#Maybe it's because dating culture here is so weird idk

[gaminegay]

Another straight/monogamous/general Relationship Thing I don't get is "when they're still friends with their ex 🚩🚩🚩🚩" like. Oh so it's better if the breakup sucked or they childishly refuse to talk or they grew apart? Why.

[f14fun]

pixelated love (!simmer x mv1) - chapter 6

synopsis: in which the famous three time world champion max verstappen wants to learn how to play the sims 4. except, he doesn't really know how to. so what does he do, search up a youtube tutorial. low-and-behold, y/n's video is the first he watches.

smau ✮ ⋆ ˚｡𖦹 ⋆｡°✩ profile | masterlist ⋆.˚✮🎧✮˚.⋆ prev | next | series index ˚୨୧⋆｡

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yourusername

liked by maxverstappen1, landonorris and 187,306 others

yourusername: living out my best sugar baby life thanks to @/maxverstappen 1 😈😈 ty schatze ❤️💦🤤

view comments:

maxverstappen1: You're welcome mein leibling ❤️

user1: BYE what alternate reality joke thingie have i stumbled upon🧍🏻🧍🏻🧍🏻

user2: i feel lost, confused, and BETRAYEDDD

user3: she got that million dollar baby life coming her wayy 🤑🤑💸

user4: chat... i fear that the flirting... erm... m-m-may not be a joke anymore

yourusername: hmmm... maybe not... do you agree?? senpai-san? 🥹🥹🥹

maxverstappen1: GTFO my face with that bullshit.

user5: deffo still friends (that fuck) BUT FRIENDS. 😭😭

user6: BYEEEE 😢😓

landonorris: Well well well... aren't YOU the reason why Max is "booked out" for the next week.

landonorris: YOU TRAITOR 😡😡😡

yourusername: @/maxverstappen go tell your girlfriend, that i'm your girlfriend

user7: WHAT?

user8: ???? I AM CONFUSION

maxverstappen1: Now Y/n, what did we say about quoting pop culture references/song lyrics to me...

yourusername: 😢😢😢 i'm super duper sworry

maxverstappen1: @/landonorris GTFO 🚪

landonorris: WHAT WHAT WHAT???

landonorris: I'm just friends with a big bunch of traitors 😓

georgerussell63: Wtf mate??

oscarpiastri: Hello?? So mean Lando... Not chill at all 😞

user9: BACKTRACK?? IS SHE FR DATING MAX???

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taglist: @hiireadstuff @sinofwriting @mehrmonga @the-untamed-soul @glai1023-blog @loloekie @avada-kedavra-bitch-187 @sheastri @llando4norris @gwginnyweasley @carmenita122 @ririyulife @pausmoon @ur-fav-ave @eveninggstar @maddie-naps @erin-odonnell04 @rexit-mo @ems-alexandra @si1ver06 @iamred-iamyellow @bibissparkles @percypie @formula1blog @lanadelray1989 @rylieverstappen-sargent @luvsforme @eiaaasamantha @kaysmiles42 @mvaldez7821 @stinkyjax @sweate-r-weathe-r @laneyspaulding19 @mingyusbigrighttoe

some of these didn't get tagged, and i'm having trouble (?) it's being very weird, idk, so please let me know if your name is here and it didn't tag you ❣️

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author's note: ty guys for reading this fic! 😍🫶🏾

pls let me know if this chapter was funny, i'm feeling extremely unfunny these days y'all's (ik right, impossible 🤡🤡😞) just because i've been burdened with the task of *unfortunately* summer school

soon, all the next published parts will be published on a schedule, and i won't really be able to add anyone to the taglist for two-ish weeks

comment if you want to be added to the taglist! ⋆.˚✮🎧✮˚.⋆

[whysojiminimnida]

Remember When I Said Taehyung Might Not Be As Gay As We Thought?

Don't judge a man by his milfy wardrobe, he looks goooood.

It was... awhile ago. Maybe as far back as 2021 although I do not feel like link-searching it. It's in the archives if I didn't kill it.

Granted, there was a lot going on, then. There's still a lot going on and until now I had no desire to ever - EVER - return to this hellsite. Because Taekookers are fucking weird, yo. And some of y'all got a lil bit up in my shit too as I (fuzzily) recall. Which: it's whatever. I'm extremely unsocial, don't even answer my own DMs. And it's not personal, so I get it. I don't need or want to defend myself, but I will protect people I care about. With my absence, if necessary.

OT: I also totally kicked the big C while I've been out so that was nice. Yoongi the cat is pleased that his noms will continue uninterrupted. I will be in wigs for at least another year. It's all good. Oh LOOK at what we have here. Don't come at me for publishing this, I will explain.

I got it from actual media days ago, okay, and also: there was no expectation of real privacy. Keep reading. Or don't, I'm not telling you what to do.

ANYWAY. I had to come back, mainly to say TAENNIE IS REAL I TOLD Y'ALL IDK WHY NOBODY EVER BELIEVES ME BUT HERE WE ARE. I'm gloating. Honestly, it's so rude, I'd apologize if I cared. But I am rude and snorfling into my cheerios about this. Tae just made me so damn happy, is all.

LET THE MAN BE BI OR HETEROFLEXIBLE OR EVEN STRAIGHT IDC. Jennie clearly makes him happy. Look at his "I'm going to Paris to see my girlfriend" face!

And in that very specific jewelry look, no less. Foundrae. Again. Still. Hm.

Here's what I can tell you based on my limited third hand no sources no receipts this is probably utter bullshit usual disclaimer: It's a soft open, kids. This whole "oopsie we just so happened to get caught taking a lil walk in public with our managers in tow during which date at least one of us signed several autographs, what a surprise" is in fact a soft open for what will likely be a public confirmation PRETTY DAMN SOON. It might happen before I get this thing published, actually, depending on when I get it up. If it's before May 22 at noon my time, no idea. If after, well. Guess we'll see. Jennie's supposed to show up at the screening of HBO's The Idol that day, screening at the Grand Lumiere at 10:30 CEST. One wonders if she will arrive alone, or bring a plus one. It's a big ask, and if he does it they're probably getting married, that's how big a deal it would be. So I'm not holding my breath, but.

This seems like a reasonable prospect for a plus-one viewing. Might not be the only one but... Jennie's IN IT so.

I'M NOT SAYING THIS IS GONNA HAPPEN. I think it would be a fucking POWER move if it did, but I also do not necessarily expect that it will. It COULD. It... MIGHT. It might not. Either way they're a thing, I'm telling you. They are, have been, a thing. For awhile. And it is apparently quite serious - like up to and including talk of engagement serious.

Remember when a bunch of folk thought that one gummy bear dude was going to jail for "hacking" Jennie's phone only there's been no actual movement on any "investigation"? Yeah. Trickle truthing, they call it. Give 'em a little bit, let them deny it and yell and chew on it for awhile before you give 'em a little more. But c'mon, nobody's wearing half the love-themed couple pieces at Foundrae for no damn reason.

Seriously they got the whole collection almost and both have been seen wearing them almost exclusively. For a year.See airport pic above.

Look, I don't have inside info on Taehyung. I do not. I ain't hang with his friends and I don't know him personally. Never met the guy. But I know a PR move when I see one and this is exactly that.

We all know how toxic stan culture can be. Some ToadlicKKers (and a few of us house elves) are certifiably bonkers, if stan twitter is anything to go by. And the guys, the company, they expect a whole meltdown. They know this is not gonna make half their fans happy. I mean the tkkers have a point in that it looks like they wanted to be seen. BECAUSE IT'S A SOFT OPEN. What Taejen/Taennie/Jenhyung and the companies also know is that based on historic shipper behavior, this is gonna come back on Jimin, Jungkook, maybe Rose' and Lisa. And by extension, the other members. Maybe not as much due to their respective distance, but still. I bet by the time I finish this it will have already started.

Oh look there it is. Fuck those bitches, really.

Good LORDT. I'm not adding the audio, if y'all are that hungry for psycho hose beast Jimin hate hie thee to stan twt.

But, totally off-topic kinda...

... wouldn't it be cool if Jennie, who speaks great English, was hanging out with Troye Sivan and was like "so you know my boyfriend tells me that his bffs..." I'M JUST SAYING NETWORKING IS COOL AND FRIENDS OF FRIENDS GET THINGS DONE OKAY.

You know that girl has the scoop. If Tae knows it, she knows it. Oh heeeeyyy Troye.

Also OT: I love that Taekook have been hanging out a little more lately. It's refreshing. I genuinely think having Jennie in his life has been good for Tae in several ways. And you know, I'm kinda surprised Taennie has lasted this long. I didn't honestly think they would. It warms my decrepit, sad old heart a bit. Turns out I have a lot more to say so IDK IDK, if I feel okay about it I might be back. Right now I'm just waiting for the official Taennie nod and the continued total meltdown.

[jenyifer]

BostonNick share clothes ✨a theory✨

Now I’ve been thinking since I saw @burnsuncomet ‘s post yesterday about Boston Nick being a yuri couple and… it made me a bit feral and this theory reared it’s head again. Because as a lesbian it doesn’t matter if I’m a size 2x and the girls I date are Sx girl will def steal my clothes and buy herself clothes that could fit me as well so I can steal them.

It’s the ✨🏳️‍🌈culture🏳️‍🌈✨.

Now BostonNick I think pre breakup when Nick is alone he wears Boston’s clothes.

I’d describe Bostons Style pre betrayal as AmericaCore and band tees with the sleeves ripped off. Nothing too specific. When Nick is alone his outfits remind me of Bostons. And in episode 3 to 4 we even see the shirt Nick takes in the moving scene. Personally I think Nick and Boston put an emergency set of clothes at the others home. The less romantic explanation is maybe their clothes got dirty and HAD to be left. I did notice it in earlier eps but at the time I was buying into the lie that Nick is a crazy stalker child but I think he’s just your normal level of gay who wants to smell like his partner and pretend Boston is his partner when he’s not about.

Nicks style pre trying to look like top was shirts with graphic words on it with long sleeves underneath. Now pre the shop confrontation scene we don’t get Boston’s little wordy shirts. Also his wordy shirts all look like someone took some scissors to them.

Let me go fully off the rails here but I feel like these clothing choices are much more reminiscent of early Nick than Boston Pre confrontation. Almost like Boston is missing the boy he met before Top made him jealous. A weird kind of mourning ritual where Boston cuts up what’s left of Nick in his life then can’t bring himself to throw Nick away. Because… Boston loves Nick.

Idk probably just me being unhinged. But how…. Lesbian would that be.

[olderthannetfic]

"Friendships are a lot more like romance than people admit" anon here. So I gave zero detail whatsoever, and it's been kind of interesting to see what people came up with in response. That said, I actually meant it a lot more in terms of specifics and mechanics?

Friendships have an "infatuation" phase where getting to know the person and spending time with them is effortless and fun and you feel like you'll never get bored of each other. Friendships often involve an expectation of emotional connection and telling each other things, making the other a part of your life to some extent. It's possible to have feelings of jealousy for a friend, especially if you suddenly become a lot less important to them in favor of a new person in their life (which in an exclusive romantic relationship might be considered a kind of "emotional cheating"). It's possible for a friendship to fail or peter out for the exact same reasons where, if it were a romantic couple getting couples therapy, their therapist would tell them "You need to reconnect by doing things together again, you need to make an effort and work at restoring your connection". Which sometimes romantic couples do, and then they stay together, but in friendships it seems to be kinda seen as normal and not imbued with the same sense of almost-tragedy? Even though it's a very comparable time and energy commitment essentially going down the drain. Finally, it's quite possible to be heartbroken that a friendship ended, and a toxic friendship can be every bit as damaging as a toxic romance. To put it in a phrase, you could take any number of posts asking for relationship advice where, if you removed monikers like "friend" or "SO/gf/bf", it would be very difficult to tell if the relationship is romantic or not.

"Romantic relationships are like friendships" is equally controversial in the sense that a lot of people don't really seem to know what to do when the infatuation wears off, partly because media and culture seem deeply uninterested in exploring this stage of romantic relationships? Or they interpret the inevitable fade of hormone-fueled excitement as falling out of love, break off the relationship, and rinse and repeat this a few times before they wisen up and learn to form long-lasting friendships with the people they fall in love with.

To wit, close friendships and romance both involve love and attachment and (some amount of) commitment. And yet we barely ever seem to talk about friendships using the language of love, even though love is unquestionably what's going on there. (Again, I'm talking about close, long-lasting friendships.)

..Or maybe my experiences are not universal and I'm just a weirdo who gets overly attached. Idk.

--

I refer to "friend breakups" and "friend dumping" all the time.

I think if you put it in those terms, most people agree: they've had some devastating end to a friendship that hurt them more than half their romantic breakups. It's just not how movies tend to describe it... at least not in words. Buddy movies are all about the idea that a friend breakup is the literal worst thing in the universe though.

I guess I roll my eyes a tad because I've witnessed decades of finger-wagging books about how we don't care enough about friendships and those are what really predict adult mental health in the long term, blah blah blah. Things like friend crushes (that honeymoon period) and devastating friend breakups are well known to psychologists and self help book writers.

Anyway, you aren't weird, and people who want to keep their long-term friends need to make time for some friend dates if they want to keep the magic going.

[rosemarytrash]

me drama posting cuz i actually had a really good experience today but it was rly nerve wracking lmao

in case some of you didn't know, i currently live in montana!! it's a nice enough state for its nature and the like, but politically it's kind of a shit show. pros and cons y'know, but as a trans guy it's fairly lame. also, bcuz geography is important, i live in eastern montana, not on the cool western side where all the mountain queers go hang out. that's generalizing a lot but it is what it is so bare with

anyway, back in 2021 there was a bill passed (SB 280) that effectively made it impossible for trans people to change their gender marker on their birth certificate or other identifying documents without having a sex change surgery, while at the same time writing in that no surgery exists to change your sex on a chromosomal level or any of that bullshit. whereas before that bill was passed, montana law was a little more loosey goosey about it. mainly in that it didn't yet have a republican legislature hyperfixated on a culture war to drum up support so trans people weren't really IDENTIFIED by the law, which was ironically kind of easier to navigate. idk, shit weird, i'm no expert

anyway, tbh, i never really CARED about changing my gender marker. i changed my name legally back when i was like 15 or 16 and i believe, at that time, i had the option to simultaneously change my gender marker. for whatever reason, i decided not to. i think it had something to do with healthcare and trying not to fuck up the future possibility of getting on T, which didn't happen for another year for me. i've also always been fairly loose about my gender identity in terms of a full identification with maleness/manhood. like, i'm a guy, i'm a dude, don't call me anything except that, but on a deeply personal level i see myself a little more in between on that kind of scale. maybe something inherently non-binary but no label has ever quite fit the bill, so trans guy with an asterisk will have to do. anyway!!! i don't really recall why i made that call, but i had, and it truthfully never really got me into any trouble. for all the times i later had to flash my ID, even to this date, i can only really recall one time where a gas station clerk gave me a weird look and said "sir... ma'am... sir-ma'am... here ya go" when i was buying cigarettes lmao. i was never questioned about it by employers and as far as i know was never turned away from a job because of it (which is good because montana doesn't have employment protections for trans people (last i checked)). so i truthfully spent a good 7 or so years relatively unbothered by this fact or by the fact that i had an F on my driver's license. it was inconsequential to me

recently though with republicans doing more and more lines of anti-LGBTQ cocaine and more people becoming aware of trans people, it's been unsettling here. y'know just mildly discomforting. and mentally that is fatiguing. i've also only now encountered some bureaucratic bullshit that's like okay, wow, this is actually going to be a bigger problem in the future and i'm not wanting to deal with that. mainly in the form of i'm getting married here soon, we want to try and do some kind of honeymoon adventure in the distant future, so for that i need an passport and from what i've read that can be a real fucking headache for trans people and it can be even harder to change in the future. so like blugh. i'm also in the process of applying to grad school and it's just--kind of annoying to have to identify myself a certain way. it's weird cuz i won't pretend it's put me in some life-threatening situation or there's anything that feels DIRE about needing to change it, but it just feels like there'd be a lot less awkwardness and vulnerability if i did. ironically when montanans were less redpilled i didn't care about changing all my legal shit over, but now that your average grandpa here thinks of trans people as botched teenage girls or child predators in bathrooms and THAT's their reason for getting out of the house to go to the polls next year, well yeah now i give a shit about "deceiving" the system. idk it's dumb

anyway i actually KNOW the girl who is the plaintiff against the govt in the lawsuit against SB 280. she's really cool and it's cool that i know her. i ended up reaching out to her a few months back to ask how that was going and what it meant for changing your gender marker in MT. and fantastically i had found out that late 2022 the judge on the case had issued an order that forced the DPHHS to suspend its practice under SB 280 since it was a fundamentally unworkable law and to return to its original practice prior, which allowed trans people and frankly anyone else with good enough cause to change their gender marker without meeting some bullshit made up requirements by the state.

it then took me months to get the gumption to actually write, edit, and file a petition for it. which i finally did today, and it surprisingly all got done in an afternoon, even though hypothetically the courthouse at 1PM on a tuesday should've been fairly busy. i'll be interested to see how it goes, because just cuz it's filed doesn't mean anything is certain. to my knowledge, LEGALLY, it should be a done deal, i should get an order from the judge that will allow me to get a new birth certificate and a new driver's license and all that jazz. but what do i know? the judge may want to have a hearing about it, which could be incredibly awkward in a courtroom full of other people waiting to have their cases heard, but idfk. my fingers are crossed that it'll go okay.

and it was kind of a good experience? i was as anxious as one could imagine. i'm a bearded dude walking in with paperwork asking kindly for an F to become an M lol. and the gals at the courthouse were momentarily confused, raised a few brows, had to talk to someone to see what the current rulings were in that previously mentioned lawsuit, but they were nice enough about it. they got my shit filed, they took $120 from me rather apologetically cuz that's what shit costs to file a civil petition in the state district courts. i get to find out by email if the judge will just approve the order i drafted or if he's going to want to speak to me. and i'm hoping either of those things happen before the wedding so none of that paperwork becomes a headache.

anyway this is a long post cuz i have a lot of thoughts and either i ramble on and on to my fiancee about it or i just splurge on whatever few unfortunate souls decide to read this :) thx if you do. there's no point really to any of it yk just airing out some thoughts i guess. i'll go draw some gay shit now <3

[lover-of-mine]

no no that is such a good point like I've been so focused on the buddie of it all (bc well yeah they have my heart) & just like assuming Tommy & Eddie will be fine but like I don't actually know??? I guess I'm hoping that while we get Buck/Tommy development & Buddie development we also get Eddie & Tommy development but I have no idea like how they'll do it??? Bc Eddie would also probably feel hella guilty if he realizes he's in love with Buck while Buck is not only dating but dating one of his good friends? Like that's a lot. Even if Tommy is more aware that something's going on there and he & Buck are able to part on amicable terms like ugh where would that leave Eddie? Tho I mean I guess it also depends on how serious or casual Buck & Tommy are but still. I commented this on the other ask tho that I do like the idea of that being an aspect they explore if Buddie get together. And if Buck is able to part amicably with Tommy then maybe he could be in a position to like gently nudge Eddie in the direction of like "I know it's weird but you two had a really good thing going, I'd hate for you to lose that, how can I help" type of thing? And Eddie struggling but Tommy seems like idk he'd want to stay friends & be patient enough to work on it too? You know? I mean I really have no idea but that'd be cool to see and a good like first I don't want to say test but in terms of like showing us how Buddie works as a relationship and the ways they're maybe different but better? Idk. Eddie has so much of his own issues and I think a situation like this that's weird & messy could potentially be a way for him to work through some stuff?? But like *shrugs helplessly* WHO KNOWS? NOT ME.

Yeah, like, not to be an Eddie wobblifier on main, but the only thing I've been able to think about is the Eddie and Tommy of it all, because I can't remember the last time we saw Eddie that happy and that was a lot about his friendship with Tommy. And Eddie is already being used as a plot device here, if on top of it all he also loses this friendship he had going on Tommy, imma be mad as hell, because Eddie deserves how happy he was. That man has been through hell and to have him laughing about being on a helicopter or excited about a fight with everything that happened to him was everything to me. Eddie is in a better place, he is learning to do things for himself, and to have Buck take that away from him even if unintentionally would be tragic. Because if this is leading to buddie getting together, I don't see how Mr looks like he poisoned Taylor Kelly's food would handle being friends with Buck's ex. Sure they are all grown men, and Tommy and Buck will probably part ways amicably, but at the same time, how close to Tommy Eddie can be in this situation? Because Tommy will always be this person who Buck had all these firsts with, so Eddie being somewhat jealous, or just feeling weird about it in a general sense, would be perfectly natural. So, like, how are they working through that? Like, I get queer culture and go lesbians continuing to live together after they break up because they are still best friends, but this is a tv show, how well can that play out in the long run if they keep Tommy around after he and Buck break up and Buck and Eddie get together? I'm really curious.

[amiharana]

Hi it's slate anon your surnames post/the replies had me cackling and i love the idea of revali having a very Rito-sounding last name. on a more angsty note I do like to imagine he would pick his own last name (as per your orphaned hc for him) for one related to flight/archery. Writing his own destiny or something

For Hylians maybe because of Rhoam I imagine their names are just (Chosen name) (Middle name only royals can afford) (Place of birth). The royal family gets the surname Hyrule because they're meant to represent all of Hyrule and it's hard to convince the kingdom you serve them all equally if your name is literally Tabantha

So Links government name is Link Hateno. And with Hateno being a major settlement and Link being by far the most common name (as the name of the biggest cultural figure that's not sacred (ie hylia) or for royals (zelda)) he has the most basic combination of names ever it's laughable. there were 4 other Link Hatenos in his division only. If Revali writes a letter to his Link Hateno in the royal guard he gets a request back from the post office like "specify address rank and date of birth please". Being named Link he naturally had a number of nicknames but after he pulled the sword he just became Link. THE Link. But you already know who's taking whose last name in the marriage anyway

And good luck with your exam!🫡

(referencing this post)

HI SLATE ANON!!! 🫶🫶 thank you for the luck, i hope it rings true when i get my exam back 😭 come here and say hi @cryiling @iridescentgleam my anon thinks u guys are funny 😽

revali choosing his own last name because he was orphaned makes me so sad 😭💔 what if there's a rito traditional ritual where the family name is like. "given" to the child to formally recognize them as part of the family in a spiritual sense (connecting the child to all their spiritual ancestors of generations past). and revali's parents were killed before they could give revali their family name so he doesn't have one 😭 even though the other rito are allowed to tell revali what his family name would have been, he's not allowed to claim it as his last name because it wasn't given traditionally to him through the ritual and thus can't be "his" last name anymore and it ostracizes him even more from the rest of the kids. imagine getting bullied because you don't have a last name 😭

idk like the rito seem like a people of tradition, spirituality, and familial bonds like family is everything to them, therefore the concept of a family name is an extremely important identifying marker of each rito and where they come from. choosing your own last name isn't something that's common among the rito at all, because choosing a different last name than the one that was given to you as a child signifies that you have disinherited and detached yourself from your family. even people whose families have already passed don't just change their last names like that, because it would mean that their family spiritually would not have anymore descendents after that point.

in revali's case, his family is dead and he also wasn't given a last name so technically there's nothing wrong with him choosing his own last name, but the rito would have still been weird about it. when revali is chosen as a champion, he finally decides to choose his own last name and he chooses one that essentially means "one who perseveres." i'm spitballing a little here but maybe in rito script, it's basically like. a stylized way of writing the word "arrow." archery and the usage of arrows are important symbols of rito culture, because they're weapons and tools they use to hunt and protect themselves. they represent the rito's actual lives because of this and so became a symbol of vitality and perseverance. so in a sense, revali knows if he knocks his bow and his arrow always flies true, he will always persevere and make it out of a tough situation.

i like your idea about the hylian naming scheme! rhoam really is the only character in botw that has a proper full name, but since he's rich and royal he's not really hashtag Relatable ✋😒 it is pretty much the same naming scheme of the king in wind waker, king daphnes nohansen hyrule and i just found this reddit thread that gives possible etymological explanations for both daphnes and rhoam's names (daphnes = "person who was turned into a wooden boat of hyrule" and rhoam = "roaming shepherd of hyrule"), but i wonder what the narrative reasons they were named as such were. like are bosphoramus and nohansen the names of older family members or ancestors? do they have inherently royal meanings to them?

LINK BEING A COMMON NAME JUST GETS ME like you're absolutely right, of course everyone is naming their kid after a legendary hero in hopes that their kid will be Thee Link of the century but idk it's just so funny to me 😹😹😹 like "four other Link Hatenos in his division" YOU DKJFHDJKFHDHFKD link was NOT special until that fucking sword this fits in perfectly with his vibe of just being Some Guy.

ok but consider that rito don't really understand the idea of taking their spouse's last name when marrying because they have such a complex understanding of family names, spirituality, and their ancestors, so link trying to explain to revali that he wants to take revali's last name when they marry and revali is like ...? what the fuck are you talking about

link being like, "i wanna be a family with you 🥺" and revali being like "but what about your family???? you would abandon them so easily???" and link is just like. revali my family has been dead for a hundred years and my last name is literally hateno. DKFJDHJFKJD

[duck-in-a-thrift-store]

Getting on my soapbox for a moment, topic being, uhhhh... religious influence on education and bodily autonomy? Smthn like that idk

(This ended up being really long, so, more below the cut)

My parents put my little sister in homeschool as soon as I graduated, which like, i WoNdEr WhY (it's me hi I'm the problem it's me)

And the program/co-op thing she's involved in is christian-based bc my folks are unfortunately conservative christians who think it's a good idea to bias their child's entire understanding of the world through their religious beliefs

So my sis was telling me about her health textbook the other day, and how it was kinda weird? Like, they have a unit on I guess dating and sex type stuff, but this textbook has some interesting opinions

Such as, suggesting kids (not like little kids we're talking about high schoolers here) avoid hugging their partner because it supposedly might turn them on??

And, ok, to be honest I have absolutely no idea how realistic that is, it sounds pretty silly to me, but like even if that totally is a thing that happens to people... who cares, right?

But no, obviously that would be just disastrous because we can't have anyone tempted to do something totally crazy like having sex before marriage, god forbid

And there's just that sort of "no touching" purity culture bullshit and it really pisses me off, especially as someone who was also raised in that mentality, and I was just lowkey flabbergasted by the ridiculousness and audacity of a health textbook to tell kids not to hug someone they're dating bc it might lead to premarital sex, and I basically said as much, smthn along the lines of "imagine sexualizing hugs" to my dad, trying to get him on my side I guess, but that isn't how it went

Let me preface this with: I love my dad. I do. And he has really been making progress in terms of letting me be me and still supporting me even though our views don't always align. But my dad can also be petty, and he's a very touchy-feely person and I'm very much not, at least with most people including him. We have a little bit of history of him trying to hug me, me rejecting it, and him getting butt-hurt over it. So there's your rant-relevant context I guess

So when I half-jokingly say "imagine sexualizing hugs," he shoots back with "imagine being uncomfortable with hugs" in like, a targeted mocking way, like that in any way makes sense to use as an insult toward your own child or anyone for that matter

I didn't have the presence of mind or energy to really unpack that in the moment so I kinda just went "bruh did you really just-" made some joke like "well gee sorry for being autistic" (which yeah that's part of it too) and dropped the conversation

But like.... does he really not see the irony?

One of the major reasons I'm not comfortable with hugs and touch in general is literally BECAUSE of how it's been sexualized, like, that's kinda the whole point?

Of course I'm not going to want to hug you, my father, when there are voices in my upbringing suggesting that touching people is sexual, duh

Like it's literally so obvious to me how the two lines of thought are inextricably linked and how this sort of ideology can fuck someone up because, hello, living proof right here dude, so let's maybe NOT teach the same shit to your younger child?

Yeah you're right I'm not comfortable with hugs and that's kinda sad but I'm trying to get you to see that part of why that is is because of the same idiocy you're letting someone preach to your daughter, so if you don't want us both to be like me,,, maybe don't do that

To the kids and anyone else who needs to hear it, when how and why you touch another person should be up to you and that person and no one else. If you want to hug someone and they vibe with that then hug them, please don't let some bible-thumping freaks tell you it's a slippery slope to sin or whatever. Your body is your own and you make the decisions about what to do with it. That is one of your most basic, most fundamental, most bar-on-the-floor rights as a human being. Anyone who tries to guilt you about something like this is trying to control you and you should be wary of them

Me personally, I just find it interesting how society is so set on calling drag queens and queer people groomers when there are literally religious teachers out here manipulating children into not having bodily autonomy

What's up with that?

[vreenak]

My knowledge on Star Trek is pretty limited, I've watched a handful of the movies, almost nothing of the og tv show but I've watched the modern movies with Chris Pine, Zachary Quinto and Zoe saldana. Also the first season of that show with Michael Burnham? But that's all

So, my question here is... How many versions of Spock are there? And how would you rate them? Any favorite?

Hey, thanks so much for the ask! I really have no excuse for why it took so long to answer it. I guess this is the kind of question where you either write a whole essay or answer it in a sentence. I always put it off, thinking I would sit down one day and magically write that essay… let's not kid ourselves, though, I'm not known for my fandom meta. But I'm determined to give you more than a sentence. So here goes!

You asked me to rank the Spocks, of which there are 3. *queue some huge Spock fan swooping in and berating me for how wrong I am* 😅 But yeah, we have Leonard Nimoy's Spock (the original one everyone has heard of), the one from the AOS movie, and - let's get this out of the way - my favorite, the one from Strange New Worlds (he also has a few (?) appearances in Discovery … I think in season one? So maybe you've seen him.) This sounds weird because he's such an icon - and I do appreciate him a lot - but… Spock doesn't particularly interest me? I'm not a huge watcher of the original Star Trek series either (yes I know, shame on me! 🙈), although I have watched it several times over the years. I don't feel like I really know Nimoy's Spock that well? I'm more interested in Vulcan culture in general. Of course, all that wouldn't exist w/o Original Spock AND Nimoy's input during production. He laid the foundation. So we owe him a lot.

That being said, I love that, in SNW, we're getting to know Spock and the Vulcan people in general from a fresh perspective. The way they're exploring intraracial dating (Spock and his fiancée T'Pring), interracial dating (Spock and Nurse Chapel), Spock coming to terms with his human side, navigating friendship and camaraderie on a majority human spaceship… It's just really well done. And idk if you've watched a bit of Strange New Worlds, but it's just an extremely beautiful show, simply stunning, visually. And let's face it, Ethan Peck is easy on the eyes as well. We're always told that Vulcans are physically stronger than humans and I love that he's looking the part? And that guys can act. Just an overall great casting choice.

I should probably add that I'm in the minority with my opinion. I have a feeling that most fans don't like Peck's Spock, but I think both the actor and the writing team are doing a great job. I love the show's humor and that they're not taking themselves and the characters too seriously, not even Saint Spock!

And of course there's Zachary Quinto, wouldn't want to forget about him. Gotta be honest with you, I only have eyes for Captain Pike and Uhura and mayyyybe Kirk when I'm watching the movie, but Quinto!Spock is doing a good job, I guess! He definitely has the sharpest haircut of them all! (and I lovelovelove little Spock!!!! Like, Spock as a kid? Do you remember that scene where he's at school and some meanies bully him because he's half human? Oh my gosh he's the cutest little kid and he looks so sad and I always want to give him a big hug!)

Anyway. Thanks for letting me ramble! I know Star Trek is not for everyone, but at this point there's a big variety of shows, so if there's any way for you to catch an episode or two, give it another try! 💜

[nowheregeneration]

Some concert thoughts

So i saw Rise Against live last week and i've been (unsuccessfully) trying to write a post about it so here are some thoughts in no particular order:

I spent the whole evening standing at the barrier, inching closer to the center every time people moved around between sets, still ended up on the side, view was great though During give it all Tim came down to the barrier in the other side so i basically couldnt see at all (😭), BUT he came down again during savior and stopped right in front of me on my side, so i had a moment of me and Tim just smiling at each other from different sides of the barrier wich was amazing!!! Also i just realised then how small Tim is? Like i was standing in the metal things?? on the floor at the barrier and idk how even the ground was on the other side, but i stared right over the top of his head for the first moment because i was looking straight ahead ooops 😅

They did play a new song!!! And by that i mean they played the song, i spent the whole time trying to match the melody to something in my head to sing along and then Tim went "that was a new Song btw" So i cant tell you much about it because i dont remember a single word from it, but it did sound amazing!! New Album when

I loved how clearly you could hear the backing vocals!! The last time a saw them i couldnt hear them at all, but the acoustics in that place were a bit weird so maybe thats just me?

They played a lot of songs from the sufferer and the witness wich ist my fav rise against album so that was great, especially loved hearing worth dying for live for the first time. BUT i also love the newer stuff and it kinda sucks that it doesnt get played much (yeah i know everyone wants to hear the old hits especially at Festival shows), i REALLY loved nowhere generation for example and i would LOVE to hear those songs live

The concert was on August 10th, wich was the 20th anniversary of siren song of the counter culture wich was kinda cool. Im bad at remembering dates, so while i knew that the album turned 20 this year i had no idea it was on that day until Tim said it. I also had no idea that it was called siren song of THE counter culture and had been calling it just siren song of counter culture all these years so maybe im just a bit dumb ¯⁠\⁠_⁠(⁠ツ⁠)⁠_⁠/⁠¯

A bug landed on Tims shoulder, he picked it up and talked about how it really feels like summer when bugs land in you, and how they have the same bugs in chicago and it feels like theres a bit of home there Idk i just thought that was lovely? And how much did that bug have to pay for the best view in the whole place?

Tim forgot the second verse of ready to fall and just sang nonsense words to the melody, and i thought how thats actually really really impressive that he can just...do that. And that i wish i had the confidence to just sing anything when i forget the words. Like 30 or 40 minutes later i forgot the words to the 2nd verse of audience of one and just screamed nonsense words along to it so that didnt take me long 🤣

I hurt my shoulder. Again. Didnt even go in the pit. Rise Against is bad news for my shoulders. Still 1000% worth it

[destinyc1020]

I think a lot of the Austin hate now stems from Jacob fans, bt i find many of Jacobs "fans" to b very fleeting. i think the voice comments will always b there bt a lot of ppl got over the unjustified rumors of him cheating on Vanessa and ppl do think he/Kaia gerbers age gap is weird (ik i do 🥴) bt Austin just got famous from Elvis last yr n I dnt really think Kaia is that relevant in pop culture so some ppl will point it out bt I think their kinda overlooked as a couple. I think over time he will b fine though his fanbase seems to b strong

Yea, the Elvis/Jacob/Austin comparisons were bound to happen, so that was a given. 🤷🏾‍♀️

I still don't really get the voice thing tbh. Yea, his voice might be slightly different, but if you compare it to 7 years ago, his voice/accent basically sounds the same. He just has an older voice now, and maaaybe a less hard enunciation of certain words probably due to the Elvis vocal training all those years. But other than that?? People drove that voice thing into the ground imo.

Look, even Tom has an older voice now. That's what normally happens when you age. Your voice (yes, even women's voices) change a little, and usually get deeper with age.

But yea, I'm sure eventually people will get over it with him just like they got over the Anne Hathaway hate...

I'll address the Kaustin and Vanessa stuff below 👇:

RE: Kaustin....

I've already talked about what I think about them as a couple on my blog several times before... 🤐 Honestly? They as a couple have always seemed a bit OFF to me (and I'm not just talking about the age gap thing ; which is cringe in itself) and idk why. Look, I've tried to like them as a couple, and her, but I just can't get over the nepobaby-ism, and the weirdness of that family. I actually used to think they were real (and maybe they are?🤷🏾‍♀️) but this year, certain things about their relationship have seemed a bit contrived and pap-heavy??

Not only that, but they barely even look like they're close friends w/each other half the time ROTFL. 😅🤣 Their vibe is so off to me lol. I'm sorry. But the gut doesn't lie. They look so bored and dead w/each other sometimes. I keep saying that Vanessa is the one who got away... 👀 Want proof? Just do a simple Google search photo comparison of his "couple" pics with V and his "couple" pics with K. That's all I'll say lol... 🤭

But hey, if they're happy, then I'm happy for them!? 🤷🏾‍♀️ Idc who he dates honestly, just as long as she's a kind person, is genuine, down to earth, and is dating him for the right reasons.

Here's some tea☕for you.... There's been some in the fandom who spilled that supposedly, Kaia went after HIM. 👀 That wouldn't surprise me lol.

RE: Vanessa...

Yea, I never fully believed the cheating rumors tbh, cuz things just didn't make sense. And no woman I know would be hanging out with the girl who her bf of 9 years cheated on her with. Add to the fact that their families (esp her sister?) still follow each other?🤔

Also add to the fact that Ash Tisdale is still SUPER close to Austin, and I know she is/was a close friend of V's as well, so I doubt she'd be hanging tight with him if he cheated on her friend like that. 🥴 So things just never made sense?

More tea ☕ for you....Take this with a HUGE FAT GRAIN of salt (because who knows if any of this stuff is true?), but word on the street is that supposedly, Vanessa was the one who broke up with Austin. 👀

IF that is true, then that would explain a LOT. Supposedly, it had to do with Elvis filming. 🤐 Supposedly, they had already broken up before the film even started filming. It's a long story.

Anyway, they seemed really happy together all those years, so it's kinda sad they weren't able to try to work things out again. But oh well! It's too late now! V is about to be a married woman (if she isn't already!). 😅

Honestly?? I don't blame her if she really wanted marriage and a family, and she didn't want to continue to spend more time waiting for him (and his career, etc) to catch up.

[dread-and-despair-dyke]

no what you say about Chappell Roan is so true but I didn't dare to say it bc I am bi and she says she is a lesbian, I dont want to talk over a lesbians experience and I didnt get that much into the entire topic. But like.. I am bi and even I don't talk as much about men as she does. I also dont enjoy her music bc I just want to listen to music about women loving other women and she mainly talks about how she doesnt like men instead. Its a heavy focus on men in her songs, which I just dont find enjoyable. I had a weird phase in my early 20s where I forced myself to be very feminine and got very skinny and watched drag race and put a lot of makeup on to get male approval. Then I realized what bullshit that was and also decided to continue to exclusively date women. And I dont know her so this feels a bit rude to say but like. From what she says and talks about it just sounds similar to what I did? A bi woman trying to appeal to men, realizing it sucks and deciding to not engage with them sexually/romantically as a conclusion. But shes not drawing the conclusion that it sucks for most bi/straight women because men suck. And that it's okay to be bi and just focus on women (which she isnt even doing! she is talking about men so much). Instead she goes down the "identity" route of calling herself a lesbian so she doesnt have to engage critically with herself and her sexuality. Like so many bi women do. I grew up listening to lesbian artists like Tegan and Sara and Tracy Chapman and they resonated with me a lot. Chappell Roan would have maybe resonated with me when I had my weird femininity phase? But even then, I probably wouldn't have enjoyed it bc I know men suck, I dont need to listen to songs about it in my free time. Also don't want to listen to music about her having sex with gross men she hated like?? I also heavily dislike how much she is appealing to gay culture because its just gay male culture of drag and extreme femininity and long fingernails and all that. Not my jam at all but maybe thats subjective. I dont find overly feminine women revolutionary or interesting, even if its with a "gay spin". Sorry for rambling, I have kept this in for too long lol

i was thinking too abt this at the end, abt overly feminine women even with a 'gay spin'. its somth abt how much male-attracted women love gay men and gay male culture (ik drag is just a caricature of women and therefore doesnt exactly originate entirely from gay men but like), for multiple reasons... idk i cant piece it together rn my mind is occupiedd

also like if u have an opinion. dont worry about it too much, u can voice it, i dont think anyone wld have said to u 'u cant say that bcs ur bi'.. or if they did then uhhh dont listen to em nonnie bcs its all fine 👍

i think its probable that many bi and les artist are normal, but they dont get popular like this because they arent pandering to the hyperfeminine male attracted priorities of modern society. idek what im saying here nvm

[mich-al]

okay here's a mini-rabbit hole cuz my mind is being blown rn

so there was this cartoon called wow wow wubbzy on nick jr. it never aired where i live but i did play a bunch of the flash games they had on their website.

they were cool games but i think just the aesthetic with this simple shapes and all that is why it stuck out to me as a child. today i was bored and decided to revist them and because now i can actually understand english, i went to the wiki. one of the articles was about the artbook "The Art of Wubbzy" and it had this:

this sounded super weird. i assumed it was maybe some creepypasta nonsense cuz i was a Wikia Kid myself and most of the users were probably children. but it did elaborate on it later in the article.

(im just putting a 'read more' so your dash isnt too cluttered, there isn't anything super disturbing here or anything like that)

now if it was just the second picture, i would doubt that, but the other two sound too specific and not overtly scary enough for children to make up. luckily, the article had a link to a free pdf on scribd. so i scrolled through like 50 pages of normal artwork, and sure enough, the pictures were actually there!

i expected them to be at the end or something but no, each of them is scattered among tens of pages of usual production artwork. there's like no warning or anything, it's jarring, and would probably spook an 8-year old me. but the pictures do look a bit shoddy so i tried to see if there was some Physical evidence in the printed version.

that's the first picture they described! it's here! from a concerned parent it seems! and there's a youtube video of someone flipping through the book! you can see the "creepy art" next to the usual production artwork.

so here's the question... why would you put this in a book about a lil kid show? and why am i finding out about this just now? "vent art" like this isn't that rare, you've probably seen the very gory edit of "The Enchiridion" title card or heard of the edgy rugrats storyboards the animators made. these are relatively well-known, so i really feel i should've seen it. well, i don't have an answer, but i have a hunch.

recall the note that started it all. the SECOND edition. so it's not like it was removed due to backlash, it was Added later! you'll have an easier time buying the creepypasta version. but here are the dates:

that's a 14 year gap! that's long enough that anyone who watched wubbzy in its day is at least a teenager now! so my theory is, that since wubbzy is way past its cultural relevance and people with familiar with the show are Older, bob boyle (the creator) or the publisher at frederator decided to have some fun and show the world a lil peak behind the scenes. though, the pictures appearing with no context or explanation between storyboards and backgrounds makes it feel more like a sort of prank. idk how to end posts but thx 4 readin

[pacifymebby]

i think backgrounds is a thing but also kind of like what they stand for. R is rich and privileged living off her parents money (which is fine) and constantly jetting off to places lol (again fine) and doesn’t have a job or even need one tbh like that’s literally unheard of in the north like you literally need a job to afford a living

I get the crux of what you're saying here but I promise you there is a "posh" north and it's somehow even more horrifying than posh London

But aye those experiences are what shape your values

Thing is can any of us say we don't want to better our futures and give our kids better futures?

I for one hope that one day I'm well off enough that if my kids graduate uni and they don't know what to do with themselves and are trying to break into a tricky industry, they can come home to the family house and keep working on their goals? Like I wouldn't want me kids dossing but id fucking hate to think I'm working my arse off now so that one day in the future I can force my kids to slog it too?

Like I really get where all these anons are coming from about the culture clash and about like how it isn't fair that certain people have life so so much easier, and also like how it's weird that a man who's made a lot of being "rags to riches" is now seemingly dating someone with different principles so is kinda sacrificing his own BUT

1) it's only dating

2) no one in poverty wants to remain on the poverty line, I really don't blame him for "social climbing" he's having experiences that were barred from him by the class system for a long time and that can only be a good thing.

3) maybe he's not sacrificing his principles, I've seen very privileged women learn/grow when they've been in relationships with people from poorer backgrounds (relationships teach both people different things afterall)

4) he's not a hypocrite for shagging. He isn't sacrificing any principles by dating someone middle class. If anything it's weird to say that all working class people must remain completely true to their poverty stricken roots, that only reinforces class structure and makes certain things "not for us" like would you say it's sacrificing principles for a v working class lad from Stockport to go to Oxford? Is he a class traitor? Am I a class traitor for buying a gingerbread man in Morrisons or like idk Waitrose one time? Is it class traitory for working class people to go to art galleries, or listen to classical music, or learn to play the flute, or read lit fiction?

Do you see what I mean like, there's loads of things deemed middle class which have always been "not for the likes of us" but if we start saying any working class person who engages with those things is a traitor to their class then we're the ones reinforcing the structure that oppresses us?

Like idk, I tryyy very hard these days not to judge people who are middle class, because I do know nice people who are, my dad's got some lovely middle class friends... lots of the people I've met in Scotland that are southern English middle class snd have moved up here for cheap rent are nauseating cunts but idk, best to give people the benefit of the doubt until they actually start on the "i just dont see why we should give free school meals to children just because their parents smoke 40 a day and want the latest iphone" rant

The best situ for them is class divide causes misunderstandings and mild irritation but they are happy together anyway and it's not a deep problem. the worst is that the relationship falls apart because they can't understand eachother (this is usually what brings down all relationships though even ones that are class balanced? Is that a phrase that felt weird to write?) Like I grew to fucking despise my ex for being privileged and out of touch but I wouldn't wish that on anyone lol I lost a bestie and it sucked!!

Anyway my point is mostly just that you don't know them at all and to hold your horses accusing anyone of abandoning their principles just for dating someone from a different class background that's meh

Obvs btw anon not all of this is aimed at you in anyway because you aren't the one who has sent me all these things, it's just yours is so far one of the only ones that's on theme with the other anons that's polite enough to post. Some of the stuff in my inbox right now is harshhhh

[fawnfulart]

finally the ask meme where i don't have to think of the questions myself 💫 Random favorite trope 🧶 What's a fluff plot you'd like to write? 🗯 What's an antagonistic plot you'd like to write? 🗨 What's a plot or trope you'd like to write [character] in? is it okay to ask so much.....who knows but i'm a nosy bitch

Writing Wishes Asks

FIRST OF ALL

You can ask anything you want to any time you like. Talking to people is basically what I made this tumblr for. I’m doing my best to be friend shaped, I hope it’s working. Stop by whenever your little heart desires about anything you want. We are all nosy bitches 🤝

Cut for length I'm really really sorry this is so long. I came up with a lot to say.

💫 Random favorite trope

I'm realizing these questions maybe weren't the best for me to reblog because I'm not sure I know the answers. Other people could probably notice what tropes I use better than I can. I know like a reluctant hero who wants nothing to do with the call to adventure lmao. I also like writing about cultural exchange so language barriers and characters who are fundamentally different creatures or who have wildly different life experiences come to mind. Insert Mermaid AU or whatever. Also..........found family again tee hee. Just put a bunch of weirdos through adversity so they can bond and love each other thanks.

🧶 What's a fluff plot you'd like to write?

I'm not sure what fluff plots I want two write mostly because A Long Way Off keeps providing me opportunities to put in just everything I want. I think a mall date would be fun to write, maybe I’ll put one in. Malls are very of the 90s here and the few malls that didn't go out of business are such a different experience now. When it comes to fluff I find myself writing about mundanity. There’s a real niceness to doing boring things with your favorite people. I wanna write about hugging and cooking together and stuff. People taking care of each other. Talking about nothing important. Also idk maybe the blorbos should kiss more, they deserve it.

🗯 What's an antagonistic plot you'd like to write?

Antagonists and conflicts are an interesting topic. I tend to prefer representing conflict that isn’t black and white. I want characters in conflict to each have an reasonable point of view so it’s easy to understand why they believe what they believe. It’s boring if one side is “just evil” or whatever. People aren’t really like that in my experience. I want both sides of the conflicts in my stories to have a point whenever I can write it that way. I want the reader to have to think about who they align with and why. It's boring if I just tell you what to think. I also think it’s interesting to write about characters who are stuck in conflicts that are larger than themselves and who are tasked with trying to navigate an understanding of the world that doesn't match what they’ve been taught about those conflicts. For example, members of feuding families, young people who have been born into the wars of their fathers, creatures or factions who are framed as natural enemies—inherited conflict where what side you’re on is not only assumed but socially enforced. What is one supposed to do when they stop believing what they were taught or have experiences that go against their prejudices? Romeo is out here like my dad says fuck the Capulets but Juliet is kind of hot tho….

🗨 What's a plot or trope you'd like to write [character] in?

You didn’t mention which character you want me to talk about so I’m going to assume it’s one of the two most likely ones we have in common. Sal. I just want to make Sal a creature so bad. I want him in every monster AU. I want a dumb mermaid AU. I’m gonna make him a rude cat boy. I want to make him the weird ghost haunting your house. I just think Sal is so funny in canon because he has regular guy syndrome no matter what extraordinary things happen to him. He’s so grounded. He’s so well adjusted. His perspective is so measured and humanistic literally no matter what, even when he is ripped from his plane of existence and shot across the multiverse. He's just vibing and having regular guy thoughts about everything. It’s very funny to me, and that makes me want to put him in crazier AUs more often. I would love to explore that dissonance between Sal's absurd fantastic circumstances and his normal guy reactions more.

For Larry I have kind of a cop out answer because I’m already writing it in the background of A Long Way Off. I'm really interested in how Larry forms his personal identity because I think he has a lot of similar ideas as Sal about things like masculinity and growing up and his place in the world but he's kind of fighting against different factors than Sal is. For one, I think it's more difficult for him to express vulnerability or anything feminine as it is for Sal. Sal is already "a freak" so in that sense society expects less of Sal than of Larry. Sal has more room to experiment than Larry does. I think Larry feels a lot more pressure to figure out what the world wants from him and to try to live up to that standard. He needs to be a respectable adult who embodies all the parts of manhood that his dad wasn't there to fulfill. But at the same time Larry is interested in counter culture, and the same masculine ideals that are important to him also make him feel threatening and force him to distance himself from things he used to find fun, like playing "girly" games with Ashley as kids. It's a hard balance to strike, trying to be a strong reliable man and a soft approachable boy at the same time. Also being more of a grown street rat and less of a sweet faced kid than he used to be has also caused him problems in school.

I tried to allude to it a little bit here. Because of his accident with the rabbit and because puberty hit him like a truck, Larry has kind of been categorized as a delinquent by adults and my experience of public school is that once authorities in systems assume you're a "bad kid" it's very hard to overcome that label. Anything you do is interpreted differently, especially if you are not white. Larry--who is large and mean looking and into "devil music" and has a permanent record and gets lumped in with his South American classmates--doesn't stand a chance. When he asks his teacher for a pencil, that teacher is going to assume he doesn't have it because he's irresponsible, because he doesn't care about school, because he has a bad attitude, because he's going to grow up to be a deadbeat and go to jail. But we know Larry, he's just trying to get through his day. I never bring this up in the story but I think the reason Larry doesn't have a pencil is because he lent it to somebody else and never got it back. But if you ask that teacher they probably just assumed he threw it at another kid or something. I think Larry is constantly wrestling with this double standard--am I supposed to be this strong responsible man or am I supposed to be this innocent well meaning kid? Adults seem to expect both from him and yet they arent happy when they detect aspects of either one. It's not fair and I worry about him. Anyway sorry for saying so much about it, I haven't really written a character like him before so I find it interesting. I think Larry's crisis of identity is kind of the opposite of Sal's in a sense. Sal knows who he is but he doesn't have a realistic understanding of how he is perceived by the world and he is very afraid of that. Larry, by contrast, understands completely how he is perceived by others, but he spends so much time worrying about those perceptions that he hasn't taken the time to ask himself who he wants to be.