#Carol😒

[prettyboybyers]

Just so you know

[blujaydoodles]

It was a strange figure—like a child: yet not so like a child as like an old man, viewed through some supernatural medium, which gave him the appearance of having receded from the view, and being diminished to a child’s proportions. Its hair, which hung about its neck and down its back, was white as if with age; and yet the face had not a wrinkle in it, and the tenderest bloom was on the skin. The arms were very long and muscular; the hands the same, as if its hold were of uncommon strength. Its legs and feet, most delicately formed, were, like those upper members, bare. It wore a tunic of the purest white; and round its waist was bound a lustrous belt, the sheen of which was beautiful. It held a branch of fresh green holly in its hand; and, in singular contradiction of that wintry emblem, had its dress trimmed with summer flowers. But the strangest thing about it was, that from the crown of its head there sprung a bright clear jet of light, by which all this was visible; and which was doubtless the occasion of its using, in its duller moments, a great extinguisher for a cap, which it now held under its arm.

“Are you the Spirit, sir, whose coming was foretold to me?” asked Scrooge.

“I am!”

[purinsesukinny]

presenting the topic of my ap bio final paper: the curious case of one kenny mccormick

readable text and poorly done citations under the cut

"I can't die. I've experienced death countless times. Sometimes I see a bright light, sometimes I see heaven or hell. But eventually no matter what I wake up in my bed wearing my same old clothes. And the worst part? Nobody even remembers me dying. I go to school the next day and everyone's all "Oh hey, Kenny.". Even if they've seen me get decapitated with their own eyes. So you want to whine about curses, Hindsight? You're talking to the wrong f*cking cowboy." - Mysterion, s14e12 “Mysterion Rises”

Kenny McCormick, aka Mysterion, is a nine-year-old on the show, South Park, which has been running for 22 years as of 2019. One of the main gags of the show is having Kenny be victim to various gruesome and gory deaths before coming back to life in the next episode. However, up until season 4, it was never made clear exactly how he came back. During episode 6 of that season, titled “Cartman Joins NAMBLA,” it is revealed that his mother literally gives birth to a new Kenny following each of his deaths. (We then find out in season 14 that this is due to some secret cult ritual that the McCormicks had volunteered to be a part of before Kenny’s birth, but that’s beside the point.)

His abilities in being able to die and be reborn often cause him grief, as shown in the quote above, especially given that only a few people decide to acknowledge or show any remorse when he dies. Although Kenny is shown to be friendly with many of his peers, it seems that mostly only his family continues to be shocked and horrified with each of his deaths. (But this phenomenon isn’t something that we’re going to touch today.) Towards the latter half of the show’s history, Kenny decides to take on the mantle as Mysterion, a vigilante who roams the city of South Park at night, fighting criminals without fear. After all, it’s not like he’ll stay dead, right?

One of the biggest biological mysteries regarding Kenny’s rebirths is his ability to retain his memories, even within a brand-new body. It is often believed that one’s memories are contained within their RNA, and with brand-new RNA each time, it shouldn’t be possible that he would be able to have all of his memories back. However, with the idea of viable “memory transfers,” it is.

The memory transfer theory is that transferring RNA from one organism that has been “trained” to react in a certain way, to another organism (called the “naive” organism, where it hasn’t been “trained”) will cause the naive organism to have those learned reactions to certain stimuli. The idea is that, if we could figure out some way to inject RNA from Kenny’s dead body into his new body, then we could transfer the memories from his old body into his new one, as the memory transfer theory states. This is based off of McConnell’s experiment in March 1960, where they were able to successfully implant learned reactions from one planarian to a naive one. This was done by using the cannibalistic tendencies of a specific species of planarian, such that the naive planarians reacted to stimuli in the way that the trained planarians were conditioned to react.

Scientists have also begun to experiment with snails.

This implies that in order for Kenny to be able to retain his memories after being reborn, he would need to somehow consume brain matter (where RNA is made) from his former corpse -- something that would be pretty difficult for a newborn to do. As such, it is probable that his mother would have to consume Kenny’s brain for him, which comes with an entire other set of problems that have to do with the kuru disease (often likened to “mad cow” disease) due to the prions that she would be ingesting and putting into both herself and Kenny’s unborn self. However, the symptoms of kuru often don’t show up until later in life, sometimes even 50 years after contracting the disease. Carol McCormick is about 25 years old at this point in the show, making her about 75 years old by the time she would be overdue for showing symptoms, meaning she would live a long and fulfilling life.

However, another problem that comes out of constantly being reborn is that Carol will have to be able to become pregnant and give birth within a day, and often without in vitro fertilization. This would involve an increased rate of production of estrogen, progesterone, human chorionic gonadotropin (HCG), relaxin, and oxytocin, the hormones involved in preparing the body for pregnancy, such that she would be able to get pregnant and give birth, all in one evening. (Prolactin is not included as Kenny usually grows up too quickly for him to need breast milk.) Similarly, Kenny would also have to rapidly secrete enough human growth hormone (hGH), thyroid stimulating hormone (TSH), adrenocorticotropic hormone (ACTH), luteinizing hormone (LH), and follicle stimulating hormone (FSH) in order to reach his previous age. As he is currently 9 years old, it will definitely take a longer amount of time for him to produce enough of these hormones that he will be able to reach his current age. For both Carol and Kenny, there would need to be some stimuli of the release of the appropriate hormones for these reactions to occur.

Actual line from the show. Carol corrects her husband, saying that it’s the 52nd time.

Overall, Kenny is basically just a normal kid with unusually talented fighting skills who just happens to have really bad luck. He is reborn through sped-up version of the normal process, and retains the memories of his previous body by letting his mom eat his decaying brains, of which there probably won’t be side effects until later in both of their lives. However, what really made him a superhero was his desire to use his abilities to help the people of his town, turning something that he views as a bad thing into something more positive.

citations:

(tumblr wouldn’t let me actually paste the links 😐)

[futuregws]

I know I have an account specifically for the walking dead stuff but Idc I'm gonna post this here.

I just finished episode 9 from season 10, and Carol had been getting on my nerves for a while but I always tried to be understanding bc of everything she went through but the shit she pulled in that episode in the cave and outside, yeah no, fuck that shit. My opinion has just done a complete 180.

[quill-pen]

Jen, as we all know, is dead. Ebenezer's mother, Polly, is gone as well, she died only a year after her beloved daughter. Eb's father however, Mr. Abner J. Scrooge? He's alive, as he's only, at most, 20 years older than his son (married and started a family young). Yes, the man is alive, but not well; as a horrid drunkard and gambler he's merely existing.

Ebenezer has no idea where his father is or where he goes or who he keeps company with and he doesn't care to know. All he knows is at least once every few years he gets a summons from the police to come bail the wretched man out of jail. And he does--even pre-visitation he did--because he feels obligated and because family relations are... complicated. Abner stays at his son's place for a few days until Eb figures out where to ship him off to, and he's dried out enough for Eb to feel comfortable enough to stick him on a coach or train. It is a horrible semi-annual process.

At least, that was before Bess. She hasn't much lost love for her father-in-law, before or after meeting him. This is the man that traumatized her beloved Ebenezer after all: abandoning him physically, mentally, and emotionally, forcing Ebenezer to relinquish his entire childhood much too young, instilling in him a terrible fear of a life doomed to poverty, you name it. Ebenezer is wholly to blame for his past conduct, of course, but there's no denying his feet were set up on that path as a boy by Abner.

Apart from that, Abner's and Bess' initial introduction went... less than swimmingly. Needless to say, he does not come back to visit London anymore. The last time Ebenezer and Bess ever saw him was when they put him on a ship for America with just enough money to start his life over, should he choose to. Odds are, the fool drank it all away on the journey; Bess and Eb do not care. They don't even care if Abner got so drunk that he took a dive in the middle of the ocean. Perhaps that's harsh, but they couldn't be bothered to care about that either, particularly Bess. Ebenezer is so much more at ease now he's not always bracing on some level for the unexpected impact of the dreaded summons. And she doesn't have to worry about coming home to a wrecked parlor full of drunken, lecherous galoots incapable of keeping their hands to themselves ever again.

Goodbye, Mr. A. J. Scrooge. I would say it's been a pleasure, but it hasn't.👋🖕

@rom-e-o I hope Connie never has to meet Scrooge's dad.🤗

[birbfeeder2artisticboogaloo]

i love it when everyone argues and shouts and brandishes weapons at each other :'D

[coconut530]

This song does something to me, man 🎹🎸👏🏻

[laurapetrie]

do you know any other perfumes worn by historical figures like otma? 🩷

Elisabeth of Austria wore Creed Fantasia De Fleurs. Obviously we don't know what Anne Boleyn smelled like (AN ANGEL!), but there is some evidence that she had a fondness for rose-water and even had several bottles of it in her inventory. Marie Antoinette was mad for perfume (there are entire books about this), and you can still buy her custom blend of Parfum du Trianon by her very own personal perfumer, Jean-Louis Fargeon. She even packed it for Varennes! (Louis waiting for her to get ready like 😒.) Her beloved Le Jardin Secret has been repackaged as Black Jade by Lubin, and you can buy it here. Marie-Thérèse also wore Lubin. Napoleon had François Rancé create Joséphine for Guess Who. To absolutely no one's surprise, it's like an explosion of rose petals. Victoria was a big fan of Fleurs de Bulgarie by Creed.

Madame du Barry‘s favourite scent was Aqua Mirabilis by Giovanni Maria Farina. Creed's Jasmin Imperatrice Eugenie was created (shockingly enough) for my beloved Empress Eugenie. STARLET SCENTS:

Grace Kelly walked down the aisle in Creed Fleurissimo.

Givenchy created L'Interdit for Audrey in 1957, but she also wore Creed Spring Flower later on - another perfume made just for her! Carole Lombard wore Casma by Caswell-Massey during her flapper era.

Pattie Boyd recorded in her Letter from London for 16 Magazine that she wore Jicky by Guerlain during her dolly bird days. (Also a favorite of Sharon Tate!) LITERARY LADIES: Zelda Fitzgerald wore Salud by Schiaparelli, describing it as "violets and lilies and pink beauty." And just for fun: the fictional Linda Radlett wears Après L'Ondée by Guerlain, and knowing Nancy Mitford, I'm pretty certain this means she wore it herself. 💐🩷

[olsenmyolsen]

Chapter Eight: Back To Work

The Farmer's Daughter - (A WandaNat Story)

Masterlist

Tag list: @xenaizogie

Summary: Wanda invites Natasha out with her friends, but they run into someone from Natasha's past.

Word Count: 3.4K

Content: Drinking, Jealousy, Feelings

Thursday.

It was Thursday.

As the clock rolled into the afternoon, it had officially been four days since Wanda came home with a newfound... feeling... for Natasha.

It wasn't love or a crush. At least, she didn't think so. She was still flirty, but it wasn't as blatant as before. Maybe it was? Wanda truly wasn't convinced.

Regardless, one thing was for sure.

She loved to see Natasha work up a sweat in one of her old t-shirts.

"Howdy, partner!" Wanda embarrassedly said as Natasha approached the fence near the house to grab her water bottle. "Oh, is that what we are doing today?" Natasha teased as she took a big sip.

Wanda shrugged. Honestly, her accent could've been worse.

"Did you see my story?" Wanda asked as Natasha laughed and set down her water. "Wanda, you know I don't check my phone. Especially today." Natasha turned away and saw Erik on a horse in the distance. "I can't believe you guys used to have horses."

Wanda looks at her father in the distance. "Yeah. Cookie Dough." Wanda says. "Cookie Dough? The horse's name was Cookie Dough?" Natasha wears a cute smile as she leans closer to the fence.

Closer to Wanda.

Wanda smiles at her before looking away.  "You can't make fun of me. I was eight." Natasha keeps her mouth shut and gives a playful tilt of the head. "Cookie Dough is a good name." Natasha turns back to see Erik making his way towards her.

She turns to Wanda. "Back to work."

Wanda watches the latest Farmhand start jogging away. When she's far enough away, she gives one last look and starts making her way back to the house, where she opens a group chat with her closest friends.

Seven Peas In A Pod

Sunday: Jarvis has been kicked

Darcy Renamed The Group to Six Peas Minus A Bitch

Darcyyyy

D: Fine 😒

Darcy Renamed The Group to Six Peas In A Pod

Today:

We should go out tonight

S: Its Thursday...

D: damn sam stay home then. where we going bestie???

M: I can't sorry guys

That's okay Monica. But I was thinking city??

C: City? I'm down.

D: surprise surprise

C: 🙄

B: Is Natasha coming??

D: Bucky.. but fr 👀

Darcy kick Bucky

B: No! Okay I'm sorry

👎

S: No but fr is she??

I have to ask..

Wanda flipped her phone over and laid face-down on her Queen bed.

Why did the thought of asking Natasha to hang out feel like a monumental task? It was Natasha.. What made that difficult?

Wanda dwelled on it for a few more seconds before she shook her mind free of the redhead and lifted herself up. Her eyes drifted to her open closet with a black cocktail dress hanging in the corner.

Would that be too much?

Of course, I'm hanging out with friends, not going to a rooftop restaurant.

Wandas flopped back down her bed and grabbed her phone. Ignoring the group chat and instead going to Pinterest to look for inspo.

Hours later, with clothes thrown everywhere and multiple eyeshadow pallets open did she receive a text from Carol outside of the group chat.

"Hey, I'm not saying this to stress you out or anything, but have you asked Natasha yet? I wanna know if we're gonna meet here or not."

Shit.

Meanwhile, Natasha was finishing up her last lesson in horse care for the day with Wanda's father as they put Butterball into his stable. 

"...and in the morning, I'll worry about his food if you just focus on keeping the area clean and work on getting the addition to the coop built."

Natasha turned towards the house of chickens and sneered.

"Yes, sir." She replied, making Erik laugh. He knew of Natasha's hatred for the pecking monsters, but a bigger coop needed to be built. You win some, you lose some.

"Romanoff." Erik started as the pair walked down towards the house. "Sir?" Natasha questioned. Erik stopped and took his hat off to wipe his forehead. "I just want to thank you again for everything you've done for us so far. Even though it's been a short time, it sure as hell feels longer."

At that moment, Wanda walked out of the house looking for Natasha. 

Natasha spotted her immediately.

"I know just what you mean, sir." Natasha pulled her focus back to her boss. Erik hummed and turned his head to Wanda as the two continued walking. "I guess what I'm saying is, is that good help is hard to find, but you sure found us at a good time,"

Natasha turned her head to the man as they reached the fence gate. "Thank you, sir." He smiled, and it looked like he wanted to say more, but as Wanda walked up, Erik didn't say a word. "Hi, sweetie." Erik smiled at his daughter. "Hi, Papa!" She waved before her eyes moved to Natasha's.

Erik turned slightly and made his exit known. "I'll see what Magda's feeling for dinner."

Natasha waved bye before moving to take off her work gloves. "What's up?" Natasha questioned Wanda. Wanda held the end sleeve of her heather grey oversized sweatshirt. "I was kinda wondering if you wanted to come out with me and the group tonight?" Wanda asked without any stutters or flubs.

Natasha looked at Wanda, a little surprised. "Oh!" Natasha looked down and smiled before finding Wanda's beautiful face. "Out like to a club or-"

"No, no, no. Like a beer garden that has like board games and stuff!" That interested Natasha a lot more. "Oh!" She said again. "Yeah. Sure. That sounds like fun!" Natasha genuinely couldn't remember the last time she played a board or card game, but if she had to guess, it was probably at Clint's before the man flipped the board over and walked away like a baby.

Wanda felt ecstatic!

"Great! I'll let everyone know!" Wanda rushed off to get ready for the night without giving Natasha any additional information, but seeing the smile on Wanda's face was more than enough for her.

Now, she was glad she splurged more on her body wash.

But just like Wanda before, Natasha was now left figuring out what to wear.

Natasha turned her back to the mirror. She was watching the way her ass filled out her favorite pair of black jeans.

This could work.

Natasha, happy with that choice, sat on the bed as she looked at her newly filled closet while she put a pair of socks on and her brown boots. Natasha planted both feet on the hardwood floor and sighed. She stood up once again and walked to the mirror.

Her eyes found the scars on her left arm before she moved to look at a mole in the center of her chest. She brought her hand up and circled it with her healed index finger. She smiled as she briefly thought about the seconds before she cut herself on the kitchen knife.

Three.

That's how many small moles she counted on Wanda's left breast.

She also remembers the teasing look Wanda wore.

Natasha lifted her face slightly to look at herself. She looked better and knew Wanda was a reason for it—that and leaving the military.

Still, Natasha cleared her throat, and instead of looking for a shirt, she parked herself at the small desk by the door. She began lining her ears with additional gold pieces of jewelry she had been absent of.

Natasha turned her head and beamed at her beauty. She opened her phone camera and looked at the freshly applied lipstick and lip liner.

She was trying something new.

Natasha wasn't too sure about it. But before she could reach forward and grab a wipe, a shadow caught her eye.

Away from the dipping sun behind a pink sky, Wanda was in her bedroom window with her light on. She stood posing in front of her mirror in blue jeans and a lacy black bra.

Natasha felt her cheeks run red as she couldn't pull her eyes away in time to watch Wanda check herself out. Soft hands were smoothing themselves across her beautiful skin.

Natasha closed her mouth and looked away before a noise could disrupt this tranquil moment. She threw on whatever was the nearest shirt she could find, as her mind wouldn't let go of Wanda.

"Hey, where do you think you're going?" Magda asked as she looked her daughter's outfit up and down. She smiled. Her daughter had grown up into a beautiful, intelligent woman. 

Wanda looked down at her outfit of blue jeans, brown boots, and a white t-shirt with a red button-down open-dress shirt.

In the right light, her black bra could be seen through the white shirt.

Wanda did this on purpose for one person tonight.

"Out with friends. Natasha's coming." This was news to Magda. "Oh!" Her surprised voice turned into one of acceptance. "Okay. Well, have fun and be safe!"

Wanda smiled and entered the living room to hug her mother. "I will."

Natasha will make sure of it. Wanda thought.

"Where's Papa?" Wandas asked. Magda pointed upstairs. Wanda nodded and said another goodbye as her mother joked about ordering pizza now that no one would be home tonight.

Wanda laughed and closed the front door just in time for her to see Natasha walk up the path from her place like a goddess. Natasha had a natural beauty that was only exploited even more by the paint on her lips and the jewelry on her body.

Wants didn't miss the way the leather jacket stuck to Natasha in a way that would look good on her. Not to mention the jeans.

It was then that Wanda found herself being wrong.  She did, in fact, have a crush on Natasha Romanoff.

Natasha smirked as her eyes savored in Wanda. Wanda wasn't just attractive tonight. She was hot. And judging by the lacey bra she wore underneath, Natasha knew that Wanda knew how gorgeous she was.

Wanda smirked and walked off the porch as Natasha stepped closer. "Oh, Natasha, I don't think you understand what you're doing to me." Wanda hid the truth behind a teasing voice and smile.

Natasha would've rolled her eyes, but something shifted between the two.

Natasha gave a wink instead that she instantly regretted, but Wanda laughed, so maybe it wasn't that bad. They each walked closer to Natasha's bike.

"So, are we meeting everyone at one of your friends?"

That was the plan.

"Umm.." Wanda didn't want to do that anymore. "Actually, we're gonna meet them at the beer garden."

Natasha didn't remember that being the plan but went along with it. It's not like she was in the group chat. "Okay." She said and smiled as Wanda stepped closer to her motorcycle. "Oh wait!" Natasha said.

Wanda took a step back, unaware if she had done anything wrong.

"You need a helmet!" Natasha said, which led to Natasha laughing as they hit the main road. "It's not funny!" Wanda shouted as her arms wrapped tighter around Natasha's middle. She smelt her shampoo in the wind.

Natasha giggled as she caught the reflection of Wanda in a bright pink helmet that barely fit her anymore.

As Natasha parked her bike, she felt a little sad when Wanda's arms unraveled themselves from her body.

Wanda hopped off the bike first and stood on the sidewalk as she watched Natasha swing her leg around the bike. God, it was hot. And how did Natasha not get helmet hair?

Natasha placed her helmet on the seat as she peeked over at Wanda before full-blown laughing again. Confusing Wanda. "What?!" Wanda smiled. Natasha came closer and raised her rough hands to Wanda. Her fingertips brushed up Wanda's neck to her chin.

"Were you planning on wearing this inside?" Natasha unclipped the strap to the bright pink helmet. "Oh, right! Duh!" Wanda closed her eyes, embarrassed, as Natasha lifted the helmet. "It's okay. We'll just leave it here." Natasha put it on the right handlebar. "I don't think anyone's gonna want it." Natasha joked, making Wanda agree with laughter.

Natasha, meanwhile, took her helmet with her and placed it under her arms as she and Wanda walked side by side to the beer garden.

The two felt an electric touch when their hands brushed against each other more than once.

"Wanda?" Natasha tilted her head to the younger woman as they approached the establishment. Bouncer in sight. "What's up?" Wanda blinked her big doe eyes. "Aren't you 20?" Natasha innocently asked.

Natasha didn't care if Wanda had a fake ID or not. Even if Wanda showed that she did, in fact, have one, she ignored Natasha's question and presented the bouncer with an ID that said she was 22 years old.

Natasha just didn't want for Wanda to be turned away at the door. She didn't want to see her sad.

However, to Wanda, Natasha's question was an unwarranted reminder of the eight-year gap between the two. 

"Happy?" Wanda asked with a slightly sour tone that surprised Natasha. "Of course," Natasha replied as she followed an already guilty feeling Wanda.

Wanda turned to Natasha and gave a warm smile. A subtle apology that Natasha didn't realize before grabbing her arm and leading her to the bar. "I'll buy the first round!"

Natasha widely smiled and accepted. "I'll buy the second." She found Wanda's eyes and leaned in a little closer until their sides touched.

Wanda and Natasha both hid smiles.

As Natasha kept her eyes occupied with reading the menu above the taps, Wanda received a text.

Six Peas In A Pod

I have to ask..

D: did she ask??

C: Where are we meeting btw?

S: We doin shots tonight right? Wanda??

D: wanda? babes?

B: What is Natasha said no...

D: bucky i will kick you out don't play. wanda??

C: Imma text her.

SHE SAID YES WE'LL MEET YOU THERE!

M: Omg!! Girl I can't wait to hear all about it!!

B: Five step plan to make Natasha fall I love with me starts now.

D: @Bucky🙄 as if

S: We doing shots!!!

Now:

D: gotta say im loving the way natasha fills out the jeans 👀

HUH!?

Wanda flipped her phone screen down so hard she thought it might have broken. Natasha noticed. "Is everything okay?" Wanda nodded as she began looking for any signs of her friends. She found them when Darcy started shaking her hands wildly.

"Oh, I see." Natasha laughed. "Let's order, and then we'll join them," Natasha suggested, much to Wanda's agreement. Moments alone were going to be rare, and Wanda wanted to make it last.

"Nice helmet!" Sam noted as Natasha and Wanda sat next to each other—separate seats. Darcy immediately caught the way Wanda was watching Natasha converse with the rest of the friend group.

She smiled behind her second beer of the night.

"So Natasha, be honest with me." Sam began making everyone be prepared for him to say something crazy. "Oh boy," Carol mumbled. Sam waved his hands at his friends. "Is Wanda a snorer?" Bucky and Carol immediately slapped his arm and head as Wanda became red in the face.

Natasha, surprised and amused by everything happening, cleared her throat before sipping on her second beer. Her green orbs caught Wanda's before they darted away. "Umm.." Natasha said. "I don't have an answer for you. But if I had to guess..." She looked at Wanda and smirked. "I'd say she's definitely a loud snorer. She would probably keep me up the whole night!"

"Oh my god! No! Shut up!" Wanda lightly pushed Natasha but glowed at the mention of Natasha and her sleeping together.

Natasha laughed and high-fived Sam. Darcy even joined in.

Conversations like that flowed again with a round of shots before a stranger made their presence known.

"Excuse me..." A soft voice interrupted a story Bucky was telling about the group's time at the beach. All eyes turned to a dark-haired woman with a bandage on her nose. She wore a purple flannel over a grey shirt, dark-wash jeans, and black boots. She had a very striking complexion.

Carol and Bucky both found themselves looking the woman up and down. Sam, like with Natasha, noticed the dog tags around her neck.

Sam turned his attention to Wanda.

Wanda's soft eyes and smile changed when she saw how the woman was looking only at Natasha.

"Tasha?" The woman asked as her cautious face turned into a smile when Natasha turned to face the mysterious person. "Oh my gosh! Kate!?" Natasha rose to her feet and hugged them.

It had been years since "Tasha" had seen this person.

Darcy looked to Wanda, who quietly sipped her beer. The rest of the group also watched the interaction unfold in front of them.

"How are you!?" Kate kept her arms on Natasha's side. "I'm good. Doing some work in the city." Natasha raised her eyebrows and grinned. "Oh wow. That's great!"

Kate lifted her arms away from the redhead. "I heard you're a free woman!" Natasha laughed and knew exactly who told Kate the news. "Fury?" Kate nodded. "Fury."

Darcy slapped Wanda's leg as Wanda sneered at the friendly exchange.

"It's nice when he calls. It's rare, but it happens." Kate said as the friend group watched the way Natasha and Kate spoke in what might as well be riddles.

"So, did you ever-" Natasha's eyes caught a glimpse of the metal hanging around Kate's neck. Kate shared a knowing look with Natasha as they both saw the other person wearing their dog tags. "Get that dog?" Kate finished Natasha's question. Natasha nodded.

"Yeah. Fanny's her name. She's great! I can show you pictures!" Natasha loved how excited Kate was talking about Fanny. "I'd love to see them."

It was then that Natasha could sense all eyes on them. Especially a brunette who was burning a hole into her head. "Oh my gosh! I'm so sorry guys!" Natasha spoke to the group. 

Wanda thought Natasha should've acknowledged her first as she finished off her third drink. 

"This is Kate Bishop. We..." Natasha trailed off, and half the friend group thought exes. "We were in the military together." Kate once again finished Natasha's sentence. Kate waved to the group.

Bucky flashed his eyes towards Wanda.

"How about you join us!" Darcy spoke up, making Wanda spin her head around. Natasha didn't notice the shocked look Wanda wore.

Darcy was an ally for Wanda through and through, but she also lived from drama and gossip.

"If everyone is cool with it?" Natasha posed to the group. Everyone gave nods and waves of approval.

Everyone but Wanda.

Wanda darted her eyes back and forth between Kate and Natasha. Kate was shorter than Wanda but closer in age to Natasha.

"Here, take my spot!" Natasha moved her drink next to Wanda's empty glass and sat on the loveseat with Wanda. Wanda's stomach jumped, and for a brief moment, a smile was found on her face again. Natasha's stomach also flipped, but she was too focused on giving her attention to Kate than worrying about whether she and Wanda were too close to one another. 

This drove Wanda crazy. Her little movements and longing touches seemed not to faze Natasha throughout the night as card games and more drinks were had.

Too many drinks for Wanda.

This is why when Natasha unsubconsciously put her arm on the backside of Wanda's part of the loveseat, Kate's eyes flickered between the two.

She had been eyeing Wanda most of the night, but when Wanda blushed as Romanoff scooted closer to her, Kate felt safe in making a comment about it.

"I must say, Romanoff, it suits you," Kate said as the game of UNO ended with Carol winning again. Her laughing in Bucky's face.

Wanda could've won multiple times, but she couldn't focus on her cards. Plus, she saw doubles when there weren't any.

"What do you mean?" Natasha inquired. Kate nudged her head towards Wanda, who was turned talking to Darcy.

Darcy was trying to stop Wanda from leaving.

"Oh no.." Natasha shook her head and turned her eyes to Kate. "We're just friends."

Everyone heard it and froze.

The corners of Wanda's eyes immediately began to sting. She got up and started walking away before anyone could stop her. "Wanda!" Darcy yelled, causing Natasha to spin her head in that direction.

Why was Wanda leaving?

Natasha swung her eyes across everyone's face, no one looking directly at her. "Natasha..." Kate spoke up. "Did she know that?"

Natasha's mouth dropped, but no words came out. Every little thing Wanda did tonight finally hit Natasha, and she felt awful. "I-.." She needed to find Wanda. "I'll be back." Natasha stood up and chased in the direction Wanda ran off.

The friend group all turned to Kate.

"Just who do you think you are-" Darcy started yelling at Kate before Sam stood up and stopped Darcy from being a real one. "Look at her tag!" Sam yelled.

"Oh shit..." Bucky's face fell as he saw it.

dividers by @/benkeibear

[murfpersonalblog]

Carol Cutshall better get an Emmy this year, I ain't playin!

"Cutshall and her team had to embrace a new reality, one initially devoid of the first season’s material pleasures..... Free of their maker, an austere Louis and Claudia flee New Orleans for Europe in search of a coven of vampires to call their own. There they find themselves in the ravaged wasteland of World War II, where sorrow pollutes even the blood they drink."

"It was such a drastic change going into season two. We went from the height of glamour, which we last saw during a Mardi Gras party, to the polar opposite in the premiere. When you look at Louis and Claudia in their shearling coats in Romania and the amount of mud and blood on them, those looks are built for surviving and searching and starting over."

This what I meant when I talked about AMC intensifying the horror for show!Claudia vs book!Claudia. They're starting over, runaway slaves free at last from Massa Lestat's domestic terrorism; following the Drinking Gourd north to the promised land of milk & honey--but their exodus isn't some glorious adventure--it's Hell on Earth!

I adore the juxtaposition Carol makes between the obscene opulence of Mardi Gras NOLA vs the Grimm realities of war-torn Europe. Book!Lou&Claud traveled across Europe in a lavish carriage Claudia picked out, and had the luxury of taking their fancy coffins with them in it.

NGL I was hoping Carol would talk about these outfits in particular:

AMC's Lou & Claud look like they've been sleeping underground/in a battlefield, dressed in animal skins/furs--not the fancy furs PETA jumps folks for, but nasty Caveman Couture rags. And I can't help but think about the furs they wore in the film, looking rich AF, even as Lou complained about how sad he was. 🙄😒

So I am SO IN LOVE with AMC sending Louis & Claudia to WWII Europe. They're in Ploiești/Romania in 1941--in the book they're in 1800s Varna/Germany. Romania was a major ally for the Nazis in WWII, and the LAST place Claud should be--let alone Louis (a gay Black African American man)--let alone because Romania was bombed TF up in the early 1940s.

They're running slow AF like regular humans--no super vamp speed at their disposal to flee from the bombs--cuz they've been STARVING. They're eating the dead like a bunch of ghoulish necrophages (come through, Witcher 3 folklore!).

Like, in the film the big idea was that drinking dead blood could kill a vampire. But in TVL & Blood Communion we know that's not the case when Lestat drinks the corpses Armand gave him, and when Lestat gives the Vampire Court Rhoshamandes' corpse--it's not deadly, but it's not great, either. Drinking blood should be PEAK sensory pleasure; but this just shows what they've been reduced to.

So to see Louis & Claudia tearing into pieces of the dead to suck up what's left is like cannibalism at its rawest, basest & most primitive--straight out of a dystopian zombie apocalypse. There's no transcendent power in the dead like what Maharet & Lestat described. Lou & Claud are scavengers in a battlefield, fighting for scraps just to survive and endure, but not really live.

And I feel so much worse for Claudia, cuz she LITERALLY didn't ask for this mess! Unlike Louis--and unlike book/film!Claudia--she was Born into Darkness w/out her awareness or consent. AMC puts this poor girl through HELL. The things she's seen & experienced made her "built for survival;" but she's also "built like a bird," and just as ignorant about vampires & the Old World as Louis--though they're both bookish intellectuals who THINK they're ready for Europe.

So they have no effing idea, cuz Lestat never told them WHY Europe was such bad news. They're blind and completely in the dark!

And then they FINALLY arrive in Paris--a breath of fresh air after the war.

But glamour returns to their lives as the pair forge ahead in Paris.... Seduced by their habit of living loudly and proudly — at least at night — Louis relaxes into his post-Lestat life, taking up photography and exploring his sexuality in subtle ways. “The look I landed on for him was that of artists and café society, and French workwear with a little bit of a blue-collar look,” Cutshall says. “It’s not the finery that we are used to for Louis, but his fastidiousness in how he wears it — tucked and belted — is still there.” There is a visual hierarchy among these old-world vampires. Louis wears the costume of the common man, placing him below the coven’s creative director, Armand, the so-called love of his life"

The "visual hierarchy" of Louis being "placed BELOW" the Old World vampires had me vibrating in my seat, especially wrt Armand, the biggest baddest boogeyman vs fledgling vampires in the books.

"We want to break away from the disguise he had in season one, because he is the mega predator,” Cutshall says. “He's not threatened by anyone. So, in everything he does and wears, he can be like an animal who is not afraid to lie on their back and bare their belly."

Which is precisely what I said about Lestat in his Mardi Gras dress & his Matador pajamas. Cuz Lou & Claud are constantly put on the exact same level--at the BOTTOM of the food chain & the gendered/social hierarchies of vampire covens in both NOLA & Europe.

But what's interesting's that AMC diversified the Theatre--there's Black & Asian vampires, not the all-white coven from the books.

The Theatre has truly become a microcosm of the entire world, highlighting just how sheltered Lou & Claud were in the New World. The history of America is very black and white--or rather: white versus black. After the Native Americans were wiped out, American racism molded & shaped centuries of slavery & oppression specifically designed to keep Black people at the bottom of barrel, even when they were "freed/emancipated." But in the Old World, power & conquest was continental--Africa & Asia & Europe were ALL major superpowers at one time or another, kicking each other's arses. Race & racism still plays a huge part in European imperialism, OF COURSE, but WWII showed how white folk are just as prone to killing & oppressing each other, let alone anyone else. 😂 Louis & Claudia's problems w/ Lestat are radically different from their problems w/ Armand (now a brown Asian, as Russia & Ukraine are also globalized; dispelling the myth about Russians only ever being white people).

But Santiago's an altogether different beast--but eerily familiar.

"Her thirst for attention is surpassed only by Santiago, the extravagant emcee of the theater troupe. For Santiago’s big onstage entrance in episode two, Cutshall took inspiration from performers like Peter O’Toole and Laurence Olivier. “I started with Fred Astaire, but with a bit of a bondage twist for Santiago’s curtain look,” she says. “Who were the top dogs of the time that he would want to emulate? You can feel him striving for that."

What is fundamentally wrong with Santiago (and Lestat) is that he's a HUGE showboat, desperate for attention & validity, specifically from LOUIS, a vampire older than Santiago, attractive & new & interesting, who's approval he actually wanted & expected. But Louis's too mature/smart for Santiago, and immediately clocked him as a clown and a BUFFOON.

AMC dyed Santiago's hair blonde on purpose, ISTG, cuz the parallels w/ Lestat are hilarious. Armand's the coven master & creative director, but Santiago's the emcee & "show pony," just like Lelio!Lestat was back in the day. Les' pony on meth meme is SO apt!

And just like Lestat pulled the rug under Armand at Les Innocents, taking on a leadership role for the Children of Satan and ushering in their new era as vampires who'd join society via the Theatre, Santiago usurps Armand's position as the ringleader against Claudia & Louis. Even though Armand wanted all that to happen, he's more passive than Les & Santiago, far more active & dominant despite being significantly weaker & younger in the Blood than Armand. Wolf Killer Lestat and "top dog" Santiago are cut from the same cloth, down to the pinstripes--which Carol already said were supposed to symbolize cage/jail bars--"back in your cage, sweetheart."

CAROL! I desire you CARNALLY! ❤️

[musclesandhammering]

Unpopular Phase 4 & 5 Opinions

Quantumania is the worst Phase 4/5 movie. And it wasn’t even because “kang got beat by ants.” (I liked kang in this movie). It’s just that the Spy Kids aesthetic & bad acting & overall weird vibes just weren’t for me.

Love and Thunder is no worse than Ragnarok. I would argue that it’s better in a lot of ways, actually. I really liked it.

Taika Waititi ruined thor with bad humour all the way back in Ragnarok tbh, but y’all weren’t complaining about it then 😒.

BuckySarah is better than sambucky every day of the week.

The Marvels was a good ass movie & they’re one of my favorite teams in the mcu. I’ll never forgive cbm sites & online dudebros for killing the hype from the moment the film was announced.

I adore America Chavez & Kamala Kahn and I want to see them in everything. They must be protected at all costs.

Multiverse of Madness had shitty characterisation & basically just copy-pasted the ‘grief made me go off the deep end & hurt people, then I realised and stopped myself’ storyline from Wandavision… but Wanda was extremely selfish & apathetic to other people’s suffering from the time she was introduced in the mcu. MoM didn’t make her like that.

Wanda should’ve been looking for Vision (her actual real life boyfriend whom she spent years with irl) in MoM instead of the kids that weren’t even real that she spent like a week using as characters in her sitcom.

Making everyone forget Peter Parker wasn’t profound or poetic in any way- it was just frustrating and needlessly cruel.

I’m begging marvel to understand that heroes don’t have to be in constant suffering to be heroic & villains don’t have to sacrifice themselves to achieve redemption. Let characters heal and atone, you absolute weirdos.

What If…? is the most boring show ever. I’d rather watch Secret Invasion or She-Hulk.

Season 2 of Loki is, in a cinematic & artistic sense, the best marvel project period.

Loki season 1 was meh- more of a fun au than anything because his characterisation kinda sucked. Season 2 fixed it, though, and made it way easier for me to incorporate this version of Loki back into the larger mcu.

Having Steve stay in the past with Peggy was stupid af.

I don’t hate Peggy (or Captain Carter), though. I actually think she’s pretty cool.

I don’t really love Steve. He’s arrogant & they never really let him have flaws & something about him being a perfect metaphor for the American military industrial complex (and marvel painting that as a good thing) doesn’t sit right with me.

The Illuminati got done dirty and the only reason they went down so fast was because Wanda had all that plot armor.

I thought the retcon of having Wanda be “destined” to become the Scarlet Witch since birth was an annoying cop-out. Her powers originating from being experimented on with an infinity stone was way more interesting.

Loki & Wanda have almost the exact same powers.

Nebula deserved a bigger rule in killing Thanos & everything else moving forward.

I love Kathryn Newton but her acting as Cassie Lang was the worst acting I’ve ever seen in the mcu, like it was outrageously bad.

I’m glad Sam is the new Captain America and not Bucky.

The fact that Bucky probably isn’t gonna be one of Thee lead characters in the upcoming avengers movies feels sick and twisted.

Secret Invasion was actually passable until the G’iah scene at the end. That ruined it. And Nick Fury deserved way better for his solo series.

Kang is so much more interesting than Doctor Doom. I really hope they just recast him.

Carol Danvers does NOT deserve the hate she gets.

I actually disliked Carol until The Marvels. That movie made me a stan.

The way people treat Monica as Wanda’s little inferior pet creation or smth & then brag about it is uhh very sus.

I don’t like sylvie (bc she’s an amalgamation of 3 different comic characters- which killed any hopes of them appearing individually in the mcu, the creators used her existence to butcher Loki’s genderfluid rep, & she was written poorly) & I HATE sylki (bc it’s weird & unnecessary).

Marvel isn’t dead. I actually love where they’re taking things. But that’s just me.

[onedayimgonnasnap]

Lucio Slander

I’m choosing to be a menace to society starting with this ugly ass mother fucker.

Lucio desperately needs some mother fucking eye drops.

His hair is so gelled it cracks after he takes a shower and they’re still hair gel in it.

Mother fucker would go up to any Hispanic and say “My garden needs to be watered.”

Bro Fr deadass a colonizer

He makes Rika and J*sper look like saints. How tf is that even possible-

Bro dead ass is hated on by the whole damn city.

Bro is throwing tantrums at 40.

How tf does he cheat on Nadia- NADIA IS TO GOOD FOR HIM- WTF

Bro dead ass built like Ken from Toy Story 3

Bros hair line is dead ass reciting. It’s leaving to a whole ass another country.

bros the type of mf to say every single slur A-Z to remember his ABCs because he’s to dumb to memorize them.

Bro dead ass looks like a depressed uncle

He’s the type of mf to say he’s not white but say he’s actually 0.001% black so he can say the N- Word

Bros nose is built like a right triangle.

He’s allergic to anything spicy. He adds salt and pepper and says it’s the height of luxury.

How tf do you screw up so badly for your own momma to hate you 💀✋

I bet his mama really regrets not having an abortion

Bro dead ass in Muriel’s route cried “MAMA” and no one was there to help him 😭

Bro when you open up the app and press everyone they all have a cute smile and then there’s HIM- AND ITS SUCH AN UGLY FACE.

Bros hygiene is so down bad that a plague was coming back when he was coming back. Do you know how bad that fucking looks? 😒

Plague or no plague, the deepest HES ever been in a hole is the one that he came out of his mamas.

Everytime we see him as a goat it’s a whole ass jumpscare.

Bros Fr apology video is gonna be a Travis Scott one.

I bet he doesn’t even wash his ass in the shower.

His nails are so fucking dirty they’re all black and it’s not even from the plague.

Bro has an ugly crying face. How tf do people get manipulated by him 💀✋ like dead ass I could tell him the trash Can has 5 dollars in it and he’d jump in without worrying about anything.

Bros fake robo arm has all the damn diseases, AIDS, cancer, bitchlesscosus, diabetes, rabies.

Actually if he bit you in his goat form you would proceed to her rabies.

I like how everytime he appears everyone is so sick and tired of his always seeking validation ass.

He has the posture of someone who didn’t get enough love and validation from their father.

I bet he has lice, like both head lice and pubic lice. And some of the head lice are dead because of all that hair gel he be using. So they’re stuck there in the middle forever.

The remaining live lice sing gospel songs on his head and praying that someday they will escape his greasy head ass because even they can’t breathe.

He would make out with a guy and still refuse to wash his ass because he thinks it’s gay.

Bro is not on gang with his rizz gang.

Bros the type of mf to be so happy when someone gives him a Pat on the back. But when that person does give him a pat on the back their hand now has a fowl Oder that only Jesus can stop.

Mf has only a face a mother Can love. Actually I lied, not even his own mother could love what ever that is. 😟

I like how no matter the fan art and etc he’s still FUCKING UGLY- NOONE CAN DO HIM JUSTICE

Bro has enough ear wax to make him a candle for days.

Bros eye brows are some how splitting I bet his eyebrow lice also be singing Christmas carols

These bitches look the same 💀✋

[absolutelyfibulas]

Favourite Sandra moment, clipped for posterity (dialogue typed below because the subtitles fucked up 😒)

Pastor Craig: Example - Sandra. Who is Sandra? Where is, uh...all right. Now, Sandra, it - it says here that you wanna kill a co-worker named Carol. Sandra: Yeah. Pastor Craig: Oh. Oh, Sandra, I understand. When I'm frustrated, I wanna wring someone's neck. Sandra: Exactly. Wring it hard. Pastor Craig: So, what do you do? What do you do when that feeling comes over you? Sandra: Well, I…put on a hoodie that covers my face, then I take the 47 bus line to a library in a faraway town. Then I open a private browser on one of their computers, and google how I'm thinking of killing her, to see what mistakes people usually make. Pastor Craig: …Jesus.

[panelshowsource]

i'm not majorly in the business of archiving the last leg but i did go ahead and add the uk election special that just aired to my googledrive for anyone who likes TLL's election coverage/commentary and didn't wanna grab it off of reddit

studio guests are jonathan ross, munya chawawa, sayeeda warsi (did i not just say recently i am so over seeing her 😒), carol vorderman, chris mccausland, matt forde, and fatiha el-ghorri

[roggvers]

haven't seen the movie and I'm probably not going to but apparently Carol is in a marriage of convenience with some dude that's not Yon? How dare M*rvel? Yonverinos invented the marriage of convenience trope for Carol 😒

[coinlockerrbaby]

Filia did what Rimbaud never could 😒

She also lost all her memories in a near-death incident except for the ones about a "friend (/queer)" who went missing

she also thought said friend's disappearance was her fault and went on an extremely dangerous mission to find out what happened to her

She was also (almost) killed for being a "traitor to the mafia"

She ALSO gave up her own humanity WITHOUT HESITATION to save Carol

AND she saved Carol from a lab where she was being controlled and experimented on

all while being just some teenage girl with a parasite on her head

AND THEY STILL GOT THEIR HAPPY ENDING🥱

Losers </3