#90% of the time when I get a concern like this it's legitimate and just meeting it with good faith is the easy solution

[bonefall]

Same anon again- hearing your reasoning helps a lot, thank you. It helps to understand its a (unfortunately for bramblestar, funny) critique of a personality trait rather then connecting intelligence to morals. Thank you for explaining your thought process and for being civil about it < 3

No problem!! I'm glad it helped!

[transmutationisms]

yeah fuck that anon but their second question is legit do you know how to check for other fundraisers??? I know the one you’re promoting is legit but what about others?? Is there like a database or something?? Sorry if its a dumb question Im just concerned bc I got scammed once by a friend of a friends alleged medical issues :/

i actually have a whole tag where i've been collecting posts about the legitimacy of palestinian fundraisers, how to boost and promote them, and details on the vetting process.

here on tumblr, the most centralised part of the verification process has been this spreadsheet of fundraisers that are checked (details on that process in my tag above) by palestinian users. formerly these users included @/el-shab-hussein and @/nabulsi; currently the vetting is being done by @/mohameddd, who is in gaza. there is more info on this in el-shab-hussein's pinned post, and he is slowly shifting fundraiser posts over to @gaza-evacuation-funds, so that's a great blog to follow for vetted campaigns.

not all verified campaigns are on the spreadsheet. click on the notes of a fundraising post or search their url on tumblr; look for posts or comments from palestinian users who have checked and vouched for them. @/90-ghost is probably the most well-known; he has had to take a step back from tumblr recently, but there are still lots of people fundraising whose campaigns he's shared or vouched for. @/bilal-salah0 is another palestinian who has verified and vouched for people he knows personally or has reached out to. many users who get their own campaigns verified will later vouch for their friends or family members. if you trust the first person's verification, you can also take their word about other people they know.

off tumblr, there are several grassroots organisations that have their own verification processes. this post (also in the tag i linked above) lists the ones i know of currently. victoria of Pali.pals on instagram has also recently established a tumblr presence @/victoriawhimsey. she shares campaigns that she has vetted through mutual friends, contacts in gaza, video calls, etc. you can reach out to her if you have other questions about her process.

if a fundraiser has not yet been verified at all (this happens especially for new campaigns), some people may share it with a note about whether it seems provisionally legitimate. sometimes the person fundraising will link to their other social media accounts, which can help you determine whether they're likely legitimate. some people also try checking by reverse-image searching, although that's a very imperfect test (details on that in my tag above). for a full verification it's generally important that someone who (at the very least) speaks palestinian arabic, and/or is in gaza, is involved. however, this process takes time, and can be harder for people with more internet connectivity issues.

it's always a good idea to do due diligence when someone asks you for money, but to be clear, the vast majority of palestinian fundraisers i have seen on here have verification from the spreadsheet, other verification orgs, palestinian bloggers, or a combination of the above. at the very least, always check the notes of a fundraiser post or search the url; most of the time you will turn up verification info this way.

if you're not sure about someone's legitimacy, just move on and put your effort into other fundraisers.

[nekropsii]

maybe this isn't a universal experience, but I hate looking at a Homestuck analysis type thing. And it's good, they're saying good shit. But then. The Alpha Trolls. And immediately they're just like. Oh yeah Porrim is a MRA, Kankri was right, Cronus sucks and that wasn't intentional on Hussie's part, Mituna's disability is a joke, and they're all parodies of internet people (specifically in a way that is somehow different from the way that every troll is parodies of internet people)

Is this about the Jan Misali essay? I think this is about the Jan Misali essay. Maybe we should all come out and point blank say that us fans of the Alpha Trolls just really, really do not like Jan Misali’s Homestuck video essay. Because I’m 90% sure that’s what you’re talking about. It was such a solid video but that unnecessarily extended ending sequence about the Alpha Trolls was literally just so fucking bad it’s painful. Ruined the entire vibe. Hate that damn video as a whole now. Literally just reignited literal 2012 era horseshit discourse for absolutely zero reason. They’re genuinely irrelevant to the larger comic, and you can completely skip the Openbounds with very little consequence in your ability to understand the story. The Alpha Troll segment being as long as it was was legitimately not at all needed.

Like, yes, this is how the broader fandom has treated the Alpha Trolls for a little over a decade now. This really isn’t anything new. But it’s so genuinely frustrating when it’s the (excessive) punctuation of what was otherwise a very good, modern video essay. It is genuinely so fucking frustrating when people have their viewpoints of any section of Homestuck literally completely informed by what concern trolls who didn’t read the Openbounds had to say about it in 2012, parroted back and forth one million times by a million other concern trolls.

Homestuck fans seem to think tacking on stupid, ill informed takes about the Alpha Trolls to their otherwise good readings is praxis. It gets them in with the cool kids who don’t even want to bother with reading anything. L, Ratio, Et Cetera.

[insane-weasel]

Me, with the objectively worst opinion: Oh...I liked the idea of a QPR Lila x Five.

I'm only halfway through S4, but I like it over S3. (Victor's son caused me to mentally block out like 90% of S3)

Review so far:

Luther's plot: 3/10. I'd love for him to stop being the butt of the joke.

Diego: 0/10. Horrible. You're going to make him a dad and tell me he is not like a super loving and caring father and show me any of that????? Why???? Is he always treated so bad by the plot. Stop making fun of him ffs. Oh, he's barely even chubby, but make fun of his weight. Oh, he's kind of concerned his wife doesn't love him...when she doesn't....make him seem paranoid and in the wrong when...like??? What? WTF is Diego's character.

Allison: 6/10 Thank you for not sticking with Allison is the bad guy...though why throwing any character progression...uh what's with her and Claire??? Are they gonna expand on the last 6 years??? Why 6 years??? Hello??? Anyway, her plot is passable so far. Not best, but....not S3 which is a win

Victor: Only solid 7/10 because he's really hitting me-core. Only characterization I'm kinda on board with. Actually, yeah, have Victor living a really moderate life at a bar. I think he should take you another instrument that isn't the violim. Though not a fan of how they're depicting his powers. I liked the more ethereal powers. Though no on Victor having failed relationships. He needs an awkward cute romance like Sissy? WTF was with that whole beginning? Like...anyway.

Five: 2/10 I don't hate it. But it is the worst five plot thus far IMO.

Ben: 5/10. Actually, I do think Sparrow Ben would be arrogant enough to be in Crypto. I don't like Sparrow Ben, but his depiction tracks. Still wish we could...have OG Ben........Second thought, hate Sparrow Ben. Though whatever, love interest, okay.

Lila: ...1?/10 I feel like the one person who didn't like Diego x Lila, and didn't think she'd settle down. I like a QPR with her and Five. However--How they're handling this? Awful. Also, her powers????? No more mimic. Boooooooooooo.

Klaus: 2/10 I wanted them to go angst with Klaus' immortality, but...ughh. Compulsive cleanliness and over anxiety about common fears is a legitimate way paranoia can develop...as a person with those kinda issues, but they do not depict them in any. Like I'm going to be honest, when you do have those fears to that level...you aren't sober or if you are...you're not looking well. But forget all that crap, why couldn't we have whatever story was Klaus bonding with Allison and helping raise Claire. Why was that the plot we had to be told about rather than shown????$

Other thoughts:

-Gene and Jean are like...10/10. Solid villains. Love em. Costume, actors, quirks--great.

-OH. My. God. Can Reginald stoooooop being a character.

-Music and set designs are a 10/10, costumes this season and apparel is a 2/10. What are some of these looks????

-Uh...The plot is kinda...feels like a fanfic that the author continues after 6 years, half-assed and wings, and has no love for the source material. Some parts seem so lazy. The stakes feel weak. There's traces of a great story...buried in there.

Overall, my theory for what happened: Umbrella Academy leaned into its comic book elements in the worst way possible. For that to have worked, a cohesive and fully fleshed out plot would need to be in place first then followed by a style of editing, composition and mise-en-scene, and then characters can play into cartoon styles.

The editing and filming have not changed between seasons. There's no style. Actually, they've gotten worse. The camera angles are painfully standard. If you wanted comic book, that camera needs to be at some different angles, but no, 3/4, eye level, always capturing same length. Whoever directed this? For shame. You don't use the foreground. You don't use the background. Everything happens on the same level and has the same amount of presence on screen. It screams "no time for flare, let's just get this done!"

So many of the BTS/production elements feel...rushed. If that wasn't the case, if this didn't have a painfully short filming timeline and they didn't have severe restraints compared to the last seasons...than...no one had any love for the series anymore.

[bluedalahorse]

I’ve been writing since I was a little kid, and I’ve had friends who were also writers since I was a little kid.

For most of late elementary school into the beginning of middle school, I wrote a lot of stories about girls on quests. This is probably unsurprising, given that a significant portion of my reading diet involved Alanna and Daine and Cimorene and Lyra and Susan and Lucy Pevensie.

I distinctly remember a moment, however, when one of my fellow writer friends said to me, kinda dismissively, “Oh, every time you tell me a new story idea, you begin by saying it’s about some girl! I’m writing a story about a sixty-year-old man who digs graves and lives all alone.”

And the way this friend said it, it sounded like she was saying, here’s my more artistic story, because it’s about a man.

Now, full disclosure, this friend later got into feminist theory before I did, so we’re all on our own timeline and she’s called me out more than once. But I remember that marking a turning point in the kinds of stories we wrote in our friends group. And it was around the same time we all started writing Gundam Wing fanfiction, too, in a very boy-dominated way. We seemed to all absorb the idea that boy characters were always “better written” and “more interesting” and there isn’t much to be done about that.

I wrote boy characters for years after that because I worried that girl-centered stories wouldn’t be good or prestigious enough. It took a long time for me to be able to just see female characters as characters like any other characters.

And nowadays I see that idea echoed on tumblr dot com with a kind of fatalism, usually in discussions of female characters showing up in fanfiction. “Oh, well, there’s so few women who are interesting and written well! They are just such a rare species!” And like, I kinda get it, I’m a fan of Shakespeare plays and some of the gendered ratios + gendered expectations there can be just brutal.

But I also just… I wonder if maybe things aren’t as bleak as we sometimes say they are? We live in a world with Claudia the Vampire and Sara Eriksson and Felice Ehrencrona. We live in a world with Ashley Bennet from The Black Kids and Lily Hu from Last Night at the Telegraph Club and Marin from We Are Okay. We’ve had Katara in the 00s and Utena and Anthy in the 90s and Ramona Quimby in the 50s. Anne Shirley and Jo March and Fantine have all been with us for a long time!

I do think there are legitimate concerns we can have about how women are written and have been written historically. I get that. But I wonder if we maybe shouldn’t be leaning into our fatalism as much as we do.

[fandom-hoarder]

Considering OP is yelling at ppl to leave them alone when questioned on specifics because a post that says “the grooming in spn fandom is insane” (specifically Wincest) was “not a callout” and only “a legitimate safety concern” about “a space is known for well you know”, they are not worth the time. They also reacted very rudely to an anon who only wanted to apologize for following them (thinking that OP was anti Wincest and trying to respect OP’s boundaries). Just not worth it.

[I held onto this in my drafts for a day, but I think I'm just gonna publish it after all. Even though v did a much better job of addressing the op directly, imo, I'm not interacting with the op. I'm also going to gather screenshots in a posterity post, but it will likely be unrebloggable.]

Hmm, I debated publishing this ask, because I'm really just. So tired. And annoyed. And it's not a great combination for tact. Nevertheless...

I haven't seen the yelling myself, just avoidance and redirection. Flippancy. But maybe it's happening in a space I can't see, or between people I've blocked, idk. If so, it sounds a lot like it IS January 2023 redux 🙃🙃🙃 -- I HAVE seen it now, and my suspicion still stands, though still not 100%.

People need to stop making such serious accusations when they refuse to back it up. Words fucking mean things. Saying a certain sector of the fandom--that ostensibly you're also a part of?--has a problem with grooming and is stupid...that was NOT worded in a way to help people stay safe. It was worded like a vague callout post to scare people. We've seen those before. 🙄

A post that was actually concerned about grooming in online spaces *in general* would list some things to be aware of, things to recognize, tips for getting out of a situation. But no, it's this vaguepost without anything specific, with the one question in the notes asking for an explanation or if it's sarcasm-- unanswered [eta: well maybe they responded and I can't see it, since I realized I had op blocked]-- and one reblog from a person who claims it wasn't about wincesties specifically, when it demonstrably WAS??

So who is doing it, and where/how? I don't necessarily think it's a good idea to make public posts with names that devolve into personal beef and worse, but if someone is making the accusation that there's a grooming problem in the fandom they need to come with receipts or at the very least descriptions of the situation??

This isn't cutesy. You know exactly what anon is talking about, as shown later. Reblogging the post unaltered gives at least the appearance of agreeing with it as written.

This isn't to make light of! You reblogged it.

This isn't helpful.

If there was no one specific, why reblog a post specifically about the wincest fandom having insaneeee grooming? It wasn't "just in general." It's not a joke, yet this reply looks entirely unserious.

I am too old to keep seeing this type of shit go through the fandom at regular intervals, especially when it's so often a false accusation based on interpersonal drama. The only purpose this serves is riling up the dash. It's exhausting, and waters down the gravity of the accusation by making it a phrase that cries wolf.

I'm not even saying outright that the post is a LIE; just that it has seriously similar markers of past drama that was approximately 90% unaddressed purity culture biases about fiction, 9% interpersonal beef, and 1% actual concern for a human being who was an adult, but young. And it led to the utter gutting of fandom, loss of acquaintances, deletion of a glut of fic-- all due to smearing the reputation of a writer by using horrible UNTRUE AND INCENDIARY ACCUSATIONS.

So I'm sure many of you already understand why I take umbrage with these types of posts! Who knows if it's about fiction or something real? 🤷‍♀️

And since there's no further context to be found, the way it LOOKS on the dash is that someone is taking creeper!Dean too seriously. It could be about something else, but who knows.

[tanadrin]

Not sure who the dysgenics post is vaguing, and I don't want to get into this off anon, but sterilization (ostensibly voluntary) of genetically inferior potential parents is an idea that I've seen advocated by someone concerned about dysgenics

It's a side post to big discussion involving some people I follow about Scott Alexander's pessimistic predictions for the future. All very silly Decline and Fall stuff, as @discoursedrome put it.

(And even then I think he was being too charitable--"the whole world looks like it's decaying if you live in the political and economic center of it and even small things are shifting around you" is true, but I actually don't think very big shifts are occurring--I could go on at length here, but suffice it to say I think US hegemony is assured for the time being, we're making progress even on the biggest issues facing our society, like climate change, and I simply do not think a 50/50 chance of humans destroying themselves within 100 years--or even experiencing a major global collapse--is realistic. I think Acott Alexander lives inside a bubble of people with a lot of really silly ideas about the world and how it works, where being clever is seen as a sufficient substitute for expertise, and he is there because he is fundamentally gullible to any idea packaged in the right aesthetic.)

But historically, the idea of dysgenics/eugenics arose in the context of Social Darwinism. I think Social Darwinism is a funny animal; it is a surface-level retread of some ideas that were in circulation in Britain for a long time before Darwin. Specifically, the idea of a hierarchy of virtue that exists alongside and underpins a hierarchy of class is nothing new--that in itself may be as ancient as human civilization, since every society needs an ideology to legitimate its power structures. But in the context of early 1800s Britain, you had the Whigs, the new middle class of the burgeonining Industrial Revolution, looking to join the ranks of power--either to position themselves against the lazy shiftless aristocracy who did not work for a living, or to join them, to be like "yes, we don't have titles [but please give us some!], but we're also not like those awful lazy/drunk/Irish poors." I think alongside the Whiggish enthusiasm for science and progress, Social Darwinism nicely blends both that older idea of a hierarchy of virtue with newer ideas about dispassionate natural processes to produce an idea with a lot more mimetic heft for the new age (if you don't know much about either Darwinism or economics) than the unfiltered Anglicanism of the pre-1860s generations, one which takes the exact same policy prescriptions and like 90% of the same underlying rationale ("we cannot improve the social condition of the poor; they will waste their money on drink and gambling, breed like rabbits if their children are no longer often starving to death or dying of cholera, and they will corrupt the virtue of our society") and adds just a light dusting of pseudoscience ("we cannot improve the social condition of the poor; they will waste their money on drink and gambling, breed like rabbits if their children are no longer often starving to death or dying of cholera, and they will have a dysgenic effect on the white race").

(Along with the corollary, obviously, that we should get rich people to breed more, because clearly wealth and intelligence and virtue are heritable.*)

I do not think Scott Alexander is a Social Darwinist. Almost nobody is these days, and while I think he sometimes takes some very bad ideas seriously, I do not think he is at "19th century British racist" levels of taking bad ideas seriously. AFAICT the kind of eugenics Scott Alexander would support is what's sometimes called "positive eugenics," i.e., not sterilizating people against their will, but making sure that (for instance) middle-class people aren't actively discouraged from having kids by the tax structure, and using genetic engineering if/when it becomes available to gradually improve longevity, health, and IQ. But where concerns about dysgenics do pop up in modern authors, they tend to echo or simply restate older Social Darwinist concerns--as a general argument against welfare, for instance. But Scott has also talked about how UBI is a good idea, and that's pretty much the welfariest welfare you could possibly welfare. So I assume he's not worried that if we give the poor food, we will be up to our eyeballs in shiftless drunk Irishmen within a few generations.

(*"Heritable" is a great word! Wealth, for instance, is indeed heritable! How much money you will have is strongly predicted by how much money your parents had. But "heritable" is obviously not the same as "genetic," and this kind of equivocation--like that between intelligence and education, or between virtue and conformity to arbitrary social norms, was the bread and butter of 19th and 20th century Social Darwinists.)

[kylesvariouslistsandstuff]

So this year, we're getting yet another GHOSTBUSTERS movie in the re-rebooted franchise, and a new Star Wars feature film looks to shoot later this year for a penciled-in May 2026 release.

I see a lot of skepticism on the internet over these particular developments, and I think a lot of it is rooted - in some way or another - in a legitimate concern. It seems most of the consensus on GHOSTBUSTERS: FROZEN EMPIRE, and its 2021 predecessor GHOSTBUSTERS: AFTERLIFE, is that it's taking a simpler property way too seriously. Treating it as if it's some serious legacy franchise, that has to be honored to the letter. Like it's... Star Wars!

I have yet to see GHOSTBUSTERS: AFTERLIFE, I'm actually really not that big of a Ghostbusters person. I had seen the first movie a while ago and thought, "Yeah, that was kinda cool." But that's about it. I didn't remember it having a presence when I was a kid in the '90s. I do know that there was a cartoon airing on Saturday mornings in the late '90s called EXTREME GHOSTBUSTERS (how of the era!), but I never watched it. So, yeah... Ghostbusters is not exactly my jam, but I do think there is some overreacting going on here regarding this new movie.

I totally get it, though. GHOSTBUSTERS III stalled and stalled and stalled, and then Harold Ramis - Egon - passed away, so Sony/Columbia opted to just reboot it entirely with a different continuity... And with four women playing the Ghostbusters, only to get greeted with nothing but contempt. Regardless of the 2016 movie's quality, it created this aggressively no-nuance situation where it was this ultra-hated movie (for all the wrong reasons) and that YOU - if you weren't a raging misogynist racist asshole - were morally obligated to LIKE the movie... Regardless of what you thought of it, in terms of its quality. Ya know, script, acting, direction, etc. The movie ended up flopping, so there was no future in this team, though they did appear in an IDW-published comic thereafter.

So, Jason Reitman, son of the franchise's co-creator Ivan Reitman, started a "true" third Ghostbusters that took place in the same continuity as the first two movies and brought back the remaining actors to play the Ghostbusters... Passing the baton to a group of kids, two of which were girls. Sort of treating it all as a legacy brand, which I understand can be annoying to those who feel like GHOSTBUSTERS - the 1984 movie - was at its core a small-scale comedy and not this worldwide thing. At the time, I definitely saw that particular movie as spite. A sort of kowtowing to the angry male nerds who honk "WOKE" like a defective goose at everything. But that apparently was not the case during production, it was just... Ghostbusters is a franchise, and in capitalism... Things *must* continue (facetious), even if it's well past its expiration date. An animated Ghostbusters movie is also in the works, which is being done up at Sony Pictures Animation... And me? I think this concept works great in animation, and after all, the cartoons are an important part of the whole thing so... Yeah, I'll likely see the animated Ghostbusters movie. I think exploring that universe in the animated medium might be a fresh spin on a chestnut property. Heck, SPIDER-MAN: INTO THE SPIDER-VERSE came off of *three* theatrical live-action iterations of the character, so you never know!

This FROZEN EMPIRE sequel, I'm just indifferent. It exists. Someone will like it, for sure. AFTERLIFE did pretty well at the box office amidst the Delta and emerging Omicron variants of COVID-19. I was working the box office the week it came out, and I had a family come up to me to get their tickets for it... All dressed as Ghostbusters, complete with a homemade proton pack. And I thought to myself, "That's what it's aaaall about."

Star Wars, admittedly, has gone in directions that I just don't care for. The last movie I genuinely had a good time with in the franchise was SOLO: A STAR WARS STORY, which was already a very safe and workmanlike movie. The cast and old school space western vibe save it. Despite what we now know what it's like to work under Phil Lord and Chris Miller (as made clear by the stories that got out on ACROSS THE SPIDER-VERSE), I honestly would love to see what their version of that story would've looked like... But, we ultimately didn't receive that movie, so... And of course, I really liked THE LAST JEDI. Really liked how Rian Johnson took the franchise, which was becoming well-worn, and cracked it open and took a look at it with a fresh new perspective. And naturally, it was hated beyond belief, and mostly by the usual suspects... I think such a fervent backlash played a part in how Lucasfilm and Disney went forward with this franchise.

So when THE RISE OF SKYWALKER came out, I also took it as spite. Bowing to the angry assholes who just couldn't stomach that the franchise featured people other than white guys and had something more important to say. I was quite pissed off with how they significantly dialed down Rose Tico into a nothing character, instead they gave more time to this new character - whose name I, no shock, forget - who was played by some friend of J.J. Abrams that won a bet during development... Like, what the hell was that all about? Also didn't care for a number of things that just got... Thrown at you. It felt like it was made in panic mode, a Disney-mold please-all movie to end the sequel trilogy and the entire Skywalker saga as a whole. I could go on and on, but I wasn't necessarily upset with developments like "Rey is actually related to Palpatine"... They just come too late and are super-undercooked, all of it in one 2 1/2-hour movie that was following two movies that were saying and building up to something entirely different. The death of Carrie Fisher certainly didn't help, either. I didn't hate THE RISE OF SKYWALKER per se, I was left feeling "whatever"... Like... What the hell was that?

So I didn't bother with THE MANDALORIAN and anything else thereafter, in terms of live-action. And it appears that the Mando side of things informs the franchise going forward. The new movie is called THE MANDALORIAN & GROGU, and that just tells me everything I need to know. I'm curious about the movie featuring Rey 15 years later, that's to be directed by Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy. James Mangold could possibly make something cool out of his ancient Jedi movie, but... Honestly, it's all a big bag of "who cares" to me. With a universe so big and wide, with all kinds of planets everywhere... why does it always have to be about the Skywalkers, the Jedi, etc.? Just give me a Disney+ National Geographic-style documentary about banthas, that would be infinitely more interesting to me. That's why STAR WARS: VISIONS is on my watch-list, like... Enough about the Skywalkers and the Jedi already...

But, Star Wars is owned by big bad Disney. And Disney is going to milk this franchise until audiences collectively get sick of it. Sure, there has been plenty of Star Wars media made before the Disney buyout of Lucasfilm: Comics, video games, novels. It's always been around in some way or another, but I feel Disney just doubled-down on it. Probably because of the abundance of movies made and the amount of shows they're cranking out.

And then I try to place myself in 1977, when STAR WARS first came out. The original movie, before any sequels, before any TV specials, before the added "A NEW HOPE" subtitle, etc....

STAR WARS, alongside Steven Spielberg's JAWS and CLOSE ENCOUNTERS OF THE THIRD KIND, are often seen as the end of "New Hollywood" and the beginning of the blockbuster era of Hollywood... And yet, STAR WARS was being made before that all really took off. When George Lucas and his crew were planning and shooting what would become the first movie, how they would they have known what kind of monster it would create? Not just the Star Wars franchise as a whole, but the blockbuster in general. JAWS was the only "blockbuster" at the time of this movie's making, having grossed over a record $130m domestically in 1975. In 1976, the highest grossing movie was ROCKY, with $55m. STAR WARS was one of those movies where it was looking like it was going to be this big mistake, this big flop. Who in 1977 wanted to see some pulpy kid-friendly space adventure movie? By late 1976, the movie industry was still in the era of adult auteur-driven films. Dramas, political thrillers, and smaller pictures that would be called "prestige pictures" today. Films that would struggle to make $50m domestically in 2024, let alone be released in theaters. It was the era of THE GODFATHER, TAXI DRIVER, DOG DAY AFTERNOON, THREE DAYS OF THE CONDOR, etc. Isn't it something that those kinds of movies were once regularly the biggest hits at the box office? And you wonder why Martin Scorsese voiced his concerns about Marvel movies...

You look at STAR WARS, and it is indeed part of that waning era of American cinema. At first glance, it's a kids' space adventure movie featuring a WIZARD OF OZ-esque band of weirdos, where people fight with laser swords and there's ships flying around... But it's actually, through and through, a 1970s movie. It's informed by Lucas' politics, the Vietnam War, the Richard Nixon administration... And to think that people complain that the franchise had gotten too political or too "woke" under Disney's ownership? Don't make me laugh.

In a way, you kind of come to realize... Well, this little space movie from the 1970s somehow became the highest-grossing movie ever for a period of time (Steven Spielberg's E.T. took the record in 1982), it spawned two sequels and a few TV specials and cartoons... And tons of comic books and novels and toys... And then three more movies, and more cartoons, and more movies, it's now owned by a massive multimedia conglomerate that wants MORE MORE MOOOOOOORE of it out there... And well... Capitalism. It becomes big, new people take it over every now and then, it's soooooooo far removed from the little anti-Vietnam War space movie it was in 1977 that could've gone down as an embarrassing box office disaster and subsequent cult classic.

And then you realize when it's time to get off the train, and quit going after the wrong people, aiming for the wrong targets. In that, the thing wasn't ruined, it's just so big now that it's not its earliest roots. When I see these new Star Wars things that throw in cameos and try very hard to play to fans who want Star Wars done up in a very specific way, I can't get too too angry... Because this whole "Star Wars, the way you've always loved it" thing seems to fundamentally misunderstand what the original movie, NOT the Original Trilogy, was in 1977. Repeating the past, instead of being someone's unique vision informed by the events of the era it was made in. It became a franchise, but it's okay to say when it's time to cap it off and go watch something else.

I extend this to my current gripes with Walt Disney Animation Studios and the majority of Disney's modern movie output that isn't Pixar, 20th Century Studios, and Searchlight. WDAS may never be what it was a few decades ago, it'll certainly never be what it was under Walt's watch. I can gripe all I want about their recent films not entirely doing it for me, but I can still look for the things I like (for example, STRANGE WORLD had some really cool stuff in it, have yet to see WISH all the way through) and hope for the best next time. "The best", as in, a picture I really really dig and cherish. Even if I may not get just that. The reality is, these things grow and balloon way beyond what they started out as, and many different people are now involved, money drives it all, and thus those in charge take it the direction that they THINK is the right direction. It's never easy to guess what it is the audience might want or will like, ya know?

Sometimes things are truly special before they blow up into something else where there's too much money at stake and too many people making what they feel are the right decisions... Sometimes those things can still be special, too...

[trlvsn]

Do.. do you think Edgeworth ever wishes he was adopted by someone other than Manfred von Karma? Someone like... Maybe-*GUNSHOT*

Like c'mon he knows Trucy. He totally has a adoptive parent tier list. Just a coincidence that someone happens to be on that list.

Anyway I agree that you should put him in a locked room with Freud.

i would like to start the response by saying this is all said in a light-hearted manner.

no. when i make jokes about freud, it's 90% a meaningless joke, 10% me thinking edgeworth just said something really fucking weird, but i just. don't do this to me. please don't make them weird. because that would legitimately be very weird and would permanently fuck up the dynamic, and also, i just can't picture that being canon-compliant. sure, edgeworth might see a bit of his child self in trucy, but only in a "she has been through something traumatic in court and it concerned her father. i remember how i used to feel in that time of my life. i hope she has a better support system than i did" way, not in a... wishing phoenix was his dad way.

and speaking of the aai2 line about comparing phoenix to his dad, jokes aside, i think it's just an ace attorney-specific thing. the characters in the series frequently resemble their mentors, friends, family and loved ones, so it's only natural for someone to notice those bits and pieces. when Diego noticed phoenix resembling mia, it didn't exactly mean he suddenly desired phoenix carnally. well actually diego x phoenix is very funny to me but. not the point. it happens with a lot of characters in a lot of different situations, and edgeworth is capable of seeing people as individual beings, much more capable of it than wright, in fact.

so, no, i don't think that, anon, i feel like it wouldn't make sense for the characters or be cute. i would still put edgeworth in a room with freud though, but not because freud would be right: i just like seeing men suffer sometimes.

i will continue making freud jokes but when it gets serious i prefer to use common sense instead of whatever he used in his works.

[hungryyheart]

Actual Vampire C*nan O'B*i*n also known as the Late Night Host By Day (ironically), Garbage Disposal Unit By Night AU

conrad gets his talk show! yay! but in exchange he has to eat people for the tv executives in their "side hustle" :) don't ask :) and not just because i've not figured it out yet :)

set in the 90s. still a vampii in this au but an Adult and also the Only One? and also was born with the disease and maybe it's a family curse or maybe it isn't. and his family thought they could manage it and pretend he was on like the keto diet. but when he hit his teens he started wanting meat all the time and MORE of it all the time and developed weird concerning pica habits etc so they freaked and pulled him out of school and basically locked him up in his attic room all day. and all he had for company was his johnny carson reruns and then lett*rm*n once he took over and then one day he gets involved with like a mafia or something who pretty much force him to do the same thing -- they won't tattle on the fact he's a monster if he doesn't rat them out and also eats their bodies for them so there's no trace left for anyone to find -- i don't know how he gets the tv gig but i know it's for nefarious reasons but also like he legitimately earns it: his is the best audition and all the preview audiences like him the most. anyway. america's most beloved critter

[crystalelemental]

Unit Teambuilding - Sygna Suit Silver

Okay, Silver and Sneasel are happening.  This rules.  Keeping the pre-evolution was the right move. However this also fills me with concern. Like, the egg is his Neo Champion alt right? Please DeNA.

General Overview SS Silver offers a lot.  As an Ice-type Tech whose focus is mostly on damage, his main claim to fame is "Best Ice-type Damage Dealer."  Low bar.  His gimmick is Triple Axel, a move that gets progressively stronger as it lands, but has an unfortunate 90 accuracy.  His Buddy move is the same move, but in this instance, it is his means of capping crit.  Each hit gives +1 crit, but more critically, gives -1 sync cooldown.  Silver is a full turn saved on sync by himself, provided all moves hit.

This leads to a bit of a discussion around Silver, because his Buddy move is bizarre.  On the one hand, that's a lot of utility on that move!  You might want to pop that early!  But on the other, this is his best damage output, if conserved.  Problem: the activation condition is upon entry, but the deactivation condition is "When not at full HP."  In the era of AoE, and especially Gauntlet, this Buddy move will effectively never function as damage.  It is always setup.  And setup is where Silver's oddities start to show.

Tripping Strike 9 into Cakewalk is very respectable.  Buddy move then regular attack caps that.  But he also has Inertia and X Speed+.  So he can set up the speed, but when?  He also has a trainer move that's +3 attack.  Which, again, when?  Silver reminds me vaguely of SS Hilbert and why I skipped him: the desired traits are all there, but they're scattered in such a way that nothing flows nicely.  Whatever tools he may have, he needs allies covering for the ones he doesn't.  If he's debuffing speed (he should), then he needs attack and speed.  If he's buffing speed, he needs Atk/crit.  If he's buffing attack, he needs speed/crit, which I don't think exists.  But most critically, Silver needs accuracy.  And that means he's either gridding Pinpoint Entry 2, which is costly, or he's bringing an ally with accuracy, which is rare.  Real ones know, this means it's time for stonks, but outside of that, his potential partners are fairly limited in scope.

I think it's going to be interesting seeing how Silver shakes out in functional play.  He's got the numbers behind him, and is in a type that desperately needs the help, but I'm really curious how consistency will play.

Move Level and EX? As a damage-focused Tech, 3/5 is fairly demanded.  Silver does almost nothing else of value at 1/5.  There is the use of "is a full fast ramp by himself," but I have a difficult time saying that a sync pair is worthwhile for just -3 cooldown and some speed debuffing.  Aim higher.   And of course, Tech, so without EX the sync isn't always so impressive, so like...man, Silver is demanding.  That said, rare moment of saying “4/5 might legitimately be worth it." Punishing Strike 4 is actually good odds for the debuff, and Evasive Strike 9 is absolutely hysterical if you want to conserve Buddy move.

Team 1: SS Silver, H!Caitlin, Tech Lapras STONKS!  I swear, I will never let go of people calling H!Caitlin niche back on arrival.  The shift in the meta to include grid expansions that let everyone independently cap crit has been a godsend.  Caitlin is Silver's optimal partner, to the point she could be considered his only true partner.  While Silver speed runs first sync, minimizing foe's speed in the process, Caitlin caps Atk and Spd, but also gives accuracy buffs.  Look at that, full power but sync on turn 3.  And the saved grid energy means Heavy Hail 5, so just slap in a random Hail eggmon and you're done.  H!Caitlin is perfect, best sync pair.

Team 2: SS Silver, P!Bea, SS Hau Hau is a very good partner to Silver as well, just because of how he kicks off all known multipliers.  P!Bea adds in Hail, and gives a quick shot of attack for Silver's fast-ramp.

Team 3: SS Silver, Lillie/Aaron/Hop, Masked Royal/Darach Let's talk about some other options.  By support, Lillie and Aaron have offenses and accuracy boosting.  Notably, Aaron's an optimal pick for conserving Silver's buddy move until after first sync, thanks to covering crit.  Hop can do the same, if you want, but lacks accuracy boosting.  In the case where accuracy is covered, Masked Royal is a fair pick.  Speed boosts and potential defense debuffs are very helpful.  But failing that, Darach is the man of the hour.  Darach has Defog, which is free points in CS, but more notably has the combination of Weigh Down and Slo-Mo.  Darach helps spread speed debuffs AoE, something Silver cannot do, and the lowered evasion of the enemy team substitutes for boosts to accuracy, allowing Silver to hit consistently.  Darach is notably great for more defensive teams, thanks to the shift in CS points to Crit Sheld he removes, and the attack debuffs.

Team 4: SS Silver, BP Clemont, Tech Persian/Siebold/Tech Lapras Gauntlet approach.  BP Clemont is a pretty nice partner for Silver in this context, thanks to Spark's paralysis rate, Screech to debuff defense, and X Accuracy All to patch up Triple Axel. Of particular note, when gimmicks like debuffs or status changes (Siebold can confuse with Aggravation) are required, you drop Heavy Hail. This permits picking up Burst In, which can get a guaranteed crit on either first sync (not recommended due to two conditions for speed drops) or Triple Axel (sure crit for damage into +3 crit). You can drop Endurance for Burst In too, but given how Gauntlet is, I'd keep Endurance as a primary concern.

Team 5: SS Silver, Ghetsis, SC Lillie/Support Chansey/Irida Alright, there's one other thing that Silver can do really well, and that's bottom out speed. While generally not exciting, this does set him up for Cakewalk sets. The most notable Cakewalk partner being Ghetsis, who has natural Cakewalk multiplier, and Hunter's Instinct on Glaciate.  Even better, Ghetsis' Double Drop Noble Roar can be used to full debuff the target, easily setting up max power first sync.  For fast-paced stages, SC Lillie gets Ghetsis to capped offenses faster than anything else, and thanks to his Sharp Entry, Silver's fast-ramp the majority of it is achievable in two turns.  For some contexts, Support Chansey may do okay, thanks to the Let's Brainstorm buff complementing Ghetsis' needed offense and low speed.  Leaf is generally better though, due to +2 to all stats on first sync, including accuracy.  But of special note is Irida, who has built-in Vigilance, and can reasonably tank for a team, while supplying special defense drops and Zone.

Final Thoughts SS Silver seems really good. Finally, we have an Ice-type that doesn't have some horrific flaw for no reason. He's just a pure damage dealer and is really, really competent at that job. Triple Axel is legitimately fantastic damage for a two-bar move, all it requires is a little accuracy he can build in himself if needed. And the sync. Finally, a competent sync. SS N got hit with such atrocious multipliers it's almost laughable, but Silver...well, okay, it's still demanding, but it's at least achievable. I hate to say it, because Adaman is ridiculous, but I actually value Silver over him. A competent Ice-type damage dealer is a rare commodity, and Silver's easily the best we've gotten thus far.

[totaldramafan-lauri]

Feeling a bit betrayed

So, I've been keeping my Hazbin hype to myself for the most part on here, cuz I got a few months to prepare and I dunno how frustrating an experience Prime will be since I've never used it, but yeah, I flipped out SO MUCH when the announcement hit. I'm just choosing to focus on other interests for the time being so my impatience doesn't kill me. XD

However, there is one thing I wanna talk about....it's on the negative side, and yeah, it has to do with the voice cast announcement yesterday, s-so please look away if you don't wanna read. I'm NOT mad at anyone, just venting. I-I just need to get this.....o-outta my system right away, so I can get over it as quickly as possible.

N-not every member of the pilot cast said they were leaving....

S-so.....I thought.....that the ones who didn't say anything were staying......

M-maybe I was just tricking myself....

D-dang it.....why'd Ed not SAY anything? On his Twitter? Did he not know at the time? C-cuz it feels so unlike him otherwise-! I-I was convinced that if he knew, he would've told us j-just like the others- I-if they could reveal it, why couldn't he? That's what I thought....I thought it wasn't a cause for concern....

He KNEW he was playing the fan-favorite character. He KNEW his voice was part of the reason why. A-after all those streams he's been on, all the fans he's interacted with, all those times he literally would jump in in the middle of the stream without being announced cuz he KNEW he would get 90% of the messages otherwise-

He was AWARE of his popularity- A-and he didn't say anything? I-it's his choice, b-but gosh- I-I wish I could say I saw this coming, but I legitimately DID NOT until yesterday! A-am I stupid? M-maybe I'm just stupid.....

I always got the sense that he loved being on Hazbin, and that he was the type of guy to communicate with his fans about this kinda thing, before we got our hopes up.....Even if it hurt, it would've been early enough for us to move on and adjust our expectations!

However, even though I wish he'd spoken up, I can UNDERSTAND why he didn't keep the role. It's because he's not a singer. Looking at the cast list, it's very clear that Viv wanted every character to do their own singing. She loves musicals, and wants to make this show feel like a high-quality Broadway show. Can't do that when characters have different people doing their singing like in the pilot. I understand why it had to happen.....

I-I'm not mad at him, just a bit....downtrodden....His voice was so distinct, and iconic.....No doubt, the new guy'll sound different, but....Let's hope it's not in a bad way. I did look him up, and safe to say, he can do the singing part perfectly, so that's a great sign. Voice aside, favorite character is still favorite character, nothing will change that if the writing's good. B-but I am a very auditory person, so I-I'm just crossing my fingers and hoping that I still get a good voice with the same effect on me as the old one....

A-and....y'know.....it kinda makes it a bit more heartwarming that Ed is Striker now. Just shows that Viv liked working with him and wanted to keep him, pffffff.....So, if he's fine with it, then I'll eventually be, too....^^

J-just....r-really wish I could've known sooner, that's all....

But it's fine....I'm fffffffine......

[dancing-to-architecture]

90 - Pink Floyd - The Wall

High up on my list of "Best Movie Soundtracks Ever", even though a. it's a rock opera and b. one of my favorite songs on the album is notably NOT in the film.

Also, an album I picked up WAY too early in life. This is not an album that should be mainlined by an impressionable young adolescent. (See also: Smashing Pumpkins)

And, if you haven't seen the movie, know going in that it's violent and disturbing and disorienting, it adds a LOT to the context of the album, and also you should really watch it twice.

•In The Flesh?-

One of the most bombastic and epic-feeling opening tracks I've ever experienced in my life.

I'm ALWAYS looking for that space cadet glow.

Also it ends like the album is ending, like entire goddamn world is ending, complete with the sound of a plane crash and everything, and then, with a baby's cry, we are introduced to our doomed protagonist.

•Thin Ice-

So, unlike quicksand, thin ice is a horror from my childhood only this one WILL ACTUALLY KILL YOU. Growing up in a small town where two rivers met, thin ice was a legitimate concern every winter.

And, while I don't recall as many people going under the ice as I do "Chicagoans getting wasted and falling to their death at Starved Rock", it was always in the back of my mind whenever the air hurt my face.

Regardless this song is about losing your sanity, and the two concepts are nonetheless linked in my mind, especially since high school makes you feel crazy.

•Another Brick In The Wall, Pt. 1-

This one makes me think of two things:

1. This Robert Anton Wilson quote:

"under the present brutal and primitive conditions on this planet, every person you meet should be regarded as one of the walking wounded. we have never seen a man or woman not slightly deranged by either anxiety or grief. we have never seen a totally sane human being."

2. My dad's hobby of late: burning all of his money by going on cruise ships multiple times a year.

"Daddy, what'd you leave behind for me?" Not fuckin much.

Otherwise this section of the album has one hell of a groove to it.

•The Happiest Days Of Our Lives-

So happy to say that I never had a *physically* abusive teacher.

Mentally and emotionally? I mean who didn't have at least one of *them* growing up?

(And yes I genuinely, honestly, hope "their psychopathic wives" beat the shit out of every single one of those bastards. If you are in a position of authority over children, and you use that to make their lives objectivly worse, for shit they had no hand in, I hope your eyeballs and throat and liver and kidneys all get ripped out by goddamned vultures.)

•Another Brick In The Wall, Pt. 2-

The anthem for my entire generation, and what should damn sure be the energy going forward (especially in Fascistland, I mean Florida, where "slavery was kinda good actually" and "AP Psych can not legally be taught anymore because it says that queer people exist".

We don't need no thought control.

And all in all, Ron Desantis is just another dick with no balls.)

Also, I was much older when I learned that when an Englishman says "pudding" they actually mean "basically any possible dessert" and not just, like, "tapioca".

•Mother-

Generating Lifelong Codependency: The Song.

5 minutes and 34 seconds of Bad Parenting Choices.

See the above Robert A. Wilson quote again.

•Goodbye Blue Sky-

Simultaneously one of the prettiest and one of the ugliest songs on the album.

Beautiful and horrible.

Also, one of my favorite of the animated segments in the film. Evocative as FUCK.

"The flames are all long gone

But the pain lingers on."

•Empty Spaces-

This is the sound of every dying relationship. Once the communication breaks down, the rot begins to take hold.

•Young Lust-

Now, THIS is a great song to get stuck in your head for a month and a half when you're a loser in your sophomore year of high school and nobody wants to really even look at you, let alone go out with you, and absolutely nobody wants to just fuck nasty, which is exactly what this song is entirely about: finding a person who wants to get slammed down, big style.

•One Of My Turns-

Possibly the darkest song on the album and one of the heaviest parts of the movie.

The Breakdown of Every Thing.

That said, "cold as a razor blade, tight as a tourniquet, dry as a funeral drum" would be a good description of me from like ages 15-27.

...Thank the gods for LSD. Ego death fixed a lot of that shit.

•Don't Leave Me Now-

Correction: THIS is the darkest song on the album.

A droning meditation on all the various forms of partner abuse.

•Another Brick In The Wall, Pt. 3-

And this is the song that turns the miserable sophomore-year loser into a teenaged curmudgeon. "I don't need any of you, I'll be just fine on my own."

•Goodbye Cruel World-

It's pretty obviously about suicide, but I always thought this would be a great closing song for a live show.

"Yeah this is it, this is all you're getting. You can't change my mind. Goodbye."

•Hey You-

Ah, good day, "Sir Not Appearing In This Film". How are you?

I've heard a few reasons from different people as to why this was cut from the movie, from simply "cut for time" to "the actual film got fucked up during recording and was deemed unusable".

In the story, this is the initial realization of the Great Mistake of building the wall and shutting yourself off from reality and humanity.

In my life, it gave me one of the most impactful lines I've ever heard:

"Hey you,

Don't help them to bury the light.

Don't give in without a fight."

As well as a lovely metaphor for what right-wing talk-radio grifters and Fox News brainwashing did to everybody's parents:

"No matter how he tried, he could not break free, and The Worms ate into his brain."

•Is There Anybody Out There?-

One of my favorite songs on the album.

Short and sweet, if by 'sweet' you mean 'dangerously paranoid'.

Also, one of the only songs I ever learned how to play on guitar.

I classify this as the beginning of what I call the "tone poem section". The next few songs all bleed together into one full movement.

•Nobody Home-

The depression inherent to self-imposed loneliness sets in as self-reflection, self-adoration, and ultimately self-revulsion.

"I'm so smart, I can even figure out every single thing that I did to completely ruin my entire life, but i won't do that until the end of the album, on account of how smart I am."

•Vera-

The tone poem continues.

Also, I had no idea who Vera Lynn was for quite some time. So, no, I didn't remember her. 🤷

It's a devastatingly pretty song, though.

•Bring The Boys Back Home-

And the culmination of the tone poem portion of the album arrives.

There's not a lot to this one, tbh.

•Comfortably Numb-

It is amazing to me how much I related to this song, long before I ever did a single drug. And now, after having done quite a few drug, I'm not much of a depressants guy. (It's probably all the regular depression, why would I ever add more?)

Man, I was a pretty messed up kid, huh.

Such an incredible song, though. Perfect in every way. Beautiful guitar work, the drumming is impeccable, the bass is... present, and the vocals are stellar.

One of my favorites.

•The Show Must Go On-

I can sum this one up with the title of a cancelled douchebag Marilyn Manson song: "I don't like the drugs, but the drugs like me."

•In The Flesh-

The reprise of the opening track.

Problematic as hell, but that's the fucking point. This is a hyper-violent fascist rally dressed up like a concert, and Anyone Who Doesn't Fit In will be Taken Care Of.

•Run Like Hell-

Back when I was a kid, roughly a thousand years ago, there was a Chicago morning news show that used to use the beginning of this song as their show's intro, and that always struck me as Extremely Fucking Weird.

The concert/hyper-violent fascist rally spills into the streets. Nobody is safe. This is the point.

•Waiting For The Worms-

Fear and isolation lead to horrors beyond human comprehension.

An anthem for krystallnacht.

An anthem for the alt-right mass shooter.

Fortunately, you can theoretically get the worms out. Unfortunately, you will very likely have to crack open the skull in which they reside to do so.

•Stop-

"WHAT DO YOU MEAN THERE ARE CONSEQUENCES TO MY ACTIONS?!"

•The Trial-

The Big Come Down. Our protagonist realizes, way too late, that despite the many, many tribulations of his life, it is his reactions to those problems that ultimately the source of all of his problems.

Yeah, your teachers were shitty sociopaths, your mom was a domineering bitch, and your wife (rightly) got sick of all of your bullshit and left you.

Shutting yourself out and hiding yourself away doesn't fix a fucking thing, and only makes the Bad Things worse.

Shut the fuck up, Pink. You're not crazy, you're just a bigoted asshole. Tear the fucking wall down already.

•Outside The Wall-

In which our protagonist finally gets a fucking grip and stops being such a dick.

Or, an alternate reading is that Pink has killed himself, and everything from Goodbye Cruel World until this point has been a hallucination caused by his dying mind, and this is him receiving total consciousness at the moment of death.

OR it's simply saying "it's on you to open up a bit, because there are people who genuinely want to help you, but they'll only try for so long."

This is a great album, but you kinda need to see the movie to really get it, which is ironic because you also need to know the album pretty well to understand what the fuck is happening in the movie.

Favorite Track:

I am SO tempted to be a cheeky little shit and say "When The Tigers Broke Free", as that is an incredible song, but it's only in the film, not the studio album.

So I'll invert that and say Hey You, which is on the album, but not in the film.

Least Favorite Track:

Bring The Boys Back Home. It's the end of the slow self-reflection/self-destruction part of the story, there for the (incredibly depressing) vibes.

[bananafe]

Drake take care album zip vk

Drake take care album zip vk update#

Even the more upbeat tracks take pains not to rely on a simple thump. (Drake reportedly had a vinyl copy of Blake's debut LP on display in the studio while recording Take Care.) Its subtlety is a direct rebuke to the rash of in-the-red Eurotrance waveforms clogging up radio dials. This is sensuous music that breathes heavy somewhere between UGK's deep funk, quiet-storm 90s R&B, and James Blake-inspired minimalism. While the bombastic style of producer Lex Luger's work with Rick Ross and Waka Flocka Flame threatened to turn the tide on Drake and 40's moody atmospherics last summer, the pair stick to their gut here and delve further into smooth piano and muffled drums, fully committed to the idea of doing more with less. Thank Me Later banked on a sonic tableau that was slow and sensual and dark- equal parts Aaliyah and the xx- and Take Care takes that aesthetic to an even more rewarding place, spearheaded by Drake's go-to producer Noah "40" Shebib, who gets a writing and production credit on almost every song. Just as his thematic concerns have become richer, so has the music backing them up. Even when staring at a pair of unnatural breasts, he highlights the incision rather than the size: "Brand new girl and she still growing/ Brand new titties, stitches still showing/ Yeah, and she just praying that it heals good/ I'm 'bout to fuck and I'm just praying that it feels good." "I mean, sure, there's some bills and taxes I'm still evading/ But I blew six million on myself, and I feel amazing." And on "HYFR (Hell Ya Fucking Right)", he all but gives away his hand, turning his sadness into strategy: "What have I learned since getting richer?/ I learned working with the negatives could make for better pictures." And while he claims "I think I like who I'm becoming" on "Crew Love"- about as ringing an endorsement you'll get from a guy so bent on exposing his own disappointments- he's still more interested in contradiction than triumph. "They say more money more problems, my nigga, don't believe it," he raps on closer "The Ride". While he expressed wonderfully wounded trepidations about his sudden rise on Thank Me Later, he's learning to embrace it more here. This time around, Drake has a better grasp on his own notoriety and the mind-fucks that come with it. When he's not making the most epic drunk-dial song in pop history with "Marvins Room", he's openly pleading with former flame Rihanna on the record's title track, or duetting with Twitter wife Nicki Minaj on "Make Me Proud" only to call out such publicity-baiting "relationships" two tracks later, where he raps, "It look like we in love, but only on camera." With its startlingly frank talk and endless heartbreak, Take Care often reads like a string of especially vulnerable- and sometimes embarrassing- Missed Connections. While fame causes some to withdraw and cling to what little privacy they have left, this 25-year-old Canadian's penchant for poetic oversharing has only been emboldened by his success. "They take the greats from the past and compare us/ I wonder if they'd ever survive in this era," he contemplates on the album, "In a time where it's recreation/ To pull all your skeletons out the closet like Halloween decorations." We can thank Kanye West for legitimately kicking off this open-book hip-hop era, and it's increasingly apparent that Drake is the most engaging new rap star since Ye. In this age of reality television, 24-hour celebrity news, and second-to-second documentation- where behind-the-scenes sagas mix with what's on screen and on record, creating an ever-morphing, ever-more-self-aware new normal- Drake is an apt avatar.

Drake take care album zip vk update#

Running with Gaye's ghost, Drake offers a profane update of his forebear's twisted heart: "Fuck that nigga that you love so bad/ I know you still think about the times we had," he sings on the insidious hook of "Marvins Room", a song recorded in the same studio where Gaye originally exposed his own unedited thoughts more than three decades ago. The same could be said of Drake, whose unrepentant navel-gazing and obsession with lost love reach new levels on his second proper LP, Take Care.

[saltymongoose]

What would happen if y/n got turned into a baby? Or Vice versa the madcom boys turning into baby’s?

(I see Hank throwing a lot of tantrums and Deimos crying a lot to get our attention and Sanford being clingy lol)

Oh god, if you turned into a baby I really don't think they would handle it well. Number one, they have to find a way to reverse that, and they have no idea how you ended up that way to begin with, so that's a lot of stress. Number two, they have no clue how to act around kids. At least 90% of grunts currently alive are the result of cloning, so kids aren't exactly a thing that happens in Nevada commonly (for many reasons that are irrelevant right now), which means they've never even seen one from the start. And to complicate matters further, there's a human baby and it's their Player.

They're completely terrified of somehow hurting you; you're even smaller and more fragile than they ever thought you could be. How they actually deal with it depends on if you've talked about human kids before, whether in your streams that they "overheard" or directly with them. For example, if you babysat anyone before and told them about it, they probably just try to copy that behavior. But they still freak out whenever you do anything.

Like if you make a weird face, Deimos and Sanford freak out and assume you're in pain. (You aren't, you're just confused by something above them on the ceiling. That crack looks concerning.) Or like if you wobble and fall over on the couch, Hank immediately picks you up and takes you to 2B because omg you might've broken something.

Or even worse, when you went hungry for a few hours and couldn't stop yourself from crying as Doc tried to figure out what to feed you. And then some of them probably started crying because they just are very overwhelmed and they can't figure out how to fix this and how to make you ok. They hate seeing little you in so much distress, help them.

But general chaos aside, once they figure it out (or if you've talked to them about it before), they'd spend legitimately all their time fawning over you. You're just so cute and small, it's hard to imagine something so innocent existing in their world. Even Doc lights up whenever you reach out a small hand and grasp his fingers. They also probably fight over who's turn it is to hold you (especially Hank, who just absolutely refuses to let you go). It's funnier if you retain your original thoughts too since you're kinda like 🫤 whenever they fight over you. You humor their fascination though since it's pretty harmless. The best reaction is when you try to say their names though; they just get the biggest smile on their faces when they hear you say a loose string of syllables that sounds kinda like it. You go "'anfo" and "'mos" around Sanford and Deimos and they immediately get teary-eyed and excitedly freak out to the other, likely trying to get you to repeat it as well (Deimos might try to record it too).

But if they got turned into babies, omg, they'd be a complete handful. Doc is the most well-behaved of the bunch, rarely crying and just kinda looking at the others with disappointment as they act out to get your attention. He and Sanford would mainly stay near your side when possible, though Sanford is more outwardly clingy with being held by you. If anything, Doc is more focused on not causing you a lot of trouble, since surely you'd prefer to spend more time around a well-behaved baby than one like Hank. Speaking of Hank, he's the exact opposite. He throws a fit whenever you're out of his line of sight and he isn't above shoving the others if he thinks they're spending too much time coddled in your arms (which is only a minute or two, let's be honest). He's the most tiring to deal with, by far. Deimos notices how you scramble to comfort them whenever any of them get upset, and especially when they cry, so naturally he exploits this mercilessly. He'll well up if he thinks you're leaving him alone, only to immediately stop once you pick him up and allow him to nestle into your neck.

You're right about Sanford being clingy, but he's more the type to pout and hold his arms up towards you instead of crying or having a tantrum when you put him down. He's just an easy kid to deal with, so it's easy to just go about your day with him on your hip since he's not very disruptive. He just likes being with you, so it's fine if you focus on paperwork (for Doc, since he can't do it) or anything else.

However, despite some of the annoying things they do, they're all really cute, so you can't stay mad at them for too long lol. And of course, they use their adorable-ness to their advantage to get you to cuddle them, or give them little kisses on their chubby cheeks as they grab at you. It seems that even in this form, they can't resist the urge to hog all of your attention for themselves. Then again, were you expecting any different at this point?

[mrpenguinpants]

Genshin: Roommate HCs [V1]

To be honest, I just wanted to ramble some more and let my brainworms take over. This is sorta late but Happy Valentine’s everyone! I was gonna post this earlier but this honestly took me a long time to write so I moved it to today. 

Once again, this is 90% crack 10% content. Seriously, as much as I love writing this non-serious fics. Why do you people like this?

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Based off my ramblings with Keqing anon: Link

Genshin: Holding Hands [V1]

Genshin: When you’re cold [V1]

Genshin: University AU [V1]

Genshin: Royalty AU [V1]

[Masterlist]

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[taglist]  <- if you want to be added, please read this first.

@youaskedfurret @diaxfeliz @wintergreen-aix @kaechu @thegayrubberducky @lovelykittycatmeow @yuunoagivesmelife​  @dokidokisama @rokipersonal​@minakohasmanyhusbandos​ @strwbrry-lia @tigerpriestess​ @yuu-yuukurotsuki​ @hanniejji​  @mikeysbike @unionwitch @musekala @sunnshiii​ @stanzastic @akaasea​ @xoneaboveallx​ @adoring-ghost​ @asheseiler​ @childelover​ @dilucsz​ @dai-tsukki-desu​ @thicmitten​ @nonniechan​ @htnicayh​ @genshins1mpact​ 

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Diluc

What? Diluc has a roommate? Did you blackmail him in living with you? Is that even possible? Did you throw yourself in front of his car because you needed someone to pay for your student loans and the easiest way was to file a lawsuit? In this economy no one would blame you. Diluc seems like such the self-isolated character that would murder his roommate in cold blood but in reality, he act’s detached from the world because he forgot how to socialize and he’s desperately trying to cover it up without choking. That or he’s trying to learn how to astral project. If he could drink away the pain he would but instead he buys 20 packs of grape Kool-Aid and injects it into his veins. 

Does not and will not ever have a normal sleeping schedule. You’ll wake up to him working, come back home to him working, and will sleep to him still working. His daily dose of Vitamin D is from the brightness of his screen rather than the sun and he’s filter feeding at this point. It’s concerning. He’s going to crumble and he’s bringing the world down with him. Through the power of tax evasion. But as soon as he needs to walk out into society, he pulls movie magic and looks like perfection. It’s both physically and mentally disgusting. 

He’s actually is a really nice roommate to have just so long as you give him space. Great cook and knows to clean up after himself. Though he does have crash and burn days where’s he’s completely out of commission. You could set the entire apartment on fire and he would sleep through it. The entire two weeks are dedicated to zombie eye marathons and then he’ll suddenly collapse and sleep for 46 hours straight. When he wakes up from his hibernation he’s the most groggy and nonsensical person. His life blood is coffee because you keep hiding the 5 hour energy away from him because, you know, life is enjoyable and those cancer bottles will actually kill him.  

“University sucks our money out of our bodies faster than our will to live.” 

Beidou [Happy Birthday Queen 💕]

Despite her appearance, she’s actually really strong and it scares the piss out of you when you’re doing something or scrolling through your phone mindlessly and you suddenly get your spine re-arranged when she slaps you on the back to ask what you’re doing. Likewise, when she hoists you up and throws you over her shoulder so you come with her on her 3am convivence store raids for alcohol. It’s either you change now or else we’re walking out of the apartment in your t-shirt and no pants self. She can and will carry you under her arm that way. It’s both incredibly attractive and horrifying at the same time. 

She’s really friendly and a great talker if you’re alright with her “I must hold you in my arms, fresh prince of bel air style”. It doesn’t matter if you’re taller than her, she’s doing it. She does however, get in a bit of trouble from her rowdiness and you often get noise complaints but Beidou just passes them off to Ningguang and everything is fixed. She has ovaries of steel when neighbors rather confront her personally and she’s ready to 1v1 in the parking lot. You’re trying to desperately hold onto her shirt to stop her from pile driving your neighbors for the third time this week but she’s too strong.  

She’s constant party until we die attitude and suffers the hangover in the morning. It’s actually really funny to catch her in her hangover moods because whatever filter Beidou had, which is none, is gone. She really takes “cursing like a sailor” or the next level and the amount of creativity she comes up with is actually impressive. She can be a bit messy but she’s really likeable and always down to go anywhere with you as long as you’ll do the same. It’s a very ride together, we die together situation. You’re my best friend, you’re dying with me. I’ll see you in hell. 

“Imma T pose over my dad and then crash the car into the parking garage.” 

Kaeya

Kaeya on the surface seems like such a chill roommate. And he is for the most part. But he’s such an ass. Your things are his things, no questions asked. If you just bought a really nice sweater or you had leftover food, that’s his now. He’s innocent until proven guilty even if he’s literally holding your lunch. The pure amount of bullshit he can spit out to convince you that no, he did not pull the fire alarm because he wanted an excuse for not going to work, puts him on Shakespeare level. He’s also very pretty, way too pretty, sir can you share some of your genes? 

But aside from that, he’s actually super dependable. You forgot something at home? Sure, he has nothing better to do so he can bring them for you. We’re missing eggs? No problem, he’s just by the store. You’re 95% sure that he just wants to be cheeky and make you thank him for 20 minutes before he actually hands you what you asked for. It’s better for you if you never tell him anything you’re afraid of because Kaeya has no social cues, or more like he throws them out the window, and he’s probably a psychopath. 

He’s incredibly private of his room and things despite his attitude towards yours. You’re convinced he either has a secret lab or that’s where he’s storing the bodies. I was the good guy but due to unfortunate circumstances, I need to stab a bitch. But he’s a really good serious talker for those 3am, because everything happens at 3am, talks about life and the meaning of the universe. It absolutely wrecks your sleep schedule but some of the things you talk about are the most crackhead things like what’s the lowest amount of money someone would have to pay you to walk outside without clothes? It’s a legitimate question. 

“Never before have I been so offended with something I 100% agree with.”

Jean

Okay, what world did you save in a past life to live with his absolutely wonderful woman? Mother Teresa take a load off, take a seat. You have nothing to worry about. She’ll bring home little treats back home and it’s the most wholesome thing ever?? Is this what love and affection feels like? We’ve been starved for so long. She says it’s not a big deal and anyone would do it BUT THE MOMENT SOMEONE BUYS FOOD FOR YOU. IT’S A MAGICAL MOMENT. They are forever stuck in your will until proven otherwise. An absolute ray of sunshine that must be protected. 

She does get super busy so you don’t often see each other or get to hang out as much. She’s a bit of a workaholic but a lot more easier to talk her into taking a break. She’s also a pretty decent cook but she prefers baking and jesus christ, girl can you calm down? Be still my beating heart, I’ve been smitten. Has mother hen vibes that you’re not sure if she’s your roommate or if she adopted you into her family. It’s time to start a petition for the Jean protection squad. Given the opportunity, I would aggressively hold your hand. 

She’s always open to whatever you want to do. Any recommendations or things that you like she will try out at least once despite her busy schedule. She’s lowkey lonely because work consumes her so any time you want to hang out or do something together, she jumps on it like she’s feral. She get’s a bit shy to ask if she can join in on your plans because she doesn’t want to bother you or intrude no matter how many times you tell her that’s okay, she still get’s a bit iffy about it. Please save this girl before she trips. In your arms. Platonically. Just kidding haha. Unless?

“I can’t wait to see you happy and not hating everyone again haha.”

Childe

First impressions of Childe were great, until he opened his mouth and you realized how much of a two brain cell child(e) he was. He has two braincells because they constantly have to 1v1 in his brain. He’s lived with a lot of siblings so he has no social awareness or concept of privacy that you’re lucky if you come home and he’s half-dressed. It doesn’t matter if you’re 2 weeks older than him, he’s going to call you 82 years old and why your bones aren’t being fossilized at this point. He’s such a little shit, this fucker licks the yogurt lid peel.  

He get’s really restless when he’s stuck under house arrest, because apparently 1v1ing in the parking lot of a Wendy’s is illegal for some reason, so he makes dying whale noises until he get’s to go outside again. But he’s actually a really wholesome guy, probably because of his younger siblings, that he’ll sometimes get you something because you seemed down and it’s such whiplash? Who is this man and where did he come from? You’re starting to have a change of heart before he tells you that he got banned from the library for accidently punching the school’s computer. How you “accidently” punch something you have no idea but Childe always comes home with some sort of injury. Maybe he’s just incredibly clumsy. For your sanity, you’re going to go with that. 

He’s actually so uncultured that it’s crippling. You can’t blame him too much considering his upbringing and it’s great that he’s so interested in learning new things but...child no...It makes you want to take your spine out of your ass and rip it like a Beyblade. Watching him take chopsticks and stab his food like it’s marshmallows makes you want to fall into a blackhole and let the chair consume you. 

“I, too, fantasize about beating the living shit out of people.”

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Is this another tag yourself game cause I resonate with Diluc. I’m crying in insomnia. As much as I enjoy writing these fics I absolutely hate tagging them. I remember I used to have a tag anon but that was back when I wrote for bnha. 

Valentine’s Day was fun tho. I had a drinking game with friends as we played league then ended it off with a movie night.