#making a ''''legitimate'''' living. working for a guy who he despises and who treats him like a trophy

[fauvester]

clays 11.. a professional robber organizes a ragtag team of thiefs to steal a fortune and his ex-fed ex-husband from his frenemy casino magnate martin van buren

[fluorescencefuture]

Homestuck^2: How I’d write the Omega Kids (and the Candy timeline villains)

I haven't reread Homestuck nor the epilogues in a while so correct me if I'm wrong with anything here. This was all in one go, too, so I probably missed something here or there. I'm also not a native English speaker so pardon some grammar errors.

In General

I’d give them a five-letter name scheme. Names of a group being the same length was a big deal in original HS (human first names had four letters, troll names had six, Ancestors had eight-letter titles, Cherubs had eight letters too, etc.), so it’s odd seeing this new group have names of varying length

I’d also give them all shirt symbols. It’s odd that something so iconic to Homestuck isn’t present in the new kids, either.

I'll write for both the canon post-canon with evil Jane and for my own version with different villains. Evil Jane happens because a highblood troll who hears of the old ways of Alternia attempts to kill her and take her crown, as she's technically the heiress. Jane wins, but she starts to see trolls and Alternian culture in a different light from then on. At first she was only trying to prevent the worst parts of Alternian culture from coming back, but over time grew to despise trolls, and ended up trying to force human culture onto Alternians.

The other Candy villains are a dangerous terrorist rebel group that wants to overthrow the creators and destroy them. They say the creators made the people, abandoned the people for years, then suddenly came back and decided they control the people. The group is made of humans, trolls, carapacians, and even consorts. The mysterious shadowed leader claims to be doing this for the people, but really, all they want is to have control for themselves, and they don't care if any innocents get in the way.

Harry Anderson

Has nothing to fix, he’s perfect as is

Okay but seriously, the guy is the kid with the least questionable things around him. He has no baggage from sharing the same name as an established character (ICP Harry Anderson doesn’t count), and he didn’t come from infidelity.

He also has actual color to his personality. He likes musicals and sewing. He has a good relationship with his dad. Like many kids with divorced parents, he wishes his parents were together again. What do the others have? Vrissy is just a slightly less aggressive Vriska. Tavros is just OG Tavros and Jake combined. Yiffy’s thing is being a dog girl named Yiffany Longstocking. The others could be fleshed out eventually, but with the slow pace and meandering plot we have right now, I doubt it.

If Jane's the villain, things would mostly go the same way. If Jane isn't the villain, it goes two ways: he decides to join Vrissy's guerilla anti-anti-creator group and fight because he wants to protect his parents, or he's just very anti-conflict and avoids the fight because he doesn't think he's up to it. He's frequently threatened but doesn't tell his parents about the threats. Eventually, he gets convinced to join and fight.

Vrissy

So Vrissy’s in relationships with guys who are technically her cousins. At first I was like “well, they’re not biologically related nor were they raised as family so it’s not weird”. But then Tavros called Kanaya “Aunt Kanaya” and now I’m thinking “oh god, that’s really weird”.

Now she’s just a troll girl from school. She's just close to Kanaya and Rose, but isn’t their kid. She isn’t related to anyone. Anyone except Vriska, who she was named after. Vrissy’s new nickname is just Vriss.

Alternatively, her name is something completely different. Honestly, it just seemed like a way to shoehorn in a Vriska for the story. Only for actual Vriska to come back anyway.

Uhh, Eshtha (from Jyeshtha, a Hindu nakshatra Scorpius is associated with)? Oriona (from Orion, the myth where Scorpius is mostly attributed to)? Naiaka (from Manaiakalani, as Hawaiians saw Scorpius as the demigod Maui’s fishhook)? Oh wait, I’ll have to make nicknames for those names too. Uh, Eshty, Riona, and Naiah.

Maybe have her have a personality that’s rather opposite to Vriska’s than have her as Vriska 2. She's more a perky goth, more cheerful and sweet. More "I knew you could do it!" than "So you can do something after all." A beast in battle, of course. She doesn't like to use her mind control powers, because she finds them disturbing.

If Vriska had to come back, the conflict would come from their conflicting personalities. Vriska would pretty much act the same way she did to (Vriska), but this time, Vriss doesn't take any of it and stands her ground.

Whether the villain is Jane or not, she's the one who decides to fight back, and she gets her friends and others to join her. The creators have been nothing but good to her, and she cares about them a lot, especially Rose and Kanaya. Not to mention they're also her friends' parents.

Tavros

Yeah, we’re gonna have to rename that kid. It never made sense to me why Jake and Jane named their kid after some guy they don’t know that well. I don’t remember everything from the Epilogues, but I’ll assume the reason was Gamzee or something. Also weird that Jane, who’s supposed to be racist to trolls, would just...let her kid be named after one.

Something old-ish would work. Flynn? Silas? Avery? Clyde? Niles? Louie?

He's moirails with this Vriss instead of kismeses. The Vrissy/Tavros kismesis also felt like re-hashing the kismesis that Vriska and OG Tavros kinda had.

If we went post-canon villain Jane, he'd be reluctant to join the rebellion and is more of a pacifist who would rather try to talk his mom out of it.

Alternatively, Jane and Jake are separated (but not divorced) and he lives with Jake. Because Jane was never terrible to him and Jake doesn't tell him how bad she's gotten, he disagrees with her but still tries to justify and rationalize that Jane's really doing it from a place of good intentions.

If the villain isn't Jane, then Jane and Jake have been hiding him away, and his friends can only see him when they visit him at his swanky home. You might say he's...housetrapped. He joins because his friends are in it, and doesn't quite grasp how serious things are until the rebels try to kill Jane (the rebels try to kill Jane first because you always kill the healer first).

He's in contact with a mysterious guide who's kinda spacy and a little terrifying at times. His friends think the guide might just be some creepy predator. It's revealed to be Candy Gamzee, out of the fridge and legitimately harmless, but untraceable and doing mysterious things behind the black. Again.

Come to think of it, Dirk's missing too...

Yiffany Longstocking

Yiffy is now the ectokid of Dave and Jade. She looks more like a DaveJade kid than JadeRose, really. Dave and Jade are also either happily married or coming close to an amicable divorce. Yeah, the toxic shit Jade did and the erasure of Dave's bisexuality also don't exist here. Jade, Dave, Karkat, and Terezi are backing Vrissy's anti-anti-creator group.

Her new name is something unisex. Riley? Logan? Robin? Sloan? Salem?

She spends a lot of time outside doing sports and doesn't talk much. She's not very close to the other three kids, but she's surprisingly pretty close to her Aunt Rose.

While Jade and Dave are out on a mission for Karkat (this is the mission Candy Dave dies), she gets kidnapped by the opposing force (Jane/the terrorists). She gets a shock collar forced on her, then is hidden away in a Boarding School for Inconvenient Girls, enrolled under the name "Yiffany Longstocking". Jade comes home to find that her family's been taken from her. Again.

Yiffy almost escapes, but she gets knocked out and taken back to base, where they lock her in a cage and treat her like a dog. She's still defiant to the end.

If Jane's the villain, Jake is inspired by Yiffy's defiance, grows some balls, exposes Yiffy's treatment to the press, and sets her free. She beats up the guards trying to stop her. Jake gets surrounded by more guards. In response, he pulls out his pistols and a one-liner, and bam, cliffhanger.

If it's the terrorist group, Terezi picks up on Yiffy's scent when they're in a base, and she's saved by the other three kids, where she immediately turns around and beats the crap out of the guards. They become proper friends from there.

The reunion panel still happens and this time it's her reuniting with her loving mother and aunt instead of...y'know.

BONUS: Sadstuck

Harry gets his own “im not a hero” speech after trying and “failing” to be the hero that John was

Vriss is eventually forced to use her mind control powers. It’s either a “Katara using bloodbending" situation, or she forces her friends to leave her behind when they want to stick by her.

Tavros finally witnesses his mother’s true nature when Jake defeats all the guards, but is stabbed from behind by Jane and killed. In the other version, it seems Jane is finally safe and able to come home to her son. Then she’s killed right in front of him.

After the big hug with Jade and Rose, Yiffy pulls away. She smiles, looks around behind them, and asks “Where’s Dad?”

So, please tell me what you think!

[thevindicativevordan]

Terra-Man

I created a section for Superman Rogues in my Superman masterpost so I feel obligated to actually write about a character for there. But I don’t really want to dive into the nuances of Lex or any of the big guns just yet, so how about we talk about a guy most people don’t even know exists?

Terra-Man friends! The Pre-Crisis version was created by Cary Bates, Curt Swan, and Dick Dillin. Based on Clint Eastwood’s “Man with No Name”, he was a child of the old American Wild West, with his father killed by an alien. Young Tobias Manning was then adopted by said alien out of guilt. The alien took Tobias with him out into the cosmos, trained him, and crafted high tech weaponry for him that resembled weapons used by 19th century cowboys. He was also gifted with slowed aging that gave him nigh-immortality. Tobias killed his alien guardian and struck out on his own as an interstellar criminal, taking the name “Terra-Man” to homage his Earth roots. His Pre-Crisis fights with Superman varied between him being treated as a bizarre gag villain and a deadly serious threat.

Spoilers: The guy who ages up Superman is Tobias. He actually comes across as a legitimate threat in the story, using preptime to outwit Clark repeatedly:

And it was the first time I had read a story with Terra-Man in it that made me go “this guy could be a legitimate threat”. Of course Bates had more creativity in his pinkie than a lot of creators produce in their entire careers, and the Post-Crisis revamp of Terra-Man really sucked:

They got rid of his cowboy hat (a creative felony if I ever saw one), and revamped him as a businessman who had a crisis of conscience over the environmental damage he was causing, and thus set out on a crusade to protect the environment. They kept the high tech weaponry, and gave a lot of it an ecological spin, he had gadgets that allowed him to drain Superman’s solar levels to make him susceptible to weaponry, but the background motivation has aged poorly. Given the current environmental state of the world, more people would probably cheer this version of Tobias on as a hero (just look at Green Arrow or the Poison Ivy fans!) than want to see Superman beat him up. Also he still talked like an old school cowboy for some bizarre reason? Or maybe that was just how writers thought every Texan talked.

Anyway he ended up getting ripped in half by Black Adam and basically has been gone ever since as far as I’m aware:

 So he’s been absent for two whole reboots now, New 52 & Rebirth, so I feel entitled to give my idea for how to make him work as a Superman Rogue. First up: his design. None of the ones I posted above really worked for me, none of them look “cool”, and if Venom and Carnage have taught us anything it’s that 90% of why some villains stick around is that they look cool. The Pre-Crisis one is too plain looking, he looks generic, the Post-Crisis look lacks a hat and the cowboy theme and is thus unacceptable. Luckily there’s already two very cool looking sources to draw on for a new design:

Guy front and center is Terra-Man from the Legion of Superheroes cartoon, and my first introduction to the character. His backstory was heavily modified for the show, but he was a stone cold badass, forcing Imperiex and Superman X to team up to beat him. Think Cad Bane from The Clone Wars by way of Terminator and you basically get the gist. I honestly wouldn’t mind just straight up taking that design and adding the mustache of the comic version. But there’s another source to draw from:

How the hell this guy never caught on I’ll never know. Maybe because Morrison never gave him enough badass moments during their Action run? But Nimrod has a very cool design, and he also has some crazy weapons like a gun that shoots telepathic bullets, he already feels somewhat like a Terra-Man revamp to me. I’d take the idea of a helmet/full body suit and the crazy high-concept tech weapons from Nimrod & Pre-Crisis Terra-Man, and combine it with the color scheme, basic outfit and hat of the animated Terra-Man. That would be a really cool design that would get people interested in Tobias I feel.

Second off: the name. Maybe I was just dumb as a kid, but I was always wondering why animated Terra-Man never used his earthbender powers. He clearly had them, why else would he call himself Terra-Man and not Space Cowboy? In the interest of retroactively justifying my young self’s stupidity, I propose a new name: The Terran. I think that does a better job of conveying what his deal is, that he’s a former resident of Earth aka Terra who has gone out and made a name for himself in the cosmos. Think of the children who will no longer be confused about why he’s not throwing boulders at his foes. I rest my case.

Third and finally: The motivation. Why does this guy show up on Earth? What’s his deal? Why does he hate Superman? Well I think there’s some easy justification in explaining why he would finally return to Earth in the first place by making him a hunter like Nimrod was. Terran is out to hunt the most dangerous creatures of a species for sport and profit. Guess who has an Intergalactic Zoo in his Fortress, containing last members of extinct species some of whom posses hides or organs that would fetch high prices on the galactic black market? That’s an easy way to justify why the two would first come to blows, and where the root of the contempt for each other would begin.

But that would only be the beginning. See there’s some very interesting twists on the Superman concept with Tobias. He inverts a lot of the core components of Superman. He’s a human who was abducted and adopted by aliens as a child. He got his “powers” from his alien father, and his “name” from the aliens he worked for and killed. He’s a human straight out of Earth’s past, a literal Man of Yesterday. I think you could do some very interesting stuff by contrasting the two, and one of the big ways to do it would be to make Tobias Manning gay.

Yeah yeah get your jokes out of the way but hear me out: Tobias is from 19th century America, not exactly known for it’s tolerance of homosexuality (or anything non-WASP really). Part of why Tobas stayed away for so long then was that he felt alienated from his home planet. He thought he would never be accepted there, and thus stayed away and tried to carve out a life for himself in space where at least no one looked down on him for who he loved. So when he finally comes back and sees the way things have improved he’s overjoyed. Finally he can be himself among his own kind, he doesn’t have to stay away from Earth anymore, he can stay here and reconnect with his heritage. But then he runs into another barrier: He was raised according to 19th century American norms as a kid, then by alien norms for the rest of his life. He has zero in common with regular humans in the 21st century DCU Earth. His speech is antiquated and peppered with alien words no one understands, marking him as odd. Nobody shares any of his interests, and his job, which would’ve been cool and badass in the 19th century, now invites disgust in everyday conversations. Tobias may have been a human born on Earth, but he was born in the Wild West and raised in space, and he’s become totally alienated from the rest of humanity.

Enter Superman, an alien born on another planet but perfectly able to live amongst humanity since he was raised by them and educated in their modern standards. He’s white-passing and straight, and those two attributes help him be accepted. It would absolutely piss Tobias off that this alien is viewed as more human than he is, is accepted where he is not, and that would fuel the fires of resentment. So when he and Clark cross paths, Tobias is out for blood. Not just to beat/kill Superman, but to embarrass him, humiliate him, make him the outcast for everyone to point and gawk at. Also killing one of the last Kryptonians would really help cement Tobias’ reputation as a stone cold badass hunter which doesn’t hurt either.

On Superman’s side, part of him would absolutely despise Tobias for being a poacher, for hunting and killing endangered species, for trying to kill or humiliate him. He’d be put off by Tobias’ 19th century ideal of manhood and enjoyment of killing, something Superman wholeheartedly abhors. But on the other hand he would absolutely empathize with Tobias’ frustration. Clark has felt alienated from humanity at points himself, but also recognizes that he was lucky to look and be like he does given where he landed. He’d want to try to reach this guy, to connect with him, given how much he can sympathize with the longing for a place where you can be yourself without fearing rejection from others. Whether he would ever succeed is anyone’s guess.

I realize the possible pitfalls in making a prominent villain, who is also a cowboy gay, but I do think what I have here is an interesting way at looking at the very concept of “alieness”, a topic often explored in Superman stories. I’d add a prominent gay member to Superman’s supporting cast as a counterbalance too, either to the Daily Planet or the Metropolis Special Crimes Unit.

So yeah that’s how I’d revamp Tobias into the Terran.

[that-banana-headed-bovine]

Season 2 Shenanigans

AHEYYY sO I went on a giant Knight Rider binge the last few days, and I've FINALLY seen all of Season 2!!  Big thank you to @trust-doesnt-oxidize who watched with me and stayed up absurdly late because I wanted to see Garthe before I went to bed AIDBWJFNEM

I just wanted to post a quick reaction to all of the episodes, spoiler warning activated!

Goliath Parts 1 & 2

I LOVE MY DOOFY VILLAIN SON. K.I.T.T. is HILARIOUS, I love his dynamic with Goliath, as is evident by my handle oops- I hate how Season 2 starts with my son almost dying tho, almost had a heart attack tyvm! This is back before I knew anything about the direction of the rest of the series so I was legitimately in shock lmbo- Moustache Michael is a gem tho I love him. I SURE HOPE HE STAYS A DUMB VILLAIN WHO'S JUST REALLY SILLY TO WATCH. SURE HOPE THEY DON'T TAKE HIM TOO SERIOUSLY.

Brother's Keeper - Blind Spot

I- forgot that these episodes existed until I looked at the episode list for this, soooo...

I should really not be lazy and look up an episode summary and try to remember what I thought of these but the problem is that I am in fact going to be lazy because this post is already taking so long

Return to Cadiz

This episode is so,,, frustrating.  Not the plot or the format or anything like that, nono... I mean how they essentially introduced April.  Like, okay, I know that she has been here since the beginning of Season 2, but she hadn’t really said much up until now.  This was where we really got to know who she would be, and, uh... After this episode, I absolutely hated her.  Despised even.  She forces my son to go drive on the same ocean on the same beach where Karr DIED without any testing beforehand AND is chastising Michael in a flirtatious way.  The heCK is this woman?!  WHERE’S MY BONNIE???!!!  I was so mad at her you guys I.  But the thing is, I don’t hate April, not by a long shot.  In some ways, the rest of Season 2 does a better job giving her a character than all of Season 1 did for Bonnie!  I really enjoyed April and wish that both could have stayed.  BUT THIS EPISODE makes her SO HATEABLE and I just ugh.

also I tried to watch this a long time before I got to and after seeing the intro and not knowing the title of K.I.T.T. vs. K.A.R.R. at that point in time, I thought Karr was gonna come back based on all the panoramic shots of the underwater and I am so sad that he didn’t so oops this episode gets my wrath a bit

K.I.T.T. the Cat

0/10 there are no cats.  False advertising.

Seriously tho this episode was a pretty run of the mill episode.  The best part of the episode was Kitt, because it always is, but seriously that guy with the hedges was amazing- I GOT THE GAG BY THE THIRD TIME IT HAPPENED BUT THE FIRST TIME HE GOT STUCK IN THE TREE OH MY GOSH I WAS DY I N G- Also the fact that Kitt messed him up again trying to apologize is so sad yet funny ahosihdfiohasdf

Custom K.I.T.T.

APRIL GET THAT STUPID DECAL OFF HIM OH MY G O S H-

Somehow her 2-d design ideas looked almost worse than the actual thing and I thought the actual thing looked like a that default sticker decal that you get on a Hotwheels car.  I’msorryI’mnottryingtoroastanyartistsIjust I why there’s so much potential with giving Kitt decals :(

Seriously I want to use my drawing software to draw fire on Kitt at some point because it could be done so cool and that ain’t it chief.  I’m probably not going to be too great at it either since I don’t do backgrounds nearly enough and fire would be a background element for the most part but I could at least alter the colors ; m ;  OR LIGHTNING OH MY GOSH AAA LIGHTNING WOULD BE SO COO L ON HIM-  anyway it needed so much more red- and it was so asymmetrical too aHHHH-

I.  I’m fine it’s fine I’m fine it’s fi-

I don’t even know why Kitt needed a decal anyway, the other cars didn’t have to have decals to be considered custom, surely his dash alone could have done it-

ANYWAY

This ep was so WEIRD at times oh my gosh.  What was that series of insults the two ladies spat at each other?  Like the one just complimented her eyeshadow aggressively and the other one accused her of wearing “training bras” or something like whAT EXCU S E ME What is this episode?!  Kitt was so upset about the decal too :[

Soul Survivor

OH MY GOSH IT’S CUTE IT’S SO CUTE YOU GUYS-

I was recalling @knight-rider-fan-2000‘s theory about this episode (plz go check them out btw aaaa), and after watching it I totally agree.  Michael was especially kind in this episode, and he seems to be overall a more supportive mentor for Kitt this season, starting with Soul Survivor and being pretty consistent throughout.  I love their new dynamic so much- There’s definitely still episodes and moments where he’s closer to Season 1 Michael, but Season 2 Michael is a far superior human being in my opinion.

KITT’S SO ADORABLE LIL TINY CPU OH MY G O S H YOU’RE TELLING ME OUR SON IS ACTUALLY T H A T SMALL AAAAA

Michael really is so sweet in this oh my gosh, that whole arc where Kitt is his partner no matter what and that the car isn’t what made Kitt-- AW!!!!  ADORABLE!  Kitt being so unsure that he repeatedly asks Michael how it feels to see the Knight 2000 without him in it or fusses about his limited functionality as Michael patiently reassures him again and again that he’s wanted just the way he is, I just- Feelings.

One thing that hit me as funny though is when Michael finds Kitt’s CPU in the garage and the trash can is just like PULSATING and then he like yells at it like “tAlK tO mE kItT” and Kitt’s jus sitting there as a box of colored lights like “...”

I can just imagine a cut scene where Kitt’s like, “Oh and by the way Michael, if I could have said something I would have done so LONG before you started asking me to.  Believe it or not, I don’t like being in a trash can.”

“You Dingaling.”

Also Michael and his whole “I’m an honest man you can trust me listen I’ll give you a small TV just like this one” and then he proceeded to not do that.  Hmm.

Anyway, yeah, it doesn’t get any cuter than this.  The only thing that would have been better is if Adrianne didn’t exist.  Good thing she’s gone now~!

Ring of Fire

THIS IS SO TRIPPY THIS EPISODE IS SO TRIPPY

I would say that I hate Michael trying to get Kitt to subject himself to testing if he can withstand insane levels of heat.  I would say that if April did not then walk in and karma the crap out of him.  Gosh I loved it.  How he immediately was like whAT NOOO YOU WOULDN’T MAKE SOMEONE DO THAT and Kitt’s just like :/

dang hypocrite, Michael my feelings towards you are so complicated sometimes

anyway

So. Many. Dogs.  I usually love seeing Kitt interact with dogs but this started to get unsettling, I can’t blame him for not loving 6 different dogs all swarming him at once whAT- Have they nothing better to do than to jump on my son.  What the heck language were those banjo players singing in?  Was it a language or was it just gibberish keyboard spam that accidentally made it to the final script AOSHDIAOHSD

This whole swamp setting is really unique to this episode, and part of me really does commend the chance they took by switching up settings.  It’s almost always a small town on desert roads.  The way this all happened though was??? What?

I think the scriptwriters forgot that Return to Cadiz exists because Kitt got so much water damage AHSIDHAOISDH- I know April said the system was damaged but surely it would have minimized this a little bit.  Also did literally anything change by the end of this episode?  We didn’t see the guy get arrested, did we?  And the girl decided to stay living out in the swamp forest thing.  The only thing is that she, like, conquered her fear or something?  Even though she still isn’t acting in that direction?

This episode didn’t actually d o anything did it LOL

alsowhatevenwasthatexplosion

It’s not a bad episode though, just really bizarre.

Knightmares

YOU KNOW WHAT I SAID ABOUT IT NOT GETTING ANY CUTER?

I WAS WRONG.

THIS EPISODE this episode THIS EPISODE.  TOP TWO MATERIAL?  MORE LIKELY THAN YOU THINK.  TDR will always be my fav until the end of time I’m pretty sure because I don’t think another episode will get me to ugly sob like that (aLTHOUGH I AM MEGA HYPE HERE BECAUSE I WATCHED KvK AND IT WAS GOOD ALSO BUT WE’LL GET TO TH A T LATER) but in terms of sheer adorable buddies happiness this is the winner by all accounts.  I really like how they portray Michael Long, and I genuinely think the arc here has an impact on the rest of the season in terms of how Michael treats Kitt.

I love how Michael had told Kitt a long time ago how they were partners, like how he used to have a partner when he was a police officer, and how now when Long is so confused about everything everyone is trying to tell him, Kitt chooses this specific word to help introduce himself, and everything feels a bit more grounded for Long.  I love how Long immediately revolts against the way Devon and April try to tell him he’s wrong about who he is currently, which is, despite good intentions, the opposite of what he needs.  I love how Kitt then swoops in behind him and decides to treat Michael Long like a WHOLE NEW PERSON, one who Kitt tries to get to know.  I love how Long recognizes just how hard Kitt is trying and genuinely opens up to him.  I love how he never reverts to being mean or rude to Kitt after he gets in the car the second time, NOT EVEN ONE sarcastic comment.  How he never calls him a computer again after Kitt asks him not to, how he compliments his new partner left and right, how despite having no clue who Knight is he really wants to be that person for Kitt, because Kitt seems sincere and pretty great.  I adore that bit where Kitt gently, lovingly lists traits good and bad about Knight and how Long can finally connect to this other version of himself.

“One more thing about Michael Knight.”

“What’s that?”

“I was extremely fond of him”

I love how Long starts saying “Good work, Kitt” after they complete parts of their mission and how Knight does not stop this for the rest of the season, even after he regains his memory.  I love so much about this and could frankly talk about it even more than this but this is a brief summary so.  So yeah, we’re moving on ;W;

Silent Knight

It’s funny so.  I didn’t realize that Knight Rider had done any Christmas specials.  I knew about the Halloween specials, but I didn’t realize the Christmas special existed.  And so I was laughing at how funnee I was while I was like “SILENT KNIGHT HOLY KNIGHT ALL IS COME-” and then that’s exactly what the pun was meant to be.  they done bamboozled me.

ANYWAY THIS MIGHT BE THE STRANGEST CHRISTMAS SPECIAL TO EVER EXIST EVER.

They kept mentioning the Christmas banquet thing to make it mildly related to the season but then it wasn’t, it really wasn’t, it all revolved around clowns.  There was.  There was a Santa I guess.  Albeit a bank robber Santa--

And the kid is juuust obnoxious at first, I love how Kitt absolutely hates him immediately for some reason even though Kitt usually doesn’t hate people unless they do something really bad, but it feels so deserved because the kid is a jeeerk.  Maybe it’s because the kid accused him of endangering human life and that Hurt?

Kid: Just let me drive and I’ll throw away this dumb clock thing

Michael: No

Kitt: YES

Michael: W H A T ?!

Kitt: YES

Michael: ugh whatever

I was kind of expecting Kitt to pull some sort of shenanigans while the kid was driving as payback for whatever he absolutely despised him for, but Kitt was actually just really sweet and gave him a bit of freedom until he started endangering himself and then helped him get back into control.  Very wholesome.

AND the end was CUTE though, like the boy who had previously been a jerk going over and patting Kitt and being just sincerely nice to him ;w; wholesome

A Knight in Shining Armor

Gosh I always forget what this episode is about because the title is so loosely related LOL

The dynamic with Michael and the girl of the week was actually really cute and chemistry was not entirely nonexistant, so that’s a nice change from some of these that come out of nowhere.  Her arc was actually pretty sweet, how she resented technology because she wanted to be loved and cared about, how she thought computers were incapable of doing that until she talked to Kitt...

And the cave was prebby.

But why couldn’t she understand that her DAD was in PRISON.

“Why didn’t he ever come to see me?” “Because he was in Jail.” “oh.  But why didn’t he call???”

Diamonds Aren't a Girl's Best Friend

SOMEONE

AHAHA

SOMEONE CALLED MICHAEL

AHAHA

BERNIE CALLED HIM A DINGALING. Speaking of Bernie, all I could think this whole episode was

White-Line Warriors

LONG-LEGGED PUNK-

Seriously idk what this season’s love affair with the baddies picking on Michael but I love it.

Honestly the twist of this episode was really interesting, I still don’t fully get how the baddies’ plan comes together though.  So the song plays on the radio and the police go to investigate the drag racers and the crims are IMMEDIATELY ready?  okay then.

Radio announcer Kitt tho.  That is blessed.

I want Radio Announcer Kitt.  Then again, I just want more Kitt in general so.

Race for Life

INHALE

Y’ALL ARE REAAALLY TRYING TO MAKE ME DETHRONE KNIGHTMARES AS THE CUTEST, AREN’T YOU?

Well ha, joke’s on you episode, you’re getting docked points for only giving Kitt and Becky two interactions.  And for making the donor obnoxious for most of the episode (although that end scene was pretty adorable).  So, okay, second cutest.

THE WAY KITT WAVED I-

HE IS SO CUTE

he is so cute.

Devon was really sweet this episode, not gonna lie.  I’m not sure if I’ve said it on this blog before, but I had strong dislike for Devon after Season 1.  I can explain that later if anyone wants, I’d be perfectly willing to compare the two seasons, but Season 2 Devon is pretty alright.  He doesn’t have much of a presence, but when he does, he’s kind.  I’m assuming he let Becky win at checkers, in which case uh, aW?!  Devon that’s cute.

KITT TRYING TO TEACH THE TEN YEAR OLD CHESS AHSIODHOAISD I LOVE YOU BUDDY

Also, I feel like this is the episode April really became her own character, separate from Cadiz.  She’d kind of just been a slightly perkier Bonnie, but now we get to see her family, her concerns... And April’s a pretty good character.

OH AND THE WHOLE “Kitt is family” ARC IS THE SWEETEST THING ASHDHAOSDohIAD

“Julio, meet Kitt.  He’s part of the family”

“Thank you, Michael.”

MY.  HEART.

Speed Demons

Okay so.  This is another one of those episodes where very little seemed to change by the end of the episode.  The guy who was actually in danger quit motorcycling anyway soooo...  The episode plot itself isn’t what I feel like talking about.

What was WITH that one announcer guy?  Were we meant to like him or not???  First he tries to Kick the Kitt and Kitt’s like :/ whatever

and then he comes back and they start to have like, a deep conversation, and he lovingly pats the hood before walking away.  And we’re like AWWW OKAY THIS GUY IS NOT TO BAD

AND THEN he asks Kitt to talk for someone and Kitt’s like “...” and the guy riots.  Why did Kitt not talk for him and why did the guy go so absolutely bonkers when he didn’t?  Were the cameras rolling and I just didn’t realize?  And then we kind of hate the guy again because he once again absolutely went ballistic at Kitt.  “That’s Showbiz.”

But then the dynamic with that coworker keeps coming up, and yeah, I guess she does seem a bit annoying.  But she also seems like a potential lady of the week and a potential protagonist.  So when she gets splashed with mud or whatever that was and the guys all like :D

What are we meant to be feeling?

Are we meant to feel bad for her or happy for him?

Because I just felt confused.

Goliath Returns 1 & 2

GOSH DARNIT ADRIANNE IS BACK

ALSO I-I-I I TAKE BACK EVERYTHING I SAID ABOUT YOU BEING A DOOFY AND STUPID VILLAIN JUST P L E A S E STOP ; M ;

SERIOUSLY WHEN DID GARTHE TURN FULL PSYCHOPATH-

THE FEELING I GOT REMINDED ME OF WATCHING THE SHERLOCK FINALE.  S H E R L O C K  F I N A L E.

Sigh, I should have known he’d gone off the deep end when he walked into a hot tub with jeans on.

I will forever be mad at some versions coughincludingtheoneIwaswatchingoncough for cutting out the fact that Kitt’s microchip was almost ENTIRELY WIPED/OVERWRITTEN AND PUT INTO GOLIATH.  Because uh, the way the show cut it up for TV, it seems like Kitt’s really in no danger other than being annoyed.  But no, literally everyone almost dies.  Fun times!

Seriously why did this convoluted garbage get a two-parter but Kitt vs. Karr didn’t?

This episode makes me sad.  Not just because Garthe tried, and almost succeeded, to take away everything we love in this show.  Not just because this episode strayed far enough from the typical formula for this to seem like some dystopian nightmare version of Knight Rider. Not just because freaking Adrianne is back.

I mean because I loved Garthe’s character, and this totally changed it.  I like that they went into Garthe’s trauma a bit more with this one, but unlike some villains in the Knight Rider canon (okay let’s not play games, UNLIKE KARR-), what he does is so dastardly, SO insaNE, that there is no way to argue that he might be justified.  No.  No.  Garthe, Adrianne, and Goliath are gone now, and that’s how it had to be.

OH ALSO GO O F F APRIL YES QUEEN I LOVE YOU- I honestly felt so bad for her when she turned around and broke down right after standing up to him, like dang, that hurts.  And Devon was sweet in this episode too ;w;

Okay but were they planning on making another episode of this?  Because that end scene was such an obvious teaser it’s not even funny.

“I hope we don’t run into those very much drowned people out in the streets again, Michael.  And I especially hope that they do not construct another semitrailer with the exact same scale and name as the previous one that was driven into the ocean.”

“Yes, I agree Kitt, this is also an anxiety that I possess despite the fact that they are very much definitely Deceased.  I sure hope that plot convenience does not interfere in the future.”

THANK GOODNESS THAT ADRIANNE IS GONE

wait what?  her actress is in another episode as another character who’s just as awful? wHYYYYYY

A Good Knight's Work

THAT BEAR NEEDS TO DIE. I am so glad Michael ejected the dumb thing at the end, Kitt deserved it. Especially after Michael essentially told him to temporarily kill himself. Michael's a cyberbully now ig. The arc with Kitt and the car salesman was cute. Apparently deactivation is considered programming now? Michael my mans you could have given Kitt any warning at all (I kind of take this back after one of the Season 3 episodes I’ve watched uHHHH this was a lot of warning compared to how Michael rolls in S3 what the heck is wrong with him). Cute episode overall tho I guess. ALSO I JUST NOW REALIZED "A GOOD KNIGHT'S WORK" IS A PUN BECAUSE KITT IS WILTON KNIGHT'S WORK AND I'M MAD AT MYSELF FOR NOT NOTICING IT SOONER-

Mouth of the Snake and that other garbage one that's title makes no sense

David might as well be a plank of wood. A plank of wood that yeets himself ten feet into the air whenever possible, but I digress. Does this count as superpowers? I just love how he offended Kitt 0.1 seconds after meeting him and then Michael proceeded to tell Kitt off for reacting. Love that soooo much. It's also hilarious to me how most of this episode has a similar structure to most Knight Rider episodes and then they randomly start reacreating the Most Dangerous Game--

Let it Be Me

Why isn't this the season finale?! I mean, I'm glad it's not, but why? This is way worse than White Bird like why- I feel like the Stevie episodes are kind of a controversy in this fandom? I loved the first one. This one's just, blegh it's okay. She and Michael still have pretty great chemistry WHEN THEY ARE SPEAKING IN REGULAR SPEECH. I do not like Stevie singing the same song with Michael 100 times. The duet at the end is kind of cute though, sue me I like corny things.

Stevie: I’m so sorry I shouldn’t have been with this one guy but ;m;

Michael: has been with approximately 100 women by now

Also Michael: How could you ;m;

Big Iron

This episode is kinda wild. Why does the guy manage to have a full out breakup with Lucy in less than one minute? Why is Michael a marriage counselor now? Why couldn't Kitt take the oxygen out of the cabin when Michael was definitely going to die if he didn't?  Since when does Turbo Boost use a ton of oxygen anyway?  Why does this man just immediately make up with his wife after finding out that she helped him? And most of all, WHY DIDN'T THAT BARTENDER LADY ACT THE LEAST BIT CONCERNED WHEN THEY ABSOLUTELY TORE UP THE PLACE??? Lmbo she's just like "Stop it guys :/"

It’s so bizarre that this is the season finale ahsdoifhasodf but go off I guess NBC

[cannoli-reader]

Is becoming disabled sufficient for redemption?

In Robert Jordan’s Wheel of Time, and George RR Martin’s A Song of Ice and FIre, there is in each a character who becomes disabled.  In each case, the character is more or less an antagonist to the main characters, but after the disability, finds themselves opposed to some bad guys, so they aren’t necessarily enemies of the good guys, as well as really lacking the ability to do the kind of harm they could at the outset, and so they become more sympathetic.  But fans go nuts for these characters, they rave about them, and root for them. And I’m like, okay, but still the same people they were before.  Still working for the wrong side with the wrong agenda.  Am I missing something here?

In Martin’s aSoI&F, Jaime Lannister goes from being the premier knight in the realm, at least in martial prowess and looks, wealth and social position - you know, the important things in life - to abruptly having his hand chopped off for shits and giggles by a band of sadistic criminals. And he does some nice stuff for Brienne of Tarth, who was trying to protect him and who was a much better knight than he if you count stupid nonsense, like obeying her superiors, keeping her vows, protecting the innocent, striving against all odds to complete her missions. And now, according to the fandom, He Is Redeemed.  

In the books, Jaime has turned against his father and sister, he slew an evil king and he stood up for Brienne, and encouraged and nurtured her knightly ambitions.  But Jaime has a lot of motivations to oppose these people, beside doing the right thing.  How much was outrage that the king was unfit and destructive to the greater good and a violent sadist and a moral impetus to save lives, and how much was family loyalty after his father took up arms against the king, how much was payback for the insults and slights and humiliations the king had heaped on his immediate family and Jaime in particular.  How much of his slaying of the king’s sycophantic co-conspirator Hallyne was due to outrage over the planned atrocity, and how much due to Hallyne being raised above his birth station, after actual nobles were cast down?  

Even stipulating the best possible motives, that young “hero” became the man who tried to murder a child for his own convenience, who lacked the moral character to stand up to his own father and tell the truth to his brother.  He fought a war over his family pride, indifferent to the war crimes his father committed, and likely a participant. His own incompetence deprived him of the ability to really tarnish his record as a battle commander. 

Critical to Jaime’s alleged redemption is his loss of a hand, which struck at the heart of his self-image and sense of worth.  Which is all very plausible as a start to his developing sympathy for others, but equally plausible is the fact that he can no longer treat people like crap with impunity and fight his way out of the consequences. Further eroding his invincibility is the death of his father, whose over the top brutality toward anyone who looked cross-eyed at his kin also made people think twice about calling Jaime out. 

He turns on Cersei, but not because his sufferings have wised him up, rather because when he finally makes a demand of their relationship, he is denied, because she is increasingly put off by his failure to live up to her own image of him and because he learns of her infidelity. 

This is not say Jaime isn’t actually coming to grips with his actions and attitudes in the context of his family relationships, and not liking what he sees, that he isn’t trying to do better at some aspects of his job, but in spite of all that, he’s still on the wrong side.  He’s realizing what a horrible family he is a part of, but he resents the hostility of the family’s victims, like the Tullys, without considering how he is furthering Tywin’s policies and even profiting from them. He is contemptuous toward his family’s allies, from the Freys, to Sybell to Jonos Bracken, and yet follows through with their rewards, elevating them at the expense of people who clearly come across as more sympathetic in the narration, if not Jaime’s stream of consciousness. 

He punishes criminals and deserters he encounters, but this is in the same book where Brienne’s plot is giving us the other side of the story with the excellent Broken Men speech from Septon Meribald, so the justice of Goldenhand feels a bit hollow, not to mention classist, considering the difference between how knights and nobles who do far worse than these stragglers are (not) punished.  He notably does not punish the men who were in service to Gregor Clegane, his father’s main thug, despite their crimes to date, including forcing cannibalism on their prisoners. 

Even Jaime’s efforts at ethical behavior are falling short. He advises his subordinate Kingsguard not to commit petty acts of violence on the orders of a juvenile king, but as an alternative to such orders, he says to check with himself or Cersei.  But Jaime heads off into the field, leaving only Cersei in authority, and the readers know she prizes blind obedience in retainers over the moral formation of her children. 

And that sort of half-assery carries over to Jaime’s occasional stabs at honor. As mentioned above, Jaime is lucky that the promise he gave Catelyn is beyond his keeping upon his return to court, because he never has to act on it.  His gesture with Brienne, while personally appealing to her, is relatively toothless. The odds of her achieving her objective alone are slim.  The warrant he provides her is barely enough to induce the non-interference of his allies, and further condemns her in the eyes of his enemies. And that is pretty much the sum of the resources he devotes to the fulfillment of his oath.  It is likely the paucity of his efforts in the eyes of most Westerosi nobles (he is one of only two people legitimately impressed with Brienne’s qualities, the other being dead), as his own pride, that prevents him from telling the Blackfish about his efforts when Brynden calls him on it.  And while the gift of a Valyrian steel sword is not to be despised, for Jaime the sword represents what he can’t have anymore and the difference between his and Tywin’s desires. He refers to it as a ‘mocking gift’ when sent the sword by Tywin. His giving it away, especially to a woman, is about as strong of a rejection of his father as he can make, without actually confronting him again. 

Jaime might be redeemed yet, but what sufferings and inconveniences have been imposed upon him have not been the result of his choices or attempts to make things right.  He actually does very little to make amends for his actions, to make things right with his victims or to rectify the great political injustices his family has committed on the realm. Instead, as of the last book published, he is still perpetuating the deprivation of his father’s victims. His positive efforts to bring peace and minimize the bloodshed and death are beneficial to him and to his family. But even if you’re merely toting up his good deeds, without relating them to his crimes, I don’t see any act of generosity or heroism that matches murdering three men in the street for the offense of their employer, or participating in war crimes or pushing a seven year old out a window.

Jaime Lannister is an interesting character but he’s still a really bad person.

[beckythesooh]

On the HIMYM Finale + Deleted Scenes (rewatch)

On my hate of Ted’s relapse in season 7:

Rewatching HIMYM and of course, I’m sad again at how much I loved it sans Ted’s suddenly thinking he’s in love with Robin again after Drunk Train. It pisses me off so much, and which there were comments on how it made sense because Ted was just so down on himself that he had stooped so low as to try to get girls on the train and be so far away from his goal—I would have believed that but the ensuing episodes definitely show this wasn’t the case. Drunk Train was season 7 episode 16. They broke up at the end of season 2 and only had a heart to heart about how difficult the break up was a few episodes later, and casual sex along with screaming and anger mid season 3. Never once in between does Ted actually like her again except when Barney wanted her and he read his letter—which I’ll account for as him being down and logically and/or nostalgically thinking they would work again, rather than current feelings. I would have wanted him to be depressed because being around happy people or people that he’s jealous of or something, because that’s relatable and understandable. But him being upset that Robin was marrying someone that wasn’t him when she never expressed being in romantic love with him for the past 6 years just makes me despise Ted. And I don’t despise him, but when I take a step back, that act makes me really hate him. And like.... Ross in Friends was a horrible human. I cannot vouch for him in that he wanted to be a good human—Ross thought he was a good human when he wasn’t. But Ted really did want to be a good human. And it upsets me that this is where the line is drawn, where he believes he deserves Robin more than Barney, more than anyone, when she never showed interest in him again.

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A brief touch on my hate of Robin’s character in love:

I don’t hate Robin as a human or a character in general. But I severely hate how she was the writers’ ultimate princess on a pedestal and never thought about how she’s not a prize, but she needs to work for happiness. Never once does she work for any of her relationships. She’s incredibly selfish—and hey, that’s fine because I am and all humans are to a degree, but she’s not allowed to stay selfish and get any and every happy ending. That pisses me off to no end. I agree with the people that say Robin didn’t deserve Ted—but in reality, it was more that Ted deserved better. She never made any grand gesture for Ted or Barney when they both tried to give her anything and everything they had. I’m unsure if in any relationship she put herself on the line. I think after Don, she stopped. I think Don got the best of her, but Don didn’t quite treat her well. Kevin was the best match for her because he helped simmer her crazy and he could be a little crazier with her, but really she didn’t offer anything consciously.

She was unwilling to compromise in season 2, and she never changed throughout—she only revealed parts of her that she kept hidden. The writers made her sane and insane, kind and cruel, and every other paradox so she could fit into anything they wanted and seem rounded out even when she wasn’t. The writers kept her as this ideal girl and never understood that girls can have character development too. (Not that anyone besides Barney really had character development—which is also why everyone was rooting for him, not Ted.) The things she’d give up for Barney, she never cared about. The dogs she gave up for Ted in season 2 were her only attempt at dipping her toes in the water, but then the writers just never made her swim again (not that she should have given away her dogs for Ted). As the series progressed, it felt like she didn’t care about anything. That’s why she was consistently able to swing into a new relationship on the same day after a breakup. Because they made Robin sane enough, no one had to doubt her love and she never had to prove it. But now it all seems like a desperate girl who is afraid to be alone and has no idea what she wanted (continued in next section).

-----------------------------------------

On the deleted Robin x Ted lunch finale scene in 2020 and how it impacts the ending:

Josh Radnor said he hoped the writers kept that in the finale because it showed that Ted wasn’t always pining for Robin when he was with Tracy, and that Robin loved and was thinking about Ted as much if not more. I agree with the first part, definitely not the latter.

Before I discuss how I interpreted that scene, here is how I interpret the two endings of HIMYM vs the ideals of the fans (from my perspective).

The ending where Tracy dies and Ted gets with Robin at the end:

Pros: 

The fan theory that maybe this is a happy ending because Tracy gets to be with Max in Heaven, Ted and Robin (and Ted got the kids he wanted and Robin got her career), and Barney and his daughter.

I guess the writers get to use their original footage, but like that doesn’t really warrant a number.

Cons: 

Like Josh Radnor said, it makes it seem like Ted was in love with Robin even when he was with Tracy.

Season 8 and 9 were a total bust and a LOT of the footage and most meaningful and dramatic scenes (absolutely EVERYTHING WITH TED) were a WASTE of viewer emotion. Like I legitimately regret giving any fucks about Ted’s emotions, that lying sonuvabitch.

If it is meant to be like Robin and Ted are soul mates and belong together, the ENTIRE SEASON 3-9 made the fans believe that either 1. NO THEY’RE NOT, or 2. soul mates are STUPID and a LIE and not as amazing as Lily and Marshall made it seem. And if not, then it perpetuates that soul mates aren’t a thing.

It makes it seem that if a guy pines after a girl enough, he’ll fucking get her eventually. No one on the face of at least Democratic America wants white guys to get that message, wtf.

By perpetuating Pro #1, it further makes Tracy to be a vehicle for Ted’s children and not really anything else. Kinda ties into Con #1.

The ending where Tracy is alive (actually this doesn’t matter to me) where Robin and Ted don’t get together at the end:

Pros:

The hope and dream and ideal that a soul mate (Tracy) exists at the end of the suffering—the thing that made Ted such a good protagonist—lives on. And is finally accomplished. And we can be happy for Ted, while believing in love and life ourselves. (This is the main fucking point, in contrast to Con #3 of the previous end.)

The reassurance that even if you think you’re in love now and it’s not working out, one day, you’ll GET THE FUCK OVER IT

The hope that all the love you give out will be reciprocated (this is different than #1 for me simply based on Tracy’s personality, rather than the fact that Ted ended up with someone that wasn’t Robin. Because Tracy was kind to him and wanted to make Ted happy. Robin never tried to make Ted happy, she just rolled with the punches.)

The fact that the drumroll, the build up, the suspense of the story led to actual grandeur and a happy end, and not a fake out like the other ending. (Different from the above because this is simply the storyline, and how this way wouldn’t be like a “haha, [the ending] was in front of you the entire time!”)

Cons:

No footage of the kids?

No non-sappy way to end that doesn’t make everyone hate the writers?

No reason why Ted is telling this story to his kids?

Like honestly, while sappy, there is no con to a happy ending

Now, let’s retrace the first betrayal ending with the dinner scene:

Pros:

Yes, it does look like Ted loved Tracy / didn’t pine after Robin in his head. And yes, this was something that killed everyone in the finale and thus was a big thing.

If Ted x Robin occurs, you still get the Pro #1 fan theory.

Cons:

It doesn’t look like Robin was in love with Ted even if she admits to thinking about him. It instead just looks like she regretted her life and selfishly wanted him because he treated her well, even when she never had any intention of giving him what he wanted. 

Also the awkward thing about Robin kinda trying to get him back when he has a family and alive wife at that point in time.

If this continued with the Robin x Ted thing, it doesn’t really make it seem that Ted was head over heels magically in love with Tracy during this time. His quote, “Happiness is when you stop thinking about the ifs,” would instead be interpreted as if he settled and didn’t want any risks. And, considering he met her after Robin was married, and had kids with her while Robin was still married, this would further incriminate that thought.  Happiness is not love, but the stability of knowing that this relationship... is stable. Ted, despite having cheated on Victoria when she was in Germany with Robin, has never struck me as a cheater. He has always struck me, even in the lowest and crappiest and sleaziest of times, as someone who wanted to treasure the people around him. The fact that he was unnerved by Robin’s confession because he had Tracy and his family did not feel to me that it was because he loved Tracy, but because it was stable, it was his, and he had stopped thinking about Robin when she wasn’t there.

If Ted x Robin get together still, a la Con #1, I cannot be happy for them. Why? What the writer showed us in the original is that Ted has always pined for Robin. This lunch scene was supposed to dispose of that. But, then, it becomes that Robin wants Ted and Ted is like “I always cared about her and it’s been 6 years and I’m lonely.” And yes, this is much better than the original betrayal ending. But it’s still not a happy ending. Ted gets with her because he’s lonely, not because she’s the “one” anymore. And no one cares about that (and it’ll always be overshadowed by the ANNOYANCE OF TED IN SEASON 8-9). Robin gets together with Ted because she’s lonely, regrets many things in her life, and she knows Ted would treat her well (despite never self-reflecting that she doesn’t offer him anything because he always blindly accepted everything about her). That’s not a happy ending, nor an ending worth giving my feelings for, though admittedly more satisfactory than the original.

Overall, the show is supposed to be about how he meets the mother. How he meets his wife. How he falls in love with her. The audience is wanting to watch him fall in love. And after so many seasons of him being alone, the build up becomes grander. We want to believe that at the end of the tunnel is salvation. That this relatable, kind character will be blessed with happiness and love equal or greater to what he’s given. We like the character, and we want him to be happy. And he was never happy pining after Robin. We want to relate to his struggles, but we want him to be rewarded. We want to believe we too will be rewarded. The original ending didn’t do that. I can’t understand how anyone doesn’t understand the backlash after properly watching the show (and being a sane romantic, which should be the prime audience of this show).

So no, I will never forgive that ending.

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And just because I’m ranting,

On what I think about Robin and Barney.

I honestly don’t care if they stayed married or not. Married doesn’t solve problems between a couple. I don’t like them getting divorced from a conservative perspective, but I also don’t see them doing well in the construct of marriage (which also goes for Robin and Ted, but Robin was always portrayed as sane when with Ted. Though really, she would suck at marriage and kids. When she was with Ted, it was literally just sex. And her being his roommate showed that all non-lust side was incompatible. But I digress).

But, I dislike that the finale gave Barney a daughter as a band-aid and made it seem all right.

I can imagine Robin and Barney always fighting. I can imagine it going as far as a divorce. But I can’t imagine it getting to a point where Barney stops trying and stops caring. Because he tried throughout the seasons and he couldn’t. Why, when he gets her, would he stop. Robin never tried, and I can see her falling out of love because she’s incapable of loving (at least for everyone after Don), only of accepting love and using them as a crutch. But Barney really tried and season 8 showed it in tangible measures. While I understand that a one-way street will eventually reach a dead-end (actually I don’t think that’s true, but for the sake of a lack of a better metaphor), the fact that at that point Robin didn’t step it up makes me hate any ending that would end up with her and Ted even more. Yes, Barney was a pig. But he was able to win over the audience into making us believe that he is capable of loving someone. And Robin never did.

I can imagine Barney giving Robin space if she asked, which includes the divorce. But to try to convince us, the audience, into believing that he stopped loving her and stopped showing it in his side glances and gentle grins pisses me the fuck off. I don’t need them married, I don’t need them constantly together. But they’re a couple where I trust Barney to keep going back to as home.

Also that daughter thing—while cute in theory, Barney had an episode about his previous wing bro having knocked up a girl and being a father and it destroying his personality. I can really only imagine this as being how it winds up. I do think Barney would be a good father. And I do think that if Barney is with Robin, he would not have that chance. But I also think that Barney would always love Robin more than enough to be willing to give that up. Unlike Ted, I believe Barney if he said he’d be willing to give it all up without regretting it for the rest of his life. I hate that Barney wasn’t allowed to remain the metamorphosed character at the end of all of his character development. They had to revert all the things to give him a daughter. They didn’t even give him some sort of back story to how the hell he could fuck up the protection when he had sex with over 200 girls without issues. Yeah I’m salty about the shitty and inconsistent writing/storytelling.

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On whether I care if Tracy dies:

Not too much, because I understand that things happen. It does make me sad if we are made to think she and Ted are soulmates, only for her to die early. While I do agree that her early death and making Max her soul mate does sound cute, I refuse to believe for eternity that Robin was Ted’s soul mate, so leaving Ted without a soul mate would also piss me off about this story and basically Ted would be equivalent as Barney knocking up someone, but with a nanny that happens to be the mother of the children. So the answer is no because then we need to destroy the concept of soul mates. So this is why I would like Tracy to live, though I’m not mad at her dying.

Obviously from a storytelling perspective, it would be weird for Ted to tell his kids his whole dating history just to finally skim through his meeting with the mother and she is still alive. But really we gave no shits about why Ted was discussing all these pointless things to his kids, so that continuity isn’t needed if it destroys our hopes and ideals.

If she’s alive, it makes more sense for Ted to talk about the courtship with the mother. If she’s dead, the only reason for him to discuss all his courtships with all the other women would be..... well, in theory it makes sense to show that he’s always loved Robin, too bad that didn’t properly translate in the actual show post season 3 (like really, Robin would have needed to interfere in every relationship Ted had for it to be relevant to the betrayal ending, but that stopped after Stella and there would need to be a time skip to Victoria with inbetweens of Barney x Robin, but ultimately most of Robin’s love life could be omitted. Seriously, if that was the reason Ted was telling the story, then his storytelling skills are shit and he should be at least 65 and retired because his mind is going). And to tell the story just to be like  “I wanna date again” is also nonsense. Basically, all routes are nonsense. Shoulda just scrapped the purpose of Ted telling his sordid past into just him telling a story. Also, getting the kid actors as adults is still hilarious so I think people wouldn’t mind the kids’ continuity over a better ending. 

[strawberry-sundaze]

I saw the matchup thing and what to give it a try!! I have light brown/blondish color hair; I’m 5’2, I’m not a big fan of crowds (it kicks up my anxiety really bad) and can get very Impatient at times; i love to sketch a lot or play video games to past the time; plus when meeting new people I overthink and feel like they are judging me (I don’t know how the matchup thing works, so have at it!!)

Hi!!!! Okay this is super exciting because I HIGH KEY stalk your blog 🙊 all the time... and I live off of all the Shiggy things you reblog/post. I’m a shameless Tomura worshiper simp, smh. I’m trying not to be biased because I know you really like Shigaraki, so I got a second opinion from someone unfamiliar with your blog (thanks @endeavwh0re) and they agreed. It’s canon. You’re stuck with Shiggy now <3

**Honestly, this is a bit of a strange combo, yes, but I picked people I think you’d be compatible with for reasons listed below. Here we go!

Starting with the (aged up!) UA Student we have...

Fumikage Tokoyami!

Chivalrous, daunting, and understanding, Tokoyami is a book waiting to be opened and read. Not many people are close to him or know him well, but he has proved himself time and time again to be one of the most unique people you’ll ever meet.

Much to your delight, Tokoyami is a homebody. He won’t try to drag you all around town or take you to big events; he hates crowds too. He would prefer to spend his days at home (with you). He would LOVE to play video games with you, watch you sketch, and he may even draw something for you, too. He’s not even a sore loser! “You won fair and square. Nicely done!” This is random, but I think Tokoyami might sketch really edgy pictures that seem to burn holes into a notebook, or spend his time working on an intricate scenery painting. It’s hard to say which, but he seems like he’d be artistic. That being said, he would have an eye for art and admire anything you created. No matter if it was something simple or something elaborate, Tokoyami would be your number one fan. He DOES have mad guitar skills, so there’s another fun thing to do at home.

Fumikage is one of the least judgmental people at UA, maybe even in all of Musutafu. While you may not be able to tell what he is thinking based on his facial expressions, his open, calm presence would help you feel at ease and less worried about whether or not he dislikes you. Spoiler alert though: he would really, really like you. Affectionate in subtle ways, this boy would keep you on your toes and wanting more (but never too much; he doesn’t want to worry you any because he’s considerate™️ like that).

The best part about Tokoyami is that he would not keep you waiting. He likes to be early when he is supposed to be somewhere, and he likes to plan ahead (he’ll order food to be ready at a specific time so you don’t have to wait). He’s patient when you’re impatient, although he knows and tries his best to keep you out of situations where you’d have to wait. He’d treat you like royalty, that’s just how it be. No waiting for his s/o, nope.

Alright! A pro hero for youuuu!

Your pro hero is match is...

Taishiro Toyomitsu! (Fatgum)

He is SO damn lovable. Wow. What a guy. Where do I even start? Taishiro is a bit more outgoing than your first match, but that’s okay! Here’s why he’s such a good match for you:

He may be a hero and therefore constantly in the spotlight, but Taishiro would want to keep those he loves safe. The best way to do that is most likely by not exposing you to public events (though he’d love to show you off if he could) and keeping his circle of people who know about you tight. He constantly worries about your safety and health. Would always, always check up on you, making sure that you have everything you need and more; Sugar Daddy™️

You like to play games? So does he!!! Well... he’s no pro gamer or anything, but he’ll put forth his best effort. He’s SO down and enthusiastic about your interests. Sketching?? How amazing!! He’d love it. High key would put all your art on the wall or frame anything you drew for him, even if it was something childish and silly, like a cartoon dick.

Please, don’t ever worry or feel anxious as long as he’s there. He is honest and at times a bit blunt, but never would he ever be judgemental. He is used to being judged; why would he do that to somebody else? Actual king. The sweetest. He is also very patient. Would NOT make you wait or hold you up, and would throw hands with anyone that gives you a hard time. He cares too much about your feelings. He would also be so generous- physically, verbally, emotionally, ask and you shall receive. Cuddles with Taishiro would be heavenly. He would shower you with kisses, hold your hands, just... wow. ✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ:* 　　 *:･ﾟ✧*:･ﾟ✧ .・゜゜・　　・゜゜・

This is it... this is the moment I mentioned several hours ago ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)

Your villain matchup is none other than the infamous

Tomura Shigaraki!!

oh, you lucky, LUCKY tumblr user. SKSKSKS

The villain king himself would choose you. Maybe it’s because of how much of himself he sees in you (that just means you have things in common... calm down, Tomura), or maybe it’s because he tolerates you more than most people. Either way... buckle up, buttercup.

Tomura is not one that trusts easily. In fact, you would have to break through a figurative wall that’s *almost* as thick as the prison ones holding in AFO. But once you’re in... you’re stuck. There’s no escaping Shigaraki’s grasp. He will hold on tight and expect you to do the same.

Now, why on earth do I think you might actually be GOOD for this man? First of all, as I mentioned earlier, he could relate to you. He hates everything, but he really despises crowds and lots of unnecessary people. The fact that you feel the same way makes him kind of comfortable with you. You also are a bit shorter than he is, so he’d probably enjoy standing next to you. What? It makes him feel powerful. It’s totally not like he thinks it’s cute. Nah.

Y-you like... video games? That’s like, his only legitimate hobby aside from plotting to topple hero society. If you’re any good at video games, he’d want to play together. If you aren’t, Tomura would try to avoid playing the super intense competitive games with you to lessen the hostility he’d feel towards you if he lost. Sorry, he’s a sore loser. Good luck with that one. He would enjoy playing less intense video games, too. Minecraft? He’s down. Animal crossing? Sure. Honestly I could see the whole LoV playing something like Jackbox Games on Shigaraki’s Xbox and having a hella fun time.

You both are impatient. While it would irritate most others, you two have a special way of subtly (or not so subtly depending on the situation) expressing your annoyance *together*. It may even help lighten the mood.

Shig: “I never should’ve asked that bozo to run an errand for me. Next time, I’ll do it myself. He’s taking far too long.”

Y/n: “Yeah. I’ve been sitting here starving while he’s probably trying to schmooze one of the waitresses. Dabi can suck a lemon.”

Shig: “...huh?” Confused Tomura is slightly less irritated. Good job :)

Show 👏 this 👏 man 👏 some 👏 love. Please. He honestly needs it. Shigaraki would never say it, but he would probably love some affection. Just a little. Kiss his face and touch his hair; give him a hug or two million. He’d be really careful when it came to his hands, but after he gets all buff™️ and has wardrobe upgrade, he doesn’t have to worry about it as much. After that, you can expect him to grab you more and touch you more in general, and his hugs would feel so full. If you continue to follow his lead as his trusted companion, then maybe someday, he’d trust you enough to rule by his side.

[derpyslurpy-da-derp-master]

Why Emotionally Abusive Dads In Disney Is A Serious Problem

PLEASE SPREAD THIS. LET EMOTIONAL ABUSE VICTIMS KNOW THAT THEY ARENT ALONE AND THAT THEIR ABUSE ISNT OKAY.

So. Let’s get this outta the way immediately, I had and still have an emotionally abusive father myself and it took me a very long time to realize I was being abused. Why? Because I saw so many dads in movies I watched act exactly like him. Because to a kids brain, seeing these Emotionally abusive characters put in a positive light in the end made me think it was normal and okay. But it’s not. Not by a long shot. Because of this I let myself be victimized by my father over and over again, because I thought it was okay. And I just know that other kids with emotionally abusive fathers are growing up with this same skewed perception of morality because a movie said these abusive men are good parents. And before you go ‘What emotionally abusive parents?’

What these characters have in common?

Dream Crushing. Telling their children they can’t pursue their dreams. Neglecting them. Solving arguments with shouting. Not thinking about what their child must be feeling. Destroying or attempting to destroy things their child loves/cares about.

These kind of characters are the reason I thought my emotional abuse was okay.

Now, the reason it was so potent in making me okay with my abuse was because a lot of the things these guys do hit close to home. 

I can’t tell you how many times I’ve feared for my well being when his temper rose to Triton levels. I can’t tell you how many times my dad’s treated me nicely when I’m doing what he wants like Moana’s father only to snap at me the second I try to be who I really am. I can’t tell you how many times my dad has been like Remi’s father, telling me that i’m crazy if I pursue my dreams as an artist, saying it’s useless, treating me like garbage because I kept doing what I love. I can’t tell you how many times he’s outright abandoned me the second I’m under scrutiny that he doesn’t want to deal with like Buck Cluck does to his son.

I’ll start with the first and most violent of abusive fathers I've listed; King Triton. He’s one of two men on this list that tried to (and succeeded) destroy(ing) something his child cares about, and by that I mean everything his daughter cares about short of murdering Flounder. Like... The scene in Ariel’s grotto ties by stomach in knots every single time I see it because it’s so familiar and so harsh and just... I can’t even put it into words. This scene makes so many emotions go through me, both because of the scene itself and the memories it brings to the forefront of my mind. I’m not going to say anymore because I’d rather not throw a pity party for myself. But this is absolutely the prime example of an emotionally abusive father in Disney, he spends most of the movie literally trying to control Ariel who shows many of the signs of an emotionally abused child. And this... This scene is just the icing on the already toxic relationship.

Tritons not the only one trying to legitimately destroy something his kid cares about, when watching Moana I had serious flashbacks to the aformentioned scene. I already was going ‘great another emotionally abusive dad’ when I saw how the main conflict of the first half of the movie was literally Cheif Tui forbidding his daughter from being herself, something that a lot of emotionally abusive parents do to keep control of their children. But then, this happened. 

He... He wants to burn the boats. He wants to burn the boats Moana had found and chucks the Heart Of Tafiti as far as he can, something of great importance to his daughter. This man is literally pulling a Triton, but in this case he doesn’t get the chance because he tossed the Heart where his mother’s walking stick had dropped. Think about that for a moment, if he hadn’t thrown it right there, He would have been too busy burning boats while his daughter was crying ‘NO!’ to be with his mother on her deathbed. That is how far Tui would go (Moana pun unintentional) to say ‘You can’t be who you are because I say so’ to his child. 

Django isn’t violent per-say, but he definitely is controlling and NOT a good father to Remi.

This guy refuses to let anybody do anything even remotely different from him, Emile mentions at the beginning of the movie that Django would be upset if he saw Remi walking on his hind legs. Yes, you read that right, this guy would be very upset at his own son if he dared to do so much as to walk on his hind legs. That’s how controlling he is. 

And when Remi is found alive at first Django’s nothing but happy that his son is alive, but the second Remi reveals just how much he’s grown as a person away from his father’s suffocating watch Django’s on him again and being even more adamant then before on telling his Son who he can and can’t be.

He goes so far as to take him to a pest control storefront with Rat Carcasses in Mouse Traps hanging from the display to make his point of ‘Humans can only be bad because they hate us and you’re wrong.’ He shows his child dead bodies of other rats killed by humans. To make a point.

Remi rightfully takes every opportunity to be away from his dad, and thankfully had a much better role model in Chef Gusteau who taught him how to create things in his own way and that his father was wrong about the world, and thank god for that, if Remi listened to his father Ratatouille wouldn’t be my third favorite Disney Movie.

Ohhhh Buck Cluck. Where do I even begin. Well how bout with the fact that the Youtuber MysteriousMrEnter hates this guy so much he would ‘Urinate on his grave given the opportunity’ and is from one of the most despised Disney Movies of all time which is very bad/offensive like half the jokes are ‘ha ha this guys fat’ or ‘ha ha this girls ugly’ or ‘ha ha bullying and maiming’

Well Buck’s definitely not the same as these other guys... And by that I mean he neglects his son and abandons him to avoid the embarrassment of having Chicken Little as his son. Oh, and he only ever acts like he loves him after he does good in baseball since Buck wants to re-live his glory days through his son and if he can’t do that his son is dead to him. He. Is. SO EMOTIONALLY ABUSIVE. He neglects his son and makes his son feel absolutely worthless, he abandons him when he needs his dad the most, all for what? Because he doesn’t want to be associated with his own son??

Every one of these abusive dads has a happy ending and is ‘redeemed’ because they help their kid somehow in the end. Every. Single. One. And the movie acts like the abuse didn’t happen in the first place or that them occasionally being nice makes the abuse okay. It’s already hard enough to get away from Emotional Abusers, it’s even harder when they’re not awful all the time to make you think you’re exaggerating what’s happening to you, and it’s even worse with movies reinforcing that you are exaggerate since these abusive dads are put in a positive light at the end. This entire hot-cold attitude is how Emotional Abusers keep their victims from leaving or getting help. (This push-pull/hot-cold technique is also the same technique used by cults to keep their members from leaving.)

We need to stop letting abused kids think their abuse is normal, we need to stop normalizing abuse.

But, to end on a positive note, here are two Disney Dad’s that gave me some hope and a glimpse of actually good and healthy Father-Child relationship. These dads were genuinely really great parents that were very good examples for their kids and poured all their love into them, and that would be Mufasa and Tiana’s father, James. I mean both of them are dead and have little screen time, but that’s what happens when you aren’t an antagonist I guess.

In the Lion King, there’s a moment that is set up exactly like the aforementioned ‘kid does something they were told not to do which makes emotionally abusive dad lash out at them and/or destroy something they really care about’ that was highlighted with Triton and Tui. Simba just endangered both himself and Nala, Mufasa is clearly upset about it and says he needs to teach his son a lesson. Simba looks like he expects to get the aforementioned treatment of anger and i’m assuming this is the first time he’s ever truly upset his dad. Except...

Mufasa doesn’t shout at him. He doesn’t try to destroy anything. He isn’t upset because his child dared to defy him, he’s upset because his child put himself in danger, he was afraid for his well-being. Instead of shouting angrily, Mufasa takes this opportunity to take his ‘teach my son a lesson’ comment literally and teach Simba something. He teaches him what it truly means to be brave, they resolve their tension by the two being lovingly playful like a father and son should be, then Mufasa decides to teach him something else, about the past kings, and about how he’ll always be there for him. Instead of punishing his son harshly, he taught his son how to be better. That is a good dad.

James on the other hand doesn’t even have the hinting of the usual abusive dad trope to subvert it, James is just that- A really good, supportive dad.

Like, there are SO MANY bad dads in Disney specifically that try to keep their kids from their dreams because they don’t approve or understand, here James is nothing but supportive of Tiana’s dream, in fact they share the same dream of opening up a restaurant they can call their own. James sees her talents and he nurtures them so she can pursue her own dream, he instills the value of hard work and good cooking into his daughter, but not by force like the other dads on this list, because as Mama Oddie says, ‘You’re your daddy’s daughter, what he had in him you’ve got in you!’ Tiana grew up to become the amazing woman she is in large part because she had such a supportive, nurturing father that pointed her in the right direction. 

So, in conclusion. We need more good examples like Mufasa and James, we need to stop pretending emotional abuse is okay, because it isn’t. Let’s set future generations good examples that they don’t get in their own homes.

[kenyagami]

Welcome to the first chapter of my new fanfiction, Agents of Beacon.

This story takes place in a Modern AU, to explain, in this version of Remnant the Grimm are still around, but Aura, Semblances, and Huntsmen are not. Well, they are, but that's for the story to tell you.

If this specific type of Modern AU (that being with all the fantasy elements being hidden to the general public and all the tech is equivalent to ours) isn't a thing then I'd like to call it the "Agents AU" but I'm not sure if I can get away with that.

I hope you enjoy

- Ken

Agents of Beacon

Chapter 1

Roman Torchwick sat alone in the office of one his many warehouses through the city of Vale. In front of him was mountains of paperwork all of which containing information from the most expendable grunts to the locations of his safehouses, to the route he'd take to said safehouses. The master criminal had to sift through each and every one, checking for any and all mistakes, approving or denying any transfer requests, and making sure everyone was paid. Running a crime syndicate was just as complicated as running any other business. Torchwick absolutely despised this part of the job. He thrived off the thrill of his crimes, the sadistic pleasure of abusing the weak, but at the end of each day, he had to force himself into his office to becoming a sodding paper pusher. Normally he'd bitch and moan to his direct subordinate, but she was out doing god-knows-what.

Actually, Roman couldn't remember the last time he saw Neopolitan, his sexy mute assassin. He had sent her off to deal with some officer who was getting a little too close to locating him, but that was weeks ago, she should've been back by now.

"Eh, she'll show up eventually. The girl is durable as hell, probably just off with some new plaything." The gentleman thief thought aloud. He was a crime lord, he wouldn't allow himself to worry about anyone but himself. That was dangerous in this line of work. Speaking of work, the man dressed in his signature white overcoat and black slacks returned to the paperwork in front of him. It was an employee evaluation sheet for some newbie. His place of employment read "Tony's Pizzeria." Some shitty Italian restaurant he owned to clean his money, couldn't put "professional criminal" on anything official obviously. A sudden knock on his door brought his attention back up.

Roman had spent so long looking at sheets of white and black that he had forgotten the layout to his own office. The room wasn't anything too special, it was your standard drab office you'd find anywhere else, with two not too comfortable wooden chairs in front of his similarly made desk, and a black leather couch beside a low coffee table being the only furniture in site. The far door had a plain glass window with the word "Office" printed on it, allowing him to see who dared bother him at eleven p.m.

On the other side of the door was a young girl in red, her hair was jet black with red tips, and her eyes were a strange, dull silver. Her face displayed her trepidation of being a defenseless child in a crime lords main base of operations in the shady part of the city, and in her arms was a beaten and bruised Neopolitan. Roman jumped out of his chair and rushed towards the door, cane in hand, ready to kill the one who dared to hurt Neo. The completely calm and not concerned at all master thief slammed his office door open, shattering the glass and scaring the crimsonette even more.

"What. Happened." He stated more than asked, the girl holding Neo looked up at him with tears in her eyes. "I-I was being harassed by some guys in white and she j-j-jumped in and s-s-s-saved me. After she beat them up, some guy in black and a white mask came and completely beat her." Her explanation was short and full of fear and stutters but Roman understood. However, he was just as confused. Neo saved her? Why? And guys in white and one in black? What the hell was the girl talking about? Now that Roman looked at her, she couldn't have been older than seventeen, what was she even doing here?

"What's your name?" Roman continued.

The girl sniffled and whipped her tears, eyes regaining life.

"Ruby Rose."

Three years later

Ruby Rose stood in front of the full-length mirror in her room, going over her outfit for the day. Her style hadn't changed much from her early days, sticking to goth and punk inspirations. Deciding that everything was in order, the red and black-clad girl grabbed her signature red cloak and headed downstairs. Walking into the living room, she spotted her father, Taiyang, in the kitchen. The nearing fifty, still ridiculously in shape, security guard was setting down a full plate of breakfast food for him and his daughter on the dining room table when notice Ruby.

"Heya there, Rubbes, got time to eat before you head out?" The old man had a youthful voice like he never aged past his prime. His looks supported this line of thinking, his blonde hair still full and vibrant, blue eyes still held that childlike wonder. He sat down, ready to devour his delicious creation, Ruby joined him, her empty stomach her only motivation at the moment.

"I'm sure I do, but if not, whatever. Jaune and them will understand. It's my first day off in months!" The twenty-year-old stated before engorging herself with the food.

"Well, be sure to tell them if you think you'll be late." Her father reminded her. He wasn't one for rudeness, and he instilled that into his daughters. The two ceased conversation to finish their food, both of them eating quickly, without either of Ruby's mothers around they lacked any and all manners. After they ate, the two placed their dishes in the sink and walked together to their vehicles. Ruby sent her longtime friend, Nora, a quick text instructing her to inform the others that she would be late.

"Oh, Dad, while it is my day off, I have to head to the office to pick up something I left, I'll be late getting back. Don't worry about cooking for me I'll pick something up for myself." The brunette informed Taiyang.

"Alright, Rubbes, guess I'll see you tonight then." With a nod to show he truly understood her, Taiyang got into his truck and headed off to work. Once he was out of sight, Ruby got into her car and looked over the message she received earlier once more.

"Red, I need you in today, after all, got to meet someone and I'd like both my girls there."

"Damn it, Roman. What the fuck." Ruby complained out loud. Torchwick already keeps her busy with the paperwork and sparring with Neo left her sore all over. She was truly looking forward to her day off, and now she'd have to cut it short. The throbbing return to her head, and with an exaggerated groan, she collected the aspirin from her glove box, took 3 and headed to the meeting place to find her friends. What the hell could be so important that Torchwick would call her in? Was this individual he was meeting that dangerous? Or did he just want to dump more work on her? She had no way of knowing until she got there, so with a resolute sigh, she turned on her Bluetooth to clear her mind.

After about twenty-five minutes of driving from her suburban neighborhood into the metropolis known as Vale, she reached her destination. Ruby grabbed her phone, locked her car, and entered the building with a sign that read "Junior's Grill." The familiar restaurant had a modern aesthetic and a black and white color scheme with splashes of red. Junior, the owner, originally wanted a homey wood cabin look, but his daughters took complete control of designing the place and made it what it is today. Speaking of the two, the girls in red and white were the first to greet Ruby as she entered.

"Hey, Ruby!"

"Hi, Cutie." Melanie and Miltia called out simultaneously.

"Oh, hey, Melanie, Miltiades!" Ruby called out excitedly.

"Ugh, Ruby, how many times do I have to tell you to call me Miltia?" Miltiades responded indignantly.

"Sorry, Love, how've you two been?"

"Better now that we've seen you, you haven't been to Daddy's club in months," Melanie answered this time, wrapping her arm around the red tipped girl's waist. Miltia was not far behind her twin, allowing Ruby to place an arm around each other as they walked further into the store.

"Again, sorry, my boss has been working me to death. Your dad's lucky. I haven't seen him around in weeks." Ruby openly complained as she noticed Junior whipping down an empty table not too far off. She and the man had an odd dynamic from an outsiders point of view. The crimsonette would often poke the older bearded man, and he treated her like a third daughter, the oddity being that she was a seemingly normal girl who had no business dealing with a bar owner and information broker. The relationship was started by Ruby's lovely older sister, Yang Xiao Long, whom often went to the man to help locate her bounties.

"Grass is certainly looking greener over here."Junior laughed, the man was normally quite busy managing his legitimate restaurant, nightclub, and information so it was nice to not be bothered by Roman.

"Yeah, well, I'm gonna still with my friends for a bit girls, I'll see you when I can." Ruby dismissed the Malachite twins and turned the corner of the large establishment. More tables, some filled, greeted her. The table furthest back and against a large windowed wall seated her multicolored companions. The one in pink was the first to notice the brunettes approach.

"RUBY!" Nora called out, jumping up and tackling the young girl. With an "oof" the air left Ruby's lungs as she landed on her ass. The other 3 were quick to stand and help the two redheads up.

"Hello to you too, Nora." Ruby weezed out. Nora giggled as she cuddled deeper into the crook out Ruby's neck.

"Sorry, bout that Ruby," Ren, a tall black-haired man of Asian descent in green, apologized for Nora, "It's just been so long." Ruby simply laughed it off, finally sitting down next to Pyrrha.

"It's no biggie, used to it by now," Ruby answered with a wide smile. "Actually kinda missed it."

"Well, we have certainly missed you." Pyrrha, the unofficial mother of the group clad in gold and red, injected.

"Yeah, what's been keeping you so busy?" Jaune, a blonde meek boy sporting a black hoodie and jeans, leaned forward, curiosity clear in his voice.

"Oh, just work, so much paperwork!"

"Really? What could possibly be so demanding?" A concerned Pyrrha asked, the crimsonette obviously couldn't just respond "Oh, y'know, running a crime syndicate." but she hated the thought of lying to her friends. The five of them had been together since early high school.

"Nothing too bad. C'mon, I don't wanna think about work right now, what have you guys been up to?"

While the concern didn't any of their faces, they knew they wouldn't get anything from the crimsonette. Three years ago, maybe, but ever since she got her new job, Ruby had changed. Before Ruby was quiet, shy, and genuine, now she was loud, confident, and deceptive. She had somehow gotten much stronger, though none of them ever seen her go to any gym, and she learned how to fight somewhere along the line. Ruby became quick, no one could touch her if she didn't want them to, and any opponent, no matter the size, would lay at her feet if they challenged her. The four of them tried, again and again, to find out what had changed in her life to cause this but she'd never answer them. The only thing that kept them from forcing the answer out of her was the fact that she was seemingly fine, better even, and that she never once lied to them.

There were plenty of times where Ruby would simply change the topic, or leave if pressed too hard. Quickly, her friends learned to stop asking, although it eventually came back up. After agreeing to let it go for the hundredth time, the conversation moved to much more pleasant things. They talked about Pyrrha's modeling career, and how she was steadily becoming more popular outside of Vale. Ren mentioned that he had finally gotten his therapy license, and Nora got a job at her favorite gym as a personal trainer. With the both of them working they were able to afford their own place and had not so recently moved out of Jaune's home. The aforementioned blonde still worked at the same bookstore with their other friends, Sun and Neptune, who Ruby was told were also doing fine. After talking for about an hour, laughing at Nora's antics, and sharing books to read with Jaune, the fivesome was approached by Junior.

"Hey, Ruby, I gotta talk to you real fast," Junior announced.

"What's up?" Ruby responded.

"Uhh, you sure it's fine? Right here?" Junior asked, gesturing to the others at the table. The crimsonette gave them each a quick glance before turning back to Junior, inquiring on what the topic of discussion was.

"Something our shared boss wants you informed on, nothing too sensitive," Junior answered her.

"Alright, spill," Ruby demanded, suddenly seeming superior to the older man.

"Yes, Ma'am!" Junior replied, shocking everyone in the restaurant, "Shits been gettin' rough out lately," He lowered his voice in embarrassment as he continued, "People are reporting sighting Grimm around lately."

"Grimm!?" The fivesome whispered in horror. The Creatures of Grimm were a plague. Their predatory nature against humanity as a whole earned them notoriety among the everyman. They took on many shapes and sizes but shared just as many traits. From their soulless, blood-red eyes, to the boney white plates that covered each species. They used to be a commonplace disaster, but far from recent advancements in technologies and Dust have kept them far from any city. They were still routinely hunted by each kingdom's military, however, since the longer a single Grimm lived, the stronger and more intelligent it became.

"Yeah," Junior continued, "In the city. They just appear, kill, and then vanish. People report them mainly in the shitter parts like where homeless gather and the police don't take them seriously."

Jaune breathed a sigh of relief at this, "So, its just crazy talk. if the police aren't worried, we shouldn't be either right?"

Nora and Pyrrha regained some of their lost color at this, but Ruby quickly dashed all hope in them with a firm "We aren't police." Ren didn't let the comment slide.

"What do you mean?"

"I mean we shouldn't shove this off as a drug addict's ramblings, Junior, finish." Ruby was curt. Her demeanor had changed as soon as Junior began, she seemed tense, ready for a fight. Junior didn't let anyone ask her why.

"Last thing is that some people are stating that others are 'superhuman.'" No one interrupted this time, "They say that they take bullets like nothing, glowing when shot, and healing super fast. Heard they move faster than a normal person, stronger too. No explanation on that."

Ruby moved her gaze to the floor thoughtfully, and Ren seemed to recognize what Junior was talking about.

"Glowing? Is it a shared color?" Ren leaned forward, tense after hearing what Junior had to say.

"No, each one reports a different person having a different color. If it helps, only two people have been seen in total, and their colors are white and green."

"I have to go," Ruby announced suddenly, surprising everyone.

"What, why?" Both Nora and Pyrrha asked.

"Work." That was all Ruby said before she was gone.

Vale, the capital of the Kingdom and named after said kingdom, was fairly large. The upper district was where the city officials and rich resided, it was full of large buildings, skyscrapers, and banks. Fancy restaurants and opera houses added to the pretentious and snobby vibe one got by being in the general area. Most people living there were of the one percent, being bankers or aforementioned city official. They lived in expensive mansions, drove expensive cars, and wore expensive clothes. They lived their lives thriving off of gossip and using money to solve any problem, completely ignorant to the needs and worries of the middle and lower districts. The middle district was exactly that, middle. Everyone lived in middle-class homes, drove middle-class cars, you get the picture. It was what people thought of when they heard the word "city." Full of schools, movie theaters, clubs, and suburban neighborhoods. It was the perfectly normal life, who could ask for more?

Blake Belladonna could. She currently lived in the lower district of Vale, and she hated it. The streets were dirty, full of waste and homeless people. Only every other building was even livable, the standard being filled with holes and crumbling to dust. Luckily, it wasn't her permanent home, that being Menagerie, another, smaller kingdom. So, what was she doing in Vale? Simple, White Fang business. Adam Taurus, a red-headed bull Faunus, and she came here to take over the Valeian faction and get them back in order. Adam quickly gained a loyal following here and took the title of Faction Leader no problem. What bothered Blake was what came afterward. In their three year tenure here in Vale, Adam had changed. Not abruptly, but steadily, like a poison. Slowly he became more angry, violent, and ruthless. The orders he gave were more harsh and deadly. Even now, Blake sat alone on a tall office building, scouting out the routine of a senator she was meant to assassinate.

The thought alone disgusted her. The White Fang Blake knew and loved was a peaceful organization. They only wanted equal rights for Faunus, a race of humans with animal traits. The girl in black and white was a cat Faunus herself, sporting two black cat ears under her signature bow. Every day, in every kingdom to various degrees, Faunus were discriminated, segregated, and abused only because they were different. The White Fang was made to fight against this, in a peaceful manner. With protest and demonstrations, they actually began to make progress towards equality. Then Adam stepped in, while he was only a leader to the Faction in Vale, other like-minded individuals were popping up all over Remnant. His mercilessness was already spreading with the organization, Blake's current mission was proof of that. Speaking of, some movement down below brought Blake out of her trance.

On street level was Senator Isaac Black, he was the swing vote on a bill that discreetly allowed Faunus to be forced to work overtime without compensation. It was obvious to anyone that actually read the damn thing, but who bothered with that? It didn't affect the general populace, so it truly didn't matter. The Faunus didn't know what killing him would accomplish, would it send a message? Of course, but was it a message the White Fang wanted? No, it couldn't be, this wouldn't help the Faunus whatsoever. This event would fully mark them as a terrorist group, which would certainly do them no favors.

Blake watched her target enter his car and drive away, harboring no intention to pursue him. She sat down on the edge of her perch and looked at her hand, a light purple glow emanating from it. It was her Aura, an outward manifestation of her soul, or so Blake was told. It made her stronger, allowed her to move faster, protected her from damage, and gave her access to her semblance, Shadow. This was supposed to be the White Fang's secret weapon, Blake only saw it as a tool for war. Only Adam and her possessed Aura, but it gave every member of the White Fang in Vale the confidence to attack their oppressors. That, and the new uniform and masks that Blake refused to wear. With the masks, the guilt of their new terrorist actions didn't weight on the once normal citizens that made up the White Fang. Blake had a front row seat to the White Fang's painful transformation, and it angered her to no end.

"Hey there, Kitty Cat." Which is why she contacted this old drunkard.

"I kindly ask that you never call me that ever again." Blake deadpanned. The old man just laughed at her and took a seat next to the black Faunus giving her a chance to look him over.

His hair was black and unkempt, eyes red, both in color and bloodshot, and his chin was decorated in scruff. Blake could tell he was muscular, but his black business suit covered it well. His white undershirt was unbuttoned at the top, only being held in place by a blood red tie. The Faunus had a feeling that he didn't choose this style on his own, mainly because he looked extremely uncomfortable in it. However, it still made her feel underdressed. Her white sleeveless shirt, black vest, and white shorts suddenly felt inadequate. With a large sigh the feeling left, she requested to meet him again for a reason.

"So, can you really help me, Mr. Branwen?" Blake asked as the man reached for a flask in his inner pocket. Though, he paused once he registered what she said.

"Alright, listen, I won't call you anything cat related if you don't call me 'mister,' deal?"

"Deal. Qrow it is."

"Great, so, to answer your question," he paused to sip his flask, "Yeah, I can help you, but you're gonna hafta help me first."

Blake gave a nod of approval, not wanting to interrupt the man. "This isn't from Beacon, this is from me. I got a niece that lives here in Vale. Real sweet little monster. Haven't seen her in a long time, and I heard she's gotten into some real shit."

Another pause, another sip.

"Her dad and friends are all worried to no end, and I'm a busy guy, I can't just drop in and check on her. That's what I need you for." Qrow looked over to Blake seeing if she understood what he meant.

"So…" Blake began, confused, "You want me to… follow her?"

"Close. I want you to be her friend."

Blake gave the old drunkard a blank stare, slowly processing what he said.

"What?"

End of Chapter 1

Well, that's chapter 1. I honestly can't wait to hear what you have to say, and to finish chapter 2.

Next time, we see what Yang is up to, and follow team JNPR as they worry over Ruby

-Ken

[allaboardthemetro-blog]

Entering the Final Act || Akira || ATTN: All Passengers

His smirk grew slowly as everyone reacted.  He was glad to see Airi put the knife down; getting stabbed would really put a damper in this moment he was savoring.  The anger, the fire everyone was spitting out… He’d even gotten Billy to snap. And here he’d thought the guy was too foolhardy to actually crack.  This was beautiful, honestly. If only there were more people to see it.

Would applauding a little overdo it?  It would probably overdo it. Still, it wasn’t like he was going to be regularly interacting with these people after this.  Just some things for the police, maybe a little for HPA, and then home free. And jegus, the urge to clap was just too strong right now.

So, he did it.  He brought his hands together, his slow claps echoing throughout the trial room.  Congratulations, everyone, you found the mastermind. You found the one who put you on this train and didn’t stop until the station of living hell.  Bask in your glory.

Here he was, and he was about to talk your goddamn ears off.

“So, why’d I do it?”

“I’m sure you’ve all been waiting long enough for some sort of answer.  You’ve watched your classmates die around you, send some of them to their deaths by your own hand, and for what?  Why would anyone want to do this? And especially to us, just innocent little HPA students?”

He cracked his knuckles and took a deep breath.  “Well! You’ve heard of the Reserve Course, right?  I’d hope you would have, given that I’ve been here this whole time.  So I’m not going to explain it for you if you don’t. Too bad.

“What you might not know is what sort of treatment the Reserve Course students get.  Long story short, we’re like the red-headed stepchildren of the establishment. Even though we pay the outrageous tuition that funds the whole place, we’re treated like substandard by pretty much everyone on campus.  We’re students, but we don’t get to use any of the fancy equipment our money pays for, we don’t get the benefit of ‘guaranteed success upon graduation,’ and we don’t get any goddamn respect.

“And it’s not even like we all wanted to be here!  Sometimes, it’s just your parents assuming oh he must want to go!  Let’s uproot him from his friends and isolate him with the person he’s known since forever and see how they improve, hm?  Oh, this is gonna be great…”

He paused for a few seconds, then cleared his throat.  “But I digress. Anyway…

“The one thing I despise most about HPA?  It gives kids false hope. They sell this narrative about talent, how if you work hard enough, even you, you pathetic little Reserve Courses, you too can join us in the Talent Course!  The goddamn Land of Milk and Honey. It's all bullshit.  Like, seriously, that's not cynicism, that's just reality.  You come from all over the world, have experiences all over the world.  Talia’s from Australia, at least, and this is just a sample group. There's so many more.  There's no way any average Reserve Course student would be able to replicate that sort of world experience and recognition.  No matter how much they want it, no matter how determined they are, no matter how much money their parents funnel into them. But the academy puts this shitty idea in their head, that maybe if they work hard enough, they’ll be able to compete with these ridiculously lucky people who had all the right opportunities!

“And some people actually believe it.  That if they can run a kickass newspaper on campus, they're sure to become a Talent Student, the SHSL Reporter.  But they can't. There's no way that can compare to someone else who's had better opportunities. It'll get overlooked, in spite of all the effort she pours into it.  They just won't care.”

He paused again, but for less time than before.  After a deep breath, he balled his hands into fists, thrust them down at his sides, and continued.

“So, pretty damn clear I hate this place.  But, I'm not alone. Far from it! In fact,there's more than one organization that'd love to see this academy go down in flames.  One particular organization -- though I'm not going to name them, I'm sure they don't want the authorities on their tail -- had the perfect idea to do it.  Create a scandal so devastating, something that would be such a blemish on the academy, they just couldn't stay open. And it should be pretty obvious to you what this scandal is: the mutual killing game.

“So, they have the plan, and they have the means!  There's just one thing they don't have -- an in. They have no way to get in and legitimately gather some HPA students for this, without the academy getting suspicious.”  At this, he chuckled. “That's where I came in. What better place to find a like-minded individual than on the internet? They find me, a genuine student, and with pretty good standing thanks to the student-run paper I'm part of, the Reserve Hope Shimbun.  I have the connections, they have everything else they need, it's a perfect match.

“So we make a deal.  As satisfying as it is to bring down the shitshow that is Hope’s Peak Academy, it's not something I do for nothing.  And I have this friend, you see -- the other founding member of the Reserve Hope Shimbun. She's a good girl, earnest, hard-working, and wants more than anything to be a reporter.  And for some stupid, bullshit reason…” He took a moment to glare out at the students in the trial room. “...she thinks she needs to go through HPA to do that. But now, that doesn't have to be the case.  Her getting a job as a reporter at a news station somewhere in Japan was one of my conditions. And since I've held up my end of the deal, they're legally bound to hold up theirs. She'll get what she's wanted all her life, and she won't have to stake everything on some shitty school that can't even protect its own students from themselves.

“As for me?  I want a life away from all of this.  From all this chaos, all this snubbing, all this talent.  After I get the fuck out of HPA, I’m angling for an average job.  That was the other part of my contract. I'd love a job as an accountant, but, y’know, I'm not picky.  Any sort of salaryman job’ll do. Then maybe I can pick up life where it left off. Move up on the corporate ladder, build a nice family, make a good life for myself.  I've got simple dreams, I'm not asking for much.

“As for you guys?  Heh. It's been pretty damn fun watching you all fall apart, and it's gonna be fun watching what happens next.  This organization I'm working for has their eggs in a lot of baskets, including the media. Useful for getting my friend that job, and useful for making sure Hope's Peak Academy burns.  Once we get out of here, just about every network is gonna wanna know the details.  What toils you went through, what depravity your captors subjected you to.  You'll never be able to get a moment's peace!  You'll never be allowed to forget what happened here.  And you'll never be able to say who did this to you.

“But, at least you'll be able to live your lives.  HPA won't be so lucky. They send their students off to see the headquarters of a newspaper, and then they do nothing when they're kidnapped along the way.  I really did take the time to schedule a field trip, by the way. I asked the faculty for permission, set up the outing with the newspaper itself, it all checked out on paper.  They had no idea it was just a front. Until we failed to show up, of course. Naturally, the organization in charge of this set up the train and the venue. They even set up the conductor!”

The mention of the conductor seemed to remind Akira why they had all gathered here in the first place.  With a peeved sigh, he looked away, then shrugged.

“Oh yeah.  Speaking of Jenova.  Guh, the fucking wimp.  Yeah, I killed him, you're welcome.  He was right, I was sort of planning to kill him, but not from the outset of all this.  He was doing fine at first, but...honestly, if you're going to start a dirty job, you finish the dirty job.  He was getting soft, wanted to wrap this up because ‘he couldn't take it.’”  He scoffed. “Couldn't take it… You do what you need to do. Beggars can't be choosers, he ought to have know that better than I did!

“So… Are we ready to wrap this up?  Ready to get back to the rest of our lives in the real world, for better or for worse?  Because I'm sure as hell ready to see what arises from all of this…”

[kirikinni]

Falling In Glove With You- Taekook/Yoonseok Fluff (part1)

Part 2

“Hyung, doesn’t this look like a pitch?” a very drunk Jungkook asked staring intently at his pizza slice as though it held the secrets of the universe.

“In what world? The pitch is a diamond you toenail.” Yoongi replied, looking at Jungkook with disgust.

“Oh! Oh shit it’s green now, hyung is the pizza supposed to be green?”

“What the fuck are you drinking, give it here. That’s enough for a year.” Yoongi stated and reached over to grab the bottle from Jungkook who was too out of it to even react.

The two boys were crashed out in their apartment, Jungkook had his head falling over one of the arm rests and his legs over the other while Yoongi reclined comfortably in his chair and stared at his strange younger brother.

They had a match coming up and had been freaking out for the past two hours. The two brothers had moved out to LA in hopes of achieving their dream of playing baseball professionally. Yoongi had been living in Boston for a few years already, busting tables and DJ’ing at parties and proms for extra cash. He shared his apartment with another boy, Kim Namjoon, who worked in retail. Yoongi had enough money to afford his own apartment, but he knew Jungkook would come down after college and he knew they had to save for the league.

Once Jungkook had arrived and started getting decent pay, the three of them had moved to a slightly larger apartment much to Jungkook’s surprise. He hadn’t understood why Yoongi’s roommate was was moving with them but like Yoongi said to him then, you don’t just live with someone for three years and not become best friends.

Namjoon, had grown up in the US and he was the one who helped Yoongi enter the MSBL League. It was an amateur league but you had to start somewhere. Once Jungkook arrived, he joined the league as well, thankfully in the same team as Yoongi, the Eagles. Thanks to Namjoon, Yoongi didn’t have to hunt and search for a team full of strangers. Namjoon’s current boyfriend played in the league and coincidentally they were a few people short both times Namjoon asked.

Yoongi and Jungkook settled into the team nicely thanks to Seokjin who was like the Oliver Wood of minor league baseball. They went to practice after work and on weekends and perfected their skills. Jungkook rose to the top of their team as their golden pitcher, he got the batsmen out and the ball to their team’s catcher as easily as pulling his shirt over his head. Sports came naturally to him, always the star player.

Yoongi alternated between right fielder and second baseman, running, catching, tagging, all those things were right up Yoongi’s lane and he was more than happy to play those positions. It wasn’t as glamorous as pitcher but he preferred to stay out of the limelight. Their team was already pretty strong but with the addition of the brother duo they were almost unbeatable. Almost. There was one other team, Boston Bears, considered the gods of the MSBL in Boston and every other team feared them. Yoongi being his hard-headed self couldn’t take it, he refused to just let another team take the title of the best.

He knew they would have to be the best if he ever wanted to see the glory of professional baseball so he convinced Seokjin to up the team’s practice time. Yoongi somehow managed to rev up the entire team into a frenzy. The next time they played, the Bears they were out for blood. His whole team was ready to win and they did, they won against the Bears for the first time in two years and the crowd was in uproar. The team picked Yoongi up and carried him all the way to the nearest bar where they drank until they couldn’t speak clearly.

The Bears soon became their worst enemy and with it Yoongi got himself his very own rival, Jung Hoseok. The team captain and smooth talker extraordinaire, Yoongi hated him with a passion. He hated how good he was and how assured he was that their team was better than his. More than anything Yoongi absolutely despised how he would congratulate Yoongi on his achievement and how Hoseok had the audacity to ask Yoongi to help him with his catch. Yoongi was sure that Hoseok was mocking him and there would never be a match that didn’t follow with an hour of everyone having to listen to Yoongi talk about Hoseok.

Jungkook, like Seokjin, didn’t think of the Bears as their archrivals but rather as really talented opponents. In the year he had been here, he made tons of friends in both their own team and in the Bears. Everyone loved the boy and his sweet, beyond respectful personality. He was their youngest member and they all treated him like their own little brother. The league was their family, Yoongi and Jungkook found friends and a whole new family on the other side of the world through baseball. The reason behind the brothers freaking out and getting drunk was the rumor of a baseball prodigy being added to the Bears. There was news floating around that a new member was being added. The only information they received about him so far was that he was also from South Korea and that he was a killer batsman. Eagles had their next match against the Bears and Yoongi did not want this new member to ruin it for them and when Yoongi worries Jungkook worries. Only this time there was legitimate fear in Jungkook. Jungkook’s position was pitcher and he had made a reputation for himself as the best. If this new batsman was better, if he could accurately hit all of Jungkook’s pitches, Jungkook would be ruined and being as melodramatic as he is Jungkook imagined his entire life crashing around him.

“Yoongi hyung what am I gonna do if he can hit all my balls, I’ll be ruined. I’ll have to change my name, get plastic surgery and move away to Poland.” Jungkook whined and looked at Yoongi with horror in his eyes, “Hyung, I can’t go to Poland.”

“Jungkook, if this new player is as good as they say how will I ever look Hoseok in the eye again? He’s going to gloat all over the place. I hate his face, he’s going to smile and laugh and his whole face is going to light up. I’m old and I don’t have the strength to deal with that.” Yoongi said and gulped down whatever was left in Jungkook’s bottle.

“Oh shut up, you two absolute drama queens. Honestly, it’s just one new player–what the fuck is wrong with you two? Jungkook, calm the hell down, you’re gonna be fine and you’re gonna keep your title as the best. If this new opponent is that good then you’ll just rise to that level and be better, and Yoongi hyung, the only reason you don’t want to see Hoseok smile is because it makes you smile. Just admit you’re whipped for the boy and ask him out. Jesus Christ, I swear I’ve grown five years ever since you both moved in with me.” Namjoon said, taking the bottle away from Yoongi and whacking Jungkook behind the head. “Hyung!” Jungkook yelled and jumped up to sit on his knees on the couch. “What if I’m not good enough, I know it seems like I’m good at everything but it can happen, he could be better, hyung I’m going to die, oh no.” Jungkook started to ramble, flailing his hands around wildly.

“Shut up you cocky little shit.” Yoongi said and threw a throw pillow at him making him fall backwards off the couch and land on the floor with a thud, “Oh God, oh no are you okay? You’re our best pitch you can’t be injured.” Yoongi yelled and jumped off of his own couch and scrambled over to his little brother.

“Ow hyung, that hurt. Nice to know you care.” Jungkook grumbled, rolling his eyes.

“Guys just go to bed, you have practice tomorrow. You can scout the new guy.” Namjoon said as he walked back into the kitchen with the two bottles.

Yoongi sighed and walked into his own room after nudging Jungkook with his feet. “Move… go sleep and be ready for tomorrow.”

—

The next morning was a hassle since Jungkook was still very much afraid of being shown up and Yoongi was still very much only thinking about Hoseok and how he would react if they lost. Namjoon ended getting them both ready and driving them to practice the whole time, grumbling about never signing up to be their mother.

Seokjin and the rest of the team was already there, they were running drills as the three of them walked up. Seokjin ran down to them once he saw them, a smile as wide the pacific gracing his face.

“Hyung, why do you look so happy? Did the new player drop dead?” Yoongi asked, his face lighting up with expectation.

“No Yoongi my god, he’s here! We get to play against them for a practice match.” Seokjin announced like it was the greatest news he could possibly deliver.

“Hyung…” Yoongi said and stopped, letting it register in his mind, “Hyung, that’s not good news.” He yelled after a few seconds.

“Yes it is, now go and stretch out with the rest of the team. We need to show the new kid what we’re about.” Seokjin said as he took Namjoon’s hand and walked to the bleachers.

“Fuck this, now if we lose then we’ll lose earlier. I hate life.” Yoongi said and stalked down toward the field. Jungkook ran up ahead of him, seeing the field and his team gave him a new sense or reassurance.

Yoongi walked down, his mind his mind racing for ideas for a win when a hand was thrown over his shoulder and that voice he hated so much rang through his ears, “Hey hyung, good morning.”

“Leave me alone.” Yoongi replied, poison in his voice.

“Oh c’mon hyung, we’ve been playing against each other for four years now. Why you gotta be like this?” Hoseok asked, refusing to remove his hand.

“Don’t try to distract me from your new player, you’re not gonna get the better of me or my team, you snake.” Yoongi said, trying very hard to ignore the burning of his skin when Hoseok touched him.

“I’m doing nothing of the sort, hyung. You really need to learn how to read people better.” Hoseok said laughing

“Uhuh sure, I’m going to go practice and you should do the same. Don’t get cocky just cause you have a good new player.”

“Okay, hyung. Bye, good luck.” Hoseok said and ran off.

“Jump off a cliff.” Yoongi replied and joined his team who were all running drills and sweating.

The only thing anyone on their team could discuss was the new player on the opposite team and it was getting to Jungkook. He was jumpy and messed up a few practice pitches which made him even more afraid. Seokjin joined them, and in about an hour both teams were lining up to play. Jungkook took his position and started jogging in his spot to alleviate some tension. Yoongi was second baseman and he couldn’t keep his eyes off Hoseok who was glowing in the sunlight. He was sitting with the rest of his team in the bleachers and the sunlight hitting his skin made him look like a god. Hoseok turned his head to catch Yoongi’s eye and waved. Yoongi whipped his head away and felt his entire body burn at being caught.

The first batsman came onto the field and Jungkook turned around to look at him. The moment his eyes caught sight of the new boy, he felt all the air in his body get knocked out him. The new boy was the definition of beautiful, the uniform he was wearing fit his body just right and he walked and held himself like a model would. Jungkook was ready to fall to his knees and apologize for even looking in the boy’s direction.

“Jungkook, are you playing or what?” the catcher yelled at him, shaking him out of his thoughts.

Jungkook blushed red and stretched a bit before getting ready to pitch. Jungkook now had a new purpose on this field, “Don’t make a fool of yourself in front of the most beautiful boy in existence.”

The referee blew his whistle signaling the beginning of the game and Jungkook pulled his hand back and pitched with all his might, he was sure the batsman would miss but he didn’t. He hit the ball and it flew, it flew out of the park and Jungkook stood there staring at him. His jaw on the floor and his heart beating way too fast.

Jungkook turned his head to look at how far the ball flew and back at the batsman. He didn’t know whether he was attracted or annoyed, he decided on a little bit of both. He threw the second ball, this one spinning in ways that made it impossible to follow with human eyes and yet the boy hit it. This hit wasn’t as accurate and only went a little way but the fact that he could hit the ball at all made Jungkook want to either pull out his own hair or pull the boy’s hair.

Jungkook breathed in and out, trying to calm himself down and to get at least one ball in, he pulled back and let go imagining the surprise and hopefully awe on the boy’s face when he saw how good Jungkook was and it worked. The ball flew past the boy and into the hands of the catcher. Jungkook jumped and yelled, this was his number one achievement and he was ecstatic. Once he had stopped celebrating he turned his attention back to the batsman who had a wide smile plastered on his face. Jungkook could clearly see it through the bars in the helmet.

The rest of the new boy’s inning went like that, some balls he hit and some balls he missed. Once the boy was off the pitch Jungkook didn’t try as much, he knew exactly how to mess with the rest of the team and the rest of the match went by without much excitement. When the Bears were pitching Jungkook could not keep his eyes off of the new boy, the way his hair moved in the wind and how when he ran his leg muscles strained against his pants. At one point, he lifted his shirt to wipe the sweat on his face and Jungkook almost passed out. The game ended on a tie which was fine to everyone except Yoongi who decided that that was even worse than losing and sulked the whole time while the teams shook hands and walked over to the closest bar.

Hoseok sat down next to Yoongi and talked about a new book he was reading, while Yoongi tried his best to not let his gaze slip down to Hoseok’s lips. Yoongi was much better at conversing with Hoseok when he was drunk.

Jungkook was sat in a corner opposite Seokjin and Namjoon who were discussing something very domestic, Jungkook was watching his team and the Bears when the new boy slipped into the seat next to him.

Jungkook felt his heart jump into his throat and his skin burn at the close contact. He both cursed and blessed the tiny seating accommodations. The boy turned to Jungkook and smiled really wide, his lips stretched out to form a box shape and his eyes sparkled. He was holding a beer, the same as Jungkook.

“Hey, you’re first pitcher for the Eagles, right? You’re incredible.” He said and took a sip of his drink.

Jungkook fumbled around for words, trying his best to both drink in the boys beauty and string together a coherent sentence, “Um ya… ya um thank you and you’re the first batsman, you killed me um it ya… you killed it.” He said, his words tripping over his tongue.

The boy laughed and it sounded like angels were singing, Jungkook swore he could listen to the boy laugh for years, “Ya I was, thanks. Hey, I wanted to ask if you could help me practice? My team has some amazing pitchers but none as good as you.”

Jungkook blushed red and prayed the boy didn’t see it, he was more than happy to spend more time with such a beautiful specimen of human, “Sure, I would love to. My name’s Jungkook, by the way.” He said and put his hand out.

The boy smiled again and shook Jungkook’s hand, “Kim Taehyung, nice to meet you.”

[fapangel]

Since I first issued my dire predictions of civil violence in the not-so-distant future, I’ve been looking, exhaustively, for evidence I’m wrong. III Have you considered this angle: The traditional media's hyping that up? I mean, we know in the early/mid 60's the newspapers and cameras focused on the small number of violent protestors during anti-war protests and made them out to be the majority. If the media has no shred of integrity left, why are you looking at them for evidence of integrity?

That’s just the thing - I’m not. I’m looking at people. at the “man on the street” and in both my personal life (as in actual meatspace, not online) and in actual journalism (some people still do it, outside and inside the mainstream establishment,) I’m seeing a decidedly worrisome tone. 

We all remember “literally shaking” on Twitter the night of the election, but there were other words going around quite a bit - sick, disgusted, afraid, scared, etc. Twitter - as it’s used by the majority - gives a quick insight into the personal emotions of the people using it. (This is why PR uses that bank on the presumed intimacy - like Trump’s twitter - tend to be more successful, and more careful, sterile treatments, like the Clinton campaign that took 12 staffers and 10 drafts to compose a single tweet, typically lack traction.) Sure, us seal-clubbin neocons and tree-hugging liberals had a good giggle at the triggered snowflakes breathlessly predicting the Right Wing Gestapo emerging from the woodwork to bash the gays - but then a friend of mine told me it’d actually happened, post-election, to a friend of his, and that’s when my laughter stopped. 

As was explained to me, the LGBTQ folks feared that Trump’s election would be seen as “permission” by all the knuckledraggers, and it seems it was. So it’s time to ask yourself the question - how did the knuckledraggers get that impression to begin with? Maybe - just maybe - it had something to do with the media screaming, 24/7, for months, that Trump was literally Hitler and that he was going to oppress all the gays and Jews and Muslims and fluffy bunnies. “Of course he’s Our Guy,” the Illinois Nazis said with glee, “the entire news media keeps screaming about it!” 

Also consider that the media’s reinforcing the left wing’s narrative, which makes people on the left wing much more likely to believe it since it’s validating their own beliefs. Vox.com has an excellent article on the Russian conspiracy blitz and why it’s playing so well with Democrats, and the author is neither a Trump fan or apologist (as is abundantly clear from the article itself.) It’s worth reading entire, but this quote stands out: 

“Misinformation is much more likely to stick when it conforms with people’s preexisting beliefs, especially those connected to social groups that they’re a part of,” says Arceneaux. “In politics, that plays out (usually) through partisanship: Republicans are much more likely to believe false information that confirms their worldview, and Democrats are likely to do the opposite.”

The article accurately compares the current phenomena to the entire “birther” movement on the right - it’s the exact same psychological phenomena, so unsurprisingly you see it manifesting with human beings on both sides of the spectrum. A lot of politics falls into that category, and it’s where most of that “political common ground” I keep talking about can be found. The difference is that the Left controls the lion’s share of the communication media and in turn, our culture. Hollywood - a cultural engine if there ever was one - is extremely left wing and has been since before McCarthy’s day. The modern telecommunications and internet media, which lives and breathes in Sillicon Valley, is likewise invested in the left wing; Erich Schmidt, chairman of Alphabet (Google’s parent company,) founded a PAC to give Hillary’s campaign IT support during the election, and we all remember how the CEO of Mozilla was hurled out of office because he dared to cast a private, anti-revolutionary vote. The next time you hear leftists talking about how “de-platforming” is legitimate, remember that the leftists literally own the fucking platforms. Nobody’s gonna find your conservative site if Google de-lists it. This is the problem - both sides have their lunatics willing to swallow any shit they’re being shoveled, but only one side has a massive megaphone that’s actively colluding - complete with sticky-handed twitter high-fives - to push the same narrative across the board, and cross-validate it. 

Hilariously, the Vox author (Kevin Drum) doesn’t see it, making the article a self-demonstrating one: 

Luckily for the Democratic Party, there isn’t really a pre-built media ecosystem for amplifying this like there was for Republicans. In the absence of left-wing Limbaughs and Breitbarts, media outlets totally unconcerned with factual rigor, it’s much harder for this stuff to become mainstream.

… except he does see it, because he goes on to name some examples (and some tweets) of people chugging the kool-aid… but all of them Democratic politicians or DNC staffers who should know better, not the media itself. He’s clearly intelligent and well-balanced, he’s standing in the middle of a bullshit cyclone he knows is bullshit, but he’s only just now starting to smell the rot and he hasn’t even noticed objective journalism’s decaying corpse yet, despite standing in its ribcage. If someone like him can be so stymied, how do you think That Guy - you know, [the bitter old man |the aging hippie creep] who always [ sits on his porch yelling at birds | shuffles around Trader Joe’s in grungy sandals comparing kale prices] and blames everything on [ dat gal-dern Mooslim Obongo | the military-industrial-jew-lizardman-complex] is going to react?

Some people do actually believe this shit and they are mostly Democrats - hell, here’s a Gallup poll with the numbers if you doubt my analysis. And to re-iterate, they’re inflaming extremists on both sides of the spectrum, because the more violence antifa commits, the more the Illinois Nazis will croon “see, we were right all along!” 

The traditional mass media engaging in this shit is much, much worse than the right-wing “alternative news ecosystem,” the blogs, the talk radio hosts, infogiggles, etc. They’re all personality-based and those personalities differ and disagree (if they didn’t, how would they offer content distinct from what the others offer?) This is natural, because conservatives argue. They argue a lot. It might surprise some of you given how often the media portrays the NRA as triple Satan, but there’s gun rights groups that exist specifically because some conservatives think the NRA is too wussy. You’ve got social conservatives, business/free market conservatives, REEE TAXES conservatives, etc., and they rarely see eye to eye. Ann Coulter - the Screeching Enchantress herself - once wrote that “Republicans can’t put together a two-car funeral without writing six books denouncing each other.” 

You don’t see this on the left - not in the media, at any rate. There’s more to this than just the obvious mainstream media collusion; the back-slapping and twitterwank, although their deliberate and conscious effort plays a huge part. There’s also how the left wing thinks. 

If you’re old enough to remember the Bush years, you’ll remember how often the left would attack Rush Limbaugh - even though an entire ecosystem of conservative, national talk-radio had sprung up by then, so he was no longer The One And Only Conservative Voice In Mass Media. Liberals treated - and attacked - him as the de facto leader of the right wing, and this puzzled conservatives no end, because a pundit, however clever, is not a goddamn politician or leader. 

The left wing, however, thinks differently. Unlike classical liberalism, which is mostly concerned with balancing the inherent rights of individuals with the rights of every other individual in a social contract, the leftists (communism/socialism/etc.) focus on the  collective as the central, essential point, and move from there. This is why “virtue signalling” exists; leftists care very much about what others think of them. Emmet Rensin’s essay on smugness in liberalism, which I’ve mentioned many times, showcases it well; while describing his subject, he also illustrated the mechanisms by which it manifests - left-wing culture. Everything he described - the virtue-signalling to others that you know the correct facts, the knowing, even the “Eye roll, crying emoji, forward to John Oliver for sick burns,“ exemplifies it. This Mother Jones writer’s reaction to his piece has a telling line: 

“I’ve long since gotten tired of the endless reposting of John Oliver’s "amazing,” “perfect,” “mic drop” destruction of whatever topic he takes on this week.”

They key here is John Oliver. When leftists look at Rush Limbaugh, they see a conservative John Oliver - in short, a demagogue. Demagogues and cults of personality have always been of prime importance with the left wing - remember how Obama was lionized by the left during his first campaign? To say nothing of the Kennedy’s being immortalized as “Camelot.” Yes, conservatives liked Reagan a whole lot, but we don’t vote in entire fucking royal dynasties, which is why Low-Energy Jeb is cooling his heels right now. And these demagogues, you’ll note, are all on the same page when it comes to ripping into conservatives… and their epic, wicked put-downs then become The Big Joke that the left wing retweets and reblogs and parrots to each other ad nauseum. Remember Tina Fey’s mockery of the only working mother leftists have ever despised? I’ve seen people on facebook quote “I can see Russia from my house” fully believing that Sarah Palin herself said it - the Tina Fey skit is the reality, for them. Truth is lost around the twentieth re-tweet, or so. 

And these “comedians” - in truth, pundits and opinion columnists - base their jokes on whatever quote-unquote “revelations” aired in the mainstream media’s news broadcasts that morning. 

If you’ve ever noticed how quickly a new catchphrase or word gets onto every leftist’s lips - like “fake news” - this is how it’s done. It’s not just the mass media moving in lockstep co-ordination to get the message out; it’s how the phrases become the newest “in-thing” with the entire leftist culture, that then get bandied about in the social sphere, on and off-line. After the cruise missile strike on Syria, I watched, on /pol/ alone, about thirty different varying interpretations, everything from “Assad and Putin are unironically heroes shove omfg I love facism Trump why u blow them up” to “I HOPE HE DROPS A MOAB ON RUSSIA NEXT FUCK THE REDS NUCLEAR WAR NOW” to a bunch of “he’s really playing 64 dimensional chess check this shit just you wait” that covered everything in-between. And that’s just on /pol/, which is so full of bullshit and jokes they literally made a fucking containment board for the containment board - called /bantz/. You don’t see this in the leftist blogosphere - the opinions all align the same way and vary only in magnitude of gibbering lunacy. And the John Oliver quotes don’t just define the conversation, they define the fucking language - for instance, “Drumpf.” 

Do not, for one second, think that the media doesn’t know how all this shit works. They may be delusional, but they don’t control and run vast media empires because they’re stupid. And a lot of them have been at this for a long, long time. 

[cognizantlyalive]

what is the purpose of getting into a romantic relationship- so you can be intentional/... being in a struggling rs will completely distract you from serving God in your single years. trust God, don't force it/ push it. just serve God to your fullest ability.../ emotional hurt, pain and heartache is not honouring the person and pushing him towards God.

There is no call than giving you my all. There is no greater love, no higher name above. The fear of the lord will guard my path- Proverbs 1:7 The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge; Fools despise wisdom and instruction. 

I must not forget my calling, which is to serve and glorify God in the workplace! Next week will be our first IDMCi session and I thoroughly look forward to it. The Holy Spirit reaffirms my calling at this point. I am certain. I will trust God, for his provision, his wisdom and his timing. 

I almost faltered because I felt discouraged at work, and needed an outlet/ sense of comfort and reassurance. In a sense, this self-focused mindset got me a little lazy and indulgent, i started to get caught up in the pursuit of an ideal- “when i am in a relationship it will be ok, the Godly man can encourage me in my spiritual God, i will be on fire for God and his calling”. i used cmb as a means to alleviate the dreariness of work and suffering lol. 

wrong. instead of finding rest and peace in God, I was always looking for the next new thing. instead of seeking God and having the joy of the Lord as my strength, i was looking for support in a guy. 

anyhow, we know that God disciplines those whom he loves.  Hebrews 12:4 In your struggle against sin, you have not yet resisted to the point of shedding your blood. 5 And have you completely forgotten this word of encouragement that addresses you as a father addresses his son? It says,“My son, do not make light of the Lord’s discipline, and do not lose heart when he rebukes you, 6 because the Lord disciplines the one he loves, and he chastens everyone he accepts as his son.”[a]7 Endure hardship as discipline; God is treating you as his children. For what children are not disciplined by their father? 8 If you are not disciplined—and everyone undergoes discipline—then you are not legitimate, not true sons and daughters at all. 9 Moreover, we have all had human fathers who disciplined us and we respected them for it. How much more should we submit to the Father of spirits and live! 10 They disciplined us for a little while as they thought best; but God disciplines us for our good, in order that we may share in his holiness. 11 No discipline seems pleasant at the time, but painful. Later on, however, it produces a harvest of righteousness and peace for those who have been trained by it.12 Therefore, strengthen your feeble arms and weak knees. 13 “Make level paths for your feet,”[b] so that the lame may not be disabled, but rather healed.

[strawberryspeachy]

I can read through the convo I’ve had with that boy for the past month in the same amount of time it takes me to read through a day in the summer

He actually asked me questions and kept the conversation going and joked with me so reading through any given day can take upwards of 10 minutes. And most of those days we had half of the conversation via Snapchat that I can longer see

It takes about 7 minutes to read what is me just me talking and him either not responding or giving one word replies or reluctantly a few sentences after I’ve nagged at him about it :(

Yea yea. Take the hint. From November to now (March) exact same day too... he’s never wanted to talk to me

There’s literally been two instances that he talked to me normally and I melted for the rest of the day. Not long either. Just him texting me first to just tell me something. So short that I’d even wondered those times if he accidentally texted me instead of someone else.

I’ve asked every question except for “do you actually want to talk to me” because as he said yesterday. The answers no. I knew it was no. That’s why I’ve stressed over everything else. Because I knew this whole time he hasnt wanted to talk to me. And I’ve asked every question

Why are you ignoring me

Why are you talking to that girl

Why don’t you treat me like you treat them

Why didn’t you look at my picture

Did you like my picture

Do you still think I’m pretty

Am I annoying you

Who are you texting

What are you doing

Any question around the focus. Do you WANT to talk to me.

No.

He doesn’t care about me at all.

I hate that he has options.

It sucks. Because if he didn’t have options. I know he’d like me. He did before. He got bored and there’s always someone else willing to be there for him so he can drop any of those feelings and leave

Me though. I don’t have options. No one I ever legitimately like reciprocates those feelings.

Years go by intbetween the times someone I truely want to be with comes along and shows interest.

If I had options and he wanted me I’d choose him and that’s what sucks. Because he won’t choose me and I don’t have other options.

It’s not like I haven’t been open to guys advances. But no one ever does. I’ve become interested in boys I didn’t find physically attractive but who were nice to me and acted interested. And then they were even meaner to me.

I’m fucked up. I’m miserable. I’m a shitty person when I’m upset. But I always meet these guys when I’m feeling ok. I don’t show that side. I do everything right.

There’s a legitimate attraction. We talk about our lives and interest. We joke and laugh together. We show interest in each other. I don’t flake on people even when I really want to but everyone I’ve ever met had cancelled on me at the last second. And with these dudes that do that (with the exception of the college dude) I’ve always been a normal understanding person who goes - that’s ok! You do what you gotta do we can reschedule if you want!

I don’t understand. I genuinely don’t understand. I’m not trying to make myself look good by any account when I say I literally have no clue what’s goes wrong every time.

NO ONE. WILL. TELL. ME.

It’s been happening my whole life and I started getting mad about it come college. I started demanding to know. Ive started acting like the crazy person when it happens. And. It doesn’t lead to answers

To be fair I started off just nicefully asking. All that got me was ‘what are you talking about? I didn’t stop talking to you! We’re talking right now’

When when I started pointing out that we are because I tracked them down I get ‘I’m sorry! I’ve been really busy!! I didn’t even realize’

Pointing out what it is they’ve been doing that show they no longer want to talk lead to people reacting the same way as if I went insane on them. I literally haven’t recieved a different response to me politely and thoughtfully going

‘hey. Idk if you’ve meant to do this. But it feels like you don’t want to talk to me anymore. You’re responses have been shorter and we don’t talk much anymore. You don’t seem to find my jokes funny anymore even thought they’re the same as before. And you haven’t reached out in a while - it’s just been me. Maybe you’re busy with (insert whatever thing I knew they were up to a month ago) and I’m sorry if I’m bothering you if that’s the case. But I was just wondering if I did something wrong’

That would lead to the same ‘OMG YOU EXPECT SO MUCH FROM ME!! I HAVE MY OWN LIFE AND DONT HAVE TIME TO PUT UP WITH YOUR BS!! I HAVENT BEEN IGNORING YOU IVE BEEN TIRED AND BUSY.’ —- followed by being personally attacked with whatever it is that person feels (whether it be projecting. Bringing up something small from months before they stopped talking to me. Or whatever nerve I touched during my message or speech)

I’ve literally gotten the same response from doing that as I’ve gotten to say.... going to their house and confronting them at an inconvienient time.

Both generally followed by ‘you always play the victim’ or ‘ you do stuff like this so that’s why’

These same speaches come from people I’ve known as little at a week to people I’ve know for 10 years.

It sounds as thought I’m hiding something. I just act like this psycho person all the time probably right. It’s not like I can prove that’s not the truth..... it sucks.

I hold so much hate still toward my freshman year roommate because she reacted to me this way and I know for a fact I never did anything wrong to that girl. I consciously every second of the day made sure to be nice and considerate and positive. And when she left and told the world that I was the devil. The only things she said that actually happened were

1) I raised my voice. I did whine loudly that one time at the like 3rd time her and her bf tried to have sex in the bunk bed above me I let out a loud whine and in the same pitch said “please stop I’m trying to sleep”

2) I had a dusty fan. You’re right. I should have cleaned it. It only blew on me but that’s my b. It didn’t occur to me that it was a problem but I would have cleaned it if she ever told me it bothered her

3) one night I got irritated and yelled at my printer and hit it. Yes. I did that. It was quite late but she was over on her computer and all the lights were one. I got stressed out that my printer stopped working and in a louder tone went something to the effect of “what the fuck you stupid thing!!” My friends earrring had dissapeared inside of it a few days prior. We looked for it but the printer ate and hid it somehow. I hit the printer in frustration. And then it began to work and in a happy voice I went “oh cool that worked” according to her that incident made my fucking psycho.

4) not in her list of complaints to everyone as to why I was the absolute worst were. One time I walked in and didn’t see her sleeping. So I turned on the light as I talked to my friend. I felt really bad when she sat up very disoriented and apologized and turned the light back off and left. Another time I walked in while her and her bf were in the middle of fucking and backed back out of the room.

One time when I was going to a party my friend said I should have my roommate do my makeup - while she was sitting there. I was already getting vibes the girl didn’t like me and so I didn’t try to talk to her unless she talked to me - keep it polite... I... didn’t actually admit to myself that she didn’t like me but I did try to give her as much space as you can in a dorm. She’d go to the library all day to be away from me so when she’d come back to go to sleep I’d go to the common room till I was ready to sleep. Stuff like that. But my friend saying that right in front of her I went with it and excitedly went - you’re right she does do great makeup and asked her if she’d like to do my makeup for me. She said ok. And when the day came I texted her and asked her if she still was ok with doing my makeup. She said she was busy studying and went that’s ok! I didn’t tell my friend that I thought she didn’t like me or anything. I just stayed surface level and said she’s busy studying! That’s ok! I don’t think my face is a good canvas for her preferred makeup.

I have literally never tried harder in my life to be good to someone. And that girl fucking despised me. She didn’t just dislike me but she wanted EVERYONE to hate me. And she went out of her way to make that happen.

And that’s what’s devastating about it. Not that she was a great person. She wasn’t. She said things that disturbed me all the fucking time and I would be positive and compliment her on something that’s going well for her or that’s she’s doing good now. I successfully for the first time since elementary school stayed positive with someone who tried so hard to make me say something mean. And instead of anything good was punished for it.

And she did what she sought out to do. My friends stayed on my side and told me how they didn’t understand why she disliked me so much. But I could always see them wondering - it’s it true? She’s actually insane to be with too long isn’t she? So many things for the next few months that they didn’t just tell me she was doing. They waited to see if I brought it up myself. Like I told my one friend days later that I asked someone on my floor if they knew why she had moved out. If she said anything specific about what I’d done. And he told me he didn’t even know she left. That’s when my friend spoke up and said - no she tagged him on fb and said thanks for helping her move out. No one told me toll the next year that she had added the boy I liked on fb. Not till once again I said I was talking to him and it was good at first but then he suddenly pulled away and idk why. Then suddenly - oh yeah! She added him on fb btw - they’re friends.

[sexassaultnormalizationinme-blog]

How Gender Influences Sexual Assault in Movies and TV

We’ve all heard the term “film noir”, a filmmaking style that is defined by Brittanica as being “characterized by such elements as cynical heroes, stark lighting effects, frequent use of flashbacks, intricate plots, and an underlying existentialist philosophy” (brittanica.com). Double Indemnity, The Big Sleep, They Live By Night, as well as many other popular films fall within this category. Often times films that are given the title of “noir” are viewed as a more artistic venture than just your average movie. As a result, Lindsay Steenberg, argues in her article, “The Fall and Television Noir”, that television shows often “use noir as a legitimation strategy, often to excuse prurient stories of sexualized violence” (Steenberg 58). This article looks in particular at the 2013 BBC series The Fall, however Steenberg insists that this trend is very prevalent in many other television series.

Many classic “noir” titles rely heavily on the trope of the femme fatale. These female characters are usually portrayed as being strong and dangerous women who are extremely open and love to explore their sexuality. In more modern TV and film however, the homme fatale is making a bigger appearance. The homme fatale is described as “enigmatic, duplitious, and destructive. . . an exciting mixture of cool calculation, manipulative, charm, and deep-rooted sexual sadism” (Spicer 89). The creators of The Fall pride themselves in being a feminist TV show. They credit their use of a female as a strong and intelligent detective as their statement that women can do anything men can. Many feminist scholars however have a big problem with this statement. One of the main characters, Paul Spector, plays a sexual predator. Paul however is depicted as a homme fatale. Lisa Coulthard argues that “the series thwarts this self-reflexivity and diegetic critique of voyeurism through its representation of sexualized violence and its own fascination with the killer’s good looks and fit body, his psychology, and his family life” (Steenberg 60).

( https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/pdf/10.1177/1527476416664185 )

We’ve all seen, or at least heard of the 1984 film, Sixteen Candles. Jake Ryan, the beautiful senior boy is the physical embodiment of a homme fatale. As the movie opens, he is dating Caroline, a beautiful senior girl who parties hard and is portrayed to be a little bit promiscuous. When Jake starts to develop feeling for nerdy sophomore, Samantha, he begins to despise Caroline. The film however makes it seem okay that Jake is treating his longtime girlfriend like crap because “she has breasts, and she drinks. She’s potentially a little bit sluttty” (Grady 2018). One night at a party she gets drunk and passes out in Jake’s room, a place where she has presumably been many times and feels safe. When Jake sees this he comments, “I could violate her 10 different ways if I wanted to” (Grady 2018). However, Jake has become tired of Caroline and would rather pay attention to Sam. So, Jake hands Caroline off to Ted, as if she’s an object that can be handed from one person to the other. Ted is a geek who is not at all experienced with girls, so in this moment, he, his supporting characters, and even the audience, are hoping that maybe he’ll finally get his chance, even if the girl is unconscious. He has his friends take pictures of him with Caroline’s body like she is a prop to be used in a photoshoot. The next morning, she wakes up where she is told the pair had sex the night before. Ted asks her if she enjoyed it and she responds with, “you know, I have this weird feeling I did” (Grady 2018).

As Grady outlines in her Vox article about sexual assault portrayals in the 1980s, ultimately, “ Caroline had sex she didn’t consent to, and the movie expects its audience to respond to that development with righteous glee” (Grady 2018). This unnecessary plot line teaches its audience many different, extremely harmful, lessons about rape. To begin, it supports the claim that girls who party, drink, and wear revealing clothes are asking to be sexually assaulted, therefore when she does get raped, she does not have the right to complain about it (Grady 2018). It also makes it seem as though every boy deserves a girl (Grady 2018). There are plenty of girls who do not have much luck with guys but nobody tries to hand a boy to them, because that is simply not how sex works. Sam was that nerdy girl who did not get guys. Nobody handed her Jake, he came to her willingly and consensually. Next it teaches girls that they need to have an in with the guys in order to avoid being sexually assaulted (Grady 2018). If their surrounding male friends approve of them, they will not be taken advantage of. It is only the girls who are not liked by men that will be harmed. It is important to note however that even though men like you at one point, does not mean that that approval will not be taken away from you (Grady 2018). Therefore, it is in your best interest to remain invested in the well-being of your male friends, in whatever way that may be, to assure that you will not be sexually assaulted by their friends. Grady also points out that it is not only bad guys who are partaking in this kind of behavior. Good guys are also perpetrating these crimes, but their reputation as a good guy will not be taken from them (Grady 2018).

(  https://www.vox.com/culture/2018/9/27/17906644/sixteen-candles-rape-culture-1980s-brett-kavanaugh ) 

The television show Mad Men is best known for their toxic relationship between men and women in the workplace. Within the show, “men loudly assess women’s bodies in the corridors and secretaries cry in the bathroom” (Press 2018). It may seem ironic then that the creator of the show, Matthew Weiner, has been accused of making the same sort of workplace advances that his scum of the earth characters are seen doing weekly. In November 2017, Kate Gordon, Weiner’s former assistant and a writer on seasons two and three of Mad Men, accused the man of telling her during a late-night writing marathon, that “she owed it to him to let him see her naked” (Press 2018). Weiner does not deny these accusations but says that he does not remember saying this line to Gordon. Marti Noxon, a consulting producer on Mad Men tweeted that Weiner had created “the kind of atmosphere where a comment like ‘you owe it to me to show me your naked body’ may – or may not- be a joke. And it may –or may not- lead to a demotion or even the end of a career” (Press 2018). It seems that the male dominated and sexist workplace environment that Weiner created on screen is the same sort of place that he created at his own job. This is just a perfect example of how life imitates art. 

( https://www.vanityfair.com/hollywood/2018/09/matthew-weiner-romanoffs-in-the-mirror )

                                                      Works Cited Grady, Constance. “The Rape Culture of the 1980s, Explained by Sixteen Candles.” Vox.com, Vox Media, 27 Sept. 2018, www.vox.com/culture/2018/9/27/17906644/sixteen-candles-rape-culture-1980s-brett-kavanaugh.

Press, Joy. “Matthew Weiner in the Mirror.” The Hive, Vanity Fair, 30 Sept. 2018, www.vanityfair.com/hollywood/2018/09/matthew-weiner-romanoffs-in-the-mirror.

Steenberg, Lindsay. “The Fall and Television Noir.” Television & New Media, vol. 18, no. 1, 2016, pp. 58–75., doi:10.1177/1527476416664185.