#or the true stakes

[bourneblack]

i’d rather have rainbow capitalism then living in constant fear of discovery. the woman in the pride flag disney t-shirt might be missing the nuance, but at least i know i can be myself. a street full of rainbow flags makes me more comfortable holding a mans hand. look. corporations aren’t your friend. they will sell to whoever will buy. but kids seeing gay everything every year is only ever a good thing, and a massive improvement in history

[talesfromthecrypts]

I'll put you in your coffin, Father.

Interview With the Vampire (1994)

The Hunger (1983)

Queen of the Damned (2002)

Baldur's Gate 3 (2023)

Interview With the Vampire (2022- )

Bit (2019)

[son1c]

silver did NOT sign up for this

[turtleblogatlast]

Here’s a thought-

When Splinter says Leo’s the leader at the end of Season 2…pretty sure he was joking.

After so many high stakes and high emotions, he (a bit cluelessly) makes a joke to add some levity, just to make things a bit easier for he and his sons to digest everything that happened. It was a lot that happened, so it makes sense that Splinter wants to make things that much softer for everyone.

But- making a joke like that, after everything they all just went through…I can definitely see how the events of the movie pave out in response.

For example, by joking about Leo in particular having the responsibility of a leader, that puts him directly in the sight of Raph’s building anxieties. Because after everything, it’s clear that Raph really started taking the hero name seriously to the point that he started undermining his own fun and childhood in the process. So in the eyes of a Raph who is so worried about what could happen if they’re not prepared again, Leo in particular kind of stands almost as a point of danger in that aspect.

And with the joke of Leo “leading” in any capacity ringing out over them, it’s easy to blame Leo and Leo alone whenever he goes and goofs off with Mikey and Donnie. I think as well that the concept of a leader being spoken after the Shredder just pushes more weight on Raph’s shoulders and makes him realize how much goofing off they did before when they should have been better heroes (despite them all just being kids...)

Raph knows his brothers are good, he knows and has pride in them and himself in turn, but it terrifies him to know that they won’t be ready for the next big threat, and Leo directly going against this caution even more than usual just pushes Raph to want to try more.

As for Leo- keep in mind what happened all throughout “Many Unhappy Returns.” Keep in mind what happened all throughout the series in general. In the former, Splinter more than once points out how he would rather have his other sons with him than Leo, especially because they “would take this seriously”…even though Leo was taking it seriously. (Not that Splinter should be expected to read what Leo was doing when Leo wasn’t making his plans clear, but that wording sticks with kids.) Even after Leo’s plan pulled through, Raph’s the one who spoke in trust of Leo, not Splinter.

As for what happens in the series in general…well, we see Leo mess up a lot, apologize a lot, get his brothers out of messes a lot, and even when he does well or is responsible it’s either glossed over or still seen as goofing off (no I will never be over that moment where Leo almost got Gus’s tags and got screwed over out of pure bad luck.)

So imagine hearing a joke like that as Leo, who for a good chunk of especially the start of the series has been a lowkey voice of reason. The idea that Leo being responsible for the team is nothing but a joke…? It’s understandable that it could feel like a blow, that it could push him to want to try less.

Especially after everything they just went through.

They’re heroes. | They’re kids.

Why shouldn’t they care? | Why should they care?

[artbyblastweave]

Years and years ago I was working on a comic book called Blood Drive about a Vampire and his Werewolf bloodbag roommate going on a cross-country road trip to the wedding of the Vampire’s great-great-grandaughter, accruing various supernatural pursuants along the way, Blues Brother’s style. To be clear it wasn’t good. I was in high school. But it did have a gag I was really fond of, which involved the Vampire waking up, realizing the van was in Canada for some reason, and then going ballistic upon realizing that the Werewolf had plotted a circuitous route around every single river in North America because he hadn’t bothered to check whether the “can’t cross running water” element of vampire lore was bullshit or not. 

[prototypelq]

Today, is the first day in 23 months when I finally heard some good news from within russia, about politics no less.

As you probably haven't heard, because this theme is being agressively ignored by all possible media, 15-17 march is the date of next presidential election in russia. If you have laughed after reading this statement, then congratulations, you pretty much know everything about it, hence why no media coverage. But there should be.

Ekaterina Shulman, who has a PhD in political sciences, who has been one of the most enlightening sources on all matters russian-politics and autocrasy-related, has been handedly calling the oncoming election an 'electoral event', meaning the current system will not allow any real election to take place (and it never really did), but will instead make an illusion of the 'winner' being fair.

(btw 'election' advertisements and notices have been going under the banner of the letter V, which you can consider fair since 'election' is 'выборы' in russian, so using the same letter makes sense, but we all know who this big letter references, don't we, same way as all the militarist zealots are uniting under letter Z)

Yesterday, she held a stream with Boris Nadezhdin, who is currently running for presidential candidate by trying to gather citizen votes.

The reason you should care about this, is that Nadezhdin is the only candidate, who is openly critical of Putin,

he has been the public voice of opposition for the russian autocracy for more than 20 years,

the stream he held with Ekaterina could be considered an extremely risky move, enough to send him to jail for this move alone, since she has been declared a foreign agent for a long time (current brand of quality for russians),

he has opened up multiple vote booths across the world, so that political refugees (which is exactly what all the russians abroad are) could safely vote, as the government has already considered denying them their constitutional right to do so,

and he has presented the plan for his presidential reign, starting with: releasing all the political prisoners and immediately starting peace talks with Ukraine.

If you think that those are just empty words, well, they might be, though I can only pity the person who would dedicate more than 20 years of their life on empty promises, especially ones that can easily get you imprisoned for life or killed. I am not joking.

The reason there is 'unanimous agreement' of russians and the media of russians regarding the Invasion of Ukraine and other political topics, is that the political filed in this forsaken country has been carefully curated and all unsactioned-by-Kremlin opposition immediately eliminated for longer than I have been alive.

I live with the weight of just living my life in this country being a daily contributor to committing war crimes in Ukraine, and inside Russia. The reason I'm writing this in english on tumblr, which, hey, lgbt is considered extremist propaganda and will get you in jail, and tumblr even markets itself as the most lgbt-friendly social site, is that there is no way to talk about this in russia. And each time, I browse the politics or russia tags here I see the same zealous aggression which russians are called terrorists for, directed back at all russians. I took it for a long time, because there was no way to dispute this claim, I felt and continue to feel shame for this forsaken country or being related to it, and because every day this country exists ukrainian and russian people are forced into the meatgrinder.

No more. or well, no more feeling shame over it, the guilt will remain long after even the end of the Invasion.

Boris Nadezhdin's (btw his surname almost literally translates to Hopeful) electoral booths have been having full rows of people wishing to sign a petition to make him electable for presidential run. People in Siberia stood in line in -40 C (granted, normal siberian weather, but still, you wouldn't want to be out and about for too long in that kind of cold, even when accustomed to it) to sign a petition for him. At the moment of writing he has reached around 70k, out of 100k needed to be legally allowed to petition for presidential run (sidenote: that number is astronomically high for a number of reasons, so him getting that close is a big win too)

(this video covers the current news of Nadezhdin's campaign pretty well, it also has hand-done english subs)

So yes. You're not allowed to call all russians terrorists any longer, untill they are proven Zealots. There are literally thousands of russian people voting against Putin's reign, they are donating money to this campaign to help it grow too.

In a country, which has never really been a free space to be able to discuss politics, much less actively participate in them or have an informed opinion on them, and which has spent decades curating political apathy in it's people, these events are WILD.

Granted, the possibility of Nadezhdin being allowed to actually run for president is astronomically small, the country is still an autocrasy. Still, participation this high is anything-politics related is phenominal, and I wish to celebrate that, whatever may come in the future.

Here are some additional russian sources available to english-speakers to learn more:

The Russian State of Mind, a brilliant lecture by Ekaterina Shulman, PhD in political science, updated with data from october 2023

Maxim Katz channel, he covers politics and subtitles his videos by hand in english, I've linked another video of his above

Meduza newsletter has an english department

Tamara Eidelman covers history, mythology and related topics, her lectures are fascinating to listen to and have english voiceover

Yuri Dud does interviews with english subs

Any content creator with the (obligatory) foreign agent (иностранный агент) warning is good to listen to. This means the author said something not to the current governmen'ts liking, or not Enough liking of russian system, so good for them for having an actual opinion.

[jtl-fics]

Coffee shop au + FF

We’ve discussed him as a customer but what’s he like as an employee?

Fluent Freshman AU | Unusual Fic Asks - Closed

FF spent his college years at Palmetto State University tormented by baristas who must have hated him to his very core because in the 5 years of his degree they never once got his order right.

So, FF opened Secret Ingredient with the intention of getting people's orders CORRECT. FF kept any number of alternative sweeteners, dairy alternatives, and whatever else he needed so he could hand off every drink with a clear conscience.

He mastered the art of different coffees and his grandmother's recipes even if he would never have the full flavor profile since he lacked the secret ingredient of a Grandmother's love.

FF was living a good life. He was making good money and his passion for foreign languages had never died he had, with this coffee shop in mind, changed his degree to business management. If nothing else his foreign language skills made him a hit with the international students.

He just never expected his ability to cater to anyone would result in his little shop becoming the campus darling. His days started early and ran late but it was nice to have so many students come to his coffee shop.

His pastries almost never lasted beyond noon but when he spoke with one of his favorite customers, a marketing student by the name of Nicky, he waved him off the idea of making more.

"Supply and Demand. Keep them wanting more." Nicky said even as FF always kept Nicky's usual chocolate croissant order behind the counter so he could get it after his Exy practice. Nicky was older than the standard student but the two of them had become fast friends.

Such good friends that FF didn't bat an eye when he got a long text from Nicky as he was getting everything set upright at the start of the day requesting a whole slew of orders including one of the most complicated sugary drinks that he had ever seen. Nicky had sent along 20 'pls' and begging emojis afterwards and FF was powerless to do anything but say yes.

He started the drip brew for the one Red Eye and then got to the pour over for the Americano and the straight black. He made Nicky's traditional Mocha with the little bittersweet chocolate chips that he knew Nicky adored. Then he got started on a drink that would take his sizeable working knowledge to put together.

It took 5 minutes to craft the monstrosity and the baked goods that Nicky had requested were done just as he saw his friend rushing up to the closed door. He walked over and let Nicky in even if it was an hour before the official shop opening. "We got drunk in the dorm last night and I broke the coffee machine. My cousin was going to actually crazy murder me if I couldn't get them all their coffees. You are a literal life saver Smithy!" Nicky exclaims and kisses him wetly on the cheek and FF could still smell the alcohol on him.

"Glad to help." he says because he is, "celebrating that great win last night?" he asks.

Nicky nods, "That we were! I'll stop by later to chat more but I gotta get these to their owners before Andrew puts a hit out on me." he says rushing away.

FF continued to get himself ready for the day. Saturdays were actually one of her slower days since there were less people on the campus and it didn't draw people out the way Sunday did with 'I need to do my homework for Monday' energy.

He opened the shop and enjoyed his slow and easy morning with regulars and new faces.

His peaceful morning came to an end when the star goalie of Palmetto State's Exy team came in holding the plastic cup he had given to Nicky nearly three hours prior. "You made this?" he asks holding up the cup as he pushed past a regular who was trying decide if they wanted a Flat White or a Café Au Lait.

FF takes a deep breath.

"Yes that was me. Was there a problem?" he asks.

"Make it again." Nicky's cousin says.

So there was a problem with it. He opens his mouth to ask what the issue was but Nicky's cousin's face made it clear that he was not accepting any questions at this time.

So with shaking hands he remade Nicky's cousin's drink. Quadruple checking that everything was in there this time but it felt the exact same as last time.

He handed the man his drink as the other regular was now contemplating that maybe she wanted a Machiato instead, seemingly unaware of her proximity to danger.

Nicky's cousin put the cost of the drink on the counter and was gone before FF could ask about the drink. He felt his heart hammering in his chest wondering what he had messed up and hoping that Nicky's cousin didn't come back even angrier.

"I know this is a big ask but," the customer who had been contemplating which combination of coffee / espresso with steamed milk she wanted leaned in, "Any chance you have whiskey back there? I'm kind of feeling like a good Irish coffee." she says with a mischievous wink.

Oh he had alcohol back here, he lived above his coffee shop but he would be needing all of it for himself.

[ferndragonsblaze]

Leave me and my 12 resets last season alone >:(

[incorrectsibunaquotes]

i like touchstone of ra for the concept, but the execution was just too fast, which i KNOW is because it was always going to be a 90 minute movie… but imagine if that was a full season and they had time to flesh out everything

[yeonban]

I miss the days when J/JK was good

[smolbean-17]

Ok follow-up to my last poll. IF Tech’s death was the real deal and someone in TBB besides him is to die this next season, who is it most likely going to be? Or is Tech going to end up being the only casualty in the end?

[ozcarma]

combining some endings with a slash as I believe they serve equal narrative purpose. Feel free to elaborate which should go first or be omitted in the tags/comments if you would like :) I omitted the coffin ending as it’s not really an “ending” so much as it is a fail state for the true end

[nellasbookplanet]

Every now and again I'm reminded of how fundamentally different ttrpg liveplays are as a storytelling medium from literally any other and it drives me a little bit bonkers. So much comes down to chance; you can plan and strategize and have some absolutely wild modifiers, but if you roll a nat 1 you still roll a nat 1. It doesn’t matter how important a character is to the narrative and how many plans the players have for them, they can still die at any time and be inevitably lost because the dice told you, sorry, resurrection didn’t work this time. And then we build the narrative around that, an echoing hole that can never be mended, because we have no other choice but to move one.

You never know if a risky choice will be rewarded or punished. You can go into what looks like an easy fight and lose bitterly due to bad luck, or into what should be an impossible one and still win. You will never be reassured by the knowledge that it’s a prewritten, planned out story where some things are bound to happen for maximum narrative impact.

But neither will moments feel cheapened by the knowledge that it was always bound to happen. A character comes back to life in a movie and, well, you know it’s because the narrative needed them and they were never truly at risk; they come back in the game and you know just how easily the dice could have landed on a different number and it wouldn’t have mattered how needed they were.

It can, if we allow it, remind us that purpose and meaning in real life has nothing to do with inevitability or fate; it’s all about what we make it, the choices that arise out of chance, the consequences that come from choice. We create our own narrative out of inherent meaninglessness and chaos and it is beautiful.

[keshetchai]

Roommate #2 has already put up the Christmas tree (no ornaments yet) and a bunch of Christmas themed decor, which is peak unhinged gentile behavior, frankly, because we haven't even had Thanksgiving.

[amygdalae]

the way vampires die on true blood is so fun, honestly one of the highlights of the show for me (they loudly rupture and explode into a viscous unrecognizable pile of bloody slime and chunks that gets all over any1 within splash radius)

[weepylucifer]

[frothing at the mouth] listen to me LISTEN it's not JUST a kink thing!! ulixes is pushing steban TOWARDS ACTION!! THAT'S why he's pleased when steban gets slapped or critiqued, not because he wants to see steban suffer for no reason