#I’m an unfortunate optimist in the ‘where there’s a will there’s a way’ sort of way but even I’m coming up short

[moonstruckme]

Dude since you asked about tasm peter request, I have one

What about a sick reader? Like the reader really sick but peter have to be spider man so will he leaves reader or the other way?

Thanks for requesting!

cw: mention of vomit

tasm!Peter Parker x fem!reader ♡ 584 words

Peter regrets leaving you the second he gets back. You’re not where he left you in bed, but the room smells of vomit and cleaner as he climbs in the window. He sets the gatorade he’d picked up on the way home on the nightstand. A quick search finds you in the kitchen, leaning both arms on the counter and your forehead on the microwave. 

“Hey,” Peter says, coming up behind you and wrapping his arms around your middle. He leans forward to kiss your cheek. It burns under his lips. “What’re you doing out of bed?” 

“Just getting water,” you sigh, taking one hand off the counter to rest it on his forearm. He’s still in his suit, and the nail of your pinkie finger skims over the slippery fabric. 

“You looked like you were about to have a nap.” 

“I started to feel weird,” you admit, “so I took a break.” Peter hums, easing you back so your weight rests on him instead of the microwave. You sigh. “I threw up again.” 

“I know, bub.” His thumb strokes your abdomen over your pajama shirt. “Do you feel any better now?” 

“A little, I think,” you say optimistically, though the way you sag against him tells a different story. 

Peter turns you in his arms, grabbing your water with one hand and supporting you with the other as he walks you back to your bedroom. Your nose wrinkles. 

“Do you smell that?” you ask.

“Nope.” Peter lowers you onto the bed, where you quickly curl up as a chill takes you.

“Good. I sort of…there was an unfortunate situation earlier. I didn’t quite make it to the toilet.” 

“Mm. Did you clean it up all by yourself?” 

“I’m not three,” you remind him. 

“I think being this sick gives you the right to act ten and under.” He strips out of his suit, throwing on pajamas so he can flop down next to you on the bed. He touches his cheek to yours. “You’re a furnace, baby. We can just stop paying the gas bill if you’re gonna be heating the place up like this.” 

You roll your eyes good-naturedly, moving away from him. “You’re gonna get sick doing things like that.” 

“Don’t care.” He smooches the side of your nose. “Didn’t ask.” 

“You’re so sweet to me,” you snark, rolling over so he has to lift his face from yours. Your cheek rests on his bicep. You clutch the covers to your chin despite the heat radiating from you, and Peter brushes an errant strand of hair from your forehead. “You don’t want this, trust me.” 

He softens. “I can tell.” He smooths his thumb over your temple, relishing the way your eyelashes flutter as you try to keep your gaze on him. “I brought you some gatorade,” he says softly. “Do you wanna try and drink some of that for me, or do you need to rest first?” 

You hum, the sleepy sound its own answer. “I think I should wait a little bit.” 

“M’kay. We’ll get some crackers or something in you when you wake up, yeah?” You hum. He pauses. “I’m sorry you’re so sick, bub.” 

“Yeah,” you mumble, voice already stretched with sleep, “can’t believe you’d do this to me.” 

Peter cracks a smile, nudging your forehead with his nose. “Shut up, you know what I mean.” 

“It’s not so bad. Thanks for being with me.” 

“Where else would I be?” 

“Dunno,” you murmur, fading fast, “but thanks.” 

[cypionate60mg]

I’m honestly so thankful you and others are blogging like this. First group of people to take trans masculinity a step further than “but I swear I’m not scary.” Delight in masculinity makes observers so uncomfortable, even other trans people. The new soundbite going around is “choosing to be a man is not apolitical,” which lays bare pretty much all the ways masculinity is feared and reviled by the queer community except in pockets of people living as they please. It makes me sad that others can’t see what a joy it is to expose and pursue truth and joy.

Hmm. There's about a dozen of these sorts of asks in my inbox, so consider this an answer to all of them.

I'm picking up some underlying implications here ("even other trans people" and "feared and reviled by the queer community") that I want to address, whether or not you meant for them to come through.

It's perfectly understandable for people to be nervous around hypermasculinity. The network of oppression that gatekeeps masculinity and manhood (different things that it wants to preserve as a single unit) is the same one that abjectifies and objectifies anything deemed 'insufficiently masculine.' Make no mistake. This is a machine that suppresses all trans people, but it thrives on the subjugation of trans women, singling them out as moral lessons for the failures of society.

I'll go ahead and respond to the quiet part out loud: I think it's ludicrous to imagine that the transphobia trans men/transmascs experience is both separate and parallel to transmisogyny. The subordination of all women of various intersecting experiences is the oppressive power that hurts us. Indirectly or directly. That doesn't mean what we experience is transmisogyny, either. And I don't think the appropriate response to the intracommunity fear is to wield masculinity like a weapon unused. I don't want to move through the world like a knife.

In my life, personally, the people who have been most supportive and excited to see me experiment with masculinity have been trans women and transfems. I'm extremely skeptical of how our sisters are scapegoated for the transphobia we as trans men and transmascs face. There are, obviously, always going to be arguments within the community. People who hate the other. But I refuse to let that define my relationship with people who I have so much to gain from loving and working with.

There are absolutely ways to talk about how trans men and transmascs struggle. It is important to our survival that we discuss this. And if anybody is ready to have that conversation without placing the brunt of the blame on trans women, I'm ready.

Of course I get scared of cis men, of other trans men, of myself, of what people think of me. But that fear won't be resolved by demanding others give up their own fear. It's resolved by demonstrating that we can make something worthwhile out of a grotesque, absurd concept. One that is used to subjugate so many people. We do, unfortunately, have to prove ourselves. We have to make community and make good on our promises. We have to push each other to be better, while still taking care of the ones who can't. There have always been people who have taken trans masculinity further than 'I'm not scary', and we would do well to continue on the paths they've paved for us.

Masculinity is a bit of a ravaged landscape. A gender Superfund site. It is a place where many things do not grow, and there is an active effort to prevent things from blossoming there. I'm making these stupid captions because I am hopelessly optimistic that we can change something. It doesn't mean we will be free of criticism or won't face transphobia from other people. But fuck, man. I'm not fighting for this because I want to jack off to being an incel without being chided for it. I'm doing this because we need to have a serious conversation about what it means to take on masculinity. How to enter into a space that we weren't necessarily invited into and not fall for its bullshit. It's high fucking difficulty, that's for sure.

I'm sorry for being intense, but this shit gets me heated.

Side note: this soundbite hasn't crossed my path, so I don't have any opinion on it.

That's all I have to say for now. I don't really want to talk about this any further, unless we can hinge the conversation on a non-transmisogynistic talking point. I'm happy to turn off asks if people can't handle that.

Much love, CYP60MG

[aealzx]

Better Genes part 29.1

Part 1 of 3 extra, illustrated writing additions to the Better Genes comic.

Takes place between page 29 and 30.

Contains: Use of sedatives, character injury, blood, TV Medicine, TV Science, panic attack, mutation body horror, injured eye, severely sprained ankle, overall body pain

Comic: Start     pg 26-29  

Writing:  Part 2    Part 3

____________

I got a couple comments about being excited for monster Donnie content (despite mentioning that there wasn’t going to be much) and felt kind of bad for not having much. ;v; There was no way I was going to add another 30 pages or more to the comic though, especially since I’ve never even tried to do fight scenes in comic form before. X’D

So instead I wrote 8 pages and drew 3 more flat colored pics as a sort of middle ground.

Talking with my platonic waifu, since the comic is on tumblr I’m also going to put the writing on tumblr instead of AO3 despite it being long because cross platform content can be annoying. Everything will be split into 3 posts, underneath a read more break to hopefully not stretch the screen a horrendous amount.

____________

(Story and drawing under the cut)

With a quick swish of his temporarily manifested blade, Leo opened a portal to the part of the sewers that was a short distance from where he’d sent Donnie. He didn’t want to pop in right next to him and startle him into attacking them after all. It would be better if they could sneak up on him and pop a few rounds of sedatives into him first. Unfortunately, when Leo stepped through the portal he was greeted with Casey’s back coming in hot directly at his face, having gotten bodily launched across the sewer tunnel by Donnie’s clawed hand. With a startled, halfway muffled yelp, Leo dodged to the side slightly and flung an arm up quick enough to catch Casey and help him regain his footing instead of crashing into the others filtering through the portal as well.

“Alright there Case?” Leo asked with a forced grin, trying to remain optimistic despite the scene before him being the unwanted route. So much for sneaking up on their brother.

“Sorry Master-! Ah… Sorry Leo. He noticed we were following him and got angry,” Casey babbled hurriedly. His upbringing made him quick to give an update on the situation, which also ended up answering Leo’s unasked question about what had ticked Donnie off.

“Yeah, that sounds like Donnie,” Leo chuckled, removing his hand from supporting Casey now that he had his balance back. “He always was quick to lash out when we got in his space when he didn't want us there. Too bad it’s time for his medicine, so we can’t give into his cranky wishes for alone time,” he added dramatically, gesturing to the injection pens Mikey had now that he and April had joined them as well. “We got the antibodies, so we’re ready to take him down and bring him back home. Thanks for sticking it out until now.”

Casey’s expression turned into a sheepish yet grateful smile, but before he could respond Raph’s bellowing voice echoed through the tunnel from close by.

“LEO! You didn’t mention he’d grown another meter!” Raph complained emphatically as he was grappling Donnie’s mutated mouth with ninpo covered hands. He didn’t fancy getting bitten by Donnie’s new set of fangs, considering his original set of teeth already did enough damage when he was legitimately angry. And if Raph knew anything about Donnie’s levels of anger, then he would guess Donnie was beyond pissed at the moment. That combined with his new size made grappling him a losing battle, Raph’s heels dragging paths in the dirt as he was shoved backwards.

“I figured that was rather self explanatory considering what he got infected from,” Leo sassed back, loading one of the sedative darts into the gun and taking aim. He was hesitant to fire with Raph directly in the path, but luckily for both of them a quick snap from Splinter’s tail saved Raph from being Donnie’s new chew toy. The forward momentum was broken, and Raph quickly opened his hands as Donnie’s head was knocked to the side.

As April rushed forward, her name belted from her lips, Leo figured he should pass a word of caution to them all just so it would be explicitly known. “Try not to piss him off too much please. We need him rather still for Mikey to administer the antibodies,” he warned, pulling the trigger on the tranquilizer gun when he felt he wasn't going to hit anyone but the intended target. He ended up wincing in apology the dart smacked Donnie in the side of the nose, causing him to recoil slightly from the sting before shaking the dart dart off and turning to snarl at Leo.

“...Maybe you shouldn’t shoot him in the face then,” Casey commented lightly with a weak chuckle, a slight tease, and an analytical pause for an opening before he ran forward to join the fray once more.

“Okay, so aiming in real life is a lot different from video games,” Leo defended with a sheepish shrug. Donnie apparently thought that was enough of an offense to warrant revenge, for he started to charge towards Leo, causing him to start backing up. “Mikey, I need a weight estimate.”

“Got it!” Mikey chirped, securing the injection pens into his belts and darting forward to dash towards Donnie before feinting to the side. Considering Donnie was way too tall for him to grapple anything but his arms or legs now, Mikey had coiling chains wrap around Donnie’s middle as additional ones helped fling him overhead. Twisting in the air, Mikey latched onto the handholds he’d created and used them and his momentum to heave Donnie into a rather gentle toss a few meters away. “Uhhhh….He’s kinda like one of those tiny smart car things?” Mikey called back to Leo after landing on his feet again in a crouch. “When do I start poking him?”

A smart car? That was a weird comparison. But it actually made sense when Leo remembered Mikey’s usual choice of throwing arsenal. But that definitely wasn’t something he knew the weight of by memory. Which meant he was digging his phone out of his shell for a quick internet look up. “As soon as you’re confident you can hold it in place for 8 seconds,” Leo answered, half distracted by the phone. About 700 kilograms? Well, it was better than a complete guess. He’d just have to play on the safe side and maybe do one or two doses less than calculated for that weight. Loading another sedative dart as he calculated the maximum quantity he was allowed to use in his head, he tried to push away the usual second guessing his brain did. Based on the tests he’d done in Donnie’s lab with the left over blood sample, the mutated physique caused him to have a slightly accelerated metabolism rate with the sedatives, and therefore he should be able to safely use 8 darts before he risked an overdose. Now that he had a set number Leo raised the gun and fired another dart, stabbing Donnie in the crook of his shoulder. 

That made two.

This felt too slow. Half of his team was already worn down somewhat, and he was taking too long to aim and wait for an opening with all of them swarming around Donnie like flies on old cheese. Every time they tried to break away from him though he was immediately lashing out at one of them, causing the others to rush back in to support. Sliding another dart into the gun’s slot, Leo started walking towards his brother, hoping that closing the distance would make it easier and faster to hit him with more sedatives. It would also be great if he didn’t have to reload the gun after every single shot. But Donnie apparently hadn’t made the gun for rapid fire. Unusual for him honestly. Taking aim, Leo’s focus was split as he pulled the trigger when Raph gave an unusually pain filled yelp. Donnie’s new tail had caught him in the side of the head, close enough to the tunnel wall to bounce him off the surface slightly. It was enough to cause Leo to suck in a tense breath, knowing that Raph’s scar was fragile, and look towards him before the trigger was fully pulled. Consequently, the third shot ended up missing, crashing into the opposite wall and probably snapping the needle. That was fine. That’s why they filled an excessive amount of darts. There were more important issues at the moment.

“Raph?” Leo called in a nervous question, seeing his older brother pushing a palm against his right eye.

“I’m okay!” Raph assured, keeping his palm in place until the sting subsided, then pulled his hand away. While he checked to see if there was any blood on his fingers, Donnie’s back foot knocked him over and ended up using him as a pedestal to stand on while he avoided April’s swinging bat. Raph’s breath left him in a huff, and he wrapped his arms around Donnie’s toes to try and relieve the pressure on his chest.

Figuring he should help Raph out, Leo dashed forward as Mikey lept into a split arc over the top of Donnie, apparently having the same goal. Splinter was focused on keeping Donnie from hurting the others, knocking his clawed hand away when he swiped at April. “Boy! You better watch where you're swinging those!” April hollered, having ducked and shielded her head before realizing Splinter had protected her.

“Try not to hurt him too much, it’s still Donnie!” Leo hollered in return, rushing to dive underneath Donnie in a slide while also pointing the tranquilizer gun at him half blindly and pulling the trigger while barely missing getting swatted instead. Being this close to him it would be hard to miss. Or at least he hoped as such. But he also needed to check and make sure Raph was okay. Skidding to a stop next to Raph, Leo allowed Raph to use his ninpo to shove Donnie’s foot off himself before he took a glancing look at his squinting eye.

[azrielgreen]

Hiya! I’ve been rereading Prism (again) and I found something I hadn’t picked up on before in Chapter 7 when Eddie is taunting Billy in the bathroom:-

“You should have seen him then. Seen how fucking pretty he was, how pure. I would watch him at night and, god, there have been so many moments when he’s been right there” … “Close enough to touch, but every time I reached out, it was like…like the universe swept in and said no, not yet, be patient.”

OMG he’s such a creeper! Me thinks Eddie has spent many a night up that tree outside Steve’s bedroom LONG before Billy came along! I’m soooo curious to know exactly what moments Eddie’s talking about though because that sounds like properly evolved stalker behaviour years before the story is set… how many times has Eddie got close to Steve without Steve even knowing he’s there? What were his plans in those moments and why did he decide to wait???!!! (And is there any chance we might learn more about some of these specific moments in future chapters? 👀)

“You did a great job, honestly. Even I can admire your work, though your methods…” “You cracked him wide open in a way I never could” “It was a real test for me, because I could have intervened, but you know…”

-WHAT THE ACTUAL FUCK, EDDIE???!!!On my first read, I assumed that Eddie wanted Steve at that party but Billy just got to him first so Eddie made the most of an unfortunate situation and ultimately realised he could use Billy’s abuse to endear Steve to himself… but I’ve just realised how this suggests that Eddie consciously decided he would *allow* Billy to have Steve specifically so that Billy could break him apart and give Eddie the advantage of being able to not just rescue Steve but rebuild him to his liking or something. There was a line somewhere in the fic about Eddie trusting in the universe and never intervening in someone’s divine path, so the optimistic part of me that loves this scheming little fucker wants to believe that not intervening was just part of his personal faith/belief system… but when I tell you I got LITERAL CHILLS reading this part, I’m not exaggerating… my arm hair actually stood up from the gooseflesh! If it’s not too spoiler-y, could you give any insight into Eddie’s thought process on the night of that party? Like… Is he so desensitised to suffering that he couldn’t really conceive how hurt Steve would get if he allowed the universe to do its thing? Did he willingly let Steve and Billy leave while this whole scheme started to take shape in his mind? Is there more to it that I haven’t even considered???

God, Eddie is so complex and bloody convoluted and I’m OBSESSED!

Ah this is SUCH a cool ask thank you!!! So yes, we will see some of those "moments" that Eddie is talking about, the "close enough to touch" sort of moments where he feels that it wasn't their time.

The whole thing with Eddie being at the party where Steve met Billy, yes! So it's a mixture of feelings he had really. Firstly, and he won't admit this in store for a while, but he was actually quite jealous. Eddie never really admits to being jealous, even internally, but he's deeply prone to it sometimes. It felt almost like a betrayal, and Eddie - who was fresh out of his 1st stint in prison was in an especially unstable mindset so after hearing them in the bathroom, he left and then quite literally left town to go do "mysterious things" we don't know about yet. Eddie's belief in fate and the path each person must walk is absolute. Its all that's kept him alive sometimes. But it hurt him to have it so sorely tested (that's how he thinks of it). There's always several parts of Eddie that are thinking different things. He feels many things at once.

Eddie's "scheme" was very loose and fluid at the start, he IS patient or he was before he got close to Steve and his faith in fate has carried him through a lot. What he wants from Steve cannot be rushed, forced or cheated. It's a marathon versus a sprint.

Sorry for the ramble, hope it makes sense!!!💜💕✨️

P.S - though he's not lying to Billy, he did really want to scare him so small elements were exaggerated for theatrical effect because Eddie's a little bitch sometimes.

[lovelykhaleesiii]

So idk if you feel the same way but if you’ve read the book fire and blood like you might . I feel the writers destroyed the green side of the dance of dragons . It upsets me so much . I get that the book is conflicting reports and that no pov ( which is a mistake in my opinion) but I digress.! I also feel that they ruined Aegons character yet made Aemond so much more palatable. In the book he’s unhinged and crazy yet in the show he’s not now perhaps season two will change it but I’m just not holding out much hope . They already made Alicent not as much against rhaenyra as the book , they ruined Aegon , his coronation and character , made Aemond have sexual assault issues and not really wanna kill luke. Didn’t even include daeron and probably won’t in season 2 . I just wish they had actually maybe read the book and you know written it better . Guess my question is what do you think ?

I think it was inevitable that they would change things up from the book in the show…. it’s how it’s always been unfortunately! I’ve written a bit more under the cut, if you wish to read my perspective ☺️ happy to have these discussions!

I think from memory GRRM is working alongside the producers for the s2 and hoping his input was stronger, and more to the book with certain characters.

they could potentially redeem Aegon’s character (and I am optimistic in that sense) considering he will have a much larger role to play, since he is the King…

in the books the whole turning point for Aegon was brilliant and I really wished they’d showcased that in the show, but alas they did not deliver. the whole discrete conversation between him and Ser Criston, how he almost even manipulated Aegon into believing Rhaenyra would come after his family, and something snapping in him, I know for a fact TGC would’ve 100% killed that scene…

considering we have endless battles coming up, I’m hoping they showcase that protective side of Aegon more. we only got very minor details that showcased that, more so in adult!Aegon ii. like that whole dinner sequence where he defends Aemond without hesitation, he definitely learnt his lesson the first time and some might even consider that maturing but it’s a very fine detail, that can easily be missed.

I totally agree with you, they butchered a lot of characterisations and dynamics between certain characters. For instance, Nyra’s relationship with her half-siblings would’ve been so interesting to have a foundation on rather than what we saw… I think it would have made it more moving if we saw something.

as for Alicent’s character also, I mean I am not 100% against how Olivia plays her, and I don’t mind that they aged her down to be more intimate with Nyra. But she is much more cunning and cut throat in the books and I am hoping they delve into that side a bit… she’s a very cold character from time to time, and I think we deserve to see that.

these characters are flawed, and I think they tend to exaggerate that more with the Green side than Black, for obvious reasons.

Mind you, I do lean more towards Team Black, but it’s not like they’re 100% perfect either!

The key is to hold no expectations, I’m sort of just going with the flow at this point.

[aeoki]

Atlantis - Divine Bridge: Chapter 8

Location: Seisou Hall Theatre Room Characters: Touri, Yuzuru, Eichi & Wataru Season: Winter

Eichi: This is all my guess.

Maybe Lady Z. K. has really come to love idols and simply wants to pursue an earnest education in that aspect.

But it’s dangerous to act based on that optimistic assumption.

We need to be prepared for an external attack. That naturally applies to me, but it does for you as well, as our families are on close terms with one another.

Touri: …………

Eichi: The Z. K. Zaibatsu will most likely not stop until they achieve their goal. I’ll have to negotiate with her and come to an agreement at some point in time.

They’re far too big to ignore.

What will they be given and in exchange, what will we gain? An enjoyable card game where we hide our cards while trying to find out what the other is thinking is about to begin.

Touri: W–Wha…

So this Hashidate person wants to be the student council president as bargaining material?

It’s just one of her strategies to get you to give in?

S–She doesn’t even know what sort of feelings I have as I’m aiming for student council president…

Eichi: Results are everything in this world. You should have understood that a long time ago, right, Touri?

No one will listen to the excuses of a non-achiever.

If she wins the election, then the genuine and earnest wishes you carried in your heart would all have been for naught.

No. That would only be in self-interest, and you would have been nothing but a dull pebble at her feet.

The value of a jewel is only determined with victory. Only the victor can change the pebble that was once a mere mineral into a shiny and high-priced jewel.

At the very least, that’s the conclusion the world has come to. The ones who write history will always be the victors, and they are the ones who are commended as legitimate, virtuous and beautiful.

Touri: I… I don’t want that.

I don’t want to lose to someone like that.

Eichi: Right. So win, Touri.

Use whatever you need to win.

Similar obstacles will appear in front of you time and time again.

No one can remove them from your path – not even I, Yuzuru, nor your parents.

It’s up to you whether you demolish the rock, jump over it, take a detour or hire someone to remove it…

But you must be the one to make that judgement.

If you’ll act like a child and complain, saying that it’s impossible for you to accomplish, then…

It’s unfortunate, but that would mean you don’t have the right to work with me.

Touri: …………

ㅤㅤㅤㅤ< The next day. The shopping district near Yumenosaki Academy – after school. >

Yuzuru: (There must have been better ways of phrasing that.)

(The poor Young Master. He left, utterly disheartened.)

(After all, it was Eichi-sama, the one he depended on the most, who hit it where it ultimately hurt.)

(He frantically mustered the courage to walk on the tightrope only to discover the rope had been cut by the one he loves. That’s what it felt like.)

(It truly is depressing.)

(But Yuzuru believes in you, Young Master.)

(I believe you can surely overcome this obstacle.)

(If he were to be defeated with something of this calibre, then he would have never made it this far.)

(He truly appears rather pathetic at the moment, disheartened and all, but he’s a child that’s strong-willed at heart – he will surely be back on his feet in no time…)

(No. It is my role as one who serves him to help him face his obstacle, provide support and teach him how to break through it.)

(To do that, I should first look into our enemy, Z. K. Amano Hashidate. Know your enemy and you shall not fear a hundred battles, after all.)

(They are still a zaibatsu despite having moved overseas, so my parents who have served noble dignitaries from long ago should know something.)

(Servants have always loved rumours surrounding their “masters” since times of old.)

(If the Z. K. Zaibatsu is making a move, then perhaps either my parents or the other servants may have heard something…)

…Oh, please give me a bottle of that so-called oxygenated drinking water.

No, they’re gifts for my parents. Yes, please wrap them if you’re able to.

Pardon? Something nicer like snacks would make a much better gift, you say?

I suppose the general public would agree, but my family is a bit different…

They prefer health products, which only god knows are actually effective or not, as opposed to things that give off a smell or sweets that can have adverse effects on the body.

Yes. Thanks to them, I am now quite the healthy child. I have grown to be quite fit and sturdy – enough to survive a military facility if I were ever thrown into one with ease. Hehehe.

Oh, would you be able to wrap up the snacks as well?

With a gorgeous set of wrapping paper, please. Yes, I thought I should bring a gift out of respect to the master of my household.

Yes. It would be lovely if you could wrap it up nicely… Hm?

Wataru: ………♪

Yuzuru: (......? I just saw a flutter of silver hair in the corner of my eye. Was that Hibiki-sama?)

(He’s walking around while erasing his presence – how rare. He usually stands out like a sore thumb…)

(Hmm? He graduated some time ago so what is he doing near Yumenosaki Academy?)

ㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤ← Previous Chapter ᠂ ⚘ ˚⊹˚ ⚘ ᠂  Next Chapter →

[mvthr]

PSA (kinda?)

It is with great misfortune that I have to write this up today, but I feel like if I don’t do this now I will chicken out (lol). Thanks so much to all of the people who responded to my poll and have shown me so much love and support thus far. It’s thanks to you that I’ve been brave enough to post this. 💜

I’ve never had to do anything like this before so I apologize ahead of time if it’s a mess (and for typos lol). Moreover, part of me knows that I will upset a few people with this rant, but I don’t have much to lose at this point seeing as my character as a person is already being threatened. Mind you I was never going to name drop but seeing as the people in question are expecting some sort of war now I’m not sure what else to do. I think the only adult way to go about any sort of issue is to talk it out, but seeing as I wasn’t given much of an opportunity for that by the people in question I’m going to resort to this to detail my experience. 

I am going to both type out the discord ims I have as backing evidence and link screenshots for further context. 

Long story short, I’ve felt personally victimized by a discord mun/admin who currently goes by the alias of Beanie. Their bestie and fellow admin, who currently goes by the alias of Al, is unfortunately partly to blame for being willfully blind to her actions and thus encouraging them. In their eyes, I’m being petty for “an admin not wanting to write with me” but in reality I’m finally trying to voice my concerns and point out ongoing actions that straight up aren’t okay. It’s just a shame that I couldn’t properly do so directly now that I finally mustered up the courage. 

There is a lot to tell with regards to this story but I’m going to focus on the most recent event as to not rant on and on or bore anyone. Basically I was ostracized and somewhat gaslit by Beanie while in the discord rp Unyhq, which was founded by Al. It all started Friday night when I realized that I couldn’t react to any of her posts. I refreshed discord several times and even switched devices thinking it was an app error. I had no issues with anyone else’s so I started to get a bad feeling about things. Mind you, I admittedly didn’t have the best rp experience with either muns prior (they also voiced being blacklisted and having psa’s out about them in a prior group I was in with them which I am mentally slapping myself for overlooking) and felt a bit intimidated by Beanie more often than not. It was my mistake to take this laying down in the past and perhaps not being as direct as I should’ve been with those particular admins. That part I take full accountability for, as I should’ve focused less on wanting to please everyone and faced the inevitable confrontation. Nonetheless, I figured the unique plot and low key vibe could be worth giving everyone another shot. (Second chances are big thing for me.) 

To continue, I messaged another member of the group and asked them to try and react and saw they had no issues with it. After that, and a short chat, it was easy to deduce that I had been soft blocked. This came as a surprise to me seeing as I had seemingly ended on neutral terms with Beanie and had a brief convo with her months prior where she assured there was no bad blood (also featured in the screenshots). I tried to message Beanie personally about the situation and see why she would block me out of the blue but clearly couldn’t since she...well...had me blocked. I didn’t want to drag anyone else into whatever was happening so I optimistically started a plotting thread for us in the group server thinking that perhaps it was an accident. That’s when I received a message from Al hours later stating that Beanie did have me blocked and leading to the following back and forth: 

AL: “hi b, just shooting you a little dm letting you know that beanie does in fact have you blocked and is not comfortable with interacting with you one on one. i’m not privy to all the details and while i like writing with both of you and want both of you in the server, im not going to force anyone to interact with someone they’re not fully comfortable with. to ensure that everything remains comfortable, im going to be deleting your message to her in the plotting channel. hope you understand”

ME: “hi there! I’m not sure why i was blocked when i never did anything to her?? i would appreciate it if she maybe just let me know what happened in private instead of this but idk?? it makes me feel really anxious that an admin won’t even give me the time of day without reason

When she unfriended me i asked if everything was okay and she said yes (which i can share if necessary) so for her to block me out of the blue afterwards makes me feel really bad

to be honest we never really interacted much so idk what reason there would be to just shut me out without explanation 😭

like i would never want to make anyone uncomfortable or anything like that but i do feel like i deserve an explanation rather than just being ostracized seeing as it’s a group?? but yeah idk I’m just feeling really sad and anxious now”

AL: “i understand and i'm sorry that it's making you anxious. beanie is most likely asleep right now but i will talk to her when i wake up and see if she'd be willing to have a conversation with you and talk it out.

just straight up from my point of view though, and i don't mean to say this to point fingers and accuse anyone but just to help make sense of it all, the way that you and [redacted] reacted in the society about rune and cade having a baby was uncomfortable and straight up felt passive aggressive at points ?? and you guys left right after that and not long after rpsense was sent an ask about us <https://rpsense.tumblr.com/post/713226551533223936/how-about-that-connecticut-mystery-discord-rpg> particularly singling out rucade which is :/

i want to stress that i'm not pointing fingers and i hold no ill will towards either you or [redacted], but i hope that helps you understand why beanie's a little bit apprehensive about it all. still, i will talk to her and see if she would be willing to talk.”

**Let’s pause for a second to point out how she says my reaction (which was nothing but surprise seeing as Beanie didn’t seem on board with pregnancy plots when myself and another mun planned to do it for our characters) was passive aggressive while also trying to implicate myself and another mun over a drama blog comment anonymously made about them? I’m sorry that was very much accusatory and uncalled for. If I really had it out for them like they want to believe I would’ve just made a post on my main blog from the get go, and that’s something anyone who truly knows me can back up. But I guess it’s just easier to paint me as a villain than maybe admit they too are flawed. Anywho let’s continue:**

ME: “I understand where you guys are coming from but prior to the rp i didn’t even know what rpsense was and stated so (i don’t think i ever got clarification which is why i assumed it had something to do with jcink or Twitter rp) thus for there to even be an assumption it was me or even pointed in my direction is wild to me lmao. like at 25 years old i can assure you that i have better things to do than to send random messages on anon to a blog i didn’t even know existed until then

there were def some things that made me (and from what others voiced to be) uncomfortable with the big focus on that ship but seeing as you guys were admins i kinda felt it was inevitable. it did for a hot minute feel like idk thunder stealing but overall i left due the issues i had muse wise with benji after the death thing

i just really struggled to recover from that due to having dealt with something similar irl at around the same time. It became so triggering to the point i decided to leave for my own mental health. with regards to [redacted], i messaged her prior to leaving and from my understanding she left due to feeling overworked [redacted]

but yeah i kinda wish beanie would’ve just come to me about it instead of blocking me. like i would’ve (and still am) happy to discuss whatever assumptions or apprehensions she’s had in place of a situation like this. i mean i don’t see why someone who supposed talked shit about y’all, would wanna stay in a group with you guys and try so hard to be peaceful instead of just blocking and moving on but that is just my two sense on the topic.

i don’t think we were the only ones who eventually left nor were taken aback by some of those things you mentioned but yeah all i can say that it wasn’t me and i don’t think [redacted] would waste her time with that either. i swear that’s not me shading others but yeah it’s just still a shock to me that assumption was made?? but i guess i could see why from her POV it would be easier to push the blame on me timing wise lmao”

ME (after several hours of no reply despite activity in the group server): “hi there!! sorry to spam but i wanted to know if there was still gonna be a follow up on this?? i would ask Beanie myself but still have not way to contact her and don’t wanna bring someone else into the mix. I just feel really sad because i fee l like I’ve been incriminatd over something that has nothing to do with me. like i apologize if i ever gave anyone any reason to dislike me but it kinda feel like anger towards some random person or comment is being projected onto me without any validity? or than maybe there is just a reach to make me feel excluded?? idk I’ve just being feeling really uncomfortable and semi attacked since yesterday when all i wanted was to get along with everyone in a rp i was excited about.”

AL:“hi b, i'm still having a conversation with beanie about it (i just woke up like an hour ago 😭 ) and i'll update you asap!!”

ME: “no worries!! thanks for the update. i just hate the situation overall and let my anxiety get me. thus i forgot about timezones 😭”

AL: “hi b, beanie has communicated w me that she is not comfortable unblocking you or talking to you and i'm not going to make her do so. those are her boundaries and i respect them. she has also said that the anon didn't really influence her decision -- the main thing beanie is uncomfortable with is when you two were threading with benji and rune and benji implied that rune trying going to take advantage of him. while i understand this was most likely an in-character choice and an exploration of grief, from my understanding it was not discussed beforehand and made beanie uncomfortable. 

while it would be ideal for her to approach you herself and have a one on one conversation and clear things up, it is something she isn't currently comfortable with and i'm not particularly comfortable enforcing. i would love for everyone in a group to get along and write with each other, but realistically it's just not possible and i don't expect it to be.  beanie is one member out of many.”

**Let’s do another pause here. For reference Rune was Beanie’s muse and Benji was mine. While in societyfm I was blindsided by the ic death of a character related to Benji. During that time, I was grieving a similar situation and was very much triggered. However, seeing as the ball was already rolling and everyone ate up the plot I felt obligated to play along or otherwise be painted as a party pooper. While I was perhaps not as direct about my discomfort as I should’ve been (I was grieving and kinda expected a similar situation to this occurring if I confronted the main mun about it let alone Beanie), I did however mention/demonstrate being uncomfortable with the overall topic and its impact on my muse (even reaching out to the other admins/members at the time) but that’s a story for another day. Back to the thread she mentioned, we plotted (vaguely) to have Rune stumble upon a heavily inebriated and grieving Benji to somehow have them make amends. From my memory, Rune pulls him up and close to her from the ground and mentions taking him home to her residence instead of his own, to which he replied “are you trying to take advantage of me?” Let’s keep in mind this was a joke and the thread was left without response from there. I also interacted with Beanie ooc multiple times to not a single complaint about this or anything in my field. Now I definitely see how that could be taken out of context and perhaps was distasteful on my part and apologize for it. However the fact that it only became an issue all these months later is what seemed odd.**

ME: “yeah that’s a random thing to me because it was never brought up at all until now and idk timing wise it feels a little sus?? at this rate it really looks like she’s just looking for any reason to not have to talk to me and it’s very disheartening coming from an admin. if we are being real there a few things she had done as well that rubbed me the wrong way a bit but i didn’t take it as far as blocking her after making amends or trying to make me look bad by associating me with some random blog i have nothing to do with. but yeah if you don’t want to mediate this and she’s not willing to communicate in and adult manner then idk what else to do lmao. like I’m being punished for something petty and not even being given a chance to defend myself or improve which is incredibly messed up. I mean i legit had and irl traumatic trigger turned into the main plot of the last group but I’m not going as far as this 😭

it honestly wouldn’t have bothered me as much if she was just any other member but this kind of thing coming from an admin is extremely disheartening. especially when it’s a public group?? like what’s the point of even being in a group with me if she’s just going to act like i don’t exist over things that are beyond my knowledge?? idk i am just getting a weird vibe that i don’t think is fair to me or my actions. so yeah idk what to do at this point since she’s clearly made up her mind about excluding me and finding *reasons* to do so

refusing to coexist with someone and going out of your way to do so as an admin in a public group is just really saddening. despite it all i would’ve never done something like that to her and just want her to know that. but yeah at this rate it feels like my experience in a group is being tarnished by things that are beyond me and it’s very unfortunate. at this rate i can just leave because it’s not worth the stress and i am not going to stick around where someone claims i make them uncomfortable. 🙃

okay this is the last message i promise lol. but i already left the server so you guys can have peace of mind. that’s not to say I think any of this is fair in any way shape or form as adults, but i don’t think it’s worth the stress and i won’t stick around when someone clearly doesn’t want me around. however i will say that i don't understand how beanie or anyone is feeling uncomfortable with something being *said* about or to her character without prior discussion when benji had a whole sibling killed off, in part to her insistence, and no one gave me a heads up lol. in fact, everyone at it up at my expense and yet she can get away with acting this way to me?? that’s not right al. the policing of my reactions about how they were being treated because i didn't treat her muse *the right way* is **not** okay. but yeah i digress. nevertheless, best of luck to y’all. it’s a shame i couldn’t be a part of it again but maybe that’s for the best 🤷🏽‍♀️”

AL: “frankly, b, i was going to leave this message unanswered because i feel as if though this conversation is just going around in circles. if she made you uncomfortable or rubbed you the wrong way, then you would be well within your rights to block her as well. i would not have forced you to interact with her if you had done so. if you had come to me with your issues privately, i would've been happy to step in and help resolve them. 

your messages are needlessly aggressive towards beanie in this situation. people are allowed not to like you or interact with you -- even if said person is an admin. she has not, from my pov, refused to coexist with you: she has merely refused to interact with you one on one or plot with you. her reasons for being uncomfortable with you have been kept private and only shared with me because i asked. she has not purposefully gone out of her way to be rude or hostile to you either ic or ooc: she simply does not wish to interact with you, so she has blocked you. if you had stayed in the rp, both me and lucky would be available to you in an admin capacity and you would have a plethora of other members willing to interact with you.

as for your point about the society: i am truly sorry that happened and it is a failing of mine as an admin. i had (wrongly) assumed that m would have communicated her plans with you, as that is something that is expected of grown writers in a closed group settings. in hindsight, i should have checked in with you and i am sorry that i didn't. you did not vocalise your discomfort at the start of the plotdrop, and when you did i went the extra mile to incorporate a time skip for your comfort. i also don't know why this is being brought up with regards to beanie? beanie was not an admin at the time of the plotdrop (so she had no input in it) nor was she the only one excited for it.”

***End***

That’s where it all wraps up because just like Beanie, Al didn’t even give me a chance to speak up or say my peace before blocking me (let’s note that i had already left the group by then and said my goodbyes/explained why I was leaving to members i had either active plots or threads with. the narrative they are spinning that it was at random or to get a reaction out of new members is frankly untrue.) I get that I could’ve maybe been a bit more passive towards the end but I do think it’s valid seeing as my feelings and the moral of my message was never validated. Al was quick to defend Beanie and let her say, do, or believe anything she wanted with regards to me but when I said my side and tried to defend myself I was “needlessly aggressive” towards a toxic individual that should’ve been held accountable for their actions and set a better example as an admin. I hate to break it, but refusing to communicate with someone IS refusing to coexist with them and I will not be convinced of otherwise, nor will I allow myself to be stomped over and gaslit for defending myself/calling out inappropriate actions. 

That’s all I’m going to say about this for now as it’s really just to get my side known instead of what’s being inferred without context or my explanation. I don’t expect a fair fight in this nor am I trying to cancel anyone. All I wish is for those involved to be held accountable for their own wrongdoings as I am holding myself accountable for my own. We’re all human and in the year 2023 we should be doing our best to grow and become better people. I’m going to take this as a learning experience and hope everyone else does too. 💜

>p.s. I have been made aware of the discrepancies and pointed accusations in Al’s response and I am not going to entertain it. They are welcome to come to their own defense however they wish and I cannot/will not deny them of that. However, I will say that the additional pieces of *evidence* they have brought forwards are very much out of context. The fact they never posted the full extent of those messages, omitted their past with similar psa’s/callouts/situations, didn’t mention how seemingly intimidating said admin was/is, how they encouraged bubble rping, insist they did me a favor by blindly throwing me into an uncomfortable situation, lied about how I went about saying my goodbyes after leaving the group and why, had their friends send me hate BEFORE I made anything public, continue to bash me in their defense despite asking me to leave the topic and them alone publicly, etc, is very telling. 🤷🏽‍♀️

[archiveofkloss]

“We’re just seeing the very beginning of what’s ahead and what will be possible,” the supermodel and entrepreneur tells ELLE.

karlie on the future of women in tech:

"I’ve been doing this work for almost a decade now, and so much has changed in ways that make me very optimistic. I went to a public school in Missouri. I’m 31 years old, so it’s been a while since I was in high school, but back when I was a student, they did not have computer science programs. Now they do, and so do many, many, many public schools and private schools across the United States. There are now entry points for women and girls to start to learn how to code. It is much more understood how much technology is a part of shaping our world in every industry—not just in Silicon Valley, but also in music, media, finance, and business. But there’s a lot more, unfortunately, that continues to need to happen."

on growing kode with klossy into a global nonprofit:

"Kode With Klossy focuses on creating inclusive spaces that teach highly technical skills. We have AI machine learning and web dev. We have mobile app development and data science. They all are very creative applications of technology. Ultimately, right now, our programs are rooted in teaching the fundamentals of code and scaling the amount of people in our programs. This summer, we’re going to have 5,000 scholarships for free that we are giving to students to be a part of Kode With Klossy. We’ve trained hundreds of teachers through the years. We’ll have a few hundred instructors and instructor assistants this summer alone in our program. So what we’re focused on is continuing to ignite creative passion around technology."

on using technology to advance the fashion industry:

"We’re just seeing the very beginning of what’s ahead and what will be possible. That’s why it’s so important people realize that tech is not just for tech alone. It is [a tool to] drive better solutions across all industries and all businesses. Fashion is one of the biggest polluters of water. The industry has a lot of big problems to solve, and that’s part of why I’m optimistic and excited about more people seeing the overlap between the two. There is intersection in these spaces, and we can drive solutions in scalable ways when we see these intersections."

on embracing your fears:

"Natalie Massenet, the founder of Net-a-Porter, is an amazing entrepreneur and somebody I feel lucky to call a friend. She asked me years ago, and it’s always stuck with me through different personal and professional moments, “What would you do if you weren’t afraid?” That has always resonated, because we can get so stuck in our heads about being afraid of all sorts of different things—afraid of what other people will think, afraid of failure."

on the value of community in entrepreneurship:

"It takes a lot of courage for anyone [to be an entrepreneur]. It doesn’t matter your gender, your age, your experience level, that’s where community really does make a difference. It’s not just a talking point. So many of our Kode With Klossy scholars have come back as instructor assistants, and are now in peer leadership positions. So many of them have gone on to win hackathons and scholarships. It comes down to this collective community that continues to support and foster new connections among each other."

on breathing new life into Life magazine:

"Part of why I’m so excited about what we can build and what we are building with Bedford [Media, the company launched by Kloss and her husband, Joshua Kushner] is this intersection of a creative space like media—print media—and how you can continue to drive innovation with technology. And so that’s something that we’re very focused on, how to integrate the two. Lots more that we’re going to share at the right time, but we’re heads down on building the team and the company right now. I’m super excited."

on showing up for the people you love:

"I have two young babies, and I want to be the best mom I can be. So many of us are juggling so many different responsibilities and identities, both personally and professionally. Having women in leadership positions is so important, because our lived experiences are different from our male counterparts. And by the way, theirs is different from ours. It matters that, in leadership positions, to have different lived experiences across ages, genders, geographies, and ethnicities. It ultimately leads to better outcomes. All that to say, I’m just trying the best I can every day to show up for the people that I love and do what I can to help others."

on the intrinsic value in heirloom pieces:

"For our wedding, my husband bought me a beautiful Cartier watch. Some day I will pass that on to our daughter, if I’m lucky enough to have one. Or [I’ll pass it on to] my son; I have two sons. For our wedding, I also bought myself beautiful diamond earrings. There was something very symbolic about that to me, like, okay, I can also buy myself something. That’s why jewelry, to me—as we’re talking about female entrepreneurship and women in business and women in tech—is something that’s so emotional and personal. So I bought myself these vintage diamond earrings from the ’20s, with this beautiful, rich history of where they had been and who had owned them and wore them before. That’s the power of jewelry, whether it’s vintage or new, you create memories and it marks moments in life and in time. And then to be able to share that with future generations is something I find really beautiful."

[darlingpoppet]

WIP Wednesday: Where The Dead Forget Ch 5 Snippet

I got tagged by @johaerys-writes last week to share something for WIP Wednesday, but since it was already well into Thursday in my timezone I waited to come back around the bend to post something for this week!

All of my current projects at the moment are still in the outline/rough draft stages so for today I decided to let myself be a little bit vulnerable and pull back the curtain to reveal what my extremely messy, repetitive, & badly worded rough drafts tend to look like (and even this was cleaned up a bit for public consumption, ha!) Here is a snippet of WTDF Chapter 5.

I think I’m supposed to tag folks, though I’m not sure how many… I suppose anyone who sees this is welcome to share their stuff? Just be sure to tag me so I can love on your efforts <3

***

The shades here can see him.

He encounters a group of them not so far in; they wear the armor of warriors and they are armed.

They notice the cloaked figure carrying a spear, and right away their ghostly colors are high, easily aroused by the prospect of a fight. Achilles does not quite understand/Achilles is not exactly/precisely familiar with their etiquette, but he is fairly certain/sure/he assumes the way he does not stop his advance is communicating to them an act of aggression.

One of them calls over to him. “How now, shade! Is it a fight you’re after?”

Achilles freezes/stills for a moment. He had not let his guard down, even despite the uneventful travels/journeys through the previous two realms, but he had been optimistic/hopeful there would be no need/it would not be necessary to fight his way through. He did not expect the aggression of these Elysian shades. Was this how they all behaved?

“I do not wish to fight,” he says/calls back loudly, still too far away for his voice to carry at a normal volume. He fingers at his/the hood which still conceals his face. “Let me pass.”

A warrior spits on the ground casually. “If you do not wish to fight, you would do well to put down that weapon of yours,” he says, baring his teeth.

“I will not. I do not intend to engage in deceit. I am here for another purpose.”

“Ah, perhaps you seek an audience with the champion? He accepts all challengers, but you have to prove yourself before you face him.”

“That is not why I am here. Let me pass.”

“We will not. Show yourself and what your skills are worth! Or are you afraid?”

Quickly Growing quickly weary of the posturing, Achilles gives a resigned sigh. “Very well,” he says.

He darts forward at once, and the hood of his cloak falls back, freeing his wild curls and revealing his face. He twists his features into something keen and wild and animalistic, sharp as the spearpoint he has hefted, ready/poised to bury itself into the throat of whoever among them is the most unfortunate.

The confident/arrogant expressions of the shades quickly shift/devolve/dissolve away into one shock and even fear.

“It is Achilles!” One shouts.

Suddenly, the jeers and growls of the shades/men/warriors are cut off like breath. They turn around and run.

Achilles feels a sort of wild, wicked pleasure at watching the shades/them flee from him. He had been hoping for this result, that just the smallest glimpse of his speed and ferocity would be enough to spook them. However, he is rather surprised that he is not only feared, but also recognized.

There is an unbidden/spontaneous shiver of pleasure that he gets at this realization. He tells himself it is because it means he is relieved that he does not have to fight them, and it is absolutely not because it appears his reputation precedes him still.

[stickstone]

ok so. the shadow preview. spoilers below the cut

prologue was good, i think it does a good job of establishing berryheart’s motives

frostpaw’s chapter built off well from the cliffhanger at the end of the last book. i’m glad icewing’s becoming a major character, i’m excited to see where splashtail goes as a character, and overall i like that the tigerstar situation’s being portrayed as complex. it makes it a lot more interesting than if tigerstar was 100% in the right or 100% in the wrong, it’s a very messy situation and makes for good drama

sunbeam’s chapter unfortunately hit a little too close to home having been in a similar position to her. it seems like she doesn’t share nightheart’s feelings and is incredibly uncomfortable with him showing up out of the blue and declaring himself her mate, but feels pressured to go along with it because she feels a little bad for him (keep in mind she doesn’t know the actual context of why he left thunderclan, only his incredibly biased recounting of it. also it’s been established that she has a habit of letting others walk all over her).

if i trusted the erins i would say im looking forward to sunbeam eventually telling nightheart off and standing up for herself. considering the insanely unhealthy way this relationship started, with nightheart pressuring sunbeam into it, this is the only good way for things to end. but based on prior experience with the series i need to prepare myself for the uncomfortable likelihood that sunbeam will eventually ‘feel the same way’ and it will be gross

nightheart chapter gave me some sort of hope that he will be portrayed as in the wrong, with his clanmates clearly being worried about him because he left without announcing where he was going. however again i have to keep reminding myself of sky, in which everyone is insanely aggressive to him for no reason. i really really hope that this chapter is supposed to convey that his family really does love him and is worried, and all the ill will is nightheart projecting his own insecurities. but again. i have to prepare myself to be disappointed

would summarize my review as “cautiously optimistic” with a much heavier emphasis on the “cautiously”

[new-employeeamillion]

Phineas and Ferb is coming back, here’s what I’m expecting.

When I woke up to this news, I had to drop everything I was doing to comment on it. My favourite childhood cartoon, Phineas and Ferb, heading back into production for one or more seasons is something that always seemed possible. Dan and Swampy had been hinting at it…basically as soon as the show ended, now that I think about it. And they spent a lot of their second show, Milo Murphy’s Law, planting clues that they weren’t done with the characters yet. Unfortunately, I never followed Milo that religiously, so I can’t comment on if it worked or not. And their third show, Hamster and Gretel, has been an improvement but still feels a bit niche. It’s clear their team’s style hasn’t changed much since 2012, it’s dependable but not innovative. However, that’s always been the case with PnF. It wasn’t a game changer for animation, just a really, really funny and polished show, and that’s great.

But now it’s back, and I’m a little worried. There’s a few things I really want them to do, and others I don’t, and I think they’re going to do both. Season 4 was a very special and event-oriented run, and that was great for a final season…but where do you go from there? Do you make more specials for Season 5 and 6? Less? Reel it in a bit and do more standard episodes again? There were a couple standard episodes in Season 4 that ended up feeling unremarkable, so I wouldn’t want the new run to carry that feeling over. Going back to Season 1’s mix of plenty of normal episodes, plus 5 or 6 longer adventures, would be the best way to go around it, I think.

Still on the topic of Season 4, it brought a few status quo changes that I can see them bringing up for the revival. Things like Doof having been an OWCA agent, Stacy knowing about Perry’s secret identity, confirming Phineas and Isabella won’t hook up until they go to college. Some have more potential than others, but others might be ignored or upstaged by new developments. It depends on how much they want to bend to the whim of the formulas, because those’ll probably be further tested.

In terms of which characters should be given more emphasis, I really want them to use Phineas more, explore what makes him so resourceful and optimistic. The crew are well aware that he could come off as a blank slate, so if they’re coming back, I hope they’re going to put some thought into fleshing out their title character. Another character I want to see them do more with is Jeremy, if just to see if they can give him a quirk. He was always sort of the everyman compared to Candace, who soaked up 99% of the energy in their shared scenes. Giving him more time to hang out with his band members could be cool too.

As for jokes, I expect their sense of humour to say the same- character based humour, subverting expectations, comedic song numbers and a few references here or there. Just because I’m expecting the sort of humour they’re doing doesn’t mean I’m tired of it. It would be more worrying if they did jokes uncharacteristic of the show. The one thing I bet they’re going to do that I’m concerned about is include more memes. That alien flossing in Candace Against the Universe might be a harbinger of “well, they referenced that”. It’s not like they’ve never been in touch with the internet, the 10th episode was about Phineas and Ferb making viral videos after all, but I don’t want them to bring memes and modern references into it if they’re gonna feel shallow.

That’s another thing, how will time flow this go around? Will it be set in the same summer as the original 4 seasons, or a year later? Could we possibly finally see what the rest of the year looks like, with the kids in school? That in particular is unlikely, but there has to be some debate internally over whether these new episodes will be set after The Last Day of Summer. Probably not, since Candace Against the Universe was confirmed not to be, but who knows. Will the timeline float though? The show started in the 2000s, and did its best to keep the technology timeless, only adding smartphones in Season 4. But will technology and culture change for Season 5? Is there a chance they’ll go back to flip phones and bulky TVs? The first 2 episodes are 16 this year, edging into the nostalgia cycle window, so I wouldn’t be surprised if they played into that nostalgia in some way. Maybe have a joke where Candace wonders why she still has her old flip phone laying around. “It’s older than me!”

These are just the questions and concerns at the top of my head, but I’m fairly optimistic that the show will still be good. There have been shorter breaks with rockier comebacks in animated shows. All it can take is 2 years sometimes. Now try 8! If it ends up being a tier or two lower than the original run, I won’t be shocked, but I will be happy that Disney still care about these characters at all. They’re currently the best at handling new IPs too, so I’m not even worried they could be relying on this show for the sake of nostalgia. It’s always going to be a new and popular show to kids, and long may this continue.

[groovesnjams]

gRººv333S,,,n,,,J▲M§ ▬|s|!|O|!| ❤︎|!|t|!|y|▬{{mmxxii}}  

..................number11 ....................of50

“The Linden Trees Are Still in Blossom” by Jens Lekman

DV:

Unfortunately I may have said everything I had to say about “The Linden Trees Are Still in Blossom” back when we initially covered it, and I stand by all those ideas: this is still the rare sequel that deepens and enriches the original, and one of the most complicated songs I heard all year. It’s also art about itself, which puts it into a weird sort of conversation with the year’s most prominent piece of self-critiquing art, Nathan Fielder’s The Rehearsal. Where The Rehearsal is a work of art about how works of art like it should simply never exist, “The Linden Trees Are Still in Blossom” is a work of art about how art binds us together, connects us, gives meaning and purpose and value to our lives. It makes me cry every time I hear it, which is probably because I’m getting old but whatever I’m leaning into it, and enjoying hearing Jens lean into the emotion and vulnerability of it too. It’s fundamentally optimistic and hopeful, in the way that only a message in a bottle can be.

MG:

I have a very long list of “drafts” on my personal blog, a sort of shadow portal of myself that only I can see, and in there was something I rage wrote and decided better of, but I think it fits with “The Linden Trees Are Still in Blossom.” I despise in memoriams when people die. I hated them when I did them at The Singles Jukebox and I hated every last Mimi Parker public eulogy. I don’t mean to disparage the people who write these things (myself included) because they are grieving and well meaning and trying to communicate something about the importance of a life lived. What I hate is their note of finality. We will not have more Mimi Parker public eulogies next year though her contributions to music will still be just as vital, her loved ones will still be mourning fiercely, and her life and her death will still be meaningful. One day, one week, of outpouring is not enough and it makes these people feel very dead in a way that they would not if we could still talk about them from time to time.

“The Linden Trees Are Still in Blossom” kind of steps back over a line Jens Lekman crossed when he inserted Nina into his art but since she’s there forever I’m extremely heartened to hear him return to her, to share her story with us again, as bittersweet as it will always be. Nina is a complicated figure; in both stories she wants, as much as possible, to be unobserved and unseen, to hide herself first from her father and then from her old friend, Jens. Whether he succeeds is up for debate, but Jens is attempting understanding and failing that, he’s offering to listen. Ultimately, my sense is that Nina probably does not want to be the centerpiece to another Jens Lekman masterwork but it’s already much too late to undo that brush stroke. For the rest of us, and for Jens, it feels necessary that she remain vital -- never left behind or forgotten.

[thebonerpit]

I need to talk about Dragon Age Absolution because yeah I’m late to the party but I finally watched it...

First of all, I can’t get over the utter ridiculousness of Hawke failing to kill not one but TWO villains. Like. what the FUCK lmfao. This poor man/woman. And poor Varric too, holy shit. But I am a bit confused because Varric was viscount of Kirkwall at the end of DAI right? Was this already happening and he somehow just didn’t notice?? (There was also some weird timeline fuckery with Hira saying her family was killed by Venatori when she was a small child but now she’s at least 20 and the Venatori didn’t even exist until DAI. DA4 cannot be 15+ years later, that would be bananas.)

I was kind of spoiled for the Meredith reveal but I didn’t know she was fully aware and talking and controlling red lyrium templars?!?!?! I thought she was just gonna be the red crystal and that artifact was going to wake her up but I guess she’s already awake, so maybe it’s to give her a body again? IDK IDK.

Unfortunately I didn’t love Miriam. She’s just the type of character I don’t generally like... kinda 2edgy4u y’know? I mean she’s basically a female Fenris but the difference is we had a whole-ass game to get to know him and see his personality emerge and see him work through his trauma but this entire series was over SO fast that I never felt like I knew her at all. I knew Hira was going to betray them because there was absolutely no fucking way Fairbanks was the real traitor and if you played Inquisition you probably knew that too. It sucks he died but at least he wasn’t a bastard. Oh and speaking of Hira I just find it so funny that she was like “yeah I asked the Inquisition to go WAR with Tevinter and they said NO can you believe?!” and I’m like YES I can believe, what the fuck? Are you kidding me?? You think the Inquisition - who are already being scrutinized and accused of being power hungry and are dealing with mountains of other things - are going to start a war with one of the most powerful nations in Thedas? I have to laugh.

Rezaren had the personality of a piece of wet bread and I was zero percent interested in his whiny shenanigans. Although I do appreciate how he thought that keeping the reanimated corpse of his dead slave around to chat to every now and then was NORMAL. Horrific. I actually really liked Tassia though! Because for almost the entirety of DA we’ve sort of been told that Tevinter templars are weak as kittens and are basically pointless, but Tassia was a certified boss swinging that hammer around. It was weird that we never saw her use any templar abilities though (unless I missed it?) so maybe that is sort of frowned upon in Tevinter.

The real winners here are OBVIOUSLY Lacklon and Roland omg babessssss. Roland was by far my fave character. Optimistic and heroic with just the right amount of sass so he wasn’t boring. Qwydion was... ugh ok I am on the fence with her. There were a lot of parts where I really did like her but imho they just made her a BIT too silly. Like running away screaming from the demons... girl... you’re a badass mage, what the hell was that?!

Anyway overall I give it a solid 7/10. I think I was just so excited to see something new in the DA world again /sobs, so I can overlook some of the faults. I am both terrified and excited for DA4 because I thought we would be mostly dealing with Solas and his bullshit but now we have Meredith + red templars invading Tevinter which is already struggling to repel constant Qunari invasions?? Things are not looking good for Tevinter tbh and if that means something bad happens to Dorian I will RIOT.

[cooledtured]

Celebrating 25 Years from the Release of the Very First Pop! Isn’t the Only Exciting Thing for Funko in 2023

I think we’re witnessing some movement that’s shifting the entire trajectory of Funko and all its beloved product lines. I’m optimistic in this respect. I think everyone’s collection, rarest chase to most vanilla, might see value and rarity increase across the board. It’s a brave new world for collectors moving into 2024 and I’m betting everyone’s Pops will gain a rarity boost. After this year, I might propose referring to all Pops from ’98 to ’23 as “Mariotti Era.” Really, there is a huge shift happening and I think it only spells out huge benefits. Let me explain:

When I say “Mariotti Era,” I’m referring to the fact that now-former CEO Brian Mariotti stepped down from his role back in July. While he really just stepped aside and remained on the board, this move was in the aftermath of Funko’s stock unfortunately plummeting 70% from last year. That is no small disruption, that’s essentially a tank. The major cause of that sink is simply sales are down. I’m guessing that most collectors know by now that Funko also removed or destroyed $30 million worth of inventory.

Funko hasn’t been the only company that has had to remove inventory. Many brand supply chains wanted to ensure that through the coronavirus pandemic they could meet increasing demand without suffering losses due to empty shelves and backorders, i.e. stockouts. The classic bullwhip action occurred where Funko increased their inventory while at the same time the overall market slowed down.

The brighter side is that what Funko and every collector essentially wants, aside from not just owning a fun piece of their favorite pop culture genre, is that the value of their Pops either hold or increase. And that simply won’t happen when the market is oversaturated. Funko claimed they destroyed so many because the new distribution center was woefully overcapacity, having to rent out storage for the excess. Hence, greater net loss from inventory storage costs only made things more volatile.

Where the excitement arrives for every collector and Funko is that this kind of fiscal drama almost always moves companies to restructure and innovate a better product. And I think this fresh new collab they’re doing with Marvel and VeVe has potential to change things greatly. At New York CC, Funko introduces a new GOLD Iron Man as a mystery box collectible. Perhaps more interesting and cool, in my opinion, is that it comes with an NFT component. For anyone still kind of wondering what an NFT is, the best way I’ve heard it explained is that it’s like a unique and rare item or skin in a video game. No two are the same and this could be a big win for all collectors if Funko plans to expand the idea into more product lines.

According to Funko Blog, GOLD Iron Man will release October 18th this year as a limited 3,000 run with 5 versions: Classic Red and Gold (50% chance); Silver Suit (22% chance); Gold Suit (15% chance); Silver and Black Suit (12% chance); Black and Gold Suit (2% chance). Each mystery box includes a card that notes its number of 3,000 with a unique NFT code for a virtual render of the Pop.

It seems like this little product venture is sort of a test for what’s to come. Also, I wonder if this relates somehow to Funko Fusion coming out next year. I guess we’ll see how that rolls out. But I’m excited at the thought it’s a move in the right direction, specifically with collectors in mind. It has potential to increase value and lower concerns over chances the Pop you bought online is a fake. The entire concept of an NFT is that it’s unique and one of a kind. Honestly, how Funko hadn’t maximized this previously is a little confusing.

I believe this is great for all Pop collectors and Funko as a brand. The shaky market leading to miscalculations, disruptions and restructuring only make previous iterations and collectibles more valuable over time. There are many examples of this in the realm of collecting. It’s an exciting time!

 — — 

JEFFREY WELLS | Writer

POP-COOLEDTURED SPECIALIST cooledtured.com | GROW YOUR COLLECTION

[talenlee]

Y'know What, I'm Fond of Donald Norman

Donald Norman is the author of a book called The Design Of Everyday Things, which came out in 1988, 2008, and 2013. It is a book that has been pored over and referenced and cited and reconsidered for all sorts of disciplines, many of which come up in my PhD literature review, which is why it’s on my mind, and one of the things that keeps coming up in that – two things, really – is that Donald Norman is pretty sweet and people don’t seem to do much to dilute that.

Norman’s original book was, the story goes, about time spent in England as an American, and learning the way that the interface of common objects worked. From this grew a discipline of considering the everyday in terms of how people are meant to interact with them. It even got a term coined, of Norman Doors.

A norman door, if you’re not familiar with the 99 Percent Invisible Podcast video that got shared around about it, is a door where you remember enough about engaging with it because it’s wrong or badly designed, but you forget enough about engaging with it so you don’t route around the bad design. Say you have a door in your office that you only sometimes go to, and you know you need to do something different with it, but every time, you get it wrong as to whether you need to push it or pull it. Or it opens into a space you need to stand, but you never remember where to stand. You forget about it once you’re done, because that door isn’t regular or important. People often feel stupid or blame other people for messing up with the door, ignoring the greater reality: The door is probably wrong.

This is the principle of a Norman Door; a door that violates Donald Norman’s principles for everyday interface design.

I’m not about to just replicate the chunk of my literature review here, though because that should be done on an academic blog, and instead I want to talk about something that isn’t important to the academic side of things, which is: I like Donald Norman.

Donald Norman writes about interfaces with a sense of human engagement that I find personally, very sweet. It’s optimistic, too; there’s a real feeling to me that Norman’s design sensibilities want to put information in the hands of people using things, wants to empower people who are engaging with the design. It is important, in Norman’s vision of design, for people to know what the thing they’re using does, and why it does it that way, and it should be communicated to them that way. A disk drive should have a slotted handle to lock in place, not just because the disk needs it to be safe and secure, but because the person using it should be able to go ‘oh yeah, this is how I have declared this act done.’

But it’s how in he specifically has pushed away from User Centered Design as a terminology to Human Centered Design. It’s the same idea, generally speaking, but just the idea of referring to people as ‘Users’ positions the whole engagement as being about a machine, a system of some sort and that the human showed up to use it. They were still, in a way, being regarded as part of something.

When writing about human-centered design, Norman provides an example of throwing a basketball into a hoop at the free-throw line. This is something humans, even the best humans for the task, fail at. It involves throwing consistently accurately and accounting for variables. This is something machines do well. In the description of Human-Centered Design, then, Norman suggests the creation of a free-throwing machine that can do it perfectly, and:

“Why, that’s wonderful,” you should be saying. “Between us and our machines, we could accomplish anything. People are good at the creative side and at interpreting ambiguous situations. Machines are good at precise and reliable operation.”

Unfortunately, comma.

This is the plight of our now, this is the design failure of our landscape. The devices people are using are not made with interfaces to let the machine do the thing the machine is good at and the person do the thing the person is good at. Your machines teach you how to use this machine, and it’s an explicitly stated point of pride that many designs are good at getting you to use the related machines that are only made by one company. Apple devices behave the way apple devices behave because apple devices want you to use more apple devices. The inteface is not a door you pass through, it is a lock you must pick.

But Norman writes about it like it’s very obvious, and sensible, and good to make designs where the human gets to do the things the human wants to do, and the precision of the machine is the thing the machine is there to do. It’s hard to imagine interfaces like that – even for things like paint programs, I have a hard time imagining a painting interface that’s capable of (say), allowing free, sloppy colour selection and then fine-tuning it later once it’s all been determined. That seems to me bananas.

Thing is… I could do it.

Even as I say it, I’m thinking about ways I could do it.

I know how to do it.

But it’d involve constructing a bunch of nested folders in GIMP and moving them around depending on what I wanted them to do. I could make the interface there, but only because I’ve learned how to engage with it, after a long time building up practice.

Reading Norman talking about how designs should be is sweet and refreshing. He seems to like people, people with all types of access needs, and want them to have the best tools for their own interfaces. And that’s sweet to have, since he doesn’t then frame everything as being about success, as determined by money.

Check it out on PRESS.exe to see it with images and links!

[yessadirichards]

Jason Mraz is feeling free and curious — in music and in love

GARY GERARD HAMILTONNEW YORK

Jason Mraz is freer than ever, and that liberation has allowed his curiosity to get the best of him — in the most optimistic ways.

Musically, the two-time Grammy winner released his latest album, “Mystical Magical Rhythmical Radical Ride,” in June, a pop record that’s a turn from his balladeering, acoustic persona. Like many other current dance projects, it was conceived during the pandemic, and the 46-year-old says his fans helped shape its direction.

“I’d been noticing this for years — on the setlist (when performing), we were missing the songs that kept the audience on their feet,” explained the “I’m Yours” artist. “Something I long for is more experiences of that, where I could keep an audience elevated … it was a little bit (of) the audience asking for it, more than anything.”

Led by up-tempo tracks like “Feel Good Too” and “I Feel Like Dancing,” the guitarist wrote his 10-track, eighth studio album with close collaborators Raining Jane, whom he worked with for 2014’s “YES!”

But Mraz, who’s prepping a September deluxe reissue of his popular 2008 EP, “We Sing. We Dance. We Steal Things.” is also continuing a personal journey, one that publicly began in 2018 when he revealed he’s bisexual. The “Lucky” artist says he’s learning to embrace his identity, and the unknown paths that lie ahead.

“I realize I’m not final. And the more we grow and spread our wings, I think the more queer all of us may become. Because when we don’t limit ourselves to some construct of who we’re supposed to be in love with based on our society’s laws … we could find ourselves falling in love, or becoming attracted to all walks of human life,” Mraz said. “That’s what I found was happening to me.”

Mraz spoke to The Associated Press about his mom’s impact on the album, how publicly embracing his sexual orientation shapes how he now creates music, and why he needs forgiveness. The interview has been edited for clarity and brevity.

Mraz: We’re all on this ride through life. Life is basically just time traveling, and music is a great way to travel through time. And as I’m looking back, in my mid-40s, at 20 years in music, where I’ve been, what I’ve learned, how I can forgive myself for some of the things I’ve done, and then how I can be optimistic and purposeful ... I feel like I’m right in the middle of my journey.

Mraz: Breaking hearts. When you’re young, you have relationships that are filled with so much promise. And then, if they don’t work out, you’re left with this feeling of failure or shame which is not always easy to recover from. … (Also) I look back at some songs that I maybe rushed through, either for a deadline or just my idea wasn’t fully realized.

So that’s one thing we constantly have to do in life, is forgive others and forgive ourselves of our shortcomings.

Mraz: My mom heard some early demos that I was working on early in the process and she thought, “These are great. They’re cute. They sound like you, but I’ve heard that before. … You should make a pop album before it’s too late.”

I took that to heart and said, “You’re right."

Then, unfortunately, my mom was diagnosed with cancer during our album-making process. And so, our sort of musical inspiration would really be, “What would cheer up my mom? What could cheer her on in life and what will she be excited to hear from us?” And luckily, she’s doing great right now.

Mraz: I know who I am today, but I don’t know what my future holds and what future relationships I’m going to have. … I love doing stand-up with some friends of mine and I find myself talking about my dating experiences in the queer community and what that’s like. And just the ability — the freedom — to have that type of healthy banter with peers is a big step, versus who I was in 2018 when it was just a few secret peeps that I would share with.

Mraz: It is different. I find even with my old songs, when I perform them live, some I’ve either just retired or I find new ways where I can make them gender-neutral. I grew up hearing songs that had “girl” in the title, and I don’t fully connect with that or even want to limit my audience to just, you know, “girl” … that’s been the biggest change.

Mraz: I’m so happy. I’m still not happy that I’ve broken so many hearts along this journey, but I feel that I’ve done a lot of work in healing those relationships. And I’m so happy to be where I’m at today.