#it is very interesting!! and i havent seen much else cover it and yet it seems important to the overal narrative

[syncrovoid-presents]

I need to write an analysis on the color red and how it applies to Wally throughout the Welcome Home website. I have many thoughts!

[antiv3nom]

Tell me something about Sin that you've been dying to type a bunch of paragraphs about!!

THANKS FOR THE ASK SOL !!!!!!!!

okay so a joke i frequenly make about sin but have genuine feelings about is that, despite being raised by sol "what are feelings?" badguy, sin ended up being SO emotionally intelligent. like sol would not have ever had any sort of conversations regarding fuckin empathy or the like with sin, he was too busy TYING THE KID TO A TREE when he was busy, yk? (dont have enough time to dig into all of my feelings on sin's upbringing lmao, i could write a whole different essay about that)

ANYWAYS! yeah. sin has a lot of issues in overture, and he feels...like he's full of a lot of rage and resentment over a lot of things. i can't entirely speak on everything as i still have yet to watch a playthrough of the entirety of overture (i know what happens! i just havent seen all of the nitty-gritty interactions with him and others) but i know that he's got a lot more rage in him then he does in xrd. which of course makes sense, since he's still in the process of understanding and eventually re-accepting ky, and he's gotta interact a lot with him on a personal level in overture, notably without dizzy to mediate, which i personally think is likely how things went down before she was frozen.

anyways i wanna move onto xrd because i have a lot of feelings about him in sign, STARTING with his conversation with sol at one point. he's just got out after talking with ram for the first time, and sol is telling him to give it up and sin recognizes this for exactly what it is, that sol is showing his own lack of trust and actively choosing not to follow him in this, and while after this is pointed out sol worries that he's trying to turn sin into him, ky is actually the one to recognize that sin understands him at his core. i mean, of course. sin's spent probably more time with sol than he's spent with anyone else, and i find it interesting that he came out of that, not being cold and callous like sol has become, but the absolute opposite. i think he trained himself to be almost the opposite of sol, to be able to see through the walls that his guardian puts up and really understand a lot of what he's getting at. it makes a lot of sense, honestly!

i'd also like to bring up a line that he says earlier in sign, which is, "my heart always has been, and will be, open to all" and i think the real thing that cements this being absolutely TRUE is that it's towards elphelt, almost immediately after being told directly by elphelt that she's quote unquote "hot shit" akin to ram. look if he was the same person as his father or his extra father he'd be worried! but he's NOT! he very much is the type of person to trust in a person and that's important! because without that they never would have worked with elphelt to the degree they did, they never would have tried to save her and thus figured out fucking EVERYTHING with rev, they never would have gotten ramlethal as an ally, none of it! because sin had trust in them and took the time and energy to pay attention to them and try to actually emotionally connect with them, and he was a big part of the reason that ramlethal realized she had feelings!!!! fuck!!!!!!! hes integral to the plot because he is inherently kind!!!!!!!!!!!!!

also fuck. fucking hell his relationship with ky. again. i could write a whole different essay on this and it WILL be covered in bread fic which yes will be updated i swear it. anyways. it takes a lot to willingly accept an effort to repair a relationship and put in effort yourself. and it takes MORE to realize the other side of the situation, especially when it's familial. i just. fuck dude. sin cares so much about his mother and through that finds a new path of caring about his own father whom he hated for almost all of his life. fuck dude. he called him dad. he called him dad. i cannot stress enough how much it fucked me up the first time i saw that scene i was crying in public about it i love them so fucking much dude. so much.

anyways this is a big old ramble but fuck sin gets narrowed down to "haha stupid large child who eats a lot" by a lot of people and i think more of us should recognize that while yes he is a 5 year old who looks jacked and yes he does have the funny eat move, he is also an incredibly kind and emotionally mature character

[maylorscardigan]

that set list today was… depressing. No Robbers and it was just… he’s so sad 😭

what is your take on the performance today?

Setlist included:

Give Yourself a Try

Looking for Somebody to Love

I'm in Love with You

I Like America & America Likes Me

About You

Ballad of Me & My Brain

It's Not Living (if its Not With You)

I Always Wanna Die (Sometimes)

Somebody Else

Love it if We Made It

Sex

People

My first impression... anyone who is familiar with My Chemical Romance knows their first album "I Brought You My Bullets, You Brought Me Your Love" and their last "Danger Days"... I get that vibe from this setlist with a mixture of "The Used" for good measure. So long and short of it - this is as emo as the 1975 can get without being Drive Like I Do.

And I am here for it.

Just look at the songs themselves.

The song is one that talks about humanity. How the media makes you believe in happiness and growing up liking who you are, only it doesn't happen. It touches on identity & aging as well.

Political in nature. It's about school shootings and the toxic masculinity of society today.

A love song. Matty wanted a love song that was sincere and earnest.

Talks about Matty's relationship with fame and how he pleas with society for a safer world without the fear of gun violence.

Do I really need to cover this one? It's THE song.

This song covers mental issues and how their looking for their lost brain (sanity). It covers dodging fans and what its like trying to cope with fame. This song has always made me think that it would be the result if Taylor's Wonderland & I Know Places had a baby.

Another regular. It's about his heroin addiction.

Matty says that death has essentially become a big meme and that death is now, essentially a mood. It sums up life in the online age.

Another regular. Jealousy, ownership over the body of a former lover (emotional ownership. not actual) and dealing with seeing a former lover with someone else. Anyone who knows MAYLORE knows this songs history.

Like About You... i never see this leaving the set list. This song is better live by far then the recording could ever dream of. It's a social anthem much like Billy Joel's "We Didn't Start the Fire" before you know... FOB did a cover of it.

Teenager angst over sex.

The new closing song? Unhinged Matty and when I truly feel like I am watching Gerard Way - and if anyone takes that as an insult come fight me because its not. Another social anthem.

As I said - this setlist comes off as very much the context and themes you'd see at an emo / pop-punk show. Very much reminds me of The Used and MCR.

Does this set list make me think he's sad? No. Not at all. Angry? Hell yes. The themes of dealing with fame and how fans are assholes and society sucking as a whole... its an interesting statement and I am completely here for it.

Honestly - unpopular opinion but Danger Days is one of my all time favourite albums and this screams that to me. Especially People. Matty has said that the band is an influence and a dream collaboration so...

Gerard... I am looking at you. Please PLEASE do this.

I also think this is the truest side of who Matty is and what he has always stood for and against. They said that SATVB was how Matty is NOW and I honestly believe the set list reflects that.

As for no Robbers... maybe he just wanted to give fans a breather from being afraid he will kiss someone or to just flat out get rid of the speculation on whether or not he will.

I havent seen the whole show yet but snippets I did see... he was very happy and high energy. Very pre-May happy Matty.

I'll find more videos and see if that changes but as of right now.. yeah.

[beep-boop-brain-go-brrrr]

Your boyfriend is an 18+ game, minors stay away

I got interesting in the your boyfriend visual novel. It's really interesting and I've been looking at aus for it. I think I reblogged some of them.

But its moments like these where I think of aus where I wish I could draw ;-;

Anyway indulge me as I explain the your boyfriend au I thought of

So you know how in the game Peter is the yandere? Yeah how about we swap that.

No yn isnt the yandere....its basically everyone else.

TK? Chill but a bit weird coworker who wants to kiss YN (and would gladly kill for them). Somehow always has the same shifts as you...even if they're covering for someone else.

Lucy? She's paying half of her rent constantly, never missing it. Is the one keeping tk and don from killing eachother for YN. Also major YN simp when they're not there.

Don? (I simp for him okay?) Maybe a bit too nice for your typical landlord, seems a bit lonely....is the most protective over YN and wouldve made them his own already if it wasn't for Lucy and tk wanting the exact same.

Peter? Yeah he a normal guy who's a regular at where YN works. Maybe a bit awkward but compared to TK sometimes it's nothing.

You still here? GOOD

Imma explain a bit more now. So here's some pointers/character stuff for this au:

Yn is very much not aware of how the three people they interact most with are actually kinda crazy. They're just used to it that not a lot makes them think they're weird

Peter is a regular at the diner, for the milkshakes because they're amazing. Happens to walk in a day that Yn works and TK wasn't able to get that shift as well so they're not just cleaning the back for once. He thinks they're cute but tries his best not to come off as creepy.

YN doesn't seem to take his awkwardness as creepy and happily chats with him (not often do they get to interact with customers thanks to TK, although they often complain how awful they can be)

The trio takes turns stalking YN and making sure they're alright

That's how they see Peter approaching you while you're sitting in the park and awkwardly trying the I'm boyfriend material pickup line. YN just thinks he's cute and just awkward so they give him a chance.

The at your work line isnt creepy because Peter is a regular there.

TK nearly jumps out of their hiding spot to strangle peter for coming near their cutiepie.

Don could easily take out lucy and TK but knows YN needs social interaction to not become broken. So he allows them close, for now at least.

Lucy gets a text from TK, she asks YN to stop at the flower shop for a cactus in hopes that Peter being there is creepy.

It's not, Peter realizes he hadn't even told Yn his name yet so he says it before leaving. Although he does say he generally prefers nicknames.

Turns out he works there in this au so it's not creepy when he brings you some flowers because it's his job ya know?

TK is ready to murder peter, however Don stops him. After all you need a plan for that, luckily Don may or may not have some experience with killing and getting away with it.

The silent Don bug is because he was caught of guard by adorable YN in pjs. Yes he has the keys and seen them in pjs before, no it doesnt stop him from going silent cause pretty and horny now.

I'll keep it at this for now

Imma add more later so I'll just tag this as yan trio au for the moment so I can write down more ideas later and specifically the characters. Any critique and ideas will be appreciated.

I'll be off now.

Ps. Sorry I cant make art for this au, I wish I could but I ain't the best artist so from me this au will mostly just be text posts at the moment.

(Fun fact i havent played the game yet, I'm planning to though)

[samadiw]

Knickers - Part 03 - Yellow Knickers 💛

.

Yellow?

Fucking yellow?

She didnt have yellow knickers, she didnt have yellow anything and it wasnt like she could stroll into Hogsmeade and buy a pair.

Hermione pulls out her drawer of knickers, for a girl who didnt get it on much, she had a drawer full of colourful undies, one must always feel good in what covers your twat.

She gingerly picks up a scanty almost see through black pair of knickers, well, they would have to do.

Placing the pair on the bed, she reaches for her wand and waves it over the undergarment, the colour instantly changes from black to dark yellow.

Hermione grins, it looks better than she expected.

H : "Not bad..."

She flops down on the bed and thinks of Malfoy's cock for what seemed like the hundredth time that day.

The fucker had no shame in just whipping it out in front of her, his crass boldness turned her on, he didn't care to tip toe around her as if she would shatter into a million pieces.

Her toes curl with wanting, he would widen her nicely, she had always been told she was tight.

Damn that bloody Malfoy cock.

*******

T : "The fuck man."

B : "Don't you get sick of losing?"

T : "You're cheating, I know it."

B : "Its wizards chess, you just suck."

T : "I have to meet Luna but once I'm back, I want a bloody rematch."

B : "Let's make it interesting, care to place a bet?"

T : "10 Galleons?"

B : "My house elf makes 10 times that, you bloody cheapskate."

T : "Later."

B : "Use protection, we don't want crummy chess players being added to the population."

T : "Fuck you, Zabini."

Draco walks in towelling his hair

B : "Ah, want to grab a butter beer?"

D : "Sure, mate."

Throws a bottle at Draco and he catches it expertly.

D : "So, whats the name of the new broad?"

B : "Patil..."

D : "Nice."

B : "Is Weasley still banging Granger?"

D : "Haven't a clue."

B : "She's looking rather fine this year."

Draco tightens his hold on the bottle and takes a long swig.

Blaise didnt know the half of it.

The next morning

T : "Fuck, are you ready to leave?"

D : "Yeah, I've got some, unm...work to do."

What he wanted to do was claim his seat in the Great Hall before someone else did.

B : "Well, I'm ready, I'll come with you, Theo, do hurry up bitch."

T : "Yeah, yeah, I'm hurrying."

They walk into the Great Hall and find it half full.

A bunch of 3rd years are sitting in Draco's usual place.

The blonde towers over the younger students and hisses darkly.

D : "Move, now!"

The adolescent boys trip over themselves in their haste to get up.

"Yes, Mr Malfoy, sir."

"Right away."

"So sorry."

Blaise and Draco slide into the seat.

B : "I think the tall one wet his pants."

D : "Respect, Blaise, must be taught when young."

B : "Theres a fine line between respect and bullying."

D : "Potato, potahto."

B : "Why the fuck do you keep looking at the entrance?"

D : "For Nott, ofcourse."

Blaise raises a brow and grins.

B : "Sure you are..."

Hermione links her arm through Ron's and he whispers a funny joke into her ear, she throws her head back in laughter.

From across the hall she can feel steely grey eyes watching her every movement.

She locks eyes with the ice blonde and bites her lip.

Settling down in her usual spot, Hermione looks at Draco through hooded eyes and challenges him.

Draco smirks, fucking showtime.

He's about to drop something when a voice cuts into his train of thought.

PS : "Mr Malfoy."

Fuck..

D : "Yes, Professor Slughorn?"

PS : "Come with me, boy, I need your rather unique potion making skills."

Come on, no, no...

D : "Now?"

Slughorn raises a brow.

PS : "Yes, now..."

Draco glances at Hermione desperately.

Did the old codger have to fuck up his morning?

Draco weakly protests

D : "But sir, I'm um..hungry."

Hungry for Grangers cunt.

PS : "Now! Before I start deducting points off Slytherin."

The bloody bastard.

Draco gets to his feet

D : "Fine."

Hermione looks on in disappointment, brings her legs together and watches Malfoy trail after Slughorn miserably.

The fuming Slytherin throws a look of annoyance her way before exiting the hall after the potions master.

Draco misses his first two lessons because of Slughorn's potions emergency, he is still at it when his year piles into the classroom.

He wipes his brow and looks up, Hermione grins and pats the seat next to her suggestively.

It wouldn't do to openly sit next to the Gryffindor without a bunch of questions being asked.

Draco coughs to distract everyone else and shakes his head, Hermione frowns, rolls her eyes and pulls out her books.

PS : "Good job, Mr Malfoy."

Draco replies in frustration.

D : "Yeah, no problem, Professor."

He gathers this things and sits next to Theo.

The class drones on and by the end of it Draco has dozed off more than once.

Theo nudges him and hisses.

T : "For fuck sake, get up."

The class ends and the exhausted students leave the dungeons and make their way to lunch before the next round of classes start.

Hermione studiously avoids Draco, she wouldn't go to him, let him come to her.

Refusing to sit with her, who the bloody hell did he think he was?

She steps into the abandoned girls bathroom to fix her hair and wash the tiredness off her face.

It takes but a second.

The door opens, closes with a bang and a heavy firm body presses up against her back.

Shocked at first, Hermione reaches for her wand but she looks up to see Draco grinning smugly at her.

She turns around and shoves him

H : "What the fuck do you think you're doing?"

D : "Isn't it obvious?"

H : "This is the girls lavatory."

D : "I'm aware."

H : "Get away from me, you pervert."

D : "I haven't seen your knickers today, Granger."

H : "And you're not going to see them now."

D : "Oh, I beg to differ."

He places firm hands on her waist, lifts her and settles her on the counter.

Hermione lashes out

H : "Have you lost your damn mind?"

Draco winks.

D : "Possibly."

Hermione tries to hop down.

H : "I'm not playing this bloody game."

Draco holds her in place, his long fingers brush gently along her skin and edge upwards.

He pushes up the school skirt so it bunches around her waist and stares at the bright yellow undie hugging her pussy lips, outlining every dip and curve.

Draco swallows hard, up close she looks absolutely breathtaking.

H : "There, you saw them, are you satisfied?"

D : "Immensely, yellow might be my new favourite colour."

H : "Very funny, now let me go."

D : "Not so fast, pet."

He runs a long finger down her material covered slit.

Hermione gasps and a involuntary moan escapes her full lips.

She comes back to her senses and scolds.

H : "Stop it, anyone could walk in."

Draco rolls his eye, waves his wand and distinctive click echoes through the quiet bathroom.

He grins mischievously.

D : "Problem solved."

He continues to rub enticing circles around the flesh of her inner thighs.

D : "I wonder if you taste as good as you look."

H : "You wouldn't..."

D : "Oh, I would and you will love it."

He peels down her panties, leaving a trail of fire where his fingers touch her skin.

Draco puts Hermione smooth legs over his shoulders and bends to give her exposed cunt a quick lick.

Hermione gasps as he delves inside her with the tip of his tongue.

He gives her clit a quick flick and proceeds to eat her out generously.

Holy fuck, was Malfoy licking her cunt?

Oh, so good, so bloody good.

D : "You taste divine, let's see what makes you come."

Hermione's breathing elevates, she surrenders to the blonde licking her to glory.

The noises he makes as he moves his tongue echo in her head and fuel her pending release.

H : "Malfoy...."

D : "Wet, so fucking wet."

They have 4 minutes and 26 seconds before their next class.

Draco figures he needs 3 minutes tops to fuck her with his talented tongue and feel her orgasm on it.

D : "You taste fucking amazing."

He parts her pussy lips with his tongue again and begins to lap at her eager wetness.

Moving slowly, he uses the tip of his tongue to circle her ever receptive bud.

His tongue slips and he's rewarded with a loud moan.

Ah, so that's the spot.

Draco relentlessly tongues Hermione till she squirms.

He wants to look at her, keeping up his ministrations he braved a look at the witch whispering his name.

She was shuddering above him, her body wracked in pleasure.

Head thrown back, wild curls around her face, fuck...she looked stunning.

Her eyes closed, thighs spread wide and hands massaging her breasts and pinching her nipples.

This was a sight he could get used to.

H : "There, oh fuck...don't stop..."

H : "Oh...mm...I'm going to come."

Music to his ears, he takes her swollen bud between his lips and sucks hard.

D : "Let go, baby."

Hermione lets out a cry, grabs a fistful of Draco's hair and comes crashing down around him.

Only after she rode her high and stilled did he wipe her dripping juices off his chin and get to his feet.

H : "Well, that was..."

She hopes off the counter and attempts to stand on wobbly legs.

Draco licks his cum stained lips and grins.

D : "Something else."

H : Yes, something else.

Draco muses .

D: "And we havent even kissed yet."

Post orgasm bliss aside, Hermione asks.

H : "Why didn't you sit next to me? Do you still think me dirty?"

Dirty, was the woman mad? She fucking came in his mouth and he couldn't believe the words that were coming out of her mouth.

Draco pulls Hermione close and kisses her.

The kiss is no gentle exchange between lovers, its hard, fast and demanding

He pries her stubborn lips open with his tongue and slips it in to seek the inner sweetness, they grab onto each other fighting for dominance, until, she breaks free and surfaces for air.

Draco nibbles on the heated flesh of her neck and whispers.

D : "That's your cum you taste on my tongue, do you honestly believe your blood status means fuck all to me?"

He places a tender kiss to her lips

D : Actually, I wanted to spare you the embarrassment of mingling with an ex Death Eater.

Hermione shoves him playfully.

H : "Sod it, sit with me tomorrow."

D : "You dig your own grave, Granger."

A distinctive tent decorated Draco's trousers, he cups the bulge and adjusts his painfully hard erection.

H : "Oh, you're still hard, let me..."

D : "We don't have time."

Hermione's face falls in disappointment and Draco smirks.

D : "Don't worry about it, you can make up for it tomorrow."

Draco picks up the discarded yellow knickers and pockets them.

D : "I'm keeping these by the way."

H : "You cant be serious?"

D : "I rather enjoy the thought of you walking about the castle knickerless."

H : "You fucking smug prat."

D : "Blue is my favourite colour, Granger."

Draco lifts the spell and walks out.

Funny, she would've bet her left tit that it was black.

[omegawolverine]

Plesse tell me about queerness in the get down!!

okay okay queerness in the get down let's fuckn goooo

disclaimer: I havent watched this show in full for like 5 months at least, probably gonna get something wrong and/or forget some more important bits. also this wasnt proof read I just word vomited

tws: period typical homophobia, abuse mention, f slur use, bury your gays trope, overdose mention, mention of a creepy possible age gap (the age gap hasnt been confirmed so that's why its possible), cops

going from least to most prominent queer characters, let's start with mylene cruz!

so, from the beginning of this show she has an established romantic relationship with ezekiel (although the status of their actual relationship changes frequently throughout the show) and though this was a relationship she was hesitant to pursue, it is clear that she does have romantic feelings for him and if not for them both having growing careers in very different music genres (zeke specifically working in a genre that she repeatedly labels as bad because she thinks they're ruining records + that it isnt real music because they're using someone elses piece and rapping over it, that's not really important here tho lol) they probably wouldve had a much healthier, smooth sailing romance. that being said theres a few things that happen in the show that, while not explicitly clear, or even really good coding at that—to the point where you wont catch if you really arent looking for it (and trust me, I always look for coding, hers was just so little that it flew over my head until I saw someone else mention it)—are still cool to think about!

so, for starters, I wanna mention the toy box performance, which was performed by mylene and regina, who are best friends. that's all cool and shit, and you dont really think much about it...until you hear about the fact that the show runners purposely colored a lot of the scenes in that performance with the bi colors. like. the writers after the show ended basically said "oh yeah there was plans to make her coding more explicit, but our shit got cancelled soooo" and then dropped the fact that she was gonna be bi (or at least implies bi) in the series, which puts a new twist on a few things.

now, besides the bi coloring in the background of the toy box performance (which was mostly on scenes with her and regina, which involved a lot of uh,, lowkey lewd dancing. with each other. in very revealing outfits. wooooo), there's her music! I dont tend to read too much into this one bc, like I said before, her coding is fucking light and the writers themselves said they didnt really get to do much with it, but I think some stuff with her music is interesting. specifically how her, yolanda and regina's song set me free blew up because dizzee, resident (lowkey enby coded) bicon, got their song played in a queer club. also that the song was majorly important to dizzee and started playing literally right as he kissed a boy for the first time and realized "oh shit I like boys that's bonkers". also that the song can be taken in a gay way since literally the entire thing is about becoming your true self, fully and unapologetically, which is what both dizzee and mylene's entire character arcs are about. dizzee (and a lot of other queer people, apparently), heard this song about being set free and it resonated with them so much that they got that shit most of its popularity.

speaking of dizzee and mylene, they parallel each other a lot in the way that their arcs are about them realizing who they are, coming into themselves and no longer just letting people treat them like shit in a sense (dizzee starting to tell people essentially that they can call him weird all they want, they can make fun of how he acts, what he likes, how he dresses, etc. but he likes how he is and quite literally saying "it's okay to be an alien" as he has consistently compared himself to one throughout the show vs mylene learning that if she wants to be a disco singer she needs to put her foot down, not let anyone, not even the love of her life, not even her abusive father, stop her from achieving her dreams, etc. and continuing to pursue her career with or without their support). one more little parallel that I think is interesting is during I think s2 towards the end of the show is when dizzee and thor are shown together having fun with each other, painting all over the building and each other and are basically just being happy and in love together and then they have these clips of them being interspersed with clips of mylene at a party where she is starting to realize that if she wants to get anywhere she needs to be her own main priority and that she needs to put her career and her dream, which is what makes her the happiest, above all else if she wants to succeed. idk I just think how the show made these two into a weird parallel, accidental or not, is neat. maybe not an explicitly queer parallel, but I think at least how her music and whatnot helped dizzee, the main queer character in this show, blossom, is important.

moving on we got shaolin fantastic also known as "oh no your internalized homophobia is showing-"

so, heres a quick list of...interesting shao facts:

Consistently referred to as fag/faggot (shaolin fanfaggot is my personal favorite); he gets really defensive about this despite nobody actually thinking he's queer, it's just people being assholes to be assholes, and he is the only character consistently referred to using a slur, especially a homophobic one, especially for a "straight" character. dizzee, a canonically queer character, is called a fag less than shaolin is even though dizzee actively goes to gay clubs, has a not so secret dude he "hangs out with" and wont let anyone properly meet, paints his nails, wears less than straight clothes even by the 70s standards and is just all around the definition of fucking queer (and I mean like in the weird way, not the gay way). in fact theres only like once I can remember him being called a fag and it had nothing to do with him actually being gay it was literally just like thrown out there the same way you would call someone a bitch.

Has only shown sexual interest in women, yet refuses to have deeper relationships with women in general (possibly because of trauma but who knows) but takes his relationships with his "brothers", specifically zeke, very seriously

Tells zeke and zeke ONLY his real name when zeke was planning to stop being his friend bc shao more or less got boo boo, a like 14 year old black kid, arrested for selling hard drugs; he was clearly scared and trying to do anything to keep zeke around, literally chasing him down the street and hounding him until he got zeke to stop and argue with him

Kept threatening to beat up zeke in the end but couldn't actually bring himself to do so, instead saying that zeke is "fucking lucky" before walking away

Let's zeke get away with things that nobody else can, in general just has a weird soft spot for ezekiel that he shows with nobody else

when shao found dizzee with thor in a vaguely compromising situation (like they were just shirtless covered in paint sleeping next to each other but shao had also seen everything they painted on the walls ((which some of it was sus)), it was clear they had painted on each others bodies and dizzee had been routinely disappearing with this guy for weeks now yet not producing nearly as much art, at least, as far as we audience members know) he didnt judge him but instead, waited for him to get cleaned up and then told him something along the lines of "theres a reason why im so secretive blah blah blah [not everyone needs to know everything about me]", which, in context, kinda implies that he might be a lil. a lil homiesexual. jus a lil.

whenever even the possibility of zeke leaving him comes up he absolutely loses it. he has literally cost ezekiel life changing opportunities because he thought zeke would just up and leave him for them. this could be abandonment issues bc he's a severely traumatized character, and that probably does contribute to it, but it also is just not a reaction he has to any of their other friends just randomly dipping in and out of his life soooooo

generally speaking, this mfer has got either bisexual with a big hard on for zeke coding or homosexual with terrible internalized homophobia and still a hard on for zeke coding. either fucking way, that nigga gay. he gay as hell. gay as fuck man. there wasn't really much to analyze here tbh bc the coding is just so fucking obvious if you look for it or you are/have been a gay person who's dealt with at least a little bit of internalized homophobia.

also, just a sidenote, idk how fucking old shao, but I'm praying hes like at max 19 bc I'm pretty sure zeke is a minor in this show and shao definetly is not so the whole him being heavily implied to have a crush on ezekiel thing is kinda. oof. not oof if zeke is like 17 but any younger than that? OOF.

edit: apparently the characters are only supposed to be a year apart in age but i had no clue about that before writing this post and since shaos age was never actually stated in the show i naturally assumed he was an adult since his actor Looks Like An Adult. this is definetly on me to a certain extent, but i also never saw anything about this when trying to find our their ages so 🤷‍♀️ maybe i just didnt look deep enough, sorry!

now moving on to the main event...marcus dizzee kipling :]

so, first things first, let's talk enby coding bc him being bisexual was already confirmed!

um, to start off, I just wanna say I dont think this enby coding was intentional or even really coding, it's just moreso me being a dizzee kin on main and knowing as a transmasc enby he has very transmasc enby vibes. for example:

cool, gender neutral nickname that everyone calls him

paints nails various different colors

the whole wardrobe is just a transmasc enby heaven...fishnet shirts, jean overalls, jackets and cuffed pants galore, the big colorful pins, etc

gender neutral hairstyle (when I had my fro it was very sexy and made it easy to transition between hyper masc and vaguely fem, which is pog)

comparing himself to/representing himself consistently with an alien character (though this is meant to represent his sexuality, it could also double as a gender thing too, not neccesarily bc of the whole nonbinary alien trope but bc an enby who likes aliens might heavily identify or compare themselves to whatever their idea of an alien is, whether that just be a genderless entity or a motherfucker with fly style and no need to be perceived as anything other Wacky As Hell)

moving on from there, let's talk about how his queerness is presented to us and how, while it may be a really good piece of representation, especially coming from netflix, it still lacks in A Lot of places.

so, let's start with good things!

i personally really like the get down's queer rep with dizzee bc it's (for the most part) nonsexualized and very very soft, about dizzee figuring himself out and realizing there is a place where he fits in, and about two teenagers in the 70s falling in love over their shared passion for street art. it also features an interracial couple where both boys challenge stereotypes both about queer men and men of color, which is epic poggers and very sexy. this piece of rep specifically is very important to me bc I am a queer black person and even tho interracial relationships are mostly normalized now, I've still had people give me shit for primarily dating white people in a town that is...primarily white lol

mm anyways, I can also appreciate how in the get down, dizzee being represented by rumi the alien is not a thing specifically related to gender (as it often is) and instead is about his sexuality and just in general weirdness and how it has led to him being alienated amongst his peers, poc or otherwise. him seeing himself as an alien is not about just his queerness, which is important, it is about him being a queer black man who talks different, acts different, dresses different and is "soft"—he isnt a walking black male stereotype and he wouldnt have been seen as masculine back in the 70s by any stretch of the imagination. this can be relatable to a wide spectrum of queer poc, from queer black men currently who still have to deal with this shit or to people like myself who are afab neurodivergent mixed race enbies that have always been signaled out as weird and alienated for it. dizzee is god rep bc while he has a small part in this show, his parts are very impactful, hard hitting and show queer poc of all ages that they arent alone and that it's okay to "weird", you just need to embrace it because somebody will love you for you, as thor did for dizzee.

that being said theres um. some minor problemas here,,,

namely:

dizzee and thors first kiss

the lack of development this pairing got

the way dizzee was confirmed bisexual off screen, he never said the words himself, just showed interest in both genders

the way dizzee and thor were never even confirmed boyfriends or just fwb so most of the fandom just calls them boyfriends bc Why Not

dizzee was implied fucking DEAD??? AT THE END OF THE SERIES?????? AND THOR WAS IMPLIED ARRESTED?????????????

now, these might have been things that wouldve been fine had the show been given it's full run but it wasnt which is why we are now left with probelms.

so, from the top, let's go over these: dizzee and thor's first (and only "on screen") kiss was one that was shown in a montage of other queer people making over and doing other vaguely romantic/sexual things, one of those things being a whole ass naked titty being mouthed at, but the actual kiss...was just not shown? like they really did just say "yes they kissed <3 you know this from the context clues of it being in a montage with kissing, hickey giving and titty sucking <3 but no we will not show it <3" LIKE HELLO? I SAW A NAKED BOOBIE BUT NOT TWO MEN KISS??? HUH????????

also, dizzee and thor were both fucking high as hell during this bit like this isnt a terrible thing but it's also like sometimes you do shit when you're high that you wouldnt do sober and they just never kissed again on screen so like?? like idk that's not that bad but it does kinda irk me since they deadass got no other on screen intimacy after that unless you including painting on eacher other or sleeping next to each other on a shitty mattress but not touching at all during it bc they were both at opposite ends of the mattress like half way off it

so yeah, that was trash. then we got lack of development, which kinda goes with the "dizzee being a bisexual but he never says it in canon" thing cause like...okay dizzee was already sort of a side character from the get go like he wasnt the mc by any means, but he became way more of a background character as things continued until we basically only saw him for performances or when he was with thor, yet they got no fucking development as a pairing other than "dizzee realize he gay, he like thor, he and thor spend time together and ig probably do some gay stuff but we dont really know bc we only ever see them do graffiti together now" like?? tf am I supposed to do with that shit. answer. quickly. and then theres dizzee not being confirmed bisexual, which is just a running problem with shows literally doing everything to say a character is bi except for having the character just...say they're bi? which would be so easy? like a good way dizzee and thor couldve had some development is by thor teaching dizzee things about the queer community that he didnt even know existed, thor couldve helped him understand what being bi meant and helped him label himself and whatnot but instead we got an off screen confirmation that the writers had bisexual in mind when writing him. which is garbagé.

the whole thor and dizzee never having a confirmed relationship status is also a development problem cause like literally nobody knows if they were just friends who made out, maybe fucked, who knows, or if they were dating bc dizzee does give a love confession but a love confession doesn't mean there is a relationship, especially since thor didn't say he was in love either (as far as I remember, I could be wrong, plus whether or not that really happened or was apart of dizzee literally overdosing during a performance is unclear so 🤪)

and now for the biggest issue...bury your gays trope.

during the season 2 finale, dizzee and thor are chased by cops after they are found doing graffiti, one of the cops is able to catch thor while the other chases dizzee into a train tunnel and there is a train seen headed straight for him before the show cuts to black on a train horn. the show writers claim that if they had gotten another season, dizzee wouldve been alive but since they didnt and since that's essentially super fan trivia knowledge, most people dont fucking know that and instead had to watch a black queer teenager chose death over being fucking arrested by a white cop. on top of that, thor didnt see any of that shit because he was caught and the cop started hauling him off while dizzee was still being chased so thor literally has no clue where his friend/possible boyfriend fucking is or that he's likely dead in a goddamn tunnel all alone, unless you count the fucking pig that chased him in there who wouldve died too. this shows rep was so fucking good as far as most shows go on not having major fucking problems, on not being toxic and over sexualized, etc, etc. and then they just. killed a black queer teenager for no fucking reason. like it was literally the last episode ever, it would add nothing to the plot, it would just devastate fans and devastate it fucking did. I dont cry easy but seeing a character I identified with, who I had hyperfixated on, die because he'd rather that than be arrested is terrible. it fucking sucked.

so yeah. that's my all too extensive thoughts/analysis on the get down's queerness. theres definitely stuff I missed, or misinterpreted, or looked too much into, etc, etc., but this was a fun thing to spend time writing sooo yeah!! thanks for the ask anon, sorry this was just a big rambley info dump, but hopefully you get some enjoyment out of it since it took like 3 hours at least 😭😭 feel free to ask clarifying questions lol

[hopeless-not-serious]

@doggomochi I don't know if I'm your color theory person (I apologize if I'm not and please feel free to ignore this)? I started writing about it? We were barley a few clips in, back then. But a lot of very amazing and very smart people like @stazyros commented and followed up with their own very interesting theories so...I do remember color-coding the Machwitz sisters (including something about beeing and wanting to be) and something about Mind (Ratio) = blue vs Heart (Emotio) = red. I also compared it with one of Stalins portraits? This got way out of hand, which is why I decided to make a separate post. I´m sorry for any mistakes and for the... well. Everything. This was supposed to be a something short, but then I started spiralling and going way to deep and hard and now we've got (dis-)honorably mentions of sleep deprivantion, biology, thermosphysics, Stalin and very strong tea. Mhm. I dont have any excuses. 

Back to your question: What do I think of a blue Nora wearing Josh's red beanie. I'd like to adapt my previous theory: Blue doesn't represent the "cold" (as in cold color = blue) or rational mind but maybe the absence of emotions or better yet the absence of feelings and senses. We've seen Nora suffer(?) from a lack of heat reception (burning her hand, drinking hot beverages, etc). I'd love to point out that heat/ warmth = warm color = red, aka the tendency of Nora not having/ wearing it...but she also went into the cold lake and I dont remember if we saw her suffer or hurt (herself) because of something cold? (I had like 3hrs of sleep and I had to concentrate on other things for a while, which is why I havent been a) very present in the tag and following discussions b) rewatching every clip and c) following up with my intended Color Theory thingy I started centuries ago... so me forgetting something is totally possible but unintended. It is not my intention to mislead or cover up information).

So that's/ before the brakes ⤴ is how I would adapt my Stalin-Theory

(the blue books where his head is at symbolize him lookig at the future/ past -depending on the way you want to interpret the direction of his look- with a cold and rational mind, while the red/ warm color of the bookshelf represents ... almost everything else? Love for the country (books at heart level) but also ofc The Soviet Union, Russia, Communism, Socialism, Blood of the fallen/ heros or smth. I dont really remember and this is not supposed to be an art history lesson or a lecture on russian history. -I'm no expert. So please, please take everything with a grain of salt and pepper).

Back to me keeping things short:

Blue = cold color = lack of feelings/ sense deprivation

Red = warm color = emotions/ feelings/ senses she should have or wants to have.

It could be fun (and a lot of work) to go through Kikis and Zoes color choices. Especially with your take on this. Wasnt Zoe talking about wearing a red dress to Finn's mums party? And she/ he rejected the idea and this leads us to people/ Germany prefering blue over red. And you know... now that I'm thinking about it. People (almost) never complain if you're too blue, its the preferred color or way-to-be. But too much red sets people off. You're too passionate, too sensible, bury the pain, its just a small cut/ burn, dont complain, dont bleed out (dont let the red out), just wait (and your hot beverage will cool down) and it'll get better, dont (over-)react etc. Its the opposite to Noras story. The goal isn't blue, its red.* And now comes the mic drop.

And now to your very interesting and insightful observation/ theory (*heart eyes emoji*): I might be reaching here but our theories are not mutually exclusive? 🤔 You too coded the colors as contrasts/ each others opposites: Red = outside world/ how other people know her/ function vs Blue = inside world/ how she knows herself/ not-function (?). Which is really interesting because its usually the other way around? You have to keep your "red" to yourself, inside you. Blue is what others want to see, what they value above almost everything else (at least in Germany).👀 Nora is different because her lack of red is bothersome to a few people, worrisome to her friends and Josh and possibly dangerous to herself. Her friends and Josh want her to care, to react, to feel, to be part of the group, of the outside world, to do something, to be red. And yes, Josh is trying, maybe even succeeding at coaxing it out of her. She has all of this inside of her, she is capable of being red, her true(?) self. -And yes, its biology, but I'm flowing with this now- we see it in her (very?) red lips, her cheeks, her choosing red colors or actually seeking warmth (laying in the sun). But blue is also a part of her, aka blue eyes! And this might be a sign for me to go to sleep or to stop drinking tea, but (not giving up!) this is important and has nothing to do with biology or bodily functions (although our cheeks do turn red when exposed/due to warmth and coldness) because its all a part of her red/ blue, inside/ outside, who she is and knows herself/ how other people see/know her (Selbstbild vs Fremdbild). And you know what will be and is already a part of her? Her mental illness.

I feel like this would be the perfect moment for a mic drop. Although I would like to add something else. Or more like, not (dis-)miss your take on grey and white? (Let me point out that Stalin is wearing white and has grey hair. This shall be the last time I mention this fucking painting. It has been almost 8 years and it still haunts me). Yes, I think you're absolutely right! Isn't white/ grey (she wears white too, righ? Either way, its usually a very light grey, not a dark grey) the absence of color? But also the result of adding/mixing colorful light? Too much color (red/blue) = her mi peaks and she's in white/ grey, but also the absence of color = her mi peaks too and she's in white/ grey. I dont know a lot about mental illnesses and she hasn't been diagnosed so I'm not going to go much deeper into this particular subject.

*didn't want to disturb my epic conclusion, but one should always aim for balance. Or as much balance as possible. ...And balance is very important and key if you're attempting to parcour your way through life. (Got it?! I'm so incredibly smart 👐) Its important to point out that Josh's beanie belongs to Josh (...ya, not so smart after all). Its a Leihgabe (forgot the English word, gonna look it up later). He's literally sharing the warmth of his head/ mind with her. Because clothes are warm when you share due to body heat and so on. Biology and Thermophysics. Oh! We've seen a lot of hugs and hugs are perfect for heat sharing! Now, is he trying to coax the red out of her or is he sharing lending his red with/ to her? I wouldn't bet on him wearing something of hers (not with this theory). But this is all interpretation and bending color coding to my will. I'm exhausted.

I feel like I should write a conclusion part for this thesis paper of mine. But its long enough, right? I'm happy to answer any questions?

Thank you for coming to this wild ride with me and congratulations on staying 💛😂😅

[movedthechangingman]

(1) I am watching atla for the first time and I know why zuko redemption worked while other’s (kylo, catara) failed, Zuko always has honor and was shown to care and make good decisions and be a good person even at his lowest points, like when he cared about his crew or tried to help and save a little kid even though the family and the kid ended up rejecting him, he never did something outrageous and he had time to learn and sort out his feelings before making a turn around and join the gang

putting this under a cut!

(2) azuko always acted upon what he believed was the right thing, once he was exposed to the outer world he learned how awful the fire nation was and the chain of abuse he was living in, he by himself made the decision and has 2 season in order to redeem himself while characters like Cassandra (tangled) and Catra had seasons of upping the stakes and acting more and more awful each time and only one season where the narrative are like “they were under someone else control and they were abused” (3) “so they nice blonde best friend who acts more like their sister and who they were abusing and victim blaming has to forgive them for everything bad they did because they were uwu abused too” and it seems many people like that which fine, if this was characterized as a delicate situation, where it could turns bad, which could turn to be even toxic, I wouldn’t have a problem with, but it is framed as beautiful and as good and as “true love!” (4) without the main aggressors Catra and Cassandra putting as much in their relationship as their blonde counterpart Adora and Raps who are forced to act as a matyr till they get fed up with their friends abuse and toxicity and put their foot down yet they always end up forgiving their abuser’s transgressions by the end somehow, it seems like the classic tale of “if he pulls your hair or means he likes you” which it’s most similar to (5) To the honeymoon or the reconciliation stage of an abusive relationship cycle’s, nothing assures you that the abuse won’t continue on but they sell it out as this wonderful and beautiful love story which it’s plain wrong, and I feel that it doesn’t receives as muy flack because it’s F/F but in reality in a relationship one has to be consistently good and reliable and as a bisexual women I feel like they are doing a disservice and it’s worse because it’s directed towards kids (5) and lastly both Wlw parings were being either outright mentioned or hinted at by the show or crew as this characters having a “sister bound” with Cassandra and Rapunzel Being outright being described as sisters in the show and Catara and Adora being described as that by the crew and with them growing having the same motherly figure and having a clear case of golden and scapegoat child, which coupled with the abuse they suffered at hands of their paternal figure and at each other hands makes the situation very gross

i have never seen ATLA outside of the first 3 eps but that is the general consensus ive heard. i have also never seen rapunzel TAS but i watched/read a bunch of spoiler stuff for it but i think my understanding is still loose. i also heard that he wasnt a villain very long idk how true that is though. but youre right from what im reading! i think it is important for your character to have an appropriate amount of time to make up for their actions... its also important with these redemption stories for the character to address the things they did, like not a “sorry for the things or whatever” but “i am sorry i did x , x, and x” etc IMO and there needs to be work put into making things right. and the victim should not necessarily be the one pushing them through that...

like i can say for certain if c*tra was a dude there would be a HUGE discourse about the fact that yeah, she really is that “mean because they have a crush on you” BS and whats most horrifying is that it seems like noelle saw NO problem with how she portrayed that relationship and all the guilt and suffering adra went through bc of ctra was really supposed to be romantic. fcking insane. like if it was just a fandom ship w.e.... ppl always gonna ship characters if they hate eachohter... but the actual creators saying its romantic is SO WTF abuse isnt negated by it being el gee bee tee rep and whats awful is i think people REALLY believe it is. not to mention uh your WLW love interest being an physically + emotionally volatile fascist who canonically does not care that she goes out to her way to aid violent takeover of innocents for a dictatorship is already like. huh.

(i mentioned also like even seagawk and mermista - her constant “uuuugh youre so annoying” about him is supposed to be cute apparently.... like noelle posted a pic of her in a shirt that says “im with stupid” pointing at seahawk and... like... that would be funny if they had healthy communication and she didnt seriously treat him like he was an idiot 24/7... but if this was reversed it would be a huge problem and everyone would flip out.)

i never thought catra and adora were written very sisterly since its undeniable that there was a clear attraction between them in the early part of the show but holy fck if the crew did say that.... ugh... although i agree it is really skeevy that their plot revolves around an abusive mother which i feel inforces the “adoptive siblings arent real siblings” pseudo incest trope as much as i think the interactions between catra and adora were not sisterly in how they were written. if that makes sense

i hate to bring up SU but i think it covers this topic really well w spinel - whos so toxic she literally poisoned people - while steven does set her on her path, he does not make himself responsible for her redemption. we get a snippet of that later ofc - where we see that she is trying to become better while also helping the other abusive characters through their change (which we also see is still ongoing - those behaviors havent been fully unlearned - nothing can be fixed that quickly). and most notably the victim (steven) while tolerating them through their attempts at change and encouraging them, does not forgive them and makes an open effort to distance himself even while his abusers still want him to help them 24/7.

whats bothering me the most is not that ppl enjoy these ships bc no matter what people will and you cant stop them but rather that ppl refuse to admit that something they like is abusive - either bc they want to save face as a unproblematic fandom blogger or bc they are 100% unwilling to take critique on something they like, to the point where now ppl wont accept any criticism on she ra at all as a show even if it has nothing to do w the awful excuse for romance.

[wintrcaptn]

Champagne Kisses | Steve Rogers

Summary : it’s been a few years since you have last seen Steve. And the moment your see him turn up at your door, feelings resurface.

A/N : I got bored. And I don’t even know anymore. It’s trash but oh well! Lol. *drake Walker inspired me*

It had been a few years since you last heard from the Captain himself. And when he showed up at your door, different emotions washed over you completely.

Anger had overpowered most of the other emotions, and as much as you wanted to slam the door in his face, with everyone disappearing, you knew you had to let him in.

The second Steve met your gaze, he let out a sigh of relief. As everyone vanished, fading into the air and dropping like ashes, his thoughts immediately fell to you.

But standing in front of you, knowing that you were safe, he felt like he could finally breathe again.

“Are you going to let us in or do we need to pitch a tent out here until you do?” Nat asked, raising her brow.

You cleared your throat and waved them inside. Glancing away from Steve gaze.

“It sure hasn’t changed since the last time I was here.” She muttered, walking down the hall toward where her old room.

Bruce made his way in and the second you saw him, your eyes lit up.

“Banner!” You exclaimed, throwing your arms around him. “I thought I’d never see you again.”

He flashed a soft smirk, awkwardly embracing you. “You and me both.” He stated. “I really need some coffee though. It’s been a crazy few days.”

You let out a soft chuckle and nod your head. “I get it.”

And just like that, you were left alone with Steve.

Immediately, your stomach began to churn. Even with all the anger you had for him, you cared for him. Though he would never know.

For years, you were always drooling over the Captain. Especially, every time he came back from missions, wearing his suit.

But the more time you spent with him, training, missions, even grocery runs, you started to slowly fall for him.

Steve was an old soul. Mostly having to do with him being born decades ago, but he was charming to say the least. It was hard not to fall head over heels for the man.

He took a seat on one of the couches, holding his gaze on you. It felt as if they were burning through your body, creating heat to radiate all around you.

“Can we talk?” He asked, his voice soft with pain hidden just slightly.

You met his glossy blue eyes, fighting to keep your walls up as you crossed your arms over your chest.

“There’s nothing to talk about.” You muttered.

“Please?”

Steve’s eyes held yours, and in that moment you could see just how tired and hurt he was. The bags under his eyes indicated that he wasn’t getting much sleep, and the lines that formed around his face.

Seeing him like that was hard. Sure, he was always brooding and hard on himself, but you have never seen him like this.

And just like that, you were back to letting him in.

“Fine. But we need drinks first.” You said.

His eyes followed you as you strode across the room, grabbing two glasses and a bottle of whiskey.

As you made your way back over to him, you sat in front of him and poured the alcohol beverage into the glasses.

“Alright.” You sighed, before taking a swig and feeling it glide down your throat. “What do you want to talk about?”

Steve reached for his cup and watched the liquid swirl around. This wasn’t easy for him to say the least.

“Us.” He finally spoke, breaking the small silence that had occurred. Glancing up and meeting your gaze.

You swallowed hard, not knowing what he meant or where this conversation was going. This was all new to you.

“I never meant to leave without saying goodbye.” He muttered, still holding your gaze. “I just—if I came back and saw you, I don’t know if I would have had the strength to leave.”

Those last few words had forced a shiver to ripple down your spine, causing chills to cover you completely. You almost forgot how to breathe.

Steve pulled himself to the edge of his seat, giving you all of his attention.

“I distanced myself from you because I thought it would be easier.”

“Easier than what?”

“Easier than admitting to myself about how I felt.” He said. “I have lost everyone I have ever loved. And i promised myself never to let anyone in. And the more I pushed you away, the more you pulled me in.”

This wasn’t your intentions, you weren’t expecting to sit there and let him back in, but the more his words sunk into you, slowly, your walls began to break down.

“You have no idea how happy I was to see you open the door.” His voice shook. “I can’t lose you.”

Without realizing, you were both sitting at the edge of your seats, inches away from one another.

The way his eyes glossed over, you could see how much this hurt him, almost as much as it hurt you.

“You didn’t lose me.” You said. “Like it or not, you’re kind of stuck with me. I’m not going anywhere.”

Steve’s lips twitched into a soft smile, feeling as if the weight of the world had dissipated in that moment.

You knew you shouldn’t cave in. Letting him in would give him the power to break your heart all over again and that was the last thing you wanted. But his trance was hard to ignore.

And before you knew it, you felt yourself slowly leaning closer to him, but immediately caught yourself and pulled back.

“Alright, I declare this a stress free zone.” You said before realizing the bottle of whiskey had finished.

Steve ran a hand through his hair. “I’m not sure what that means.”

“It’s time we catch up. Three years is a long time, Captain.”

“Does this mean more drinks?”

You flashed a cheeky grin and propped up to your feet. “Very much so.”

You sprinted down to the kitchen and grabbed a bottle of champagne.

“The wine cellar hasn’t been restocked in years, so we will have to make due with what we got.”

Steve nodded, trying not to smile like an idiot as he watched you from his seat.

Though he was exhausted, and had a million things running through his mind, he couldn’t help but feel at ease with you.

“And maybe we can even play a drinking game!” You exclaimed.

“Oh no.”

“Hey—you don’t even know what the game is yet!” You chuckled.

“Let me guess, you’re about to tell me?”

Your lips curved more at the edges, as you refilled the glasses with the champagne.

“It’s called never have I ever. You say something you haven’t done and if the other person has done it, then—“

“They take a drink.”

“See! You’re a natural.” A soft chuckle escaped you both. “So whoever has had the least drinks after—let’s go five rounds—wins.”

“I don’t know about this...” he drawled out, running his hand through his hair. “You sure you want to go up against me in a drinking game?”

“That sounds like a challenge. And I accept!”

Steve’s brows raised with shock but peaked with interest and decided to give it a shot. “You’re on. So start.”

You hand him his glass while he looked at you expectantly.

“Guess I better make this first question count then.” You pondered your thoughts for just a moment before flashing a cynical smile. “Never have I ever been called Captain.”

Suddenly Steve shook his head, trying to hide the smirk as he took a sip of his drink.

“That’s cheating.”

You shrugged your shoulders. “Your turn.”

“Alright. Never have I ever gone dancing.”

“Wait, seriously? You havent?” You asked, a bit intrigued.

Steve nodded, and sighed as the memory of Peggy filled his thoughts. “No. Unfortunately, I haven’t had the chance.”

Quickly, you took a swig of the champagne. “Guess we will have to change that.”

Tension built from there on. You could feel yourself yearning to touch him, even caught yourself glancing at his lips from time to time.

Didn’t help having alcohol mixed with your feelings. It was beginning to heat things up. And you were felt more confident than before.

“Never have I ever imagined someone in this room naked.” You said.

Steve’s body immediately tensed, as he held your gaze with his. He waited for bluff, hoping you’d break and change the question. But you held it together.

He took a long drink from his glass, not once tearing his eyes away from you. It made your legs clench together as part of you wanted to jump into his lap, in that very instant.

“You never go easy on me, do you?”

As you let out a soft chuckle, you shook your head. “Not a chance.”

“Fine, you want to play dirty, then let’s play dirty.” He smirked. “Never have I ever wanted to kiss someone in this room.”

You swallowed hard, lightly nibbling on your lower lip.

“Well?”

You hide your smile behind a drink, as Steve leaned back in to his seat.

“Don’t look so smug, Captain. We still have one more round.”

He waved for you to go. His smile never faltering.

“Never have I ever dreamt about the two of us hooking up.”

“You really play for keeps. I’m impressed.” He smirked.

Steve locks his eyes with yours, while he takes a sip.

Your mind was hazed with the buzz from the alcohol, you weren’t sure how you were still going. Growing into a giggling mess.

“I still have one more question left.” He muttered. “Never have I ever gone skinny dipping.”

A smile spread across your face. “Ha! That makes both of us.”

“What? You’ve never—“

“Nope. So that means I won!”

He shook his head but didn’t fight it. Instead, he had only one thing on his mind, you. Nothing else mattered in that moment, and he wanted just a few more moments of that peace.

“Thank for this. I really needed it.” His voice was soft.

You gently placed your hand over his. “I’m always here for you. But enough of that, what do I win?”

“Win?” He was taken aback. “I didn’t know we were playing for stakes.”

“It’s the rules. You owe me something, mister. How about a kiss?”

“A kiss? Are you—are you sure about this?” He asked.

“I don’t want you to do anything you don’t want to do. So if that makes you uncomfor—“

He cuts you off with his lips. Closing the distance between you with a longing kiss. You could feel it all the way down to your toes.

It didn’t take long for you to motion back, kissing him with hunger as his hands grasped your waist, pulling you on to his lap.

Everything felt as if it had disappeared and you two were all alone. Wanting nothing more than to take him right there and then.

Steve pulled apart from you, his forehead pressed against you as he tried to catch a breath.

“You don’t make this easy.” He whispered.

Steve furrowed his brows, cupping your face with his calloused hands.

“I love you, Y/N.” He said. “Not a day went by that I didn’t think about you. I even flew out here a few times, ready to knock on your door—but I made sure you were safe. I always made sure you were doing alright.”

If you were sober, you knew you’d never let him off this easy. Instead, you would have him work for your forgiveness. But your mind was clouded and you already caved into him.

“We have tomorrow to talk about everything, but for now, just kiss me again.”

Without another word, Steve pulled you into him once again and held you close as his lips molded into yours.

“You know, if you really wanted to kiss me, you didn’t have to come up with this game.” He teased.

You rolled your eyes at him and chuckled. “And instead of imagining me naked, why don’t you take these clothes off of me?”

And suddenly, you could feel Steve shift under you, as his eyes darkened with desire.

“How about we take this somewhere private?”

[ksjsflower]

16th of July - Jungkook X Reader

part 1

genre: humor, college!au, jungkook! fuckboy au, future smut and angst

words:idk dude

It was at times like this that you wondered whether the whole universe that we live in is just a tiny fraction of something way more powerful. Could it be destiny? If there even was such a thing, you were almost certain it had struck you when you had least expected it to. Thursday, 16th of July, 2016. The day you knew you would remember your whole life and all of your next lives.

The 16th of July 2016, Thursday. You were 19, just graduated from highschool, ready to start college. Oh, were you in for a ride. During your high school years, all you ever thought about was how fun college and moving in with your best friend, Nana, would be. Nana was actually more like a sister to you. You guys met way back when you were 5 at a playground. It was at the moment she stepped on your sand castle and started crying and apologizing you knew you two were gonna become friends.

However, moving in - not so fun actually. Both of you had a mess at home, and of course, your mothers were worried sick about you two 'becoming independent and growing up so fast'. The first day you two arrived at your dorm was chaotic. People were running aroung, bumping into each other like there's no tomorrow, everyone was all up in their business. Until.

'Dude, the guy with curly hair and a leather jacket by the lockers has been staring at you for about 2 minutes now.' Nana whispered to you while you were trying to balance your books for the classes you both got today.

'Uh, what? Where and who and why?' you crinkled your nose when a certainly heavy book pressed your pinky. 'I could use some help over here, stop looking around for boys, its the first day for fuck's sake..' you rolled your eyes.

'Alright, FIRST of all, - she was getting ready for another one of her rants - 'it's kinda hard not to notice when there's quiete a few people over here if you didnt already realize that, that his eyes out of all the people he can look at, only look at you. For t w o minutes. Even three now, cause' I just checked and he is still looking, only now he has a smirk on his face probably because your hair is a mess from holding 20 books and I am talking to you about him not so subtly cause now hes looking at me haha-''

You were so confused as to why she was rambling to you while looking behind you as if something was approaching. Nevertheless, you didnt think much of it. You just thought it was another one of Nana's silly actions, until you felt a hand on your shoulder the same moment Nana abruptly shut her mouth.

You slowly started turning around not expecting the smell that came from behind you to be strong cologne. You hated cologne, so it left you wondering for a second why you actually enjoyed inhaling this particular one.

But when you actually did turn around surprising yourself when you didnt drop any of the books you were holding, you were met with a face of a boy. A rather good looking boy. Man, probably the best looking boy you have seen in the last 10 years. When your pair of eyes met his doe like pair, you were left speechless. Thank God you werent the one who was going to start the talking because as soon as you opened your mouth you were cut off by his own voice.

'Are you guys new here? I saw you going around looking all confused and shit so if you need any help, you can ask me, I dont bite,' - he mused in a rather interesting tone,you couldnt decipher if he was being flirty or if his tone was usually sensual like that. - 'Yeah, I'm sure thats why you were looking,' Nana jumped in very awkwardly and as to prove her point, she added an unpleasant laugh at the end of her statement which made you want to face palm yourself right in front of his face.

'Yes, of course. Now why else would I be looking? I am a well mannered man.' He gave a smile so charming you were sure you would have flown to another dimension right then and there if it werent for all the books you were holding.

He must've noticed your lack of response which is why he took half of the books you were holding to himself. 'There you go.. saw you struggling for a little while. Also, I couldnt help but notice your little friend over her talking about me? Or am I possibly wrong?'

You finally spoke up and mentally congratuated yourself for not stuttering. 'Uh, yeaahh.. you're probably seeing things, we were just trying to find the right classes and stuff..'

'Seeing things? Damn, didnt have to word it like that, makes me feel undesirable,' he gave a breathy laugh while faking being hurt by putting his hands on his chest.

'Oh, I am sure that it does' you answered sarcastically. Cmon, this guy looked like sex on a stick. Feeling undesirable? Certainly not his case.

'See, you get me. I was not mistaken when I thought I felt a connection to you the moment I saw you across the hall,' he gave you a cheeky grin which left you rolling your eyes at the back of your head so hard you were sure they were gonna stay there.

'A connection? Please. And here I was thinking that this was a fuckboy free college.' You sighed dramatically which left Nana bringing her fist to her lips to stiffle her laughs.

He did look a bit taken aback by your response, but nevertheless managed to cover it up with a smirk in a span of 0.02 seconds. 'Arent you a fiery one, huh?' He smiled yet again in his seemingly natural flirty self.

'You havent seen anything yet.'

'Oh, so you're implying that we are going to have more talks in the future?' He smiled at you but his eyes were rather daring.

'You wish. Keep dreaming boy. Theres only one first impression and youve ruined it, so we aint talking any time soon.' - Nana once again let out a wheeze, only this time it was loud and you shut your eyes tightly wanting the ground to open and swallow you.

'Its alright, it doesnt have to be anytime soon, I can wait if its you who Im gonna talk to.' His comment left your cheeks tainted a light shade of pink, but you couldnt let your resolve crumble infront of him. Who did he think he was all confident trying to seduce you without even knowing your name?

'Nah, Im good. You didnt really understand what I meant. We aint talking anytime soon is supposed to mean that we are never talking after this again, kapeesh?' you were stating to get tired but you wanted to continue bickering with the unknown boy for some reason.

'Baby, dont underestimate me. Never is a strong word. - plus.. if we aint gonna talk thats okay we dont have to talk, we can always do other things.' he winked at you after throwing the innuendo right at your face. You scrunched your nose at the pet name but chose to ignore it.

'That was extremely pervy of you saying that to someone you have quiete literally just met. - you paused to flick your hair behind your shoulder. 'you should congratuate yourself, ive never started hating someone as soon as I did with you, you are the first one to accomplish that , you should feel proud, man.'

'I can be a lot of firsts to you, you know. I feel honored to be honest.' he announced proudly for some reason.

'Bold of you to assume you would be my first. Dont underestimate me, baby.' you threw back repeating his exact same words.

Nana was getting ready for the good part when suddenly you cut her fun short. 'Nana, lets go.' you grabbed your books from his hands harshly with one hand and pulled your best friend with the other free hand.

As you two were walking away you ignored Nana's whispers of protest when suddenly a voice was heard from behind you two.

'I'm Jungkook, by the way!' he yelled over a few people passing by.

You stayed quiet and opted for giving him the finger while he was still facing your back. Jungkook did not know why that action pulled the biggest toothy smile on his face, but was certainly glad you didnt get to see it.

'Well... at least he was cute?' Nana added while you two already walked away.

'Yeah. Cute.' you answered emphasizing both words as to let her know you thought he was everything except cute.

Well, college was going to be a lot of fun.

[lanasaved]

cue me, clanking noisily at a nearby manhole as i attempt to scrabble my way bk out of the sewer like the stinky little rat tht i am. enchanté, ghouls! some of u might remember me (nai/from manchester so i pronounce things like a gallagher brother n i’m profusely sry abt it) bt if nt i hd to drop off the face of the Earth rp wise fr a hot minute there bt now im bk n i couldn’t resist reviving lana so???? here we r. u kno the drill more abt her under the cut!!

( cis-female ) haven’t seen LANA JAMESON around in a while. the KRISTINE FROSETH lookalike has been known to be (+) VIVACIOUS & (+) ALLURING, but SHE can also be (-) UNRELIABLE & (-) CARELESS. The 22 year old is a SOPHOMORE majoring in BALLET. I believe they’re living in AUDAX but I popped by earlier and no one answered the door. ( nai. 22. gmt. she/ha/the beast from split. )

some random aesthetics: a red water pistol topped up with caribbean rum and covered in stickers of cartoon pin up girls, a vinyl record whirring silently because you got too distracted by a stranger’s hands to reach over and flip sides, giant inflatable flamingos floating in the aftermath of a pool party, smudgy lipstick kisses left like an autograph on someone else’s mirror

SO i think in terms of explainin where she’s been fr the past month i’m gna say tht she didn’t rly.... tell a lot of ppl??? probably only a select few bt to others im guessin she was pretty vague bc she hates discussin anythin serious/personal. anyway essentially she’s been back @ home helpin her brother out n i won’t elaborate much more bc im a thot

frm this point on ive jst pasted her old intro bc im the laziest woman alive n that’s jst life Babey

she’s local to the ny area i jst havent decided where exactly she grew up tbh. probably somewhere upstate

okay so her mum is an old money socialite / three time campaign model way back when n her dad is a big record label mogul. he owns a label called jameson records n they repped a few rly big rock bands back in the eighties, altho they’re mostly known for ‘poppy injects’ whose lead singer had a big heroin scandal tht brought down his career. lana p much grew up around musicians snorting lines instead of spooning down cereal fr breakfast n her parents were v much absent her whole life

they’re pretty well off obviously n bc of her relation to such a big music industry figure she’s hung out w a fair few relatively high rep ppl thru her teens. she amassed kind of an instagram following mainly fr her style (v penny lane-esque in some aspects aka lots of fur cuff trimmed jackets bt then also jst.... a wild combination of everything honestly. pastel faux fur coats, seventies style platforms, flame red cowboy boots, pastel coloured fishnet tights n glitter used like highlight Everywhere) n bc she’s undeniably very pretty

her parents always kind of jst… didn’t like her. it was v clear that she was an accident after her older brother caleb n that even when they just had him alone they weren’t cut out for parenthood. they always kind of jst… ignored her n hoped she’d go away. she had to mke herself microwave meals when she ws only like 12 bc they’d forget to get her anything. once she went like 6 days without her mum even looking her in the eyes once

despite this tho!!! she’s always been insanely close w her brother caleb. he’s her whole world. thts why when he decided to sign up to the army she ws understandably scared bt supported him regardless. bt then he wound up getting discharged under grounds of severe ptsd when he witnessed his best friend die in an explosion tht took place in a shock raid. caleb returned home n he was never the same n lana kind of felt like he’d died out there too. he’s in n out of hospital a lot n it’s rly hard on her bt she doesn’t tlk abt it to anyone rly

growing up lana was always a huge social butterfly. jst literally…. knew everyone n everyone definitely knew her. she ws one of those girls tht ws kind of impossible to ignore or forget. very animated, always made u feel like u were the centre of the universe whenever she spoke to u, always made it feel like u were best friends even if ud only spoken to her once. she has this magnetic way abt her tht is kind of hard to find in real life. it’s something ud only rly expect out of a movie character

she’s always been insatiably spontaneous n adventurous. always doing something weird n wild every weekend. she has ten thousand stories tht always earn a laugh or a gasp over how ridiculously absurd they r

anyway so after caleb got back he was rly withdrawn n depressed. he shut lana out n was kind of harsh to her a lot of the time, always telling her to leave him alone or pushing her away. it didnt help either tht lana had a rly traumatic experience w some of her dad’s colleagues at the label when she ws 16 n he was away n she cldnt even tell him abt it once he was bk bc of his own traumas. she kind of jst shut it all in n kept it to herself

this obviously?? made her spiral a lot. she was already a girl tht loved sex (she’d only rly done foreplay before tho) but since her trauma it got…. completely out of hand. it got to a point where she couldnt rly go 2 days without it, probably not even 1. her lowest point has probably been scrolling thru craiglist for anonymous encounters n meeting up w strangers on there fr a quick fuck jst for the thrill even tho it’s insanely dangerous n she cld wind up getting herself killed. it’s v clear at this point tht she has a sex addiction whether she’s ever admitted it or not. in fact she’s so… shameless in her endeavours tht she’s actually currently having an affair w her ballet instructor tanya who’s engaged to b married

she also currently? is working as a cam girl. she found this website bc she trawls… porn stuff a lot n she wound up applying to work as one bc she thought it’d b fun n wld earn her some disposal income (even tho she frankly doesn’t need it bc she’s already well off). the guy tht manages all of the girls on the site is kind of suspect n it’s a whole plot i’m gna unravel where it’s actually like the front for a cult or something wild so. stay posted ig. kgjdkgjh

new development!!!!!!!! cue me trottin around doin jazz hands. she’s actually been cut off by her dad so she’s….. living off the money she has left n has to look to find a job which is jst. a nightmare fr someone like lana bc she’s insatiably irresponsible n destined to be fired from anything she tries to hold down bt. it’ll be interesting bc this means she genuinely has to keep on camming even tho she’s starting not to want to any more bc of other circumstances i won’t elaborate on jst yet winks

personality/some fun facts: uncontrollably flirty. boundlessly confident. cld make a joke out a paper bag n her comedy is sometimes surreal / absurd. she tends to laugh when she feels like crying n has a smile brighter than a ray of texas sunshine. always dapples her fingers thru the breeze when she’s driving in a car w the window down. her fav book as a child used to b alice in wonderland n she’d fantasise abt having her own little wonderland too where everyone knew her name n asked her things n took her on adventures. at the time it didn’t rly strike her how evident it was tht that was bc she was so lonely. she almost always has some sort of sweet on her, whether it’s strawberry laces or gummy bears or cherry lollipops. she adores david bowie n prince n madonna n anyone tht’s a vintage style icon w little care fr what ppl think. wildflowers r her favourites bc they’re the brightest and u can’t buy them. she’s had like 8472493874 ‘relationships’ n none of them hav lasted beyond a month / hav been terrible / hav seen her being treated badly / she’s cheated on them. i dnt think she’s actually been w anyone she hasn’t cheated on in some form or another

plot ideas: exes tht lana’s fucked over hideously. she’d probably cheat a lot and it’d be a whole…mess. mayb someone tht flipped the switch and cheated on her? a cousin plot cld b fun too. a friend tht lana fel out w bc she slept w their significant other. someone tht’s getting lana into drugs?? she’s kind of impressionable/down for anything so tht’s a likely scenario she’d get into tbh. an unrequited crush!! (either way is cool). someone tht is just hanging out w her/using her bc she has a lot of instagram followers or they want to b signed to her dad’s label. someone in a band!! she’d probably make like penny lane n b their groupie/sleep w them all fgjkshgkh. umm a good influence too mayb? oh and a past summer romance/fling tht cld either have meant a lot or not have meant anything at all. bonus points if both of them hav a diff viewpoint on it. honestly?? anything is fine i cld ramble for days. let’s get wildt!

[thenixkat]

Animorphs notes: 18

Book 18

Narrated by Aximili

Again I really wish something had come of the andalite traitors thing

Ax’s audience is other andalites

Leera’s like the only planet besides Earth to get an actual name in this joint

Andalites don’t use money

Ax is tryin g to work to get money to buy food

Ax needs to stop dicking around in human morph b;c he’s gonna getsomeone in trouble, possibly killed

This manager is actually a nice person

So Marco caught Ax

They are retelling the event at Cassie’s barn]

They are waiting for news from Erek

So was Ax? Alone at the damn mall? I’ve said it once and I’ll say it again there are rocks smarter than these kids

Erik has hidden chee with him

Of course Tobias fucking spots them all, its not like the chee could make themselves invisible

Hewlett Aldershot the Third, that’s a serious name

Yeerks wanna infest im for reasons and had Iness hit him with a car

Is this the same yeerk infested hospital from an earlier book? I guess boiling a bunch of folks alive and a minor wildlife rampage didn’t do shit.

Marco’s snippy when bored

So, either Visser 3 knows how to morph regular clothes or isn’t hamped by them at all and no one feels the need to mention them ripping through some while morphiong

Yeerks can’t do anything with a comatose host. 

Either the head of the secret service is a lady or the president is

That’s not really how wings work forget it

People have to be seeing this 6 winged bird thing chasing a seagull

Also apparently the kafit is some kinda bird of prey

Ax’s seagull morph has talons apparently

Visser 3 is scared of getting into a tail fight

Visser 3 thinks a teenager can beat him.

They’re right b/c they are shit at fighting

Stand face to face for even more opportunity to injure yerself and give yer opponent a better shot at yer head

Visser 3 nopes out of the fight, breaking a leg in the fall, but morphing human fast

Too much protein keeps Aximili awake

Dinnier at Cassie’s ment a lot for Ax

Ax races around as he wrestles with his thoughts and goes to Tobias to talk about feeliongs

Yeerks infultrating the andalite homeworld was an interesting idea and the writers are cowards

Shut up Cassie

Cassie you liar

If they could aquire from say blood alone, then why don’t they just try acquiring from parts of animals like ever?

Rachel is concerned about blood borne diseases and doesn’t know how most of those are contracted

Ax that sounds like bullshit. 

Ax you just hang with little squeemish bitches

Andalites have weak slow baby hands

How exactly do they plan to acquire blood that they ate as a mosquito? If they eat it it starts to break down from digestion and would be decently degraded by the time they vomit it back up and try to acquire from it.

A random sick kid has seen Ax and now knows his name

More humans have seen Ax

And like what reason with the yeerks have to let witnesses go like? Good job at getting more folks enslaved Ax

Ax thinks about collateral damage for once

...that’s a false surrender. Good job Ax! Not no one on yer side can ever actually surrender! Also a war crime.

Ax jumps out a window and morphs mosquito

That’s still not how compound eyes work

Pop

And now in the imaginary place

Huh, Ax and the animorphs get to see themselves in a 4 dimensional? view

Like tesseracts made of meat

Neat

Why, exactly would Tobias., who is in morph in ya know the shape of a bird not appear as a human jigsaw as well in this place?

They got dragged into Z space by a passing ship

And resqued by an andalite crew

The animorphs and Ax made a scientific breakthrough

.7 Andalite years stuck on Earth

I havent gotten to thhat book on my re read but everything you just said was wrong Ax

So there are multiple pool ships and such

Aximili doesnt actually have to stay with you all

He can fight yeerks where ever he pleases and really kinda needs to see others of his own kind every now and then

That grass probably tastes good as fuck tho after almost a year in Earth grass

Andalites being speciest

“May your great god Cha-Ma-Mib smile on you this day.” religious space frogs

“The continent loomed larger and larger. Most of it was lush and green, primarily jungle. Green like Earth's forests and jungles, but with wide swaths of some brilliant yellow vegetation, too. The northern end of the continent was less fertile, more barren, probably colder.”

Leera

The captian is a traitor

Also it is apparently pretty damn easy to take out andalites if you have even the slightest amount of drop on them

Visser 3 and Visser 4 are friends

That tailless dick fortified and used a weapon

The animorphs decided not to stick around in just listening to orders

Gonna blow the kids out an airlock and hope they survive

None of these fucks think to get in a damn fighter craft or emergency escape and attempt to survive

Just, welp folks we’re fucked time for some suicide!

Also the captain wasn’t even a controller, just willingly on the yeerk’s side

On the one hand Ax did abandon them. On the other the animorphs are not entitled to his service

Also this just isn’t the right time to pick on Ax

This is reallt not the right fucking time, Marco and Rachel are either trying to get themselves or someone else killed with their bullshit

Tobias u fucking chose to live in the woods as a wild animal, Aximili didn’t choose to be marroned on an alien world

You feathery asshole

Tobias vanished

Adi-fuckin-os

The yeerk forces are doing well on ground battle

Ax, the animorphs, the andalites, and the writers have failed ecology

Rachel vanished

The writers just really fucking hate sharks

“The water was perfectly, utterly clear. We were swimming in water that was forty feet deep, and we could see every detail on the ocean floor.

 And what detail! Huge, billowing creatures like white and yellow sails, triangular with biological propellers at each corner. Brilliant, electric-blue worms or snakes, each seventy feet long, swimming in wild schools. A bizarre creature that rose and fell through the water by blowing air into a bladder so thin it was almost transparent. A wonderful sort of fish in the shape of a screw that rotated its way through the water.

 And these creatures weren't scattered here and there, but everywhere. The Leeran ocean was a madhouse of life-forms.

 Spread around across the ocean were bubbling chimneys of rock and soil, encrusted with squirming, writhing creatures, small and less small. My shark senses could feel the electrical discharge from these chimneys, and the intense warmth. As I watched, a massive school of the brilliant blue worms came swirling around one of the chimneys. It swirled and my shark senses could feel the energy flow from the chimney into the worms.”

There would still be fucking predators u nits

“They were mostly yellow. They had skin that was slimy, as if covered with ooze, yet rough in texture, like gravel. They had large, webbed back legs. For arms they had four tentacles arrayed around their plump, barrel-shaped bodies.  The head was quite large, with a bulge at the back. It sat right on the shoulders. There was no neck. The face bulged outward and seemed to have just two features. A huge, wide, almost ridiculous mouth. And big, bulging eyes of a green that seemed almost to be lit from inside.

 There were four Leerans. They were riding on water jets. The water jets were long, narrow tubes, flared in front to make a sort of wing, flared again in back to give extra

maneuverability. Arrayed along the back wing were clusters of very narrow tubes pointed forward.”

Leerans

The crew free some leerans (granted they were going to kill them) b/c the leerans showed them how to get the yeerks out of them

The team morph leerans and are uncomfortable with knowing eachother’s thoughts

Oh what normal space ships arent good enough for crushing ocean pressures now? Gotta have actual submarines?

A lot of these high ranking andalites are quick to yelling and threats of violence aint they

That is a very iffy plan not the least being the yeerks with their mostly terrestrial shock troops would have likely set up camp there anyway it seems. But if u wanna throw away lives who cares

Marco vanished

Talking to scientists and shit

Actually Jake, if all of you vanish b4 u carry out the mission it will be too late for a back up

A world with no predators my ass

Cassie vanishes

Ah, so yeah bats aint flying with torn to shit wings. They’s ded

Jake vanished

How exactly did the andalites get the shit in there in the first place?

Hah, the hork hosts have rocket boosters

Aximili is saved by vanishing

So why were they snapped back in mosquito morph and not just flund full force back into their real bodies

And why snap them all back to the same moment and not staggared into different moments in time

How the fuck did this man feel a damn mosquito bite? A notible aspect of mosquitoes as that we don’t really feel them biting

Genral yeerk panicking over management

End with scene at mall

[domestic-sheith-zine]

you dont have to answer this cuz i get its not a great look or whatever but your preorders have been open for what? 10 days? and now your telling us theres a cover we havent even seen yet? no stretch goal info? i get yall are busy but maybe you should have waited till you were ready before opening your store. fix it zine looks like they got their shit together and now they're open so idk why should i spend on you v them

Hey, Mod Lyss here.

First of all, I wanted to apologize because you’re not… entirely wrong. However, most of that falls solely on myself and no one else (I’ll explain below). Please don’t take my mistakes and ruin it for all of our other contributors and the other mods. They are all absolutely wonderful, and the art and fic in this zine is amazing and definitely worth your money. We’ll be releasing the cover info here in a few minutes as well, with the artist and writer previews coming later this week. Thank you all for being so patient with us during this process, and I cannot wait to share everything else!!

Now for the explanation:

When I first offered to step up and take over as graphics mod after the GG fiasco early on, I was not aware at the time just how crazy the last half of my spring semester would be. When I wasn’t in class, I was working on my design homework, working, or catching what sleep I could, as well as modding for this zine– answering questions, working on earlier graphics, and trying to fit my own piece into my hectic schedule. I also hadn’t planned to take any summer classes at that time.

Due to my busyness with finals and work (I work over 40 hours a week), and then jumping almost immediately into my first summer class, I hadn’t really had time to work on any of the graphics thus far, and was scrambling to put something together even as we pushed preorders back. Because we had already pushed them back, we decided to open them and release info as preorders went, to keep interest in the zine. I do understand this isn’t part of the norm, but I was also planning to at the very least have the cover done much sooner, as well as the stretch goal graphics, as you said. If we had waited until I had free time to get everything together and ready for preorders, I don’t know that I can honestly say that they would have been open yet as of today, which again, falls solely on myself. And like I said, I originally hadn’t thought that I would be taking a summer class, which would have given me that necessary free time to get things done.

However, our stretch goals have now been released. I will post the cover after sharing this post. @avi-doodles and @oootsuhian were a huge help in the cover design, and I really think you guys are going to love this one. Artist and writer previews will be coming within the next week, and preorders have already been pushed back and extended.

Additionally, a while back, Mod Nern ( @disastergayshirogane ) was made a part of our team to help with production. She has helped with the production on numerous zines, and is helping us to make sure that everything runs smoothly. Everything will be finished, produced, and go out as planned.

I hope you can forgive me and the lateness of…everything. Once again, please don’t take my mistakes out on everyone else.

Sincerely,

Mod @lyssartandstars

[stuclyblrs]

hi, would you have any tips on getting started with chinese? i would love to have a tutor and i think that would be the best way of learning but im completely broke, so which other ways would be good? i know its super difficult and im a complete beginner so i have no idea about pronunciation or symbols or anything so i need a good place to start. Thanks!

你好! so sorry about the late reply!! i started studying chinese with classes at uni so im not 100% the best person to ask about self-studying but i’ll do my best !!!

first learn pinyin and tones

pinyin actually isnt as hard as it seems tbh tones on the other hand are something i struggle a lot with even after a semester of college level chinese so dedicate a lot of time to this !! i recommend this playlist by yoyo chinese/yangyang chen. the first several videos cover tones which is followed by pinyin itself. i also recommend this video by her as more pinyin review (its very lengthy so i recommend watching it in chunks) and this video by her for tone practice. she also has a pinyin chart which is soooooo helpful! it has audio recordings of each syllable w/ the 4 tones + quick videos for the harder syllables (strongly recommend her youtube channel in general)

writing/learning characters

this basically comes down to practice practice practice !!! when ever you learn a new character look up the stroke order and only write it that way. it will make your characters look nicer and if you write the same way every time you’ll build muscle memory making it much easier to remember (writing characters that you’ve studied will come naturally this way) i use this website to look up stroke order for each character (you can look up the rules for stroke order but tbh i dont understand them so i just look up for each character). i suggest learning the 40 most common radicals first. understanding these will make learning meanings of new characters easier.

in terms of actually practicing i strongly do not recommend flashcards. i think flashcards are great for vocab in any other language but not chinese. they’ll help you recognize characters and associate them with meaning and pronunciation but when you go to write you’ll blank out (if you only look at the pinyin/meaning side and write the characters i think they’re okay but its kind of a lot of work) when i learn new words, i would write out about two lines worth of the character over and over again (i usually used printer paper rather than lined cause some characters are big and its kind of a squeeze - many people use hanzi grids to write). once i did that for every character in the lesson, i would write out the dialogue once or twice. after this i would look at the pinyin for the dialogue (covering the characters) and write it out again a few times until i made sure that i remembered every character. i like doing this because it ensure that i actually know the character and then im learning it in context rather than just knowing meaning. i also then look at the dialogue and write the whole thing in pinyin (covering the pinyin and looking at the characters) just to make sure i remember that too!

textbooks

for self studying i think getting a textbook and following it is one of the best ways to learn. it will have vocab and grammar that goes with it and will allow you to stick to a more precise learning schedule rather than getting lost on what you should study and what order to learn things. there are a lot of different books so i would look at ones that interest you and read reviews/watch video reviews on youtube to determine which is the best to use

the only textbook ive used is integrated chinese since thats what we used in class and i believe its a very popular one to use but i havent used anything else so i dont have anything to compare it to. there is a pdf of the third version here (dont think there are major differences between the third and fourth tho) i have seen people say that its not super good w/out a teacher but idk :// i feel like how my professor taught class wasnt completely based on the book - more her taking the vocab/grammar in each lesson and then making her own explanations/lessons based on that

other textbooks that i have pdfs on (have never used so cant give opinion on)

modern mandarin chinese grammar and a workbook (original post)

folder with a lot of stuff (original post)

another folder with a lot of books (original post)

helpful apps

pleco - dictionary app that includes simplified and traditional, example sentences and audio recordings of the words

hellotalk - im using this for korean rn and have had a general positive experience with it ! you can talk to native speakers learning english w/ the chat function and post “moments” publicly for others to correct. its super easy to correct sentences w/in the app (some people have had issues w/ this app in terms of people only contacting them to try and date but i havent encountered that yet) i used the moments feature a lot to post scripts and other writings for class so someone can look over it before i handed it in :^)

chineseskill - i actually havent used this yet but pretty much every chinese langblr recommends it! chinese duolingo essentially

other

some various other things that might be helpful for studying !

if ur interested my general tag for chinese, vocab, and grammar

favorite blogs @liu-anhuaming and @langblog

making a langblr/studyblr !! its fun, theres lots of resources, vocab lists, other people learning on here and making ur own posts is helpful in seeing where you lack some understanding about certain topics and for learning new vocab 

listen to music and watch tv shows/movies! its good for listening practice and lets you learn more in context

reading practice site - has different levels, you can hover over words for instant translation, and there is an explanation of more complex grammar

masterposts that i like (x) (x)

i hope this is helpful and if you have any more questions please feel free to message me again. good luck with your studies 加油！

[analyticseer]

“Read my future, give me all that future juice human troll Nostradamus”

(( @waspmaninc ))

Psiioniic:

> Time: unknown

> Day: Huh?

>  Command: Oh my god how long have you been in here.

Your name is [PSIIONIIC], or at least that's what you like to be called. Other types or naming are not on your suit. Regardless of this detour you seem to have found yourself out of your room for the first time in the last 3 days. How this was done makes no sense to anyone but you. You rush to the kitchen trying to get some damn sustenance, still on shorts and simple shirt. You might be a 200+ year old troll but you will be dammed if you are ever gonna dress like one. Now where is the milk. You enter the kitchen to scavenge for food.

Rose Lalonde: When he enters kitchen, someone else was sitting at the table quietly and looking at cards on it upright, thinking something. You [Rose Lalonde] had came to kitchen to drink some tea a few minutes earlier and brought your tarot deck along. However, your attention shifts from cards to new face you haven't seen yet. You look at Psiionic for a moment before smiling a little amused. "Seems like fate did bring something new today for me to face up. Literally."

Psiioniic: "Oh hey!" You are quick to say hello, no shame that she is gonna see you have cereal at ???? PM or AM huh.  Whatever. You serve your cereal and milk with your psionics while you speak. "Name is Psii, haven't seen your face before, are you news or came from a trip new?" You joke but its more common that one thinks. He is on that boat. Not that anyone needs to know that.

Rose Lalonde: You follow how he is using these telekinetic powers while also speaking. It's really amazing how some are able to actually use this kind of powers and are even born with these skills. "Nice to meet you Psii. I'm Rose and it's been only a short time since I returned from my business trip back to here" you tell him, while collecting cards from table back to deck to began shuffling it again. "You don't sound like a new member, but I haven't met you while I have been here. Have you also been on trip or doing something in the shadows?"

Psiioniic: "Long story short I was here a long time ago, then I left and then I came back but it wasn't no business trip. But lets leave it at that, Nice to meet you Rose." Cereal served, you bring the spoon with a small psionic burst and grab it mid air with your hand just so you can start eating. You look at the cards, you might have seen some of it in earth. Might. Big Might. Squint. Or not. You don't remember, your memory is awful. "What are those?" Nom nom nom. You sure love hyper illegal cereal boxes. Lucky charms weren't invented in the 20s. You go to her table and basically sit across of her, curiosity first. Those are pretty pictures.

Rose Lalonde: Ah, it's been a while since someone has asked that question. That makes you smile gently. "Tarot cards. With these people can foresee the future or seek answers for questions on mind. These are quite common at Earth but not that popular or know among the masses." Splitting a deck for four different sets and then shuffling them again to mix them really good, you watch Psii's eyes a little mysteriously. "I could use some practise so... Wanna try?~"

Psiioniic: You think for a bit, hand on your face, have you seen this? Yes, maybe but not up and close. You have never been one close to the mythical. "Sure." you reply happily, tone of voice picks up at the end of the word. And you continue to eat your cereal. "Read my future, give me all that future juice human troll Nostradamus"

Rose Lalonde: Okay, that actually made you chuckle a little more amused than you had expected from yourself. You make a mental note to ask later some things from Psii, but now you are focusing to your mission. "Very well then. I shall see what your future holds." With that you smoothly shuffle few more times your deck, before spreading cards very neatly on table. "To make sure this works, you need to choose three cards. One for the past, one for current time and then the future" you explain and hold your relaxed open hand towards the cards.

Psiioniic: That's where you smile big. "Do I?" You leave the bowl of cereal to the side and focus on the cards and then cover your eyes with one. "Lets go blind into the future." And that's how you pick three in order.

Rose Lalonde: One by one cards are chosen and you smile calmly while also guiding Psii how to set those cards on table right way. With that, they are ready go. "Excelent work. Now, let's begin with your past." The first card seems to be upright and after you flip it over, it's revealed to be a small carapacian in dark room with light source, surrounded by many cans. Your facial expression is now entirely focused on cards and smile gone, when you lightly touch your chin with your free hand's fingers. "Interesting choice of cards..."

Psiioniic: "Good or bad"you laugh a little bit but you are a tad worried. Looking at the card doesnt make it any easier. Hmmm. You are already hesitating. Your past is a mess you know that.

Rose Lalonde: You look a few more seconds this card, until you start speaking with no rush and articulate very clearly. "It depends, but on this case it tells me a tale about a man, who had inventor's spark and seeked for acceptance from his community. He believed for hard work and improvement. It is a window to the past where he had a lot hard time to be accepted and seen as an equal, maybe even an important part of his own community."

Psiioniic: "Old man consequences..." That is him. No doubt. If there is anyone to define your past... Its him. Oh Signless. Except a tad of you when you first  landed with the Crew. "Neato bonito. " CRONCH You are back to eat cereal. "Whats next?"

Rose Lalonde: "As you wish. Let's move on to your current situation" and with this you leave the card on it's place and hover your hand a little moment on the middle card which seems to be reversed. You wonder what card it might be. Well, only one way to find out the answer so you flip it over gently. This card also has two carapaces but there's also third person, who seems to be some other kind of alien with white and green clothes, standing between two black carapaces. You raise your gaze and watch Psii with thoughtful eyes. "Hmm... This card brings me a question. Is your work going alright currently?"

Psiioniic: You really don't like to think about your past and you are relieved when it moves into another topic. However that question makes you stop mid biting, which produces a very hard swallow. OUCH.  You are fine, you're fine. You take a second. "My work? hah, WELL I mean, a bit, my work for this organization hasn't started I'm still building the thing, I talked to Sollux and Deuce is all smooth I think. I havent gotten into a fight with nobody since Baron, haha." fuck Baron.

Rose Lalonde: Mental note, if Psii is trying to hide his nervousness he's having a hard time doing so. Also you maybe need to remember name Baron. It might be something to pop out in the future so just in case you also mentally note this detail. "It's okay. It takes time to adjust back, but this card is about facing up challenges, especially something that fits best to the one who picks up this specific card. It means you have already taken actions to proceed and you are in a good pace to accomplish your mission" you explain and for a moment you let your gaze slide back to this card from Psii's eyes. "Because it's upright, you have nothing to worry about too much right now, but if this had been reversed, it would been a sign of being stuck and having ideas or ambitious that just wouldn't work or spark your inner light to work things out."

Psiioniic: You don't look away. You aren't afraid of a bit of scrutiny. Your black and white eyes, almost pupiless meet hers. She is so young and so old. And yet, even then, way younger than you. You mentally decide that this means good fortune for your computer and your overseer set up. The computer you are working on right now and maybe even the faster internet servers for the Crew down the line. You look a little happier. "That's some spicy meatballs that you got. Now that I think about it, I should get some of that." Then you break attention to look at the cards. NOM NOM NOM. NOM.  sLuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuUUUUUUUURp. And no more cereal. "And the future, is it void?" Another joke. To cover up a serious question.

Rose Lalonde: Gentle smile cames back to your face when Psiioniic is looking at you. There's something in his eyes that tell you about something deep and meaningful, but something that is also hidden in his very charming way to cover perhaps some negative feelings. Was it his way to cover something up or be genuine, his cheerful words and jokes are the reason you can't let down your small smirk. "Well, the future is full of mysteries and possibilities. Let's see what this card can tell us about yours." Without waiting that much longer, you flip the last upright card and smile a little bit more, when you see a gentle looking spirit having it's limbs covering protectively this human in peaceful looking natural environment.

Psiioniic: "Oh that's some morail shit right there." You're genuine, but to pick everything up about you, you need to get pass 22 emotional proxis. Regardless of that you tilt your head a little. And  float the spoon and bowl over to the  sink, you are washing that later.  There is extra sparks that fly around, the do nothing, but it seems like an extra bit of loose energy. "What does this one mean, friendship? Family? Good things right?"

Rose Lalonde: If you could have some magical light sparkles fly around your shop you would pay for that good money. ... Okay, maybe not because you can't just throw your money at anything, but the thought about it is very nice and aesthetic for sure. Anyway, this card is indeed a good card and you raise this card from table, holding it a little closer for you to see it. "You are on a right path. This card is indeed a very positively reserved and means your future is looking bright. You have found a place that will offer you stability and time to clear your thoughts. There will be people who help you and you will get advices when you need them, if you remember to keep your heart open for world." Raising your eyes you look at Psiionic with encouraging smile.

Psiioniic: "Nice! Pretty neat that, guess I did get lucky." Ahaha, good things come to those who try. Fortune favors the bold. "This was pretty cool, We should do this more often, or not, I have no idea how much does this work" At all. Its almost a card game to you.

Rose Lalonde: You chuckle playfully when you start collecting cards again back together. "I get a feeling that you are very smart Psii. I believe you already know the answer to your thoughts without hearing me" you say in calm but confident manner while still smiling, like a innocent human child with nothing to hide. "But if you want, we can do this again and chat some more. In the end we are in same hideout so our paths will cross again sooner or later."

Psiioniic: Heh heh heh. Clever. You can appreciate that. "When it comes it will come." You get up. "It will be more usual, I'm normally so hidey, but work is work." you streeeeeeech your arms and legs. "I'll be seeing you around Rose!" And you rush out back to your room. She was nice.

Rose Lalonde: With this unexpected encounter, you watch how Psii leaves kitchen, waving your hand a little bit for him. Seems like the crew has some interesting new people to meet and greet. ... Oh, your tea is cold now.  You entirely forgot you had a warm cup of tea and now it's not going to warm up you anymore. Oh well, that's not new thing to happen for you. Just a new cup of tea and you can continue playing with your pretty tarot cards in a peaceful kitchen alone.

- - - End - - -

[curly-q-reviews]

FLIX FROM THE NET

Bird Box, 2018 (dir. Susanne Bier)

SPOILER WARNING THERE WILL BE SPOILERS DONT READ IF U HAVENT SEEN IT YET AND WANT TO

[TW: SUICIDE, MURDER, VIOLENCE, BLOOD, GORE]

well fuck its been a while!!  happy new year y’all hope u had a Fun and Safe time!!!  i for one was at a party where we started playing Shrek at exactly 10:39 PM to see if Smash Mouth’s hit song I’m a Believer started playing right at midnight and to my utter disbelief and elation it did!!!  move over times square ball drop a new arbitrary way of celebrating the start of a new calendar year is here and it involves a large green monster with a scottish accent who really loves his onions (#me am i right ladies)

WELL ANYWAY heres a fun new series ive been thinking of starting cause ya girl watches a lot of netflix movies and has many opinions about them.  i think i’ll do a separate post about the whole Netflix Original Film trend in general and how its changed the film industry at a later date but since i just watched the above movie not too long ago i wanted to get all my thoughts out there right fuckin now!!

netflix is without a doubt the OG king of streaming services, they were really the first to get the ball rolling and then dozens of other companies scrambled to latch onto this money train while it was rolling on the tracks full steam (or should i say.... stream EL;KGHS;EKFSH; please end me) ahead.  it started out as a rental subscription service where u could pick out three movies at a time to rent and then they were sent to u in the mail (like blockbuster but now you never have to leave your house ever again to get that sweet sweet rental content).  and then the decision was made to actually start online streaming, no physical DVD’s required!  ISNT TECHNOLOGY GREAT

well whoooo boy this shit swept the nation, people couldnt get enough of such a convenient and relatively affordable service and netflix started really raking in the dough.  and at some point they got rich enough to say “hey fuck it!!!  lets make our own movies baby!!!!”  and here we are now with Netflix Original Movies and TV Shows, which means a new player has entered the movie game in a very novel and innovative way.  why pay money for a movie ticket and leave your house to go to a theater when cool new movies are being released on a subscription service u already own to watch movies you already know and enjoy?  and then u can sit butt-ass naked in ur bedroom alone stuffing ur face with cheese puffs like an insatiable cheddar beast and see something new and fun and interesting

ok so.  Bird Box.  here we have a movie based off of a book (so i guess this also counts as a Book Movies review but I DIGRESS) starring hollywood powerhouse sandra bullock, featuring Supreme Lesbian Overlord Sarah Paulson and Resident Crazy Old Man John Malkovich, directed by a relatively unknown but competent female filmmaker Susanne Bier (who also directed Things We Lost in the Fire in 2007, a moving drama starring Halle Berry).  this one definitely has a lot of proimse compared to what netflix has offered so far in terms of their original movies (im gonna get into Dumplin’ at a later date cause jesus christ what a mess) and i went in with pretty high expectations

did it deliver???  well uuhhhh yeah sort of i guess!!  we got some pretty strong performances from our leading lady bullock who really does deliver it every time, a few strong supporting roles like newcomer Trevante Rhodes of Moonlight fame (his energy on screen is just so compelling and soothing), not overly obnoxious child actors which is really all u can ask for, and overall a solid story. 

now heres where i gotta say that i couldnt help comparing this film to another movie of its kind, directed by the notorious M. Night Shyamalan.  y’all remember The Happening?  cause i remember The Happening.  i remember that it was total shit and that the twist was that it was the fucking plants making everyone kill themselves.  the PLANTS.  and i also remember mark wahlbergs dumb-ass confused face that he used in every single shot no matter the context, im AMAZED i remember zoe deschanel in this movie cause she may as well have been one of the killer plants with how little she emoted, and i remember mark wahlberg yelling at a fake office ficus and apparently i was supposed to be scared while watching this clusterfuck. 

the way that this movie was described to me by friends who had seen it before me was basically that Bird Box is a slightly better The Happening, and no truer words have ever been spoken.  we basically have the same premise going on here:  unknown force is causing people to off themselves, our lead(s) have to try and find a way to escape this unknown force without even knowing what it really is, and theres some sort of “sanctuary” they gotta try and get to (which is a common plot point in really all apocalyptic and post-apocalyptic films).  now whereas The Happening’s rules for this scenario make entirely no fucking sense (how in the fuck are u supposed to be able to out-run WIND???), Bird Box has some rules for dealing with this Unknown Thing that make slightly more sense.  when u open ur eyes while outside, the chance of the Thing making u kill urself in some horrific way is extremely high, so wear a blindfold when ur outside and keep all windows covered when ur inside.  makes sense!  thats something i can believe and get behind which makes me more immersed in the story!

unfortunately like The Happening there are still some little things that kinda dont make much sense and take u out of it.  apparently some people when they see this unknown entity dont wanna die, but instead find it absolutely beautiful, which makes them want to make everyone else look at it to see how beautiful it is.  and its insinuated that these people are mentally ill or have some sort of psychiatric issue.  i get that this adds more stakes to the situation and ups the ante, but it doesnt really sit well with me that once again, mentally ill people are the villains in a horror-type story.  and i also dont really understand why theyd then wanna go around and make other people see the thing??  unless the thing has them in a mind-control state or something and is making them do its bidding but that seems kind of a weird thing for an all-powerful evil formless entity to do. 

and that leads me to the next issue i have with Bird Box.  if ur gonna have an apocalyptic scenario where people do something as serious as kill themselves due to an unknown cause, it almost seems a little cliche and cheesy to have it be some sort of mythical celestial god-like or demon-like entity thats doing the damage.  i actually really liked where The Happening was going with its source of all the chaos being something naturally made, like the Earth deploying some sort of self-preservation mechanism or something.  the idea of that to me is actually loads more frightening than some invisible boogeyman that u cant look at.  and then Shamalamadingdong had to go and make it stupid by saying that it was fucking plants trying to kill people by releasing pheromones or some shit.  like why cant we have the best of both of these??  something naturally-occuring that maybe has even happened before in the planets history (maybe it wasnt a meteor that killed off the dinosaurs after all??), that isnt FUCKING PLANTS, and that doesnt do cheesy shit like make ur eyes turn grey and bloodshot and like whisper to u telling u to take ur blindfold off (i swear that happens multiple times it was pretty silly)

thats another thing, this movie’s tone is all over the place.  there are some moments where a more light-hearted tone is needed to break up the tension, for sure, but it almost as if the writing and dialogue werent really taking this serious of a story as seriously as they should have.  weirdly placed jokes are all over the place, there were some moments where the dialogue made me cringe cause it was so awkward.  bullock’s character gets to have some good breakdown moments which help bring the tone to the level of somberness and despair it should be at, but all the other supporting characters dont really get the same space to process whats happening to them, so it kinda comes off like they arent really affected by, say, their wife throwing herself into a burning car right in front of their very eyes. 

overall i’d still say this is a worthwhile watch, especially considering its a netflix movie.  if you’ve ever wanted to see a not-as-horrible version of The Happening that has some deeper metaphorical stuff going on about motherhood and family and shit than this is for you.  the production value is overall pretty solid (though when it comes to cinematography i actually prefer The Happening from an artistic standpoint) and sandra bullock knocks it out of the park.  go check it out if this seems like something thats up ur alley!!

ok bye for now hopefully it doesnt take me six months to write another review but we’ll see!!  my brain is a mystery and time is an illusion HAPPY 20-BI-TEEN Y’ALL