#Just a grifter at the moment

[nickywhoisi]

welp it's been a couple days

I really need to get my pencil and ink pen back, but I have no idea if these would have been sent to a lost and found, and I have been straining my poor body trying to find anywhere I could sleep inside. For too short of a while, I did, but then I got the lines I did not want to hear, and bawled again because of...the chance at safety that I wanted lost. Once again, I had to find a spot outside. I did at least, at a vet. In this little corner where nobody at all approached me negatively. And in both places, I seem to have gotten 4 hours or so of sleep. So I am doing....ehh. Which is a step up from horrible that one time.

I really wanna post happier things, have nothing happen, and then get to work on all of my projects, life and art related. I have had enough of this. I also really need to buy that thing, the wheelbarrow, so I can just use that as a carrier and a bed. I can have my brelly as a cover. That'll be great. No more squished legs on a dinky chair I've had it. Now y'all can expect more posts from me that are lighter in nature, thank goodness

Oh and there were some genuinely good things that had happened. I got a spot to read some cute little Thomas stories, though not written by Awdry. I'm still trying to find those! And I gave myself some treats by buying back Balan and Luigi's Mansion 3! Also making some good progress leveling up in SMT5 so I can finally beat that creepy toothy hydra. I do feel like I have to be some levels higher than all the enemies; my strat is to get powerful enough to get the whole party doing 1HKOs every time. Wish me luck!

[sleepynegress]

A COMPREHENSIVE & AUTHENTIC UHURA LOVE/HISTORY POST

The above is where Roddenberry 1st employed Nichelle Nichols [click to watch the full clip]. It was a military show based on Roddenberry's own experiences, the episode is called To Set it Right (I highly suggest reading the wiki article about it).

You should note two other actors, whom he later pegged for Star Trek are in the episode.

They dated briefly and then became good friends way before Trek came about.

Miss Nichols was already an accomplished singer and dancer who performed regularly w/ Billy Eckstine and Duke Ellington

Roddenberry's 1st show, The Lieutenant, was canceled/pulled from the air before these scenes bluntly dealing with racism could air (there's blackface as punishment for the racists at the end of the show, in a case of 'he 'a little confused but got the spirit' for the times, so tw)

He created Star Trek to try to soften the blow of all the social messaging he wanted to insert from his military experience. Star Trek was basically, a submarine drama placed in a sci-fi setting. He made it diverse on purpose because the military helped him travel and serve with all kinds of people. Roddenberry was inspired by that.

Uhura was the first person to read for Spock and in fact, helped to shape the character with her reading and based many of the traits of Uhura (formerly Uhuru) on Spock.

She was basically a glorified secretary. She played the part with poise, joy, and the 60's style womanism she got to play out for those times... Everything from her mini-skirt (which Nichelle herself called very comfortable) to her smile, and teasing lines, and quips were about her playing "big" in a small role. She made every moment, every look, every line, and movement count:

Roddenberry cracked jokes about the fact that the network never figured out that Uhura was fourth in command.

Nichelle was the only main cast member who was not salaried. She was paid by the hour. This attempt at marginalization actually resulted in her being the highest paid at times, because of the long hours.

Nichelle was not let in the front entrance at times, her fan-mail was kept from her, and she grew frustrated with the constant cutting of her scenes, lines and storylines. This is why she justifiably attempted to leave. The bigots in production did not like her being there (and if we're being real, were it not for Janice Rand's actress Grace Lee Whitney having gone through so much and thus losing her job in the 1st season...Uhura might have had even LESS presence)

The lost context in MLK convincing her to stay was that YES she was minimized and could make more money and be more fulfilled on broadway, but her symbolism and presence meant so much at a time when Black women weren't on TV unless as a racist caricature cleaning a house, and even that was rare...that she stayed.

One of her best allies was DeForest Kelly, who threatened to quit if they fired Nichelle. George Takei was her absolute best friend on the show and in life (she served as his Best Woman at his wedding).

There was an unfilmed episode in which Uhura and Deforest would have played reverse roles in "racial dynamics" on a planet they visit

Spock and Uhura were originally supposed to kiss in the alien mind control episode, but Shatner demanded to do so for the publiicity.

Her work to recruit marginalized people as astronauts, as in personally going to colleges and talking to candidates after the show is a staggering achievement that arguably is the most potent of any castmember in any of the Trek series post-show. Sally Ride, Guy Bluford (she personally recruited the 1st woman and 1st black astronaut), Mae Jemison (the 1st black woman credits her for inspiring her to become an astronaut).

Uhura did finally command the ship in the animated series. She would not have gotten to voice the role, but for Leonard Nimoy making it an obligation that all the original actors voice their parts for him to come on.

Scotty and Uhura in the film was definitely a pair the spares situation, in which both were the leftover senior citizens with the writers just going "why not?"

it was beyond insulting and she did protest about the scene where she's bumbling through a giant translation book to speak to klingons for laughs in trek 5 ...but her best moment IMO is her pulling a gun on the young ensign in the transporter room in Trek 3...sadly her ONLY scene in the damn movie.

Miss Saldana got to play to MANY corrections in JJ Abrams rebooted Trek, from being amazing at languages to having an actual life & love, to confidently turning down Kirk at every turn.

FUN FACT!! Both JJ and Bob Orci both expressed disappointed shock that the love story between Spock & Uhura got more hatred from fans than BLOWING UP PLANET VULCAN.

another FUN FACT!! The love story between Spock & Uhura is what grabbed the old school Star Wars fan (JJ Abrams) enough to come aboard to direct. Yep. JJ ships Spock & Uhura.

Zoe's iteration became the 1st version of Uhura to speak confidently in Klingon

Celia Rose Gooding becoming Uhura brings around a lot of Uhura's qualities full circle, IMO. As she is also from theatre (like Nichelle) and has a beautiful singing voice as well as the charm. Zoe's iteration was sharper, and much more protective, professional, & mature, about her life and love.

Celia Rose has the youthful curiousity and stars in her eyes and had vulnerability from her first intro... I loved the eagerness the crew showed to being in her orbit, seeing the glow of her talent and being drawn to that, to have a part in nurturing that.

As I've said... Celia IMO has the most dazzling smile, giant warm brown eyes, fantastic curves, and an energy that feels essentially Uhura, & that is all light, joy, a bit of uncertainty, -from the light singing (!) and the growth to her joy in discovery... I'd love to see her writing move away from serving and be more about her wants needs and growing in friendships/loves.

But Celia is a gift and is perfectly cast.

Essentially Uhura = femininity, graceful carriage, gorgeous smile, excellence in engineering and translation (canon!), ability to sing and play the Vulcan lyre, sharp womanist wit, love for her U.S. of African-Kenyan culture and being beloved by all crew...

When Miss Celia hummed those gorgeous notes to the alien entity on that comet?? That Solidified that she IS Uhura IMO.

I 100% think they fucked up by killing Hemmer, because that mentor-mentee relationship was giving marginalized coming together and bonding over everybody else's bullshit and I was here for it...it was giving me Data and Geordi updated...and since then, IMO they've lost track and given us the same kinda backwards wingwoman role BS, that people who like to pretend to be her fan shoehorn her into.

...but I have high hopes that they'll course-correct.

All this to say ALL OF THE ABOVE is Uhura and anyone calling her ugly, bossy, pushy, annoying, whatever is just sad little hater who doesn't know wtf they are talking about.

[andromedasummer]

i ended up having a like. 30 minute conversation with some of those "freedom convoy" people. was at the bus stop. they were wearing trump hats. i ended up roped into the conversation because i was so taken aback at seeing one in public i was just. staring at it. ive never felt more depressed about someone elses life and beliefs than when i talked to them.

[hussyknee]

The one silver lining to having to endure these "don't throw away your vote 💙 over a single issue (genocide)" takes is that they've managed to seemingly do the impossible— get every infighting leftist faction to come together and finally throw liberals out of the left into the garbage.

[wolves-in-the-world]

possibility: tara owing sophie A Favour isn't because professional favours are an accepted thing for more than just hitters, but because tara is a grifter-with-a-side-of-hitter in much the same way that eliot's a hitter-with-a-side-of-grifter.

that makes it very fun to me that tara had eliot figured out well enough to go "do the thing with your eyes that scares people." (the grifter thing. oh, you know exactly what I mean.)

more than that - eliot looks like a hitter and wants people to assume that's all he can do; tara looks like a grifter and takes even eliot by surprise when she fights. her "please don't hurt me, good, okay, now I'm going to hurt you" play with the triad goon is the exact reverse of eliot's "look punchy, don't let them see you can do more than that" shtick, but for the exact same "underestimate me so I can prove you wrong" purpose.

and that is so neat.

[talentforlying]

thinking today about constantine and the various personas / disguises he wears as a con man!!

when he wants to make people underestimate his intelligence (and/or get under some rich snobs' skins) he has a tendency to thicken his accent, play hard & heavy with aphorisms, and adopt an overly-cheerful, affectedly blasé attitude. (a great example being his introductory "morning squire! nice day for an orgy, eh, wot?" when he got himself invited to that high society fuckfest to scam england's upper crust with some bullshit magic.) he'll get much more touchy-feely, gets up in people's spaces more than is socially appropriate, and really plays the fool, so when he turns around and reveals the trick, he gets to enjoy all the gobsmacked reactions.

when he wants to fit in with high society or get something out of someone by making them feel important / respected / bonded to him in some way, the scouse doesn't disappear; his voice just gets lower, slower, and has smoother, crisper enunciation. maybe a touch of RP if he's really laying it on thick. this version of constantine has got tailored suits and cufflinks, avoids touching and being touched like the plague, mirrors behaviors to make connections, makes eye contact like he's playing chicken with everyone he looks at, and offers hook-ups to all the vices known to man, as well as the ones known by those well beyond humanity. he makes a point of establishing himself as a useful and reliable contact for anything and everything, so that if he ever needs an angle on someone or a little extra cash, he knows exactly where to get a little lucrative material.

the common thread between the two is that he makes himself memorable, be it in a positive or a negative way. he makes sure people not only see him, but take note of him; that they leave with a memory, so if their paths ever cross again or they ever need his particular skillset, there's a chance to turn a profit later on.

[snekdood]

OK OK.... last one. sorry. lmao

[idiopathicsmile]

you know what really grinds my gears?

okay, bear with me: so as you may know, harry houdini and arthur conan doyle were friends, at least for a while.

by the early 1920s, both arthur conan doyle and acd's wife jean, aka lady doyle, believed whole-heartedly in spiritualism, talking to ghosts and all of that. (sidenote: this was of course right on the heels of a devastating world war and a devastating pandemic, both of which had created a huge population of grieving people, so spiritualism was having a moment.)

lady doyle sincerely thought she had the ability to go into a trance state and pass along messages in writing from the dead. she offered to do this for houdini. houdini agreed.

lady doyle attempted to channel houdini's late mother. she basically drew a cross at the top of the paper and filled it with generic platitudes addressed to "harry." houdini's mom was jewish and didn't talk like that, so houdini knew the jig was up, even if lady doyle didn't. but not wanting to make the situation awkward, he kind of went along with it to their faces.

then acd decided to publish a glowing account of the seance, and since both he and houdini were super famous, it got a lot of attention, and letters started pouring in for houdini, asking if this was true. ultimately, houdini couldn't lie about it. so he essentially said, like, "yeah, i think lady doyle THINKS she can talk to ghosts but she absolutely can't." and it ruined his friendship with acd forever.

and then of course a lot of the people running seances weren't even well-intentioned like lady doyle, they were just simple charlatans taking advantage of traumatized people mourning loved ones. in houdini's youth, he and his wife had traveled the carnival circuit where he did an act pretending to commune with spirits, so he knew all the tricks of the trade AND he had lingering guilt over having done this, AND he was infuriated by this increasingly popular wave of con artists so he decided to assemble a team of anti-grifting grifters and together they went on the road exposing whichever spiritualists were preying on the locals.

houdini's best agent was a young woman named rose mackenberg, who donned disguises to visit the fraud de jour and then importantly sussed out what non-supernatural thing was actually happening, and then houdini would demonstrate the techniques onstage to packed audiences.

(if you want to know more, check out episode 175, "ghost racket crusade" of the podcast Criminal or read Tony Wolf's book The Real-Life Ghostbusting Adventures of Rose Mackenberg.)

but yeah, what really gets my goat is that all this happened and as far as i know, we still don't have like four seasons of a Leverage-style historical procedural about rose mackenberg and the rest of the crew having adventures in the 1920s as they unmask craven hucksters all over the united states. (what we do have, apparently, is one season of a show called "houdini and doyle" which is about the oddball friendship of two contrasting men solving sometimes-actually-supernatural mysteries, and whose premise does i think at the very least a real disservice to houdini's whole quest and also totally erases rose, who is arguably the most interesting part of this story to me.)

i am just steamed about this. steamed.

[achillurrito]

How long do we think it's gonna be till James Somerton turns right-wing grifter? The people he stole from will likely never see a single cent, but his career is fucked. Within a month, all he'll be left with is name recognition and the fact that a ton of leftists hate him. He could just take the money and run, but given what he was willing to do to get this far, I get the feeling he'd rather not lose his fame.

Let's look at Rowling for a moment. She had all the money she could ever hope to get from her books. She could have simply taken the money and settled down, but she didn't want to. She wanted relevance. Before she started hanging out with fascists though, she tried to become a celebrity of her idea of the left.

Remember those couple of years where she was constantly announcing random characters were gay? The obvious pandering to the left? The "at least one Jewish student at hogwarts"? The weirdly graphic description she gave of Dumbledore's gay sex life despite never even hinting at it in the books? Making Hermione black despite specifically writing her as white?

What I'm saying is, she tried to pander to the left and it failed because everyone could see it was pandering. So what did she do? She started pandering to the right. The right is fine with pandering as long as they're the ones being appealed to. And look at her now, we can't go a week without hearing about some fucked up thing she did, and the right loves her for it.

All of this is to say that Somerton is gonna have a realization that he's been grifting the wrong audience. His one honest trait is his hatred of women and that'll work perfectly for appealing to incels. Just watch as he spins this as the left turning on him and pushing him to the right. He's gonna join the Blair White school of being "one of the good ones"

[mylordshesacactus]

I don't think I'll ever be over the way that the thesis statement of OWK is represented, more than anything else, even more than Reva's plotline honestly, in Haja.

Like.

Genuinely? The one "twist" I wasn't emotionally prepared for was that Haja was legit, and he really was trying to help, and there really was a massive grassroots shadow-network underground railroad evacuating Jedi survivors and Force-sensitive kids across the galaxy, and he really was part of it.

Because the thing with his whole setup--the magnet tricks, the motion-controlled windows, the cold-reading, the crowd-working kid identifying obvious offworld marks, the "audience plant" stormtrooper playing along over the comm? Yeah, they're cheap tricks, but it's a SOPHISTICATED setup.

This guy is a straight-up conman. He really is every bit the sleazy grifter he appears to be.

That matters. That's important. Haja is not an angel. He's a mid-level fake psychic, callously cashing in on the Jedi's legacy to do, like, bullshit fortune-telling. It's--it's the way you can see this guy's whole backstory in a few minutes of screentime. Because we DO see him identify a Force-sensitive kid....and the escape he offers them is genuine.

So: Haja. And the story we can see in him at a glance.

He's a scam artist! He's dressing in knockoff porn-vid robes, waving his hands, and babbling half-remembered vague tropes before murmuring generic platitudes and sending rubes on their way. The Jedi are dead, right? It's not like they're around to be offended. He's not even really lying, right? He gets people what they want! The Jedi stuff just lets him upcharge! He's just skimming a little, a man's gotta make a living.

And then, one day, someone came to him who'd used all their hope just getting there. Someone with a Force-sensitive child, and the Empire on their heels, stumbled terrified into his little den of cheap tricks, because they'd heard a whisper of a rumor that there was still a Jedi alive on Daiyu.

And in that moment, Haja learned that he was a better person than he'd ever realized.

They must have staked everything on reaching him, and then they found him, and what they found was...Haja. Just some guy in a cheap costume. Just some guy, and not a particularly great one. How much is the bounty on a Force-sensitive youngling? Enough to retire on. Enough to set you up for life. And Haja is just some guy, who had just been slapped in the face with the reality of what he was capable of doing in the next five minutes.

There are moments when you learn who you really are, and sometimes you surprise yourself.

After all that time "acting like a Jedi," when given the opportunity--he chose to act like a Jedi.

Ultimately, the thesis statement of OWK is: There is a galaxy full of Hajas. And that's hope enough to keep going for.

[vavandeveresfan]

Jenny Watson: "We can do it, so let's do it." Jenny outlines her plan for a female-only, lesbian space.

For my lesbian, bisexual women, and radfem Followers. Via Graham Linehan's Substack.

For many decades, London was considered the global capital for lesbian nightlife. But you’d never know it if you visited the UK today. It’s not for a lack of British lesbian culture: I’m a lesbian, I’m involved in our country’s lesbian social scene, and I can assure you, it’s alive and well. What we lack at the moment are our own dedicated spaces. I think the UK needs once more to have lesbian-run, female-only community spaces. 

I’ve got an idea about how to make one such space a reality. And I believe I'm in a position to make it happen.

Over the past seven years, I've had the privilege of organising a range of lesbian social events in London. Throughout this time, I've made many connections in our community, gained an increasing understanding of our needs, and created social spaces that I hope go some way to meeting them. 

And in those seven years working to coordinate part of the the UK’s lesbian social scene, I’ve come to see how badly we need a dedicated, strictly female-only event space — now more than ever. 

Men have been encroaching on the lesbian community, and the problem is only getting worse. There’s been a sense of inevitability, that this is just something we have to learn to live with.

But I’ve had it.

In June, I skipped London’s official Pride festivities and instead visited an alternative, independent event at the Hampstead Ponds. It was a female-only picnic. Hundreds of women of all ages were gathered, from their teens to their eighties. And the sublime joy that I felt that day led me to a eureka moment:

We need this. We deserve this. This is our right. As lesbians and bisexual women, we have a right to social spaces that are entirely our own.

So, earlier this year, I decided to implement a women-only policy at my events. Although this sparked controversy, we ultimately received recognition from the UK’s largest pub operator that it is legitimate to hold women-only lesbian events - a real victory!

And then it suddenly dawned on me: we need more and not only do we need this, I can do this. I feel I have a good sense of the UK market for lesbian social events. So I crunched some numbers and developed a business proposal. I gauged interest and studied feasibility. And I’m excited to tell you: I believe this can work.

My plan involves establishing a private members’ club and securing a prime physical space in London. By day, this space will operate as a versatile hybrid workspace, becoming a venue hosting various social events in the evenings and weekends. Alongside these, we'll provide online events, and collaborate with service providers for health and wellness advice, fitness guidance, group trips, and more. Revenue will come from the events, partnerships, as well as from membership dues.

To the lesbian and bisexual women reading this: you’re welcome to get in touch with me if you’d like to learn more. There's an opportunity to invest if you’re interested, too. I’ve got a pitch deck I would be happy to show you and a fully fleshed-out, 50-page business plan. And I’m happy to report that there are already investors who have given the thumbs up. 

Following my announcement and inspired by the community's heartwarming response, I decided to introduce an early-bird membership programme. This includes a personalised QR-coded membership card for exclusive updates and access to a members’ discussion space. Joining early also signifies your part in accelerating our community's launch. 

Which brings me to another issue, and it’s a big part of the reason I’m writing this now: online critics. There’s a small but vocal group of people online who’ve been saying some pretty nasty and completely unfounded things about me. This group of people have taken to personal insults, and accusations that I’m a fraudster and a grifter.

I’m not entirely surprised to encounter pushback, but at the same time, the level of vitriol has been eye-opening.

But I try to put it in a bigger context: Lesbians have faced so much abuse, and for so long we’ve had to settle for having social spaces conditionally, on terms set by men. There’s a climate of distrust and fear looming over the lesbian community as a result. So much so that today the idea of even having one single space fully dedicated to lesbian and bisexual women seems so radical, some people’s initial reaction is that there’s got to be a catch.

I completely understand that a good dose of scrutiny, of tempering optimism with some degree of caution, is reasonable. It’s healthy. And it’s entirely welcome.

But personal insults and unfounded accusations are not. I know that emotions are running high, and we as a community are feeling beleaguered right now. But that’s no excuse to target my Irishness in personal attacks, for example. Or to target my business supporters with lies about me.

I'm not here to push or persuade anyone who doesn't feel the spark for this project. However, for those who do, our project investors' safety and security are crucial — capital funds are securely placed in escrow and I've teamed up with a business consultant who's right here supporting us until opening day. We’ve put together a solid business plan.

If anything, the tenor of some of the criticism I’ve faced only hardens my resolve: it just highlights how badly women need a space to unite us, to heal us in this difficult time.

It’s been upsetting to endure the smear campaign that a small online group has thrown at me… but my mind keeps going back to that Edenic afternoon at the Hampstead Ponds, where hundreds of women were gathered in serenity and harmony.

This will heal us. This will unite us. And it will make us all stronger. Lesbian strength comes through unity.

There are various ways you can help, but the most crucial one is spreading the word - our message is the most important part of this project. 

Other than that, as I mentioned earlier, if you are a lesbian/bi woman, there is the option to join as an early-bird member (however, this is not compulsory; you can wait until our opening). Additionally, there's the opportunity for investment or donation. I've prepared a comprehensive 50-page business plan and pitch deck available for those who are interested.

For a deeper understanding of the project, feel free to visit our website or you can email me at contact@lcommunity.co.uk 

Any form of support you can offer is immensely appreciated as we work towards making this a reality.  

We can do this. So let’s do it!

[venus-haze]

No Other Gods Before Me (Homelander x Reader)

Summary: Love is everything. Love is God. Homelander is love. Maybe you are, too. 

Note: Gender neutral supe reader, and no descriptors are used. Takes place in season 1 during the Believe Expo. Inspired by Starlight’s comment that she didn’t have a crush on Homelander growing up because “he was like Jesus or something.” I'm sorry it took me so long to write another Homelander fic! Do not interact if you’re under 18, terf or radfem, or post thinspo/ED content.

Word count: 1k

Warnings: Extremely unhealthy relationship, power imbalance (unclear as to who, as the reader has unspecified psychic powers), warped elements of Christianity. Do not interact if you’re under 18.

Homelander saw them clear as day. The tears welling up in your eyes as you walked down to the baptismal pool. He barely stopped himself from rolling his eyes. For all of his pandering, he was never fond of religious types–especially religious supes. You should know better than to buy into this bullshit, a cheap substitute for simple minds that couldn’t comprehend the modern gods that put the miracles of every religious text to shame.

Still, he held out his gloved hand for you to take, and you did, gingerly, as if his physical presence would be too much to bear. 

Homelander had his fair share of admirers, but the reverent gleam in your eyes was nothing short of disarming. His name came from your lips in a soft, pious prayer before you hit the water.

You emerged from the chlorinated depths reborn, staring at him in a moment of blissful awe. “You are love,” you whispered, only loud enough so he could hear. And it stunned him. So much so that he couldn’t protest when you were ushered out of the pool, wet clothes clinging indecently to your skin. You disappeared with your fresh towel, and he resisted the urge to drown the rest of the devout in line to find you.

There was still time. Believe Expo wasn’t quite over yet. Surely you’d still be milling about, in some ridiculous prayer circle or buying one of the cheap trinkets the numerous grifters shilled. He’d never read the Bible, not all of it. Bits and pieces to understand what people were talking about, and a few feel-good verses up his sleeve for speeches and interviews. None of it made him understand what all of the fuss was about, anyway. Why his birthday wasn’t a months-long celebration, a cultural phenomenon. All Vought gave him was a TV special and a cake. It wasn’t the spectacular frenzy that people anticipated all year.

His fists clenched. 

He found a volunteer who didn’t look all that busy, and offered a selfie with them before asking a favor. People would do just about anything for him, regardless, but posing his demands as if they were helping him out tended to get things done faster. As soon as the words left his mouth, the volunteer set off to find you. He retreated to his dressing room, waiting impatiently for your arrival.

“Isn’t he wonderful?” you asked, your distant voice growing louder as you approached.

“Homelander’s the best,” the volunteer agreed.

“Don’t you feel it?”

“Feel what?”

“That warmth when you’re in his presence, something divine.”

“Well, he was chosen by God.”

“You don’t get it at all, do you,” you said, disappointment evident in your voice, just on the other side of his dressing room door.

He tried not to appear too eager when you entered, though you were in different clothes than before. Couldn’t expect you to spend the rest of the day walking around in soaking wet clothes, though part of him hoped you would.

“I knew we’d see each other again,” you said, not at all surprised by him summoning you.

He tilted his head, regarding you with suspicion. You didn’t seem like you were fucking with him, but he couldn’t be sure. “In the baptismal pool, you said I was love.”

You nodded. “Love is eternal. Love can conquer anything.”

“Love is God,” he said.

“I prayed to you, because I knew you could hear me,” you confessed quietly. “You’re the one.”

Your sincerity was genuine, the way your heart beat in time for him, tearful eyes glistening with an unprecedented devotion. Without an outstretched, gloved hand, he cupped your cheek, caressing it in his first act of blessing. Anointing you first. A ragged breath emerged from his parted lips. His dove, his lamb, his to guide and nurture the way these abstract figments couldn’t. You would be his Mary Magdalene, his Saint Paul, unceasingly devoted in your worship of him, proselytizing the good word to the masses. 

And why shouldn’t they worship him? Look at him with the same admiration and awe that you did? Power in the blood, his blood, to save and damn as he saw fit. After all, he didn’t need to die to offer salvation. No great sacrifices on his part to provide for those who were worthy. The sky had been empty when he explored it, all the way up past the atmosphere, farther than anyone could possibly go until he reached the vast emptiness of space itself and found himself alone. Homelander wasn’t an unknowable god. He walked among the masses, pandered to their sensitivities because he knew just how small and insignificant they were.

He’d read about the more extreme acts of devotion to gods in the past. Self-flagellation. Human sacrifice. Vows of poverty. Pathetic and desperate attempts to appease a supposedly powerful higher being who did nothing to help his people when they cried out for him. But Homelander was there. And just like you’d said, he could hear everything. He required so much less of people yet offered so much more. 

“You’re the only one who sees me for what I am,” he murmured. 

You nodded gently, your cheek rubbing against his glove. 

He leaned in to kiss you, and you reciprocated without hesitation, pressing your lips to his, allowing yourself unprecedented closeness with the divine. Consume and be healed, forgiven, saved. Kissing you felt purposeful, made his heart race and his brain feel fuzzy.

Warmth washed over him, and for a moment the suspicious part of him wondered if this divine haze was related to your powers. Something about being able to get into people’s heads, mess with their emotions. He wasn’t sure. There was no reason for you to be on his radar before the spiritual encounter.

When you whispered his name against his lips like a prayer, he nearly choked. Devout. Unconditional. He held onto you tightly, lips attached to yours in his own act of worship.

Love was everything. Love was God. Homelander was love. Maybe you were, too. 

[robotnik-mun]

You know what still gets to me from Enter the Florpus?

This.

This one, brief moment with Membrane.

In this moment, in this exchange with Dib, you can see there's a lot going on in his mind. He knows what Dib wants to hear. He even knows what Dib NEEDS to hear, and some part of him even wants to say it badly, if only for the sake of his son.

But at the same time, he is Professor Membrane. A man of Science, and of principles- principles that cause him to see the world purely through the lens of proven scientific truth. Now, as the audience, we know for ourselves that everything Dib talks about is absolutely true, and more. But Membrane doesn't have that benefit… and even in a world where aliens, nightmare worlds and hog demons are real, paranormal research still attracts the same kind of grifters, attention-seekers and lunatic fringe that it does in real life. From Membrane's perspective, his son is staring down the barrel of a future that will have him as a social outcast at best and a criminally negligent scam-artist at worst. The kind of person who peddles theories about Atlantis and Aliens building Egypt on history programs.

Thus we see the conflict. This is his son's passion, and his son is all but begging for some kind of acknowledgement… but giving that acknowledgement would only help further cement what, from Membrane's perspective, down a path that will bring harm to Dib and maybe others. Especially with his endless insistence that the one, unfortunate green child is an alien… what if he ever accused the wrong person of such a thing?

Membrane WANTS to tell his son what he wants to hear. Membrane NEEDS to stay true to himself and his principles as a scientist… so he tries to find a middle path, and winds up saying basically the worst thing possible- an uncommitted not-answer that only leaves his son furious at him.

It's quite the leap from how he was in the series proper, actively belittling Dib's interests and not even attempting to stand up for him in front of others. To say nothing of his general distance and negligence as a parent, even though he DOES in fact care for his children. Invader Zim was an absurd and mean-spirited show that spared neither Zim nor Dib, and honestly I think that's a big part of why it endured for so long and what made its humor so memorable… but all the same? I do like that Enter the Florpus tossed Dib a small bone when it came to his family, and this moment is what really clinches it for me.

I dunno, I just really like this scene because of the layers I see to it, and its still my favorite.

[timeslugarts]

So I really just wanted to draw Vera and talk a little bit about her.

Also I’m working on all the things, I promise. All the requests, part 3 of the Vera x Vox comic, and more 💖

Vera aka the Spitfire Demon

She runs almost purely on rumors alone, no one knows who the “Spitfire demon” actually is, but chances are they’ve heard a rumor or two. Which might not even be true, she’s just that elusive.

The burning flames that can always be seen around her are the souls that she owns, they were made with contracts however it was in a very dire situation. Each of these five souls were a friend that Vera had and moments before they were exercised she managed to make a deal with them to save their souls. Now they’re her little friends that always hang around. They have a bit of a mind of their own and can and will set you on fire. They are EXTREMELY hot. If they like you though, you can touch them.

When she was alive she was 100% a grifter, getting rich husbands that would mysteriously disappear, it wasn’t until her last husband caught her stealing that he set the house with her in it on fire and made off with the insurance money.

Her and Vox’s relationship starts off with her doing her original grift, but it slowly evolves to something more mutually beneficial. Eventually the two catch feelings for each other, much to the dismay of Valentino who has been dying to put her in one of his movies. Vera and Velvette get along well enough, enjoying sleepovers and making fun of the boys.

I love this girl very much! I want to put her in ALL the outfits!

[spacelazarwolf]

you're my favourite grifter on the website the way that you're a grift that keeps on grifting and- oh wait gimme a moment i gotta take this call.

(hello? oh hey dude how are you doing. yeah I'm writing an anon ask rn why do you a- WHAT. NO. no. you're joking. fuck. ok thank you for telling me. send martha a hug.)

Ahem. i have just been informed that it is pronounced and written "gift", no R.

LMAO

[salty-an-disco]

Thinking about the voices giving each other nicknames, so decided to share some headcanons I have for possible nicknames for each one and who gave/calls them that (most of these were given by either Contrarian or Cheated lmao):

Cold: Frosty (Cheated called him that once, and everyone adopted it), ice cube, “cool guy” (Contrarian especially loves using that one), and ‘cold-hearted friend’ (given by Smitten, and Skeptic also sometimes use it to refer to him)

Paranoid: ‘Noid, Para, Twitchy-Feathers, flighty friend (Smitten), and nervous system (Contrarian learned the ‘Hearts, Lungs, Liver, Nerves’ thing from Hero and immediately started calling her that)

Smitten: Smitty, loverboy, lovey-dovey, drama queen (Smitten relishes in all of these)

Skeptic: Thinky-face (Cheated uses it in my fic, and it was them who coined it too), smart guy, The Brains (Opportunist, Hero, and Paranoid all called him that at different moments, and without having heard it from each other)

Cheated: Charlie Charlie, Anger Management (Contrarian called them that once, Cheated hated it, so he kept using it) and short fuse (mainly Skeptic)

Stubborn: Stubby, Rage-boy (this one’s canon! [also by Contrarian]), ‘fight enthusiast’, and muscles (Opportunist called him ‘the Muscles’ as more of a job description, but everyone else adopted it as a nickname)

Broken: Oki (Contrarian felt bad calling them ‘Broken’ so he started suggesting nicknames and Broken liked Oki the most), Plan B (also Contrarian), ray of sunshine, rain cloud, and little guy (gender neutral)

Opportunist: Oppy, sleazeball, conman, ‘that grifter’, and ‘smooth guy’ (Opportunist thinks it’s used genuinely, it is not)

Hunted: Hunter (Contrarian used it ironically once and then just kept using it), scaredy cat, rabid rabbit, watching hawk (and just a bunch of animal-related nicknames), The Thing, The Creature, and little freak

Contrarian: Contra, clown, jester, airhead, “comedy genius” (mainly used by Cheated), and sunflower (only Hero uses this one <3)

Hero: Prince Charming, dashing, darling, my knight, buttercup (all by Contrarian <3), and heroic friend (Smitten)

Oh, and note: Smitten has a “[___] friend” nickname for all of them, I just put in the ones I thought were funnier.