#script reform

[russenoire]

some cool posts i found today!

y'all may be familiar with general macarthur's push to abolish kanji in written japanese during the US occupation after WW2, but tussles here and there about the role of kanji among japanese scholars and politicians have been ongoing since at least the meiji period:

[blondebrainpowered]

Harriet Tubman, 1885

[deancasforcutie]

Thinking about how we always call this "the confession scene" yet the script only calls his expression of self-doubt a Confession, but his expression of love a Declaration. And what a difference that makes - whatever baggage makes us unconsciously associate coming out with an admission of guilt is not the story's; queer love, Supernatural says, is joy and peace and the deepest Truth that saves us from Death.

To quote Mary Cappello, "Queer memoirs should refuse to confess. There is nothing to confess. As a lapsed Catholic, I try daily at least to exit the confessional if I cannot burn it to the ground. So the memoir poses very important questions and narrative challenges to me as a lesbian narrator: Is it possible to narrate sexuality, especially when that sexuality is a prohibited one, without reproducing a discourse of disclosure, causality, or defensiveness against pathologization?"

Cas may have "never found an answer" until overcoming doubt, but Berens did: we don't confess our truth like it's in fact the point of shame we've been led to believe ("the same way our enemies see you," anyone?) but declare it to find peace in ourselves. And everyone who knows that, sees it: through self-love we make our own Garden.

[eyes-onthehorizon]

lads it's 2am on a work day and I am still pressed, nay, HEATED, about this season finale. is there nothing good left at the beeb any more. did they replace the writing team with chatgpt. DID THEY FORGET HOW STORIES WORK

[townpostin]

Adiwasi Ho Society Commemorates Ot Guru Kol Lako Bodra's 39th Death Anniversary

Ho Society Celebrates the Legacy of Ot Guru Kol Lako Bodra In a solemn ceremony, the Adiwasi Ho Society Mahasabha in Chakradharpur and Turatung Project teachers celebrated the 39th death anniversary of Ot Guru Kol Lako Bodra, the creator of Warang Kshiti script. CHAKRADHARPUR – The Adiwasi Ho Society Mahasabha and Turatung Project teachers in Chakradharpur commemorated the 39th death anniversary…

[mrrharper]

mrrharper Masterpost

what's up bros

to make this blog a bit more accessible, this is gonna be an index of all of my stories and other stuff connected with me, neatly divided into themes

also hey, i have a discord server for horny bros that y’all should join asap - here's the link

everything's under this pic of a hot stud

Jock TF

Todd goes to a gym / Academic requirements / A Son, Reformed / Muscles In Chains / The Rookie's Figuring It Out / Headphones In, Guns Out / Waiting For The Roommate / Mandatory PE Class / A Real Jock's Supposed to Be Dumb / Cocky And Proud, By Accident / Elevator Malfunction / Former Friend / There Are Always Jocks / Desperation In College / The Jocks Of Dark Forrest College / Strings Attached /

Jock-focused

Under Armour Jock™ / Coach's Process of Developing a Jock / More Loyal, More American, More The Same / Muscle Memory / Inside A Jock's Mind / Script For A Jock / No-Trade Clause / Taming The Football Beast / Enforcing The Bro Code / Just Let It Go, Brah /

Cop/Soldier reprogramming

Programming Adjustment / Law, Order and Musk / Personal Muscle, Uniform Included / A Guard Programmed To Control And Obey / Summer Bootcamp / Army Surplus / Neighborhood Association / Another Cop For The Collection /

Gym Bro TF (and adjacent)

Gym Bro / Bro Advice / A Workout Break / This Is How You Recruit Gym Bros / Waking Up Huge And Jocked / Empty Eyes, Pumped Bis / The Grindset / Big Bro's Job / The Bro Zone Resort /

Inanimate TF

Not In The Exhibit Brochure /

NPC TF

Player Of The Month / Guarding The Base / Gamer Night /

Biker TF

Fitting Into The Gear /

Other stuff

Discord - I run a discord server for other horny bros, come join us

Commissions - I am open for commissions. Want me to write you a story? Check the linked post for all the necessary details

#AMA - you can see all the questions I have answered from previous AMAs under this hashtag

Ko-fi page - you can support me and my work on ko-fi

[tanadrin]

The actual reason we need a revolution is because it's the only way to ever get an English spelling reform done

You are wrong for six reasons:

English is an official language in 67 different countries. You will not successfully coordinate a revolution in 67 different countries.

The lack of an official English orthography is good, actually. Academie Francais-style attempts at language planning are cringe as hell, and often ineffective. They are not the product of sensible policy, they are the product of head-up-your-ass nationalism, and their decrees usually reflect that fact.

English spelling is fine. English orthography correctly predicts the sound of words in the vast majority of cases; where it fails, it's usually because a vowel isn't reduced quite enough. It's true that you can't really reverse pronunciation to get spelling, but in almost all orthographies there are multiple spellings to a single pronunciation.

Where English spelling is truly irregular, it's typically to preserve etymological transparency, which is actually a good thing in a writing system.

English orthography is complex, but it must be so: there are more phonemic consonants in English than there are consonant letters in the alphabet used to write it, and many more phonemic vowels than there are vowel letters. If this displeases you, take it up with the Romans and their shitty alphabet; it's not the fault of English.

English orthography is also conservative, but this is also a good thing: it means it's possible to read texts written in Early Modern English, and even in some forms of Middle English, with only moderate effort. If (for instance) we used a purely phonetic writing system, English of only 300 years ago would look very strange on the page, and English of 600 years ago would be nearly incomprehensible. As it stands, a fluent English speaker can read Shakespeare with only light editing, and can read Chaucer with the help of a few footnotes. That's pretty good for a phonetic script!

[slvbum]

L.A mornings ♡ Drew Starkey!

content: Drew Starkey × ItGirl!Reader.

The noise of backstages was now a memory, she stretched on the living room rug, her body itching to move after her return to L.A. She glanced at Drew, sprawled on the couch in a rare moment of stillness. With her jetting off to fashion weeks and him juggling film sets, full days together were a precious anomaly... and today was one of them.

“I’m heading to Pilates,” she said, hopping up to grab her gym bag, her voice bright. “That studio on Melrose— class starts in an hour.”

Drew looked up from his phone, a grin tugging at his lips as he set it aside.

“Pilates, huh? How about I come with? We’ve got the whole day, and I’d rather spend it with you than sit here pretending to read scripts.” He stood, stretching his arms, his black tee pulling tight across his physique, broad shoulders, chiseled from gym sessions between takes.

She raised an eyebrow, smirking as she tied her hair into a high ponytail. “You? In my Pilates class? You sure your biceps can handle it?”

“Handle it?” he scoffed, flexing playfully. “I’m a pro a lifting iron weight, baby. How hard a little stretching can it be?”

Thirty minutes later, they walked into Core Flow Studio, a trendy spot. She wore her signature black leggings and a pink sports bra. Drew, in grey sweatshorts and a tight black tee, turned heads with his broad shoulders and easy confidence— his physique built for the screen, not the reformer. The instructor, a lithe woman named Mia, handed him a mat and smirked. “Newbie?”

“Yeah,” Drew said. “Here to impress my girl.”

His girlfriend snorted, elbowing him playfully. “Good luck. This isn’t about brute strength.”

The class began with warm-ups, and Drew breezed through, his athleticism shining. But when the instructor shifted them to the reformers, those torture machines. His girlfriend moved like water, her core tight as she executed a series of teaser lifts, her legs extended in perfect lines. Drew, meanwhile, grunted beside her, his reformer wobbling as he tried to mimic her. His biceps flexed impressively, but the slow, controlled movements demanded a different kind of power, one his weightlifting hadn’t prepped him for.

“Ow, shit,” he muttered, his abs quivering as he attempted a plank-to-pike. His legs shot out too fast, and the carriage clattered back, earning a stifled laugh from her.

“Need a spot, big guy?” she teased as she held her own pose effortlessly. “Those huge arms aren’t helping much, huh?”

Drew shot her a playful glare, sweat glistening on his brow.

“This is evil. You’re a ninja— how do you make it look so easy?” He tried a leg circle, and nearly tipped, catching himself with a sheepish chuckle.

“Because I’m a pro,” she quipped, winking. She breezed through another move, giggling as he groaned beside her.

By the end, Drew collapsed on his mat, chest heaving, while she stretched beside him, glowing with that post-workout sheen.

“You’re a beast,” he panted, wiping his face with his shirt. “I’m sticking to dumbbells.”

“You survived,” she said, leaning over to kiss his sweaty cheek. “And you were adorable trying.”

“Adorable?” he groaned, but his grin showed he loved it. “You owe me for this.”

They piled into his bike, the LA heat shimmering off the asphalt.

“How about a juice stop?” Drew suggested, steering toward Pressed Juicery on Sunset. “Your favourite reward for kicking my ass.”

Her eyes sparkled. “Yes! The Greens 3— I need that ginger kick.”

Inside, the shop buzzed with a cool, citrusy vibe, bottles lining the counter in a rainbow of hues. She grabbed her Greens 3, a crisp blend of apple, cucumber, and ginger, while Drew picked a Citrus 2, pineapple and orange. They settled into a booth by the window, the city’s hum a backdrop to their bubble.

She took a sip, her eyes fluttering shut as she sighed.

“Perfection,” she murmured, the zing of ginger chasing away the workout’s burn.

Drew watched, leaning his chin on his hand, a grin spreading across his face as he admire his girlfriend.

“You’re so cute when you’re happy,” he said, stealing a sip of her juice and wincing at the spice. “Okay, that’s all you— my tropical vibes win.”

She laughed, nudging his foot under the table.

“Thanks for coming with me today,” she said, her eyes finding his. “These days together… they mean everything.”

He reached for her hand, his thumb brushing her knuckles. “Wouldn’t miss it, babe. I’d stumble through a thousand Pilates classes just to see you glow like this.”

Her cheeks pinked, and she leaned across, kissing him softly, the tang of their juices mingling.

“I love you so much,” she whispered.

⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ ©slvbun(m) — written with love.

[psychotrenny]

The Millennium Challenge 2002 was a very revealing insight into the weakness of the US military apparatus and the fact that its results are public knowledge is very encouraging to enemies of USAmerican Imperialism. Also referred to as MC02, it was basically a massive US military exercise that simulated US intervention in a fictional nation in the Persian Gulf. The anti-US forces were most prominently led by a retired Marine Corp Lieutenant General named Paul Van Riper, who effectively used asymmetric warfare to repeatedly defeat the materially superior US until an absurd and crippling amount of restrictions were placed on him. Some of these might be justified by Van Riper exploiting the limits of the simulation in unrealistic ways (i.e. banning him from using teleporting suicide boats on US carriers), but others (i.e. forcing him to put Anti-Air assets in exposed positions) were just plain silly. It got to the point that Van Riper resigned mid game, saying that the end state was scripted. In the end US forces "won" the exercise, but not in a meaningful way

Now the conflict simulated by MC02 has recently been compared to a contemporary war between the US and Iran but that comparison isn't quite accurate; "Red" nation was as much Iraq as it was Iran, the main antagonist of the wargame was a parastate actor named "CJTF-South" rather than a regular state military and all this happened two decades ago during a significantly different global military situation. But all this means that the conflict in MC02 was actually more favourable to the US than a current war with Iran. The regular state military of Iran is a greater foe than some part-Iraqi renegade while the gap between US and Iranian military power has narrowed significantly; Iran has greatly strengthened itself in the last 2 decades (even according to the nation's enemies) while recent US performance indicates that if anything their military has weakened.

And while MC02 was a political exercise more than a military one, the military aspects still reflected the US Department of Defence's own honest estimates. Given the timing and subject matter, MC02 was clearly a preparation for the Bush regime's planned interventions in West Asia. But as demonstrated by the high command's desire for a simulated win at the cost of the actual simulation, the main purpose wasn't to actually evaluate the preparedness of the US military for such a conflict and enact any necessary change. Significant reforms would be time consuming and could disrupt some very comfortable business arrangements. It was an exercise in affirmation, showing that the US military could win in "The Middle East" and it could win right now.

However, most of the actual participants tried to treat it as a legitimate training exercise. The actual strength of the US military, as well as their most accurate estimates for the strength of their foes in the region, must have been used and whatever simulational models were employed must have seemed accurate enough to experienced US military officers. The fact that the wargame even produced unwanted results in the first place indicates that it at least started as an honest estimation of US military capabilities in comparison to their West Asian foes. And in that most honest form, the estimation was not an encouraging one for the US.

It's also incredibly damning that the results of this simulation were casually disregarded. Because it wasn't some casual exercise; it took two years of planning, involved over 13,000 soldiers and by the end cost $250 million USD (worth about $447 million today). All in an effort to reinforce the validity of current US doctrine and its ability to beat the nation's prospective military targets that didn't even succeed because they blatantly cheated to reach the desired result. An expensive fiasco where anything worth learning was tossed away out of arrogance and dogmatism and entrenched private interests. And the following decades do not indicate that the US military has changed since then. Indeed, the contemporary resonance of this military exercise from over 2 decades ago demonstrates just how pathetically stagnant the US war machine is.

The Millennium Challenge 2002 tried to prove that the US Empire was a Tiger, but instead revealed it to be made of paper

[hazbinhazmeinachokehold]

The gang + powerful overlord reader who is trying to reform

A/n: Tbh I don't have the strongest grasp on what makes an overlord an overlord but I tried. Everything here is platonic!

Warning: Very slight alluding to suicide. It's in one sentence and not supposed to be about suicide but I just wanted to warn y'all in case.

(Not beta read!)

You honestly didn't want to be an overlord. But if you had some power maybe the citizens of hell would leave you alone. And you were admittedly powerful. Which wasn't by your own doing, just like in the living world everything was down to luck. And you won the lottery. So you decided to spend the money and became an overlord. Just to lower the chance of demons pestering you.

It worked. It worked too well. You took out a few overlords, it was dirty. You caught them off guard in the middle of going about their life. You don't keep up with politics. To your surprise, you took out two heavy hitters. Which did result in people not pestering you. But not just that it resulted in them outright avoiding you. You didn't feel good about killing them, you just killed as many as you thought would need to make you noteable. If you had just killed the two it would have removed more unnecessary deaths that you caused.

People would literally light themselves on fire rather than be near you. Out of fear of what gruesome way you would kill them. Not that you would kill them but rumors spread. It went from you just stabbing the overlords to torturing them in the most messed up way possible. You being this insanely powerful and sadistic being. That was the only way they could imagine you killing some of the most powerful creatures in hell.

So it was like that for years. As you were walking around the death and carnage you didn't mean to cause. Amidst all the screams you heard a TV playing. You check it out and it was some sort of ad. You recognized Angel from Val. Whenever Velvet was the one to show up at meetings she would always manage to bring up her and the other Vee's social media presence. Which with Val would involve his pornos. At least he's able to escape from that prick sometimes. Despite the glitch he was somehow causing and his face being hidden you also recognized Alastor.

You didn't know much about your colleague's personal lives. You barely showed up at the meeting but this piqued your interest. But it was quickly cut off by the news.

"Breaking news in hell today!" One of the broadcasters, Katie, spoke, "We have just received word from the Heaven embassy that the next extermination is happening sooner than ever before!"

Well fuck you guess. You were never worried about exterminations. Not only did you have a safe area then none of the angels seemed to visit, if they killed you you'd be out of this dumpster fire. Granted you could go to an even worse dumpster fire but you didn't know that for sure.

But you were interested in whatever that first ad was for. Granted everyone was panicking so it wasn't like you could ask anyone about it. However, the news cut right back to the ad.

"Welcome to the Hazbin Hotel!" A woman with an x over her eye spoke.

It cut to Husk (Who you've only heard snippets about from Alastor.) and Angel.

"Welcome to the Hazbin Hotel." Husk's eyes lingered below him. Clearly reading a script. If his eyes didn't give it away his monotone voice certainly did. "Can I help you with anything?"

"I've been a bad boy. And I need a big strong daddy to put me in my place." Angel moaned. There was a slight sigh coming from behind the camera. Okay ew. You were not trying to see porn while going for a walk. Just as you were about to walk away Angel spoke up again, "On the path to redemption!"

Oh! That sounded... quite nice actually. You didn't exactly believe in the idea. But a chance to get away and even a chance to redeem yourself was a very nice idea.

You went to the hotel's door and racked against the door. Which was kind of stupid. Hotel doors don't need to be knocked on but it still felt like the right thing to do. The fucking princess of hell herself opened the door with a somewhat panicky smile plastered on her face.

"Hello-" She bit her lip "One second." She left but left the door open a creek, "Vaggie it happened again!" She yelled you could hear the rest of what she was saying but you saw a red glow approaching the door.

Before you knew what was happening your hand (and whole body was being shaken by the Radio demon himself, "Why hello y/n!" His staticky voice greeted, "Are you here to watch this wayward adventure fail as well? Or perhaps you aim to entertain it?" Alastor unnerved you. While you were the same on power level he was unpredicted any vengeful thoughts he had were hidden behind his smile.

He was gently pushed away by Charlie. "So sorry about the wait, just wasn't expecting another powerful overlord." She vaguely gestured to Alastor, "So do you want to check in?" Her voice was cautiously hopeful.

"Yep!"

Her eyes turned the size of saucers, "OK! Great so um sorry I'm just so excited! You can go choose your room! A few are already occupied by our guests and staff! But it's pretty easy to tell which rooms are taken." She rambled. As she guided you through the hotel the woman with an x over her eye pointed a spear at you as you passed by.

A short one-eyed girl scattered around. The exact opposite of how she was in the ad. She stabbed a bug with a whole knife getting dangerously close to Husk being at the end of her knife in the process.

Angel glanced at you and any color his already pure white face had drained. Uh oh.

"One minute." You said and walked over to the spider demon, "Fyi just to let you know I also want to kill Val. Just say the word and I might finally be able to go through with it." You said in a hushed voice. He was still tense but visibly relaxed.

You soon found a room and got somewhat set up. You'd have to bring some stuff from your house tomorrow. But today you decided to just collapse onto your bed. While your first impressions weren't of a super chill place, it did give the impression of a family. Maybe your life wouldn't be so much of a living hell here.

[aarkady]

regarding aldo bellini's "kingmaker", cardinal sabbadin: politics, cynicism, the franciscan habit

we don't really know much about cardinal sabbadin except for a couple details. but I find this bit that got cut from the script very interesting:

"you have wasted this report". straight-up honesty, even if Lawrence protected himself and the institution by blacking out the names of the corrupt cardinals, is not the ideal course of action for sabbadin.

in both film and book, he is the archbishop of milan, and "the closest thing aldo bellini has to a campaign manager". this already establishes him as a reformist (the current of thought within the college of cardinals that was defined by a vatican journalist as, roughly, a belief that the reforms of Vatican II were rolled back too soon, so there should be a push away from tradition; it's important to note that this concerns working within the catholic church, not out in the world with laypeople or holding dialogue with other denominations/religions)

what I see in this reaction is a kind of "anything goes" mentality regarding a victory over tedesco (and, ultimately, what is a struggle for control over the vatican)--even if it entails resorting to dirty play.

in the book, sabbadin is described as having "a reputation for cynicism" and also with the following paragraph:

(sorry for the non cropped screenshot ;_;)

he is politics-savvy, perhaps so much that he cannot truly fathom a church that functions outside of the system that is known and tried and tested for him. in the book, he is also very quick to shut down Aldo's suggestion of exploring "a greater role for women as higher-ranking officials of the roman curia". liberal or not, I think cardinal sabbadin is a figure of the status quo.

although the above scene didn't make it to the film, to me it suggests that the franciscan habit is some sort of visual paradox in the way of tedesco's vape; a declaration of pure poverty, of "the poor church for poor people", wielded by someone whose primary motivation is to gain power (independently on whether we agree with his broadly liberal views or not) in the name of progressing to something better.

anyway he is kinda cunty and I like him a lot

[bratzkoo]

WGM: pre production | dk

Author: bratzkoo Pairing: seokmin x reader Genre: fluff Rating: PG-13 Word count: 1.1k~ Warnings/note: fluff, fake marriage, and real feelings. cursing, seokmin curses a lot in his head.

summary: WE GOT MARRIED is back. Seokmin and Y/N pairs up to shoot 10 episodes for a special. Turns out, there are more things happenings off-camera than what meets the eye.

taglist (hit me up if you wanna be added): -​

requests are close, but you can just say hi! | masterlist series masterlist | next episode

Was it the awkwardness of being in the camera or was it the look of the staff and crews expecting you to do couple things making it hard to start a conversation with someone you're supposed to be pretending you're married to?

To be honest, Seokmin was someone who will try and break the ice despite being shy himself. Except for this time he's speechless seeing Y/N Y/L/N up close.

Y/N Y/L/N is in front of me.

I'm going to pass out.

He tries to open his mouth to speak but he's afraid he'll embarrass himself so he closed it again.

Why am I acting all shy? Since when did fear of embarrassment stop me from meeting new people? GET IT TOGETHER. YOU'RE LEE SEOKMIN.

But she's Y/N Y/L/N.

"Hi." she squeaked and she looked like she regretted starting their conversation that way.

and she's adorable.

"Hi." seokmin manages to breathe out as he stops himself from squealing from seeing how adorably she sips her iced chai tea.

"What made you join the show?"

"I lost the rock, paper, scissors game."

Y/N laughs echoes in the whole room with Seokmin's frank answer.

"You're very honest."

"I try my best." and he winks. WINKS. how much more embarrassing can he be? y/n doesn't seem to mind though. "how about u, what made u join?"

"i was curious about the reformed we got married." seokmin nodded. Think, Seokmin. Continue the conversation! YOU BITCH!

"Reformed is a good word for it," he says, mentally congratulating himself for forming a coherent sentence. "The original was more... scripted? At least that's what Jeonghan-hyung told me."

Oh god, am I already bringing up my members? Could I BE more obvious that I'm nervous?

Y/N leans forward slightly, seeming genuinely interested. "That's what attracted me to this version. They said it would be more authentic. Less manufactured."

Her eyes. Her eyes are looking right at me. Don't panic. Don't you dare panic, Lee Seokmin.

"Authentic, huh?" he manages, taking a sip of his own drink to buy time. "So you're saying you genuinely want to be fake married to me?"

WHAT THE ACTUAL HELL, SEOKMIN? WHY WOULD YOU SAY THAT?

To his eternal relief, Y/N laughs again, a light blush coloring her cheeks. "I mean, if I had to pick someone to fake marry for television..."

Is she flirting? Is this flirting? I think this is flirting. What do I do with my face?

"The honor is all mine," he says with an exaggerated bow, his performer instincts finally kicking in. "I promise to be the best fake husband Korea has ever seen."

Behind the cameras, the PD nods approvingly. This is exactly the kind of chemistry they were hoping for.

"So," Y/N says, shifting slightly in her seat, "should we set some ground rules? Boundaries?"

Ground rules. Yes. Professional. Be professional, Seokmin. Stop staring at her hands.

"Absolutely. Communication is key in any relationship, fake or otherwise." He sounds like a relationship counselor now. Great. "What did you have in mind?"

"Well..." Y/N seems to consider her words carefully. "How comfortable are you with... physical affection? For the cameras, I mean."

Seokmin's brain short-circuits for approximately 2.7 seconds.

"I'm... flexible." TERRIBLE CHOICE OF WORDS. "I mean, comfortable. Within reason. Whatever you're comfortable with."

Stop saying comfortable, you absolute disaster.

"Maybe we start small?" she suggests mercifully. "Hand-holding, casual touches. Nothing that feels forced."

"Perfect," he says too quickly. "Natural progression. Like a real relationship."

Except it's not real, you idiot. Remember that part.

The PD interrupts, handing them both folders. "Here's the schedule for the first few episodes. Look these over and we'll discuss the concept for episode one."

As they both reach for the folders, their fingers brush briefly. Seokmin feels the contact like an electric shock.

She's just a person. A regular person who happens to be brilliant and beautiful and somehow agreed to do this ridiculous show with you.

"Baseball?" Y/N says, looking at the first page. "That's our first date?"

"Hoshi's idea," Seokmin admits. "He has connections with the team."

"I don't know much about baseball," she confesses.

An opportunity. Finally.

"I'd be happy to teach you," he offers, finding his footing at last. "I'm not an expert, but I know enough to get by."

Y/N smiles, and it reaches her eyes this time. "I'd like that."

The rest of the meeting passes in a blur of scheduling details and concept discussions. Seokmin catches himself staring at Y/N more than once, quickly looking away whenever she notices. At one point, she tucks her hair behind her ear, and he nearly knocks over his drink.

Get it together, man. It's going to be a long ten episodes if you keep this up.

When the meeting concludes, they walk together toward the elevator. The cameras have stopped rolling for now, giving them a brief moment of privacy.

"I'm glad it's you," Y/N says suddenly, her voice softer than before.

Seokmin's heart does a complicated gymnastic routine in his chest. "What do you mean?"

"For this show. I was worried they'd pair me with someone difficult or... you know, someone who'd make it all about themselves. You seem... kind."

The elevator arrives, saving him from having to respond immediately. They step inside, and he presses the button for the lobby.

"I'll try to live up to that," he says finally. "Being kind, I mean."

The doors are about to close when he remembers something. "Wait, can I get your number? For... coordination purposes."

Y/N's smile turns slightly mischievous. "Coordination purposes?"

"Professional ones," he clarifies, ears burning. "Entirely professional.”

"Of course." She takes his phone and enters her contact information. "For the sake of authenticity."

As she hands the phone back, their fingers brush again, and this time, Seokmin thinks it might not have been entirely accidental.

Later that night, alone in his room, he stares at her name in his contacts list for a full five minutes before typing out a message.

Seokmin: Just wanted to say I'm looking forward to our baseball "date." Promise not to judge your sports knowledge.

He presses send before he can overthink it, then throws the phone onto his bed as if it might explode. When it dings a minute later, he practically lunges for it.

Y/N: Looking forward to it too. Fair warning: I might pretend to know less than I do just to make you explain things. You have a nice voice.

Seokmin reads the message seventeen times before falling backwards onto his bed with a groan that's half anguish, half delight.

Ten episodes. How is he going to survive ten episodes of this? How is he going to feel when it's over?

[femme-enby]

Alright I JUST rewatched Lilo & Stitch (ORIGINAL!!!) bc I wanted to ensure I knew WTF I was talking about.

Also, some spoilers for the live action remake

First- the ugly duckling story. Paired w seeming to realize that at the very least something is “wrong” (seeing that Cobra Bubbles speaking to Nani causes her to become distressed, & by extension Lilo) causes Stitch to go into the woods hoping to find HIS family. Here he is found by Jumba, who tells him he doesn’t have one, and that his only purpose is to destroy.

Right there seems to be his true turning point- he does run back to Lilo, but while Jumba says “hiding behind your little friend won’t work anymore” he had already been taking on more of… a protective stance? He wasn’t behind her, he was crowding her & looking around, even standing between her & the sound of Jumba bustin in. He pushes her outta the way and keeps her away from danger to the best of his ability while also juggling the fight with Jumba.

Nani yells at Bubbles about taking Lilo, because despite trying to convince Lilo that sometimes change has to happen, and sometimes people have to leave, she DESPERATELY does NOT want to be separated from Lilo.

After Lilo and Stitch are caught by Gantu, Stitch’s escape & recapture by Jumba & Pleakley, he convinces Jumba to help rescue Lilo. Jumba does seem more so intrigued in the moment, but nevertheless the three aliens & Nani give chase.

In the end, after a collective effort between Stitch (simply by being reformed) Bubbles (who reminds Lilo that she bought Stitch) & the sisters (also just by being kind, loving, and sad at the thought of Stitch leaving, bc as he said they’re O’hana now) Stitch, Jumba, and Pleakley are left on earth.

Immediately after we see David, Pleakley, Jumba, AND Bubbles helping the sisters with rebuilding the house. We also get a few scenes of this family having grown to include not only Pleakley AND Jumba, but ALSO Bubbles. Everyone, including Bubbles, in casual clothes hanging out doing various things, as well as everyone together for thanksgiving in the final collage of photos.

Jumba & Bubbles are a part of the family. The family staying PHYSICALLY together is IMPORTANT because it’s not just what the sister’s need, but they truly want it- they love each other fiercely & as far as I know family is also INCREDIBLY important to the culture, which the original Lilo & Stitch did fairly well with showing appreciation for despite, in a sense, being a “minor” topic that most likely didn’t think twice about. Iirc, the original creators did a fair amount of research into Hula for accuracy. Also, Lilo specifically photographs tourists to essentially “flip the script” on how they treat the island(s) and native Hawaiians.

Bubbles being former CIA with experience with aliens, now a CPS employee is important bc he utilizes both the knowledge of aliens and his genuine care for the well-being of others (in this case Lilo) to help this family.

Jumba being the reformed villain instead of purely the villain results in rescuing Lilo, as stitch couldn’t manage on his own and Pleakley is the beloved historian/geologist/conservationist who is NOT equipped with the knowledge of how to do all this crazy shit Jumba knows how to do & Stitch is willing to figure out. If the L. A. movie basically made Pleakley a combo of the two, then they significantly watered down Jumba (an incredibly smart individual who seemed to pick up on the fact that Pleakley was being insensitive/unhelpful w Nani’s pleading & distress, as he shoved Pleakley to the side to gently explain that they only came for Stitch) while dramatically altering Pleakley bc (IMO) the appeal is the fact that they balance each other out, much like Nani and Lilo, and by extension each character in the end (seen in the other movies & the show) tend to play off each other well, generally complimenting one another and creating a larger, cohesive unit, even if they are a bit odd.

Essentially: Lilo & Stitch (OG) is like… alien Addams Family.

The L. A. Remake, with Jumba being purely a villain, Bubbles being purely a CIA agent (and also seemingly a villain of sorts instead of more like… an oppositional force?), and Nani giving up Lilo to the state (especially with the context that she apparently does so bc of Lilo being hurt and needing medical care that she can’t afford so the state would have to pay for it) is… not only a disservice to the original move and the message, but also is so… disgusting honestly.

It sounds almost as though it’s sort of… not quite “romanticizing” or “glorifying”, but still painting the loss of custody as a “good” thing, as something that should almost be appreciated as an option? When… with the family together, as it’s meant to be, is unnecessary but also for anyone w a bit of knowledge about the system & indigenous people being separated from their families, is extra fuckin disgusting quite frankly. Like… if the state has the money to pay for the child’s medical care, house & feed them, etc… why not save some money & JUST help the family with the costs of medical care??? Hell, Mr. “Former CIA agent, turned CPS worker” could have played a wonderful part right there in pulling some fuckin strings depending on how they could have written the movie.

[randomfoggytiger]

Fox Mulder: Jewish, Dutch, Or Other Some Such (UPDATED)

In my curiosity to explore Jewish cultural practices, I stumbled on an enlightening article (and a couple noteworthy theories.)

AUTHORIAL INTENT AND OTHER INTERPRETATIONS

I've briefly explored this concept in another meta post here, but it's wisest to tackle the subject as thoroughly as possible.

**Note**: This post has been shelved, since it failed to achieve its original goal. Proceed at your own peril.

Chris Carter named the Mulders in honor of his mother, a descendant of Dutch-Americans.

April 2001:

Loyal “X-Files” fans may know that Fox Mulder, the brainy protagonist played by David Duchovny, was named after Carter’s mother, the late Catherine Mulder Carter. (Scully was named for longtime-Los Angeles Dodgers’ baseball commentator Vin Scully – no relation). But very few people know that Carter’s mother was born to a Dutch-American family in Manhattan, Mont.

According to McCoy [Carter's cousin], the Mulder family moved to the Amsterdam-Manhattan area from Grand Rapids, Mich. Seven of their nine children were born in the Gallatin Valley and after an unsuccessful turn farming here, the Mulders moved to Southern California to start a feed and grain business in Bellflower, Calif. Norman Mulder was the only one of the nine children in the family to return to the Gallatin Valley. While McCoy and Mulder are Carter’s closest area relatives, there are probably many distant relatives still living in the Gallatin Valley’s Dutch community, McCoy said. She added that the California and Montana Mulders have always been, and remain, close.

(**Note**: While Kuiper, Tena Mulder's maiden name, is also of Dutch origin, that does not exclude the possibility of Jewish heritage.)

Meanwhile, David Duchovny and Vince Gilligan had a differing view. David inherently played any character through his experience of the world-- culturally-ish Jewish-- while Vince worked in a reference to Mulder's "Jewishness" in a deleted portion of Drive's script:

Crump: You know... what kinda name is Mulder, anyway? What is that, like, Jewish?

Mulder: Excuse me?

Crump: Jewish. It is, right?

Mulder: No it's not, yes I am....

But there is, yet again, another schism of dissent: Howard Gordon, write of the episode Kaddish, agreed with Carter's perspective, stating that he didn't think Mulder was Jewish "or even half-Jewish." The purpose of his work was to set Mulder up as the outsider peering inward: "We had never dealt with the horrors of antisemitism and the power of the word [on The X-Files]. And because I'm Jewish, it was something that was really compelling to me personally." As explained in Paula Vitaris's Cinefantastique article, Gordon purposefully wrote in three references to Mulder's Gentile identity: Mulder is unable to identify a Jewish book, does not read or speak the language himself (" I don't speak Hebrew, I don't know what that means"), and is unwilling to pass up a reference to Jesus Christ's Christian resurrection ("A Jew pulled it off 2000 years ago") in response to an antisemite. Gordon's Mulder, then, is a man who related to all people while still remaining, fixedly, an outsider.

CHANGES IN JEWISH CUSTOM

When toying with the idea of Mulder's Jewish ancestry, I had assumed that matrilineal lineage was the opening and closing authority on the subject.

Not so, apparently (or not completely.)

REFORM

Chabad.org

The Code of Jewish Law clearly states that a child of a Jewish mother is Jewish, regardless of the father’s lineage (or whatever else may show up in a DNA test), while the child of a non-Jewish mother is not Jewish. Matrilineal descent has been a fundamental principle of Torah since the Jewish people came into existence.

The code, however, has gone under intense scrutiny in recent years.

As My Jewish Learning explains: Although the Hebrew Bible defines Jewish identity in patrilineal terms (determined by the identity of the father) the Mishnah [a record of the oral Torah in the aftermath of the destruction of the Second Temple, 70 CE] states that the offspring of a Jewish mother and a non-Jewish father is recognized as a Jew, while the offspring of a non-Jewish mother and a Jewish father is considered a non-Jew. This talmudic position became normative in Jewish law.

This continued as the religious and ethnic norm for many centuries until, about, 1947: ...the CCAR adopted a resolution that stated that if a Jewish father and a gentile mother wanted to raise their children as Jewish, “the declaration of the parents to raise them as Jews shall be deemed sufficient for conversion.” And though the wording changed somewhat in 1961 ["The insistence on a “conversion” was dropped completely...."]

But it did not become-- in effect-- law until 1983 resolution:

By 1983, the CCAR was ready to spell out the patrilineal descent resolution in greater detail. By this time there was a broad-based commitment to egalitarianism. To many, it seemed unnecessarily biased to accept the child of a Jewish mother and a gentile father as Jewish while rejecting the child of a Jewish father and a gentile mother. 

[Rabbit Alexander] Schindler initiated a process that eventually led to the CCAR voting in favor of what became known as the Patrilineal Descent Resolution....

What this meant was that if a child was born of either a Jewish father or a Jewish mother, and was raised as Jewish, that child would be regarded by the Reform movement as Jewish. They were, however, expected to participate in the various Jewish life-cycle ceremonies which usually mark the life stages of a Jewish person.

1996 brought another development:  ...the CCAR created an 11-member task force to interpret and develop guidelines for the successful implementation of the patrilineal descent policy. The task force recommended that the resolution be referred to as “equilineal descent” or simply “Jewish descent” rather than patrilineal descent since the resolution accepted descent from either the mother or the father.

The radical shift, encapsulated, is as follows: While Jewish children had always been asked to prepare for their bar and bat mitzvahs, their Jewishness was never contingent upon successful completion of that ceremony or any other.  The Patrilineal Descent Resolution shifted the emphasis from birth to conscious choice.

DISSENT

Regardless, there is still broad disputation between Conservative and Orthodox Jews and Reform Jews:

...However, patrilineal Jews are likely to encounter problems later in life if they decide to become more traditional in their observance. A problem arises if Reform Jews who are Jewish by patrilineal descent choose to participate in ritual or celebrations at more observant synagogues. 

...Conservative and Orthodox Jews do not recognize patrilineal descent as a valid means of passing on Judaism. “Who is a Jew?” has been a controversial issue for several decades, and the Patrilineal Descent Resolution deepened the division between the opposing viewpoints. 

The article also raises an intriguing point:

Interestingly, this created the possibility that someone who had a Jewish mother, but had not been raised Jewish and had not had any public religious acts of identification such as a Jewish baby-naming ceremony, a bar or bat mitzvah, or a Jewish confirmation service could theoretically be regarded as a non-Jew despite his or her lineage. However, many rabbis recognize lineage alone.

SECULAR JUDAISM

If we work off of the assumption that Tena Mulder was a Jew, then Mulder's heritage is without question, as matrilineal descent is a core part of the Jewish identity.

It would then inherently inform Mulder's branch of Judaism, nonbeliever that he is--

Phoebe Maltz Bovy, The Canadian Jewish News:

Secular Jews are in some sense a process-of-elimination category. If other Jews register you as Jewish, if antisemites hate you for being Jewish, but you are not a practising member of any religion, then you are a secular Jew. It’s roughly the same as being nominally Jewish. It’s Jewishness, rather than Judaism, perhaps. A convert from Judaism to another faith might be culturally or ethnically Jewish but is not, obviously, a secular Jew. I will not belabour the terminological aspects of this....

“Secular” is a spectrum, and means different things to different people. It might mean avowed atheism, it might not. Secular Jews pick and choose from elements of their—our—religious heritage, but tend to interpret these as cultural, rather than spiritual, traditions. Though “pick and choose” suggests more intent than may enter into it.

MULDER'S EARLY PARENTAGE: A DIFFERING THEORY

Early canon states that Bill Mulder was Mulder's father, while later canon debates the issue back and forth a bit before settling on CSM in Season 9. In spite of this, the world en masse wouldn't have known the murky nature of Mulder's paternal origins; and, thus, would have regarded him in line with Bill's (and Tena's) ethnic heritage.

That being said, I do find it interesting that Mulder wouldn't have been considered a Jew until the 80s by the broader, entrenched community had his father-- and not his mother-- been a Jew.

Regardless, this speculation bears little weight on canon; and is just an interesting thought exercise.

CANONICAL INTERPRETATIONS (AND GAPS)

We are shown three Mulder family funerals: Bill Mulder's in The Blessing Way, Fox Mulder's in Field Trip, and Fox Mulder's again in Deadalive.

For Bill's funeral, Tena Mulder made the executive decision (or carried out his expressed wishes) to involve a minister, not Jewish Rabbi, in her ex-husband's final service:

For Mulder's Season 6 funeral, Scully glimpses a cross of white flowers standing above her partner's casket; and doesn't bat an eye:

For Mulder's Season 8 funeral, Scully chose a Protestant (or derivative thereof) minister-- not rabbi or priest-- to read from scripture and pray over her partner:

We aren't shown Tena Mulder's funeral; however, her burial wasn't within the traditional twenty-four hour timetable for Jewish custom (i.e. her body was likely preserved for multiple days while Mulder was tracking his sister.) Barring Shabbat or other religious observances, this points to two possibilities:

Tena Kuiper-Mulder was, like Carter originally imagined, a "generalized" American with Dutch roots.

Tena Kuiper-Mulder was a nonsecular Jew (with or without Dutch roots.)

Both interpretations work for her son, as well. Referring back to Howard Gordon's Kaddish, Mulder can't read or speak Hebrew; additionally, he is nonreligious (and devoutly so.) However: as @waxworkdaughter and @leiascully both pointed out (here and here, respectively), Jewish identity is a complicated, personalized topic that expands beyond simplified, black-and-white thinking. Mulder's lack of familiarity in Gordon's script could (and can) easily be explained if Tena Mulder distanced herself-- and by extension, her children-- from her heritage, for a myriad of reasons. Mulder's familiarity with other religious observances (i.e. kneeling in a Christian church and weeping for his sister in Conduit) could as equally be explained by many other factors without erasing a tie to that Jewish heritage.

With reference to the end scene in Conduit, Mulder's observance could simply be a shadow of Bill Mulder's WASP upbringing: Protestant symbolism tied to his father's upper crust, in-group sensibilities-- a societal expectation passed down as tradition.

CONCLUSION

Church and prayer, funerals and flags, could all be part of the nostalgic American 90s, symbols of meaning rather than actual belief.

Mulder could have been raised Christian, Jewish, agnostic; or all three. Mulder himself could be Jewish or Dutch or Dutch Jew or generic American (or a combination thereof.)

Tena Mulder could have been Jewish. Or Bill Mulder. Or neither.

The truth is, ultimately, what you make of it: everyone has their own perspective.

Thanks for reading~

Enjoy!

[the-white-void]

"You have heard the Story."

Synopsis: A Play that was acted over and over again has finally reached a stir in script, changing the events that were supposed to happen. Will this Play finally lead to a happy ending? Or lead the play to the same script as before?

Warning: This contains mentions of violence, killings, torture, and repetitive deaths which may be uncomfortable to some readers.

One || two || three || four || five...?

Taglist: @kthehoeforfictionalmen @pix-stuff @kthehoeforfictionalmen @time-shardz @scarletttcroww @mysteriaqueen @atsukawolfcat @junkoslette @mefOrgOr @altheqo @obliviousariies2007 @mmeatt @quacking-simp @amnervous

Dreams are the manifestation of oneself. Made from desire,experience, trauma, and hate. Many things can warp the mind to elude the creature into a dream; one too familiar to let go, or the pain to make them reform. Dreams are a curious thing. It's been a long time since you dreamt. A feeling all too distant since then. 'What did dreams feel like? How do dreams make one feel?" Questions surged through your thoughts while sitting inside a cold and desolate cell.

"Why are these questions coming to me now?" You wondered as you gazed up at the ceiling, eyes wandering at every crack and fragment dangling from the stone before a loud clang echoed cutting your thought.

The sound was made when a guard thrust his sword at the bars. "Quiet fraud!!! This world doesn't need your corrupt thoughts out loud!" The guard sneered as he pulled his blade. back to its sheath.

Brushing off the guard's words, you stepped closer to the bars with a sly grin while leaning closer. "Hey, do you know how dreaming feels? It's been a while since I've had one." Yet the innocent act was returned with a clang banging into the bars.

"I said quiet fraud!!! You better shut your mouth if you know what's good for you." The guard's voice came aloud, echoing through the dungeon halls. Your face remained unchanged and unfazed by his threat, simply smiling, but yet the tone of your grin became unsettling, leaving a cold sweat down the once threatening guard.

"You know... I prefer my questions to have answers." Your tone of voice was sickly sweet, enough to come off as poison. Your eyes drew closer to the guard, your gaze piercing through his haughty façade. "Now tell me. What is it like to dream?". The guard quickly turned his back away to face you, still, he could feel his mind weighing over him as he felt his body slowly fading from his control, with your question burdening his whole being.

"What is it like to dream?"

Luck graced the guarding knight as a small figure appeared to interfere. "What's wrong? Are you alright?" A young and squeaky voice came as the figure came closer revealing itself as the Dendro Archon, along with another person wearing an expansive hat.

"Wait, Buer" the short man with a big hat came off surprised when the Dendro Archon suddenly dashed off to help the guard. Your smile faded as you saw the Archon come closer before returning, but with a different reason for grinning, then releasing the guard from his agony as he fell to his knees before hitting the ground.

While Kusanali focused her attention on the guard as Wanderer had his eyes on you, wary of your intentions as you had the guts to impersonate a being of another plane. "Why are you trying to act like a god? That won't get you anything." He sneered while keeping his distance. A low chuckle escaped your lips as you looked at him. "That's very rich coming from someone who tried to become a god." You teased as you lay your bum on the floor with your legs crossed, giggling at your little joke.

Your short statement made the Wanderer's blood run cold, if he had any. Ever since her erased himself from Irminsul, no one else other than the traveller, Paimon, and Bier could have known, yet, some imposter knew that. "How did you..." The Dendro Archon overhead you and Hat Guy's little exchange and came over with a tinge of fear behind her face brimming with courage. "How did you know all that? Ever since he was removed from Irminsul, no one should have known about that."

Your smile was unchanging as you looked up to her and giggled. "Tehehe... Maybe you could try guessing-" your voice leaving a little teasing tone as your eyes remain on the young Archon.

The Dendro Archon remains unmoving, her eyes still as untainted waters of a clear spring, the clarity deceivingly clear. "Because you've seen it before, again and again, countless times, in every loop you've experienced..." She voiced out with a tinge of pity laced in her stern facade.

Your smile was drowned out by the Lord's words, while also leaving her company confused. Standing up from your laxed form, slightly towering over the young Archon while your eyes were dead set on hers, your teasing aura vanished into a tense and trembling form. "You... remember...?" Your voice quivered as well as your eyes. Your once calm facade crumbled showing the same prey that was hunted countless times.

Walking back into the shadows that filled the cell you were locked in, turning away as thoughts and words escaped your lips in mumbles, mumbles no one else in the dungeon could understand. Facing the wall you clenched your fingers on the surface, grabbing onto what little sanity is left before madness drove your mind. "Lieslieslieslieslieslies... Even... evenifyouremember... You paused your rapid mumbling as you clenched your hands harder on the wall, breaking your nails before your blood oozed out.

Your silence filled the dungeon with a haunting flavour, like the clam before the storm, leaving the Dendro Archon and her companion uneasy. "Kusanali, we should leave this nutjob. We're not gonna get anything from them." Wanderer tries to tell his concerns, but Nahida was laser focused on getting more from you.

The silence was deafening before it was interrupted but the sound of a droplet hitting the floor, then another, and another. Your hands rested on your sides, before turning your head to the two outside your cell.

Your sudden change in form left the two alarmed as Wanderer gets in front to protect the Archon.

You were still as still a statue; in an instant, you leapt onto thern but you were stopped by the bars holding you in. Your eyes showed an insane victim conscience about freedom or a trap. "Remembering that means NOTHING!!! LIARS! You're just here to ask me SHIT aren't ya!!!" Your furious yells echoed through the hollow halls while. While your hands gripped harder on the bars, your blood continued to flow, blood of glimmering gold against the small ember of light flickering from a lamp.

"You're... The Overseer...?"

[greenapplespider]

Just finished painting this, but I want to write up a little whumpy one shot character study to go with it so here’s a sneak peek ;p (lore master post)

Characters are from the dark, urban, fantasy series I’m write called Blood in Moderation, William on the left Nate on the right. Whump scenario follows as such:

William and Nate used to be part of an insurgent group who wanted to overthrow the government, get rid of the monarchy, and install a republic. Their leader, Romulus, made a deal with one of the only surviving princes of the royal family, Jeffery Vanberg. The plan is to take over the government but reform the monarchy instead of abolish it in exchange for the princes magical prowess, political connections, and the cultural power his name held.

Compromises and all that.

Things turned into a proper civil war, with the tide surprisingly in their favor. But their chief adversary (Adrien Vanberg) would rather see everything burn than his nephew win.

With ancient blood magic scripts, Adrien reinvents a terrible alchemical ritual that turns him into a monster- a bloodsucking leech, a twisted mockery of the divine hermaphrodite; an immortal, hedonistic, animal. Adrien slaughters the majority of the high nobility and turns the lesser nobles, who envied the positions of their betters, into things like him.

He slaughters his nephews forces, all save for a few of the top brass for whom he forcibly turned into blood suckers like himself. Jeffery and Romulus escape Adrien’s nest, after several years of being play things, but sadly leave their comrades in both their haste and in the fog of being a fledgling.

Well and truly trapped now, Adrien takes a sick liking to William- seeing something of himself in the younger blood sucker. He gives the other a choice, help me with my experiments and I’ll give you and your cohort status above that of play thing.

How could William pass it up, it’s not like Rom and Jeffery would be coming back. Is what he’d thought until the years of doing horrific things to both human and leeches alike started to weigh on him.

Children were the most difficult for him, especially as he aged. The older a blood sucker gets the more of their humanity returns.

He let some kids escape, or rather he helped them escape. He didn’t care, he’d take the punishment, William knew at this point in the research he was too valuable for Adrien to kill.

But Nate wasn’t- and William realized a bit too late that Adrien wouldn’t be touching him for the punishment.