#and i was gonna change the thing about the state of the website but tbh it's rough here too

[mistresseast]

I know I've been pretty quiet lately (the last two surprise fics aside) and that this year has been generally sparse on content, but I just wanted to rap with y'all for a sec.

First, I'm super grateful for all the kindness and support I've received, despite not being super active. Having nearly 1k followers here as a fic writer, especially with the way things are on this particular website rn, is wild to me. Even if only a few of you are still online, I'm really thankful.

Second, my new year’s resolution is to write more (shocking, I know), but that includes my original work as well, so I can't predict what the fic output might be. Regardless, I've got multiple things in the works rn and my interest in my current fandoms has not waned a bit. There might even be a curveball here and there, we'll see.

Third, in case you were worried about Liminality bc it hasn't been updated in well over a year, never fear! Part 3 is DONE and I'm just trying to decide on a posting schedule. Liminality is going to be a big big big project, and I'll be real with you, it's going to be a WIP for a very long time, so I understand why people might be hesitant to read it rn and that interest (and patience) will fade as fans naturally drift away from p5, and that does make me a bit nervous; however, I'm still very committed to and excited about this story, and I sincerely appreciate all the love it's gotten so far as well as everyone who sticks with it or takes a chance on it in the future. Y'all rock so hard.

I simply cannot stress enough how much it means to me that people read and enjoy my work. Finishing and posting fic still feels new to me, as I've always thought of myself as someone who burns out quickly and can't follow through on anything, so becoming a writer with a distinct style and works that people remember and recognize over the past few years has challenged this sort of low opinion I had of myself and actually affected how I approach things outside of fanfiction as well. It's a learning process that I'm still experiencing and I owe a lot of it to you guys, random people on the internet who took the time to read and like my stuff.

Seriously, thank you all so much. I hope I can continue writing and taking fictional characters way too seriously in 2024 and beyond. ❤️ Happy New Year!!

[charmedreincarnation]

Hey guysss! A lot of people have been asking for me to make a challenge for a while now. I honestly didn’t want to, not because I’m against them or anything but because the law will be different for everyone. Sometimes, it feels like tumblr needs a reminder - you are the only person who knows what you need to do to succeed. I wish I could imprint this realization on everyone's minds. I’ve also gotten so manyyyy asks about things that genuinely just feel like your doubts repeating in your mind constantly so I’m gonna talk abt my beliefs bc y’all are spiraling really hard. I get it you want your desires for Christmas and new years. It’s okay take a breath, you're alive and will be okay.

Firstly: at the beginning I used to spend countless time spiraling into depression, constantly changing my methods every time I saw a new success story, and every time I found a new foolproof' tumblr method. Methods that were supposed to guarantee results in a day so when they didn’t I felt rlly useless. It was annoying, to say the least, and I don’t want to help others do the same thing, but really all I can do is reiterate what I always say and hope you apply it to everything!!

A lot of you guys wanted something that didn’t involve the void state, so that’s what this will revolve around! But feel free to make this void orientated if you desire, and I’ll also add a void section so all my babies can eat!

Ok so you’ve over consumed, you have dropped the void, and now have switched to just assuming and knowing that you would wake up with your dream life - embracing states. Great! At first, it will seem like you're doing nothing but you aren’t! For example, I knew I was dwelling in the state of wish fulfilled when I went to work without shedding tears, when I looked in the mirror and didn't think I was ugly because, well, I'm beautiful! I didn't care abt not performing well on a test because I could revise my past etc. this isn’t to say ignore the 3D: don’t do that, please try and make sure you’re safe and okay. But know life is malleable. Slowly, things that used to bother me—my parents, grades, anxiety, self-deprivation—started to fade away. Even though my dream life hadn't reflected in my 3D yet, I felt the switch. That's when I decided, I know what to do.

I also remember finding this cute website a long time ago that I want to share that summarizes it in such a great and simple way.

So Before I knew or understood what LOA was, I found this gem of an article on I am Love'- "How To Shift Into A State & Stay There". I think I have a post abt it somewhere on my blog but I’m too lazy to find it so here it is again.

Basically it explains that the essence of shifting into a desired state and staying there. What resonated with me was her choice to dwell in the state of knowing that her desires are hers, no matter what.

The way she used colloquial language made the content relatable and easy to understand. It's like having a conversation with a friend who's guiding you through hard concepts with “dumbed down” language because at the beginning states made 0 sense to me.

Posts like this really helped me particularly because when I discovered Neville, it required three attempts on my part to not only intellectually grasp his teachings, but also to truly comprehend him as a whole, given his non-contemporary speaking tbh.

I recommend it if you find yourself stuck or not really grasping the law yet (which is more than okay) but, if you're looking to understand the loa better or just learn more give this article a read.

There’s also a particular quote from Neville that really got me to dive into his work after finding this article and it was- “The being that you really are, descended to the weakness of the flesh, causing you to experience the state you are now in. Contemplate another state, and the same being who brought your present form into being will restore and make alive the other state, the state desired. This he will continue to do until his purpose is fulfilled. That purpose is to follow a certain pattern back into the unity of being. You see, in the beginning we were drafted. We did not volunteer to fall into these states. We were made subject into futility, not willingly but by the will of him who sent us. But when we return we will discover that we are the very being who subjected us. We are now the sons, destined to return as God the Father!”

Now that you understand and are ready to apply state, Here’s a routine I’ve created to hopefully help you guys! It is very simple and not time consuming at all.

Scripting and writing: I love writing and feeling like the author of my own story, literally bringing my creation to life. I would write when I felt like it. Whenever I wanted to dwell in my state, I would simply write, "I have my dream life." It's so simple, yet it embodies everything I need. If you’re more of a picture girl, use Pinterest instead. Or both if you prefer it doesn’t matter.

Edward arts' "I am creator meditation": Again, do this whenever you like it. It's one of the few meditations that didn't bore me to death and seemed to work with my ADHD. I also love reading, so I would read his pdf whenever I felt like it and take mental notes. Reading his work was a reminder I was doing everything right, it resonated with me very well.

During doubt and overstimulation: When things get overwhelming, close your eyes and let the emotions pass. They’re just thoughts! repeat the words "I am" until your heart returns to its normal rhythm. It's a simple yet powerful way to ground yourself amidst the whirlwind of emotions. And guess what? You can use this technique for doubt too! So the next time you're feeling overwhelmed, remember the power of "I am". It's a gentle reminder of your existence, your resilience, and your capability to be whatever you want despairs any emotional turmoil.

Thank god: (yourself!!) When reminded of your desires. Thank you god. When you see your desires, (eg:Pinterest, online or you’re just reminded) thank you god! When you see an image of your desires, thank you god! When you dream or think about your desires. Thank god! Always thank the person fulfilling it aka you ;)! If you’re religious just thank the god you actually follow.

Nightly reflections: At night, ask yourself , "What would I do if I woke up in my dream life right now?" repeat this question throughout the night. Then, imagine whatever scene you want. What would you do if you could not fail? What would you do if you had all the money in the world right now. What if you looked in the mirror and saw the most ethereal being and it’s just you? What about if you woke up in your dream house with your dream family and pets? This is inspired by one of the first shifting methods I created that helped me fulfill my imagination before I knew what that meant. When you’re ready to sleep just remind yourself it is done, and drift off into your desires.

As I've always said, I've been a great daydreamer. I knew exactly what I wanted my life to look and feel like. I envisioned my walk-in closet filled with luxurious outfits, waking up in my dream room on a soft mattress with my pets purring nearby. I saw the decor reflecting my personality in every corner of my large, and pretty room. I imagined walking into my bathroom, seeing all my cool Sephora products lined up for my skincare and shower routine. I love taking care of myself because I know I deserve it. I saw myself looking in the mirror, knowing I'm "that girl" who turns heads wherever she goes.I visualized going downstairs in my boujee dream house,and seeing my family stress-free, smiling, and eating well. I saw plans being made on my phone, my friends were excited to see and talk to me. I went to my kitchen, filled with expensive ingredients ready for me to cook meals for my loved ones - because I love cooking. I saw myself checking my bank account and seeing multiple seven figures in my savings, checking, and investment accounts and opportunities easily presenting myself to make more if I wanted. I saw myself running errands in my car, shopping, getting Starbucks, having expensive lunch with friends, and making a trip to Target. Despite the simplicity of the day, I would come home and be like, "Ugh, what a long day!"like that one khloe kardashian meme. What if all this happened today? Visualize and feel the scenes so clearly that it felt like it's already happening.. not just in your imagination.

Most importantly: Define the law for you! Stop parroting bloggers and intertwine your own beliefs with the law. The only principle of the law is that through persistence assumption will harden into a fact. Other than that anything goes except for facts that are wrong.

Here’s old notes I found in my phone lol just so you know what I mean by define the law for you: ignore the writing I was kinda dumb and new to the law 😭😭

Now this is for my void babies if you made it this far.

Read this post.

This is it copied bc the links are wonky sometimes

“My previous method is based on the persistent assumption, which a lot of people don’t know how to do right and it might take some time even for those who have the right self-concept and the mindset, so today I was in the process of manifesting this method.

And I was successful!

This method is for everyone. It’s the easiest Void method.

Do you know that you get into the Void state at night automatically? At that time the whole perceived world disappears for you. Every single perception and assumption you have disappears while your consciousness in the calm and natural Void state.

Use it to your advantage. Now that you know about the Void that you enter when you sleep, the perfect state to manifest anything that you wish to perceive, with no “resistance”, no illusions of annoying solid things around, you only need to remember your scripted starting point in your DR and practice watching it all coming out of the Void.

Practice that scene with your eyes closed, say to yourself:”That is what I perceive. Next time I’m in the Void, I’ll experience this”. You won’t even need to be fully aware of yourself that way when you get into the Void while you are asleep. Your subconscious would do all the work as it now would have the instruction and a clear image of you expecting it.

Personal experience: as I was receiving information on this method, I almost stepped into my DR! I wasn’t even in the absolute void state, I was only creating the scene for this method and I felt it materialise with my senses!

I have great feeling that it’s going to give fast results for others! Try it, teach your subconscious what it needs to bring forth while in the Void, let it do your work for you!”

Lastly, I’m gonna talk abt my beliefs real quick bc the fear of shifting vs manifesting makes me sad for y’all. I understand you don’t wanna leave behind the people you love and that’s not fear to feel ashamed of having! I personally hate the npc mindset a lot of have people have adopted. The only thing we know for sure is that assumptions create realities, and consciousness is the real reality. Everything else boils down to assumptions, except for principles. For example, shifting is not lucid dreaming, even if you assume it to be. That is the principle. I’m just going to copy what I told my mutal bc I’m lazy and need to finish Christmas stuff 😭😭 but Our imagination and the 4D realm are products of our consciousness, which is indeed real. Our view of reality is shaped by our consciousness, since we can't experience everything all at once.

Unless, of course, you shift into a super omnipotent god. Even then, you’d probably still struggle with the concept of infinity because, well, infinity is infinite. And it’s constantly a never exnding expansion. As humans, we're finite beings, and our understanding of the infinite is naturally limited. Because you can’t and won’t ever experience everything at once, infinity is always expanding. Our awareness can be thought of as fragments of consciousness; it's like being a drop of water in a massive ocean. Even though our perception is limited, the infinite is always there, always existing. We simply adjust our awareness to perceive this infinite reality.

And through our consciousness, we are able to tap into other realities or 'multiverses', which give us a broader understanding of existence. This exploration of consciousness and the multiverse is a significant part of my journey into the world of manifestation.

The law of consciousness explains why, when you "shift" or change your perspective, you don't physically move. It's all about altering your state of awareness. This is also why time doesn't really matter in the grand scheme of things. You can become aware of any time or day you want, as long as you choose to be aware of it. It's like having a mental time machine. This law is why infinite universes exist. As long as you can be aware of it, you can assume and embody the state of that person. Whether that's someone with a billion dollars on Earth, or a person who lives in the Attack on Titan world, it's all about your awareness.Our awareness is just a fragment of the larger consciousness – hence the idea of the multiverse. Each universe is a different fragment, a different state of awareness. And we have the power to “shift” into any of these states, therefore shifting into any of these universes.

I’m telling you this bc there’s no need to be afraid of manifesting or being in a reality with robotic versions of the people you love. Ariana grande and Marilyn Monroe for example talk about loa without acknowledging it and we see their success. Neville Goddard and his followers saw each other’s manifestions and I manifest for my friends and they mnaifest for me.

Take a deep breath and let go of the tik tok clone mindsets y’all have they don’t exist. You can manifest and assume anything you want in your imagination. Y’all literally want to manifest things like millions of dollars, revising deaths, living in new countries, having immorality in your waiting rooms, and never aging which is all possible of course. So be for real, why assume and know that you can achieve all that, but it won't manifest exactly how you want? I've also wondered about what happens to the "old version" of people when they manifest their dream life. As far as I'm concerned, they dont exist because you choose not to be aware of them.

I really want to talk about this too, as I've received similar questions and, oh my god, I thought I was alone. I've always been a bit delusional and lived in my head, but when I became conscious of the law, did anyone else feel a sense of self-embarrassment? I don't know what that was, but I'd genuinely feel my soul wanting to throw up envisioning my desires that aren't mine, even though I've always been a daydreamer. It's kind of like when you feel you can't have them or it's strange to envision yourself with something you can't have, so you just purge yourself. 😭

I was thinking back to why that happened and laughing at myself because we need to be serious right now. Why are you getting sick by your own mind? Imagine if Van Gogh, anytime he pulled out a canvas and held a brush, was jump-scared by the brush. Picture him holding out the brush and just staring at the canvas crying because "well, the painting is going to suck 😐," "I don't know what to paint☹️☹️," "I already know it won't be like what I envision in my head 😡😡." Like, bro, the canvas is blank, just fucking paint. That’s why I really like his quote that's like...

“If you hear a voice within you say you cannot paint, then by all means paint and that voice will be silenced.” So If you’re scared of failing, if you’re scared of your desires, or scared of how it will come to fruition, for that reason alone is more so to and manifest it anyways.

But happy holidays guys! make some tea, scroll through Pinterest, read a good book and watch some Christmas films and remember if you can imagine/think your desires you can embody them bc where are you getting it from??

Here are some helpful documents I have read plus a cute vid I saw on insta reels : (let me know if the links are being weird)

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[twilightown]

No matter the current situation versus potential situation, there are going to be parts of a move that suck and are stressful. Especially so if it involves moving states. But just because Some parts are going to inevitably suck doesn't mean all of it is doomed to. I'm not sure where your current residence is, but one good thing about moving somewhere that has regular heatwaves is that there are more resources available when it comes to dealing with them. IK that sounds kinda silly but I feel like it's the truth, ESP when it comes to moving somewhere that gets a lot of tourists. I don't want to be an old man "it's not the heat, it's the humidity" but as a native Floridian I can't help but stress that it's the truth xD.

Leaving a support system does sound very scary, but if it is around Orlando/Lake Buena Vista that you want to move to, at least it should be within reasonable distance of an airport when it comes to calling for help or needing to fly out for some reason. Traffic is going to suck, but like the heat it's something you will get used to. This is a move people make a lot, and while that doesn't make it any easier, I hope it helps it feel like it's not so dumb and impossible. Another thing I want to include in this word wall is this: You're smart and an adult and I'm sure you don't need to be told that you're probably not going to get the exact position you want right away. It might be something you have to work up towards or have just a 'getting by' job until you do get your foot in the door or on the path to the door you wanna go through. It's gonna be hard and there are gonna be days in your happy place that aren't as happy and there are probably times you're gonna feel like it sucks. But sucky days aren't going to completely eliminate the possibility of good days. I believe in you and have all of my fingers and toes crossed that this is something that works out in your favor with as few hiccups as possible. The chances of there being no hiccups at all is really slim, but, I am still hoping and praying that things swing in your favor as much as they can.

I needed to hear all this today, thank u 🥰

You’re right, I hadn’t thought of the various resources for heat they’ve got. My previous college program, they were able to move me to nights or early mornings which was nice! I really enjoyed working those. Opening was a joy tbh. Closing was a joy as well.

That is the area - like a 20 mile range from WDW lol. The traffic is something I’m not as worried about because I did it in my programs and lawd my hometown has it worse.

I’m coming from a gentrified medium city on the Eastern seaboard that’s gotten too many incoming tourists for our infrastructure to handle. It’s bumper to bumper from 4:30 to 6 at cross sections because there’s only one or two major routes. Maddening.

You’re right about the airport. My town flies direct to MCO so that’ll be easy. (Just gotta solve the pets for trips back and forth…)

Absolutely, I’m expecting to have to network and work my way up. I’m going to apply for everything when the time is right and see what sticks. My husband will be able to find a job, EZPZ. I’ve got a nice resume and I’m planning to really make my LinkedIn page nice? Try to network on Disney’s alumni website too. See if I can find any work that’s $20+ with them. 🤷🏼‍♀️ If not, I’ll go executive assistant route or try the other theme park or teach. (In Florida? It’s lowest on my list.) Disney has multiple roles for me to use my education degree. Just, like you said, got to get my foot in the door

Thank u kind stranger. This is a large move. And it’s not impossible… But it is life changing. It’s not just me involved. Thinking about how much I love my current job (at the moment) is making me hesitate too. Idk, next years’s students may have me packing my bags.

Our plan is to move at the new year. Professional internships will have started if I need to go that route. I’ll have stayed a semester at my school, we’ll have Christmas goodbyes and enough money saved to pay everything we need to for the move. Just feels right.

[earth-scented]

I am of the opinion that Cody and Satori are extremely sus and I would like more debunking before I will believe they are real. If they are not frauds they should be willing to do more experiments, so I guess we will see. I think the next move is on them tbh, they are being called out, now we wait and see what they do and how they respond, the way they do both these things will give us an answer I think.

However I do not believe Sam and Colby are in on it at all, their reactions are too genuine for me to believe that so if Cody and Satori are scam artists/fakers then in my eyes SnC got played just as much as their audience.

Also in relation to your comments about 'deleted messages' the disappearing comments that you speak of have been explained as certain algorithms that come with certain sites, especially youtube any posts with links in for example, the youtube algorithm will automatically delete as ironically youtube has measures to protect against bots posting scams and things like that, often posts with links or certain words the site automatically erases.

Plus we know SnC don't really read the comments on youtube videos anymore (especially Colby) as they have stated as such in interviews they've gotten to the point where they just can't do it anymore which is actually really sad. So any deletions on that platform not related to the algorithm have probably been done by a member of their team whose job is likely to manage their youtube socials and keep it positive so will erase anything too negative.

The one place I've seen them interacting with comments about the series regularly has been on Instagram, everywhere else they appear online for a very limited amount of time and maybe reply to one thing each. I've not seen disappearing comments on these other platforms myself but feel free to tell me I'm wrong.

I will say I suspect they probably ignore a lot of the comments calling Cody and Satori out because a lot of them go about it in a very negative and unfriendly way which a person can only take so much of. So maybe we'd get more of a response from them on this topic if we were not so aggressive on the topic, and approached it more as a friendly debate I dunno.

But yeah, my two cents after seeing your last anon reply which seemed to imply you thought SnC were in on it all.

If they weren't in on it then, they certainly are now.

Like i said, they're choosing to push the whole "this is a life-changing thing" narrative, knowing very well it's a fraud. First episode was released in theaters, they got huge sponsorship moneys plus the entire series gives off "the new & improved conjuring house management" advert. Anyone with two brain cells can see this is a business deal involving a lot of money and legal documentation and nobody's gonna give statements, address anything or explain themselves unless it's prearranged and benefits both sides.

Satori's dad is well known for faking evidence on Ghost Hunters, she was literally raised into industry. Cody has been clicking his whatever for years on camera, before they met. Them claiming they don't take money for it is simply a lie because they run a website, a traveling museum, sell merch and get paid as the CH employees so what the fuck do everyone think that is, if not taking money and making profits? Which is fine! Just don't lie about it.

Comments are censored either by youtube settings or their production team. They're not some kids running around with a camera anymore, they have people paid to do stuff. It's their business and livelihood. I don't understand why are people so blatantly oblivious to that.

When money, fame and relevance are involved, integrity often goes out the window.

[swedishshieldmaiden]

Any books you recommend? I want to read as much as I can to educate/inform myself on paganism/wicca/witchcraft because I am so fascinated by it all. I would love to practice it. But I want to know a lot before really starting.

So if you have any books that helped you a lot when starting. It would be really great!!

Sorry for not answering this sooner. I saw the question and had to let it sit in my inbox partly due to finals but also because it's a bit of a tricky question for me. Since I am Swedish most of the sources I've read are in Swedish and I would be more than willing to recommend some of them if anyone is interested. However since you asked the question in english I'm gonna have to assume that you'd prefer some sources in english. I am a norse pagan so all of my recommendations will be related to that. Many of these sources are good not only for understanding the norse mythology but also the cultural context in which they were written and the religion was practiced in.

Before I begin to answer this I think it is important that I mention that you can practice in pretty much any way you want. Considering we have quite little source material from the actual viking age about exact practices during rituals it is quite hard to say what the RIGHT way to worship is. The one thing I can say is to be respectful towards the Gods and towards nature. Now let's get into the meat of this question.

As some of you are aware I'm currently taking a university course in Old Norse religion at my university. Some of the sources I've come in contact through this course are in english so I'll start by recommending them!

1. More than Mythology: Narratives, Practices and Regional Distribution in Pre-Christian Scandinavian Religions by Catharina Raudvere and Jens Peter Schjødt. (Specifically the chapter called "Continuity, Change and Regional Variation in Old Norse Religion", but I'm sure the whole book is interesting. It's available on google books.)

2. Old Norse Religion in Long Term Perspectives: Origins, Changes and Interactions by Anders Andrén. (Haven't had the time to read this one yet but I will soon and it looks really promising. Also available on google books.)

There were a few more in english but i think these two were the most relevant. They are academic books however and focus a lot on historical facts and theories. As for actual, modern day practice I'd recommend internet sources.

1. https://asa-community.se/ Here is a link to one of the more serious norse pagan groups in Sweden. The website has the option to be viewed in english. I am not part of this group but from what I have heard and seen on their website they are serious in their worship and it's founded on good principles. They might not offer the most in terms of facts but they have some good tips for how to think and how to practice the norse pagan faith, specially if you are new and need some guidance. Of course this is just one way to do it, there are multiple ways to worship the Gods as stated above.

2. Life and Afterlife: Dealing with the Dead in the Viking Age by Neil Price: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uu2gN8n15_A (A lecture by the archaeologist Neil Price at the University of Cornell. It's about practices concerning burials and an analysis of Ibn Fadlan's text about meeting with Rus vikings. I'm sorry, I'm a history major so these sorts of videos and sources are important to me).

3. Jackon Crawford on YouTube. He is a scholar at the University of Colorado and specialises in Old Norse. His videos are good but sadly I watch them quite rarely. https://www.youtube.com/c/JacksonCrawford/videos

4. Lastly of course the eddas and other norse literature. However I am unsure what english translations are good.

Finally, before I finish this post bc it got super long, a book that I love and perhaps was more of what you were asking for anon.

1. Norse Gods by Johan Egerkrans. (Beautiful illustrations that accompany some of the stories from the Eddas in an easy to read way).

Sources are important and it is a constant issue within this community to know which sources are good and which are less good. All sources should of course be approached with a critical lens! I'm sorry that this answer is a bit all over the place, I had a hard time answering this question tbh. I hope it is a bit helpful at least. I did not include any sources about wicca/witch stuff bc I do not identify as a witch. For that I'd have to direct you, anon, to a different blog I'm afraid.

Thank you for reading and thank you for asking anon!

[bisluthq]

YOU GUESSED IT... SWIFTIESLEUTH IS REBRANDING

Once upon a time, a few mistakes ago, I started a Tumblr called Swiftiesleuth to talk about my long-standing belief that mega famous pop star Taylor Swift could be a teensy liiiil bit of a fruitcake (/affectionate) and that the 2017 album Reputation is likely inspired by more than one muse.

It was a pretty simple concept for a fandom Tumblr tbh born out of a deep rooted boredom in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic. 

But because I am canonically fucked in the head, instead of it being a normal ass Tumblr blog, this project soon became this:

Which is to say this very straightforward concept for a fandom Tumblr blog evolved to also to talk about a whole lot of other things like: celebrity culture in general and the messy shit famous people get up to and politics and the concept of fame and the weirdness of fandom and conspiracy theories and the fluidity and complexities of human sexuality and life advice and lyrical analyses and Riverdale and funny anecdotes from my life and just... the random stuff that pops into my head that I - and as it turned out others - appeared to find interesting. 

I began by shouting into the void, but then the void shouted right back. 

And so here we are. 

...

We’re rebranding. 

Swiftiesleuth is no more. 

We’re Bislut HQ now. 

How did I get to the name? Here’s the most simple origin story. Here are more thoughts on it.

Basically some people on a forum known as The L Chat were r00d about me and it kinda did the opposite of what they were aiming for because it made me feel inspired and empowered and actually made me want to make other people feel the way I was feeling in that moment. So that’s what’s happening. We’re making bisluts a thing now.

And to be clear: being a bislut is very much a state of mind rather than a sexual orientation. It’s like being a Derry Girl. It means you’re embracing the culture. You’re challenging heteronormativity and monosexualities as defaults, even if you know you yourself are fitting into those molds. You’re challenging societal norms and slut shaming and a golden number. You’re challenging the binaries of gender. You’re even challenging allosexuality. Ace folk are 100% valid and 100% bisluts if they feel so inclined. Like I say… It’s a state of mind.

And so you’re all invited.

Is it just a name change? Why the big fuss?

NAH. It isn’t just a name change. It’s also part of a rollout of fun new projects and brand new types of content to keep you engaged and entertained and interested and - on occasion - even educated. 

Firstly, we’re launching a website! 

Secondly, we’re using that website to launch a SUBSCRIPTION BASED WEEKLY NEWSLETTER called Dispatches from Bislut Culture. 

What’s Dispatches from Bislut Culture?

Dispatches is a weekly newsletter that will include:

Original content that’s either too wild or too speculative for this Tumblr.

Longform op eds that we feel won’t receive much engagement here and will wind up buried by asks, and should rather be read on a leisurely Sunday arvie. 

A highlights reel of the activity on the Tumblr - I know lots of you have lowkey complained about how insanely active this page is and how it’s hard to keep up so guess what? I’m gonna do it for you. 

AND BECAUSE WHY TF NOT: 

Agony AuNAT UNCHAINED AND UNCESORED EDITION - if you have stuff to ask that’s… ya know… WILD… email us at bislutculture@gmail.com with the subject as AGONY AUNAT UNCHAINED and I’ll answer subscribers, either formally in the newsletter or if it’s like… THAT WILD I’ll reply to the email (but only if you’ve subscribed).

How much is this gonna cost? For now, it’ll be $5 per month for 4 comprehensive weekly newsletters and sundry content I throw in.

My dudes [/slur] that’s less than ordering lunch.

That’s $1.25 a week. 

And you’re gonna get all of the above + SURPRISES! 

Why are you moving to a paid content model?

I am a professional writer. I spend a huge amount of time that I could spend pitching and crafting work for other avenues working on this... every single day, no weekends. And while it obviously brings me joy, it’s also… something I’m good at because it is my real world job and I work really hard at it. So at a certain point it’s just about being practical.

I would honestly much rather do this than write stuff I don’t care about. I would much rather work on this than write B2B advertorials. But I also need to eat tbh. It’s kind of that simple.

While I will always provide free content for you - on both the Tumblr and tbh the new website - I’m going to start charging for things that I HOPE YOU WANT. 

If you have suggestions, complaints or general issues feel free to reach out to the email I’ve mentioned: bislutculture@gmail.com and I’ll try to get to them.

In the meanwhile, I hope you check out the new website and sign up for the newsletter and additional members only content by subscribing!

The first newsletter will be in your inbox on Sunday morning (or afternoon depending on timezone… or Saturday… idk timezones are weird man, you’ll get it dw).

And there’ll be some sneaky, fun ass members-only content up on the website ALREADY UP TODAY for those who do sign up. 

xxx

Nat & Sim

[baka-monarch]

Alrighty! *Slams hands on a desk*

You see this?! *Gestures to the oh so wonderful Music Tubbox au*

It's... it's beautiful.

I have some questions about it that I'd like to hear your thoughts on, if you don't mind. (This is going to be long)

*Before I start, I'm recalling these details with the inability to double check atm but it should be fine*

You mentioned Tubbo wanting to escape the music box to where he wouldn't have to dance if the music box played, so does the box have a certain range of area in order to control Tubbo?

(Now for potential headcanon time >:D)

If so, a fluffy route is Tommy and Tubbo chilling (after knowing each other for a bit) and having placed the music box deep in the basement or something. They could get rid of it, but they don't know if the magic tied to Tubbo is also tied as close with the box. (Life line stuff- and it's not fluff anymore. I tried.)

The angst route tho (and gotta love some angst) is if say Tubbo is out of the general "range" of the box to dance but the music box calls to him-the music is played- from wherever. A scenario where Tubbo can't ignore its call and is forced to go reunite with the box- whether he's concious of the pull and heading back to where it is despite the dread or whether he's unconscious, like its an automatic process and his mind blanks as he hurries to be back with the box. (The possibilities if someone got their hands on the box with the angst mhmm)

And speaking of someone getting ahold of the music box...

Dream.

:)

Dream gets ahold of the box (maybe noticing Tommy originally getting it, or like, Wilbur might've been doing a photo gallery of things to sell to potential customers idk stay with me, and skips over it fast or is like "oh, I already sold that one" to try and cover the fact that the box is very much NOT for sale, and not within their possession in case anyone did perk up with interest)

I don't know what Dream's profession would be... or relationship with Wilbur and co, but I could see him doing it (taking the box) to mess with Tommy. He took one of Tommy's finds that Tommy seems to appreciate. (The whole "you're too fun" dynamic because c!Dream just loves seeing kids in pain)

Dream could know about Tubbo prior or after the whole thing. (After playing the music box, Dream sees Tubbo arrive at some point to be with the box)

Tubbo is understandably terrified. Tubbo and the music box had never really been separated before this moment -out of the range-. (Tommy could have either just agreed to not play the box and have put it downstairs or Tubbo tried to escape the range and Tommy physically went after him, not choosing to utilize the music box.)

OR ALTERNATIVELY They do know, maybe Tubbo could have known this would happen because Tommy and him tested it out to see if he was free and Tubbo was like "I didn't want to come back... it /made/ me come back..." So que the alarm bells when Tommy realizes the box is gone after he can't find Tubbo.

Anyway! Back to Tubbo and Dream. (Tbh as soon as doll!Tubbo became a tag I went "Pawn? Puppeteer Dream? Porcelain doll? Puppet?!) A chess piece for a pawn might be bigger than doll!Tubbo... (o.O) 2-3 inches is pretty small.

So... assuming Dream does realize how important Tubbo is to Tommy, Dream uses it to his advantage. (Is making Tubbo dance the only thing the music box can do? Or could it control Tubbo to do other things as well 👀... depending on the music box holder 👀... up to you)

That brings me to the doll!Tubbo is "fairly fragile" as you stated in one of the asks. Which yes, great, stunning, he can feel things, and if one of his arms gets chopped off? Well that's alot of damage. Can Tubbo die while he's "fairly fragile"? (I mean the name implies he's fragile so... I guess so...)

Because alternatively, (and this is just for the idea) consider Tubbo still being fragile physically, but he can't die-or atleast is hard to kill-. A porcelain body, but he doesn't really feel sensations. (Because he is a doll, and do dolls breathe, do dolls have heartbeats, hmm) Tubbo's body is still breakable, maybe he loses an arm. "What a shame" but he lives on, there's not much he can do. He can't feel anything besides the solids underneath him and the things he touches. No smell or texturized sensations. He can't feel pain, so he could get cut up into pieces and still be aware of exsistence. (The whole clothes stuck to body thing tho I don't want to disprove that)

If he couldn't feel pain, imagine Dream drilling small holes on his body to add little puppeteer strings. Dream is excited he can't wait to hold /this/ over Tommy's head.

Tubbo, being dragged by strings, is completely helpless, and once realizing that Dream relishes in his struggles, has mainly given up.

Do they talk to one another? Who knows...

You mentioned a potential counter curse which... fluff good fluff, but what of it involved Tubbo slowly gaining "human characteristics" back (more so to the idea that Tubbo can't feel sensations, smell things or feel pain)

And then the drilling starts, and for the first time in a long time, Tubbo feels pain. (Also the drilling puppet strings is dark, yessir, but I forgot Tubbo was porcelain and was like ah yes wood doll, ah yes, puppet strings go brr)

Anyway, that was my ramble, thanks for reading this!

-EchoLocation

FINALLY!!! SOMEONE IS INTERESTED IN THIS AU!!! THANK YOU ECHOLOCATION!!!!!!

Okay okay okay-

So (it's gonna be hard to answer all of this but I'mma try-)

Music box control: there is a range, basically if Tubbo can hear the music he has to dance to it- BUT if he's out of range and someone plays the music he is forced to get into range to hear it from the curse (like what you said with him being stuck in a trance and going to find it). As for control, you can use the box to make him do other things, but you have to change the melody (music boxes have this little metal roll in them that has dots to play the song, and you can buy a new one and change it any time) and sing an actual song to that melody about what you want him to do- singing to the original melody doesn't work

Dream: Dream is probably someone who buys and trades stolen items from Wilbur alot. And most likely a hidden fae. So, Wilbur had taken a picture of the box and posted it on his (secret) website before he knew about Tubbo, and when Dream saw it- he immediately recognised the cursed music box and wanted it. Of course by then Wilbur would be unwilling to sell it, but Dream has his ways (fae cursed the box remember? So, what fae that's going to steal this box do you think was there when it was cursed? Dream. So who knows how to utilize the curse? Dream.)

Tubbo and pain: Tubbo can feel pain. But he can't die. So you can shatter him to a million pieces and he would be in agony unless someone glued him back together- and he can't pass out- (I know, I'm a monster). Dream knows all of this- so when he wants a puppet it just makes him do a sloppy job at drilling the holes in, just so he can hurt Tubbo more.

Counter curse: through the counter Tubbo would turn back very slowly, and it would take at least a year to turn completely human again (although he would be free from the box's control instinaniously)- as well as, even though he was turned into a tiny doll, he can't be grown back, so he's now a tiny human- but at least a free tiny human

(I think I got it all?)

Mcyt g/t tag list:

@nomynameisanon @trashpumped @loriepoptale @encaos @i-am-a-weeb @wyforyu-gaming @shy-septic-dragon @5unfl0writ3r @colorfulsiren @moonmwah @iwasgoingtohellanyways @echoslime @wilbur-simp @trouble-off-grid @the-misfits-system

[thepoliticalpatient]

How to get your Humira level tested thru Prometheus

I started taking Humira for my Crohn's in July of last year. Getting onto this medication was a gigantic pain in my ass, but I actually think the part that ended up being the hardest was dealing with getting my levels tested, so I wanted to write a post detailing that process. There is lots of info here that I wish I had known at the start. I actually have been wanting to write this post since last September, which was when I actually had the test done, but the whole situation didn't get fully wrapped up until today, 6 months later, and I didn't want to write it until I had complete information.

I will try very hard to make this an informative post and not just a rant but I'm not sure I have the self-restraint tbh.

OK, to start: what even is this test? With biologics, you need to maintain a high enough concentration of the drug in your system, to prevent your body from producing antibodies against the medication, and for it to be effective. My (now former - more on that soon lol) gastroenterologist is pretty passionate about making sure his patients keep a good level and will have them go on a weekly dose instead of the normal every-other-week dose if their levels aren't to his liking.

Importantly, the timing of this test is vital. You can't get it measured in the days immediately after you inject or your levels will be super high. The goal is to find out what the level is when it's at its lowest, i.e. in the day or two before your injection. My (former) gastroenterologist wanted me to get this test done between my second and third doses. That didn't end up happening because of how much of a clusterfuck this whole thing was.

So this test is only done by one company in the United States, Prometheus Biosciences. The name of the test is Anser ADA. They also have similar tests for measuring the levels of other biologics, like Anser IFX which measures Remicade levels (ADA = adalimumab, which is the generic name for Humira; IFX = infliximab, or Remicade). They have tests for Stelara and Entyvio too. If I had to guess, I'd say that the info in this post is probably pertinent to those tests as well, but I cannot guarantee it. I only know for sure about my own experience with Anser ADA.

Because this test can only be performed by Prometheus, it is likely that you cannot just go to your hospital's lab and have them draw your blood. It's possible they will do this draw for you and mail the blood to Prometheus, but you'll want to be certain to clarify this with your doctor.

My doctor's office gave me a lot of extremely wrong information, so I had no idea about this. I actually showed up at my hospital's phlebotomy lab on the morning before my third Humira dose, handed them a form that my doctor's staff had given me that contained the order for the bloodwork, and they took my blood and I thought I was done with it. Then WEEKS later at my next appointment with my doctor, he was like "did you ever get that Prometheus test done?" and I was like "wait do you not have the results back from the blood I gave weeks ago?" and he was like "you absolute imbecile, we can't do that lab for you, you need to schedule that with Prometheus's phlebotomists" (I'm paraphrasing a little bit here). To this day I have no idea what happened to the blood I gave at the lab! I assume they were like "wait what do we do with this lol" and then threw it in the garbage and didn't bother to inform me????

This was just one of many bad experiences I’ve had with this doctor/hospital, but this was the one that finally pushed me over the edge. I have since changed to a new GI at a different hospital (which was its own fucking saga, omg, it should not be so hard to get your medical records transferred from one hospital to another).

ANYWAY, my point is, be very certain to talk with your doctor about whether your hospital can draw this blood for you. If they can't, you have to call Prometheus to set up a draw with them.

Prometheus is located in California but contracts with a network of phlebotomists throughout the country. You can set up an appointment for a phlebotomist to come to your home to draw your blood.

For some goddamn reason, instead of equipping their phlebotomists with the supplies they'll need, Prometheus will mail you a package ahead of your appointment that contains some supplies.

Here's my next pro-tip: Prometheus will use some very scary language to make it sound like you need to be waiting right at the door when this package arrives and to immediately put some of the contents of the package into the freezer or else something terrible will happen. This is not true. What's actually happening here is that the package will contain some shipping supplies, including an insulated container and an ice pack, which the phlebotomist will need in order to store your blood safely. They want you to pre-freeze that ice pack before the phlebotomist arrives so that it will be ready to go as soon as your blood is drawn. That's it. So there's nothing in the package that's gonna, like, go bad or something if you don't get it into the freezer right away.

The whole thing was kind of stressful because I didn't have any tracking info on the package or anything, but it did arrive ahead of my appointment.

Okay so the next big topic here is PAYMENT. This is a $2,500 test, and most insurance doesn't cover it.

Around the same time I scheduled the draw with Prometheus, I sent a message to my insurance carrier to ask whether they would cover the test. The rep who replied to my message needed to know the CPT code for the test and the NPI for Prometheus, which I found on Prometheus's prior authorization form here. The insurance rep then said that this test would require my doctor to complete a prior authorization. If I got the prior auth, then insurance would cover the test at the out-of-network rate, which would require me to pay 35% of the cost. Without the prior authorization, they would deny the claim entirely.

I sent a message to my doctor's office asking them to complete the prior authorization stat, as I had already scheduled the draw with Prometheus and there wasn't much time. I was hesitant to cancel my draw, because that would require me to wait at least another 2 weeks (since you have to time the draw with your Humira doses), and I was already months later on this test than my doctor had originally wanted because of the whole snafu with thinking I could get it drawn at my hospital. My doctor's assistant replied and said she didn't think they'd have time to complete the prior auth, but not to cancel my appointment. She assured me that Prometheus would not charge me more than $75 if my insurance denied the claim.

I was extremely nervous about this. I was mainly concerned because I had found this info about Prometheus's payment assist program, which says that they'll reduce the charge to $75 if your income is below a certain threshold, and mine is not. Based on the info on that page, it looked like I didn’t qualify for any cost reduction, so I was pretty convinced they were gonna charge me the full $2,500.

Looking at the claims on my insurer's website, I see that Prometheus indeed tried to charge my insurance $2,500 for the test, and my insurance denied it. There is an additional $50 claim to my insurance, which insurance did pay, which I think was for the cost of having the phlebotomist visit my home.

Prometheus sent me several mailers about their payment assist program, which I just ignored because my income is too high. And for the next 6 months I sat anxiously waiting to receive a bill in the mail for several thousand dollars.

Well I'm happy to report that today, I finally received the bill from Prometheus, and it is for $75. I don't know why exactly they reduced it to that amount, but I am certainly not going to complain.

Now, I'm not certain of this, but my GUESS would be that the $75 rate is only for people who are doing self-pay. So, hilariously, if I had gotten the prior authorization done on time, my out of network coinsurance would have required me to pay 35% of the total claim, which would be $875. So, I mean....I can't guarantee that your experience will be the same as mine, but it seems to me like it is to your advantage to not go through your insurance for this test.

Oh, and Prometheus will NOT hold your test results hostage while they try to get paid. They sent the results to my doctor soon after the draw. And my levels were good!

ANYWAY, this was long, but I wanted to share everything I wish I had known before going through this. I hope it will help someone else who is trying to navigate this process!!!

[eddiemunsonssoulmate]

Make love, not war: The anti- OBX drama edition

Okay kids, listen up.

I’m too old for all of this drama and I’ve been on this hellsite for way too long to just keep watching it in silence so this is gonna be my only, long ass post about this mess that has occured/is occuring. I’m trying to get my thoughts out and and maybe talk some sense into the last three braincells some people have left.

These are my thoughts. My opinion. It’s totally fine if you disagree but if you feel strongly offended or called out by this, you might be part of the problem.

I’ve been watching the drama for a while now and normally I’m just someone who’s on the quiet side, grabbing a box of popcorn and watching how y’all tear each other to pieces but seriously? 

Some of you really need to get a life.

Fandom life isn’t always easy, fandom life can be messy, some people are not what they seem, yadda yadda.

But seriously, did you lose all the respect you had when you’ve signed up on this website or social media in general?

First: The Rudy “drama”

Someone, a really sweet and nice to everyone person, stated a theory based on an anon ask who based their ask on a social media website. A theory. A worst case scenario of what might have happened. They wanted to be nice and answer to every anon they’re getting but guys. 

Guys.

It was a theory. A mere idea of what might have happened because someone asked, nothing else. It was not facts, there was no evidence and the ask that caused all of this was not based on facts either. It can totally be fun to speculate about things. You’re allowed to believe what you want. Rudy’s a dick, Rudy’s a sweet angel, Rudy is a blue alien in disguise, everyone is allowed to have an opinion on something but oh my god.

Don’t make facts out of theories. 

Don’t look at three emotes and be like “oh my god they have to be dating!”

Don’t make a drama out of two actors not liking each other’s posts on Instagram like what the heck.

When did Social Media take over your life so much that you interpret everything in those little things? There’s a real life out there, ya know?

We don’t know anything for a fact so let it go. Wait until someone says something official which probably won’t happen.

More importantly, stay out of actors' private lives as much as you can. Seriously. You’re welcome to state your opinion about them, make theories, stuff like that but tbh, it’s better to stay out of it because at the end of your day, it’s none of our business. Celebrity stalking is not and never will be cool. Don’t waste your time and energy of trying to figure something out they clearly don’t want you to see. Best example for this are like, baby news.

I know it can be exciting to figure stuff out. I know you can be totally curious because you like that person and want to find things about their life but don’t blow it out of proportion.

Actors are humans. Actors are not their characters. They have their own private life and if they want to share, that’s cool. If not, then that’s also cool. And tbh, the OBX cast is feeding us a lot more way more than other actors from other shows/movies, god bless them.

But who the fuck do you think you are that you’re sending them, the actors or the people talking about it, hate based on a simple theory on a website that has a life on it’s own and things that happen on here should stay on here? That’s not cool, it’s a shame for other people in the fandom. Why would you want to make a person feel bad because I’m pretty sure you wouldn’t like to feel this way either.

They’re grown ups, they can do what they want. You don’t have to like it but for the love of god:

Have some respect for a human being.

Second: The Chase Thing aka #chasestokespartyisover

That last sentence totally applies here too.

Have respect for a human being.

Boy made a tweet over ten years ago where he said something that was problematic. Was that cool? No. Did he apologize? Yes. Is it time to let it go? Totally. Was his hacking excuse true or not? WE DON’T KNOW.

You know what’s not cool tho? Some people taking their time to scroll down TEN YEARS AND MORE on a timeline to get some tea on them that you can use and complain about.

I know quarantine can get boring but jfc guys. There are more things to life than obsessing over an actor, ya know.

We all said shit in our youth, that’s a fact but people change. They grow. Don’t compare a teenage boy with a grown ass man.

You know what’s also totally 100% not acceptable? People photoshopping fake screenshots to show what a big mean white boi Chase is, trying to fuel the fire of hate. What the fuck is wrong in those minds?

Cancel Culture is a toxic phenomenon that should be the only thing getting canceled. You can’t cancel people, ya know. It’s fucking toxic to say something like that and just...don’t, man. I barely have any words left to describe this stupid thing.

Make love, not war. Spread love, not hate.

Fandom is not a place to rip each other to pieces. Not everything in this world is about race, sex/gender or problematic things. Just because someone doesn’t reblog a lot about Madison it’s mostly not because of racism or because she’s queer. Sure, that’s probably the case for some people but you know, those people aren’t worth it then.

Fandom is not a place that should spread hate around, especially not on anon, sending people asks filled with hate. There’s a bunch of younger kids on here, especially in the OBX fandom from what I’ve seen so far and it’s not okay to tell a 15 year old girl to tell her to go kill herself because she likes Rudy more than JD or shit like that. It’s never okay to something like that but it hits the younger ones even harder. Maybe it’s their first fandom and people ruin that experience on the spot, feeling powerful while on anon.

Fandom should be a place where we come together and have fun. Make friends and share things. Gifset, fanfics, theories about the new season, things like that. It should be a place to freak out over new teasers, new pictures from the set, the cast sharing stuff on their platform of choice and just things we enjoy.

There are different ways to block and blacklist on Tumblr, especially if you’re using it in a browser on your laptop/pc. Use that to block toxic people, tags you don’t wanna see and create your own little bubble where you’re happy in. Do this in case you feel uncomfortable with some people around here, so you only see what makes you happy.

Please remind yourself about the fact that behind all those blogs, there are real people. People who all have their own lives, own opinions, own ideas. Same goes for actors. They’re not there for your personal entertainment, they don’t have to share their complete private life with you. They’re human, just like you and me and it’s unacceptable to send them hate, no matter what they’ve done. You don’t have to like them but keep it to yourself or talk about it with friends, I don’t give a shit but leave it out of their sight.

Please remind yourself that we want to have a good time here and especially during times like these where we spend more time on here than we probably should *laughs*

If you made it to the end, thank you for your attention and taking your time and remember:

Be nice to each other, the world is cruel enough.

-Captain out.

[aqpippin]

For things you said: 16 and more jankie pls 😊

16 - things you said with no space between us 

I really am living vicariously through these prompts tbh 🥺 I’m soft and am a huge jankie + crygi simp 🤧🥰✨

 Daisy Goode-Methyd’s first day away from her moms occurred when she was only eight weeks old, with Gigi and Crystal finally succumbing to Jan pressuring them into their first baby-free day since Daisy’s arrival. 

Jackie’s eyes had bulged out of her head when she saw how much ‘essential’ baby equipment was brought into her and Jan’s apartment that morning. 

‘We’re only having her for a few hours, right?’ Jackie had asked, watching as Gigi assembled a portable bassinet in the living room, ‘it’s not like we’re keeping her.’ Jan slapped her arm playfully, shushing her with a low giggle. Judging by the number of bottles Crystal was packing into the fridge, anyone would have thought that the Cox family had a new addition. 

 Jan had all but pushed the new moms out the door, assuring them that they’d be fine and that she would call if she needed anything. Jackie looked down at Daisy, who stared back up at her from the bassinet with wide, brown eyes. Jan was smitten, scooping the tiny brunette up in her arms and breathing in the fresh baby scent. She was in absolute heaven. 

 *** 

Jackie and Jan had gone into the day expecting very different things. Jan had always loved children - she had always been maternal, and she often stated that she was simply ‘born to be a mom’. She would be a platinum blonde PTA wet dream - homemade baked goods and all. Jackie, however, had her reservations. Babies were loud, messy, and terrifying. She had barely held Daisy before, let alone looked after her. Jackie knew that motherhood was something that she would tackle one day, after she had achieved everything on her to-do list (and decided that she was finished unpacking her issues regarding her own mother with her therapist). It was simply something Jackie couldn’t envision happening for at least a few more years. 

Nonetheless, both Jackie and Jan experienced things they did not expect during their day with their favourite (and only) godchild. 

Jackie did not expect to actually find taking care of a baby fun, her motherhood-driven anxiety seemingly disappearing for the majority of the day. If you had asked Jackie at 9am where her expectations for the day sat - she would have told you that the bar was on the floor. Hence her pleasant surprise when she found herself enjoying Daisy’s company. However, she did not have the ability to swallow her pride and admit her contentment to Jan, sneering the occasional ‘shut up’ when Jan caught her smiling or making funny faces at the small child. Daisy didn’t whine the way Jan did when Jackie started watching another episode of Star Trek, and she listened contently to Jackie’s existential dread. She also happened to have a bottle in her mouth on both occasions, but that was something Jackie chose to overlook. 

 *** 

Jan did not expect the 6pm meltdown. Daisy was inconsolable - screaming, fat tears rolling down her red cheeks. Crystal joked about how much of a bitch witching hour was, but Jan always thought she was just being funny. There was a part of the blonde that regretted telling Gigi and Crystal that they would be fine for a few more hours, that they had everything under control. But a bigger part of Jan knew that Gigi and Crystal not only needed this break, they deserved it - and as a result, Jan knew that she and Jackie would just have to work together and sort this out themselves. Daisy was fed, bathed and changed - and yet the girl was screaming as if her aunts had neglected her and her mommies were never coming back. 

“What does Google say?” Jan asked, rocking Daisy in her arms and trying to coax her into taking a pacifier with no avail. Jackie felt like she had scrolled through every mommy blog that existed, and she was yet to find some new information, “Jacks, maybe we should just call them.” 

“No way,” Jackie refused, she was a woman on a mission, and she sighed with relief when she finally found a somewhat reputable help website, “got something. This one says she’s overtired and overstimulated. Also just try holding her against your chest.” Jan nodded to no-one in particular, cradling Daisy closer to her as Jackie turned off all the lights and the television, only the soft pinks and golds of sunset bleeding through the closed blinds. The tiny child in Jan’s arms still refused to settle, Jan humming softly as she stared blankly at Jackie for help. 

“Turn that ugly little white noise thing machine on, I have a plan.” Jackie instructed, pointing to the white, cloud-shaped device sitting on their coffee table.

“Hearing you say that isn’t as comforting as you think it is.” Jan whispered harshly, flicking the switches on and listening as the sound of the traffic on the streets below them was slowly drowned out by the sound of artificial rainfall.

“You’re gonna think this is stupid, and I swear to God if you so much as laugh.” Jackie mused, walking back into the living room in just a sports bra and sleep shorts. She repositioned the soft blue muslin wrap in Daisy’s bassinet, motioning for Jan to bring her over so Jackie could swaddle her. Jan abided wordlessly, watching in silence as Jackie successfully wrapped and pacified the tiny brunette before laying on the couch with Daisy’s head on her chest. The screaming had finally subsided, and if Jan couldn’t hear the white noise machine she would have sworn she’d gone deaf. She stood in awe, looking down at her wife who was softly stroking Daisy’s back with one hand and texting with the other. 

“Come snuggle before she gets too settled.” Jackie sighed, making just enough room between herself and the back of the couch for Jan to cuddle into her side. Jan didn’t need to be asked twice. It was a tight squeeze, but it was so sickeningly domestic Jan didn’t care. Even Jackie found peace in the overwhelming cosiness, long limbs entangled and soft baby breaths making her heart beat just that little bit quicker. 

“She’s so gorgeous. Like a little ray of sunshine. And after all that, she just wanted her auntie Jackie,” Jan cooed, nestling her head into the space between Jackie’s neck and shoulder. The angle was just enough for Jan to be able to see the slight smile resting upon Jackie’s face, “how’d you even think of doing this anyway?” 

“I remember Crystal talking about it once,” Jackie turned her head so she could look down at her wife before pressing a few soft kisses to Jan’s forehead, “apparently your heartbeat is nature’s white noise, and body heat does wonders with babies.” The look of awe on Jan’s face only intensified, and she could feel a swarm of butterflies flapping in her tummy. Ever insightful, Jackie was quick to notice Jan’s gaze. 

“What’s that look for? What’s going on in that pretty blonde head of yours?” 

“I can’t wait to do this for real with you,” Jan sniffled, wiping a few happy tears from her cheeks, “I know you don’t think it’s true, but you’ll be a good mom.” Jackie basked in the glow of Jan’s praise, holding Jan’s hand and squeezing in silent thanks. 

“Let’s have one.” It was said so simply - no fuss, no dramatic and sudden realisation. It just felt right. 

 “Really?” Jan was practically beaming, the words she had been patiently waiting to hear finally being thrown into the universe, “you’re really ready?” 

“I don’t know if I’ll ever be 100% ready,” Jackie mused, pausing to coo softly at Daisy as she began to stir, “but I want this. I want our own little piece of heaven. And I know as long as I have you, I can do anything.” 

 “You’re such a softie.” Jan giggled, snuggling further into Jackie’s side. She let her mind run wild, let herself imagine being in the exact same position in a year’s time. She found comfort in the heat radiating off Jackie’s exposed skin, and drifted off to the sound of Jackie’s heartbeat thrumming softly in her ear. 

Jackie laid on the couch in silence, her own imagination running wild at the thought of what the next year would bring. She smiled lazily, eventually shushing Gigi and Crystal as they let themselves into the apartment. 

“Ain’t this a sight for sore eyes?” Crystal giggled, taking photos as Jackie rolled her eyes. 

“Was she a Goode girl?” Gigi asked, scooping her daughter up and cradling her in her arms. 

“The best,” Jan chimed in groggily, rubbing her eyes but not moving from her spot on the couch, “a little slice of heaven.”

[dhwrina]

♡ ♡ ♡    howdy you lovely little beans !! 🤠 i’m nai ( she/her ; 21+) and i just cried bcs of a kdrama - first, i’m so in love with this rp, the concept ♡ ♡ ♡ , the effort that has been put behind it, my two braincells could never - ALSO y’all are so cute and i already love all of ur muses, someone bring me tissues, grandma is gonna cry ssdnsn anyway, i’m bringng u my bean rina  the cupid canon with a little sidenote that i messed up her age lol wrote she was born 1997 but actually stated in the age section she’s 24, i guess math just does that to me. okay so, she’s a new muse so excuse me if sometimes i myself seem a little lost with her lmao. anyway i made a little PLOT PAGE , a WANTED PLOT TAG , a PINTEREST BOARD and you can read more ABOUT her here. so, if you want to plot please 🔪🔪🔪 LIKE this post. i’m down for everything gimme all the angst, brotps, enemies and fluff pls sdndnssa also if u want to plot discord pls lmk

below i’ll try to shorten her bio and also add some trivia and connections as well, thank you for reading this

tw death , abuse

♡  her life in the normal realm was a happy one. she died a natural death and led a pretty fulfilling life. ( that is bcs i needed to make her suffer extra hard for her life in donghwa do )

♡ due to her never experiencing any difficulties and having very supportive and loving parents, she just assumed that everyone else would be as nice as her parents were. this made her a little naive and overly trusting which wasn’t a problem as it seemed that rina somehow only met nice people ( look at me granting her some extra happy times so i can wreck her life more )

♡ her parents were (still are) the perfect couple which somehow made her obsessed with love. she was that girl who drew heart over the letter “i”. refused to use any marker that wasn’t pink and would always request a romcom at sleepovers when everyone else wanted to watch a horror movie.

♡ her parents the owners of cupid’s café are known for their matchmaking skills and rina probably got that from them. she also helped the people at school to confess to their crush and rumors said that asking rina for help would guarantee 100 % success.

♡ anyway rina herself never fell in love herself and kind of feel like a fraud since she gave out love advice but did not really experience love

♡ so one day, that perfect looking (shady) guy entered the cafe and rina fell in love with him. (tbh he wasn’t even that good-looking or funny it was probably just the way the light illuminated him or some shit that made rina believed he was the perfect guy straight out of a movie.....)

♡ turned out he was a complete douchebag. his obsessive behavour forced her to isolate herself from her friends and she kinda had no friends left then. also she actually planned to expand cupid cafe (probably some extra room for her matchmaking business lol) and planned to study but he also didn’t want her to “waste her time on something else” and manipulated her into giving up on that thought. 

♡ when rina wouldn’t listen he’d become violent and rina started to question what love really was and if that what her parents had were just a naïve view on love and that most people couldn’t have the love they did. 

♡ eventually she managed to escape from that relationship, but it did change her bcs 1) he never got punished for his actions (since she didn’t report him or told anyone about what had happened) 2) she kinda lost faith in that concept of fate regarding love but also other areas in life.

♡ that’s why i chose the rebel label for her bcs that belief started to crumble and she’s kinda mad bcs was it fate that she had to go through all this awful things ?

♡ right now she picked up her job at cupid’s cafe again. she is helping out her parents and honestly right now she tries not to think about her past dream about expanding the cafe etc. she’s rather focus on pulling herself together and to appear as normal as possible.

*inserts kdrama ending credits transition to her personality section here*

personality

♡ rina is the person who just likes to talk, she used to be very open and would even tell someone stuff they did not ask for. she laughs about everything she even finds dad jokes hilarious (she might as well love these kind of jokes the most). she’s quite trusting, tell her that scientist found out that fish can talk and she’ll believe you as long as you provide her some website. besides playing matchmaker for everyone she really enjoys photography (even made couple photos and had these couple photo instagram accounts were she’d post them.....). since that certain event, she has *dramatic vc* changed and bcs she tries to put on an act  and be all happy ad that she sometimes comes across as fake ? also she doesn’t used to go out as often as usual and now only does her tasks at work and after that she just goes home and spends some time alone. 

i want to write more but i’m brain dead rn so if u have any questions pls lmk

here are some basic connections if none of the plots on the plot page work

enemies, bad influence, good influence, someone who wants rina to teach them some matchmaking skills, sibling relationship, friends, ex enemies who are now friends, etc.

[purplesurveys]

1046

Does it annoy you when people make their default of them kissing someone? I don’t mind kissing photos or icons. But hmm, I can imagine being a little grossed out if it’s an image of them kissing with tongue or if it’s generally a little on the sloppy side.

Are there any names you can think of that just go well together? Well there’s...a lot of names in existence lmao, so there’s a lot of combinations out there that I like for sure. I just don’t rank them and I don’t have a name combination of choice just yet.

Do you enjoy museums? I’m obsessed with museums. In every single one of our family trips, my dad has always made sure to book at least one museum visit for me so I can return back home happy, hahaha. I also visit and revisit museums in my own time, and I’m open to going to any kind of museum whether it’s natural history, art, science, ancestral homes, etc.

Have you ever met anyone famous? One of my coworkers plays the drums for a local band that’s got a bit of a following, so it was definitely a shock when I first saw his name in our work group chat. Someone I used to be close friends with in the local wrestling community is now an actor/influencer and doing a billion gigs and photoshoots all day. We’re still mutuals so every now and then I’d comment on one of his posts and congratulate him on how far he’s come.

Describe the scariest dream you can remember? I never like it when someone I love is shot in my dreams. The scariest dream I had recently is probably the one where I watched three planes drop to the ground all at the same time and explode.

Have you ever been to a mint where they make money? Nopes. I think the BSP had been part of one of Nina’s field trips before, but my batch didn’t get to have the itinerary.

Do you ever get really, really hyper? Occasionally.

Are you left or right handed, or ambidextrous? Right-handed.

If ambidextrous, do you prefer writing with your right or left hand?

What is your favourite subject at school? Any history elective, biology, political science.

Do you ever use Yahoo! Answers? For seriousness or for trolling? I used to read both serious (when I have a legit question) and funny (when I was bored and just wanted to lurk on the site) items on it. These days, when I have a genuine question, Google usually pulls up a Quora link which I find has been more helpful than Yahoo! Answers ever was.

Have you ever stepped on a thumb tack? No, but my brother did when he was a baby and was first learning how to walk.

Do you have a username you use for everything? Or does it change each site? I use my first name + surname for more serious, professional websites. Then I have a go-to for everything else.

Are you in Miami bitch? :D No. Not really interested in going to Florida at all, to be honest.

How did you break the last bone you broke? I’ve never broken a bone.

Have you ever used Nexopia? Never used, never heard of it before.

What has been the best year of school for you so far? Junior year of both high school (2014-15) and college (2018-19) were really great for me. There was a string of good events that happened in both, and I was able to have a lot of fun, gain friends, and have a number of positive learning and growing-up experiences.

Do you have any disorders or disabilities? I’ve always worried that I have BPD, but from the time I started considering it until today I’ve only done self-diagnosis, so idk. There’s definitely a lot more to unpack when it comes to me, mentally and psychologically. 

Do you ever watch How To videos? Not really. How It’s Made videos are fun to watch though.

Do you enjoy trolling? It doesn’t even sound fun.

Have you ever been to an emergency room? If so, what for? Never been.

Which emoticon face do you use most often? Things like: :) :( :D :P :L D: Most of the time I’ll use the open- and closed-mouth smileys. I use the sad face as well, and occasionally I’ll pull out the :3 and :/ emoticons.

Are you a musical sort of person? I mean, are you musically talented? Yeah, not at all. I can’t sing, read music, nor play any instrument.

How did you break the first phone you broke? So my mom hooked my first phone to a lanyard that I was made to wear as it was the surest way I wouldn’t be able to lose it (I was 7, which really should not be an age for kids to receive their first phones lol). One day I was being a little more rambunctious than usual, and while moving around the hook to the lanyard suddenly came off, and the phone crashed to the ground. It messed up the screen a bit and the hook also got a little fucked from there; eventually the phone came off during my 1st grade field trip and I never realized, and I lost the phone.

Did you have a tree house when you were a kid? If so, did you ever fall from it? We did not have a treehouse. My grandpa surely would’ve been the type to make one for his grandkids as he’s great at building stuff and working with wood, but it just wasn’t plausible considering most trees here are crawling with fire ants and other weird and potentially dangerous insects.

Have you ever been on vacation to a snow field? I don’t know what that is but I’ll go ahead and say no as I’ve never seen snow anyway.

When you go on vacation, what mode of transport do you usually use? We take road trips most of the time because my dad likes to drive. But if it’s gonna be on another island in the country, like Palawan or Batanes, then we obviously have to take a plane.

What is the worst show, in your opinion on MTV? The best? I don’t care for any shows on MTV and I typically think most of them look like they suck. The few ones I’ve seen, like Teen Wolf and Scream, certainly didn’t help.

Do you like Jason Derϋlo? Eh, some of his hit songs are catchy but I’m not a fan fan.

Are there any movies that just creep you out so much? Aside from everything about it being creepy, Eraserhead is just so depressing to watch. Midsommar is also a freaky film.

Have you ever had a close encounter with a shark? I don’t think so.

Do you have any hotties on your walls? I have a poster of Nam Joo Hyuk that Angela got me when she went to South Korea, but he’s more cute than hot to me tbh.

Do you ever wish dinosaurs came back to life and there were cute and snuggly? Not really. But it would’ve been interesting to see how they would look like in real life, and know their temperament and things like that.

How many countries have you been to? Aside from having been around my own, 6.

How many states have you been to? In all the countries you’ve been to? We stayed in one city/state for each country I’ve gone to - Bali, Singapore, Johor, Shanghai, Jeju, and Fukuoka.

What is a song you heard long before it became popular and everyone liked it? Idk about songs, but this was me with The Crown lol.

Do you enjoy designing things? Anything? Not my thing at all. This is more of Nina’s specialty. Girl can make anything look pretty.

Do you know anyone who has gotten themselves into a serious accident? Yeah. Off the top of my head, I remember my aunt getting involved in a hit-and-run with a motorcycle and needing to get a number of stitches on her head. My cousin Joelle also got into a bad car accident a few Christmases ago that totally wrecked her vehicle.

Can you play anything on the violin? Nope, I never learned how to play. It’s one of my favorite instruments though.

Do you know what a raincheck at stores is? Never heard of that. I’ve heard some people say “I’m gonna have to take a rain check” whenever they abruptly have to bail on a plan at the last minute, but I think you’re talking of a different raincheck here.

Whose funeral was the last you went to? Nacho’s wake. Never been to a funeral.

Who got married at the last funeral you went to? That’s pretty fucked up.

What do you think of excessively long names? What about their shortenings? I don’t have an opinion on either.

Do you ever get hay fever? No.

Do you know anyone with the last name Pilbeam? Never heard of that surname before.

When you were little, did you have those magnet letters on your fridge? We may have had those? I’m not sure. I haven’t seen the fridge I grew up with for a while now. I do know Athenna had those magnet poetry phases on her family’s fridge and we used to try to make poems with them.

Have you seen the Techno Jeep video on YouTube? I have not, and it doesn’t sound familiar.

Does your house have a wood fire? No.

Do you know what a Pibgorn is? I don’t think so. I can’t recognize the term.

Can you learn the lyrics of a song by ear, or do you have to search them up? It’s 50/50 for me. Sometimes it’ll be easy for me to recognize the lyrics, and other times it’s incredibly difficult.

Do you like the name Amy? It’s a pretty name. I’d consider it as a second or third name.

Have you ever got an x-ray? How about a brain scan? Just an x-ray.

[foldingpaperflowers]

Ive seen that posts thats like "if cops can find someone from a partial tshirt image they should be able to find your missing stuff" soo many times today and like...guys.... thats not how that works at all...

Its really terrifying because it really shows how many of us dont know how easy it is to find someone on the internet. It wasnt just "they searched for her shirt" it was they searched for her shirt and found a username associated with multiple accounts.

The reason it's so important that we understand this and how easy it is, is because it will literally keep you safe from similar situations. Spreading info that it must cost the cops thousands of dollars to do or that it must be harder than finding stolen shit is just gonna make cops see those and go "wow none of these protestors know how easy this is, that means they won't protect themselves"

How to protect yourself from Skip Tracing 101:

Idk what they call it, but I know when I worked at a collection agency I did a similar thing to what cops do. This is the shit that made it a lot easier to find millennials/gen z than older people.

Lock down your accounts. Set your facebook profile so only friends can see it. Make your profile picture something without defining fetures (ie tattoos, work background/clothes, your highschool drama sweater) Please dont have pre-protest pictures as your profile especially

Instagram: No legal name on your bio or in your username. Lock it down, BUT ALSO go through photos and remove any hashtags that mention your location. I'd also suggest certain photos. Like if its a famous landmark youre fine, but any photos near by your house remove. There's websites that let you see posts from locked accounts and instagrams gps thing may give you away if your hashtags dont.

Search your username in quotes. Even ones you havent used in the last 5 years. Go through every page that comes up, and if those websites have outside links to other accounts check them. You are looking for your location, birthday, other old usernames, and names either legal, preffered, or nicknames. Even on weird forum posts from 8 years ago.

Make sure none of it lines up. Delete old accounts or any information about you on them. Change your username across all the platforms you currently are on and make them nondiscript. Like tbh a lot of the pornbots on here have more nondiscript urls than the real users.

Search "Firstname Lastname City" with the quotes, and then search in your state/province. Do it for whereever you've lived the past 5 years.

Listen I KNOW Linkdin is super useful but if you're attending protests GET RID OF YOUR INFO! No jobs, no cities, or if so make sure none of it is anywhere near current. And please delete your profile picture!!

Make sure if you use a fake name online it cant be traced back to your real name. As long as you followed step one this should be chill, BUT, if you have a facebook account with a fake name, and have your real name account added that could be your identifier. Either that or having your family members on it.

Lastly (and this has been repeted over and over again) STOP SHARING PHOTOS OF PROTESTERS. And make sure to cover up any idetifiers when you go to protests.

This may seem like it's a lot, but it's really not. It takes maybe an hour to make sure you're fully locked down, but you can identify someone with just access to this info and google in less than 20 minutes. I'd also check out this article, because it goes into a bit more detail how it actually works. Please protect yourself you guys!

[lucidpantone]

I really like what you said in your answer " they helped wtfock create hype without really knowing what s4 was about and they were equally blindsided by the narratives" so I don't know exactly if you meant what I think you did and I don't want to put words in your mouth, but I do feel bad for the blogs that tried to stay on wtfock's side in the beginning, I speak for myself when I say no one was expecting Kato to end up being racist, I didn't expect at least. And I think it's valid to hold people accountable for defending it, but all I see was blogs that love wtfock waiting to see what the season was about and as soon as the clip with Kato saying "this people" aired, that's when I felt this "fan love" started to fade. But it is still unfair to blame people for engaging with the show until that certain point and I hate to see it, because tbh I feel like it wasn't just the show "fading away" but also the fandom with attacks coming from both sides: the fans that never liked the season since the revelation of Kato and the fans that blindly listened to wtfock and waited. It's kinda sad what this fandom has become and it sucks that it was right before Yasmina's season, if only her season came before this one, I wouldn't mind them doing whatever they wanted with the show, as long as Nora and Yasmina would get the right support, I do understand why fans are gonna feel bad for consuming s5, afraid of being called out for still engaging with a show that promoted racism. It's a very delicate topic, I hope the best for Nora but the producers really messed this up for her.

This anon speaks so many truths that are hard to swallow down but I think as a fandom specifically focusing on wtfock its incredibly sad the position big players in the fandom were put in. I don’t think its a secret amongst larger blogs that wtfock has ways of influencing or reaching out for support via differing networks and I couldn’t imagine how hard it would be to quell loyalty if you have meet or have any bonds with the interns, show runners, producers and or actors. Its only natural to want to believe in these loose connections and when they ask for more time and guaranteeing it to them. However I feel that the creation of Kato sorta of created a crisis of fandom faith because this wasn’t about some silly issue like a break up, or who cheated on who? or why is this boy mean to this girl? or why is this boy mean to this boy? Racism is an incredibly delicate topic plaguing society and societal racism is even more delicate because even the most “woke” member of a society will engage in societal racism as it is truly systemic. wtFOCK takes places in a predominately white country that is currently ongoing some serious issues concerning political ideology, hate crimes and hijab bans. I understand in wtFOCK’s mind why they wanted to depict a character that had all these predisposed notions on race and religion but they did not take into consideration that a lot of their fans are white young females and that in away creating Kato they in-turn did two things. They created a character that embodies some of the worse character traits in white society(that they are trying to correct) and gave that character a platform and even worse of all they didn’t even depict the characters struggles well. No one thinks racism isn’t alive and that young adults dont embody aspects of it but wtfock chose to represent it in the laziest way possible they made a white female reductive in every way possible. 

Kato could have had texture I always said I would have love to see your typical hippie loving hyper woke progressive white instagramer who also happens to have micro racist tendencies that she wasnt even aware of but wtFOCK reduced kato to this insanely offensive portrayal in which this white protagonist gets off on purposefully hurting/profiling her black boyfriend and worse of all they tried to make their fans try justify it and change the tide and in-turn challenge their morality. That’s when they crossed the line and I think thats when a lot of fandom influencers stop supporting the show in any monetary way. So what I mean by that is larger blogs publicly denouncing the show stating they should avoid watching the show on their website to plummet the views, engaging in their instagram, or clips that were blatant sponsored content. Basically the notion of your gonna try to use us then we will use you because remember we knew early on that s5 is 100% promised because Nora like that tweet about her season being pushed back. I do wonder what wtFOCK will do for s5. Are they going to reach back out to these fandom movers and shakers to try to create hype? Or is wtFOCK themselves stepping back from being so entrenched with the fandom? I sorta of know the answer to this. I think wtFOCK recognizes the strain they put on fandom influencers(and the fandom because this season caused so much turmoil) and I think they are going to put a new face forward to mitigate fandom/production discourse particularly around how wtFOCK should listen and leverage the fandom social media request but I will say this I know for a fact that after s4 wtFOCK lost some big hitters in the fandom space and I don’t think those relationships can be mended anymore. I think those people washed their hands of their production associations and are merely just here to support the actors from afar now.

[steve0discusses]

Yugioh S4 Ep10 pt2: Yugi’s Never Ceasing Commute Continues

Last we left off, it was time to eat. Thank you. Thank you, Yugioh. You get me.

Not one of their better spreads, TBH.

No cheese wheels, too. They are truly living in hard times.

(read more under the cut)

Rex and Weevil decided to look for rare cards in the rubble of Arthur Hawkin’s house.

I don’t know why they bothered with this, everything was very clearly exploded and on fire, but youknow, these two just seem to be very hellbent on being bad at life. Just two jokes that are here just to be jokes, wearing these duel disks that they’re not going to use until it’s finally time for them to betray us. Checkov’s jokes.

And I hate to say this but they really are this season’s Bakura.

I know I just said that.

But this show really likes having at least one character that might turn at any moment and stab our protagonist in the back. They like to have at least one at all times there, hovering over Yugi’s oblivious shoulders, with that figurative knife (or literal, in the case of that time when Bakura stabbed himself without nearly any provocation).

In the past, when Bakura was out to lunch, we would have betraying friends like Kaiba, who would go solo in the middle of his own card game and end up throwing everyone in danger, and also Tristan who got full on possessed by the Big 5 and tried to murder everyone, but I guess after 4 seasons they were like “Youknow...I think Kaiba got over it.” and like...you can’t have Rebecca stab us in the back so lets bring Rex and Weevil.

At least their showtime is minimal, because unlike Bakura, who is pretty likeable even when he’s being an asshole, Rex and Weevil never turn off the asshole and are mostly just visual gags stumbling over eachother. Bakura was quite clever and had a bit of depth and mystery, while I don’t think Rex and Weevil are smart enough to even know how to spell mystery.

And if Rex and Weevil end up being good guys and the saviors of the whole show then my sincere apologies, but they are still kind of grating.

Now Rebecca gets a duel monster’s card that has a death threat on it, which is probably the normal way to sign your duel monsters cards in this universe. I imagine every card in Yugi’s deck has a couple death threats on each of them by now. Probably makes them more lucky.

Ya so...

I can forgive this. The people who made this looked at a map of California, forgot that California is roughly the same size as Japan, and were like “I mean, there’s like 50 states, it can’t be that big.”

But here’s the thing about Death Valley. I am a Californian, but I have never been there. This is why.

Death Valley is ASS to get to. Barely anyone lives there. Nothing goes there. You can’t just take a train, you have to drive there by going south past it and then turning around. It’s real round about and just in the middle of nowhere. May as well get there by flying into Las Vegas, and if you are flying into Las Vegas, chances are slim that you will leave that Vacation Town USA to vacation in a literal desert.

Clearly they saw the name “Death Valley” and got super excited but y’all...there’s a reason why we call it that, and everyone who knows about geography or is a Californian is kind of like “um...is Yugi...going to Death Valley???? That city slicker?”

Cuz this is not a normal desert. Normally, a human can survive 3 days without water, in Death Valley you apparently can only survive for 14 hours. It is the lowest point in the US and also the hottest point in the US and the place where the highest temperature was ever recorded on the Earth. And while that heat is only for 5 months of the year...it’s not winter in the show, is it? It’s fairly warm. San Fransisco wasn’t even foggy?

Like even the Death Valley website is like “please don’t leave the main roads and hike during the hot months” because y’all, this park is damn serious. Like this is one of the only National Parks that has not just one, but multiple ghost towns in it.

Don’t get me wrong, Death Valley’s very pretty and very fun I’ve heard, and it has like a very fancy dayspa in it, and if you like geography and like to rough it, then you will absolutely love how freakin weird Death Valley is. So, if you’re safe and know how to pack your gear, you’ll have no problem, but...Y’all, Yugi Muto, who barely survived Pegasus’ island (and only because Mai fed him) is going to just casually go into Death Valley.

In that outfit.

Then, in some barn somewhere (I have NO IDEA where this exchange takes place) Rafael is grilling Arthur only to realize that this is a very pointless conversation.

And in case you forgot Darts exist, he’s still out there, murdering people off for kicks. we’ll just add 20 more to the death count, the internet told me that’s the average amount of people on a fish boat of average size (although sometimes this boat seemed like the size of a shipping container barge but youknow...)

And in case you missed it, I have been doing the death counter wrong so I was 2 people behind--it’s correct now. With the rate this show goes I feel like we might see death 666 eventually. But, yes we did pass 269 so we’ll have to wait another 100, I guess, because it went to some rando on this boat. Nice.

(The highest surface temperature of Death Valley ((not the air, but the ground)) ever recorded, was 201° F.)

(That’s 94° C for those in the back.)

I mean Yugi is part Pharaoh so I guess he just has a strong attraction to really terrible deserts. He’s also half a dead guy so maybe he also just has a strong attraction to being dead.

But I dunno, maybe this is the months of the year where Death Valley is manageable? Maybe? Possibly? We’ll just assume that it is.

Now you can go horseback riding in Death Valley, as you can in any National Park, but it isn’t real normal to ride your horse all the way from San Fransisco. And like you can’t even let your dog off a leash in Death Valley. This is such a bad park for pets!

Also, I found out some fun facts about horse travel, for anyone interested in writing fantasy and wants to know the average speed of a horse.

So a horse can go about 100 miles in a day, but only for one day. If you do 250 miles, the time has to be more spread out since you must recharge your horse. According to some horse-specialist on the internet who does horse marathons from coast to coast, if you have to do 500 miles, then you average about 24 miles a day, accounting for horse-recovery time and assuming it’s a horse that wasn’t bred for super long distances. (this is about a 500 mi horse ride, ps)

The pony express of old, the iconic Wells Fargo, would actually have horse stations along the prairie, where you would trade in your tired horse for a new horse, so that way you would never have to stop going 100 miles in a day. Since Yugi never changed his horse, this ride would have been absolutely ridiculous, and Copernicus the horse, would have stopped somewhere in Gilroy.

But this is a kid’s show so wtv, we’re gonna ignore that.

(reminder that Yugi decided not to unhitch the perfectly serviceable truck and drive away with air conditioning.)

And Yugi really did make Rebecca promise not to tell these much older teens that he took off (something about how he doesn’t want to put more people in danger yada yada, normal Yugi stuff), but the show kind of blames this on Rebecca...but like...she’s 12. This one is on Yugi.

But, if Rebecca were older, maybe she would have done the same thing. Rebecca seems like maybe the type that realizes that when you like an idiot boy, you gotta let them do idiot things, and make idiot mistakes. You can’t just control what your friends do all the time, unlike this crew, which is controlling because that is the only way they keep eachother alive.

So Joey decides to ignore both of the cars right next to him, and just book it to save his stupid ass friend. On foot. To Death Valley. From what the show insisted was just outside San Fransisco.

And I guess that Rafael decided to just let Hawkins go?

Probably because Yugi got on a horse and Rafael was like “of course I know Yugi is chasing me on horseback off the main roads. Of course I know that.” and then he just...let Hawkins walk all the way back...

Hawkins should be dead, but not yet.

So lets check out Death Valley.

So like...again I just think they probably boarded everything and had a rough idea of “America has a bunch of natural canyons, right?” and didn’t realize that the Grand Canyon was soooo far from California.

There are actually canyons in Death Valley but like...I dunno if the art matches that so much? They aren’t nearly as massive as the canyon situation farther East.

Again this was their art choice that they made and it’s...a choice. And they committed to it.

And this bike thing happened?

This tandem bicycle for children lost among the wreckage of Rebecca Hawkin’s home is like a whole “baby shoes, never worn” short story in itself. Rebecca has nooo siblings or parents, right? She has a really old grandpa who is like 80 and doesn’t bike? Just uh...bringing that up...was this tandem bike for her to hang out with Yugi? Does Rebecca even have friends her own age? She already graduated college.

So much inferred by the bike that I know is just here because it’s a funny joke to see Rex and Weevil on a stupid tandem bike.

So I’ve heard about the bike/car/horse paradox before in regards to this season, (it’s one of the few things I knew about this season before going in) so I’m happy to see I’ve recapped enough Yugioh to see it play out.

The paradox being, if Yugi is on horseback, and Rex and Weevil are on a bike, and the rest are in a car, who arrives first?

Apparently the show itself isn’t even sure because Rex and Weevil can keep up with a horse???

Anyway, the correct answer to the paradox is that everyone not in a car is dead for not bringing any water.

Everyone except for Raphael, who probably put a camel pack into each of his shoulder pads.

OH NOW IT’S AN ANIME.

I don’t get why this is happening. But it’s a thing now. Rafael has either literal or metaphoric wings. Bear in mind I thought Pharaoh was Metaphoric for like 14 episodes. These Icarus wings might just be real. Rafael might have been a card this entire time, and I wouldn’t even blink.

Anyway, if this is your first post of mine you’ve seen of this, my apologies, we’re in S4 and this is very confusing. You can read from S1 ep 1 in chrono order by clicking this very handy link here!

[dxxtruction]

Logic-b0mb.Hc

Mr. Robot: Season 2 episode 5

Break down / Character Analysis / (No hc section but I could add one)

(This episode is an alright one sandwiched between two great ones but involves a lot of important plot development. Quite literally its setting things up like planting the bombs for later.) 

Hacking the FBI.

Elliot’s really feeling the rush because he’s been itching for this a while. He’s been avoiding getting to a terminal because he’s been dealing with getting rid of Robot, and I feel like he’s also on alert about Ray so really didn’t feel up to helping him until it became necessary. (He’s on alert about pretty much everyone though that’s just how hypervigilance is, and I wouldn’t go around trusting just anyone in prison on top of that.)

Hacking makes him feel powerful and in control, something he’s expressed he lacks feeling in his every day life (to Krista). (Someone made a post about this desire for control stemming from Elliots abuse where he lacked that control and like I gotta agree.)

“The programmatic expression of my will. I live for this shit.” (I really like this quote)

The irony of hacking the FBI on a computer within a prison. The flip side is Ray’s website is also being worked on from inside a prison. I’m not sure if this stands to symbolize something about American society and the prison system or not. On one hand he’s getting rid of a threat for personal reasons and on the other hand he’s thinking of exposing one for moral reasons. He’s able to control his own hack, but when it comes to dealing with Ray he isn’t the one in charge.

List of hacking steps he gives:

Step 1. Identify the target and it’s flaws, there are always flaws.

Step 2. Build malware and prepare an attack.

Step 3. A reverse shell two stage exploit.

Step 4. Write the script.

Step 5. Launch the attack.

Elliots first hack was a local library (WashingtonTownship Public Library) and he did this at age 11, the only thing he did was look around their database but he mentions feeling powerful. (He’s been hacking for a good 17 years so it must have been a great feeling.) (He started hacking 3 years after his dad died, awful as he is Elliot began learning his way around computers from him.) (I wonder if/when Darlene got involved in hacking with Elliot.) (To bounce off that I’d love to read/write a fic about the first hack they did together)

Elliot always writes his own script, that’s how he learned. It would be the best way to ensure the most control on the outcomes to write it yourself given you know what your doing and Elliot most certainly does. (If we remember back to the hack to break Vera out of prison he mentioned he never makes mistakes in his code). (Seems impossible tbh but this is fiction we gotta remember that.)  

The hack:

Elliot is using a zero day exploit to attack with Malware he’s coding. How I’m understood this is a process used to get data though unknown vulnerabilities (in his case from the android phones).

He needs a way to implement the malware. He’ll be using a reverse shell which joins communications with the target and attacker machines. (His Fem2cell to the FBI android network.) Two stage I think refers to additional malware he’s put in to corrupt everything upon discovery. (He can get in and erase evidence, and if he’s discovered everything gets corrupted)

This will make him own Every Android phone of FBI agents in E-corp. Plus Evil corps network. (Because they’re in the same building?)

(Seen in message to Darlene) FTP - file transfer protocol (he’s handing over his scripts to Darlene so she can launch the attack on her end.)

Elliot pictures himself working in the dark (or maybe that’s just us) but its actually now daytime so several hours have past. (if we assume that we really did arrive in Rays office at night last episode which feels true.)

Darlene breaks into Angela’s

Darlene and Angela haven’t seen each other in five weeks. (They both had a lot on their plate to be fair. Before this they were meeting at least once a week for dance I assume.)

Darlene is creating a DMG file on Angela’s laptop (Darlene doesn’t own a MacBook) (Angela-image.dmg) when she comes in but its not why Darlene is there. (DMG file types hold apps for Mac but if you’re making your own files you can encrypt other things into the file besides apps. DMG’s also can be password protected. I don’t recall if we ever know whats in the file but I wonder if this was the completed FTP. Or just Darlene messing around.)

Darlene tells Angela that Elliot covered for her tracks and involvement in 5/9.

“Why didn’t he say anything?”

(“Because that’s what he does.”)

He doesn’t let people know when he’s helping them or ask for their permission (to Elliot not saying anything = low risk of others lashing out or getting hurt)(Stems from childhood). He just does because its whats good to do to ensure people he cares for are protected. (Those are his principles). Another more obvious read could be he just doesn’t tell people things, Elliot has a hard time being open with people. Angela and Elliot haven’t really been all that close for a while now as well if you remember. (I feel there was a point in time he did share important things with her.)

Darlene wants to use her in order to plant the femtocell in the FBI headquarters located at e-corp because Angela has access to the building. She uses Elliot helping her as leverage because she gets that Angela wouldn’t just do it without reason to. (And Angela still refuses because as things appear to stand she’s already been cleared and doesn’t want to get reinvolved.) (She has every reason to see hacking he FBI as super risky too.)

Darlene lets her off. (but this doesn’t stop her from still trying)

Pre-China

FBI has found the RasberryPi at Steal (mountain) Valley. (This is later said to be a dead lead because it becomes tampered evidence)

We are lead through the FBI work environment, and its mentioned security is lax. There’s a guy on the floor who shouldn’t be. (This is here to show that even if Angela were to get on this floor she has a chance of being stopped (which eventually does happen.) (Plant and payoff)

Dom mentions she doesn’t dream. (She has insomnia. This could be stemming from her job which is stressful and would make anyone become highly alert, this case is probably always on her mind as well. And/or feelings of alienation from lost connectivity to others which she fills by staying up all night chatting, or other factors we’re never quite made aware of.) (I think this is meant to contrast with the previous episodes statements on dreaming. Dom seems to know what future she’s fighting for, but its her job to. You can’t necessarily “dream” when you already know/are told what needs to be done.) (Dom is definitely a character who represents alienation.) (I don’t wanna assume what Esmail was going for but Marx's theory of alienation describes the estrangement of people from who they are as a consequence of living in a class society. (Estrangement from self and identity.(this comes up later)) Capitalist alienation has consequences that separate us from our work building identity around our jobs rather than around ourselves.)

We see Mobley on the co-workers laptop. (I assume this is the information collected from the end of the world party)

There was an E-mail sent out to tell Dom and her partner on the case that they are going to China with Santiago (with a few other agents who are all pricks)

Darlene visits.

“The she-devil” (The guard Elliot is imagining to be his Mom) isn’t around, meaning the guard is gone for some reason?

Darlene fills her brother in on how things are moving forward. She tries to get the reluctant Elliot on board with getting Angela involved because it really is the only option. Darlene feels like Elliot talking to her would convince her to change her mind. (And Robot agrees because he’s willing to risk it to protect them from the FBI) (I may be on Darlene and Robot’s side here, though I do get Elliots POV he’s not seeing how there really isn’t going to be another way in.)

Elliot wants Angela far away from all of this. He definitely still cares about her a lot and would feel guilty if anything happened to her. (He already feels guilty about everything and is trying not to let it blow up into anything worse)(Yet in doing do this leads to worse outcomes later)(He’s unable to risk her, but still understands getting into the FBI is a priority. “Find another way.”) (throughout this season and the next season we see Elliot slides away from plans as a means of deescalating what he sees as things that will lead to terrible outcomes, effectively trying to abandon and undo them.) (Mr Robot and him have continuous conflict on this.)

China (Dom and Whiterose)

The FBI is in China to discuss needing access with Minister Zhang (Whiterose) (I’m gonna mostly use Zhang here for contextual purposes) (The Chinese Minister of State Security)

In the meeting Dom speaks up about needing access to what China has on the Dark Army (In a previous shot she sees people in the Dark Army masks at the airport.) (We’re not sure how much intel the FBI have on DA. They are the worlds most dangerous hacker group and thats knowledge to anyone who knows about them. The FBI has to have at least some things about them on file, like maybe those masks.) (Dom is suspecting Dark Army and F-society could have a connection as affiliate hacker groups) (It’s set up to imply she saw those guys in the airport and It got her thinking which is why she jumps in to say something.)

This episode deals with the idea power a lot (the lack of, gaining of, and having of power). How Whiterose is framed in scenes indicates a sense of power and control (even to some extent framing her as godlike). She’s revealed to maintain a high ranking government position, while also heading the dark army. It’s in her best interests to comply with he FBI, and shows no concern for her involvement. She knows she has the upper-hand.

Party at the Ministers house (Monday night)

Dom discovers the clock hallway, when Zhang discovers her. (I think she peaked Whiterose’s interests in the meeting and this just solidifies it) (side-note: I don’t think Dom really needed to pee all too bad she just wanted and excuse to get away from the party.)

She discusses the clock which looks like the one her parents have then introduces who she is to Zhang. (Can’t tell if Dom lied about that anecdote to not feel intrusive or if Whiterose was lied to. If Dom lied, then it’s a nice play because Whiterose ends up lying about having a sister later.)

Dom (who is naturally curious) then asks what the clocks are about. and we get this:

“Life is but a walking shadow, a poor player the struts and frets his hour upon the stage. And then is heard no more”

(“You’ve surrounded yourself with the constant reminder of mortality?”)

“- …As each second passes I push myself to keep moving.”

(I can see Whiterose’s obsession with time stemming from her confrontation of mortality, the traumatic experiences of her former lover. Whiterose sees time as her enemy in the race to complete her plans. Yet she also finds her ways of controlling it making it seem like she is the master of it. This is sort of the mask she wears and she wears it well. (Her plans ????)

Then she asks why Dom is in the FBI

“I was. I am disgusted by the selfish brutality of the world, but at the same time I am utterly fascinated by it.” (This line gives insight into how Dom sees the world and other people. There’s this one Florence Nightingale quote which calls out the selfish brutality on the part of the superior (those in power) as part of the true horror of war.)

Something about this discussion make Whiterose open up to Dom enough to show an artwork in her office about the anxiety within losing ones identity. (Identity has a lot of meaning to Whiterose. She lives a double life, a large part of her own identity is hidden from the world in several ways. Whiterose is alienated from herself in the sense the she can’t be herself to the world.)

“How is it that revolution can create such beautiful art yet you and I are tracking revolutionaries who’ve created nothing but turmoil?” (Another bomb planted… if she only knew.)

Whiterose pressed so Dom reveals the personal reason for joining the FBI deals with her breakup after a proposal in her final semester of law school, one thing leading to another she’s now an FBI agent. (I think Whiterose picks up that Dom gay af by the way she hides who her old flame’s gender is.) (anyway Whiterose ends up having some sort of reaction to this and shows Dom her dresses then lies about having a sister, which Dom picks up as a lie.)

Whiterose inquires about what if 5/9 never happened, mentions alternate universes, she is moved by the idea of what ifs for things to be different. Whiterose gets flustered about this showing some semblance of vulnerability, and the clocks go off on the hour. (This idea of alternate realities is planted here and plays a role into what her project may be, but we’re never quite sure. At the end of S4 when we’re in the headspace it seems her machine worked and we did enter a new reality.)

The Dark Army shoot out in China kills everyone but Dom and Santiago. (RIP)

In the court with Ray

The basketball court is fairly empty around this time but hot Carla is there in her usual spot. (Sidenote: I love her)

Elliot still has to help Ray (its the conditions he has to meet for letting him have access to a terminal)

Robot is antsy and feels this wastes time, that they need to be getting in touch with Angela. (But of course Elliot ignores him because he’s against Angela getting involved.)

To help Ray he says needs administrative access from the old IT guy. IT guy comes. Elliot finds out the guy knows what he’s doing, raising his suspicions. So he starts putting things together that theirs something fishy as to why Ray came to him. IT guy wants to just move off the subject but Elliot doesn’t have time to play games. This chatting back and forth between them is fairly funny, especially when robot just key smashes and Elliot has to back space it. The IT guy eventually yields and shows Elliot the site, which pretty much deals transactions in every type of crime including trafficking.

Later in Elliots cell he’s trying to piece together what to do about Ray, he wonders whether he is innocent or guilty. Robot wants to move on but Elliot can’t.

“You know, but your going to ignore it. You wanna know why? Because thats what we do.” (“That’s not what I do.”)

Robot is always weighing the risks at every possible turn of events, always weighing out he 1’s from the 0’s. He does it to protect them of course, but sometimes these decisions are selfish. While it may do well to ignore for their safety, the risks of not doing anything could ruin Elliots sense of morality. (Not that robot can help things are already going to blow up on them anyway). Elliot shows us he wants to act, because he’d feel sick if he knowingly enabled the things that happen on that site (mainly concerned about the people being trafficked). He’s one to take down people who are bad even if there are risks involved. It’s that part of him is driven by his desire to make a better and safer world for the host even if he’s unaware of it. I do find it curious that Robot insinuates a “we” here on what they do because MM has yet to ignore something like this before. (A hint or just a throw away plea to get him to stop?)

Logic bomb- a set of instructions secretly incorporated into a program so that if a particular condition is satisfied (or a set time occurs) they will be carried out, usually with harmful effects.

(.HC encrypted file type that needs password access)

Elliots taken by Rays goons (I cry and he cries for help)

Joanna

Joanna meets with this guys she’s paying and he confesses about his paranoia with the FBI being on his case … So she kills him. (The Wellick’s are … something. I am disgusted by the selfish brutality. Yet I guess violence is often a form of self preservation especially in this shows logic so like I get it. Some people hack others attack.)

He mentions protecting some guy in a hoodie at this meeting. (This says Joanna definitely pieced together that this tech Tyrell kept mentioning is the mysterious “Ollie” who came by her house.)

The way she just orders her security guard to kill a man and this is the option she went to, Joanna does not mess. Honestly can’t even describe all the dynamics at play here between Tyrell ,“Tyrell”, the body guard, Joanna, and Joanna’s new lover. Things are being planted for Joanna needing to find where Tyrell is (and Elliot’s been asking about the same).(Also the media really eats up this Tyrell situation and Joanna becomes an infamous celebrity for it.) (Everyone wants to know where Tyrell is.)

Joanna’s orders were to inject succinylcholine (induces paralysis) before shooting him. She sees this as giving the man time to process his final moments. “Letting him die with answers. Otherwise we’re nothing but ruthless murders.” She says this all while feeding her baby.

Angela meets with Ollie Then with Elliot Then finally with Darlene.

Angela finds out Ollie has been brought in for FBI questioning. He confessed about “the CD man” to the FBI and they’ve drawn up a sketch of him (Cisco).

This scares Angela enough to start considering compliance with Darlene. It eventually leads her to a decision based on what the best possible outcome could be.

Angela makes an attempt to reach out to Elliot before actually moving forward with her decision. This shows the contrast between them. What Angela does is make sure things are okay (at least for Elliot), though she may act separately from how he feels. By this point Angela has run down her options and decides her best option is to just plant the femtocell “Either I act or I wait to get caught.”

Elliot doesn’t say much after his initial push back, he doesn’t want to put Angela at any risk but can’t do anything about it if she’s already made her decision. Her logic also makes sense, it could even be riskier if she did nothing.

The topic then changes. Angela’s still wondering why Elliot’s been different, why he’s been pushing her away.

Instead of being direct Elliot mentions their conversation on the train platform the day he was found in he cemetery. Angela gets a bit uncomfortable, there’s lingering worries about Elliot.

“You told me to take care of myself. I wanted to be okay. I wanted to s-stop seeing him before I talked to you again.”

“And”

“And my dead father’s standing behind you right now.”

This opens up discussion again about the idea of annihilation, which was touched on in the previous episode. It seems in some part, but not entirely, that Elliot wants to stop seeing Mr Robot in order to feel like he’s improved himself, that he’s become better. That would be his way of taking care of himself. Obviously these desires turn up empty handed because there’s no getting rid of Robot. He’s still conflicting with him, and though that plot mostly takes a step back in this episode it is shown in what ways they’re still ending up disagreeing.

“I could be a friend. Someone to talk to. Someone who cares about you. Who knows maybe that will help.”  waitfortheq.ogg starts playing when she says this, it’s the theme associated with Shayla so I cry. It’s a song that carries like a special feeling of safety, a comfort in knowing that your here with someone who’s a friend, and while still being fairly somber. Elliot (and I as well) seems to agree this could help because he starts asking about qwerty and they actually smile and laugh. (My heart). I like to imagine they talked for a while after this and that things ended well. Despite them still being in disagreement by the end of it, Angela feels more confident in her decision now.

Meanwhile at F-society HQ: D.C Op is a go. #Droptheballs. This is right before Angela gets there.

Angela takes a secure route to meet with Darlene at HQ to get the tower from her in order plant the femtocell. Something to maybe note is Angela seems to only start acting once she had selfish reasons to doing so.