#he's trying SO HARD and i will be SO SAD if you vote someone else in because you gave into temptation this early

[theminecraftbee]

scheduling this now so that it goes out just before voting does. i know the next round may be... difficult for you. that you may be tempted to go "well i have seen so much sexyman art of that guy" or "well their fandom is insane about them" or even "i am insane about them". do not give into temptation.

do not give into temptation.

have you SEEN joe's propaganda? have you SEEN joe hills? he wears neon green for fun. he gets possessed by the ghost of having gotten too much money in tips. everyone here makes him either way more of a nonhuman entity or way more cool than he is, but when you watch him yourself, you understand. he was part of one of the single most memorable moments in moon's big. one time he lava'd grian's base to teach him not to murder people, and was so angry about it he played a glockenspiel the whole time. there's a viral post that goes around tumblr with around 100k notes of a conversation he had in the in-game chat. he's here with us. he's VOTING with us.

can there be anyone more tumblr sexyman than someone who is in the room with us right now?

make the correct choice.

vote joe hills.

[thesirencult]

PAC READING : WHO HAS A CRUSH ON YOU?

1---2

3---4

PILE 1

The Tower, The Fool

This is someone you would never expect to have feelings for you. You view them as distant, private an cold towards you and others. There is something magnetic to them and, at times, they let their cold façade go. Then, you get to experience a different side of them. They may have played with children in front of you or taken care of an elderly person, assisting them to cross the street. This person loves animals and has a soft spot for them. This reminds me of a strong, tall man who build a sanctuary for chihuahuas after his wife left him. Now he takes care of them and encourages other men to break the stereotype and adopt a smaller dog.

So, this person could also be tall and either lanky or lean-muscular. Others see them as intimidating and may try to avoid them in social situations (like coworkers not inviting them out for a drink after work).

I don't think they'll express themselves. They feel very ashamed of their feelings for you and believe that you see them as "not good enough". This has nothing to do with the way you treat them and has everything to do about their own perception of themselves.

They are very innocent at heart and get hurt when people exclude them. This tells me that you must have treated them like your "chihuahua". You are the one who encourages them and offers help or a few kind words. They love your kind and sweet nature but it's hard for them to show their true emotions. You will notice them get shy and anxious around you, like a little kid. Give them a chance by letting them get closer to you.

PILE 2

Judgement, The Magician, 5 Of Wands

This person is very fair and just. They will love every single inch of you and they won't shy away from telling you that. You see yourself as "not being good enough" and the person who has a crush on you will pick up on how you feel immediately. They will try to get you to see your beauty and will get sad when you talk bad about yourself. They just don't understand how someone as perfect and beautiful as you doesn't realise their own strength and beauty.

This person is a master manifestor. They just know how to alchemize energy and change their physical reality. They will see that you have this ability too and they will admire how you are trying to forge your own path. They have probably manifested you into their lives and they'll idolize you a lot.

If there is an age gap (5+), this person will try to hold back and act as a mentor towards you but, they are very competitive with others and possessive. Their feelings will shine through when they sense someone else trying to get with you. You'll notice their absurd behaviour, call them out and they will just kiss you.

"I'll show you why I'm acting this way." And then smooch 💋.

PILE 3

Queen Of Cups, 7 Of Pentacles, 5 Of Pentacles

Okey-dokey! My sweet Pile 3, if you are not into girls or feminines, I would advise you to choose another pile. Otherwise, if you choose to stay, this energy could resonate with your personal journey towards love and abundance.

I'm seeing a very sweet soul waiting for you. This energy is very light and free-flowing. You may not have met this person yet, because of divine timing. I'm getting that when you meet them it will be "love at first sight". You'll catch them doing something random, like picking up a dumbbell at the gym or petting a dog, or even voting (?).

This "exchange" from afar will drive you crazy cause you will know nothing about this person and you'll think you will never see them again. I see that fate has other plans for you.

This feminine is your future spouse and she is very into personal development at the moment. They will be preoccupied with finances and they are trying to clear up "abundance blocks".

At first, they will seem reserved and preoccupied with other things. You'll exchange a few looks and sparks will be flying, so this is a case of a reciprocated crush.

They are quite happy with being by themselves and working on their coins and foundations for their future. I bet you'll hear them talk about that and you'll think "Baby don't worry, I'm your future 💋."

Slowly you'll start talking and I hope you make the next step otherwise they'll never ever let you in.

But, after you get closer to them, you'll realize that they are a very deep and wise person and not just sunny all the time. Actually you'll think of them as darker and lunar. You will love their passion and mysterious disposition. Be their fearless protector and their rock to climb up to and watch the sunrise.

PILE 4

The Hierophant, 9 Of Cups, Queen Of Pentacles

Right now you are going through a "level up" phase. I don't even know why you are waisting your time here. Lol. You are quite independent, fierce and unstoppable. You are also trying to manifest someone like you.

The person who will soon come towards and confess their crush on you is not someone overly "hard". They are quite dreamy and soft. They like ice-cream and long walks. They will take you on romantic dates and worry that you don't like the scenery because you are not talking that much.

This person sees you as a boos b*tch. They admire you and have put you in a pedestal. I'm hearing "Let me service you Queen.". They like "ice-cream" ! Oh my! This person really wants you and they would jump through hoops to get to you.

They'll pass all your tests with flying colours and you will keep wondering how they are such a good match for you. Let them feel like you are in control and they'll submit to you.

[itzsana-kiddingmenow]

𝙇𝙚𝙖𝙨𝙩 𝙏𝙞𝙘𝙠𝙡𝙞𝙨𝙝?

𝙬𝙤𝙧𝙙𝙨: 3.5k

𝙖/𝙣: anonnie, i'm so sorry...i've been through the same and it isn't easy...but im so proud of you for making it as far as you did and we'll do it together <3

𝙩/𝙬: changbin is insecure about a lot of things, unheathy methods, fainting and nutrient deficiency, jealousy, sadness, crying, etc.

𝒍𝒆𝒆: changbin

𝙡𝙚𝙧: minho and hyunjin

𝒕𝒂𝒈𝒍𝒊𝒔𝒕: @someone-who-loves-kpop-saranghae @jeongins-diary @leeknowstan33 @v--143 @wereallgonnadieonedaybutnottoday @inkedloveandlostpromises @lajanaa @a-wild-seungberry @r00ni1

𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐟𝐢𝐜 𝐢𝐬 𝐚𝐛𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐭𝐢𝐜𝐤𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐠! 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐭𝐞? 𝐤𝐞𝐞𝐩 𝐬𝐜𝐫𝐨𝐥𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐛𝐮𝐛s🖤

IN NO WAY, SHAPE OR FORM DO I BELIEVE THAT CHANGBIN IS UGLY. THIS IS JUST FICTION AND IS NOT MEANT TO RESEMBLE REAL LIFE PEOPLE!!! I BELIEVE THAT CHANGBIN IS ONE OF THE PRETTIEST PEOPLE I HAVE EVER SET EYES ON AND I STAND BY THAT!!!

“AGH! Stop that!” Changbin hissed, slapping Hyunjin’s hand away from his skin. 

Binnie scolded himself for wearing a tank top yet again. He just never learned from his mistakes. 

He was just trying to speak with the other members, but Hyunjin decided to bother him by sticking his fingers into his upper ribs, near his armpits. 

Every shriek the younger earned only increased his need to hear more of them, but Hyunjin got his share of karma soon enough. 

“Rank every member by how ticklish they are?! Oh, that sounds like fun!” Chan smirked evilly, everyone’s eyes moving to either Hyunjin or a certain maknae bread. 

“Okay, so Hyunjin and Jeongin are tied for first.” Minho started, humming while he thought. “Then Hannie, definitely.”

Jisung started coughing, a blush appearing on his face. Lino thought for a few more moments before speaking again. 

“Then it should be Lixie or Chan hyung.”

At once, loud arguments broke out. Both Chan and Felix started shouting at the same time and Minho yelled for them to stop. 

“There’s no way you’re less ticklish than me and Lixie!” Chan protested, Felix nodding his head with an offended look. 

“But-!” Lino tried to defend himself, but it didn’t work out in the end. 

So next on the list was Minho. 

“NOW it’s you two.” Lino commented quickly before anyone had a chance to tease him because of his position in the top three. 

Everyone agreed. “Oooh, I can’t decide between Seungmin and Changbin!” Minho groaned, thinking as hard as he could. 

Meanwhile, both mentioned members started to flush deeply, glancing at each other in embarrassment. 

“Let’s have a vote!” Jeongin proposed, and everyone quickly agreed. 

“Who votes for Seungmin hyung?” Jeongin asked, putting his own hand up. 

Surprisingly, everyone agreed, including Seungmin himself, that he was most probably more ticklish than Changbin. 

Changbin grinned happily as everyone else began to tease each other, excluding him. 

So there he was, at the bottom of the list. At the moment, it seemed great to Changbin.  

Nobody could tease him considering they were higher on the list. 

But as Changbin learned, it wasn’t always the best in every case. 

•••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••

Changbin groaned as he flexed again in the mirror. He has been working so hard in the gym, yet he was unable, in his opinion, to improve his body for their upcoming performance. 

He hadn’t changed at all, and he was sure that STAY’s would hate him for it. 

[NOT TRUE AT ALL HE’S SO FUCKING PRETTYYY]

His mind began to flash with all the things they would call him. ‘The least popular member AND the least improved?’

Binnie swore that he would break down crying if he thought anymore, so he walked off to try and distract himself. 

Minho walked by him in the kitchen, squeezing his belly playfully. It was meant to be a show of affection, but at the moment, Changbin started overthinking, believing that Minho was teasing him. 

His eyes welled up, and he blinked rapidly to extinguish the tears before they threatened to drop. 

Lino, however, had noticed the rapper’s empty response to his affection, especially at something that would normally earn him at least a giggle. 

It was all over when dinner happened, and Changbin was already out of it, leaving the members to believe something was wrong. 

They tried with their greatest efforts to involve him in their conversations, believing that he felt left out and lonely, but the only fruit of their efforts were empty replies and few-word responses. 

After some concerned glances at each other, Jeongin decided it lighten up the mood by prodding Binnie’s ribs twice, earning quiet squeaks and jolts. 

After that, all the members began to coo and giggle at him, smiling at him and playing with his hands to try and cheer him up. 

At the show of affection, Changbin’s cheeks flushed a rosy color, and the once dimmed sparkles returned to his eyes. 

“Binnieee! You look so cute blushing for us, do it some more?~” Chan teased. 

“Our chubby, cute Changbinnieee~” Hyunjin giggled, squishing at the boy’s cheeks. 

Changbin’s mind only caught onto one word. He had tried so hard to distract himself from it, but his overthinking returned as his mind began to spiral uncomfortably. ‘Chubby.’

The other members must have noticed that he blanked out, because he suddenly snapped back to reality and heard multiple concerned voices calling his name. 

Changbin smiled and excused himself, locking himself in his room the first moment he got. 

The other members sat in silence, staring at his untouched plate of food and empty glass of water, wondering what they did wrong. 

Over the next few days, the dorm was uncomfortably silent, the once loud and cheery dwaekki now practically living at the gym, not coming home even to eat proper meals, though Chan noticed their box of protein powder and electrolyte packets getting considerably lighter. 

Changbin still spoke to the members, however his flame had distinguished and his smiles seemed more strained, and the rapper had now seemed to be struggling to keep himself upright. 

The others had constantly tried to get him to take better care of himself, even taking it to the point of where they tried to force meals into his throat. 

It only barely worked, and now the members had even less time due to comeback schedules. 

Minho and Chan started to take tolls on their health too, and small worry creases began to form on their faces. 

In general, the group had no time for breaks, and when they weren’t performing, they barely saw Changbin at all. 

The members started to dearly miss the happy, responsible rapper, considering he was their light during all the hardships of comeback season. 

But once, they got a break, and was ordered by the company to stay within the building. 

The members shuffled awkwardly into the dorm, the energy changing since they realized that it would be the first time together in the dorm in a long period of time. 

Everybody ate quietly, and soon enough, Hyunjin couldn’t handle it anymore. “What happened here?” He scoffed sarcastically. 

He quickly stuck his fingers up Jisung’s shirt, earning a high pitched yelp. 

Quick as lighting, the group was back, talking to each other, grinning in happiness. 

After dinner, they battled the maknae down onto the couch and went to town, releasing all their stress through their tickling fingers. 

Jeongin was screaming, out of breath and begging as Changbin quietly held his arms down, smiling when the maknae looked at him with teary, pleading eyes. 

A sudden surge of jealousy suddenly struck the unprepared rapper, who flushed as he watched all the member’s fingers wiggling onto the youngest’s worst spots. 

Ever since the day they had ranked themselves in the list, Changbin noticed a considerable difference in the amount he got tickled, noticing the others always getting each other and not him. 

He started to realize that maybe it was because he ranked so low, because they wanted someone with better reactions, someone who was more ticklish. 

Insecurity flashed before his eyes, and his chest hurt as he tried to hold back his tears for the umpteenth time that week. 

Changbin hadn’t even realized that he had let go of the maknae’s arms, and that the others had been staring at him. 

Changbin’s vision went blurry, and his stomach cried out again for food, but yet again he shoved the feelings down as he reached for his water bottle. 

After determining that it was empty, he stood up to refill it, and regretted it as dark and white spots swam in his vision.

Binnie stumbled backwards, startling the others as they reached out to catch him. 

“Hyung? Are you okay?” Hannie gasped, noticing the older stumbling over himself. 

Felix immediately stood up to help him, taking the bottle from his hands and running to fill it. 

Seungmin stood up and wrapped his arms around his waist, gasping quietly when he felt just how much weight Changbin had lost to his unhealthy methods. 

Changbin groaned in pain, wrapping his arms around his stomach and shuddering. 

Suddenly, his entire body gave up on him, sore and spent from the long hours of gym with no energy intake. 

Lixie ran back with the water bottle just to let out a loud scream as Binnie collapsed. Luckily, Seungmin was able to safely lower him to the ground, where the others began to panic and shout, trying to wake him up. 

Changbin shook in pain for a few seconds before slumping completely, and Chan ran to get the building doctor. 

Hyunjin shook his head unhappily. He had seen it all coming. 

••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••

Changbin woke up with a jump, feeling fingers running along his side. His eyes felt heavy and exhausted, and he almost shut them again. 

“See?! I knew that would wake him up!” Binnie recognized Minho’s voice. 

He heard multiple voices around him murmuring, and he watched as Jisung grabbed and yanked him into a hug, and he sank into the younger’s hold. 

He felt more arms wrap around him, engulfing him in a wave of warmth and love. 

All at once, shame and embarrassment overwashed Changbin’s senses, and he sobbed suddenly, the sounds weak and broken as everyone’s hold tightened, like a strong anchor he could hold onto in the darkest of times. 

He cried and cried, wailing quietly and trembling in weakness. 

Binnie’s stomach hurt so badly, and he cursed himself for being such a fool, for making a big scene out of everything. 

But a voice cut him off. “Take this.” Chan kneeled down to reach his sitting position, placing multiple pills and a glass of water in the rapper’s hand. 

At his confused look, Chris explained. “Nutrient deficiency. Overworked and underfed.” He firmly pressed them into the boy’s palm. 

Changbin felt embarrassed, for being knocked over like a weak child, and when he looked down in shame, Chan realized that he was being too harsh for someone who had already received punishment enough. 

“I’m sorry, bunny. We should have been taking care of you…but we didn’t. I thought you knew better than to do that.” Chan didn’t speak in a angry tone, but a soft, concerned tone, not accusing or harsh. 

Changbin sniffled and glanced at the leader with watery eyes. “I’m so sorry, hyung...” He whispered, more tears splashing onto his clenched fists. 

Chan’s expression softened as he wiped away Binnie’s tears, the other members staring in slight shock. 

“I-I just wanted to look better, for the fans. I don’t wanna look chubby!” He cried out, finally letting out the words that had been plaguing him for so long. 

“I don’t want to be hated…I didn’t want any of this…” He whimpered, gasping for breath as Chan’s eyes widened in horror. 

Minho stared at the leader in shock, and Hyunjin suddenly felt guilt hit him like a truck, remembering his earlier comment to the older that had made him blank out. 

The members hugged him tight, and Chan even sat him on his lap, wrapping his arms around his waist protectively as Changbin finally swallowed the pills slowly.  

He whined as Chan pressed in a little deeper, though the leader decided to leave it to another day, and everyone carried the rapper back to dorm. 

Lino immediately started up the stove, ready to cook food. Felix grabbed the chocolate bars from the fridge. 

After Changbin had taken a much needed shower, he walked into the hall just to see the hall set up for movie night; tons of food and blankets were placed everywhere, along with a fresh batch of brownies. 

He looked around for the members, but nobody was there. Suddenly, he felt a pair of arms fasten around his waist, and yank his frail body into the air.

Binnie squealed in surprise, and he stared at Hyunjin as the younger easily manhandled him, carrying him bridal-style to the couch. 

Changbin didn’t want to admit it, but watching the dancer lift him like he weighed nothing caused his lee mood to flare up. Badly. 

The other members appeared suddenly, kissing his cheeks and playing with his fingers, causing him to flush a happy rosy pink.  

They sat Binnie down and took turns feeding him food, and he groaned happily at the taste that he had missed so much, happily taking the food from everyone. 

Felix tapped his cheek twice to tell him to open his mouth, and Changbin hesitated as he eyed the brownie in the younger’s hand. 

Seungmin appeared behind him and snuck his hands under the boy’s shirt, suddenly tickling him everywhere, and through the rapper’s giggles, Lixie managed to get the brownie in his mouth. 

After the small incident, Binnie was unable to focus as his lee mood drove him mad, every touch by another member had him flinching, and it didn’t help that he could hear Chan trying to muffle his laughter as Felix kept poking his side. 

Changbin felt like he needed to start provoking somebody to tickle him; there was no way he would be able to sleep with this lee mood. 

He suddenly leapt onto Hyunjin, digging into the boy’s sides and hearing loud squawks of laughter. 

Soon enough, he let up, hoping that Hyunjin was willing to try and take his revenge somehow. 

But it just caused the entire group to start wrecking Hyunjin, and his loud screams drowned out Changbin’s frustrated groan. 

That night, Changbin was unable to sleep, staring at his phone. He felt more energized though, probably because the members shoved so much food down his throat his stomach was threatening to burst. 

He threw his own arms over his head, wondering what it would feel like to be pinned down so tightly that he couldn’t move, and wrecked in every spot until he went insane. 

He watched some clips of the other members tickling each other, and he noticed the absence of clips of his own, though it was clear that he did tickle the others a lot.  

Changbin turned off his phone and set it on the bedside table, making sure to keep his arms up as he imagined it. 

Usually he was holding the member’s arms above his head, but sometimes when Chan tried to do it to him, he ended up being too strong and yanking his arms down himself. 

Changbin whined to himself. Sometimes being the strongest member was a blessing and a curse. 

He finally put his arms down as the cold air hitting the underside of his arms started to feel uncomfortable.

Changbin turned and shut his eyes just as he heard the bedroom door open. 

Opening his eyes just a little, he spotted Minho and Hyunjin standing over him, and he squeezed his eyes shut. Maybe, they would tickle him awake. 

“I know you’re awake, Binnie.” 

So much for that. Changbin slowly opened his eyes and stared at the two as they got into bed with him, on either side. 

Once they had turned Changbin into the jam spread on their sandwich, they wrapped their arms around him. 

It was peaceful and quiet, and Binnie momentarily forgot all about his need for tickles, just enjoying the moment with his members. 

Suddenly, an unbearable tingle began at his side, and he grunted before grabbing Hyunjin’s invading hand. 

“Don’t.” He said, though he didn’t mean it. 

“Oh, I think we should, shouldn’t we?” Minho responded, and Changbin noticed his face burning. 

“N-No!” He yelled, Minho’s grip on his wrists suddenly becoming known to him. He squirmed weakly, which was noted by the dancer. 

“Did you really think we’d not notice the way you were watching earlier?” Hyunjin giggled, watching Changbin’s eyes widen. 

“So, Binnie. Were you…jealous, perhaps?” Lino teased, leaning in slightly knowing that it would fluster the rapper. 

“No! W-Why would I be?” Binnie deflected, and Minho released his wrists. “I guess we’re done now.” 

Desperate, Changbin replied. “Wait! Okay, maybe I was a little…j-jealous.” He looked down at the end, and the other two cooed playfully at him. 

“Did you wanna get wrecked, oh big, tough, Binnie?” Minho teased, watching Changbin’s face turn the color of roses as he whined. 

“Is that what you came here for?” Changbin asked, his tone hopeful, which definitely startled Hyunjin. 

“What do you mean?” The tallest asked. “I mean, wouldn’t you rather get someone else, you know, someone more ticklish than me?” Changbin whispered, not wanting them to feel uncomfortable. 

There was a quiet silence, and Changbin glanced up to see the two staring sadly at him. “Is that why you were upset for so long?” Minho asked, and Binnie nodded slowly. 

“I’m so sorry, baby. We should’ve shown equality, but we didn’t.” Minho gave the rapper a quick apologetic hug, suddenly guilty. 

“But now, we’ll wreck you the way you deserve.” He gestured to Hyunjin. 

“What about the others?” Binnie didn’t want to wake up the sleeping members. 

“They’ve gone to the other dorm to get something, it’s just us.” Minho reassured, and Changbin didn’t even notice Hyunjin pulling his arms up and sitting on them. 

Minho sent a teasing poke at Binnie’s ribs, the boy shrieking and trying to yank his arms down to protect the spot…just to realize that he was immobile. 

“Hyun-JIN! Get ohohoff!” Changbin burst into loud giggles as another pair of fingers walked right into his bare underarms, and Minho concentrated purely on his sensitive hips. 

After some time of his cute giggling, Binnie felt a little guilty. “Hyuhuhung! Stohop fohor a sehehecond!” 

Minho slowed his fingers so they were just tracing in the crevices of the boy’s ribs. The light sensations sent tingles shooting up Binnie’s body. 

“Go rougher…I feel like you’re getting bored.” Binnie pouted sadly. Lino’s face softened, and Hyunjin smiled reassuringly before speaking. 

“We’d never get bored with this~” And the tallest started to lightly wiggle his fingers across the boy’s neck, eliciting the cutest giggles from the rapper beneath him. 

“How about we go rougher anyway, since our dear Binnie asked for it?” Lino asked, smirking down at the pinned rapper. 

The two suddenly started scribbling wherever they could, switching between spots as fast as they could. 

Changbin was in shambles, laughter growing louder and louder as he tried his hardest to escape, but just couldn’t. 

“See? You’re the least ticklish, but look at how you’re laughing now.” Minho grabbed a small mirror from the bedside table and shoved it in Changbin’s face. 

Embarrassed, the rapper tried to turn his head away, but when Hyunjin held his chin and forced him to look at himself, Changbin saw himself. 

So content and happy, grinning ear to ear in joy, small tears resting on his rosy face. 

Changbin never expected himself to look as pretty as he did, but his chest grew warm in fondness, looking at his own reflection as he giggled involuntarily. 

“See? You look so pretty for us, giggling like that~” Minho cooed, fingers still tickling at Changbin’s side as his other hand held up the mirror. 

Lino decided to move further up, slipping his hand under the boy’s shirt and squeezing his upper ribs, switching the mirror to his phone as he pressed record. 

Binnie cackled with laughter, the cute sound making Hyunjin smile so hard his face started to ache. 

“AAAHAH! IHIHIT TIHIHICKLES!” He laughed loudly, falling apart as he tried his hardest to yank his arms down, but couldn’t as Hyunjin sat on them, and his weakened state didn’t allow him to use his strength. 

He didn’t even know there was a camera recording him until he heard Hyunjin speak.

“Isn’t he so cute?” The tallest stuck his fingers into Changbin’s outstretched armpits, and the middle screamed as two pairs of hands tickled him to pieces. 

“STOPSTOPSTOHOHOHOHOP! HYUHUHUHAHAHAHA!” Binnie was falling apart already, throwing his head in every direction. 

“STAYs, you wanna see how ticklish he really is?” Minho followed by blowing a looong raspberry right onto the sensitive area along Binnie’s top ribs, the spot easily accessible due to the tank top that Changbin just couldn’t stop wearing. 

Hyunjin pointed the camera to his face right as the boy howled with laughter, high pitched squeals and cackles following as his sensitive spot was abused relentlessly. 

His feet kicked wildly in the blankets as small tears fell down his red face. 

“NAHAHAHAHA! PLEASE-AGHAHAHAHA!” He couldn’t remember the last time he had laughed so hard, his lee mood satisfied and content. 

“OKAAAY—! IHIHIMDONE HYUHUHUNG PLEHEHEASE STAHAHAHAP!” He finally screeched, his now hypersensitive body trembling in exhaustion. 

“Only if you admit you’re beautiful!” Hyunjin yelled over the loud laughter. 

Changbin shook his head, and Minho only blew harder into the sensitive skin, while Hyune decided to help by lightly tickling the rapper’s neck. 

“OKAHAHAY OKAHAHAY! YOU WIHIHIN! IHIHIM BEHEHEAUTIFUL!” 

Minho let up, relishing in the dwaekki’s tiny giggles as he rubbed at his body, loudly panting. 

The three ended up sleeping together anyway, and Changbin was first to get wrecked in the morning as well. 

Wanna know why? 

•••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••

Chan crowded into the bed with the other kids, too lazy to head back to the other dorm. 

He knew Minho would take care of things there anyway. 

Suddenly 5 phones lit up, and Chan warily opened the official Kid’s Tiktok. 

😼 posted a video: our baby bunny 🐷🐰^^

[bengiyo]

Marahuyo Project Eps 7 & 8 (Finale) Stray Thoughts

Last time, the kids struggled to pick a name for their LGBTQIA+ organization while discussing their strategy before the school board. They eventually decided to focus on connecting their hopes for the island's future with its past, and set about researching. Archie gave Venice some files from the church, Lorie looked through files her dad had, and Ino suggested interviewing people after providing equipment. We learned that Archie is struggling with the path to holy orders (manifested in his neck scratching), Ino said aloud that he was gay and kissed King, and Lili is probably intersex. Each of our our kids is holding confidence about this. Lili read Marco for filth, read him for blood, but unfortunately we left at Marco outing her.

Episode 7: Aswang

You know King isn't the violent type, because some of my people would have curb stomped his ass by now.

Oh, Ino. I understand.

Okay, Lili's story is so sad and lonely. I'm glad she told Lili before this.

Oof, Lorie was not ready for the friends to lovers kiss.

That was difficult, but King is right. He shouldn't ask Ino to come out, but it doesn't stop him from getting hurt.

King's grandmother is great. It's making me sad that Ino has no one else to talk to after that.

Wow, Marco is really doubling down on being an asshole.

I appreciate this show now disguising the kinds of casual homophobia you run into.

It's hard to recognize when you need to give someone you love space when you want to help.

I do like the idea of them reclaiming the balagtasan as a way to present their ideas to the island.

I knew it was Ino who graffitied the mural.

Gay people really will turn their relationship problems into a public spectacle.

This poetry is beautiful.

Oh, Ino, I'm proud of you.

My boy is bleeding!! Marco, it's on sight!!

Man, what a concise breakdown of how it feels to know your truth and have your caregivers try to stifle that in you for the sake of appearances.

Episode 8: Babaylan

Ino and King opening up old wounds.

Yes, King, tell your mom. Shame is learned at home. A kid can face the world if they're safe at home.

I love King so much for not sugarcoating how bad public scorn can get.

Swimming at night is very dangerous, but I'm always happy to receive an underwater kiss BECAUSE IT STILL BELONGS TO THE GAYS.

Oh good. Lorie and Lili are finally talking.

See, this is the thing about doing queer media versus making QL sometimes. Apologizing for loving someone is such a queer experience. Your love isn't something that you should be ashamed of, and you shouldn't have to apologize for caring a lot about someone.

This feels like the right place for these two as friends to possibly more.

Oh shit Lili got me when she held back tears at getting best friends.

It really is exhausting how hard authority works constantly to police and enforce heteronormativity. There are so few of us. Why is it always this constant bullshit?

Oof, I actually like this choice to have Archie vote to impeach Ino, become the new president, and then immediately return to the site where they honored Christina to cry about it. Venice understands that taking care of other queers is a long term project. At least Archie said her name.

Many of my beloved elders have passed. I wish I could talk to them sometimes. Especially Barry.

I love that Venice is eating in almost every scene.

Hey! They finally picked a name!

I love how homophobes talk about history, and then storm out when confronted with uncomfortable truths.

Crying over these outfits. They're so right. Formal acceptance by the status quo doesn't erase our existence, or the bonds between us. We will make space for ourselves and those like us.

Oh, Archie. I understand you, too. I hope you find peace with yourself and others.

I love Sue Prado, but does the mom really deserve to be here? I'll accept them trying to extend grace to struggling parents since Grandma has been with them the whole time.

This march works though. Before it was only three of them. Now look at them.

A post credits scene! Wait, I love the idea of Juvy and Jose going to visit them!

Final Verdict: 9.5, Finally Some Good Fucking Food. I am just so relieved to have another show from JP Habac. It's clear he and his friends have such strong ideas about where queer people fit in our society today, and I love that his work is never about defeating homophobia and is instead about connecting others to queer joy. Despite how this show stirred up all sorts of old hurts in me, I feel so much love for these characters, and I'm so thankful that I can point to a show with a wide spectrum of queer experiences delivered in such a beautiful package. It's so rare to see a show treat the closet seriously, and I will be thinking about this show forever, alongside JP's previous work: Gaya sa Pelikula (aka Like in the Movies).

[andtheirmoonlight]

Seeing all of the sad cha chas... Okay... Please look past your emotions, your ingrained competitiveness, the interviews and the veneer and the PR and consider cold hard facts.

Normally, the country that wins Eurovision takes on most of the expenses for hosting the next contest. It's a buttload of money, and very little time. For small countries with low levels of corruption and high levels of accountability, this buttload can eat into the budget.

Most of them do NOT want to win; it's practical and viable not to win. The countries that are actively trying to win *cough*russia *cough cough* are often corrupt and thus are also counting on laundering money *cough* sochiolympics *hacking fit*.

You've probably heard that the contest is 'political'. Thing is, the lion's share of this political part is not things like Greece and Armenia making out in public every year, no. It's the deciding behind the scenes who will pay up next year — and the jury acting accordingly. Sweden has a huge anniversary next year. Half a century ago ABBA happened. I assure you, Sweden agreed to pay. Buckled up, took a deep breath in, and agreed to win. They are already engaged in organizing, and probably have been for some time, which is awesome for all of the regular folk involved, because, you know, there's a lot of them, it's a lot of work and very little time.

As someone who worked as staff during Eurovision, I can confirm that it's daunting and a crazy hassle and the organizational part is pure nightmare. Although mostly it's just friggin' expensive. In the eyes of the organizers, behind the scenes, the country that wins is not so much a winner, but more like someone condemned. Like a guy who lost the bet and has to pay for all of the rounds of all of the drinks while also being the designated driver. The worst part used to be, the winning performer was sometimes blamed instead of being honored and congratulated: they might act jubilant in public, they might then get hugged and honored by regular folk ... and then proceed to endure some of the worst shit behind the scenes. More often than not, this singer then fades into obscurity, if enough moneybags are mad.

While the runner-up, if they actually know what's what, will act sad in public, before the press, sure, but inwardly there will be nothing but relief. This is called diplomacy, and this is called PR, and it's called show business.

By now you know Eurovision as unhinged, bright, queer, full of joy. Thing is, initially the 'insane', as functionaries called them, acts were sent as representatives specifically to lose. Then someone else saw it as a viable tactic, and someone else, and someone else, and, voila, what you know today as Eurovision. I repeat: the aim to NOT win made Eurovision into what it is now.

By being mad about your fav not winning, you are missing the point, one that, incidentally, your fav is not missing at all. The point: winning is not what matters or should matter, especially in this case (you should watch Ted Lasso, by the way). First place is not everything the best result for a performer that you love is losing the overall vote, but winning the audience vote. It's like all of the cake without any of the uuuh paying for the cake. You love the guy? Yes. You feel sad and indignant and will continue supporting the guy and listening to the new stuff? Yes. If anything, even more now, because you feel like he's been done dirty (nope). Is the guy being shamed at home? No, he's being sent love and hugs and gratitude. Do not cry for Finland. Finland will be graciously sending org volunteers to Sweden soon, because Sweden's volunteers are gon' get swamped and will cry on the floor hating everything.

The other point being, capitalism is unfair, yes, but events like that do not spring up in an open field via magic, and involve crazy money, time, and a huge amount of people working their asses off.

*puts on some Mahmood* mmmmmm runner-up.

[robotlesbianjavert]

Ten headcanons about spinner please

well you asked so nicely. okay!

10) i think i've already mentioned this in the past and some fics but despite what you expect from someone with reptile associations he's not anymore affected by the cold than any other warm-blooded person. and he knows it's a silly thing to get sensitive about but well when people assume he gets a bit heated!! so to say!!

9) he first learned how to use a knife, and in particular knife throwing tricks, from his mom, who is most of the born and bred country rep in his family and grew up with very little else to do and really needed a cool party trick. between her and toga, knife-throwing is his only surefire way to bond with women.

8) who is the biggest bara rep in league of legends. idk mordekaiser looks promising. in any case spinner's first glimmer of realizing that he is gay was accidentally stumbling upon LoL bara doujinshi, on the internet. somehow the continuing fascination for bara did not translate to real life where he keeps going gaga for weird skinny weirdos with disappointing t&a (UNTIL shigaraki's ujiko-provided glow-up)

7) his backup plan for going to the city after seeing stain on tv if he failed to find and join the league of villains was just to hit all the clubs and get laid. but as a virgin and hikkikomori he was very nervous about this option and was kind of relieved that he could just join a terrorist group instead.

6) i used this one in a fic too lmao. as a kid his claws were filed down regularly so that other kids and the rest of the town didn't freak out and think he was gonna gut them. cuz they're evil. as part of the headcanon of it all he does have weird hang-ups and

5) backseat gamer. like, pathological. much like myself as a child watching my stepbrothers play zelda or conker's bad fur day, he will sit over shigaraki's shoulder (and anyone else's i guess but he's literally so under-socialized he doesn't know anyone else who plays videogames irl. sad!) and be like i wouldn't have done that. you're supposed to go over there. why aren't you using all these cheat codes that i know (they don't work). thankfully shigaraki is cool with this cuz he loves to argue. i actually consider this canon enough given that we have now seen spinner hanging over shigaraki's shoulder as he's playing games.

4) were a tumblr equivalent to exist in bnhaverse spinner would have an account and he would try to be crazy stealth and not have it associated to any other social accounts ever and he would be a hater on it and you could not pay him to commit voter fraud for something against his morals (shipping polls) (he would have voted destiel!! he knows he is cas-coded!!) but he would create so many dummy accounts manually by hand HIMSELF like a hard worker to influence results as much as he could. without paying people. or getting bots. he has a pure hater soul.

3) related to the above spinner is a constant hater online. people ask him what does he ever like and he just regurgitates whatever video essay he watched recently that had a nice thing to say. but his hater stances are 100% original. not to say that he never Likes something about anything but he's dogshit at expressing it.

2) part of his issues is that he was very unintentionally detached from any other of his heteromorph-related family that he could relate to (a lot of the family was probably located in cities) aside from whatever parents or siblings, which contributed further to his feelings of isolation from the community he grew up in, and his heteromorphic traits were just enough more apparent compared to the immediate family that he was more targeted by the community he grew up in. so he's both discriminated and marginalized by the community, and has a harder time finding solace in his family to cope.

1 ) i must once again stand by spinner's hybistrophilia. like really specifically his true fantasy is a cool suave older man who does a lot of serial killing and is willing to take spinner under his wing and say ah i see you have a lot of potential. but then he fell in love with shigaraki. that's how you know it's true love. i guess you can argue that shigaraki is an old soul.

[heyitsthatgirl]

Chenford ❤️ Lucy freaks out about being with Tim

Eleven slices of cake sat between the three women. Eleven somewhat identical slices of cake. One had raspberry filling, apparently. Another had lavender buttercream. But all were decorated in white piping and placed on plates adorned with bridal-white doilies. The bakery was a trendy little place with big bright windows that overlooked a courtyard below, a cafe taking up the space with quaint tables and ivy that twisted and crawled up every available surface. Definitely the kind of place that was still a ways off from her patrol salary, but definitely not out of reach for the bride-to-be and her once-contractor-turned-T.O. fiancé. 

Bailey was hemming and hawing at the moment between the passionfruit creme and white chocolate chai cakes, neither of which they thought the woman would end up choosing, seeing as how she had been deliberating between the slices for almost forty minutes and had made little to no progress. Apparently, Bailey had asked a few of her co-workers to come along on this very important decision-making expedition, but all had declined. Which meant that Nolan had come begging Angela and Lucy to go with her, since his girlfriend was kind of light on female besties. It took Angela a bribe of a bottle of Herradura to come along, but Lucy had agreed because she genuinely felt sorry for Bailey. She knew that it was hard to open yourself up to other people after a traumatic experience, so she stepped up to the plate. Because, at the end of the day, she was grateful for the people in her life who had been there for her when she needed. So, she would do the same for someone else if she could. 

And also: free cake. 

“I just can’t decide!” Bailey said, throwing her hands up and letting the fork clang down on the plate, a runaway piece of frosting flinging across the mahogany tabletop. “I like the chai, but it’s not very traditional.” 

“So get the chai.” Angela responded, tone even but somewhat threatening. They’d been through this whole song and dance a few times already this afternoon, and the detective was running low on patience. 

“Lucy, what do you think?” The other woman asked, hopeful optimism shining in her eyes. Lucy felt her hackles go up as Angela shot her daggers, threatening her to dare and disagree with her and continue this never-ending cake-tasting. 

“Oh, I uh,” she stammered, grabbing her own fork and taking another small taste of the cake, “Oh yeah, the chai really is great, Bailey.” 

“Really? It’s not too… Out-there for a wedding cake?” 

“It’s your second wedding,” Angela deadpanned as she rested her cheek on her fist, “Second weddings can be a little more fun.” 

“Right,” Lucy began hesitantly, noticing the way Bailey tensed up, “Why don’t you take your two favorites home with you, and have John cast the winning vote?” 

“Yeah, maybe,” she mused, looking back toward the counter where the shop owner was finishing up a sale, “I’ll go and ask if that’s okay.” 

“Great.” Angela muttered as Bailey jumped up and made her way across the bakery to the counter. Lucy used this opportunity to smack her gently on the arm. “Ow. What?”

“This is important to her!” She said, keeping her voice low enough that Bailey couldn’t hear her. “At least try to pretend to be interested.”

“I was interested. Ten cakes ago. And why couldn’t her fiance be here anyway, isn’t this like, a couples thing?” 

Lucy just gave her an annoyed glare, “Because he wanted her to try to hang out with someone beside him or a bunch of firefighters. I don’t think she has a lot of girlfriends.”

“Just get the yellow cake, it’s what everyone expects anyway,” she sighed, poking a half-eaten slice with her fork, “I didn’t even get to eat my wedding cake.” 

The statement wasn’t sad, more matter-of-fact, but made Lucy’s heart clench all the same. Some memories would always be a little more painful when she was forced back to them. “Want me to get you a slice?” She asked through a kind smile, and Angela winced, as if the thought alone was going to make her hurl.

“That’s sweet, Lucy,” she said, swallowing down a gag, “But if I look at another piece of wedding cake I’m going to lose it. In any case, once Wesley and I got settled after Guatemala, we went to Ralphs and got a small birthday cake. We even froze a piece for our one-year and everything.” 

“Stop,” Lucy said with a grin, holding back her giggles, “That’s so freaking cute!”

Both women looked over at Bailey who was chatting away with the shop owner and mulling over the variety of cakes again, and Angela just let a huge sigh go, “This woman is hopeless.”

“She’s happy,” Lucy countered, looking back to Angela, who still leaned on her fist, looking bored as ever. “If I were her, I’d be just as excited and meticulous.” 

“I bet,” she snickered before softening, “Do you think you’ll be like this, though? All bridezilla?” 

“She’s not being a bridezilla,” Lucy argued, but Angela just gave her a look and she rolled her eyes, “Okay, she’s a little bit of a bridezilla. But, anyway, I’m… We’re… We’re definitely not there.” 

“I get it,” Angela said with a growing smile, attempting to hide it by taking a sip of her champagne, “But, you’ve thought about it, right? Cause, you know, Tim wants all that traditional stuff. Wife, kids, house with the white picket fence. All that nuclear family American dream crap.” 

“Yeah, I know,” Lucy said with a laugh, twisting idly at the stem of her glass, “I mean, he mentioned it a few times when we were on patrol together.” 

“But you haven’t talked about it as a couple?” Angela seemed a little more invested in the conversation now, scooting herself a hair closer to her. 

“I mean, no not really… But,” she bit her bottom lip and tried to re-focus the conversation, “We’ve only been dating a few months. I don’t think we need to start planning out our kids’ college tuition quite yet.” Lucy suddenly felt her face go red hot, flushing crimson as she heard herself say, out loud, ‘our kids’ Because, sure. Chatting about a nebulous future where you may have kids someday, while riding together on patrol is a little different than openly admitting and verbalizing the actual concept of having children together. And the weight of the thought hit her like a semi truck. 

“How many?” Angela pressed, seemingly picking up on Lucy’s epiphany. “Kids. How many do you think you want?”

“I… I don't know.” She suddenly, desperately wished the server would make a reappearance with the bottle of champagne. “I mean, we're not even living together yet.”

“Come on,” Angela groaned, inching closer, “Don't tell me you haven't thought about it. What your life is going to look like in two, three, five years time. Not to like, freak you out, but from what I can tell, the both of you are serious about this. So, what's the hold up?” 

“Sure, I guess,” Lucy glanced up at Bailey as she now was scrolling through her phone, showing the woman behind the counter her wedding pinterest board and gushing about the ceremony she had planned. “I mean, eventually I’ll probably move in with him.”

“And? Come on, Lucy. Use that imagination of yours.” 

“It’s a little scary, okay?” She bit back, but there was no venom in it. And she sighed, “Sorry, it’s just… It took a lot of shit to get us to this point. And, sure we want the same things… Marriage, kids, dog, house. But I think we’re both so worried about screwing this up, or moving too fast… We both know each other so well, what if we are bad at it? You know like, what if we don’t know how to be a good couple?” 

“It seems to me like you guys are doing fine,” she said, her brow furrowing just a little, “Unless you’re not. Are you fighting or…?”

“No!” She quickly corrected, maybe a little too loudly, and looked around worriedly at the rest of the bakery where people happily ignored her outburst, and she turned back to Angela, “No. It’s nothing like that. We’re solid. He’s… Honestly, the best boyfriend I’ve ever had. We communicate. Make time for each other. Respect each other’s privacy and boundaries. And, you know, the sex is pretty good.” 

“Oh, God, please,” Angela begged, her face screwing up into a disgusted wince, “You can spare me those details, Lucy! Honestly.” 

“Sorry,” she laughed, “It’s more like, everything feels like it’s going so great…” 

“You feel like you’re waiting for the other shoe to drop?” She asked, and Lucy nodded her head slowly. “I get it. You are kind of wondering, when are his skeletons going to fall out of the closet? But, Lucy,” Angela laughed, her hand settling on hers and gave it a gentle tap, “Tim Bradford is the most vanilla guy I know. And you’ve ridden with him long enough to know all his secrets. Isabel’s addiction. His issues with his father. At the end of the day, you already know who you’ve got.” 

She was right, of course. Tim was an open book these days, far from the walled-off, broken man who had stolen her service belt or made her walk outside the shop. There’d always be a little bit of a hard edge to Tim Bradford, but finally getting to the point where he was open and without barriers, she knew Angela was right about his deep, dark secrets. And maybe that wasn’t even it— maybe she was more afraid of being the one to screw things up. She didn’t exactly have a great track record with men either. But she knew things were different, things were right this time. So, she took another sip of her champagne and let the worries and fears tuck away in her subconscious, safe and sound for now. 

“She really should just pick the chai,” Lucy finally said, taking another bite of the mangled slice of cake. “I mean, I would have gone for the lemon poppyseed, but that’s me.” 

“You think I should go with lemon?” Bailey asked, stunned, as she approached the table with a to-go box. Angela quickly turned her glare on Lucy, who just winced as she set her fork down and gave both women an apologetic and pained smile. 

“Should I order us another round of drinks?”

Thank you so much for the prompt! I enjoyed this a lot, and hope that, while I took a slightly different take with this, it still was what you were looking for. Writing prompts are currently open. If your prompt is not answered, it's nothing personal, we may just have different ideas.

[mysteriousmissfsart]

Twisted Wonderland Rambles #8

Hi!

It’s been quite a while since my last post. I’ve been in a slump lately and I haven’t been able to get back into normalcy again.

Well, I just wanted to ask a couple of things and share some thoughts on twst.

Also, Grim recent card spoiler alert!

Let’s get to it!

Okay. First of all I want to make sure that you all know that I love all of the twisted wonderland characters a lot! I am in no way trying to hate on Rook or Neige or Vil. This is just a thought I had and wanted to know if someone feels the same. I am in no way hating. Just to make sure that we all are on the same page here.

Is anyone else still annoyed with Rook because he voted for Neige instead of his own group?

I get that he’s a fan of him but isn’t his friend’s and his hard work more important?

What did Neige give him that makes him more important than his best friend?

If my friend and I worked hard on something together and someone I’m a big fan of is our opponent, I would vote for us. Just because my friend worked with me on it.

I absolutely understand if someone says “maybe Rook voted for Neige not because he’s a fan really but because Vil had bad intentions against him and was going to act on those intentions”.

Understandable. Absolutely.

I do not in anyway think that Vil was acting in an appropriate manner. On the contrary, his actions were highly inappropriate. Nobody has the right to hurt another for any reason.

Rook isn’t a green flag either, he’s quite the stalker, creepily so. I get the hunter act but, to the point where he knows Malleus’s clothing size and openly gifting him an article of clothing that perfectly fits him? Nah. That’s way overboard for it being a reference to a hunter, it’s more of a reference to being a creep if I may say so.

I truly don’t understand how he’s gotten away with it so far.

I know that the point of twisted wonderland is that these Disney villains are made into characters with personalities that take their traits and embody them. Most traits are negative. They take desperate measures, that could have more bad consequences than good, to get what they want/deserve/need.

Anyway, I got off track.

What I mean to say is Rook didn’t side with his friend when his friend needed it the most. That makes me sad every time I think about it.

Well whatever, I don’t really know how to explain my train of thought.

I also wanted to gush over how cute our little Grim is in his recent card.

Look at him and Mickey🥹💕

They’re so cute!!!

I love this groovy😭

Absolutely adorable💕💕💕

Look at him!!!

Anyone else feel like they need a pet that looks like him and give it the same name?

Grim is adorable and he knows it!

———————————————————————

Okay, that’s all I had for now.

I would love to know what you think!

Bye!

[theculturedmarxist]

These days I mostly avoid being around art spaces and the dwindling population of people that frequent them. This is for the same reason you might duck an old friend who’s been transformed by time and circumstance into a thing that you scarcely recognize. Sometimes it’s better to remember them as they were.

I broke my rule the other night to attend the closing of a theater I built long ago, and it was every bit as sad and disappointing as I would have expected. Hardly anyone came to send her off, and the ones that did could muster nothing better than a couple of beers and off to bed. The whole thing was over by 11.

“Who are you voting for,” a pudgy, bearded, graying Xer, asked me before I left. He was wearing a kind of middle-aged bohemian get-up, right down to the hipster hat, that made him look like he’d just stepped out of a commercial for a new Type II diabetes drug. I’m down to talk my doctor about . . .

“I’m writing in Dave Chappelle,” I said.

He opened and closed his mouth a few times, trying to find the part of his brain that knew how to process a dissenting opinion. Not finding one he sputtered, “But you’re not for Trump.”

“No.”

Then a skinny, wan, pale guy with sunken eyes, and long, greasy black hair, sober as a judge, like someone who’d acquired all the physical attributes of heroin addiction, without ever having had any of the fun, said, “Then you have to vote for Biden, or Trump wins.”

“So what,” I said.

And that was when they both shit themselves and I had to do the whole red-pill/blue-pill thing. By the time that was over, everyone else had gone and I followed suit. Leaving the building for the last time, I thought of livelier days when the whole place, the whole block, the whole city, was full of life and crazy energy.

How did this happen? How did we get here?

This is an article I’ve started, abandoned, and started again a few times over the years. That’s partly because I still had some hope when I began that I might one day be able to return to my craft as a theater director without revealing my opinions. But that was before Due Dissidence had a YouTube show. Now I very visibly express ideas 3-4 times a week that would get me professionally and socially cancelled in about 5 minutes as soon as anyone from that crowd took the time to check out the channel, which of course they would.

Another thing that’s kept this one at the bottom of the digital drawer is lingering affection for a lot of people who are still making the music, lighting the lights, and all that. I have dear friends in the arts and this is going to hurt some of their feelings. Except for the ones who regularly DM to thank me for saying what they can’t without risking career suicide. Those will be greatly cheered by this piece, in the way of a bullied child watching their tormentor take a hard fist to the nose, so I guess in the end that part’s a wash. Here goes.

In the 8 years since the election of doom that transformed me from the kind of guy who wanted to have a beer with Rachael Maddow, to the kind of guy who would protest her book reading, I’ve had lots of debates with lots of people.  Enough to notice a distinct pattern

Conservatives will generally keep it on the issues; they may not agree with you, but as a rule they aren’t going to go right to ad hominem attacks on your character.  Liberals can go either way: they may debate the issues with you, but they’re just as likely to attack you personally as a closet Republican, a Russian plant, or if you happen to be a white man, that’s kind of their go-to.  But the absolute worst people you can find yourself engaging with are members of the arts community.  I know this because I’ve been a member of it since at the tender age of 19, I bullshitted my way into a directing gig at the still extant 13th Street Repertory Theater. 

The artists I worked with then as a kid from Queens dazzled by the bohemian world I had infiltrated wouldn’t recognize the artists of today, and I suspect they wouldn’t like them all that much.  Heirs to a 60’s counter-culture ethos of distrust for authority and institutions, and to an older tradition of the artist-intellectual, they generally thought of all politicians as dishonest psychopaths, and spent more time discussing Kafka than the evils of Soviet Russia, which occupied the same position of public enemy #1 that its successor state does today.  And lest the wokeratti immediately jump to its aforementioned go-to, the scene was far more substantively diverse than what you might find at a theater or a gallery today.  They were gay and straight, old and young, black and white and brown, and in a major departure from the current moment, both penniless and well to do.  There were artists living rent free in the loft above the theater, others renting $250 apartments in pre-hipster Williamsburg who had to walk across the bridge to get to rehearsals for lack of train fare, and still others living comfortably on the Upper West Side.  If there was a failing it was in a tendency towards pretentiousness: when a middle-aged woman pronounced confidently at a post-rehearsal dinner that the principal crisis of the modern age was the “post-Nietzschean vacuum,” I almost laughed in her face.  No one had that problem in my native Flushing, and I suspected that was true most places.  But the problem wasn’t racism, sexism, or homophobia-expressing those sorts of views would have been just about the only thing that could have gotten you ejected in an atmosphere where pretty much anything went, and it was that way in the arts community for as long as I was a part of it.

Generally, I like to heavily source everything I write, ‘cause when you’re offering controversial opinions, you had better cross all your t’s and such.  But because the arts are such a distinct subculture and the kinds of institutions that have the means to conduct a wide survey on questions like: what class background do artists usually come from, or, when did artists start to favor censorship, never would, I must of necessity rely on my personal observations and speculations.  Which makes this, by definition, a personal essay, so take it as you will. 

I’m starting from the premise that something has gone very wrong when you have an American arts community that tends to be politically conservative in the sense of being to the right of general sentiment in the Western world on class and economics; that mindlessly supports politicians like Joe Biden and Hillary Clinton who’s records are at odds with even the identitarian issues that they claim to care about, and that sees de-platforming and cancelling figures like Joe Rogan as a legitimate tactic, never considering the idea that once you let that genie out of the bottle, no one will be more vulnerable to having it turned against them than artists.  I’ve given a lot of thought to how a bohemian scene of intellectuals and misfits turned into something resembling a PTA meeting in Scarsdale. This is what I came up with:

I will concede this to the painfully woke white people that dominate the arts even as they lately denounce their own position: rich white people are the crux of the problem, with the emphasis being on “rich” rather than “white,” as some would have it. The low to no pay circumstances of most creatives are beside the point, even though many of them will point to this as evidence of their moral authority to speak on matters of poverty and marginalization. If “artist” isn’t a Professional Managerial Class job, what is it? It sure ain’t factory work. The pretense of artists to social disenfranchisement calls to mind John Goodman’s line in Barton Fink, where his serial killing salesman tells John Turturro’s slumming writer, “You’re just a tourist with a typewriter, Barton. I live here.”

Most of these folks are just playing dress up for a while before they pack it in for Grad School and take up residence in the same sedate suburban enclaves from whence they came. Just as in every other sphere of American society, the arts are, and always have been, dominated by these kinds of middle and upper-middle class, mostly white people, whose sensibilities reflect that reality.  The higher up the food chain you go, the more evident that becomes.  The same exact advantages of money and connections that favor people in every other industry, favor those who attempt a career in the arts.  Perhaps even more so because the standards are so nebulous.  If you’re a doctor, or an attorney, you either do your job well, or you don’t.  If you’re an artist, the quality of your work is subjective which leaves a lot of room for just hooking up the people you relate to, which in the arts is going to mean a lot of rich white people, hooking up other rich white people.  The net effect of that is, if a lot of bad ideas are coming out of the suburbs, that’s going to be reflected in the work.

When the PMC’s were more rooted in the New Deal, with its focus on class and economics, as was the case when I first entered the scene, so were the arts. Now that they’ve turned to neoliberalism in their economics, and the post-modern turn has unmoored their social activism from observable reality, we have an arts community that has nothing to say about the current moment that strays an inch from what you might hear on MSNBC. This is why, as just one example, in a moment of social strife and economic dislocation, the Artistic Director of Connecticut’s Long Wharf Theater recently seized on the idea of a Black Trans Women at the Center festival as the best use of his platform and resources. The company lost their home of 55 years shortly thereafter.

Whereas in the 30’s a good many artists responded to the Depression by adopting a Marxist-Leninist posture and playwrights like Clifford Odets, (the writer being satirized by the Cohens in Barton Fink), and later Arthur Miller and Rod Serling, began writing plays for the first time that placed working class people “at the center,” this generation of artists greets the moment with only contempt for the struggles of working people, seeing them as reactionary Trumpers who sadly lack the education and sophistication to realize that the economy is great, incremental change is the best we can hope for, and getting all bent out of shape about books full of graphic cocksucking in your child’s middle-school library is totally uncool. Rather than to represent the struggles of average people, these artists offer them nothing but derision and when they do bother to acknowledge them, it is only to portray them as wrong-think culture war enemies.

Adding to the problem, poor people who manage to get to college usually don’t decide to major in something that’s going to almost guarantee that they end up poor.  Being an artist is a luxury most people from economically disadvantaged environments just don’t think they can afford.  You’re a lot more likely to choose it if you have a trust fund to fall back on.  So, essentially you end up with a scene dominated by trust fund babies, no matter what identity group they align with.  Their politics proceed from there.  All these artists going on about white privilege is partly a case of, to use a phrase with which any theater aficionado will be familiar, “Methinks thou dost protest too much.” And as with Diversity Equity and Inclusion efforts in other sectors, this results in pretenses at promoting “representation” amounting to nothing more than trying to find more black and brown people from similar backgrounds to the whites that are already there, and who consequently share the same attitudes. Barracks and Michelles are always welcome, but the Hueys and Assatas make these folks deeply uncomfortable. The theater party I walked into last week, was no more racially diverse than the scene I knew in the 80’s (perhaps a bit less), but it was palpably less wide-ranging in class perspectives.

Another reason the censorious Victorian lady in high dudgeon pose that has become the liberal class default setting over the past 10 years or so, has had so much appeal to this group in particular, probably has to do with the psychological afflictions common to artists, combined with the insecurities inherent in the profession.  This is something else I’d love to see a study on: common psychological illnesses in artists, but lacking such a study, I can only tell you what I’ve observed.  Most people don’t choose a career in the arts because they’re very secure, contented and happy sorts.  The level of personal psychological torment that’s driven them to such an irrational career choice varies, but deep neurosis, emotional neediness, and pervasive self-doubt are kind of a base line.  I do not except myself from this analysis: my head is the kind of snake pit that Indiana Jones has nightmares about.  Proceeding from there, you’ll find a fair amount of narcissism, borderline personality disorder, manic-depression, and just plain old depression-depression.  These qualities are not at all ameliorated by constant rejection and criticism, which is kind of the nature of the beast.  In some ways the people who are attracted to the arts are the least capable of enduring its vicissitudes without severe psychological damage.  So, you have a bunch of deeply insecure, neurotic people, trying to make their way in a profession where the rules are vague and the agreed upon standards of successful work are non-existent, and then you hand them a secular religion that gives them not only rules and standards, but a weapon with which to bludgeon their critics as -ists, phobes, and reactionary heathens.  That’s like throwing crackers at a starving man.  Naturally they jumped on it en masse, without ever thinking through the consequences.  Critical Social Justice gave artists something they haven’t had since Duchamp signed a urinal and called it a sculpture: certainty.  And this group is far too ignorant of the past to know why their forbears rejected the kind of formalism that these standards impose, and what the price paid in quality, creativity and individual expression will be in the long run. Insofar as they embrace Duchamp’s lesson, it is only in using the precedent set by his famous prank to avoid being interrogated on the basis of quality, talent and craftsmanship.

Which brings us to my final observation.

I’m going to let you in on a secret, although if you’ve ever been dragged to a “new interpretation” of Hamlet on the Lower East Side, back when we still did that sort of thing, you probably already know: talent is rare.  That’s why we call it talent.  If it was common, we’d call it something else.  I’ll give you a breakdown from something I have a fair amount of expertise in-auditioning actors.  If you audition 100 actors, it’s going to go something like this: about 10% will be so God-awful you have to wonder where they got the encouragement; around 60% will be passable in the way of people who have had a lot of training; 20% will be very good; 8% will be excellent; a final 2% will be exceptional-in other words, talented.  So, based on my admittedly subjective observations, only about 30% of the people who call themselves “artists” have any business pursuing it.  And only 2% of those are really gifted.  So, the scene is, and always has been, mostly populated by hangers-on who are only one 30th Birthday away from packing it in and getting a Masters in Social Work.  The appeal of a set of standards that remove the basis of evaluating work from its quality to its adherence to a set of clearly defined political beliefs is obvious.  If you can’t out-talent people, you can at least out-woke them.

None of this is to say that representation in the arts isn’t a problem or wasn’t a problem until these meddling kids started performing their virtue for likes and clicks.  It’s always been a problem, particularly at the level of management and project leadership, in the arts as in every other sector of society.  I would posit that DEI efforts are a solution in search of a problem, only in that part of the reason for that lack of representation, has always been a lack of artists of color walking in the door, which in turn has to do with the economic realities I’ve mentioned.  There aren’t a lot of poor white people walking in the door either; I’ve owned 5 theaters in NYC across three decades, and I never met another theater owner or director, who grew up on welfare.  In my experience, that lack of representation never had to do with virulent racism in the arts community. It always had to do with class realities and broader issues of structural racism society-wide that stop POC from ever making it to the door to be considered.  If you were paying any kind of attention, that lack of diversity was always an embarrassment, but you can’t work with people who simply aren’t there because of societal problems that reach far beyond the arts.  If we really want to do something about this, we need to go out into impoverished and marginalized communities, provide training and encouragement to young people in particular, then offer them jobs in our theaters and galleries, instead of only looking for POC from similar backgrounds to the people who are already there in order to assuage their white guilt.  Until we see arts institutions doing that, we will know DEI efforts in the arts for what they are: one more example of rich white people protecting the privileges of their class, even if they have to outwardly denounce them in order to do it.

In the end, the arts scene as it exists today and the institutions that support it may have simply become too sclerotic, out of touch, and irrelevant for saving. The future is with activist-artists grown naturally from their communities, using new technologies and platforms to draw attention to concerns and realities that no gatekeeping clique of PMC’s will ever understand or think to explore. As our self-appointed creators of culture have abandoned us, it may be time that we abandon them in turn, leaving their venues to close as they should, leaving their 501c’s to go bankrupt, as they are doing, and taking the space their collapse opens up to create something new of our own.

[nekoannie-chan]

Secrets chapter 8: Adapting

Pairing: Steve Rogers X OFC, Brock Rumlow X OFC.

Word count: 1079 words.

Summary: Sometimes keeping secrets can be dangerous or a heavy burden, which is what Kathleen has been doing for years. She will also be in charge of guiding Steve Rogers into this century; meanwhile, S.H.I.E.L.D. will be looking for a way to kick-start the Avengers Initiative by integrating her as one of the superheroes, but that won't be the only danger they face.

Warnings: Some little accidents.

A/N: After long time working on this longfic, I finally post it. If you wanna be added to the taglist, let me know.

My native language is Spanish so I wanna improve my writing skills in English if you notice any mistakes, please let me know and I will correct them.

I don’t give any kind of permission that my fics to be posted on other platforms or languages (I translate myself my work) or the use of my graphics (my dividers are included in this), I did them exclusively for my fics, please respect my work and don't steal it. There are some people here who make dividers that anyone can use, mine is not this type, please look for the other's people. The only exception is the ones I gifted 'cuz now belong to someone else. If you find any of my works on a different platform and are not one of my accounts, please let me know. Reblogs and comments are always welcome.

DISCLAIMER: I don't own Marvel's characters (unfortunately), except for the original characters and the story.

Add yourself to my taglist here.

My other media where I publish:  Ao3, Wattpad, ffnet, TikTok, Instagram, Twitter. 

If you like it, please vote, comment, and give me feedback to improve my skills and reblog.

You can read it on Wattpad and Ao3 too. Secrets masterlist. Previous chapter. Next chapter.

Steve never imagined that the televisions would be so huge and thin. Then he focused his attention on some boxes; they looked as if someone had just moved in, but he didn't want to open them; maybe they were Kath's things.

Kathleen took one of the many boxes on the floor, put it on the dining room table, and opened it. Inside was a military uniform, books, notebooks, and other things that belonged to Steve during his time in the army.

"The army gave some of his belongings to S.H.I.E.L.D., so that's what we found for the moment."

Steve nodded and started pulling things out; there were so many memories in those boxes.

"You can decide what to do with all that, I think there was more, but I'm not sure where they are, this is all they came to leave," Kath continued talking.

"I'm looking for something specific," Steve said. "I remember having a compass with me on the ship, but I can't find it."

"Then I'll ask; maybe it's with the rest of the stuff from when they found you; I don't know what they did with all that stuff."

It had been a long day, and it was time to rest. Steve still did not fully trust her, but he would keep an eye on her. His thoughts were racing as he carefully observed the room that was assigned to him; it looked comfortable. He lay down on the bed and felt himself sink; he thought the bed was too soft. However, he immediately fell asleep, and the tiredness was greater.

The next morning he got up, he started to look for Kath around the house, internally he was afraid he had fallen into a trap, he went downstairs and heard the music coming from one of the rooms on the first floor, he entered and was surprised by what he saw, there was Kathleen practicing ballet, but it also looked like she was training, from time to time violet energy came out of her fingers and disappeared when she noticed Steve's presence she stopped, she swallowed some saliva, she was glad she had shut up a few minutes before and approached him.

"I didn't know how late you would sleep, so I was practicing a little bit," she said. She smiled, and that caught Steve's attention. She smiled all the time, but it was a sad smile as if she was trying hard to look happy. "Now it's time to learn how to use the appliances.

It was always fun to teach him how to use something new; some funny or unexpected incidents happened, as well as seeing Steve's reactions; the best ones were when he discovered that movies were no longer in black and white and the big change in televisions and that he could practically watch any program, movie, or whatever from the house. As the days went by, he got better and better at handling the appliances.

"Are you sure you'll be okay if I'm gone for a couple of hours?" She was nervous; Fury had asked her to go to his office, and she wasn't sure about leaving Steve alone.

"Sure, I don't think anything bad could happen," he replied. She nodded and left.

He started going through the house, he hadn't had much of a chance, he had really hoped to find something that could give him some clue if they were cheating on him or not, but the only interesting thing he found was an album of pictures, they were all of Kathleen since she was very little, he thought it was cute, there were somewhere she appeared with groups of boys that looked her age, but at some point pictures with them stopped appearing.

There was one detail that caught her attention: the other three boys also had the same bracelet and ring as Kath; maybe they were related in some way, but she would find out later.

She noticed the pile of clothes he had in his room. She had taught him how to use the washing machine; it didn't seem that difficult, so it seemed like a good idea to wash his clothes.

When the woman returned, she found the laundry room full of bubbles, soap on the floor in piles, and a hysterical Steve because he didn't know how to stop the washing machine.

"Nothing bad can happen," Kath mumbled; she was completely bewildered, not knowing if she should laugh or get angry at such a scene. She didn't think such a thing was possible except in cartoons.

"This thing went crazy and started pumping out soap and bubbles like crazy; no matter how hard I tried to turn it off, nothing worked," complained Steve.

She turned off the washing machine and started cleaning up the mess.

"Well, there won't be so many problems anymore." Director Fury has already arranged several things: your bank account has been unfrozen; for your service in the army, you got a pension for your services during the war; I don't know, I didn't understand that part well; and also, you already have an office at S.H.I.E.L.D., so whenever you want, you can go and introduce yourself. Although the Director said it was not necessary until your first mission, it is your choice, and you are free to go whenever you want to the facilities to meet them and the other agents. preferably let me know because sometimes the guards at the gate are a little unbearable, and I don't know, because sometimes the guards at the gate are  Kathleen rolled her eyes, remembering all the times they had confused her and wanted to deny her access. "Well, we just need a few signatures," she said as she handed Steve some papers to sign.

Kath turned to look at her mobile phone; she had just received a message from Brock; he wanted to see her that night, but she didn't think it was a good idea; she had an idea of how they might end up, although, with Steve there, she didn't want anyone to find out; that was the deal they had.

Steve would easily figure out what was going on, and Kath didn't want any awkward situations; they could still see each other later. It's not like she could say anything about what was going on with Steve, either.

Brock wasn't happy with the answer; he was going to find out what was really going on.

Ꭲꭺꮐꮮꮖꮪꭲ:

@saiyanprincessswanie  @sinceimetyou @unnuevosoltransformalarealidad

@navybrat817 @angrythingstarlight @shield-agent78 @charmed-asylum @pandaxnienke  @real-fbi @smokeandnailz @white-wolf1940  @tenaciousperfectionunknown @xoxonotme  @bluemusickid @leyannrae  @harrysthiccthighss @marvelatthisone @caplanbuckybarnes  @sapphire-rogers @lizzieolseniskinda @notyourtypicalrose @hallecarey1  @nana1000night @talia-rumlow @mylifeispainandiloveit  @writingshae @alexxavicry @azulatodoryuga @daemonslittlebitch​  @sweater-daddiesdumbdork​  @jtargaryen18​ @chaoticcollectivenightmare​ @endlesstwanted​  @chemtrails-club​  @marigoldreamer​  @whiskeytangofoxtrot555​ @here4thefanfics​ @theestorm​

[tvshowspoilers]

Rewatching all of the episodes released to do last minute, 11th hour thoughts

————————————————

Season 2 episode 1

Just realized Rickey calls himself an “odd bird” which is fitting with the episode title

Also realized that Rickey says “I know everything about you” but instead melting Stede like whenever Ed said, it just pisses him off

Still can’t get over the way Ed says “and these are the kids” and “hi all”

“Vibe on this ship is poisonous” ——-> “turn poison to positivity”

Still crazy he was at sea for 88 days…the idea that the tally marks were for Stede is sad but that it’s also for the record makes it sadder

I wonder if the indigo will ever come back into play

Also it’s interesting that Ed never did anything about Fang crying

Episode 2

Seeing cleaned up and chipper Ed hurts with the context that he wants to die…also every moment with Ed when he’s interacting with Frenchie is just….ooof yeah he looks gorgeous but damn those eyes are dead…like when he says “was someone injured” and “panto”

Idk what to think about Stede’s lack of expression when Lucius says everything that happened was his fault…I mean he does let out a hell of a sigh at the end of the scene

I like Archie’s earring

Does ed feel any guilt at the moment when Jim says “he was your friend “ or was it still just pure anger

Also, Zhang saying “you’re doing great” totally has the “doing great sweetie ❤️❤️” vibes

EPISODE 3

Stede face when he starts to climb over the rail breaks my heart every time

anyone else notice how gentle ed is with his hands? Like when he places them on the table as Jeff during the gravy basket, when he places them on his lap when visiting sick Izzy, when he crosses them in s1e6 when Stede tells him they should do a fuckery

The heartbreak coming on to Stede face when he sees Ed hurts

Wonder if ghost Hornigold is a foreshadowing for living Hornigold coming

Also love the Zheng tries to seduce Olu with a sword

Aww Jim grabbed Archie’s hand when they were escaping the cell

I’m never going to stop yelling about how ed grabs Stede hand at the end of this episode

Also is This Woman’s Work season 2’s The Chain? Either way I tear up

EPISODE 4

I think Ed’s first expression when he wakes up is confusion, of course. But also maybe a little omg you’re here…for a minute, lol. Then he gets pissed. Anyone more eloquent then me have any ideas?

I so wish the cast could talk about this show so we could ask them who voted to kick ed off ship and to keep him

Heh…is that a yay or neigh

I don’t think Stede was actually gonna leave him leave him right

Still wondering if ed called the rabbit a wolf cause he’s still a little out of it lol

I’m glad ed got his hug but HE NEEDS A HUG FROM STEDE

Also I wonder if Buttons led him to Mary’s shop on purpose

I better get ed calling Stede darling or love in epi 8 or I’m going to cry

Omg I know we see bare chested Izzy later and all but dude! Just noticed his opened vest when he’s talking to the unicorn

Man ed is sooo pissed and trying so hard to keep that cold facade but he always wants to “melt back into “ Stede arms..hence his first expression when he wakes up before the anger comes back cause Stede “expects him to back back into his arms the second he pops his head up”

Also I love how fondly he remembers being stabbed by Stede but also it huuuurts because of epi. 6 “I had to make him do it…hes so fragile”

First time I saw epi 4 I thought Annie was gonna throw up in the bowl buttons found

Episode 5

Love that Lucius points out that ed never actually said I’m sorry to them, he’s right and I hope he gives them proper apology later

So Ed’s emotion and breaking of his voice but also the YouTuber quality of it….anyone have any thoughts?

Ed’s apology and the whole “restore my reputation” hits different with Taikas fuck up, doesn’t it?

Still going crazy over Ed’s face when Stede says it’s a long story. Is he sad? That stede feels like he should stop talking? Or what…

I love ed setting boundaries, well done and Stede’s instant acceptance

Also, did David really put in a song that goes “you’re so baby”…..he knows… he knows ed is our babygirl

EPISODE 6

Gosh but I do love Bronson Pinchot. I first saw him as Mr. Toomy and I love that he brought that energy here

I don’t think this is the day after but a few days maybe

I wonder why ed put on his leathers….cause he had no clothes yet or…? Cause Stede says he can use the treasure to buy new clothes but in the next episode he is wearing clothes he clearly gathered together from the ship

DO WEEEEEEE? Love Fang

During the scene where they are getting the supplies for the party…..Where did ed goooo??? He is walking on the bridge and suddenly is gone and then back….did he trip over guitar guy ( who I guess is Ned)??

WHY IS RICKEYS NOSE STRING PURPLE, That’s Ed’s color!

Ed’s little hey and soft eyes when Stede walks up is precious

I love the community during the party

When ed sees Izzy, his face…WHAT IS HE THINKING

Heh, just noticed a torturer with little sunglasses on

The noose around Hellcat Maggie’s neck

Does anyone else think they may have not gone all the way during sex? Tbh that’s my head canon I think?

EPISODE 7

The morning after robe is lovely…. As much as I wanted it to be from the auxiliary wardrobe, I absolutely love the idea Ed chose it for himself

Omg I can’t with Stede’s squeak

Lol the cigarette behind Lucius’s ear

I can’t hear Swede say “my wife” without flashing back to Borat

Ed’s sad look when he’s looking at the fishing boat hurts

Also, the guy Stede sets Hey simulation sorry I missed it on fire only gives me Freddy Krueger vibes

 Also, I had originally posted ages ago about Ed not being happy… And yeah whenever Stede says you don’t sound happy… 😭 I don’t know how to articulate what I’m thinking

Oh Stede, loosing ed and then his crew

The tears in Stedes eyes, he’s so upset about loosing his family and ed

Still can’t with the fight

———————————————-

So I think I’m ready for episode 8! (Lol no I’m not) but this has been a good run and here’s hoping for season 3!

[linagram]

[ meet the prisoners! (t2 edition) ] prisoner 007: yano asahi

the youngest linagram prisoner is here!! i love his t2 design a lot actually. though i love his design in general. i love this cute purple boi. his t2 mv makes me so scared of him

btw i wanna apologize if the profiles look "inconsistent", this is gonna sound weird, but i worked on everything, including the profiles, the vds, the mv descriptions, etc, for a couple months and it's like, basically if i had some free time, i worked on those things, so i had some things in my phone notes, if i had my tablet with me, i wrote something in my notes there, if i wasn't having any problems with my computer, i used it instead. i know that it would make much more sense to just have everything in one place, but because of some stuff, i wasn't able to do it that way. i often forget to edit some things, like i forgot that i don't need to write "kei's t2 profile" in his profile and i also forgot to change "non-deco*27 cover" to "different vocaloid producer cover" in eiko's profile. also my computer keyboard is kinda broken which. makes things a lot harder to write and even though i have a second one, IT'S ALSO BROKEN AND IT'S EVEN WORSE. sooooo uhhhh yeah sorry djsksksls

General info.

T1 Verdict: Asahi was voted innocent and he sure was happy with his verdict! Haha, he totally expected to be forgiven, no, he knew that he's gonna be forgiven. I mean, they had to forgive a child, they wouldn't punish someone as young as him, right? Asahi's hair grew a little bit longer between trials, so he got a new hairstyle. He also got a new outfit, though it's kind of similar to his T1 one. Even though he was voted innocent, he still has a bandaid under his right eye because of Yurika's attack and yes, it's definitely not as serious as Akio and Kei's injuries, but he still likes to remind everyone how much of a victim he is. Like, look at him, how dare Yurika hurt a poor child like him? He got a few other scratches because of her, but they have already healed and there's only one left now.

T2 Personality: Asahi, surprisingly, is more polite now and he doesn't swear as often as he used to. At least that's what it seems like on the outside. Asahi is happy that he got forgiven, but he's secretly very afraid of being voted guilty this time, so.. Why not start acting like an even more "cute" version of himself? People will love him more if he starts acting nicer and more obedient, right? It doesn't mean that he really is nicer now though. When nobody else is around, he will gladly make fun of the guilty prisoners, go back to his usual manner of speaking and bully those who are even weaker than him. And if anyone even tries to accuse him, he will start crying and claiming that this never happened. And well, Miki can't help but forgive him again and again, even though this kid is trying to manipulate not only the guards, but also the other prisoners. He even steals food and other things from the guilty prisoners. He doesn't even need those things, he just does it because.. uh.. because.. Well, because he deserves them!

T2 Relationship dynamics:

Yeah, Naomi and Asahi's relationship is.. not good, to say the least. It's very sad to think about, when you remember how much Asahi wants a mother figure and kinda expects Naomi to become one, but she's not interested in that at all and clearly hates the kid. So no matter how hard Asahi tries to make her like him, she just ends up hating him even more. Honestly, if it wasn't for the guards, she would've probably already killed him, he annoys her that much.

Obviously, Asahi dislikes Yurika now, and when other people are around, he doesn't hesitate to remind them how bad she is and how he's still in "so much pain because of her". However, when there is only Yurika around, Asahi suddenly stops acting so brave and tries his best to avoid her. He knows that Yurika isn't afraid of the guards, so even if they try to stop her, she will attack anyone who makes her angry.

If Naomi and Asahi's dynamic makes you sad, don't worry, because Eiji and Asahi both hate each other equally! <3 Eiji hates him because he still finds him annoying and suspicious and he doubts that Asahi deserved to be forgiven, but he can't say anything because he's Miki's brother. Meanwhile Asahi is very protective of Miki and he thinks that Eiji will end up hurting her one day, so he keeps his eye on him and sometimes purposefully asks Miki to hang out with him so that she doesn't have to spend time with Eiji. Both of them hate each other, but for Miki's sake, they try to hide it.

Asahi likes Miki so much, even though it may not be obvious because of his personality, but he does. He may ask her to spend time with him so that she stays away from Eiji (but also so that he can show Eiji that "she likes Asahi more"), but sometimes he actually wants to help her feel better. He can even share his food with her sometimes or ask her to play with him. Yes, Asahi is a terrible and very annoying kid, but he's also still just a kid.

Music info.

Milgram cover: All-Knowing All-Agony. (HE LITERALLY HAS AN IMAGINARY MOTHER. HE NEEDS HELP. But also he's scared of not being forgiven this time, so some lyrics describe that as well.)

DECO*27 cover: Fakery Tale. (I just think this song would sound very cute and soft (but also sad) as his cover.. Like I kinda imagine it sounding like a lullaby even?? (The instrumental would most likely be different in this case, probably a music box cover) But also some lyrics actually fit him and his backstory (and crime) a lot, like "a slightly lonely place, a somewhat kind and gentle one as well, I want to go there", "don't cry with that ashamed face, I want to forget it all and go back, I beg of you" and "I'll see you later, let's surely meet here someday, until then, good night". It makes me very sad to think about the last lyrics ("That body of mine disappeared, well then, where shall I go?"), because Asahi was kicked out of his new home by his adoptive father and he just.. walked, trying to find a place to stay or someone to ask for help. It's even more difficult than it already sounds, because his biological parents are dead and his adoptive mother as well, meanwhile his adoptive father doesn't want to do anything with him for a good reason. So.. yeah, he really had nowhere to go. It's highly possible that if he wasn't able to get any help before getting kidnapped and being brought to Milgram, he would've died of starvation or some other reasons (he could easily end up in a lot of dangerous situations because of his mental state), which makes him being the most demanding prisoner more understandable and really sad.)

Different Vocaloid producer cover: Selfish Princess by Fujiwo (Do I even have to explain anything. It's literally him.)

His T2 Trailer Voicelines:

"Oh! Eiji-nii, Miki-nee! Did you bring me something nice today as well?.. Miki-nee, why do you always look so pale when you talk to me? Did this guy do something bad to you? "It's nothing"?.. Okay then. Anyway, you're gonna forgive me this time too, right? You would never punish a poor child like me, right?.. I will be safe, right? You know that I'm still traumatized from what happened earlier, don't you?.."

*heavy breathing* "You.. Why did you say that?.. Did you really mean it?.."

His T2 Song Trailer Voiceline:

"Hey, does that mean they're firing you, Eiji-nii?"

Trivia:

Asahi's second image color was chosen because of his hair color.

As you've probably already guessed, Asahi really wants to be forgiven again, though it's hard to say if that will happen, considering his behavior.

Speaking of his verdict, interestingly, his VD shows him in a much more innocent light, but his MV shows him in a more guilty light and the ending is particularly creepy. It's like the opposite version of Kei's situation, because I personally think his VD still shows him as someone who's more "guilty" and his MV definitely shows him as someone who's more "innocent".

He's actually gonna reveal a lot about his murder this time!

Since Asahi's thoughts were affirmed, this is one of the reasons why he tries to act more "cute" and "soft" this time. To be honest, he thinks that he got forgiven only because he's a cute child and not because of his crime being understandable and something that can be forgiven, so.. yeah 😔

It may look like he has dark circles, but no, that's just the shading, haha. Though I think it would be fitting for him to have those, because he's not doing so well mentally, even though he was forgiven.

[silent-rascal]

angry hot take:

i'm sick and tired of middle aged clash fans who (supposedly) used to be punks in their youth and now have grown into alt-right-sympathising knob-ends; of the shallow pricks who weaponise *that* "life of brian" scene to justify their transphobia; and generally of sad little twats trying so hard to be "alternative" who say "joe strummer would be rolling in his grave for this", "joe strummer would hate that" whenever their backwards beliefs are challenged. just let me politely ask this: who the fuck are you to determine what joe strummer would hate today? why are you trying to push someone who died 20 years ago into your fascist nonsense?? did you attend a seance and asked him personally??? well, i got news for you: you didn't.

people are starving, dying, struggling to make ends meet and having basic rights denied to them because those who are in charge are more concerned about scapegoating to hide their incompetence and taking advantage of people's fear and desperation for votes. this said, we can be pretty sure about what would piss joe off if he was still alive: no need to guess and make assumptions shaped by our own political views and values - just read the lyrics he wrote his whole life and acknowledge the message he wanted to pass on with his actions. personally i don't remember joe saying anything along the lines of "be an insufferable git to anyone who's being bullied and maybe even killed just for having the guts of living how they want without harming anybody else": if he ever did, please enlighten me - i'm waiting.

in the meantime: shut up you cunt, if you haven't got something serious to say - piss off!

[nenestansunsthings]

a drabble based on tv static?

there wasnt a hermit specified here, so i wrote, uh... a lot of em? but thank you so much for your joe vote, theuwumaster!!! this was very fun to write, so i hope you enjoy :))

____

"This is, by far, the weirdest thing that has ever happened to us."

There's a small murmur amongst the people crowded by the TV, all watching the poll live. Grian truly isn't sure whether its agreement or dissent. They've had some experiences.

This definitely does rank up there as one of the weird ones, though. 100 percent.

"I'm honestly still mad I lost," Jimmy mutters. Grian snorts. As if. You went up against Scott, Timmy. Not a chance. "What! It's true. Don't laugh at me, Grian."

"We put up a good fight," Tango assures him- everyone? Everyone seems to accept it. "Those eight just put up a better one. Or campaigned harder? Could be both."

"I mean, the campaigning is definitely a fight. Joe spent actual, non-diamond money." Xisuma shrugs. "And there's quite a lot of people saying all the art swayed them to vote for someone they'd never heard of before. The campaigns work!"

"So we didn't campaign hard enough..." Scott sighs, slumping down dramatically. "How did we not campaign hard enough? How are we not sexy enough? I was a hot vampire, for god's sakes!"

"Well, Scott Smajor," Charlie Slimecicle says, "it seems they're just hotter. No-one can compete against the Hot Guy."

"There's like seven people trying to compete against Hotguy right now."

"And?"

Grian tunes them out, curling back up and looking at the TV. It's not the best quality- weird interdimensional shows about a past-present-future poll aren't exactly easy to get service for- but it's interesting. Honestly, he's kind of insulted he got kicked off so early. And...

"What're you thinking, Grian?" Pearl asks, nudging him playfully. "Sad you lost to another red bird?"

"They don't even draw his wings red!" he squawks, offended. "But nah. Not really. I've got... other things in mind."

"Hm." Pearl hums. "Like the winner? I mean, I sure hope Cleo wins. It means I didn't lose for nothing."

"Not Scar or Mumbo?" he teases. "Shame on you, Pearl! What happened to Boatem loyalty?"

"I'd sell you all for a single corn chip."

"Ouch." He laughs. "... Hm. Yeah, I was thinking about who'd win. Who I'd want to win."

"Etho for sure!" Joel declares. "I mean, really. Look at him. He got added as a block into Minecraft. He's like the ultimate candidate."

"I think BDubs could surprise us," comes Impulse's addition. "I mean, it's not likely, he's against Cleo, but it sure would be interesting. I'd like to see it."

"Doc, too!" Ren leans forward, stage-whispering like this is a secret. "I mean, have you seen those abs? Those beautiful, beautiful machines? You'd better not forget the power that man holds!"

"If you ask me, I hope Joe wins," Scott chimes in. "I mean, I do know all of you guys, but come on. Joe shot me for being homophobic. Which I'm too gay to be. Legally I have to support him to support the gays. Plus, his fanbase just keeps growing the more he campaigns. He's the surprising underdog in this race." He pauses. "... And I fear for our souls if Cleo wins."

"Aw, Scott! What happened to Double Life loyalty?"

"You are unbelievable, Pearl."

Pearl snickers. From in the back, someone else pipes up.

"I think you all are underestimating someone," Wilbur says with a smile. "It's a shame I didn't have to go up against Quackity this round, but alas. It means poor Mr. Hills has to deal with him alone. My yin is a formidable opponent." He covers a small smile with a gloved hand. "I know that from experience. Very intimate experience."

"Oooh, yeah. And your side of the people will probably be supporting him, too..." Pearl grins. "Nah. No chance. I believe in our viewers. We're gonna have a Hermitsweep on our hands soon enough!"

Wilbur flips her off. She bursts into guffawing laughter.

"Well, okay! I see your point." She slumps over Grian, enjoying how the smaller man yelps at her weight. "What about you, G? You rooting for Scar? I mean, the people love him and his abs. His scitties. And a sidekick has to support his hero, am I right?"

"I still haven't gotten the sidekick clothes off him, Pearl. Not a sidekick yet." He shakes his head. "And anyway, there's only one person I'd support."

He snaps his fingers, and the TV explodes into static, faint flickers of purple glimmering in the grey. The room erupts into protests as the broadcast is cut off.

"Five diamonds per person if you want me to turn it back on, people!" Grian says gleefully. "All proceeds go to the most worthwhile campaign of all!"

A grin splits his face. "Mumbo for Mayor."

[another-random-object-show]

ANOTHER RANDOM OBJECT SHOW

EPISODE 5 — Who Shot Who?



"like, what’s that prism doing?” Heart asked Star. “It looks like she's cross-teaming, PENTA! Report?” Star asked Penta. “She’s planning a Merge with Mime.” Penta informed Star. “Sigh, why do we do this?” House said. “BECAUSE I’M THE LEADER! YOU HAVE TO LISTEN TO ME!” Star yelled at House. “Jeez… alright.” House said.

“plus, if you don't like, listen to us, then you simply HAVE to get out. I mean, it’d JUST be you and Triangula voting against us if you tried, so, what's the point?” Heart said, now sipping on a Macchiato. “Exactly. Darling, how about we get out onto the field?” Star puts away his binoculars and looks over at Heart. “Good idea!” Heart says, now holding Star’s hand and walking out from the bushes as Penta then goes invisible to continue being a spy.

GyroGyro was calmly dancing with Exclamation Mark, Period looked at the two and said— “WHAT ARE YOU DOING?! >:(“ Exclamation Mark yelped at the interruption before GyroGyro began to try and explain, only for the wind to howl through him. “Ohh…” Cloudy said, nodding at GyroGyro, resulting in him allowing more air to pass through as he talked to Cloudy. “You understand him..?” Period looked up at Cloudy. “Ofcourse I do! How do you think I’m able to move around in the skies? The wind helps me!” Cloud explained. Exclamation Mark asked— “What is he saying…?” Cloudy answered: “He says he was teaching Exclamation Mark an ancient Japanese Dance!” Hangman then popped out from Cloudy, his rope extending to say— “I can confirm he said that— something interesting about being able to fit inside Cloudy is the fact that I, too, can understand the wind. Something I’ve been hearing are small conversations between The Gourd and someone else?” Hangman sighed. “Either way, apparently that dance is ancestral.” Hangman noted as Cloudy said “Yep.” to agree. “D-does it do anything…?!” Exclamation Mark seemed horrified now, only for GyroGyro to howl once more and for Cloudy to answer: “No. It’s a Japanese Dance that symbolizes the expression of Tranquility.” She blinked. “..oh.” Exclamation Mark sighed.

Simultaneously, Question Mark approached Comedy, Tragedy and Phantom then asked: “So, what are you three?” Phantom seemed surprised and said— “Oh, well, we’re all porcelain masks!” Question Mark thought, then said “What happened to your right half?” Phantom then seemed surprised about the question, but before he could answer, Lunartic was yelling again. “YOU CAN’T DO THIS!” He hissed. “Get out of my way.” Moony said, holding Sunny’s Hand. “You can't STOP me from letting him meet HER.” Moony scowled. “MOOONY! C’mon! Think about it! He doesn't NEED or WANT her! He has US! Right, buddy?” Lunartic shakily said. “Yeah!” Sunny said. “See, no iss—” Lunartic was cut off by Sunny saying: “but I wanna know who Moony is gonna show me to! ^^” Lunartic grumbled; “LISTEN!! Sunny, she’s an AWFUL person , don't you remember what she did?! SHE—” Moony, with years of resentment and rage built up in her, inhaled deeply before pushing him out of the way. “Huh? Wait, GASP!! Isn't that—?! :D” Sunny began to run towards Starry, but before he got the chance to talk to her, The Gourd teleported everyone to their teams.

The Gourd now took off a Hard Hat and a Belt he was wearing, before saying: “CONTESTANTS! This next challenge is one I’m SURE you’ll all love!” The Gourd announced. “LLLLASER TAG!” He unveiled a Laser Tag arena, causing Sunny, who was just now sad, to cheer in joy. “Firstly, let’s all get inside!” The Gourd said, herding the teams into the Arena.

“Alright, everybody, stay still for one second—” Everyone got black, styrofoam vests that had a LED Circle Light in the middle, glowing their Team’s Color. “Great! HERE’S THE RULES!”

“Ofcourse, number one— DON’T touch other players! Laser Tag is NO-CONTACT!” The Gourd looked at Star. “Rule TWO! DON’T cover your sensors! The only way a person can get you OUT of the challenge is by shooting you with their laser!” He looked at Heart. “Rule THREE! BE a good sport, won’t ya? I mean, ,’mon guys! I TRY to have fun challenges, isn't that the LEAST you can do?” He looked at Lunartic pleadingly. “Rule FOUR! THIS IS A GAME THAT LITERAL CHILDREN PLAY! Keep. Your. Cool.” He glared at all of the contestants. “RULE FIVE! …that's it actually.” The Gourd shrugged. “SO! There are 8 of each type of gun! Each team gets each! There are 3 types, to be exact! One’s a Short-Burst, so you should use it afar! One’s a Long-Burst, use it up close, and the last one is a Beam-Gun, holding it releases a constant beam! Each gun will begin to click after 5 seconds of being used consistently! When that happens, LET GO OF THE TRIGGER! You’ll have to wait another 5 seconds until the Lasers inside recharge!” The contestants began grabbing their weapons. “AS FOR HOW TO BE ELIMINATED! If you're SHOT by a Laser, your Vest will begin to beep! After 3 beeps, it will turn OFF! Once your vest is OFF, that means you're OUT!” The Gourd sighed. “ALRIGHT!! ISSS EVERYONE READY?!” He said.

Sunny, Period, Comedy, and Paperplates all cheered “YYYEAAHHHH!!!”, resulting in The Gourd to say— “ONCE YOUR IN THE ARENA’S PEREMITTERS, YOUR VEST WILL TURN ON! GO!”

Contestants began to swarm into the Arena, Moony and Sunny separated, and immediately afterwards, Moony bumped into House, resulting in the two of them simultaneously shooting each other with their Laser Guns. The Morse Code for the letter “S” played, and both of their vests turned off. “...sigh. Time to sit out.” Moony said. “Hey! Before you sit— I need to let you know that—”

“HOUSE AND MOONY ARE OUT!” The Gourd announced, cutting House off. “What were you going to say?” Moony asked as she walked. “...nothing.” House sighed, walking with her.

As GyroGyro and Sunny wandered, GyroGyro was shot by Paperplates. “Ack! Hmph!” Sunny then shot at Tragedy, who was at her side, resulting in Paperplates gasping and looking over, to which Tragedy said— “What was the point?” and walking out. Paperplates “Hmph!”ed and began to scale the wall next to her to get a good shot, Sunny began running around her as they both began to aim.

Meanwhile, Comedy shot at Penta, eliminating him. “HAHA!! 3 more to go!!” Comedy ran further into the arena as Starry came out, only for Period to shoot her. “Sigh, good job, big one!” Starry then walked out as Period stood there. “Big one..? She thinks I’m big? SHE THINKS I’M BIG? OHMYGOSH… SOMEONE THINKS I’M BIG!!” Period began to squeal and, despite them being his only form of stability, tapped his feet quickly and excitedly on the floor. “DOT! Help me get Paperplates!” Period snapped out of it and said— “On it!” Now helping Sunny.

“GYROGYRO, TRAGEDY, PENTA, STARRY AND PHANTOM HAVE BEEN EL-IMINATED!” The Gourd annouced over the speakers. “THAT’S 6 MEMBERS LEFT FOR THE MASQUERADE, 5 MEMBERS LEFT FOR TEAM FUN, YET ONLY 4 MEMBERS LEFT FOR TEAM “WHAT?”!” He clarified.

“Ha! We’re in the lead! >:)” Paperplates told Sunny and Period. “Not anymore!” Sunny shot at Paperplates, causing her to be eliminated. “Aw, man! :-(“ she hopped down and ran off. “Who’s next?” Period asked Sunny. “You lead! <)”

Exclamation Mark yelped as a Laser went off! “PAPERPLATES AND MIME ARE NOW OUT! THE MASQUERADE, YOUR AT RISK!”Exclamation Mark sighed as Mime walked past Sunny and Period.

As Triangula was walking around, a Blue Laser pointed at he Vest, causing both the Laser and the Vest to beep rapidly, before the vest exploded with Blue Paint. “BLECK! THE HELL?!” Triangula groaned as she walked out.

Meanwhile, Question Mark shot at Hangman, getting him eliminated. “Who’s left?” Question Mark asked, before spotting Period and Sunny.

“THE REMAINING CONTESTANTS ARE! SUNNY! COMEDY! PERIOD! CLOUDY! STAR! LUNARTIC! EXCLAMATION MARK AND QUESTION MARK!” The Gourd announced as Question Mark began to team up with Exclamation Mark.

Comedy got distracted as Heart passed by, saying— “NICE BLUE MAKEUP, ICE QUEEN!” Heart blew a kiss towards him as she walked out. Sunny then took this opportunity to shoot Comedy, eliminating him. “AWHHH! >:(“

“Where is Cloudy…?!” Period said, looking around. Cloudy, however… was atop one of the many decorative structures, asleep.

“Lunartic?!” Exclamation Mark feared, “What?” Question Mark pointed out to him— “Look, down there!” She pointed out of the North Sniping Tower, towards Star in the Maze. “Got it, thanks.” Lunartic now gripped the trigger and fired.

“...” Star’s Vest Beeped.

“GAME!” The Gourd announced. “Team FUN! , you have 5 members left.” Exclamation Mark sighed, “Good thing we raised such a killer, right hon?” Exclamation Mark said to Question Mark. “Is that Blue Paint?” Question Mark pointed towards the South-West Sniping Tower, which had a strange blue substance, which was seemingly still fresh inside of its walls, alongside numerous paper towels and makeup wipes stained blue. “Probably nothing.” Lunartic shrugged.

Question Mark, Exclamation Mark and Lunartic then got down to collect Sunny and Period and get out.

“Now that the challenge is finished, I can announce that like the Chamber of Lava, and the Tightrope Skylands, you may also use the Laser Tag Arena freely!” The Gourd announced, to Sunny, Period, Comedy and Paperplates’ Pleasures. “NOW! Tea— WAIT!” The Gourd yelled.

“Triangula, did you shoot ANY of your team members?” The Gourd sternly asked. “..no?” Triangula said, confused and trying to get the paint off of her. “...someone committed friendly fire then.” The Gourd seemed frustrated. “One of Team “What?”’s members has committed Friendly Fire, which is indicative of sabotaging their OWN team.” The Gourd sighed. “Until I find the perpetrator, the Laser Tag Arena is not to be used.” Sunny, Period, Comedy and Paperplates now all groaned. “Triangula, take this bucket of water—” The Gourd summoned a bucket of water. “and clean the paint off.” The Gourd now turned to Star, Heart, Penta and House. “Team “What?” see you at elimination tonight.” He nodded and disappeared.

Heart looked at Triangula, knowing full well she’d be leaving tonight.

AT THE ELIMINATION CEREMONY.

“Jeez, you guys just can't stop LOSING! It's pathetic, it really is.” The Gourd said.

“ANYWAYS! You know the drill.” He said as Heart got up to make her vote.

As expected, the team unanimously decided…

“TRIANGULA. You're the next eliminated contestant.” The Gourd said, as Triangula sighed.

“You guys are gonna have to break apart now, you do realize that?” Triangula said as her last words.

“..WELP! See you next time!” The Gourd cackles as the lights go out.

END.

AROS was written by TheWiseGuest.

All characters' voices, present or not, were acted out by L. Alberto S.

FIN.

“...sigh. I need new friends.” Triangula said as the bus to Another Random Object Show parked in front of her, allowing her to be the first person on the bus.

[jkauffman16]

Herd mentality We speak of herd immunity a lot these days but also should discuss the subject of herd mentality. What I fear is that as you read this, you will not be able to acknowledge that YOU suffer from this common human condition which has occurred many times in many different circumstances. If you stop reading you are definitely brainwashed. Explanation: When you grow up being taught Catholicism and priests molest children , you somehow cut the priest slack or say all humans are sinners. When you are mesmerized by an autocratic leader that persuades you that one ethnic or religious group of people are the cause of societies problems, you don’t condemn him when he kills 6 million men woman and children. When you grown up on a ranch eating beef and hunting, if it was determined that overeating red meat could give you a heart attack, you would choose to “not believe” the lying science. If your elected leader told you climate change was a hoax, you might ignore the science. If you were born a democrat and all your family had been democrats, you would rather choose a crook Democrat then EVER choose a Republican for any reason. Or vice versa. If there was an investigation being done of your parties president, you would quickly look for reasons why the “procedure “ followed was dubious or invent a conspiracy theory of false evidence rather than be VERY interested in seeing what evidence is produced. You are protecting your ego nothing else. It’s not your fault that your instincts cause you to act this way, just try to be as objective as humanly possible and listen to the evidence. Not the entertainment news. However, if you believe in Quonon, this is going to be real hard for you. You drank the cool-aid and lots of it. So ask your self if you could EVER vote for a president of the other party if he or she was the best candidate…or if the candidate of your party was let’s say a criminal or racist or bigot or narcissist ,a name calling bully or a liar….or ……someone who spread lies about fraud that were unfounded etc..(you might still believe the lie because you refused to be exposed to the evidence delivered by republicans that worked closely with him and are finally brave enough to speak)(Jan. 6th commission hearings). Part of herd mentality: Non exposure to the hard truth. Bury the head in sand. Just look the other way, says the herd. Don’t look up, as the satire movie perfectly depicts the “herd” choosing to ignore the approaching comet. Just trying to keep our jobs and the constituents happy they say and they look away. It’s sad and embarrassing that I00% of one party votes against ANY legislation (just because it was from the other party). Their only goal: Do the opposite of the other party. That is not doing your job. Any monkey can vote like that. These are our best and brightest? Our system is so broken. ……are you stuck thinking and acting like his herd? It’s not too late. Be brave. We need you back for our system to work properly.