#stan is success and bill is failure

[emmabirb8]

It really is SO funny (and meaningful, actually, if you think about it) to me that Stanley was the only member of the Pines family who was never able to be manipulated by Bill.

Stan's paranoia and distrusting attitude served him in the best way possible. Yeah, it sucks that he was basically cut off from forming lasting positive relationships up until he moved into Ford's shack in Gravity Falls, but MAN, that was kind of a small price to pay when you realize he unknowingly kept himself protected from one of the most dangerous entities in all of space-time by having that mindset and keeping his walls up all those years.

Can you imagine how fucking disastrous things could've turned out if Bill had gotten to him? Successfully infiltrated Stan's dreams, utilized his connection to Ford to his devious advantage as a bargaining chip, and used Stan for all he's worth to orchestrate Weirdmageddon his way? Ford spent 30 years hiding from Bill, constructing the quantum destabilizer, and putting all his energy into taking him out - to prevent him from meddling in the lives of those he cares about and to protect the world from his evil.

But it turns out, all you really have to do to foil Bill is just... not be swayed by him in the first place. There was NO combination of words in the human vocabulary Bill could have said to get Stan on his side at any point in the story, and tbh that's fucking hilarious.

Get fucked little man, you got outsmarted by the '''lesser''' twin, and he didn't even have to put any effort into it at all.

(And as the icing on the cake, he wrecked your sorry ass too. Smashed you to smithereens in one second flat.)

Truly tho, I think Stan is Bill's match. His equal opposing force. The yin to his yang. Essentially, when put together, they cancel each other out, lmao.

And I just know Bill will be forever haunted by that old man. He can make all the pitiful attempts to reach out from the Theraprism all he wants, but even if he were to escape someday, somehow, there is no coming back from that level of pure humiliation. 🤣

[bittersweet-jack-of-no-trades]

Stan's biggest fear was becoming like his father (cold, unimpressed, distant); this presented itself as him being afraid to become his brother--- someone who would abandon him, someone who would walk away, someone who saw no use in him. He then, out of desperation to save his brother, became like him--- literally, became him in appearance and name--- studious, detail-oriented, hyperfixated on one project.

Ford's biggest fear was becoming like his father (heavy expectations, success-over-fulfillment mindset, greedy); this presented itself as him being afraid to become his brother--- someone who would wreck what he loved because it wasn't done in the 'right way,'. He then, out of desperation to save his brother the world, became like his brother--- a criminal, impulsive, tricky and clever.

"You look like dad," while both looking in the mirror wasn't just a dig at the amount of time passed--- it was an acknowledgement of what they were running from: they spent so long trying to be the apple that flung itself far from the tree that they both ended up amongst the roots. Them swapping with each other in the Fearamid wasn't just a plan to defeat Bill, but physical symbolism of them reconciling with the fact that, at the core of themselves, they had the same fears (their father, failure, loneliness) and the same goals (family, acceptance). Only when they accepted this were they able to beat Bill (the manifestation of their attempts to be successful and powerful in the eyes of the world without first learning to accept themselves as they are).

[froginabogg]

i'm convinced part of the reason a lot of people misinterpret ford's character is because they can't conceive that the twins were raised different

stan was the runt of the family, the failure, he got kicked out and strayed off the path in an effort to make up for his mistakes, to regain the family he lost, his story is tragic but easy to understand and digest, the link between his upbringing and his life is clear

ford on the other hand was the golden boy, the ticket out, he was the one responsible for the ultimate success of the family and he was praised non stop and raised to unattainable heights, he has spent his entire life chasing that same height after he lost it in college, that's why he's so mad at stan, he ruined that success twice, he made ford fail, and ford is not allowed to fail

i feel like it's harder for people who haven't gone through similar things to get ford's character, yes he's arrogant yes he thinks he's the smartest man in the room, can you blame him? he needs to be! it has been drilled into him from the very start that if he is not enough the fate of his entire family (and later the entire universe) is on his shoulders, his personal failings are equivalent to worlds collapsing, he needs to be the best because if he's not he's nothing

so when bill comes along and promises him everything, promises to make him the very best he can be and fix all that is wrong, can you blame ford for trusting him? for being manipulated? in his mind he had literally no other choice

ford and stan are two sides of the same broken family, they're both trying to fix the same mistakes in opposite ways, stan by proving he's not the worst, ford by showing he has always been the best

[semper-legens]

79. Gravity Falls: Lost Legends by Alex Hirsch

Owned: Yes Page count: Unknown/not numbered My summary: Pacifica and Dipper must battle a monster to save Mabel’s face. Soos breaks the fourth wall, and reality begins to crumble. Mabel tears a hole in reality and discovers the Mabel-verse. And young Stanley and Stanford fight some bullies. Welcome back to Gravity Falls. My rating: 4/5 My commentary:

Gravity Falls again! Yeah, I read the Book of Bill, and then this literally fell off the shelf into my lap ready for me to read. I love Gravity Falls, and this wasn't exactly a huge time investment, so hey, why not? All of these comics take place over Dipper and Mabel's summer in Gravity Falls (bar one, a flashback to the older Pines twins) at various points, and they all focus on a different person or area of Gravity Falls. And, of course, there's a ridiculous framing device. Shmebulock, the gnome who is cursed to only say his own name, can apparently talk once every thousand years, and uses that time to tell us stories about the Pines family, because of course he does. Schmebulock, the fourth wall gnome, what secrets are you hiding?

The first story is about Dipper and Pacifica. She wants to get rid of a wrinkle, and ends up summoning a face-stealing creature (as you do) that steals Mabel's face, forcing the other two to chase him and find it. It's really exploring their antagonistic relationship, as well as giving some insights into Pacifica's worldview. She's been raised to believe that being beautiful is necessary for her, that she needs to live up to this perfect ideal of what a family is, but she learns that the stress she is under from living up to this ideal is causing her pain. Actually, she prefers to be more authentic, and to look like herself rather than an idealised version of what she should appear like. Dipper helping her to learn that, even through a grouchy, antagonistic, argumentative set of banter, is sweet. And there's some great gags in this story. I really liked the faceless Mabel drawing a smile on while sitting in the dark, creeping Stan out - it was a fun little aside.

The second story is about Dipper and Mabel getting some comics, which Stan throws into a cursed chest. Lo and behold, he gets trapped inside the comics, and the others have to follow him in to save him. It's really fun, with the artstyle and tone that the comic is presented in changing based on which kind of comics they're currently inside - classic cartoons, superheroes, manga, edgy apocalypse stories, down to Stan's old comic, which is Peanuts-esque. The theme this time is Stan's own self-worth issues and inability to square up to his past - every venture he's tried, even this one attempt at creativity, has been a failure, and he feels very much dwarfed by the success of Ford. But when they get out of the comics world, Stan puts his story on sale at the Mystery Shack, and a kid ends up buying and loving it. The whole thing is a fun romp through different comics, with a sweet ending where Stan finds something of the success he was hoping for the whole time. Nice!

Next up is the Mabel story, where Mabel falls through to a multiverse of lost Mabels, Rick and Morty style. Stan Mabel! Military Mabel! Table Mabel! Velociraptor Mabel! There's such a huge variety of Mabels on show here, half the panels are basically Where's Wally-esque tableaux - and there even is a Where's Wally Mabel hanging around to make that very joke. I liked that this story shows off Mabel's flaws - her silliness, her self-centred nature, her tendency to get caught up in ridiculous schemes - without ever demonising her or making her seem like a bad person for it. I see Mabel be denigrated too often in the fandom for the crime of being a twelve year old girl, so it's nice to see some official media that shows she isn't perfect, but also doesn't blame her for it. And seeing all the Mabels is fin. This story has like 4000% more Mabel for your Mabel. What's not to love?

The final story features Stan and Ford as children, solving the mystery of their father's missing necklace. After having mostly seen them in their adult, antagonistic forms, it's really nice to see Stan and Ford as friends who help each other out here. The young Stans are cute, and again, we get a bit of nuance from them - Ford is just as willing to wreck things and join in hijinks as Stan is, and Stan's nice despite his bluster and bull-headedness. They're just kids, you know, messing around on their summer holiday, trying to make the best of their situations despite not exactly being the ideal kids. Stan's derided by his father for not being as smart as Ford, and Ford feels uncomfortable about his six fingers and the way he doesn't really fit in. But they have each other, and they're working things out, and it's really nice to see. I love them.

Next up, a look at pirates in culture, with a book about Pirates of the Caribbean.

[nullen-void]

Adding on to this, a recurring thing I've seen is Stan and Ford still being the ones who defeat Bill via Ford erasing Lee's mind while Bill is inside.

Concept: Grauntie Mabel is still the one who lets Bill in to start Weirdmageddon.

Mason forgave Mabel years ago. He's paranoid as all hell, but Mabel is the one person he trusts unconditionally, and he's more self-aware than Stanford. He knows the Portal was an accident, and he's had the image of Mabel's distraught face in the back of his mind for years, and the sound of her scream from the branding ringing in his ears. He forgave her a long time ago. While he's displeased that she rebuilt the Portal and risked letting Bill through, he frankly expected it, because unlike Stanford, Dipper would have done the same.

Instead of Stan believing that getting Ford back is the one good thing he did, Old Lady Mabel is wallowing in self-hatred. She hates herself for getting her brother stuck in the portal she hates herself for stealing his identity, she hates herself for taking so long, she hates herself for not being able to find the Journals.

Even after Mason returns, Mabel can't get over her own self-pity. Instead of trying to reconnect like Stan and getting rebuffed, Mabel is pulling away. Her job's done, and she can't face Mason after all her failures. She isn't able to see any of her successes; she's got MAJOR impostor syndrome. The only thing she takes any pride in at this point is keeping Ford and Lee safe and happy, and even that got dampened by the zombie incident and the entire confrontation at the portal activation. As far as Mabel's concerned, she's not needed anymore now that her brother's back.

Eventually, the kids and Mason pick up on her self-hatred and start making progress in helping her deal with her issues...

...but then the kids start fighting. They start having their canon issues, where Ford wants to figure out who he is without Stan while Stan is desperate to not be left behind, and Mason tries to resolve it by offering to take Ford in for the next year, so they have a chance to temporarily be apart without repercussion, but he only makes it worse.

Bill is in the background, whispering in Ford's ear. Mason will never trust him again, so Bill is trying to ingratiate himself to Ford, who he knows will grow up even smarter than Dipper. Bill is driving a wedge between the twins, and Mabel's inability to help them makes her panic, and when that weird time traveler the twins made friends with shows up and says he knows how to fix things, well. She's desperate.

Maybe she wants a second chance to make the summer go better. Maybe she still wants the summer to last forever, but for Lee's sake instead of her own. Maybe she wants to go back to her childhood in a moment of weakness and pretend everything is simple and fun again.

But God, can you imagine? This version of Mabel getting pulled out of the dream bubble and seeing what she's wrought? And then seeing her little Lee getting his mind wiped, all because of her? She'd break.

...Hm. Maybe that's a bit too angsty actually. This got away from me a bit.

Relativity Falls is showing up again and I'm here for it, but I'm sorry I just cannot believe that Mabel would cross dress for thirty years or steal Dipper's identity.

Like, I can imagine she'd try. But Mabel is more scatterbrained than Stan ever was. I feel like, over time, she'd just sort of forget.

One morning, she'd forget to touch up the big dipper birthmark, and everyone would assume it was fake as part of the Mystery Shack persona.

Next she grows her hair out again, because she gets into a groove repairing the portal and just forgets to trim it.

Eventually she forgets to wear a binder several days in a row, and no one mentions it! So she leaves it off because it's uncomfortable and such a hassle.

Over 20 years, she slowly drops the Mason identity and falls back into Mabel, so gradually she barely notices, and thanks to the Blind Eye no one else notices either.

Then one day, she looks in the mirror after a show and realizes all at once that she's utterly failed to keep up the facade, and no one cares.

I dunno about you, but that feels like delicious angst to me. It reminds her how utterly alone Dipper was out here. And imagine, someone who's kept their memories congratulates her on her "transition," and Mabel has to choke back a sob because (if you subscribe to the trans Dipper idea) it feels like she's spitting in her brother's face by basically undoing his transition.

Whether Dipper feels that way about it or not, Mabel would feel awful.

In brief, making Dipper and Mabel just copy the Stans' story verbatim is boring. Mix it up a little!

[msgrumpygills]

I think Jared has more crazy and arrogant Stans and those Stans have superiority complex like Jared. I have seen many Jared fans shitting on Jensen bc Jensen is not the lead on a show and he's just gonna be a side character in The Boys, but Jared has his own show Walker and he is the lead there so that makes Jared more successful and an A-list actor. They were actually using the same arguments about SPN, saying Jared was the number #1 on the callsheet.

I can't begin to explain how wrong that is, and i can't begin to point out how wrong their opinions are. They think being on a failing show as a lead is the proof of success, they don't even realize that to a larger extent Jensen's career will get more recognition with The Boys (a successful show liked by the critics and got to be nomited for the Emmys and were praised, meanwhile Jared stands tried soooo hard to put Walker on the Emmy nominations... which was really ridiculous and an epic failure).

They think their echo-chamber Jared wank is the proof of realities and of world. They think just because they try so hard to make Walker seem good, that proofs that Walker is a successful show. Nevermind that outside of Jared stans' echo chamber, Walker basically gets no praise or recognition on the media or by the critics. They think just because they are stanning for Jared makes Jared truly the #number 1 best at anything!.... but the realities don't work like that. Any logical person with a brain could see that Jared's shitty mantrums and his twitter meltdown was pathetic and unproffessional. Outside of Jared Stans' ankle, people will look at Jared's behaviour and see how mess of a person he is.

Not to mention their attempt at making everything Jensen's mistake and trying to portray Jensen and everyone else as backstabbers. Oh, really? So, Jared gets to be the number1 all the same, gets to make everything about himself when it comes to SPN and everything else, but when Jensen gets to do something about SPN and his character (Dean), wooooo what a bad person Jensen is!!1!!1! Burn him at the stake!

It seems like they truly have a superiority complex going for them and it fits with the overall image of Jared's. He also tries to make everything about himself and be innocent UwU baby boy when in actuality he's basically a man child.

I can't wait to see Jared stans shitting on Jensen and Jensen fans once The Boys season3 is out. They will continue to spew bullshit about Jensen and start to invoke drama there as well and say 'how Jensen is a failure or not as successful as Jared because he's not a lead and does not have his own show'.

Their echo chamber will never end. They'll continue with excusing every one of Jared's shitty and obvious crappy behavior, and continue to just destroy everyone else's fun. Whether be about Jensen's role on The Boys and his production company Chaos Machine or his work with the prequel, or something else really.

So, get ready because we will see more of their wank, toxicity and shittiness in the coming days.

When it comes to Jared stans, look at their role model. Mimicry is the sincerest form of flattery and all, right? I think arrogant and having a superiority complex are perfect ways to explain them! 

I’m not involved with acting and never have been, outside of a sketchy audition but that’s not relevant! Being first on the call sheet means that you’re the first person being billed, right? And I don’t remember (it’s been a long time since I watched Supernatural) but I could have sworn that the credits said “Starring Jensen Ackles”? That could be wrong so I apologize for that one! 

I think all of this has been showcasing how different J2 are when it comes to decisions and strategy. Jensen (seemingly, I don’t hangout with him so wouldn’t know the deets) took his time with work post Supernatural. I know he announced it fairly early, but he didn’t start actually working for a while. Again, I don’t know the deets so he might have been working on this for months beforehand with Kripke. Now sure, it wasn’t a “starring role” and it wasn’t a show “made for him”, and I know the Jared stans love to bring that up and that Jensen is just a guest star and yadda yadda. But what better way to get your foot in the door and market yourself to other potential employers and show off your chops to some big-wigs, than to get a fairly big role on an already loved show that just so happens to have Emmy noms? 

On the other hand, you have Jared who was chomping at the bit the be a “lead” and a “star”, so much so that he replaced Jensen with himself as the role of Walker. Technically, him wanting to be the start was also exhibited in the finale and how that was handled, but you get what I mean. What did that get him? His stans being deluded into thinking that he’s more successful because he’s starring in his own #1 show. 

I can vouch for the fact that being outside of the fandom, I’m realizing just how little people actually care about J2 and Supernatural. Yes, they have big followings, but the fans act like they’re at the level of the Marvel actors or something.  It also doesn’t help that outside of the fandom, the general consensus is that Jared is a douchebag with a tragic hairline and a fake looking wife. He’s not the big star that everyone in his echo-chamber think he is. 

I wonder how the stans will react when everyone inevitably loves Soldier Boy and the articles that will be published about how great he is doing. I’m sure they’ll find something to try and use against him or to tear him down. 

[lol-jackles]

I'm a foreign girl who likes reading about weird stuff, like AA's mindset and all this toxic stan culture, and your entries on them are really helpful. Just wanna know what causes this obsession. I remember saying he's not Oscar material in front of them crazy freaks and they went nuts. I find nothing interesting about him and I'm not even a part of the fandom but I think they need to go out and have some fresh air in their lungs.

Ever heard of the saying “expectation is premediated resentment”?  

AAs have premediated their desired outcomes for Jensen since his soap opera days 20 years ago i.e. A-list movie career.  This is natural when you’re a fan of any actors.  From their pov Jensen appeared to moving in the right direction; he went from #3 on Dark Angel to #2 on Supernatural, so surely #1 is the next logical step. They’re like Hillary Clinton, she went from First Lady to Senator (of a State she didn’t grow up in or lived in) to Secretary of State (no outstanding results other than start 3 wars in the middle east) and expected to be given the presidency of the United States just because it’s her turn.  The AAs thought it was Jensen’s turn to be seen as the lead and why they made such a huge stink over the billing order on Supernatural.

AAs labeled these desired outcomes as a source of  their “happiness”.  Basicially they believed that the reality they conceived in their mind and felt enthuasitically about it will manifest physically.  But it didn’t quite turn out that way and the image they built up in their own mind and associated with “success” had basically collapsed.  Due to AAs remaining attached to that fictional view of “success”, they interpret the actual reality as a “failure” because it “failed” to match the scenerio they have build up, thus harboring resentment for the way things unfolded, simply because they did not unfolded according to their expectations.

[bluepinetree]

I Have A Problem

And it’s called ‘having too many ideas for animatics/storyboards and not enough time to work on them’.

Seriously, I have a list and it keep GROWING.

Therefore I Am - Billie Elish (Bill Cipher taunting Ford after reveal of betrayal) Told Ya - Mystery Skulls (Portal!Ford, CMYK palette of multiverse travels) - partially storyboarded RPG - roughly based off of Sad1st HK meme with DDMD (Stan, Ford, Dipper, Mabel, Bill as Final Boss) - partially storyboarded Run Boy Run - Woodkid (long form panorama mimicking original music video, Ford in Portal) - partially storyboarded Confrontation - Jekyll and Hyde (Ford VS Bord -Bill possessing Ford- following Ford's full breakdown into paranoia and fear after Bill's betrayal, progressively more surreal) - partially storyboarded Words Fail - Dear Evan Hansen (Ford confessing his own failures at communication and how badly he wants to be part of a family again) Hey Look Ma I Made It - Panic!At the Disco (pre betrayal, pre loss, height of Ford's success) Love Is Madness - Thirty Seconds To Mars Feat. Halsey (BillFord, Ford realizing Bill's betrayal and intentions, going mad with paranoia)

MY BRAIN KEEPS GOING AND I CAN’T STOP AHHHHHH!!!

[stanofwar2]

☠Heavy Metal Au☠

Okay so this is an au idea I've had bouncing around in my head for a couple of days now so I'm gonna share it with ya'll (caution its long)

Okay so after Stan gets kicked out and Ford goes off to collage Stan goes around desperately trying to get a job of any sort and luckily comes upon a small band at a bar. He joins them as a bassist/co-singer.

Years pass by and Ford is in Gravity Falls as per Canon reasons, he's met Bill and has gotten Fiddleford on his side as his assistant. But he has a secret. He's a huge Rock and Heavy Metal fan. No one knows this, not even Fiddleford(mainly because it doesn't really fit his personality and aesthetic) and if you asked him he would completely deny it. But he is and he's always scrounging around for new bands to listen to which what makes him happen upon one called Cryptid Blood. And he Loves them. He buys every album and every record he can get his hands on. But his favorite member of the band is the bassist, Grim (none of them goes by their real names, just creepy nicknames).

Hes not sure why but his songs in specific tend to hit Ford the most, like its about him, his life, and the things he's been through. So when he hears that they're going to be performing a literal state away, he cannot refuse the opportunity to go see them. He tells Fidds he's taking a break and he'll be back shortly.

So he goes, buys a brand new shirt from them and gets into the show, absolutely buzzing with excitement. The stage is set and the band comes out, wearing creepy marks that obscure their faces (apparently a normal thing they do) and they play HARD. Ford is living for it, dancing and singing along to every song. Only a few of the band members play their own songs, which includes Grim, bringing absolute joy to Fords heart.

Grim sings deep from his soul and Ford feels it, nearly in tears with how much he felt and understood Grims feelings and experiences. But the song is over soon enough, allowing the others to play and finish up with two more songs. The concert is over and the band thanks the audience as they cheer loudly. But they pull one final move for their audience as everyone except Ford screams in anticipation. He had no idea what was happening, but he was excited to see. The band members are announced one by one, each taking off their mask to reveal their faces to the audience. So when it gets to Grim Ford is not prepared to see that the man he admires and relates with is none other than his brother, Stanley Pines.

Ford watched in shock, absolutely taken back by this revelation, realization dropping on him like a boulder. No wonder he related so much with him, he was his own sibling!! He went through the same things he did, and apparently more of his own stuff than he knew. He couldn't believe it, his brother was a successful Heavy Metal artist!!

Once everything was over, and signings were done, Ford gathered the courage to go over to a few of the band members, introduce himself as Stans brother and ask them if they could let him to talk with Stan. They eagerly agree and lead him to Stans hotel room. Once inside Stan is shocked to see him and greets him defensively, making Ford feel even more guilty about what happened between them. But he pushes forward and catches up with Stan, which eases Stan down seeing that his brother isn't there to insult him or his lifestyle. They talk, argue, comfort, hug, and laugh together as they catch up on the last 7 years. Ford tells Stan he's proud of him and insists on him telling their Pa, proving to him that he isn't a failure. Stan tries to decline but soon agrees as to appease his twin.

And so they stay in touch after that. They usually just call and chat. But Stan started making a habit of visiting his brother for "creative vacations". He meets Fiddleford and immediately clicks with him, happy to see that his brother has a caring friend watching over him. Mystery Trio adventures ensue as the timeline moves along.

During the whole portal incident, Stan is on tour unable to contact neither Ford nor Fidds. After a month of silence from them he gets concerned and decides to leave, calling it a "family emergency ". He gets to Fidds place and sees him in the early stages of the memory erasing situation. He stops him and brings him back to solid ground, asking him desperately what happened. After several days of this Fidds is able to gather enough memory to tell Stan what had happened and what he saw in the portal. Stanley is horrified and tells Fidds that he'll talk to Ford and get him to shut down the Portal.

So he goes to his brothers place, finding it in disrepair and Ford sitting in a corner rocking back and forth, shaking like a leaf and clearly sleep deprived. Stan snaps him out of it and demands an explanation for what the hell happened, bringing up what Fidds had seen and if he knew about any of it. Ford admits that he does and that he knows what the portal is for. Stanley has to fight tooth and nail to convince Ford to dismantle the portal for good and get rid of the blue prints in his journals. Ford fights hard but gives in and does what Stan demands to be done.

Once their finished they return to Fiddleford who seemed to have been waiting for answers/results from Stan. He's releived to hear the portal is no more and that Ford is safe. They wipe Fords memories of Bill and remove any evidence of him from his Journals, home, and lab (with his permissions ofc)

Fiddleford decides he going to go home, wanting some time and space from Gravity Falls for a while. Stan is fine with that but after growing protective of his twin he doesn't want Ford to be by himself in this town, not after everything that happened. He convinces Ford to travel with him and he does for some time. Eventually he goes back and continues his research in peace. Stan eventually leaves the band once he feels like he wants to settle for a simpler life, so he goes to Gravity Falls, moves in with Ford and starts up the Mystery Shack with Ford as his co-owner. They live happily and nothing goes wrong.

BTW this is not Stancest, please do not tag it as such!!

[graywarren]

dont come at me but tkem had horrible execution .. its no wonder its the only kes drama that flopped the idea, cinematography, world was great but the execution was........ disappointing to say the least they couldve done so much better and honestly very disappointed in kes for the script.. i dont mind the cheesy lines but it all sounds so awkward sometimes it sounds like she put her lines through google translate. nothings wrong with the grammar or anything but the sentence structure is horrible and awkward. she shouldve made the characters say what they're saying a different way.

and the actors were overhyped kge/jec/some other side cast thats been in the industry a while did well but wdh and lmh were adequate at best. esp lmh hes only so popular bc of his early success w bof and bc he rose to stardom so fast hes never been able to improve his craft its always just the same level of delivery and same expressions/gestures. my mom thought he was a bad actor but i wouldnt go so far just that he has much room for improvement but i dont see him improving any time in the future bc hes already recieved success with the skills he has now and if he didnt feel the need to work on it before he definitely wont now or later.

anyway back to execution they just missed out on so many great opportunities esp with the world building and character development, i wish they did more with the politics of kingdom of corea and its history rather than a few lines explaining to tae eul and the scene w the sea battle (which btw was so weird like they just sudden potential war and then gon comes and solves it all and its never mentioned again?????????), speak more of its tensions w japan and how it differs from korea and why royalty is so invloved in politics unlike other monarchies (ie england). and in regards to the royalty's invlovment in politics they make it seem like gon was pretty much in charge but then he spends so little time doing his duties???? like he is just so free all the time? despite ruling a whole kingdom? if they wanted to focus on his romance then they shouldve not made it seem like hes so invloved in politics and just show more of badass pm koo and her struggles as a female in high position which they often hinted at but never fully showed.

i feel like they focused more on the sci fi bit rather than each of their worlds and how they shaped tae eul and gon. how their characters came to become themselves through the world around them and how that differs and how they clash bc of it and how they try to understand each other bc of it. they just placed these characters with complex back stories in life or death situations to create more drama but never properly explain their motives and thoughts.

not to mention it feels like 50% of each episode is just a well made ad. i understand that they probably expected another huge success w this cast and writer and needed to make their bills to support all that cgi and sets/rental for the palace but theres really only so much that the audience can tolerate.

and well none of the tkem stans probably even cared enough to know the reason of its failure in korea. it had a lot of issues that came up in regards to corea's royal symbol (?) being the same as the one japan used during its rule over korea (which is a super sensitive issue in korea, everyone pretty much hates japan for it and the writers and staff should know that as well but still went ahead with it anyway??), jung eunchae's scandal as a mistress, and many others.

also i felt the villains were pretty one dimensional which im sure a lot of people would disagree with but the only reason they felt so good was because they were portrayed well, the actors did a good job of adding depth that the script didnt provide. they should've spoken more of seoryung's troubles as a child due to poverty and how that developed her need for power and wealth, more of lee rim's potential as a ruler and how he fared much better as a ruler than his older brother but was cast aside because he was the second son.

yes, everything i mentioned above would take up a lot of time that they didnt have in a 16 ep series but they would've had enough time to show all of this if they cut back on the ads.

n e way when tkem stans defend it and say it "deserved better" they really need to know that sometimes theres a reason some dramas dont have national sucess. and they should really stop trying to shield it from the criticism it recieves and actually look into its flaws instead of blindly defending it. which is much more beneficial to everyone who worked on it so they know how to improve next time. instead of saying "you're wrong tkem has no flaws its perfect and it deserved better", say "yes you're right about some of this and tkem does have its flaws but i love it nonetheless" which better shows that you're much more intelligent person and care more about this drama.

[woulddieforperrytheplatypus]

so uh. If someone hypothetically wanted to write MonoStan fanfic, but doesn't have the time to watch Gravity Falls, hypothetically, what should they know about Stan? (Since this hypothetical author already knows Monogram)

OOOH I AM HYPOTHETICALLY EXCITED

Stan can be summed up with two words: con man. He runs the Mystery Shack, a tourist trap full of dumb trinkets and fake magical and scientific wonders to scam people out of their money. He can kinda come off as cold and uncaring, and there have been a few times when his great-nephew Dipper really thought he was -- but he’s a family man and he would do anything for the kids. His entire backstory is a huge spoiler so I’m gonna put that under the cut so if you decide you wanna watch Gravity Falls eventually you can skip it or you can read it to get a feel for him 

Stanley Pines grew up with his twin brother Stanford Pines. Stanley (Stan) had the street smarts and Stanford (Ford) had the book smarts, and together, they were inseparable. In high school, Stan overheard the principal basically say that he’s a failure but that Ford has a bright future ahead, and that the science fair could be his path to success. Long story short, Stan accidentally breaks Ford’s science fair project the night before the fair and ruins Ford’s chances at getting into a decent college. Their parents kick Stan out onto the street, and basically say that because he ruined Ford’s chances of making a fortune, Stan can’t come back unless he’s got a fortune with him. 

Stan spends the next ten years on the run, getting kicked out of half the states in the US and leaving behind a long trail of fake identities, until he gets a call from Ford. He meets Ford in this little secluded house in the forest of Gravity Falls, where Ford basically just hands him a journal, tells him to protect it with his life, and kicks him out. Stan is furious because he did not travel all this way to his long lost brother just to get told to leave, so they get into a huge fight and Stan accidentally yeets him into another dimension. 

Stan refuses to leave until he can reactivate the portal and bring Ford back despite having pretty much no idea what the fuck the portal was for spoiler alert it’s for the love of my life Bill Cipher, but eventually he has to brave the real world because food is important and shit, right? And everyone gets really excited because bro it’s that weird scientist dude that hides out in the woods all the time and never talks to anyone, and Stan is like 0_0 because no that is not him, but everyone wants to see what type of things he’s been doing in his secluded house in the woods, and Stan realizes that’s a pretty nice way to make money. Everyone thinks the tour is stupid until Stan makes some dumb joke with some fake attraction or whatever and everyone thinks it’s hilarious, and that’s when Stan decides to invent the Mystery Shack. He took over Ford’s identity -- it’s not like it was hard; he can still go by Stan, after all -- and killed off his former self in a car crash. During the day, he was Mr. Mystery, the cocky, arrogant bastard in charge of this absolute garbage tourist trap that was raking in customers. By night, he was back in the basement of the Mystery Shack, trying to figure out how to bring the real Ford back.

And then obviously somewhere along the way there’s some Monogram in there too but that’s for you to write and us to find out 👀

[danwhobrowses]

NJPW G1 Climax 30: Predicting the Winner

So the 30th G1 Climax is 4 nights away from determining its finalist, the winners of Block A and B after their final 2 matches will battle for a spot at the World Champion at Wrestle Kingdom 15. Below I will analyse and predict who will win each block and the match between them

How it Stands

As of current, things are tight at the top.

Block A currently is engaged in a 4-way deadlock between Last Year’s Winner Kota Ibushi, Last Year’s Runner-Up Jay White, Last Year’s World Champion Kazuchika Okada and Will Ospreay - who this year announced his moving to the Heavyweight division. Each man has 10 points and 2 matches to go, with only Okada and Ospreay still due to face each other among the four, White has wins over Ibushi and Okada but Ibushi has a win over Okada and Ospreay and Ospreay a win over White.

Block B appears to be a 2-horse race between the current champion Tetsuya Naito and former Champion and ex-stablemate EVIL, who both have 10 points each. However they are at risk of being pipped by Hiroki Goto, Zack Sabre Jr. and SANADA at 8 points, and also Toru Yano at 6 points should certain wins and losses go his way. EVIL and SANADA are due to face each other on the final night and both have win advantages over Naito, with SANADA also having advantages over ZSJ, Naito has advantages over Goto and ZSJ, ZSJ has advantage over Goto and EVIL and Goto has advantage over SANADA. Goto and EVIL are also due to face one another.

Block A’s Final Path

Block A was actually the tougher of the two to pick, because all four men have legitimacy to win. I had to consider first the opponents and the narrative.

White still has to face Suzuki and Ishii

Ibushi still has to face Yujiro Takahashi and Taichi

Ospreay still has to face Jeff Cobb and Okada

Okada still has to face Ishii and Ospreay

What made this difficult was because none of these competitors were in the main event of their final night, which means the main event is not the linchpin that determines the winner. Ishii vs Okada however is a main event, which implies that there must be stake in Okada vs Ospreay for one to potentially win, meaning the ball has to be in Ospreay’s court over Jay White, the only person of the four he has a win over. White also has advantage in that he’s the penultimate match of his block’s final night, so the outcome of Okada/Ospreay would also offer him a do or die scenario, since if he draws with Ospreay he’s out of the running, but if he draws with Okada he has the advantage. He also has the advantage of talking big game and being last year’s finalist, since the runner up the year before became last year’s winner. And that is Ibushi, despite being the most recent G1 winner he has been in the last 2 finals, to be in a third hasn’t happened since Inoki and Stan Hansen fought 3 consecutive G1 Finals in 79 to 81 (Inoki having competed the most consecutive G1 finals at 4, 78 to 81). His fights look simple but can easily be bogeys, Yujiro is still at a big fat 0 points wise, a win would provide a shocker, same can be said for Taichi, recently a rival in the tag front always seems to be in turning point situations. History is not on his side long term, but Ibushi has the best claim to face Naito at WK, having not faced him last year in the Gold Rush. Who he did face though is Okada, and Okada goes hand in hand with Wrestle Kingdom. In the face of Meij’s exit you could see NJPW encourage a ‘return to normalcy’ by having Naito and Okada properly come to blows again in a match that sells itself, Ishii is a tough ask for White and Okada but can be beatable, he does deliver his best in the G1 like Taichi does too. Block B’s Final Path While EVIL and Naito lead the path to the top of Block B, they are not the most important factor right now. Looking at the matches it becomes very clear who is.

EVIL still has to face Goto and SANADA

Naito still has to face Toru Yano and KENTA

Goto still has to face EVIL and Juice Robinson

ZSJ still has to face Juice Robinson and Hiroshi Tanahashi

SANADA still has to face Hiroshi Tanahashi and EVIL

SANADA is the linchpin. Both of his night’s matches are main events, which means he’s the game changer for the final night. If EVIL can’t beat his former partner he is either at the mercy of losing by points or to SANADA in the whole Block by Advantage - should SANADA beat the Ace. SANADA is no stranger to being close to victory, but NJPW do have a habit of making him the nearly-man. It is also dissuading that Naito has already had the inter-faction beef when EVIL won the New Japan Cup (beating SANADA in the Semis) but maybe his time has come. EVIL also has dissuasion since he has already feuded with Naito, he’s battled his former leader for the past year now and there’s definitely a demand to see something new. However, making the final doesn’t mean you will win and EVIL could be the fitting adversarial heel. As Champion, Naito is also at the tactical disadvantage, he holds the World and IC belt which means he could be doing double duty anyway, holding the G1 as well would be a bit much. But if someone beats him in the final, it will exude vulnerability. His opponents are interesting though, Yano is the outside bet since he has an advantage win over EVIL, an Advantage win over Naito in a 10-point deadlock could grant him a win, KENTA however has been on a losing streak while still holding the right to challenge US Champion (also current AEW World Champion, Jon Moxley), a win over Naito would be the confidence booster he’d need going into a title match like that. The dark horses are Goto and ZSJ, the former is an old guard who has little narrative beef with Naito, ZSJ while super technically gifted and able to give Naito a show is a tag champion, meaning his plate may also be a bit full come Wrestle Kingdom anyway, especially if Tanahashi and Ibushi remain a tag team. Predicting the Block Winners From the analysis we can determine which are the most important matches of the final two nights, it’s these matches which would directly influence the final tally of each block

Ibushi vs Taichi

Okada vs Ospreay

Naito vs KENTA

SANADA vs EVIL

Also what to consider is the final match up, what narrative gain there is for each side to face. For instance, SANADA and Okada have history where Okada is SANADA’s bogey, White and EVIL both have tensions of leadership at the top of Bullet Club, Ibushi and White also have unfinished business with Okada and Ospreay has feuds with SANADA and ZSJ he can retrace on a heavyweight level, the latter also still has that tag feud with Ibushi.   Starting with Block A, it would appear that everything falls on the final night, going Ibushi, Okada/Ospreay and then White. This tells us that White has the floor to win if he beats Ishii. For him to win he cannot be in a tiebreak situation with Ospreay since he has a win advantage, so that means come his match he must still be tying with Ospreay. Mathematically, that means Okada will be beating Ospreay in their match and that White can either tiebreak him and/or Ibushi or get ahead of Okada and Ospreay on points. Ibushi will also have this in mind, since he has win advantages over both Okada and Ospreay that means he can survive a tiebreak IF White doesn’t tie or pip him, which means the situation has to be in that favour. Knowing these factors there’s only two possible Block A Winners, 2019′s finalists Ibushi or White and the one to get that top billing is: Jay White at 14 points. I have tussled about this but for me White makes more sense. The second Gaijin to win it, Ibushi while having the best claim at Naito still has potential feuds with the team of Dangerous Tekkers and a potential feud with his tag partner Hiroshi Tanahashi, both being Wrestle Kingdom quality feuds for him, meanwhile White would profit from backing his bravado. Which leads to Block B. Like White everything hinges on one match, SANADA vs EVIL. EVIL could again prey on sentiment and win by points, or he could be undone by SANADA having scouted his past failure and potentially even sneak an Advantage points win. Predicting Naito to fail against Kenta spices the pot putting his points tally on at most 12, which grants ZSJ, SANADA, Goto and EVIL opportunities to win. But if EVIL is to be in a struggle against SANADA he’ll have to have beaten Goto, which writes Goto out of the foray. Likewise, although ZSJ could oust EVIL, that requires him to avoid tiebreak with Naito and SANADA, which won’t be likely since the highest he can go is 12 and that’d mean that Naito would have to lose both his matches for it to be successful. So by writing out ZSJ and Goto we are left with 3: EVIL, Naito and SANADA, by the main event it’ll likely be 12 for Naito and EVIL and 10 for SANADA and your winner will be: SANADA. With Ibushi/White I went head over heart, but this I went the opposite. For a long while I was decided on EVIL cutting the comeback short and giving an all-BC affair. But it was when writing this I was reminded of SANADA’s failure in the New Japan Cup, which preluded EVIL’s turn from LIJ, despite being his tag partner for so long SANADA’s reaction was tame (especially compared to the livid Hiromu Takahashi), if NJPW were smart this is where SANADA lets it out, a side EVIL has never seen from his former friend that ends up besting his dirty and heel tactics. A new energy can surround SANADA from such a win, as well as LIJ tension with the fact that he already has a win over Naito should he win the G1. Predicting the G1 Climax 30 Winner So my final is Jay White of Bullet Club vs SANADA of LIJ, a clear heel/face battle for the anniversary show. While legacy falls to SANADA’s advantage to have a Japanese man win the 30th G1 Climax my vote remains in favour of the Switchblade. It hurts that SANADA will be the nearly-man again but this time it’ll be due to shenanigans rather than shortcomings in the ring. As I said, we’ve already seen Naito take on his stablemate in EVIL, there’s still a vacancy there to be filled so I don’t see SANADA drifting from the group either. Instead I believe there will be unfinished business between EVIL and SANADA from their Block B finale which will carry into Wrestle Kingdom for a grudge match. This also leaves White to renew his feud with Naito last year which was the IC front, now in the world title picture we again will have hero and adversary, champion and gaijin, LIJ and Bullet Club, and that’s where we get the hero win of Naito retaining against White, this time uninterrupted in his glory in Wrestle Kingdom and more or less a soft reset to New Japan after a rough 2020 for the world. So yeah, maybe not my favourite pick of the pool but I think White has the best narrative chance to win, but it’s up to NJPW to decide

[slickbackdani]

It already happened to John K, and in a way that's as gruesomely fascinating as it is horrific.

Back in the 90s, he got fired from his own show — the famous Ren & Stimpy Show — for constantly going over-budget and missing deadlines, on top of general unprofessionalism. None of the people who worked with him — namely fellow animators Bob Camp and Bill Wray — had anything nice to say about him; John K fostered a work environment that could rival Love Canal in terms of sheer toxicity, being aggressively controlling and domineering, verbally abusing and threatening to blacklist the staff for not doing their jobs perfectly enough, and when they actually did need his input, he was usually off getting drunk and keeping them waiting.

He had some modest success as an independent animator on the web, though a more cynical outlook would assume the reason for this popularity is less because the cartoons themselves were good (they really weren’t) but more because he was able to build up this weird cult-of-personality around himself, centered on the narrative that he’s a genius auteur who was persecuted by an unkind establishment who hated his revolutionary ideas.

Related yet more controversial was his cartoon review blog, in which he would write scathing hit pieces on basically every cartoon made after the 1950s (and even older cartoons that weren’t made by one of his idols like Bob Clampett). It was here that he built up a reputation as a pretentiously genius yet mentally unhinged artiste, someone who was as professionally brilliant as he was personally unpleasant, someone who only seemed out-of-touch because he was operating on a totally different wavelength.

This reputation came to a not-so-swift end in the 2010s when Cans Without Labels, his crowdfunded animation project that he swore would be his masterpiece, wound up being a catastrophic failure. It was a complete dumpster fire of a cartoon despite having a $130 thousand budget and being in production for seven years (six years longer than he said it would take; the promised release date was 2013, and it came out in 2019). The only possible enjoyment anyone xould get out of it was the schadenfreude of seeing the judgmental John K fail to put his money where his mouth is; for as much as he liked to smear other cartoonists as talentless hacks, he proved to fit that description more than anyone he trashed on his blog.

It was at this point John’s Stan audience awoke from the dream he sold them and came to realize that the guy they thought was a tortured artist was actually just some asshole the entire time; as much as he liked to accuse Camp and Wray of being jealous traitors who stole his show from him, it became clear that he needed them more than they needed him.

Also, around this time John was outed as a pedophile.

John Kricfalusi became a cartoonist despite actively despising almost all cartoons.

Garth Ennis became a comic book writer despite passionately loathing the vast majority of comic books.

Tom MacDonald became a rapper despite hating most rap music (assuming he’s telling the truth, of course; grifters like him make it hard to tell which of their stated opinions are genuine and which are just them pandering to their base).

Remember back when when you had to have passion for the art form you’ve chosen to base your livelihood around?

[qrovidcore]

absolutely nobody asked for this but I think about gravity falls constantly and I like archetypes let’s go.

the pineses (+ one stinky triangle man) as heist caper archetypes? why not. vaguely inspired by this post, not because I’m actually imagining a heist caper (I’m not), but because it crossed my dash and I realized how well each trope fit on each of Them, and then this just happened.

anyway:

The Hacker deals in information, both in terms of acquiring it for the team, and in terms of denying it to the target. Surveillance, misinformation, and social engineering fall under the Hacker’s domain. dipper usually has the braincell. he deals in information: finding and using the third journal. resorting to his knowledge when in a pinch. chasing bill out of stan’s mind at the end of season one, trying to deny gideon knowledge that would give him power. watching the situation, analyzing, and using the data at hand when he acts.

The Hitter deals in force. Far from being simple muscle, the Hitter’s most essential skill is understanding the applications of violence, which includes knowing how to avoid it as much as knowing how to perform it. this can be true for mabel in the literal sense – we see as much in her dealings with the unicorns. but mabel is sheer force of will, knowing how and when to apply it to get her desired outcome, and setting in motion the largest changes in the plot with her decisions.

The Grifter deals in trust: gaining it, using it, and (if necessary) burning it. Deception and impersonation are frequently key skills, but don’t underestimate the power of a firm handshake and a winning smile. stan is fronts and showmanship, using his image and his personality to make others look where he wants them to, and even taking on a false identity to do so. stan is worthy of genuine trust, too, and it is mabel’s well-placed faith in him that brings ford back. and stan wins through both an impersonation and through genuine trust – it is his ability to deceive bill and his ready willingness to protect his family that allows him to save the world.

The Mastermind deals in plans. In this case the name says it all – the Mastermind is the one coordinating the team and spinning backup plans for the backup plans when things inevitably go off the rails. ford is the originator of the knowledge and the spinner of the plans. it is ford who attempts to lead the others in stopping bill, and ford in the basement preparing to stop weirdmageddon before it can happen. it’s ford’s knowledge and plans, and the successes and failures thereof, that set the plot in motion, and his influence is everywhere long before his existence is known.

The Thief deals in access. Stealing is part of it, but it’s broader than that: anything that involves having something you’re not supposed to have or being somewhere you’re not supposed to be is the Thief’s forte. bill seeks access – to knowledge, to other planes – and abuses it for his own gain. he weasels in where he is not supposed to be and takes knowledge that he is not supposed to have, though that “supposed to” rides on the fact that he can’t be trusted. his confrontations all involve denying or attempting to deny this access to him, right up to the very end, where misdirecting his access allows him to be brought down.

[mairibarra]

burn, crash, romance (i’ll take what i can get from you)

pairing: eddie kaspbrak/richie tozier [reddie] w/ side mike hanlon/stanley uris/patty blum [stanpatlon] word count: chapter count: 1 of 8 of the fratboy eddie project w/ @reddietrashclub, chapter written by me! summary: Richie didn’t know Eddie very well, not that he would want to, and even just looking at him now, he knew that Eddie Kaspbrak was exactly all the things that Richie had tried to tell Stanley that frat boys were. His brown hair flopped into his brown eyes, pressed down by some red snapback worn backwards and beige khaki jeans that looked glued to his legs. He was hot and the smirk on his face showed that he knew it. warnings: intoxication, sexual flirting

frateddie!taglist: @aizeninlefox, @appoloos, @mrs-vh, @playwiththeflowersofmysoul, @tyrror, @alonelystarfish, @blueskies-and-fucking-sly-smiles, @captainbartholomew, @edneedspie, @im-therosaline-tohisromeo, @invitedtoapityparty, @it-crack, @kasp-brakz, @merriebaby, @proton-disaster-blaster, @purpleposionedgem, @ra-ra-rasputine, @richietoaster, @stanielthemaniel, @tenderlydeliciousstrawberry, @trshmth-richie, @wheezyeds, @wintersember, @youll-kill-me-if-you-stop (let us know if you want to be added!)

perma tags: @jwilliambyers​, @eddiecare​, @thorn-harvester-ven​, @wonderfuleds, @kasbprak

read on ao3.

Richie turned around in his desk seat when his roommate, Stanley, came barging in. Now, Richie had been sharing a room with Stanley Uris for nearly a full three years and he wasn’t much of a barger. Admittedly, Richie was sure he’d gotten to become a bad influence on his friend over their time together- because Richie could be a good student and still have fun, thank you very much- but Richie was still able to recognize out of character behaviour in his best friend.

Stan moved quickly towards his bed, grabbing at the clothes he’d yet to unpack from his trip back home for Passover. He started tossing clothes over his shoulders in search of something, and Richie startled. “Whoa, buddy!” Richie cried, forcing a laugh. “Where’s the fire?”

Stan turned towards Richie and glared at his clothes. Richie had already settled in for the night, wearing nothing but a slightly larger band T-shirt and his boxers. His contact were out, glasses settled on his nose and hair pulled up into a messy bun on top of his head.

Stan let out a disgusted noise. “Get dressed,” Stan said, shaking his head. “We’re going to a party.”

“What the fuck, it’s Wednesday!” Richie cried, tossing his hands up into the air. “Who the fuck throws a party on a Wednesday? This isn’t fucking Frosh week anymore.”

Stan started jumping into what Richie had loving dubbed his “My girlfriend pegs me” jeans, and rolled his eyes. “Mike’s fraternity is having a party, and he invited us. All of us. So we’re going.”

Richie groaned. He liked Mike Hanlon, he really did, but ever since his best friend had started growing close to farmer boy-turned- frat boy, Richie had found himself being forced into a lot more social interactions then he cared for. “That frat boy has the hots for you.”

Stan’s cheeks flushed and he flipped Richie off. “I have a girlfriend, in case you’d forgotten.”

Richie rolled his eyes. “Just because you have a girlfriend, doesn’t mean that somebody else can’t think you’re a hot piece of ass.”

Stan chucked the first pair of Richie’s jeans he could find on the floor towards him. Richie squawked as it hit him in the face, then fell into his lap. “Shut up about Mike like that. We’re just friends!”

“So, you’re going to introduce him to Patty then?” Richie challenge, looking around for a shirt to shrug on. He settled on his simple grey UCLA sweater, over top of his acid wash skinny jeans that were ripped from wear rather than style. He paused, debating for a moment doing something with his hair and putting in his contacts, but ended up shrugging it off.

Stan was glaring at him. “Why are you saying that as though I’ve purposely been keeping them apart? Their paths just haven’t crossed yet, it isn’t anything serious. But yes, Patty is coming tonight. So you can let go of this weird idea you’ve thought up that Mike likes me.”

Richie rolled his eyes. “Alright, whatever. Let’s go.”

Stan frowned at Richie, looking him up and down. “You’re actually wearing that? Richie, put in an effort.”

Richie scowled. “Why? You’re one going out to a party on a date with your girlfriend and the hot frat dude who wants to fuck you, not me.”

Stan grabbed hold of the hem of Richie’s sweater and tugged on it. “You could use to be laid! You haven’t been serious with anybody since Sandy back in freshman year- and this is your longest dry spell in ages. Mike and I were talking today and-”

“You and Mike were talking about my sex life?” Richie squawked, yanking away from Mike and tugging his sweater back into place. “What the kind of fuck-”

“We were talking about your lack of sex life!” Stan replied. “Richie you used to be kind of a slut-” Richie made an offended noise but Stan barrelled on over him. “And that was an issue, but now you’re sort of the opposite side of that. You gotta find a good medium, Rich, and there’s gonna be tons of chicks and... frat dudes-”

“And you’re telling me that the frat dudes won’t be wearing UCLA sweaters?” Richie challenged, crossing his arms over his chest. Stan’s mouth dropped open and he raised his brows, but he merely stared at Richie gap mouthed. “That’s what I thought. Let’s go.”

Eddie Kaspbrak dodged the fourth overly-muscled guy of the night, taking the solo cup he offered him and swerving away. He moved towards the sink in the kitchen and dumped the cup down the drain. His best friend and fellow frat brother grinned at him, reaching out to adjust the hat backwards on Eddie’s head. “Dodging all the m-m-en is starting to make you look m-m-messy.”

Eddie rolled his eyes. “I need to start bringing a bat to these things. Can’t get them away.“

Bill chuckled, handing Eddie a drink he could actually trust. “It’s because you’re the hottest gay on campus. They can’t h-uhh-help it if you’re out of their league. Aim high. That’s my motto.”

“Don’t I know it,” Eddie said with an eye roll. Bill Denbrough had the highest kill count of anybody in their fraternity, but he no doubt that the highest count of strike outs as well. Denbrough had never shied away from a challenge, and Eddie had been by his side through countless successes and failures. Sometimes so many successes that Eddie was a little disgusted, and so many failures he couldn’t help but laugh. You could only be so supportive of bro. z

“Looks like Mike brought his little nerd boy tonight,” Bill said, leaning back on his elbows against counter in front of the sink. Eddie followed Bill’s gaze towards the front door of their frat house, watching Mike Hanlon ducking into the doorway with prim looking dark haired boy and another two friends, one female, one male. “How long do you think it’ll be b-be-before he gets some of that?”

“Mike Hanlon?” Eddie asked, sighing a little wistfully. He shook his head, smilingly fondly. “Personally I’m surprised he hasn’t locked in already. Not like people to take the long road when getting some of him.”

Bill suddenly let out a low whistle. “Might have something to do with that.”

Eddie looked back over, wincing at the sight of Mike’s crush- Stanley?- with his hand suddenly entangled with the girl who’d come in with them. “Ah, fuck, a Straightie. Nothing worse than that.”

Bill let out an annoyed noise and sucker punched Eddie in the shoulder. Eddie burst out laughing and punched him back, the two of them socking each other in the chest and shoulders for several moments. Eddie turned slightly away from Bill, still laughing a little breathlessly, when the man who had come in with Mike and Stanley caught his eye.

His hair looked black from so far away, but Eddie supposed it must be brown, and it was piled up on top of his head in a messy bun. He had rimmed glasses sitting on his nose, with a pair of old looking jeans and a regular gray UCLA sweater on. He wore a bored expression, like he wanted to be anywhere else.

Eddie’s stomach flared up hot just at the sight of him. “Who’s that? The other guy?”

Bill looked over his shoulder, frowning. “The dude who looks like he just rolled out of bed? I don’t know, some scholarship nerd, I think. He was in my Intro to Psychology class last year, but I think he took it because he was actually interested. Weirdo... why?”

“I want him.” Eddie said, licking his lips before tossing back the rest of his drink.

Bill looked at him like he’d grown a second head. “What... him? Kaspbrak, look at him.”

Eddie smirked. “I am.” He skipped in place for a second and then quickly moved towards the other man.

Richie shifted awkwardly through the uncomfortable tension within his friends. The second Stan had made it apparent that he and Patty were in a relationship, Mike had seemed to grow quiet and disconnected. They’d been laughing and joking together one moment, and now Richie could see how Mike seemed to glancing around for a source to escape.

Stan was holding Patty’s hand awkwardly like protected him from the world and Patty was... well if Patty was openly drooling over Mike’s muscles then that wasn’t any of Richie’s business. Stan had told him so.

“Want to give us a tour, Mike?” Patty asked, twirling a strand of hair around her finger like Richie hadn’t seen her do since she and Stan were just starting out. Stan’s gaze followed the movement and frowned.

“Sure.” Mike said lightly, shrugging and gesturing further into the house. Patty dropped Stan’s hand and moved to quickly follow him. As Richie moved to go as well, Stan pressed a hand to Richie’s chest and pushed him back. He shook his head and mouthed “no” before taking off after Patty and Mike.

“What the fuck!” Richie cried, tossing his hands into the air.

“Hey, there.”

Just as Richie was getting ready to dwell on how his friends had abandoned him, yet again, a voice whispered into his ear. Richie spun around, fight or flight reflexes turned on, but his shackled quickly lowered when he took sight of the person behind him. Eddie Kaspbrak.

Richie didn’t know Eddie very well, not that he would want to. Even just looking at him now, he knew that Eddie Kaspbrak was exactly all the things that Richie had tried to tell Stanley that frat boys were. His brown hair flopped into his brown eyes, pressed down by some red snapback wore backwards, pair with a oversized red muscle shirt that showed off a ridiculous amount of sides and stomach and beige khaki jeans that looked glued to his legs. He was hot, and the smirk on his face showed that he knew it.

“Hi.” Richie said coldly.

Eddie leaned in closer, pressing against Richie’s side. “You know, I sort of run this shit. I’m in charge around here.” Eddie dragged his fingers down Richie’s bare arm, Richie trying to pretend that he didn’t get goosebumps. Eddie pressed completely against him to whisper in his ear. “That means I get my own room. The bed is a king sized. You wanna see it?”

Richie let out a bitter laugh. “You’re kidding, right? You’ve gotta do better than that.”

Eddie pulled back, blinking as the persona left his face completely.

“What?” Richie snickered, less bitter and much more amused this time. “Not used to being rejected?”

“Not really, no.” Eddie said slowly, shaking his head as though the last moments were imagined and he’d be able to knock them out.

Richie hummed. “Poor, poor, King Kaspbrak. Are you at risk of losing your crown?”

Eddie startled, looking Richie up and down quickly. “You know who I am?”

Richie gave him a disgusted look. “Don’t act all humble now, aren’t you the one who just waltzed up here talking about how you run this shit as though it’s some sort of achievement.”

“What’s your name?” Eddie asked, tucking his hands into his back pockets and nodded at Richie.

Richie checked Eddie out quickly then scoffed. “You want it?”

Eddie shrugged as though he couldn’t care less, but Richie saw how he flushed in the dim light of the house.

“Then earn it.”

Eddie let out a disgusted noise, scowling at Richie. “You’re not that hot, you know? Who shows up at a party wearing some school sweater?”

Richie scoffed. “You’re wearing the exact same sweater, dude.”

Eddie looked down at himself and flushed when he realized that, yes, he was wearing the same UCLA hoodie, right down to the style and colour. “Well! I’m a party of campus life, I have school spirit! What do you do?”

“Hurt the little fragile feelings of some Bambi-eyed frat boy, apparently.” Richie grinned cheekily down at Eddie, whose face flushed deeply. “There’s probably a hundred guys around here who would let you into their pants. Go find one of them.”

“Bold of you to assume there’s a hundred gay guys at this frat party.” Eddie said in a low voice.

“So go turn somebody,” Richie said with a waggle of his brow. “You’ve got gateway gay written all over you.”

“Gateway gay is so offensive, oh my God-” Eddie said, voice hitting up a pitch as though maybe it was supposed to sound like that. Richie jerked towards him, furrowing his brow while Eddie bit his bottom lip. “Whatever. Fuck you. No! I don’t want to fuck you.”

“You did 30 seconds ago.” Richie rolled his eyes. “And I think you still do.”

“Only because I think it’ll be hard for you to talk with your mouth stuffed full.” Eddie was standing at his full height, which was still about three inches shorter than Richie, and was openly glaring at him now. Richie couldn’t deny the burning that was starting in his gut, but from hatred or something else he wasn’t sure yet.

“Kaspbrak, that’s dirty.” Richie challenged with a wink. “Do you kiss your frat brothers goodnight with that mouth?”

Eddie pursed his lips, turning on his hip and storming off back towards the large groups of people. Richie laughed to himself, giving himself the chance to check Eddie Kaspbrak out as he walked away. He almost regretted turning him down- almost. It had just been too fun to resist.

Moving quickly through the crowd of drunken classmates, Richie finally laid eyes on Patty and sprinted towards her. Her face light up when she caught sight of him, though there was a delay between her smile and her eyes that implied she was more than a few drinks in. “Richie...” She cooed, reaching up and poking his cheeks with the tips of her fingers. “I love you! Where have you been?”

Richie chuckled. “Your boyfriend banished me so the two of you could ogle at Mike without be dragging you down.”

Patty’s eyes opened wide and leaned in close, despite only coming up to Richie’s shoulder at full height. “He’s like a God.”

Richie laughed, wrapping Patty up into a huge bear hug and swaying them around to the music. Patty let out a high pitched giggle into his chest, squeezing her arms around his waist.

“Stop stealing my love, Tozier!” Stan called through the crowd. Richie looked up to Stan and Mike coming towards them, walking a little too closely together, and Richie pressed Patty closer into his chest.

“Sorry, you can’t have her.” Richie sang, rocking softly on the spot with Patty. She giggled against his chest while kicking at his shins, and Stanley’s smile was all too fond to actually be annoyed.  “She’s had enough of you and we’re running away together.”

“Richie!” Patty laughed against his chest, pulling away just to turn to face Stan and Mike, while resting backwards against Richie and allowing his arms to stay around her.

Stan rolled his eyes, smiling, then his gaze seemed to settle on something over something over Richie’s shoulder. He frowned. “Tozier, why is Eddie Kaspbrak glaring at you like you said something real offensive about this mother?”

Richie glanced over his shoulder, finding Eddie in the crowd quickly. The second their eyes met, Eddie gave him the dirtiest of looks. Richie purposely licked at his bottom lip and he swore he could see Eddie inhale.

Turning back to his friends, Richie caught sight of the look on Mike’s face. “Oh my god, whatever you’re thinking of doing, don’t.”

Mike grinned, reaching out to grab Richie’s hand away from Patty and pulling him towards Eddie and his floppy haired frat brother. Patty and Stan followed quickly behind, Stan’s hand falling into Patty’s to keep her from stumbling and falling.

“Hey!” Mike called happily to his brothers, draping an arm around Richie’s shoulders and forcibly dragging Richie to stand in front of them. “Haaaave you met Richie?”

Oh fuck.

“Noo.....“ Richie groaned, squeezing his eyes shut. He didn’t want to see the look of victory on Eddie’s face, though he felt it all the same.

“Richie, huh?” Eddie asked, voice dripping with smugness. “So that’s your name?”

Richie opened one eye, frowning. “Yeah. Congrats somebody gave you the answer. It’s not the same as winning.”

Eddie smirked, shrugging one shoulder. “I kind of think it is. So..” He stepped closer to Richie, slowly dragging his eyes over his torso. “Since I know your name now, does that mean I get to make you scream mine?”

Richie made overly loud vomiting noises, watching the awkward expression settling over Eddie’s face as his frat brothers began to laugh behind them. “Get better fucking material.”

Richie turned away, biting back his own grin, and walked off. Patty broke out into a fit of giggles, needing Stan to wrap an arm around her to lead her away from the boys. Mike turned to Eddie, an apologetic look on his face but Bill couldn’t contain his laughter.

“Looks like Kuh-Kaspbrak fuh-finally met his muh-match!”

“I know where you sleep, Denbrough.”

[rgr-pop]

 mizoguchi replied to your post:

I actually semi-controversially think that Biden...

this was a good thread twitter.com/offbeat… and the tweet on “showing up and being present” is so true

yep, and i agree with all of this. that’s part of my frustration re: michigan. he’s showing up now, but we didn’t get any resources. there are a lot of reasons for this but the main one is that he didn’t expect to win two major black cities (one being an actually big city and the place that keeps michigan blue, the other being a symbolically important city.) (he’s showing up harder in michigan  now because michigan matters more since we didn’t do as well in texas, minnesota and massachusetts as we were supposed to.) i had a lot of frustration about mississippi, too. mississippi is our base! i wanted to see that.

I think she’s right about the crime bill inevitability even though a lot of people have really tried to use that talking point and have failed (i’m not totally sure why). the selma thing is inexplicable to me. i think not going to churches is fucking stupid and i have no idea why he’s been like that! if you want to win--especially as mr. did civil rights once--you go to black churches...not hard. if he’s going to resist the christian dem establishment on principle the least he could do is say he hates jesus freaks on tv! 

i do however, additionally, think some of these failures are the failures of organizations and public figures on his side--i’m thinking about how much good PR for specific audiences sunrise or AOC have done--but i can’t necessarily think of places where that could have been fixed, or specific people that could have helped. guess lately i have been wondering if sh**n k*ng has been this gung ho the whole time or if i’m just now noticing it or if he was reformed ex warren stan lol. in any case, a lot of the campaign’s best moves were actually the moves of other organizations, and they have been most successful in areas that are...let’s say more strictly “ millennial “ in tone. 

i do tentatively disagree with her point re: youth turnout as i’ve previously elaborated (southern youth turnout is structural and imo if we see low turnout in the midwest henceforth it will only because all of this doomsday shit post super tuesday) but the base as a whole needs to be using that to pivot toward suppression issues immediately. that’s something else he should press harder--he has the best platform on it!--but maybe it’s like a fear of being a jill stein loser figure idk! can you imagine bernie showing up to communities with closed polling stations in georgia? one of my students came to me and was like i just found out my uncle can’t vote because he’s a felon in some state where felons are disenfranchised i forget and i was like, yeah that’s literally insane, congratulations on supporting bernie sanders! 

(i do also think many of these problems in the south map neatly onto “all old people hate bernie sanders” which is imo structural but even i can’t disagree that many old people really hate bernie sanders and there is very little to be done about it lol. but i think people are overstating some of his failures in the south especially SC, or at least, they are misdirecting their analysis. some people are overstating that loss precisely so they can blame it on ~low info old black voters even when there is no analogue ~low info old jewish people who HATE bernie sanders, right.)