#based from that one elmo meme

[mesukohi]

I had to make one for soap 🧼

[klysanderelias]

Do you have a favorite Vtuber?

Please also tell us why.

All right, wall of text time.

The short answer is not exactly, I watch vtubers for a lot of different reasons. I have a shortlist, and I have one or two I actually spend money on supporting, but I don't think I could name a favorite. If you're looking for names, I'd shout out Finana Ryugu, Mai Tsukimiya, Hakos Baelz, and Pavolia Reine, with Mai Tsukimiya closest to 'favorite' based on my support/engagement.

Now, the long answer.

I follow vtubers for a couple of key things - body doubling, relaxation, let's plays, music, and 'other'. A lot of these don't really interact well - if I'm trying to find a comprehensive let's play of a game I want to experience, I'm looking for a different thing than when I'm trying to find something to put on when I'm going to sleep. Plus, there are a lot of vtubers who are part of an agency like Hololive or Nijisanji that have a certain level of obligation to play specific games, so suddenly everyone I follow is playing the new pokemon, or hitman, or (ugh) Hogwarts legacy, because the agency made a promotion deal. And it's important for me to remember a lot that Vtubing is a job, especially the bigger you get, and that's more than just 'I need to make money doing this.' It's also 'I have a boss who makes decisions about what I am and am not allowed to do, and if I say something on stream I may have to make a ten minute apology video if my handler decides it might hurt the brand.'

I do want to talk about that - I don't like a lot of the subculture that vtubers inhabit. I don't like the way that it vaguely reeks of 4chan memes, or how if you scratch the surface you'll find incredibly toxic and disgusting behavior in chat. I don't blame the streamer for basically any of it, but there are vtubers out there who play more into it that I would like much more if they didn't (basically anyone in vshoujo, but also gawr gura and amelia watson, for example). And I'm sure there's more that I don't know about because like, if they don't stream in english, I'm obviously not gonna know what they're saying unless it gets clipped and translated. I will say, Finana Ryugu specifically gets a pass from me, and I think if she streamed more games I was interested in, she might make it up to being my favorite. I will never forget her anger at her chat for calling certain gacha characters 'traps', and her banning the word from her stream, and then like a day later being forced to apologize for it. I've more or less given up on trying to find 'progressive' or 'leftist' vtubers because of the culture (plus y'know, no one talks politics or ideology at their job), but she strikes me as a genuinely kind and thoughtful person.

For the things I watch vtubers for, number one is probably body doubling - if you're not familiar with that term, it's basically 'having someone else in the room to help someone with ADHD start and execute tasks that they otherwise wouldn't be able to'. It's kind of like having a podcast on for me, or chatting with someone while doing the dishes. It's having the stream on in the background and not really paying much attention to it.

Next is relaxation - sometimes I'll put a streamer on just to fall asleep to. I don't do the ASMR stuff really, but just having noise on in the background helps me sleep, and there's a number of people who have very calming or pleasant voices. Ceres Fauna is a shoutout here - I think she's on the edge of the 'elmo voice' crowd, but she's great to fall asleep to.

I also listen to a lot of music from vtubers, either covers or original music. I'll voluntarily admit I like Mori Calliope - when she's not trying to be edgy or playing into the subculture, her music is genuinely good. In general I think vtubers shouldn't be forced to sing, but I have a bunch of songs from vtubers I listen to a lot.

Let's plays - obvious. I have to shout out Hakos Baelz' playthrough of Resident Evil Village, she struggles with horror games and her experience with RE8 was extremely fun to watch because she was able to enjoy herself and get through the scary parts. This is also what's hardest to find for me - there aren't a lot of vtubers who play the kind of games I'd like to see.

I also like listening to vtubers who stream in other languages - most non-english vtubers stream in Japanese, but I like listening to the indonesian streamers from nijisanji and hololive as well (and ID streamers like Reine and Moona have some extremely good songs).

There aren't many vtubers I actually support financially, I think the only one is Mai Tsukimiya. I think she's very sweet, is small enough that I feel like I'm supporting a person and not a company, and I've bought some of her merch and enjoyed it.

Anyway all of this is to say that it's complicated, but I follow a lot of let's players and vtubers and have Opinions about them.

This is different from a list of recommendations, though. I think everyone I've named (and quite a few I didn't) are worth checking out, but obviously there's a lot of variance in terms of what they stream, how they stream, etc.

[digital-marketing-latha]

Digital Marketing Strategy of Physics Walla

Digital Marketing Strategy of Physics Walla

Physics Walla Case Study to understand how Physicwalla created a 100 crore profit starting as a tutor in 2014.

Alakh Pandey aka Physicswalla was a college dropout, from a middle-class family who loved teaching. 

He started teaching at a JEE coaching center and students just loved him. 

To reach more students he started a YouTube channel in 2014. For a couple of years, he shared tutorials but it didn't move the needle.

In 2017 he decided to quit his job and focused his YouTube videos on teaching physics to ICSE students.

This was when his channel grew exponentially.

Marketing Strategy of Physicswallah

Do you know what is the USP of Physicswallah? His strength is his storytelling and his connection with his students.

Storytelling

Alakh Pandey has a great ability to teach via stories. He adds motivational stories, and real-life case studies and inspires students.

He can connect via stories.

Adding value to the customer

Customer aka the student is the most important person for Alakh. He always focused on his students and provided value.

Value addition has paid off big time for Physicswallah which has created a huge fan base.

Customer focus creates loyalty

Physicwallah is the star of EdTech. He is… He has numerous fan pages who constantly post content about him. 

They share memes, and snippets from his classes, share his quotes, and are one of the primary reasons for his success.

Just a warning… do not ever try to get on his wrong side… it has been said that his students are so loyal… they have been known to create digital warfare against anyone who is known to have tried to discredit him…

This could be the single most important marketing strategy of Physicswala - a customer-focused approach.

Innovation

Physicswalla is a classic example of a company that has taken advantage of technology. They have launched apps, introduced referral systems, and have launched numerous courses and coaching centers.

They have welcomed funds and acquired companies to leverage their position the the EdTech industry.

Alakh Pandey has taken advantage of his fanbase and has risen above the crowd.

His ingenuity did not stop there. He went on to create an app that massed 300k downloads in just 7 days.

Rumor mills say it crashed the app store…

Let's talk about some marketing, and what exactly worked for Physicswalla.

If you notice the financials of Physics Wallah you can see that they have generated a huge income. 

Further drilling down, you will notice they have kept their advertising costs low… really minimal.

How did they manage to spend so less on advertisements and yet grow so big?

Financial as per entrackr

Let's break down how product pricing is decided.

Product pricing is decided majorly by

Production cost

Marketing Cost or COCA (cost of customer acquisition)

To increase your profits you need to lower the cost of customer acquisition.

The greater the cost of acquisition of a customer, the lower the profits.

Digital Marketing Strategy of Physicswallah

Physicswalla is an example of how personal branding can make you successful.

Analysing the website traffic you will notice that branded search terms constitute a major source of traffic.

Personal Branding

Branded search is an indicator that you have done everything right. People are searching with your name and your company's name.

This also indicates how loyal their customers (students and parents) are. This also proves the rule of 7 of marketing.

Establishing Multiple touchpoints

Elmo Lewis from the advertising industry coined the term "Rule of Seven" in early 1927. It was coined as the rule of 7 and referred to as the effective frequency.

Rule of seven states that it takes 7 interactions with a brand, with an ad for a potential customer to be influenced.

Fun Fact - Elmo Lewis is the person who also coined the terms AIDA and USP.

What has all this to do with Physicswalla?

He has built a brand and generated trust. He has created multiple touchpoints which are essential to generating a steady stream of leads.

This in turn has helped him manage low advertisement costs.

You can find him on Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, and YouTube, and he even has a dedicated Telegram channel.

Multiple active touchpoints with a massive fan following to reach potential customers.

Organic Marketing

Analysing the traffic of Physicswalla you can't but notice how vast the organic traffic is.

The website alone generates approx 16 million visitors using over 1.1M keywords to find the site.

3M of this traffic is branded ( did I mention every month?).

Content Marketing

Content in the form of images, videos, memes,content shared by fans and blog posts have been one of their key sources of success.

Physicswalla is a company that has all the right ingredients of growth. Understanding their digital marketing strategy and implementing it in your venture will help you take your business to an all-new level.

Author

Latha is a Digital strategest and content marketer. You can find her on LinkedIn.

[nowyourcookingwithboolie]

An assortment today for the compilation (Info on each drawing in order and below):

Image 1: Angry Otto Meatallis baaing and flailing in a funny angle, during boss fight, kind of based off the Elmo Fire Meme thingy!

Image 2: Compton in the style of one of the Versions of the S1-2 Opening for Totally Spies, with Helmut n Otto (Whoops forgot a small full body Compton in the middle but that's ok! Lol!)!

Image 3: Helmut singing his song from his mind in the goats puppets au version! He is riding the feel mobile and is on top of it!

I had fun with these!

[theparanormalperiodical]

Everything You Never Knew About The Nazi UFO Conspiracy Theory (it’s a wild ride)

Oil.

You could tell the story of the modern world through oil.

The thick, sticky liquid is the dark glue clobbering the West together. Nations go to war, governments plot and plunder, and innocent people get caught up in the crossfire. All for oil.

But the oil I’m talking about didn’t start a war. It instead leads us to a little known historical tale. A tale that in turn brings us to the front step of a conspiracy theory.

Our story starts in Queen Maud Land, Antarctica.

It’s currently -46 degrees celsius. We are surrounded by soft, white stretches of snow and sharp, mountain-esque peaks breaching the ice.

But some would have you believe there is much more to the land lying just beyond the North Pole. According to some theorists, beneath the frost-bitten ground lies an entire hidden society. And amongst the people gathering in this underground bunker sits technological advances quite literally out of this world.

In 1938, an expedition from Nazi Germany was sent out to take control of Queen Maud Land (known then as New Swabia) in order to supply whale oil for the upcoming war in Western Europe.

Theorists, however, claimed that after the war, the remaining Nazis in Europe fled to New Swabia and may have even kept and developed their advancements in aircraft technology. Yes, it is here they keep and dispatch their UFO technology, helped only by a superhuman race or aliens!

Strap in, kids. It’s time to talk about the messy, mysterious and my-god-this-is-weird-shit Nazi UFOs.

2010 was a pretty tame year by the decade’s standards.

But in late November, a meme was born. A meme that probably relaunched a conspiracy that once thrived in a postwar world: it claimed aliens paid a visit to the guys at the top during Nazi Germany’s heyday and offered up advice for advanced aircraft technology.

Ancient Aliens (season 2 episode 5) gave us innocent viewers the lowdown on the UFOs spotted during and after the war that were supposedly related to Hitler’s regime.

This theory clusters alongside other Ancient Aliens theories - that extraterrestrials have popped down now and then to help construct vast civilisations like Ancient Egypt.

Is it true?

Is it bugger.

But the theories and the evidence put forward frame a unique time in history.

What are Nazi UFOs?

The title of this theory is far from imaginative. The theory claims the Nazis were successful in advancing aircrafts and spacecrafts during WW2. But there is also talk of postwar survival of this technology, whether concealed at the North Pole or hiding in plain sight at NASA.

We know that the Nazis made vast strides in engineering and weaponry. In fact, the ‘evidence’ route forward by theorists relies heavily on accounts from high-up figures in the Axis countries.

Take the Repulsine: this was a specialised engine built during the war. How far was the stretch from this feat of engineering to alien-tech? Is it possible that an advanced race of extraterrestrials stopped by with a few tips and tricks?

Apparently so, as put forward by the claims of the Haunebu flying saucer and the occult-inspired Die Glocke (the existence of both of these aircrafts is, of course, highly disputed).

Nazi UFO believers should get some credit, however - they at least did some research. They got their facts right on three crucial pieces of evidence, before losing control of the wheel and skidding off the track completely.

Firstly, yes, we know they claimed New Swabia in 1938 for the purpose of obtaining whale oil and potentially for imperial pursuits, as well.

And yeah, they researched advanced propulsion tech. They even created a prototype of a circular-winged aircraft that looks preeeeetty similar to your run-of-the-mill UFO.

They even get right that there were flurries of UFO sightings during the war by allied forces.

But as soon as 1950, outlandish claims emerged, mere years after Germany surrendered and the Allies claimed victory. But we need to start at the beginning.

The year is 1944.

The end of the war is just on the horizon. The Allies have liberated Western Europe from Nazi grip. But a new, surprising threat is in the soldiers line of sight, too.

It was a cold, November evening. Lt. Fred Ringwald was in a night fighter piloted by a fellow Lieutenant. As they soared above the Rhine valley, the two american soldiers spotted something in the hills of Strasbourg.

8 fiery, orange lights were staring back at them.

They were sure, as any fighter pilot in that situation, that this was enemy aircraft. And yet nothing showed up on the radar. As soon as they turned the plane to prepare to fight, the orange lights had disappeared.

Many would attribute such sightings to combat fatigue, St. Elmo’s Fire (weather phenomena during a storm where glowing plasma appears near masts) or the fact that pilots would have seen many aircrafts clogging across Europe's skies.

But soon, the sightings began to spread. And fast.

In December, a pilot saw “5 or 6 flashing red and green lights in ’T’ shape.” in the skies near Breisach, Germany. They followed him but quickly vanished.

Days later, two orange glowing lights were spotted by two more flight crews.

They rose from the earth to 10,000 feet before tailing the fighters for approx. 2 minutes. They then stopped following the allied planes and disappeared.

“They appear to be under perfect control at all times”

Keith Chester

These sightings would become so common, they’d be given a nickname:

Foo fighters.

Scientists would go on to investigate them, later decoding them as advanced German aircrafts and weaponry. As they were only spotted by allied forces, it was likely they were advancements such as the V-1 or V-2 rocket.

But after the war, UFO sightings continued to apparently connect the dots:

Project Sign, an official US UFO investigation team, linked the designs of the German Horten brothers to UFO reports. The head of the follow up investigation confirmed some of their findings:

“When WWII ended, the Germans had several radical types of aircraft and guided missiles under development. The majority were in the most preliminary stages, but they were the only known craft that could even approach the performance of objects reported by UFO observers.”

Captain Edward J. Ruppelt, 1959

It was only after the war that accounts from former officials of the Axis regimes appeared to support these claims.

The first newspaper report forging a connection between UFOs and the crushed Nazi regime was written by a former Italian Minister of National Economy under Mussolini’s regime:

"types of flying discs were designed and studied in Germany and Italy as early as 1942"

But this doesn’t suggest aliens airdropped a PDF of flying saucer designs. We know that flying saucer aircrafts can and have been created.

A similar account from a Czeh scientist spurred on another key element of this conspiracy theory.

Die Glocke.

December 9th 1965.

All is peaceful in the small town of Kecksberg, Pennsylvania. That’s about to change.

Six American citizens in Detroit, Michigan, Windsor and Ontario witnessed a fireball score across the sky. NASA later claimed that this was a meteorite or a Soviet satellite crashing back to Earth.

UFOlogists weren’t so sure.

Many claim they saw a large object the size of a VW Beetle spotted with strange symbols, like hieroglyphics, being carried out by a truck from the area cordoned off at the crash site.

UFOlogists believe they recovered The Bell, an occult-alien-hybrid spacecraft.

Apparently, such claims bear a similarity to the designs of an aircraft laid out in a Wehrmacht document about a vertical take-off craft. And then Rudolph Schirever, the man claiming he designed it during the war, gave a statement the same month something crashed to the earth.

He told Der Spiegel that he designed a craft powered by rotating turbine blades. He developed it until April 1945 at BMW in Prague before fleeing to the Czeh Republic, as it is now known. 3 years later, he claimed the designs were stolen.

He thinks Czeh agents nicked his ideas for a foreign power.

Could it have been for an underground society of failed Nazi war criminals stowed away in underground base in Antartica?

(That was a mouthful.)

Many have attached their own take to Die Glocke.

Some believe it was anti-gravitational, others claim it was a time-machine. Some claim a Nazi colonel handed it over to the US military to buy his freedom, and a few even allege that the US forces forced Nazi scientists to build Die Glocke and advance it’s anti-gravity technology.

This stuff is pretty out there.

Quite literally.

But the last bit does fit actual history: US forces did bring over Nazi scientists to advance their space technology.

Postwar Theories

When historians began to reflect on the war decades after it ended, new ideas banking on UFOs followed suit.

In the 1960s, one of these most infamous theories was put forward in the controversial book The Morning of the Magicians.

It made numerous claims about the mysterious and fictional Vril Society which was based on a novel about superhuman-angel-alien beings that lived inside the Earth. In 1935, a German engineer fled to the US spouting claims that the Nazis did indeed have a society dedicated to finding the Vril.

The Morning of the Magicians claimed the Vril Society was a precursor to the Nazi party amongst other ideas. They supposedly created flying disc prototypes and had a secret base on the moon.

Oh, and about that Antarctica underground base?

It’s so the Nazis can vanish into the Earth and meet that advanced race living down there.

Jumping onto this New Swabia bandwagon was Ernst Zündel.

This Holocaust denier (*stares into camera*) wrote many books throughout the 70s claiming flying saucers were secret weapons released from this base. He even claimed he would attempt to locate the base and reveal the Earth was crammed full of aliens this entire time!

In 2002, he let slip that it was a big ruse to bring in more cash for his publishing company.

At the end of the decade, Migeul Serrano gave it a go. He was a Nazi sympathiser and believed that Hitler was the avatar (a deity on earth) of a Hindu god. Apparently he was hanging out with the hyperborean gods (Greek gods that are stowed away at the North Pole) underground until he was ready to release UFOs and bring in the Fourth Reich.

The last, infamous proponent of this theory had physical, real-life consequences.

A year after Serrano made his claims, Richard Chase professed that Nazi UFOs had forced him to commit numerous brutal and bloody crimes under threat to his own life.

Chase is one of the most infamous serial killers in history, earning the title the Vampire of Sacramento due to his reputation for murder, rape, cannibalism and necrophilia. These claims can be traced back to his schizophrenia which prompted him to believe prison officials were poisoning his food as directed by Nazi UFOs.

***

I think sometimes it’s easier for us to frame the atrocities committed by the Nazi regime within the context of something the horror genre would spit out. We’d much rather spin tales of occult rituals and far-out entities than admit actual humans did what they did.

It’s no surprise that following the war, a surge in movies detailing alien invasion emerged. It fit the fears of impending doom from a foreign, fascist government, a reality for many nations during WW2.

What do you think is the craziest claim?

If you liked this blogpost, make sure you like and reblog it. And while you’re down there, hit follow to read something spooky every weekend!

[atendersun-archived]

🎰

Muu & Umeko: Honestly, there is a lot of things about her that would gravitate him towards her in order to be her friend. All he would need to do is see her in public, maybe overhear her discussing something about flowers, and go, ‘I want to know more about that one.’ To start with, he’s pretty guilty of expanding his social circle by just acclimating himself to more sweet, kindhearted young women. There is also kind of a more protective instinct towards her due to their age gap. He would dare some punk ass eighteen year old boy to be mean to her with him around. He’d obviously much rather not have to deal with the hassle of throwing down with someone barely into adulthood, and to just engage in interests that they have in common instead. Those being roller skating, something he got into after the Humility by Gorillaz music video game out. He’s been trying to emulate 2D ever since. Plus, easy enough, horror movie buddies. So many of his female friends will not watch them with him, and he’s getting a little offended. And in the event they ever got to the point of bonding over both of them having less than great mothers, he would gladly be the Kermit to her Miss Piggy.

Muu & Simonne: He would literally pay money for her to walk by him at a store that sells a lot of fandom based merchandise just so he can attach himself to her until the end of time. He’d actually only be in there looking for things either Mob Psycho 100 or Ookiku Furikabutte related, but he’d stop all that he was doing just to begin telling a young woman with piercings everything on his mind. The words “lesbian earrings” would definitely come out of his mouth, but he would mean it with absolutely no harm or insult aimed at her sexuality. He just really admires the lesbian side of Tiktok in a way that might be a tad too peculiar, but he would have people know that it is an obsession that isn’t hearing anyone. That, and he wants so many more people to know about his belly button piercing and his ability to do some basic level playing on his ukulele.

Muu & Inessa: Game bar. Not that I could really see either being there for the purpose of drinking, one reason being that Mason had better not be due to his medications, but more so because it is a social opportunity within their interests. He might not play too many board games necessarily, but it wouldn’t stop him any from happily observing tables playing Dungeons and Dragons, Magic, or really anything in general. It helps that he would really like Inessa in general, so she could arguably tell him only the difference in rules between one edition of a game versus another, and he’d just happily listen all the same. He’d actually really enjoy passing idle conversations on anything from how much they both dislike demons, to something as serious as the complexities of gender. No hesitation, he would gladly send her Muppet themed memes. She would at some point just be spammed with Kermit the frog, Elmo, and even some Fraggle Rock characters with little context.

Muu & Ezra: All Ezra needs to do is exist. They are beautiful, and all this man wants is to tell them about it. There’s a couple options for this one. One, those independently ran outdoor movie settings where it is being played against the side of a large building while people rest on blankets or chairs they’ve provided for themselves. Something like that, but it would be an old style black and white film that is either a cliché romance film, or those old time monster films. All Ezra would need to do is make a comment under their breath in regards to the movie, and Muu would take it upon himself to evade their personal space to go, “You aren’t supposed to talk during movies, but keep going. I’m listening.” Or they could just be two individuals seated near one another since they arrived alone, or with an odd amount of friends, and now they are stuck next to one another at a musical. Not that Muu would mind, but Ezra would probably be wishing to switch with absolutely anyone else just so he can break away from a stranger who seems to immediately want to befriend and care for him.

Muu & Bruce: Easy. Mason’s career in all of his timelines at this point are as a teacher. In most of them it is at a daycare, but it as the leeway of being adjusted to either an assistant or aid of a preschool room at an elementary/primary school. Maybe something came up and Bruce desperately needed a sitter. Out of the goodness in his heart, and admiration for the parent to begin with, he gladly volunteers to fill that role. They both also like comics, so he’d gladly stick around even after assisting in May’s bed time routine to chitchat about everything he knows about the spider-verse. Should things down the line of friendship turn into a more intimate arrangement between them, he is more than happy to take of them completely. He can’t necessarily explain why very well in words, but he just would be.

[everlarkholidaystyle]

Thank you to @567inpanem​ for coming up with the prompts…so excited. 

The rules are simple chose a prompt write a story, draw a picture, make a meme, make a collage, or a music video, or even a soundtrack to the holidays. And submit it here starting on the Winter Solstice Saturday December 21, 2019 and extending to January 6, 2020 the End of the Holiday season…

Bake Off

*Peeta easily wins best baker title in his district with his special ginger bread recipe. But now he’s baking against the best of the districts! Will he be the Mellark that finally brings the grand title to 12? Intrigue! Deception! Sabotage! Bribery! It’s the grand quarter quell bake off has it all! Who will be crowned top baker and forever enjoy the special 25 yr title, fame glory and fortune! Your host Caesar Flickerman, with guest star taste testers including…Katniss desperate, agrees to work as secret agent, get close to Peeta, steal recipe and plans for a very special top secret gingerbread house, mess up his ingredients, make him oversleep after wild sex, anything necessary to keep him from beating the career district contestant! Will Peeta take home the big prize?

*Story of 1000 origami cranes in one year for luck or wish. Peeta makes 1000 (mockingjay) cookies?

D12 Fall Harvest

*Harvest Festival in D12 provides opportunity for all to not only celebrate bounty but also to give thanks, exchange gifts, participate in matching ceremony in anticipation of annual day of matrimony held on the winter solstice. Snapshot of Peeta and Katniss through the years? 

*Harvest Festival is competition like Olympics or Highland games? Winners awarded cornucopia of food for the coming winter?

D12 Parcel Day

*The way those Parcel Days could have gone to forge relationship between Peeta and Katniss if it was something more, if for example they had to work together on things like what goes in them (maybe start off cold, then argue over differences, then get to know each other, grow together).

Thanks Giving

First Feast in 1621 lasted 3 days, 90 native Americans Wampanoag and 53 Pilgrims, celebrated successful harvest - feast, games, military exercises, diplomacy. Only 4 of 20 Mayflower women survived to the feast! Men helped cook for the party. No oven. 1863 Lincoln declared holiday. Make Katniss either survivor of voyage or Native?

Christmas & Hanukkah

See Prompt Nine.

New Years

Old college friends dispersed after graduation, but the group meets up every New Years for a night of drinking and catching up on the year and reminiscing and resolutions. At least for a while. But then they drift apart, skip years… until one (ok, I just realized this is getting closer to the movie big chill with every tweak). Or st. Elmo’s fire. But I like the concept of Katniss and Peeta having something in college and kept it secret but something happens and there’s secret is exposed….

Peeta and Katniss have crushes on the other one, attend a masquerade and neither one tells the other what there dressed as and they meet at the party and they do not realize they are attracted to their friend; maybe this can be an arranged marriage effort to match people attracted to each other by personality, not appearance, and the positive match confuses them? Or attendance is a psychology course requirement? (My intro psych had 1,000 students.) 

Canon Based Non-Holiday Specific

something about coal…legend that La Befana witch flies down chimney, left gifts for good children, coal for naughty…Epiphany January 6 = end of Christmas season, day 3 wise men arrive manger BUT once Katniss is Victor, has $, sneaks buckets of coal for all the seam children to keep warm fire going, Peeta sneaks small raisin nut loaves? Or maybe this is parcel day beginning of legendary Mockingjay flies and delivers coal and sweet music. Maybe we can leave it like an open-ended thing parcel day in the and the districts how do you think each district celebrated partial day

 Prompt #1 A Dog’s New Year’s Eve Prompts -  

A dog living on a college campus in Columbia observed that paying cashier = get a cookie. So, for the last 5 years, dog picks up large leaf, carries to cashier, gets cookie, too. What if cashier is lonely baker Peeta? Stray dog actually belongs to Katniss. Because dog always snarls at Haymitch, he calls it “Katniss.” Peeta overhears, assumes the dog is “Katniss.” Haymitch doesn’t correct him.

Peeta reads horoscope for 2019 Year of the Dog: “For single people, they have a large possibility to meet some excellent friends of opposite sex and develop a romantic relationship with one of them.”  

Peeta needs to find a date for New Years Eve and is running out of time!  Hears Katniss over the radio reading the article he wrote “…Dog girls…need to pursue or express affection of boy dogs bravely. In addition, joining in more social activities on weekends is also an effective way to find true love…” Followed by a “BAHUMBUG Love is dead…dogs do not fall in love…hell like people dogs fall in lust’” Peeta wants to find this woman and set her straight…Love is not a Bahumbug. 

What if dog getting too heavy like Columbian dog, vet accuses Katniss feeding dog junk, Katniss follows dog, catches baker feeding her now overweight dog, confronts him. But, Year of the Dog! So, HEA magic.

Prompt Idea #2 (Cultural Holiday)

*Pliny the Elder, a Roman who was one of the world’s first known naturalists, thought the Druids’ beliefs about mistletoe (that “mistletoe, taken in drink, will impart fecundity to all animals that are barren.” and hung it over their doors for luck) were silly, but the reputation stuck thanks in part to a Norse myth: definitely something with mistletoe and drinking its properties to become fertile 

*Frigga, goddess of love and marriage, loved her son Baldur so much that she and Baldur’s wife teamed up to make all the world’s plants and animals to promise not to hurt him. Well, they got all the plants, except mistletoe. Loki, god of mischief, realized the mistake and made a spear out of mistletoe and killed Baldur. As Frigga cried over the loss of her son, her motherly tears turned into mistletoe berries. Those berries somehow brought Baldur back to life, so Frigga declared mistletoe to be a symbol of love. According to The Smithsonian magazine, “Mistletoe would come to hang over our doors as a reminder to never forget. We kiss beneath it to remember what Baldur’s wife and mother forgot.”

Prompt Idea #3 Candy Land Hunger Games edition

Weird holiday hunger games - Arena is a winter wonderland of marzipan mutts, “Snow” monster, Peeta and Katniss are gingerbread, she reattaches his leg with frosting, in crystal candy cave he can’t stop from taking a nibble she’s so delicious, it rains lemon drops, it snows powdered sugar, watch out for milk lake danger… 

Prompt Idea #4 Misfit Toys

*On the Island of Misfit Toys, one new toy (Katniss?) perfect but with broken or lost heart, damaged toy soldier Peeta? determined to help with other toys (victors or tributes?) 

Prompt Idea #5 Holiday Dueling Booth 

Katniss and Peeta’s relationship has gone sour. For extra cash, Katniss opens a seasonal booth at the farmer’s market selling simple homemade baked goods, like apple cake, acorn flour scones. Peeta tries to get her attention by pushing her buttons, opens an upscale baked goods booth next to hers. 

Prompt Idea #6 Tim Burton Holiday

Too much eggnog, Katniss nightmare: Mad Capital scientist builds a “Edward scissorhands” boy mutt but with kitchen gadget appendages. D12 turns on him. Katniss goes on daring journey to find only person who can help. Dr Wires lives underground with oompaloompa-like helpers (former victor mutts). 

Prompt Idea #7 - Story Book Hero

Katniss is a working mom who doesn’t have time for all the school volunteer opportunities, but finds herself signed up for weekly storytime for December - The Story Book hero comes to life

Prompt Idea #8 Holiday Shopper

Wealthy Peeta and Finnick like betting on the stupidest things, each hires a professional personal shopper, tries to come up with Christmas shopping list item that will be the straw that breaks the camel’s back. But Katniss desperately needs the money, resolved not to quit. 

Prompt Idea #9 -  Open Ended Holiday Prompt -be creative any HG Parring any and all works

Looking for perfect gift Hanukah / Christmas

Eight Days of Hanukah 

Office parties

School art projects

Deadlines 

Should old acquaintance be forgot

Singer / Caroling / Rock Band / TV Show

Resolutions -  

Snowstorms - 

Holiday show

Gift of the Magi

Let’s find your smile (like a treasure hunt, by end found happiness)

Secret Santa party games

Gift Exchange

Twelve days of Christmas 

New Years masquerade ball

Oh and one more thing don’t forget to #Everlarkholidaystyle2019

[omniversalobservations]

Fandom Mashups Are On The Rise

Fact: Two fandoms are better than one. When your favorite fictional worlds collide, it’s a mashup made in fandom heaven. Fandom mashups are becoming more popular, with crossovers popping up in TV shows and movies, fan art, original cosplays, and even new collectibles, making pop culture hybrids a top trend in the geek world.

Fandom mashups have such a powerful impact because they join together two groups of extremely passionate fans — or two halves of your own geeky heart. While products and entertainment moments that feature themes from two separate worlds may be a little more niche —  not every Dungeons & Dragons fan would get schwifty with Rick and Morty — they have the ability to draw fans from one property into another. And the most accessible way for companies to pull off this concept is with gotta-have-it merch — and lots of it. With the right properties and the right fan bases, the collaborations can be seamless and maintain the integrity of each brand.

Take FOCO’s line of Game of Thrones MLB Bobbleheads, for example. The cross-licensed series pairs Major League Baseball players and mascots with Game of Thrones characters and settings. The first series merges three distinct bobblehead styles — the Iron Throne, the Night King, and the Ice Dragon Viserion — with mascots and branding from all 30 MLB teams.

“We definitely think it’s an emerging category, this cross-licensed mashup that we’re going to explore,” says Matthew Katz, licensing manager at FOCO. “… We tried to make sure we had the right balance. You don’t want to go too far one way or the other because you want to capture the people who are superfans of either baseball or Game of Thrones, and then capture those people in the middle as well.”

The bobblehead collaboration started off as a partnership for MLB’s theme nights, during which every fan who walks through the stadium gates gets a promotional item, like a bobblehead. The promotion opened the door to a conversation on how to expand at retail, especially for people who couldn’t make it to the promo nights or desired a more high-end collectible than the ones handed out at the games.

A unique aspect of pop culture mashups is that it gives the creators a bit more freedom in playing around with storytelling. The Night King was an ominous Game of Thrones villain, but he’s a bit more lighthearted when he’s wearing team-themed armor and ditching his spear for a baseball bat made of ice with the team’s logo on it.

“Developing a non-traditional product line like this gives a fresh perspective and allows a fan who has love for both brands to get a refreshed look,” says Josephine Fusezi, MLB’s vice president of global consumer products. “Being able to play with key elements from both baseball and Game of Thrones gives the consumer something different and refreshing. It also gives us an opportunity to have a little fun with our fans.”

Response to the first bobblehead series was so positive that FOCO quickly developed a followup series in just six weeks, featuring characters such as the direwolf, the Kingsguard, and a White Walker, available now for preorder. New MLB theme nights began in June for a Netflix Stranger Things collaboration, too.

Fans will also know exactly who to call with Hasbro’s new Ecto-1 Ectotron figure. The Transformers universe already has heroic Autobots, evil Decepticons, and now ghosts! The iconic Ecto-1 Cadillac from the 1984 Ghostbusters movie is now a Transformers robot — a converting Paranormal Investigator called Ectotron. The figure comes with its own Proton Pack and Slimer accessory, and it converts between Ecto-1 and robot in 22 steps.

This year marks the 35th anniversaries of both Transformers and Ghostbusters, making it an ideal year to combine the best of both franchises. A five-part origin story from IDW Publishing will also be available this year, giving fans insight on Ectotron’s background.

“Brand anniversaries not only allow us to celebrate a franchise, but we can also tap into nostalgia around a brand,” says Tom Warner, senior vice president for the Transformers franchise at Hasbro. “The Transformers and Ghostbusters brands are filled with waves of millennial nostalgia as new parents share the toys and brands they loved as children with their own kids.”

Ectotron preorders sold out within 24 hours after the figure was revealed at Toy Fair New York in February, so additional preorders were made available. Fans should also be on the lookout for other potential Transformers and Ghostbusters collaborations soon, according to Warner.

“On the surface, the Transformers and Ghostbusters franchises may seem vastly different; however, they share more in common than one may expect,” Warner says. “Both have two passionate fandoms, sharing a mutual bond over out-of-this world storytelling rooted in science fiction. When combining both worlds, our goal was to create stories and a product that stays true to the origins of both brands.”

The Avengers movies are probably the most well-known, most popular crossovers, but they weren’t the first. Think of all the “most ambitious crossover event in history” memes that circulated around the time that Infinity War came out — and how we were reminded of Disney Channel’s That’s So Suite Life of Hannah Montana, which came out in 2006, or 2003’s The Rugrats Go Wild, in which the band of babies met Eliza and her family from The Wild Thornberries, on Nickelodeon.

Entertainment crossover content is so successful because fans of these franchises can see all of their favorite characters interacting in situations they normally wouldn’t, like when the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles visited Gotham in Batman vs. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (2019). In this movie, the heroes in a half-shell and the Dark Knight team up when Shredder joins forces with Ra’s al Ghul, and all of the heroes need to work together to defeat the combined might of the Foot Clan and League of Assassins.

These crossovers can also span multiple age groups, such as Sesame Street’s “Respect Brings Us Together” campaign. Two commercials launched in April featuring Elmo and Cookie Monster, one of which starred the notably at-odds Lannister siblings from Game of Thrones. And if anyone can convince Cersei and Tyrion Lannister to get along, it’s Elmo.

Fan demand for this type of content is loud and clear, as is the case with The CW’s DC Universe. The network has created crossover content yearly since 2014 through its DC TV shows, starting with Arrow and The Flash. At the time, in December 2014, the two-part Arrowverse crossover between the two shows was the most-watched December telecast in seven years for the network, and the most-watched episode for both shows since their respective series premieres.

In 2016, the network’s #DCWeek event delivered The CW’s most-watched week in six years, featuring a four-night DC crossover between Arrow, The Flash, Supergirl, and DC’s Legends of Tomorrow. The CW’s fifth-annual Arrowverse crossover last year, Elseworlds, introduced Gotham City and Batwoman into the mix, and concluded with a tease of the Crisis on Infinite Earths crossover, set to air this fall.

The ratings for The CW’s crossover events clearly show that fans crave this content, and it’s safe to say we can expect more of it in the future.

Pop culture mashups also come from the most important community: the fans themselves.

While manufacturers and entertainment companies have the power to bring pop culture mashups to the masses, fans can express themselves through cosplay and fan art — without the shackles of licensing rights getting in the way. And here, creativity is key. Out-of-the-box fan mashups, including one-of-a-kind cosplays and stunning illustrations, all have one thing in common: They fuse two things that would likely never be together otherwise.

Eric Proctor is a digital artist at TsaoShin who draws vibrant fantasy pieces, with a heavy focus on pop culture artwork. His gallery features bright, fun, and whimsical pieces that incorporate characters, such as Stitch from Lilo & Stitch and Toothless from How to Train Your Dragon.

“For me, the crossovers are a Venn diagram where the two circles completely overlap of things that I absolutely love,” Proctor says. “So, any crossover that I’m currently doing is going to just be just that I love A and I love B, and I’d love to see A and B together.”

Proctor is currently working on an ongoing Grumpy Cat and Disney series, which had accidental roots. Proctor bought a new rig and tablet for his illustration setup and was practicing with his new equipment. He sketched out the iconic The Little Mermaid scene in which Ariel is singing on the rock with water splashing around her, and because he doesn’t like drawing people, he drew in Grumpy Cat as a last-minute decision. He showed it to his friends, expecting to delete it, but then people asked him what Disney scenario he was going to put Grumpy Cat into next — and the series was born.

“I say that I love both of those things, but one of the things I felt so guilty about making that particular series is that I really, really love Disney, but I’m putting Grumpy Cat in a scenario where it’s just ruining it,” Proctor says. “It’s this little bit of dark humor where you’re like, ‘I really love Disney, but honestly if Grumpy Cat was in it, this is probably what would happen.’ So it’s taking something that’s a little sacred and then ripping it to shreds a bit. I think the humor was one of those things I had to play around with.”

Proctor is currently working on his next Grumpy Cat Disney installment, a Cinderella-themed piece titled “Bippidi Boppidi No.” It will show the scene from the animated film in which the fairy godmother grants all of Cinderella’s wishes, but with everything completely ruined, such as a pumpkin dress, Lucifer the cat being the size of a horse, and other mishaps.

“It’s one of those situations where it’s so easy to imagine a lot of those crossovers together; they seem so real and fitting that it just feels like a marriage of two ideas that you’ve enjoyed both of those things so much,” Proctor says. “For me personally, when I look at a crossover that just succeeds so well, I just get so happy because someone else saw the thing that put those two things together and they made that real.”

With pop culture mashups, fans get to express themselves in a whole new way, and manufacturers and entertainment companies are taking note of the increasing fan demand and creative potential. The possibilities are limitless.

Source: The Pop Insider

(image via DeviantArt)

[whatsthesquarerootofshoe]

I try all the time in this institution

"You should all be dead."

That was all Trizza could say as she stared up at the guy in front of her. It wasn't supposed to go this way. She'd called on the best. Nothing more than sheer power. Sure, she hadn't called on the guy she wanted to call, but it was whatever. The guys she did call should have been able to take care of these guys. There was no way they could have fought off her men. Her men must have run off with her money and abandoned the hit.

She hadn't known they were hunters, the whole lot of them. Trizza ran into them and all it took was a minor slight. She called the service. Send a large blondie, double pepperoni, pepper flakes on the side with some ranch dip, make it hot. The code set up for her calls, and her request for their best assassin. Her ideal hitman. The one she wanted as her personal assassin one day, once she had the money to pay his fees more than once. He was cool. Calm. Precise. Perfect. But he was unreachable. Likely dead, they said. And so she picked the next best options.

Now the targets were here for her. They'd found out about the hit and came to interrogate her. And the dark-haired one paused, giving the guy next to him a look. And the response from that guy was to pull the man in front of her aside and whisper in his ear. And they gave her looks. Odd looks, ones she'd only seen before from her mother. What did that mean? Why did they look at her like that? She pulled out a knife. The gaudiest knife in existence, of course. "Ain't nobody got time for this," she muttered.

A meme? A meme. Trizza tried to gather her thoughts. I hope the fuck you do. You'll be a dead son of a bitch, she thought. Oh god. She couldn't think straight. Why now? Why...oh, nevermind. It didn't matter why or how. All that mattered was that they were likely going to kill her in response to the hit, and she had to get out of there alive. She was going to get out of there alive. She had a feeling she would.

But in an instant, the tall guy disarmed her like it was nothing. She punched at him, but met empty air. The dark-haired one grabbed her by the wrists and wouldn't let go. She pulled back against his grip, to no avail. "I think she's possessed," Trizza heard him say. The idea snapped her out of her odd state. Possessed? Ghosts didn't exist, she thought. The supernatural wasn't real. She laughed. This was a joke. They were out of their minds, she assumed. If they thought she could be the victim of possession, why not give that act to them? They'd be dead soon anyway, she assumed. She wasn't dying any time soon.

"Possessed," Trizza stated. A sigh escaped her lips. "If that's what you want." She stopped struggling, trying to put on an air of superiority. Power. The idea that this is what she wanted. Her short stature was hindering this visual, but she tried. "Now, since I'm possessed, you should let me go or face the consequences. You don't know what I can do." Fake it until you make it. That's all she had to do. Threats, until they backed off and she could call out a second hit. A hit that worked.

But they didn't back off. The dark-haired one's grip tightened as his eyes narrowed at the girl. She scoffed at his gaze. He was quite the inquisitive one, as if trying to get a read on her. There was no need for that. "I said back off. Back the fuck off!" She kicked at him, starting to struggle again. It was no use. She was too weak. He was too strong.

Dave watched the scene, almost amused. Was this girl possessed, or acting? He couldn't tell. Are you sure she's possessed? He thought to Karkat, crossing his arms and trying to get a read on the girl. She had a surprising amount of resistance to his abilities - more than the average human. But it wasn't enough to block him out. He didn't go too deep, but she had almost everything right on the surface. Agitation. Confusion. A wish to fight them, one on one. Two on one. All on one. A call for blood - their blood - to spill in front of her eyes. A twinge of fear, hidden but not unreadable.

Boot, meet face. Dave careened backwards, staring shocked at the girl half his size. She'd kicked him in the face somehow. How'd she get so close to him? The back of his hand instinctively went up to his nose. Blood. He was bleeding. He heard her begin to chuckle. "Fuck you," She spat. Boy was she nasty. He got up, keeping his hand to his nose. The dark feelings coming from Karkat made him pause. 'kat, I'm okay, don't hurt her yet. He thought. "What did we even do to you?" He asked the girl. Was it because they were hunters? That had to be the reason. There was no other logical reason for--

"Some fuckin' kid hanging with the giant douchebag over here tripped me at Burger King," The girl stated. She gestured with her head toward D. It was the most dumb reason to want someone dead. And why was she calm again? She had to be bipolar or possessed. She couldn't have been normal. None of this was normal. Calling a hit for someone's entire family over an accident in a fast food chain? That was petty stuff a mob boss would do in a movie! Not something someone who appeared to be no older than 12 did!

D sighed. So that’s why she looked familiar. That was one of the most stupid things he'd ever heard, but he remembered it. Seb had gone with him to help pick up dinner and hadn't watched where he was going. There had been a sorry and an attempt to help up that she declined, and they'd thought that was that. But it was a relief. This wasn't about them being hunters. It was about some kid acting stupid. A strange kid with piercing fuchsia eyes and a death wish. "That it?" He asked, watching as the girl nodded and went back to struggling. There was an odd disconnect between her actions. Nothing led to its logical conclusion, nothing had a logical start.

...and it's a long way forward so trust in me and give them shelter like you've done for me and I know I'm not alone you'll be watching over us until...

Music began to erupt from the girl's pocket. "Let me go so I can answer that, jackass," She demanded. Karkat looked to D and Dave. They shook their heads. With his free hand, he pulled the device out of her pocket. A gaudy fuchsia and gold cell phone. On the screen was the call screen, with one name: "Room Service". That wasn't weird in the slightest. Nope. He hit 'answer' and turned on speakerphone. When no one spoke, he gave the phone's owner a look.

"Yo," Trizza said, almost sounding nervous. "You've reached alpha base." "We've lost three good men thanks to you," Came the reply. Male. Cold. Unnatural and calm. Dave thought it sounded familiar. "You must'a sent your rookies." "You also failed to pay." "Deal was... Hit successful, you get paid." "That isn't how this works, Trizza Tethis." "How do you--"

Click. The person on the other end hung up. Trizza grit her teeth. Not only did these chumps know her name, the service did too. She stopped struggling. "Change of fuckin' plans," she said. "Let go of me." No one moved. She watched as they gave looks to each other, as if making plans with telepathy. What was she supposed to do now? "I said let me the fuck go. L...Let me go!" She pulled against Karkat's hands, to no avail. Then, she lurched forward and grabbed her phone from his hand. Murmuring low under her breath, she began typing on it as fast as her hands would allow.

Karkat, in his surprise, let her go and stepped back. He thought he could hear her humming a song... Mama mia, let me go, Beelzebub has a devil put aside for me... What a weird thing to be humming.

Dave heard it through Karkat. Was that a panic response? Was she panicking? She didn't look very panicked, not to him at least. He stepped closer to Trizza and put a hand on her shoulder. "Hey," He said. "Hey. Uh... Trizza, right? What the hell is going on?"

Trizza looked back at Dave and almost dropped her phone. She tried to find some words - normal words - to explain, but her mind wasn't working too well under pressure. She couldn't fight off an assassin! What was she supposed to do, hide for the rest of her life? She pushed the guy away and stepped back to lean against a wall. "Fuck... It's... Uh... Upsetti...." she blurted. Why couldn't she get any words out right now that weren't idiotic? She had to explain somehow. "Uh... Uhhhh... (God, I wish I was dead...) Uh...." Think. Think. Assassins. Death. Gotta run. Death. Help. Darude Sandstorm's music video. Running in the 90s. Deja Vu. She looked back to her phone and did a little more on it and then turned the volume up. The sound of a very stupid old song echoed to life.

Elmo's got a gun Elmo's got a gun Big Bird's on the run Ernie's dialing 911...

She rubbed the bridge of her nose and turned her phone off after a few more seconds, slapping it into her pocket so fast she almost dropped it. What an embarrassment she was being. She couldn't even explain a simple thing as not wanting to stick around to get assassinated. Fuck these guys. They could stick around all they wanted, but she was out of there. The girl made a mad dash toward the nearest window and ran straight into D. "FFFFFF--" She hissed. She stopped and glared at him, moving to head in the other direction.

"You're comin' with us, little miss trouble." D hoisted the girl up over his shoulder and began walking. "Let's go." As he walked, he couldn't help but notice how light she was and how futile her kicking and beating on his back was. How had she kicked Dave in the face with such force? She was swinging her arms and legs as much as she had before and wasn't getting to half the strength she had then.

"Got it," Dave and Karkat replied, almost in unison. They followed behind, making sure to stay out of the way of Trizza's kicking and beating on D. They conversed in their minds, very much aware of what she meant by that song. It's symbolism. She's in trouble just as much as we are, Dave thought to Karkat. The demon nodded in agreement. They had to hide her for now and keep her on watch. She felt like a demon, but she also...didn't? It bothered him so much that he couldn't tell. It was easier to tell a half-demon apart from a human and a demon than it was to tell what exactly she was. She had to be a powerful demon to hide her aura that well. Or she could be a changeling. Or she could have had a brush with demons before and they left something on her as a calling card.

Whatever she was, they tossed her in the truck and sped off toward a safe place. All the precautions were in place, so there was no worrying whether anyone would find them. Now the task was getting her to explain herself.

Inspired by @knight-of-heart-and-art‘s Demonstuck series and random asks on their blog.

Oh and the title’s a meme. :)

[ironwoman359]

Fake Fic Summaries Masterpost

A list of “fake fic” summaries, which are basically concepts for fics based on a title that was given. If you want to write something based on these, you are welcome to, I just ask that you link the original post for credit, and tag me so I can read it! If you want to send me a fake title, you are welcome to do so, but I may not answer right away. Also, some of them have fics or art based on them in the notes, so check out the other amazing content creators who contributed to these ideas!

Full Masterlist Commission Info Ko-fi

Canonverse

A Perfectly Princely Emo Knightmare

Broken, Tarnished, Rise, Remain

A Bad Guy Today, Tomorrow, Always

Infinitesimal Possibilities

Stop Saying That!

Shut Up and Kiss Me, You Idiot

The Dark Between the Light

The Pen Explodes

Right is Wrong

They Scare Me

My Love Pours like the Rain

Convince You Otherwise

Don’t Hide From Me Anymore

Emotionless/Reign of Darkness

Stop With The Memes!

Textbook Pandering

I'll Sleep When I'm Awake

Cold Coffee

Elmo’s Adventure Crayon

Human AU 

Dark Horses

Can I Get Your Name

Not Quite Normal

Letters From No One

No Wrong Way

Think Of Me When You Look To The Distance

When All is Broken

The Ghost Stories

Off Script!

Sky Gazing

When I’m Gone

Two AM Radio

Child’s Trust

Not the Best Time

Life Isn’t a Musical (Unfortunately)

Sugar, Spice, and Everything Nice

Tablets, Phones, and Nintendos, Oh My!

Hold My Hand

Over and Overture

As Time Passes By, Will You Remember?

No Pictures!

Fantasy 

Little Doll

In Which There Are Hummingbirds

Nightengale

Hidden Lover

Breathing in the Flames

Reignless Thunderstorm

Every Place He Touched, it Burned

The World Was Meant to Love (Even if We Can’t Always See It)

Like Father Like Son

Sci-fi

Amidst Stars and Dreams

See You Across the Stars 

To the Stars Again

Contemptible Me

[prompt-master]

Be More Chill Headcanons 4

- rich and Jake love to jam out to Livin La Viva Loca -rich has a tickle me Elmo skeleton in his closet and even he doesn't know how it got there -Everyone thinks it's really disturbing and won't go near it but christine once tried to be all "oh come on its still kinda cute" and tried to tickle it only to find out the batteries were low and it had this slow distorted voice -rich and Michael used to love ducktales -jeremy and Jake were 80s voltron and powerrangers kids -christine loved dinosaurs and horses, once went as a cowgirl trex princess for Halloween -christine is still in love with horses and Michael would do anything to keep her from mentioning it to Jeremy in fear that he will convert her to the Furry life -Michael is the biggest anti-furry and he cries a bit whenever Jeremy shows that side of himself -if you run up to Jake with some confusing unbelievable story he'll just kinda shrug and go along with it -jeremy was that kid that played a videogame once and thought he could have a career based on it, like those kids who play ace attorney and think they'd be awesome lawyers -brooke swears to god in elementary school she saw Chloe eat an entire packet of ketchup including the wrapper and no one believes her -chloe keeps a pocket knife in her backpack and doesnt care it's again at the rules -once a kid told Jenna the cliche "meet me at the back of the gym after school" after she spread a rumor about them, but instead of a fight they had a dance off -jenna won -presquip once a bunch of kids stole Jeremy's table when Michael was out sick, so he sat at a random table. Then some guy called his "friend" a bitch and he squeezed a gogurt in his face. Then he jumped across the table to fight and somehow Jeremy got caught in the entire mess -he had yogurt in his hair for weeks -if rich got into a fight at school his dad would go "did you throw the first punch?" And if rich said no they'd go out for ice cream -despite sometimes needing a wheel chair and crutches Jake went against his doctors advice and stayed in track. He still wins no matter what -"who sins the most" contest -"I don't know man Chloe scares me I think she belongs on the 9th level of hell" "False, you chucklefuck biotch this is the 9th level, and I don't belong here" -*something happens and they don't know who to blame*...aliens -"Chloe sometimes you remind me of heather Chandler" "Nice. I love that lesbian." "..." "Wait doesnt she die-" -Jenna HATES pretzels for no reason -christine has a little aquarium full of fish and she names them all and gives them cute little fixtures. She buys new ones all the time. -her favorite set up was using dollhouse parts -Jake got a fish once and left it in just a vase of water and christine got so mad and now Señior Fish is hers -rich: you know what fuck the memes shrek was an honestly good and funny movie Everyone: *nods in silent, but sincere agreement* -rich was also a spongebob kid, and loves the movie. He almost knows it by heart. And despises today's spongebob -someone: I think I'm gonna buy a Shirley Temp- Michael: animal crackers in my soup, monkeys and rabbits loop de loop Jeremy: America's sweetheart now in CoLOr! -someome: you know you're a dick! Rich: ok!! I get it!! My name's Richard my nickname is dick haha SO FUNNY Someone: no like you're an asshole - something awful: happens The squad: well fuck -Michael once asked what the squip was like and Jeremy looked off into the distance and said "let's just say I watch too much anime.." because the squip was an anime villain let's be honest -"rich what about-" "off brand sesame street" -any time brooke and Chloe go to do something that requires effort they call it Operation Gay because everything they do is gay -self check out: wont scan item Chloe: you know why does EVERYTHINGhave to be out to get me I work day and night to make things easy for everyone and yet people like YOU-

[chrissykissy]

Huxley for da ask meme

wulf you are the only motherfucker in this city who can even come close to being able to handle me

what made me like them: litcherally the moment i heard him sing i was TAKEN!!!! another villain song for my ever-growing playlist? yes please!

my favorite thing about them: so so SO many things but the one i always come back to is how much his one (1) personality trait being Greed lends itself to possessive/overprotective fantasies hhh…… also GOD he really rekindled my 4th grade love of plaid and now any time i see it anywhere im like ‘wow…….. mandy patinkin as the main antagonist in the adventures of elmo in grouchland (1999) dir. gary halvorson….’

nicknames we have for each other: huxley calls whoosh variations of ‘doll’ (dollface, ragdoll, dolly, etc etc etc) in place of her name as a testament to Owning Her. it’s MY tiny muppet gf and I get to pick the name!!!! whoosh probably calls him Mister Huxley most often but when shes feeling bold she will toss him an affectionate space-based name, like starshine! he will wrinkle his nose up at the idea of something so saccharine–he is part grouch, after all–but anyone with eyes can tell how much he likes it

a headcanon of our relationship: huxley sings to whoosh sometimes……… typically classic showtunes from the olden days bc thats what he knows best! sometimes it’s to soothe her to sleep, sometimes it’s just because he shares my desperation to be Perceived and he wants to hear her say nice things about his voice!!!! which, of course, she has no difficulty doing 

my favorite image of them:

i mean like Literally All Of Them but

the earnest smile????? the SICK primary color robe (that says Mine on the back!!)???? “my sun is shining” the implication that he owns whoosh’s very domain????? it is all just so incredibly scrumptious 

anything else!: my pinterest board for him is really really really good

[wekimeki]

Can you give me a detailed explanation of weki meki’s personalities? I feel like idk them well enough and plus I would like to start doing weme fake texts and reactions 💕 thanks!

Please ignore any typos, I hate writing in general, so I likely misused the commas, so here it goes.

Suyeon: She’s mentioned that it’s her first time being the oldest with Weki Meki, so generally she’s easy going and goes with the flow. She’s still learning so she has a tendency to rely on her group mates for help. For example, Doyeon helped her with the intro during promotions because she didn’t feel comfortable doing it. So, she’s aware of her strenghts and weaknesses.

She learned to use the abacus at a young age, so she’s incredibly good at calculations.

She can play the piano.

Elly: She makes lots of meme faces and she’s very expressive. In my opinion, she has a positive outlook in life. Also, she just seems very resilient. The members have mentioned that she rarely gets sick, and combined with the fact that she’s done taekwondo, she doesn’t seem to get down easily. I feel like she would be able to express her likes and dislikes without a problem. She’s strong and competitive.

She potentially knows Japanese.

She thinks she looks like a cross between a dog and a cat or a winter fox.

She doesn’t like radishes. She takes them off her kimbap.

She likes apink.

Yoojung: She sometimes lets her emotions overtake her, but she’s grown over the year and has become more confident in herself. She’s a talented little bean who tries her best and really appreciates her fans. Also, she very energetic.

She really loves animals. She has three dogs and a cat: bokman, bokshil, boksoon, and bokgo.

She’s a master at aegyo.

Doyeon: She’s self confident and believes in herself but doesn’t take herself too seriously. For her interview for Vogue when she was asked who her role model was, she said she didn’t have a role model because the person that controls her life is no one else but herself. She’s reflective and dorky.

She was the captain for her school’s cheer team.

She might be allergic to crab.

Sei: She’s shy and quiet but very thoughtful towards others and their feelings. She’s sweet. She tries to see the positive in things. In produce 101 she had a nickname and she mentioned that at the time it hurt her but that in retrospect she has grown to appreciate it because it meant people noticed her.

She might be allergic to mangos. Elly once gave her a mango lip balm but she couldn’t use it.

She likes sea otters.

Lua: She’s crazy and affectionate and she shows it. Extra but she’s also self conscious and she worries that she’s not good enough. She’s sort of like Yoojung in this area were both tend to flip between self doubt and mood makers. She needs lots of self affirmation and love.

She really likes Elmo.

She has a pink wallet and she carries a two dollar bill.

She took gymnastics, ballet, and belly dancing classes. 

She loves kisses.

She sometimes randomly adds english to her sentences.

Rina: She’s more mellow and gives off a more mature vibe. She’s quiet and from my opinion it seems like she could be competitive once she gets into something. She seems more careful with her actions.

She really likes Studio Ghibli movies. After watching Arrietty, she thought little people were real so she would look for them in her house.

Fan’s think she looks like a turtle or squirtle. 

Pre-debut she was part of a dance team that did kpop cover dances. 

Lucy: She’s silly and playful. She gives me the vibe that she is very mischievous, like she’d pull pranks on the members. For example, I like to think of Lucy and Lua as having a cat and dog relationship. They’ll mess around with each other and play fight sort of like siblings were it’s sort of the norm to bicker and still love each other. (Lucy and Lua go to different schools but they used to walk each other to school while the other members were in Produce 101.) She’s probably is the same with the other members but to a lesser extent. Also, she has a lot of energy.

She really likes Gudetama.

She also likes white tigers but that’s probably because her mother’s conception dream had a white tiger.

She can break apples with her hands.

She can tap dance.

Their personalities are based of my opinions, so take it with a grain of salt. I don’t personally know them (a disclaimer for disclaimery purposes).

[fallenloverecords]

Interview:  Gentle Brontosaurus

Hi lovers! Here at Fallen Love headquarters we periodically interview people that we adore in order to shine a spotlight on our wonderful pop planet. We post all those interviews right here for your education and enjoyment.

Gentle Brontosaurus are an indiepop band from Madison, Wisconsin, USA. They are Huan-Hua Chye (ukulele & keyboard), Nick Davies (keyboard & trumpet), Cal Lamore (guitar), Paul Marcou (drums), and Anneliese Valdes (bass). Fallen Love head Harley interviewed the band through a computer. Fallen Love Records: How did Gentle Brontosaurus begin? Huan-Hua: Get ready for some band lineage in excruciating detail:

Nick and I used to be in a band called TL;DR that broke up after a couple of band members moved away, so we decided to start a new band.

We knew Paul and Jon from having played with their old band, Baristacide, and we recruited Michael to play bass for us through Craigslist.

Eventually Jon decided it was time to part ways with us and we asked Cal to play guitar. Nick and I had met Cal through a songwriting website called FAWM, February Album Writing Month.

Last year Michael moved to Milwaukee and decided to leave the band so we recruited Anneliese, whom I had met via a community ukulele club called MAUI and who had filled in on bass for us a while back for a Buffy The Vampire Slayer Musical Episode cover show we did with our friends Croaker.

And here is a curated selection of a few of our other related current or recent projects you might want to check out - we are busy individuals: Square Bombs (Paul & Jon) The Werewolverine (Anneliese) The Ferns or C. H. Lamore solo (Cal) Vowl Sounds, Red Tape Diaries (Huan-Hua) Spiral Island (Nick)

FLR: All five of you sing. Was that something planned on from the early stages or did it just discover itself? HH: We used to only have three vocalists (max one lead and one backing at any given time) but decided that seven instruments and three vocals between five people wasn't making the sound guys' lives hard enough (not to mention ours) so we added some more. It has definitely been a voyage of self-discovery. I think we'll try to streamline a bit more in the future, though, since venues almost never have enough mics. FLR: Based on your social media some people might expect you to be a comedy or novelty band. Are new listeners ever caught off-guard? Nick: Is this regarding the Facebook account where we share dinosaur memes or the Twitter account where we post things like Baha Men trivia? Early on I had our genre listed as "brony rock" on Facebook just as a joke and it’s come back up occasionally. Like the time Jimmy K, a local radio personality, had both us and The Ferns (Cal's previous band) on an episode of his show and he got his intro cards mixed up and called The Ferns "brawny rock." HH: Also we got invited to put a song on an actual brony rock compilation, which was unfortunately vetoed by other band members. Anyway I aim to keep expectations at rock bottom so that new listeners can only be pleasantly surprised when we turn out to be (hopefully) honest and charming and good. I don't usually aim for funny when I'm writing songs (although sometimes it ends up there) but I usually aim to be entertaining on social media. (I usually man the Facebook account and Nick the Twitter account). I feel it's the least I can do. FLR: Who writes the lyrics? Each song carries a real depth, like a full short story condensed into four minutes. HH: Nick and I are about 50/50 on songwriting. On the first album our old guitarist wrote one and our old bassist wrote one but I think on the new album it's more or less evenly divided between me and Nick as far as lyrics go. I think the two of us share a love for possibly ill-advised wordiness and allusions so sometimes people have been surprised to find out who wrote which songs. I wrote poetry for years before ever turning to lyrics and a few songs, like "Rabbit Test", are remnants of poems or stories or concepts I could never quite make work on the written page. N: I don't intend to give every song a narrative but in addition to FAWM in February I participate in NaNoWriMo in November. Maybe some of that bleeds over into songwriting. Storytelling does provide a way to address topics without being tied to your own perspective. I'd be kind of uncomfortable writing songs all about Nick and how Nick feels right now, especially if we might decide to have someone else in the band sing it. HH: I, on the other hand, love writing songs all about HH and how HH feels right now. Maybe this is why we have so many songs about food.

FLR: Your debut album, Names Of Things And What They Do, came out in November 2015. What was the process to get there and how has the path shifted since then? HH: That album was very DIY like our new one will be. We recorded it over a period of months in our old practice space and our old guitarist Jon mixed it. Similar approach this time around, all home recordings. It's going to be an interesting mix as some of these songs, like "Kevin Bacon", we've played for years (it almost made it onto the first album) and others, like "A Shot" or "For Emma, Forever Ago", we'd only been playing for a few weeks and had never played live before starting to record. So for those newer songs we're kind of figuring out arrangements and parts as part of the recording process. We recorded all the drums and scratch tracks live, the way we're used to playing, and are now going along and re-recording individual parts to replace the scratch versions. One of the things that's pretty interesting about our piecemeal recording process is that we often can't hear/process the cool things everyone else is doing since we are distracted at the time with our own performances. Sound balance is also difficult to get right live with five people,so there have been a lot of moments where, once you're listening to a clear recording, you go "Oh, I had no idea you had this awesome part happening here." It makes you appreciate everyone and their contributions and musicianship just that much more. FLR: Do you think dinosaurs had feathers or scales? Anneliese: Yes, and some had neither. FLR: Why hasn't Netflix rebooted popular '90s sitcom Dinosaurs yet? A: This might be a question for the Jim Henson Workshop. Fun fact: Kevin Clash, who's the voice of Elmo, was also the voice of Baby Sinclair. And Jessica Walter (of Arrested Development) was the voice of the mother. HH: I'm sure it's on the horizon since we are apparently officially in the midst of a serious worldwide franchise shortage. I will officially volunteer us to provide the soundtrack for the inevitable gritty, sexy reboot. (I mean have you seen Riverdale, the gritty, sexy Archie reboot? Anything is possible.) The theme song will be called "Nobody's Baby" and will be in the style of Julee Cruise and everyone will wear black leather jackets and white undershirts in a very sexy James Dean kind of way. Also, if you don't have a physical copy of our album, Baby Sinclair fans should check out the art on the inner sleeve. FLR: Do you ever get tired of answering dinosaur questions? Will your choice of band name haunt you for the rest of time? HH: No and no. Since we are from the Land Before Time I'm not totally sure yet what this "time" thing is but I'm sure I'll figure it out one of these days. (Sorry to the random person on Tumblr I stole that joke from.)

FLR: What's your earliest musical memory? N: The first songs I wrote were entirely MIDI, written in a sheet music editor. Sadly they were lost forever in the mp3.com buyout of 2001. I thought I had a cassette copy but I went back to my parents' house in D.C. this past summer and the cassette is gone too. After that era I started recording angsty stuff with a beat-up acoustic guitar and some ill-conceived "rapping." Unfortunately there are surviving copies of that. A: Dancing around the living room to my dad's old boogie-woogie records when I was three or four. HH: They gave us recorders in grade school because the only thing better than one five year-old playing the recorder is fifteen of them all at once so I clearly recall making some really avant-garde noise rock as part of my early musical education. Also one of our music teachers was a grad student at the UC Berkeley School of Music and wrote an opera called The Nightingale that he made us learn, like a troupe of performing opera monkeys. FLR: What song have you listened to the most this year? HH: I went to look at my Spotify stats and some of my top tracks in recent months have been: Frankie Cosmos- "Fool", Big Thief - "Masterpiece", X - "The World's A Mess, It's In My Kiss", Eux Autres - "Other Girls", and Jens Lekman - "To Know Your Mission." N: I'm also enjoying the new Jens Lekman album! Crying's Beyond The Fleeting Gales has been the album that has hardly left my car stereo this year. FLR: What's one question you've never been asked in an interview that you would love to be asked someday? HH: You are standing in front of two doors. Behind one lies immeasurable riches, behind the other lies certain death. There are two guards guarding the doors, one sworn to always lie and one sworn to always tell the truth, but you don't know which is which. What is the best song ever written, and why is it "Africa" by Toto? N: If we're ever interviewed by Nardwuar [The Human Serviette] I hope he knows that I dressed as him for Halloween once. HH: Also I think Paul and Anneliese were hoping to do a Jerry Springer-style interview someday with paternity tests and chair fights in front of a studio audience. FLR: What does 2018 look like for Gentle Brontosaurus? I know you're working on your sophomore album. N: We've started recording out at Cal's parents' barn in Cambridge, WI. You must have seen the big chart on Facebook. Once we get that released I think we're hoping to go out on tour again. Maybe reconnect with some of the folks we met on the road in 2016 or maybe play some shows around the upper midwest where we actually haven't been yet. FLR: The first album came on CD with a piece of toast. Will the new album come as a download code in a jar of jam? N: If someone bought our toast in 2015 and is still hanging onto it in 2018, I don't think jam is going to make it edible. HH: I'm not really into jam bands. Gentle Brontosaurus on Bandcamp Gentle Brontosaurus on Facebook

[mongoose232323]

#DonaldTrumpsConcentrationCamps

Even As One More Person Dies At A Donald Trump Concentration Camp We Are Now Finding Out How Despicable The Border Patrol Agents Are, That Are Watching Over These Poor People.

Apparently Members Of A Secret Facebook Group For Current And Former Border Patrol Agents Joked About The Deaths Of Migrants And Discussed Throwing Burritos At Latino Members Of Congress Visiting A Detention Facility In South Texas On Monday And Posted A Vulgar Illustration Depicting Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez Engaged In Sex With A Detained Migrant, According To Screenshots Of Their Postings.

From The Article...

In one exchange, group members responded with indifference and wisecracks to the post of a news story about a 16-year-old Guatemalan migrant who died in May while in custody at a Border Patrol station in Weslaco, Texas. One member posted a GIF of Elmo with the quote, “Oh well.” Another responded with an image and the words “If he dies, he dies.”

Created in August 2016, the Facebook group is called “I’m 10-15” and boasts roughly 9,500 members from across the country. (10-15 is Border Patrol code for “aliens in custody.”) The group described itself, in an online introduction, as a forum for “funny” and “serious” discussion about work with the patrol. “Remember you are never alone in this family,” the introduction said.

Responsible for policing the nation’s southern and northern boundaries, the Border Patrol has come under intense scrutiny as the Trump administration takes new, more aggressive measures to halt the influx of undocumented migrants across the United States-Mexico border. The patrol’s approximately 20,000 agents serve under the broader U.S. Customs and Border Protection agency, which has been faulted for allegedly mistreating children and adults in its custody. The agency’s leadership has been in turmoil, with its most recent acting chief, John Sanders, resigning last week.

ProPublica received images of several recent discussions in the 10-15 Facebook group and was able to link the participants in those online conversations to apparently legitimate Facebook profiles belonging to Border Patrol agents, including a supervisor based in El Paso, Texas, and an agent in Eagle Pass, Texas, a small town in the Rio Grande Valley. ProPublica has so far been unable to reach the group members who made the postings.

ProPublica contacted three spokespeople for CBP in regard to the Facebook group and provided the names of three agents who appear to have participated in the online chats. CBP hasn’t yet responded.

“These comments and memes are extremely troubling,” said Daniel Martinez, a sociologist at the University of Arizona in Tucson who studies the border. “They’re clearly xenophobic and sexist.”

The postings, in his view, reflect what “seems to be a pervasive culture of cruelty aimed at immigrants within CBP. This isn’t just a few rogue agents or ‘bad apples.’”

The Border Patrol Facebook group is the most recent example of some law enforcement personnel behaving badly in public and private digital spaces. An investigation by Reveal uncovered hundreds of active-duty and retired law enforcement officers who moved in extremist Facebook circles, including white supremacist and anti-government groups. A team of researchers calling themselves the Plain View Project recently released a hefty database of offensive Facebook posts made by current and ex-law enforcement officers.

And in early 2018, federal investigators found a raft of disturbing and racist text messages sent by Border Patrol agents in southern Arizona after searching the phone of Matthew Bowen, an agent charged with running down a Guatemalan migrant with a Ford F-150 pickup truck. The texts, which were revealed in a court filing in federal court in Tucson, described migrants as “guats,” “wild ass shitbags,” “beaners” and “subhuman.” The messages included repeated discussions about burning the migrants up.

https://www.propublica.org/article/secret-border-patrol-facebook-group-agents-joke-about-migrant-deaths-post-sexist-memes/amp

[bountyofbeads]

Inside the Secret Border Patrol Facebook Group Where Agents Joke About Migrant Deaths and Post Sexist Memes(These CBP officers need to be fired immediately.)

The three-year-old group, which has roughly 9,500 members, shared derogatory comments about Latina lawmakers who plan to visit a controversial Texas detention facility on Monday, calling them “scum buckets” and “hoes.”

by A.C. Thompson | Published July 1, 10:55 a.m. EDT | ProPublica | Posted July 1, 2019 |

Members of a secret Facebook group for current and former Border Patrol agents joked about the deaths of migrants, discussed throwing burritos at Latino members of Congress visiting a detention facility in Texas on Monday and posted a vulgar illustration depicting Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez engaged in oral sex with a detained migrant, according to screenshots of their postings.

In one exchange, group members responded with indifference and wisecracks to the post of a news story about a 16-year-old Guatemalan migrant who died in May while in custody at a Border Patrol station in Weslaco, Texas. One member posted a GIF of Elmo with the quote, “Oh well.” Another responded with an image and the words “If he dies, he dies.”

Created in August 2016, the Facebook group is called “I’m 10-15” and boasts roughly 9,500 members from across the country. (10-15 is Border Patrol code for “aliens in custody.”) The group described itself, in an online introduction, as a forum for “funny” and “serious” discussion about work with the patrol. “Remember you are never alone in this family,” the introduction said.

Responsible for policing the nation’s southern and northern boundaries, the Border Patrol has come under intense scrutiny as the Trump administration takes new, more aggressive measures to halt the influx of undocumented migrants across the United States-Mexico border. The patrol’s approximately 20,000 agents serve under the broader U.S. Customs and Border Protection agency, which has been faulted for allegedly mistreating children and adults in its custody. The agency’s leadership has been in turmoil, with its most recent acting chief, John Sanders, resigning last week.

ProPublica received images of several recent discussions in the 10-15 Facebook group and was able to link the participants in those online conversations to apparently legitimate Facebook profiles belonging to Border Patrol agents, including a supervisor based in El Paso, Texas, and an agent in Eagle Pass, Texas. ProPublica has so far been unable to reach the group members who made the postings.

ProPublica contacted three spokespeople for CBP in regard to the Facebook group and provided the names of three agents who appear to have participated in the online chats. CBP hasn’t yet responded.

“These comments and memes are extremely troubling,” said Daniel Martinez, a sociologist at the University of Arizona in Tucson who studies the border. “They’re clearly xenophobic and sexist.”

The postings, in his view, reflect what “seems to be a pervasive culture of cruelty aimed at immigrants within CBP. This isn’t just a few rogue agents or ‘bad apples.’”

The Border Patrol Facebook group is the most recent example of some law enforcement personnel behaving badly in public and private digital spaces. An investigation by Reveal uncovered hundreds of active-duty and retired law enforcement officers who moved in extremist Facebook circles, including white supremacist and anti-government groups. A team of researchers calling themselves the Plain View Projectrecently released a hefty database of offensive Facebook posts made by current and ex-law enforcement officers.

And in early 2018, federal investigators found a raft of disturbing and racist text messages sent by Border Patrol agents in southern Arizona after searching the phone of Matthew Bowen, an agent charged with running down a Guatemalan migrant with a Ford F-150 pickup truck. The texts, which were revealed in a court filing in federal court in Tucson, described migrants as “guats,” “wild ass shitbags,” “beaners” and “subhuman.” The messages included repeated discussions about burning the migrants up.

Several of the postings reviewed by ProPublica refer to the planned visit by members of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus, including Ocasio-Cortez and Rep. Veronica Escobar, to a troubled Border Patrol facility outside of El Paso. Agents at the compound in Clint, Texas, have been accused of holding children in neglectful, inhumane conditions.

Members of the Border Patrol Facebook group were not enthused about the tour, noting that Ocasio-Cortez, a Democrat from Queens, had compared Border Patrol facilities to Nazi concentration camps. Escobar is a freshman Democrat representing El Paso.

One member encouraged Border Patrol agents to hurl a “burrito at these bitches.” Another, apparently a patrol supervisor, wrote, “Fuck the hoes.” “There should be no photo ops for these scum buckets,” posted a third member.

Perhaps the most disturbing posts target Ocasio-Cortez. One includes a photo illustration of her engaged in oral sex at an immigrant detention center. Text accompanying the image reads, “Lucky Illegal Immigrant Glory Hole Special Starring AOC.”

Another is a photo illustration of a smiling President Donald Trump forcing Ocasio-Cortez’s head toward his crotch. The agent who posted the image commented: “That’s right bitches. The masses have spoken and today democracy won.”

The posts about Escobar and Ocasio-Cortez are “vile and sexist,” said a staffer for Escobar. “Furthermore, the comments made by Border Patrol agents towards immigrants, especially those that have lost their lives, are disgusting and show a complete disregard for human life and dignity.”

The head of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus, Joaquin Castro, reviewed the Facebook discussions and was incensed. “It confirms some of the worst criticisms of Customs and Border Protection,” said Castro, a Democrat who represents San Antonio. “These are clearly agents who are desensitized to the point of being dangerous to migrants and their co-workers.” He added that the agents who made the vulgar comments “don’t deserve to wear any uniform representing the United States of America.”

Vicki Gaubeca, director of the Southern Border Communities Coalition, said the postings are more evidence of the sexism and misogyny that has long plagued the Border Patrol. “That’s why they’re the worst at recruiting women,” said Gaubeca, whose group works to reform the agency. “They have the lowest percentage of female agents or officers of any federal law enforcement agency.”

In another thread, a group member posted a photo of father and his 23-month-old daughter lying face down in the Rio Grande. The pair drowned while trying to ford the river and cross into the U.S.; pictures of the two have circulated widely online in recent days, generating an outcry.

The member asked if the photo could have been faked because the bodies were so “clean.” (The picture was taken by an Associated Press photographer, and there is no indication that it was staged or manipulated.) “I HAVE NEVER SEEN FLOATERS LIKE THIS,” the person wrote, adding, “could this be another edited photo. We’ve all seen the dems and liberal parties do some pretty sick things…”