#also i wanna collect telenovelas now

[class1akids]

BNHA 301 - Thoughts

Well, we all thought that we’ll tune in to the next episode of the Keeping Up with the Todorokis telenovela - but boy, this is no soap opera anymore, it’s a goddam Greek Tragedy with hubris, jealousy and ambition, with mere humans playing god and paying the price in tears and madness and turning their firstborn into a cursed demon. (That fire demon halo / crown there is amazing)

This chapter turns on its had many assumptions we’ve been holding onto since the Sport Festival, and no, it is not retcon - it’s just non-linear story-telling from different perspectives. 

So Enji and Rei met on some fancy Quirk Tinder, and while it does seem Rei’s family was really grooming her to marry well,  she did have some choice in the matter. She realized it was a quirk marriage and went ahead with it nonetheless. (Greek chorus murmurs in disquiet.) 

The flower is back again - and it seems it held something important meaning to Rei - maybe he hope that Enji sees her as something more than just her name and her quirk, but as an individual. The soft, elusive Rei all in white is a stark contrast to the woman in the present

who is dressed in all black like an angel of death and comes in with a dramatic “stomp” and “whoosh” of her dress to tell her husband that she’s fucking not okay, because their son is a mass murderer who almost killed their other son, plus the family’s dirty laundry has been aired on national television. 

Things are actually the opposite of fine. (I love this Rei!!!! She won’t melt anymore...)

In the meantime, Touya is hanging out in the little villain-dacha in the forest, on a ratty couch, doing that hand-staring thing that seems to be genetic among the Todoroki-men. Also, he spends a whole lot of time thinking about his dear dad he claims to hate so much. They are weirdly co-dependent. 

I recreated this panel with the honorifics, because it’s kind of telling how he talks of Fuyumi as if she was still a little girl, Natsuo gets -kun, which is weird for a brother, and Shouto is just Shouto. Yep. He does not like the little puppet masterpiece, if that was not clear until now. 

Also I love this panel so much, with the tear of blood dramatically dripping onto the panel of his childhood home. What a fantastic image. 

We are transported right back to the Ch. 291 timeline, where Touya first burns himself. In the meantime, he has a few extra white locks, and is extremely grumpy because he’s dad is not training with him (aka special father-son bonding time).

I just can’t with his little Endeavor-merch T-shirt and angry tmp-tmp. 

and his little pout. OMG. How can anyone resist this kid?

So Enji actually has a reason, because they are going to what looks like Central hospital to see a quirk doctor (who looks totally like Ujiko), who tells them tough luck, but Touya has a body built for cold-resistance. So yeah, not a good match for a fire quirk. Also, “quirk experimentation is kind of taboo” howls the Greek chorus in the back “quit while you still can”. 

Enji, the stubborn ass he is instead goes home and broods staring at Zeus All Might saving some ridiculously large number of towns, remembering how he told Touya that he can totally surpass All Might. That’ll be a tough discussion. 

Looks like stubborn is not only Enji’s territory. Because Touya will totally outstubborn him, and he continues to burn himself to get Endeavor’s attention back. 

Todoroki “Nom-Nom” Fuyumi (OMG!!! She’s adorable) is already the voice of reason in this family of crazy. Yes Touya, people who love you don’t wanna see you hurt.

 Well, Enji will surely outsmart this 6-year-old, won’t he? Maybe offer to play lego or something? Go on a holiday and give him the idea to start a bug-collection?

Or....

let’s have more kids to crush Touya’s spirit until he forgets about heroes.... Sigh... What a terrible way to deal with this situation.  And Rei goes along with a deep sense of foreboding.

OK, there is something good in this...because...

Natsuo is born - and the contrast between Fuyumi’s sincere excitement and joy, and Touya’s absolute crushed expression (also the Endeavor merch has undergone a more sinister re-design, from a friendly flame to a frightening fire mask). It’s kind of telling that Enji is missing completely from this scene. (Natsuo wasn’t lying about Enji never even looking him in the eye...)

And then some years of Enji turning into an obsessed workaholic and it looks like Rei gives it another try - maybe desperate to calm him down and Shouto is born - doing the All Might pose in his little hand-me-down onesie. 

And it seems like there is one look and the whole family knows he’s the one. Enji’s manic grin, Rei is relieved because she thinks the worst is over (oh little naive one, there is always a price for miracles - whispers the Greek chorus) and Touya is just fucking dead inside. 

He’s so broken or he should be. But he keeps training, so desperate for Enji’s friggin’ attention and faith in him. It’s in a way an utterly banal story of older child being sidelined, but with the added burden of the original expectations, Touya’s stubborn streak to succeed, his insane need for paternal validation - it just makes it the perfect storm. 

So Touya keeps training, despite his parents’ best efforts to crush his spirit. He doesn’t give up and keeps burning himself. 

And yes, Enji tries to tell him to go outside and play and see the whole world, but his words have no effect because everything in Enji’s own life says that there is nothing outside of hero stuff. This beautiful family with these amazing children wasn’t enough to cure his obsession. 

And this panel here totally broke my heart - as Touya says he can’t understand:

(I’m sorry, but I changed the translation on this one, because I thought this line hit better like this).  It’s so tragic that both Touya and Enji see how similar they are, that it’s a madness shared between them, destroying both of them. And they can’t help each other. 

It’s heartbreaking. 

Whew... let’s look at some adorable Todoroki-children as a breather says the Greek chorus. 

Shouto is really just chilling there like his existence isn’t the cause of the crumbling of this entire family and eventually of hero society. 

Hi there cutie...

Oh yeah, this is the moment that the demon-child is born ready to destroy the little puppet masterpiece usurper and he legit attacks baby Shouto in Rei’s arms. This kind of puts a whole new spin on the kids being separated from Shouto and the Rei attacks Shouto plotlines. (Also, it’s like the second time all the Todo-children are on the same panel).

Rei also explains now her lines about regret from the previous chapter and takes some of the blame about Touya’s mental state. (oh, no, Rei, what did you do?)

In any case, Touya seems mentally to be at a really vulnerable state. So let’s say if he was taken to a quirk-based medicine health clinic, and he were to run into a doctor that promised him unlimited power, what are the chances he’d go for it?

To be continued... 

[regrettablewritings]

I'm feeling a Nevada Ramirez mood (love that damn asshole) but if you aren't feeling writing for him then I give this up to authors choice. But from the current ships numbers perhaps: 3 (because I wanna get fucked up), 9 (because I have to), 10 (because I would like to know your thoughts) and 11 (because I am wildly curious)

("I'm feeling a Nevada Ramirez mood" Translation: "I want a daddy to spit in my fuckgng mouth" Sorry, I don't make the rules about language translation.🤷🏽‍♀️)

3. Which one outlives the other, and how they cope:

You'd always kind of sort of lived in a fairytale. In hindsight, though, you probably had to: It's what probably made being with his stupid ass a bit easier. Kind of like you were living in one of those stories where a monster that terrorized some bucolic tiny town could be brought down to size by a soul of pure heart. Maybe even regain his human form.

If only your story had had a happy ending.

In a way, Nevada felt he was to blame for that; clearly, sticking with you had really only encouraged that type of behavior, or so he thought.

And now look where that ended you: All that gross-ass makeup to make you look like your last moments hadn't been agonizing (the coroner insisted it had been quick, but Nevada called bullshit); those stiff clothes that you never would've worn unless you had to (Nevada never would've put you in them if he had more of a choice); eyes closed, never to see the telltale signs of the one you left behind coming undone (actually, in a sick way, Nevada didn't necessarily mind this; it spared him the humiliation).

There wasn't even necessarily any sign that you had been targeted; the general theory really was that you'd been taken out by a stray bullet. But in some part of him, Nevada couldn't believe that. He didn't want to. It just made so much perfect sense in his mind: You were just minding your own damn business, walking home after a shift ended a little later than expected. You were the very picture of innocent and unsuspecting, all vulnerable and without him. In short: That was the perfect time for some rival gang or some shit to take a shot at you.

And the thought made Nevada's blood boil to the point that it evaporated into the air, further polluting these fucking New York skies with his inner toxicity being exposed. He'd make whoever did this to you choke. But not before roughing them up a lil bit. Maybe cut off some fingers. Some toes . . . Maybe a pound of flesh as payment if there was any time left, who knows.

But first, his men had to find them.

To say that Nevada does not take your passing well would be an understatement. He's somehow more violent. Somehow a lot less tolerant of bullshit (and he already wasn't before). If anyone so much as blinks wrong, they run the risk of having a nearly feral fuck jump at them and attempt to rip their face off.

His men, who already feared and respected him, dare not occupy the same room as him any longer than they have to. They miss you as a person, of course, but they never knew just how much of a hold you had on their boss until that hand was gone.

Sure, he goes through the usual motions seen in others, like sitting in his chair, downing copious amounts of whatever was left in his liquor cabinet. And, of course, there's the stages of grieving: He's eternally stuck oscillating between guilt and anger.

He was supposed to be the one that got killed out here, him! Not you: Sweet, kind, patient, hard-headed, stupid-assed you! He got that, why couldn't God get with the program on that!? He was the dealer, the gang leader putting himself into all kinds of problems with others; you were just some innocent bystander who happened to get caught in his web, decide they liked it there, and inexplicably stuck around.

And now you're dead. He was being selfish, you were being stupid, and now you were dead.

He stares blankly at nothing before humming with a sip of whatever the hell is in his glass now, he doesn't fucking remember. Can't taste it anyway; his sense of taste disappeared, floated away with your spirit the moment he learned of your passing.

The pure-hearted soul that kept the village safe was gone; all that remained was the carnivorous beast, ready to rampage and raze the town to the ground.

9. Which one swears more?:

Just in time for the 20210 Summer Olympics, we have a new category to observe: Fucking Goddamn Cussing Up a Shitstorm! Representing Washington Heights, we have a cussing prodigy, Nevada Ramirez! Also representing Washington Heights by way of duel citizenship between the apartments, we have . . . You!

Okay but in all seriousness, Nevada is definitely the gold medal-winner here. Science indicates that cussing helps to relieve stress and for as collected as Nevada likes to appear in front of others, 5'9" is not a lot of space for stress to go. He's constantly bottling up that shit! What's worse, though, is that the fucker makes it sound elegant.

How does he make "fuck" sound so gentle when it leaves his lips with a cold-eyed glower!? Who the hell knows!

Erstwhile, you're a pretty good runner-up. Even if you were a big cusser before getting with Nevada, you could never catch up with him -- he's just had way too many experiences where he felt the need to pepper the ambience with some cursing. And if you weren't as into it before . . . I'm sorry, boo, but you'll be picking up that nasty habit of his like you were picking up the torch for the Cussing Olympics. Bon chance!

10. What TV shows they watch together, and which ones they hide from the other:

Noah . . . How did you know I was planning to do a preference on what characters watch with their S/Os? Not that I can confirm or deny that Nevada was in that one but --

Nevada didn't really watch TV a whole lot before you two got together. It was a mix of him not having a lot of time and him not having a lot of care to keep up with anything. Everything is so goddamn serialized, what's even the point?

Really, the only reason he bought subscriptions to streaming services was to keep you entertained for when he had to be out the house or some junk. But there were a few too many times where he'd come home late and find you curled up on the couch.

". . . The hell're you still doing up --"

"Ssh!"

". . . Did you just --"

"Yes, now sshhh! I'm about to see who this chick picks to go to bed with."

Of course, 'Vada is pissed; people don't shush him, he shushes them! What the fuck could be so interesting that you'd do that!? He takes his glare from you to the screen . . . and about thirty minutes in, he gets it. He'd never say it out loud, but deep down, he knows why you like Love Island. It's stupid, it's trashy, he hates these dumbass twenty-somethings making drama out of nothing, and for fuck's sake will somebody talk to the girl with the dark skin and short hair she's the hottest one there --

Of course, he tries hard not to show his interest, taking seats next to you when you're watching "because he's tired", adding his own commentary "because these pendejos need to know better", etc. And, of course, it doesn't fool you in the slightest. As amused as you are, though, you don't tease him about it; you're afraid that if you do, your stubborn boyfriend would put up a fight in the form of leaving you to watch your silly little show by yourself. And you really don't mind sharing the show with him . . . No, solitary watching is reserved for your cartoons.

Nevada may let things with you slip to a point but the moment he learns you like to watch anything animated, he's on your ass with the ruthless taunting. Which is like the pot calling the kettle black because 'Vada's secret pleasure is even worse: daytime soap operas. Admittedly, there's some sentimentality connected to them (he remembers being at his Abuela's house and seeing her get really into some telenovelas), but the fact of the matter is really more that he's invested in the drama and bullshit going on between all this lunatics who we're supposed to buy as being doctors or CEOs or whatever over-glamorized positions they're supposed to have.

He doesn't actually get to watch them often but . . . hey, that's what he pays certain grunts to do for him.

Okay I had way too much fun writing these so lemme just cut myself off now. Thanks for asking!!!

[misterbitches]

hi! this is long as shit i’m sorry. i hope it makes sense. i ahve adhd and like 5 million learning disorders so this is just word vomit cos there’s so many words in my brain. my b.

i’ve had such a tough day so thank you for replying and sharing! @yeedak​ 

i was thinking about what i wrote and i meant to clarify that as well. some cases are fine for both parties and it’s not like you weren’t consenting and it seems like you were happy! same with my friend who was dating a 20 yr old. if they’re happy you know i’ll clown on ‘em but yea. so for anyone that sees these posts your relationship with your partner who is older or whatever. i’m some dumb girl on the internet okay. ill side eye older ppl tho

i think a lot of people feel the same way you do now (me included.) it feels really good at the time but alter we can see the dynamics playing out. i’m 29 now and i think aging is just such a huge process. it’s wild how you at 31 are a totally different person, right?

and the US racism is probably some of the worst ever in its iteration because of slavery which started from europe etc but USA is so fucking unique bc of columbus bringing slaves here and displacing indigenous peoples or hispanola and because america is so influential the way it views race, particularly with black people as objects, has so deeply permeated into the current historical psyche globally. it’s fascinating to track how necessary anti blackness is to the flourishing of america but also the world at this point. also want to point out how fuckign scary sinophobia is here especially for covid. one is a straight historical line (black ppl + the US) and the other had to be manufactured and to continue to exploit the non-white americans and keep antiblackness in tact.i could go on about this all day. the pain of this place is immense.yet as bad as it is here, this is still the only place i truly feel safe as a black person. because of the unique experience we have in america and through the diaspora especially because we are veyr much ocncentrated here. it would be nice to like move to norway and have some alleviation financially or get free healthcare it’s just not feasible if no one looks like me. it’s fucking tough. 

i hope you don’t hate it here though and people treat you with respect. but as you know being a woman and jewish and an immigrant....shit is tough. the USA is a hellhole. :( america is so deeply tainted and desperately bad because it was founded on strife and blood and there’s no way to reverse that and what this country did in turn when it gained enough power and could capitalize off of the colonial forefathers. this is why we hsould all luv revolution!!!

HOWMEVERRRR 

boy oh boy oh BOY OH BOYYYYYYYY. well wlecome to the world of BL lmao especially as an adult with some obviously deep perspective just given your background. it is a fucking mess and it’s a hard mess to like but it pulls you in. i approach it like i do with soap operas since these are essentially telenovelas, you know? just like the drama at a billion. but the tricky part of that is like....what parts of it do we understand for critiquing? because so many of the shows are so bad at being like good pieces of things to look at just production wise and story wise. but i feel like these shows ask us to take them seriously, so why shouldn’t we take the content seriously? and this is being primarily peddled to young girls. 

i bring this up often but i read this thing about yaoi and the interest younger women/girls have in BL and its fascination with pederasty essentially. this component i think is key when we talk about who gets affected by these things the most. society in general is bad 4 girls bla bla we know lmao but in “more sexually conservative” societies it may be harder for these girls to feel safe even expressing normal emotions romantically and sexually and particularly with guys. some people hypothesized, and i think i agree with this hypothesis, that they can live through the casualness of BL. they don’t feel threatened because they can put themselves into the shoes of the other character. oftentimes, the more feminine or the younger. this was in conjunction with the age gap aspect (they say pederasty as well because there’s unethical age gaps that r gross and that is indeed what we would at least call a touch of sexual abuse if people dont feel like calling it an obsession with youth and power and uhhh young ppl and perhaps kids) where maybe girls could see themselves in these situations as the person being saved, loved, taken care of, and sadly also sexually active and penetrated. 

i think that’s just one aspect of it but i do think there’s validity in who gravitates towards it. i cannot imagine seeing this stuff and not getting enough information as a young kid, i sure as fuck know i didn’t!, and seeing these things and you look at it with 0 critique because you’re young and you may have no interest in it or you simply cannot understand what is wrong. no one is teaching you these things and these shows confirm it. and it is wild how intrinsic patriarchy is to BL although in its existence it also can’t be in line with patriarchy given the nature of two [cis] men!

it begs the question about the replacement aspect. is it just so girls can put themselves in these characters shoes? if so then that means we believe that gender is so interchangeable within our relationships and interactions and that doesn’t seem right. there’s more to lgbtq+ than just existing; it’s finding ways to communicate, finding a family, safety, your people, being a free person. there’s a lot to gain and a lot a lot to lose. and a gay man is also not a woman because those are also two distinct experiences.  especially in societies that have a more hidden aspect to sexuality (idk how to word this bc the BL industry would NEVER survive in america but in a way there’s a more “progressive” look at homosexuality but it’s still fucked up because we live in a Society, you know? at the same time look at what we are doing to trans kids. literally waging war so it’s bonkers how we all collectively have some real progress happening but at the same time not at all. the concept of ‘ladyboys’ and the frequency we see trans people in thai shows is wild and something that we absolutely do not see here in the US. still, none of these groups feel safe or are getting better material conditions in either place. we just show the ways we can try and tolerate oppression witout eliminating it imo)

to me it is clear: it’s money. which most things exist to make money so. but also who is the audience for these shows? and they have to market towards them. all that said all hope is not lost there are some decent shows. it’s just like regular media on TV though where it’s so fucking saturated as an industry that it’s literally sifting through garbage. and there are some days when you can handle the trash and others where it really fucking hurts to watch the violence, the rape, the manipulation, the violations, the stupid messaging. i have never seen more people trying to do mental gymnastics and seeing if things were “technically rape” than in teh BL fandom and that is so fucking sad.

i came into these shows at 28 with almost 0 clue of what as media BL was like esp as media that countries can use as soft power with the revenue. but i realize like...i’m 29 now and so many people don’t have a sizeable, though not huge, amount of life experience. and i wonder for people on the internet who are usually searching for something if they spend so much time on it like what a 15 year old girl thinks. what a 20 year old girl thinks. 

it is incredibly problematic and so awful but there’s also some rewards. if you haven’t i would definitely watch i told sunsset about you which i don’t think i’m going to finish and i doubt i’ll watch the second installment (watch this be a lie) but when i say some fucking impeccable storytelling and art? phew. now that is a fucking piece of media that works. it takes from moonlight heavily and you can see like...the artistic dedication is there and the story makes its world and sets up its stakes extremely well. 

i think because this is marketed towards much younger people too they know they dont have to try as hard. but they SHOULD because then you can have a fucking masterpiece like that. i think even this prolific gay thai filmmaker (who is like solidly against the government) who is so respected (and who i like a lot! if u wanna know i can tell u lmao but the films are very uhhhhhhhh “artsy”) would like i told sunset about you. i wish more people had budget like that and also just cared about the stories. it’s the fucking magic of art to figure out what you can do but there is very little incentive honestly. idk i am very pessimistic. there are days when it’s really a great pick me up and distraction but it is never a place i would love for to feel seen or heard but i’m more of the mind of i never trust the mainstream until they prove me wrong ;) 

or i never trust the mainstream and i still buy into it anyway and then cry when i don’t like what i see adn i yell “BOO GET OFF THE STAGE!” when an old man won’t leave a teenager alone

[angelhummel]

Sharing my personal headcanons about the Glee girls and what dolls they had as kids (and beyond) bc I like Glee and I like dolls and I wanna talk about both. Play along at home by guessing which parts of all these are me projecting things from my own childhood

Tina - For starters, Tina wasn’t very into dolls as a kid. Her older sister had a lot of Barbies but was quick to outgrow them, and Tina didn’t want them, so her younger sister got them and loved them. Tina only played with them when she was playing with her younger sister. Though when she’d “play” by herself it usually involved cutting off the dolls’ hair or drawing on them or creating crazy storylines where they have to kill one of the dolls in a ritualistic cult sacrifice. #JustGirlyThings. Of course her parents noticed and were like okay, no more dolls for you then. Besides, Tina was getting older and wasn’t really interested in dolls or toys in any capacity then. But then when Monster High came out, Tina was suddenly interested in dolls. It didn’t matter that she was a teenager and in high school, it just mattered that the dolls were creepy and awesome. She started snatching those up and amassed quite the collection. Draculaura is of course her favorite (she even dressed as her for Halloween once!) but she has at least one doll of every character. She and Artie even used them for several stop motion short films that he directed (and some glee clubbers lent their voices to the project, of course!)

Marley - Marley’s mom always tried to provide for her the things she thought every little girl should have. Of course that included dolls. Most of the time it was those knock off Barbies that aren’t as well made, and the heads come off way too easily, but Marley didn’t care. She loved them all the same and was always making up stories with them to entertain herself and her mom. Then one birthday, Millie got one of those Our Generation dolls for Marley and Marley was over the moon. She thought it was a real American Girl doll and excitedly gushed about to her classmates. At least until one of them rudely pointed out that it didn’t have the name of any American Girl doll she’d ever heard of, and it must be one of the cheaper versions. But Marley didn’t care, and she still loved it. Millie couldn’t get a lot of extra outfits or accessories either, mostly stuck to one for birthday and one for Christmas. So when Marley was a little older, she started making her own clothes for her doll. Using cheap squares of fabric to make dresses, then buying yarn to knit or crochet with. It’s part of what lead to her being so creative and thrifty and eventually making clothes for herself

Rachel - Of course Rachel was spoiled with every kind of toy you could ask for, but she wasn’t big on typical “play time”. Most of the time she would line up her dolls and stuffed animals as her audience while she performed for them. Or she would use her dolls to act out scenes from her favorite musicals. So she had enough Barbie dolls to fill out a cast as big as, say, Les Mis or Into The Woods, and enough outfits and costumes to make the dolls look as close to the various characters as possible. But she was more into stuffed animals than dolls anyway since they’re softer and easier to cuddle

Quinn - She had a huge collection of Barbie dolls as a kid. But her mom was the “keep them in the box for display” type so Quinn hardly got to play with any of them. Though she still had hand me downs from Frannie. So most of the only dolls she got to play with were the vibrant late 80s ones. And of course she had a couple of American Girl dolls for tea parties and such. Quinn was big on tea parties, following her mom’s midcentury housewife lead and helping her with lots of baking in the kitchen. She also had lots of dollhouses and played house with her dolls, even if she wasn’t always into it. 

Santana - She was a Bratz girl 100%. She liked that they started out with characters that looked more like her. And of course the clothes were a hundred times cooler than anything Barbie was doing at the time. She also had some My Scene dolls for similar reasons, but did add a few Barbies to the collection later on. She was also a little more intense in her play times, mostly reenacting crazy scenes from telenovelas that she watched with her mom and Alma. The first time Brittany came to her house, she found the dolls hidden in a box in the closet and stole her Yasmin doll bc it reminded her of Santana. Hence the Bratz doll in Brittany’s Barbie dollhouse. And the only blonde haired blue eyed doll she has in her collection is a Barbie from Brittany, because Brittany wanted them to be even and that doll represented her

Brittany - Britt had every type of doll imaginable. Especially the slightly more obscure options like Polly Pocket and Betty Spaghetti. Tiny rubber clothes and weird little doll parts everywhere. But of course she has her Barbies too. She has her dollhouse with plenty of dolls to live there. As a kid she was very into making up stories with them, and even still did that into her teens. But as she got older she was also into giving the dolls makeovers. Finding old and forgotten dolls at yard sales, Goodwill, eBay, wherever else, and getting them for cheap, cleaning them up and washing and styling their hair good as new again. It was almost therapeutic for her, and something fun and simple to focus on when things were getting too difficult in the rest of her life. The whole glee club even got in on it. If they ever happened upon some dolls that looked like they’d been through a lot, they took them to Brittany for her to make over. And she’d sometimes give back the made over ones as presents. Including a My Little Pony for Kurt, and a Barbie head for Finn bc she was redoing the hair and lost the rest of the body 

Kitty - Between her and her sisters, Kitty had every type of doll imaginable. They had a huge playroom with dollhouses and other sets lining the walls, and shelves full of dolls and furniture galore. And most of the dolls reflected the blonde hair, blue eyed aesthetic of the rest of the family. Occasionally with a brunette or redhead thrown in for diversity. Kitty always felt too young to play with her older sisters, and too old to play with her younger sisters, so she was usually playing by herself. Using her dolls to reenact moments from her real life when someone at school annoyed her, as a way to get her anger and frustration out. Her mom eventually found two girl dolls in bed together, and all the boy dolls tied up and thrown into the basement, and Kitty didn’t understand why she wasn’t allowed to play with them anymore. But now she has a Monster High Gooliope doll from Tina that she keeps next to her similarly colored puppet from Blaine, and cherishes her weird dolls from her weirder friends

Mercedes - Her parents were more strict and practical, so Cedes didn’t get a lot of fashion-centric toys as a kid. She was more relegated to learning toys, and things like doctor’s kits and puzzles and things to build with. Her parents did get her one of the My Twin dolls so at least Mercedes would have a toy that looked like her. But she was still interested in Barbies just because of how much she loved the fashion. So her parents tried to compromise by getting her a doctor doll and a teacher doll. Which just irritated Mercedes more because they didn’t even have cool outfits. So that lead to her trying to make her own clothes for them so they could look as fashionable as she wanted them to. It took a while for her to get the hang of it, but it’s also what lead to her being interested in making her own clothes. And even as an adult she still has a good little collection of the more diverse dolls they’re making these days

[actuallylorelaigilmore]

the ultimate citation list for Schneider of ODAAT, volume 1

A reference collection of quotes and details, organized chronologically, for the first 26 episodes of One Day At A Time. Used to create this character guide.

“Can you believe it's only been 10 months since you moved in? I remember 'cause I got my five year sober chip and your mom baked me that cake. I enjoyed watching you guys eat it." 1x01

"You're 40 and you look stupid." “I'll have you know, I was invited to several Pride parades." 1x01

Uses a “very expensive” Damascus steel hammer. 1x01

"I've been doing some outreach down at the rec center, talking to at-risk youth. You guys wanna start takin' bets? Actually, scratch that. I'm addicted to gambling.” 1x01

"Love isn't even real. It's just something your nanny says sometimes to your dad." 1x02

"Hey, I may have money in the bank and two living parents, and four living stepmothers but there is a hole in here. We never had family meals. I ate alone in front of the TV. Oh, don't get me wrong. It was a massive TV. Sometimes my nanny would join me, but only if I agreed to watch telenovelas. This one time, Rosa got jealous of the housekeeper 'cause she was makin' a move on her man, so she threatened to throw live scorpions on her while she slept. Rosa was my nanny. Ex-nanny. Now, stepmother." 1x03

[Lydia and Pen fighting] “It's startin' to feel kinda like home in here.” 1x03

Schneider cooks fancy hipster food. "Nutted quinoa, wilted broccolini with radish micro-greens, and venison carpaccio on a bed of nettles. Grab a cedar plank and dig in." 1x04

"Always interesting to be the sober one at a dinner party." 1x05

"I immigrated here illegally. I'm a Canadian. But yeah, born in the 'Couve, overstayed my student visa, forced to live in the shadows of Pepperdine University. Anyway, it's fine now. My lawyers made it all okay." 1x05

Uses sheet masks, knows about chauffeurs, butlers, estates. 1x06

“The kids barely touched my black olive tapenade.” “Thanks for helping out, but maybe next time pick a food a kid would wanna eat or has heard of.” “Yeah, and maybe next time, don't hand out masks with my face on them.” 1x07  

"The members of my college band have finally put aside our differences and we're reuniting to play at the fair this afternoon. My band, Full Sail, plays yacht rock. These guys were like family. I used to show up at their dorm rooms unannounced and just hang out for hours and hours and hours." 1x07

"We were setting up for the show and our keytarist threw a decorative anchor at me. This is why Full Sail broke up in the first place. Too many passionate personalities." 1x07

Has a magnifying glass in his costume trunk. 1x07

"I know nothing about my grandparents and I never will. And they live in Pasadena!" (but he goes to 'the depot' in Pasadena) 1x09

"I have never seen such un-professionalism. This is why I don't work!" 1x09

"I need to find a new place to get my eyebrows threaded." 1x10

Has a safe. 1x10

"Well, Father believed it's best to have this kinda discussion in a car because you don't have to make eye contact. Plus, you're traveling in the same direction, which fosters intimacy. So we're in the Bentley with our chauffeur, Paco. Father said it's time to have the talk. We came to the next stoplight. He hopped out, Paco told me everything." 1x10

"I didn't get the period talk till I was 12. Paco just called it 'Shark Week.'" 1x10

"When I was a kid, there was an adult section in the back of the video store. Behind the beads. I'd always chicken out and just rent a Jane Fonda workout tape. Still worked. Still works." 1x10

"You'd be surprised how many of my hookups started with 'Ugh!' ...When I was 15, I told Father I wanted to be a professional tap dancer. He laughed. It was that lack of support that contributed to my drinking and drug problem. Oh, do you find that amusing? Because 15-year-old Schneider's drinking peach schnapps out of an unused tap shoe right now." 1x11

"You have a girl over here and you were offering to have sex with me?" - "Yes, Penelope. That's the kind of friend I am." 1x11

"My dad never came to my games. All he ever did was put me through rehab six times and buy me this building." 2x01

"Maroon 5 is the best." 2x01

"Okay, I decided to take a break from dating. See, I realized that women were just another one of my addictions, like alcohol, drugs, gambling, cigarettes, snow globes. The point is, I've broken the cycle of addiction with spinning. Five hours a day, every single day. I have to do it! Plus, it's the perfect substitute for dating, 'cause it burns a lot of energy and also numbs my junk!" 2x02

“Snow globes? Is this one of our family?” 2x02

"I come over, tell him to do stuff to me, he does it, I go home. You should get one." "I think what Nikki was kinda dancing around is that you don't always have to have a relationship with a capital "R." Sometimes all you need is what the great poets of the Renaissance called a junk buddy." "Exactly. You don't even have to like them." 2x03

"See, the great thing about having a green card is you get to live here without having to do all the stuff Americans have to, like vote or serve jury duty or become obese."

"Okay, but at least you vote in Canadian elections." "Mmm. No. Even in Canada, nothing ever changes. Clean air, sensible gun control, free health care. The system's rigged." 2x04

Can picture himself “doing it” with Elizabeth Warren, was Stephen Hawking for Halloween. 2x04

"You have to pay taxes with a green card? I just texted my accountant, and he said 'cause I'm in the highest income bracket, I don't have to pay taxes." 2x04

Keeps on hand: panic room, gas mask, water purification pills, MREs, enough cash to get to Cape Verde by boat. Followed Max on Instagram. Would be honored to be Penelope's maid of honor. 2x05

"I'm very patriotic. Look in that basket. There's a bald eagle thong." 2x06

All Elena's video game equipment belongs to him. 2x06

"Penelope, tell my third stepmother I loved her! Not the second one, though. She was kind of a jerk." 2x06

"Hummer limo's downstairs. My third stepmother used to take me to the racetrack to spy on Father. For the longest time, I thought she was saying, 'Your father is with Rebecca, that horse!' It's like I'm back at the racetrack with my stepmom. What's next? Throw a mint julep in his face?” 2x07

"I love Cuba! I've been there four times. Property manager, job's just temporary. My father owns the building. I'm really a musician. Play a lot of rap-rock-ska. I'm like a male Gwen Stefani. When you're hiring a nanny, make sure she's not too hot. That's how I met my fifth mom. I had four nannies and look at the results." 2x08

Did not speak a word of Spanish when he first met them, is interested in single moms. 2x08

"If you joined an adult kickball team after saying you were too busy to join mine, you are on a long road to forgiveness." 2x09

"Your idea of stress is when your chest-waxer goes out of town." "Roberto is the only one who doesn't make it sting!" 2x09

"I shouldn't have to need these either, but I do. To see. So it's Fourth of July, 2011. I'd been sober for a while, so I thought I'd celebrate with a beer. Woke up three days later in an alley. Then the bowling ball hit me. I was in the gutter for a long time. It's really slippery without the shoes. That was the day I truly accepted that I can't have alcohol or drugs, ever. Not a beer, not a glass of wine, not even six hits of acid at a Grateful Dead show, no matter how well it makes me dance. I kinda get where you're coming from. There's something I want that I can't have for the rest of my life." 2x09

He and Pen are best friends. Also considers Max his bestie. Wants to Netflix and chill with them both, together. 2x09

"My abuelita used to put Vicodin in her coffee. And her lemonade and her sandwiches. Maybe she had a problem. As my father said to me on my ninth birthday, 'You don't need me anymore.' I use my garage for pickling and sea horse breeding." 2x10

Loves puns. "This is Elena Alvarez, my handyman mentee. Or handy-manatee." "The toilet is a cruel mistress. She is flush with complications." 2x10

"Herb and Sherb McGurb. Her real name is Sheryl, but she gets a kick out of Sherb." 2x10

"Bonsai's for dorks. This is penjing. The gentle Chinese art of tray scenery. Now that you're working for me, I finally have some leisure time." "Oh, look, there's little people. Wait, is that my family?" "Could be any Cuban family." 2x10

"I may only look two or three years older than you, but I have the wisdom of that ancient bonsai!" 2x10

"Always take the lemonade. That's Handyman 101! So you watched Jeopardy with them and then what? Well, now we know what your problem is! You fixed their toilet, but you didn't fix their souls. Elena, growing up, I had everything. But I was always alone. I don't want my tenants to feel that way, so I do more than just fix stuff. Apartment 306, macrame with Mrs. Watson. 201, lose at chess to Mr. Roth. 402, listen to all their Cuban nonsense. That's the job. That's what takes four hours. That's the difference between being a handyman and a super." 2x10

Has heard 'you're fired' a lot. 2x10

"After a grueling 30 minutes of thought, Nikki, will you be my starter wife? You're on the rebound. That's the best time to get married. You don't have time to think. So you were never thinking about me? My emotions? My feelings? You used me, Nikki, Finn's mom! And not in the way I like! And that's not all, Sister Barbara. We knew each other. Biblically. And while we were doing it, she took the Lord's name in vain. A lot!" 2x11

"Last night, I was testing the pH of the water in my seahorse ranch and, as I looked at those vomiting little guys, I realized I suck at tests. All tests. Drug, sobriety, vision, IQ, smog. You name it, I fail it!" 2x12

"Have you ever been arrested?” “Does public nudity at a hockey game count?” “There is, uh, no mention of a public nudity charge in your file.” “Oh, you just go to YouTube and type in 'Zam-boner.'" 2x12

"Yeah, they didn't specifically ask if I got drunk and tried to ride a moose, so after that I was golden." 2x12

"How important is having kids to you?" "Never really thought about it." 2x12

"I'll have you know I babysat my babysitter's kids while she was babysitting my dad, so, yeah, I got a little experience under my belt. Oh, it's my cousin Gordy. He still thinks I'm full-on Canadian. All right, good news is Gordo bought it. Bad news is I'm judging a poutine festival in Saskatoon next week." 2x12

"You're the single greatest mother I know." "Thank you. That means a lot coming from a guy with five moms." 2x12

"Fuzzy Afghan she likes, picture of the Pope, picture of a different Pope, picture of your dad, picture of the family, picture of me with the family, picture of me by a waterfall. I'm just gonna keep talking 'cause I'm not good in crisis situations." 2x13

"It's so crazy how we're both immigrants. I mean, I would never compare my story to yours, but the parallels are spooky. You were 18, I was 18. You left your family behind. I left four step-families, a maid, a butler, a chauffeur, and a horse groomer who really got me. But Father was expanding his business to the US and so I had to go. I remember, at the airport, I was crying. But Father put his arm around me and he said, 'Son, only losers cry.' So that was a long flight. You don't know how dirty a dirty look can get until you're crying for a whole plane ride and you're not a baby. I really didn't wanna be in America. So I drank. And I recreated the snowy plains of Canada with cocaine. I'm told I attended classes at Pepperdine University, but I will have to take that on faith. So, I'm in a detox center in El Segundo. This was my fourth rehab. My re-re-re-rehab. I thought I'd been doing a kickass job keeping my drug stuff a secret from all the tenants and then you showed up in my room at that clinic. You brought me sopa de pollo and said it's Cuban penicillin. You told me, 'You eat this, you get some sleep, and tomorrow, you try again.' And then you tucked me in and kissed me good night on my forehead. Forehead kisses are wildly underrated. Just something really comforting about 'em. Then again, it might just be you. Dad never did that. Or my horse groomer. After I got out of rehab, I started hanging around your apartment a lot more, 'cause it helped. Back then, it must have felt like you had this annoying, intrusive guy over. Not like now. 'Cause now you're my family. Don't worry. I haven't legally changed my last name to Alvarez. My lawyer said it was a whole thing, so... Anyway, Pen said no crying, so I'm not gonna. Actually, for once, I agree with Father. Only losers cry. And we're not losing anybody today. Let's hit that oath ceremony soon, okay?" 2x13

[melanie-writes-supernatural]

It’s Valentine’s Day (Part 2 of 2)

Word count: 1170

Pairing: Cas X Reader

A/N: This is Part 2 of 2 for my Valentine, @coolpencilpie! I hope you have a great day and know that your tumblr family loves you! (Also a special thanks to Chels and Beka for organizing this!)

My Masterlist

~

At promptly 12:01 in the morning, you pounce on Cas.

“It’s tomorrow,” you inform him, finding him watching some show that had the vague appearance of a telenovela.

The fuck, Cas?

The television volume is soft, perhaps so he won’t wake Sam or Dean considering that it was so late in the night.

“It’s technically today,” he says, but when he sees your pout, he decides to take pity on you. He smiles and caresses your cheek, pressing a soft kiss to your lips.

“You said yesterday that you would tell me tomorrow what you made me,” you remind him, resting your forehead to his. “And it’s officially tomorrow, so I wanna know.”

He rises from the couch, taking your hand to lead you to the kitchen, where there’s a covered platter resting untouched. The kitchen smells faintly of cinnamon from his time earlier in the day.

“I spent all day trying to get the recipe right,” he murmurs as you lift the cover. “But I can’t personally taste anything exceptional about it.”

There’s a beautifully made pie sitting there waiting for you, smelling slightly of cinnamon and apples. The crust is perfectly golden, crossed strips all uniform in shape.

It’s probably the prettiest pie you’ve ever seen, and you’ve seen a lot, considering Dean’s obsession as well as your own.

“You made me a pie,” you remark, looking up to him with a cheesy grin.

“It’s not Valentine’s Day yet, but I thought we could celebrate a day early,” he says, his blue eyes watching you as you looped your arms around his neck.

“You’re the sweetest,” you tell him, tiptoeing to press a kiss to his cheekbone. “Let’s dig in, then, huh?”

“Eating this late at night will make it hard for you to sleep,” he notes as you collect a knife to cut the pie.

“Who says I’m gonna sleep?” You ask him, passing him a fork that you grabbed and sticking your own into the pie. “If we’re celebrating Valentine’s Day early, let’s do it right.”

“While I believe that was a sexual innuendo...?” he trails off, and you nod to him while taking a bite of your pie. “Our celebrating isn’t over. I have another surprise for you.”

“Cas, this is so good,” you moan, spearing another forkful of pie. “And what’s better than pie? What else could you surprise me with?”

“Go back to sleep. When you wake in the morning, I’ll show you.”

It starts with breakfast in bed. Waffles that are crisp on the outside and fluffy on the inside are doused with syrup and butter, there’s copious amounts of bacon on the side, and a cup of coffee made just the way you like it.

Cas smiles at you, and you bite your bottom lip as he kisses your forehead, instructing you to get dressed after breakfast, as he was taking you out somewhere.

You eat your breakfast, deciding that you thoroughly like this idea of Cas bringing you food.

You get changed into some comfortable but cute clothes, venturing into the bunker to look for Cas.

He’s talking to Dean, and he clams right up once you walk into the room.

“Hey,” you say suspiciously, and Dean flashes you a big grin.

“Hey,” he returns back, walking out of the room and leaving you with Cas after patting your back. “Have fun.”

You smile up at Cas, who extends his hand to you. You take it, watching his slightly nervous expression.

“Whatever you’re gonna do, I’m sure I’ll love it,” you tell him, squeezing his hand.

He takes you for a walk through a park and shows you to a little secluded area with two easels set up facing one another.

“Painting?” you ask him, looking to the soft oranges and yellows set out on your easel. All the colors are pastel, with a great emphasis on the warm tones.

He knows you so well.

“I tried looking up things to do for Valentine’s Day,” he tells you as he sits down at one easel. “Painting was one of them. I thought you might like to try it.”

“So what are we painting?” You ask him as you sit down at the easel opposite him.

“There were many suggestions,” he notes. “Some said to paint each other, some said to paint the scenery. What would you like to paint?”

“Well...” you trail off and look around for a moment, searching for some kind of inspiration. “Let’s just surprise each other.”

He pauses thoughtfully for a moment, then nods.

As you paint him a scene of where you first met, he focuses intently on your face. The time passes peacefully, and you finish much before he does.

“I’ve finished,” he finally states, and you smile at him.

“Show each other on three?” You suggest, and he agrees. “One, two, three.”

He shows you the portrait he’s made of your face, and you blush under the detail he’s painted. He’s captured your eye color perfectly, and your hair looks like it does now with the slightest bit of wind blowing it.

“Cas, it’s amazing,” you tell him, and he looks at your painting curiously.

“Is that the diner?” he asks you, and you nod.

“I couldn’t think of anything else to paint,” you admit to him, looking at him when he rose from his seat and walked to you.

“I remember that diner fondly,” he says as he rests his hands on your shoulders. “Come, this date isn’t over yet.”

He takes your hand as you rise and smiles at you, leading you away.

“Cas, our paintings,” you remind him, and he looks down at you curiously.

“They’re already back at the bunker,” he cocks his head to the side, and when you look back all evidence of your time is gone.

You look back at him and he has a little smile, and he takes you to your next destination.

...Which happens to be the bunker.

���I thought we were finishing our date?” you tell him, and he nods. He opens the door to the bunker, and the first thing you notice is how quiet it is.

Sam and Dean must be gone.

Were they out looking for a Valentine of their own, or had Cas asked them to leave?

The next thing you notice is the trail of rose petals leading toward your room. You look skeptically to Cas, and he gestures you forward.

You follow the trail of petals, looking at the glow from the soft candlelight around the room. It’s done up in pinks and reds and all the Valentine’s colors.

“Cas, this is so sweet,” you tell him, trying to turn to look at him but feeling his lips on the side of your neck. He picks you up with ease and deposits you on your bed amid all the petals, his baby blues so bright. He leans over you and kisses you, slow and thoughtful and full of promise for the night.

“Happy Valentine’s Day, [Y/N].”

~

Tell me what you thought!

[unassumingpebble]

semi-final 1: summary bc im a dumbo who didn’t do it

Azerbaijan: awkward armeography and boring

Iceland: boring

Albania made me want to run away in a fantasy film on a spectacular adventure and i’m here for it

Belgium: someone pls fire that stylist immediately.

like invent a time-machine and fire him in the past bc that’s like a crime towards humanity

Czech Republic: a geeky fuccboi bop

Lituania: BORING also it sounds like she has a sore throat

Israel: can we just not with the cultural appropriation

Belarus: Emo Telenovela realness

too overdramatic for me even holy shit i could not stop laughing

also him giving the presenter a rose was so uncomfortable

Estonia’s dress is everything, period.

Bulgaria was p okay i kinda liked it

Macedonia: Fire The Stylist (reprise)

literally the garment didn’t even look finished it was literally a half-sewn coat jacket turned back to front like ?

Croatia: stunning also boring

Genuinely love Austria’s song

Greece: don’t remember it

Finland: I should be proud but the song sucks

Armenia: don’t remember

Switzerland: a stylist in the past stole the time-machine and now we have boho-chic and it’s terrible

YOU HAVE GODDAMN TAPE ON YOUR HAT

i literally can’t with the low-rise jeans i thought we as a society had collectively decided to move on and now i’m disappointed in all of us

Ireland: CUTE also the song is okay but kinda sad and i wanna feel happy abt gay shit u feel me

Cyprus: v pop, love the outfit, p okay

Can we all just collectively not let Belarus’ number fade into obscurity it is so bad we need to remember it