrifying it manages to be. Anxiety inducing doesn’t even cover it, there’s a profound horror within every frame of the finale, and I left the movie entirely shocked by how much it struck me. I cannot recommend this enough. 

Sinners - 2025

I cannot recommend watching Sinner’s enough. 

Vampire stories are already favorites of mine, I tend to enjoy most media with them at their core, but Sinner’s manages to tell such a hypnotic, thematically rich story using the loss of souls as an allegory for losing one’s heritage and purpose. 

To me, the story is that of trying to assimilate without losing yourself and that which is important to you. Music connects people when prejudice prevails, and throughout the film, it is music that is guiding the characters, luring in the white characters and connecting the black characters, it runs through them like a thread. 

I completely lost myself watching this, the music sequence in particular is a true sight to behold, it encapsulates the film’s themes and thesis entirely, it’s gorgeously shot, amazingly acted, and maybe the standout for me, is the score. 

Every personal review of this movie unpeels another layer of meaning, of purpose, and it’s beautiful to see how united people are in regards to it. There is a mountain of emotions, themes and ideas to unpack, and that is only a piece of why this film is so amazing and important, especially in our current political climate. 

I cannot stop thinking about this film, and I cannot recommend people watch it enough. It’s undoubtedly my favorite movie of the year so far. 

The Cabinet of Dr Caligari - 1920

I watched this movie as research for my sequel novel; it’s a film I have watched before, somewhat, I was distracted, struggled to focus, and found myself hypnotised by the set design which just oozes with style and allure. 

Of course, this is once again what I latched onto most, German Expressionism is an artistic movement that fixated more so on the feelings of an artist rather than capturing an objective reality. As such, the film is able to build abstract sets and backgrounds, playing with shape and perspective to drop these characters in a world that appears to be lavish painting. Every frame becomes this artistic dreamscape, which feels integral to telling this story and to captivating me when the movie itself is silent. 

However, beyond just this, I found myself far more captivated by the story on this watch than I was five or so years prior when I first watched this - it’s a classic horror story, one of an incredibly gothic, stylish young man being drawn from an eternal sleep to murder. It’s a core horror story, its sequences of horror are hauntingly beautiful, and it’s such a perfect story for a silent movie. 

Maybe my most common critique when watching silent movies is the score, which is rarely standardised, and given the majority of silent movies are in the public domain, anyone can loop any classical arrangement over the top, and it crafts a repetitive nature, dampening any impact a sequence could have on me. Yet, this version of the movie I was watching had maybe the most beautiful, loud and impressive score I’ve heard, it elevates every scene. 

Blue Velvet - 1986

When I first finished watching Blue Velvet, I found myself wondering “is that the end?” Mostly, I feel this came from the prior Lynch movies I’d watched, and ultimately, the reality painted in this movie is far more straightforward than many of his other works. Yet this simplicity, comparatively, at least, is what allows this movie to fester. 

Within an hour, I couldn’t stop thinking about every frame of this movie, how deeply impactful it truly was, its themes of voyeurism are potent, certainly the most powerful I’ve ever witnessed. Watching this young man mould into that which he fears, which he hates, assimilating into a darker world to dissect what rests beneath the seemingly picturesque roses and picket fences is deeply moving. It’s a subtle metamorphosis, with key sequences detailing him becoming that which he intends to expose in order to learn more, to become a piece of the narrative. 

Kyle Magclauchlan and Laura Dern are maybe my favourite Lynch actors, so watching them both here is a lot of fun, and their romance is incredibly sweet, it’s the surface of this suburbia, beauty and calm, as the grittier darkness is exposed. 

It’s a strong and consistent two hours, and every second is used perfectly, Lynch stated to the studio that there wasn’t a way he could improve upon the movie, and I completely agree - this is the epitome of perfect. And despite my initial reaction, the ending too is perfect, poetic and powerful. I haven’t been able to stop playing the titular song ever since finishing this. Certainly my favourite movie I watched this month. 

Magic - 1978

Something I always find frustrating when I read reviews of horror movies that  have escaped the general genre sphere, is when the movie they like is praised as good because it isn’t a different horror movie, it doesn’t use supernatural tropes or jumpscares, when the reality is, Magic is a great film because of what it does do, not because of tropes it subverts that weren’t popularised at the time of its release. 

Magic is a character drama at its core, that allows the viewers to question for the entirety of its runtime whether or not the monster at its core is a man or a puppet. It’s psychological, harsh and at times, bleak. 

From the opening sequences that hop from our protagonist, Corky’s first and second magic shows, the first bombs, using a scoreless sequence, overlaying shots of disinterested crowds with skittish, acting from Anthony Hopkins, it paints a perfect picture as he lies to his father about how well it went. Soon after, we witness his second chance, where he has his puppet Fats, and of course, this works perfectly. The direction here is immaculate, it’s lively, brimming with heightened emotions. 

Also Corky and Fats wear matching jumpers at one point, so it’s pretty perfect in my eyes. 

Viy - 1967

Viy depicts the eponymous fairytale of a young Christian as he’s tasked with reciting prayers to the corpse of a witch he’d met a night prior, and the ultimate horrors unleashed during these hours. 

For the time especially, there are some gorgeous effects and sequences, they’re of course, not seamless, yet this offers the film an authentic aesthetic, one of heart greenscreens atop vivid countryside, but this isn’t to diminish how, despite their age, these effects look phenomenal. 

So much of the costuming and set design is beautiful, with the poster for the movie encapsulating this in a single artwork perfectly, I cannot fathom the artistry of this movie, that at its core, is a fairytale, conventionally simple stories.

It's fantastical, beautifully so, and every sequence that takes place at night is claustrophobic, it has a beautiful finale I want to consume over and over, such perfect creatures, effects, wow! 

Thank you so much for reading! Next month is looking very heavy on new releases and research, so that's very exciting! I'm planning on posting weekly on here too :)

If you enjoyed this, please consider looking at my debut novel, a coming of age, fantasy/horror story formatted in an episodic narrative.