#the movie itself was... entertaining. yeah let's call it that

[allur1ngs]

idk why I was thinking about bada like being out till late for ??? reasons on xmas eve, missing out on their dinner with hyo and the bebe girls and that made reader lowk sad about it, bada just makes it back late at night of christmas eve after the bebe girls, hyo and reader already had their food and stuff and she tries to apologise to reader but reader wasn't having any of it and lowk started arguing w bada,,

how do you think this would end..

- @seungxstar

omg the christmas angst hits diff nova...

but here's what i think.

this def would happen, and not on purpose at all. when bada gets into her work, it tends to consume most, if not, all her time and it's not always in her control. but she quite literally speeds home, frantically texting all the bebe girls asking them to keep you awake and entertained as long as possible--they don't, they show you complete support and solidarity by shutting their phones off and comforting you.

and when bada comes home it's so sad. she sees how much you're hurt by the fact that she let her work get in the way of an important milestone for you both. even worse, you cooked FOR HER with the help of the kitchen staff and made a delicious five course meal. she hates what she's done but she wants you to understand it wasn't on purpose...

but this is the final straw for you because you're always letting her get away with working every minute of the day--even on important days. so you finally put your foot down and say "no, i don't want to talk about this right now." bcs you don't want this to ruin your christmas eve or even worse, christmas itself

bada sleeps on the couch that night of her own free will.

but not because you're mad at her, but because she's planning something.

she stays up ALL NIGHT decorating the lee mansion to the brim with cute christmas decor, and spruces up all the old decorations. she straight up calls her emergency contacts, pulls some strings to get workers to come in the dead of night to hang lights outside the mansion and bring a large tree into the living room.

when you wake up in the morning, she brings you breakfast in a santa outfit, which, although you're still mad at her, makes you crack a smile.

after that she spends all her time with you, baking christmas cookies for bebe girls, opening the millions (both in quantity and price of presents she gave you), cuddling on the couch while you watch a cute christmas movie in the background...

and of course showering you with kisses and apologies, promising that she'll spend the whole week solely dedicating her time to you and only you

yeah, she makes up for it in the end♥️

[cyberkinks]

『 𝐁𝐄𝐍𝐄𝐅𝐈𝐓𝐒 ──── ・♡ 』

──── ✦ ✧ ∗

[ 𝐈𝐍𝐂𝐋𝐔𝐃𝐄𝐒 ] ──── best friend!beomgyu, wom!reader, reader and beomgyu share an awkward moment, sexual intercourse, bedroom sex, breeding kink, classroom sex, clit play, multiple sex scenes, degrading kink.

[ 𝐆𝐄𝐍𝐑𝐄 ] ──── collage au, friends to lovers au, smut, a little crack, fiction, fluff, angst.

[ 𝐖𝐀𝐑𝐍𝐈𝐍𝐆𝐒 ] ──── use of swear words, some errors maybe.

[ 𝐏𝐋𝐎𝐓 ] ──── you didn’t think a one time thing that happened at a random movie night would start a fling with your childhood best friend? but what will happen if one or both of you starts catching feelings?

[ 𝐃𝐈𝐒𝐂𝐋𝐀𝐈𝐌𝐄𝐑 ] ──── this is for entertainment purposes only!

𝐀/𝐍 ・ ❛ enjoy! ❜

𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 eyes rolled back as you bounced on you best friend's cock with his arms wrapped around your torso, meeting his halfway “beomgyu, i’m cumming!” you moaned out, gripping the pillow that was underneath his head as hard as you could.

beomgyu groaned quietly, letting go of your torso with one hand and gave your ass a hard smack. you whimpered and bit down on your bottom lip, riding him a lot faster "yeah, there you go baby" he praised you.

"fucking hell, y/n" he groaned, watching the way your ass bounced on him. with a few more hard thrusts, you felt yourself release on his cock. you let out a whimper as he slowed down hips before shooting his ropes of cum inside of you.

beomgyu rocked his hips inside of you slowly, helping you both through your orgasms before stopping completely. he let go of your torso with a soft smile on his face, making eye contact with you and you smiled back "that was so amazing" you hummed.

you lifted your hips letting his cock remove itself before laying down beside him, pulling the covers over you "maybe we should do that position more often" you chuckled and he looked at you "maybe".

you laid your head on his chest, closing your eyes shut focusing on catching your breath. beomgyu stared at the ceiling "y/n" he called out, making you look up at him "yes?" you mumbled almost closing your eyes shut.

he thought for a second as he turned on his side "i think i might have a crush on someone” your eyes darted up to his face “really? who is it?” you asked in pure excitement and his eyes widen “uh, some random person i met at a cafe a while back” beomgyu lied with a small smile “i just don’t know how to tell them how i feel i mean we’ve been friends for y- i mean months now”

you raised an eyebrow “well i think you should let them know how you feel if you really like them, i mean there is rejection but at least you tried, you know?” you said before letting out a yawn.

he nodded as he laid back on the pillow “i see”. he sighed before closing his eye shut “goodnight, y/n”

“night, beomgyu”

You knew you should but you two were anyway. yeah, in an empty classroom, filling the room with panting, moaning, groaning and wet noises of your skin clapping together. beomgyu currently had you bent over a teacher's desk, rutting roughly into you as your boobs were falling from your t-shirt.

you moved your head back as you gripped the desk harder, letting out a low moan "yeah, yeah j-just like that- ah!" you yelped when you felt him give your ass a smack "you like being fucked like this hm?" his other hand reached for your hair, gripping it roughly which took you by surprise "like a slut?" you tugged down on your bottom lip, nodding "y-yes!- mm!, fuck please".

he looked down seeing your ring of arousal at the base of his cock. his other hand snuck between your bodies, placing two fingers onto your clit and rolled it around in slow circles.

"oh my god, you're so tight" he groaned lowly, picking up his pace. his eyes watched as your ass bounced off his hips and a whimper flowed from your lips.

you soon felt a sensation in your stomach "fuck, i'm close" you hissed, gripping at the desk much harder. beomgyu grunted in your ear, grabbing one of your ass-cheeks and pounded himself into you.

your mouth fell open as your eyes went back, moaning loudly "fuck, i'm g-gonna" you felt a wave of pleasure through your body as you released onto him, feeling some dripping down your leg.

with a few more pumps into you, beomgyu released his strings of cum inside of you as groans released from his mouth. he slowly moved his hips inside of you, helping you both through your highs.

after, he sat inside you for a while and placed a kiss on your head before slowly pulling out of you.

he pulled up your underwear to keep anything else from leaking out. with his help you got down from the table, letting out a deep breath as you looked at beomgyu with a smile "that was amazing-"

before you could finish your sentence, unexpectedly beomgyu pulled you in for a kiss which made your eyes widen but you still continued and wrapped your arms around his neck.

he deepened the kiss and moved your body closer, closing the gap between you two. you then pulled from it and looked at him "what was that for?" you asked, placing your hands in his hair which almost made him lose it.

"i don't know, sorry" he chuckled but you shook your head "no, its fine" you reassured him "but we should freshen things up and clean off everything" you suggested and he nodded before pulling away from your embrace to grab the towel and disinfect spray from the other table.

you thought to yourself from what just happened and wondered why you felt something spark in your stomach, but you ignored it as he came back with the supplies.

"let's get started"

you and beomgyu has never touched lips before believe it or not. so, you have a hard time wrapping it around your brain.

you two were currently in your bed as his lips were moving all over your neck, grinding himself against your clothed sex. "beomgyu" you called out as he moved his lips to your jawline "yeah?" he hummed "did you ever talk to your crush?" you asked, and he stopped his movements to look at you "uh, no i never got the chance to" he cleared his throat, making you raise your brow.

"why haven't you?" your eyes scanned his facial expression "because, i don't know how to approach them and say 'hey, i'm in love with you, be mine?' it'll be awkward for me" he sighed and you sat up "but you've known them for months? i don't think it would be that awkward" beomgyu frowned at you, wondering if you knew that he was talking about you.

'what's happening here?' he thought.

"i know but..." he sighed, sitting down next to you "i'm not prepared for that type of rejection" "well, you don't know if they're gonna reject your or not unless you try, gyu" you placed your hand on his thigh, giving him a light smile.

he thought for a moment before suddenly, getting out of bed to grab his things and you frowned at him "beomgyu? where are you going?" you asked but he just looked at you before leaving out and leaving you speechless.

𝐛𝐞𝐨𝐦𝐠𝐲𝐮 watched you the whole night as you flirted with one of your classmates with a light smile on your face. a laugh escaped your lips, placing your hand over your mouth.

beomgyu wasn’t always the jealous type until you two started hooking up. he was more protective over you and always watched and went with you anywhere you went.

that was until he rushed out of your room, and you haven't heard from him since. whenever you tried to greet him, he would just ice you out and walk the other way which left you crying most nights and tried wondering what you did or said wrong from him to treat you like this.

but your friend made you go out today since you were all down and out because of him.

soobin walked towards beomgyu with his drink in his hand, looking at where his eyes were looking then reverted his eyes back to him “why haven’t you told her whats going on?” he asked before taking a sip and beomgyu shrugged his shoulders “i don’t know, i’m scared that i’ll fuck up our friendship” beomgyu admitted and soobin frowned “one, you already did by running away from her and two i think it’s better to tell her then to sit here against the wall and stare at her like a creep, man. even i'm creeped out imagine now she feels"

beomgyu glared at him as soobin chuckled a little before looking over at yeonjun who was currently making out with a random girl against the wall.

“typical, i’ll be back since he might throw up in her mouth” soobin sighed before walking away which made beomgyu chuckle at the two.

his eyes went back to you before sighing and walking off to grab a drink. soobin frowned at a drunk yeonjun who was standing against the kitchen wall, laughing "o-o-oh my gosh, it's a fucking unicorn" soobin rolled his eyes before approaching beomgyu along with you "now, your going to keep each other company while i run yeonjun home cause he's getting on my fucking nerves- NO!" soobin ran towards yeonjun who was trying to make out with another girl which made you and beomgyu chuckle.

you two then looked at each other before looking away "so, how've you been?" beomgyu asked and you shook your head "great even tho you left me in my room without any context" you said in a sarcastic tone and he gulped "look, y/n-" "then you ignored me at school like i'm an outcast" you chuckled dryly "i know, y/n and i'm sorry i was being a jerk and i deserve his but i panicked, i knew if i told you that i loved you....that you would freak out and never talk to me again" he admitted before taking a sip of his drink while you just sat there in silence at his words.

he looked at you, frowning until he realized which made him panic "oh my god, y/n, i'm sorry i know we weren't supposed to but i-i couldn't help it and-" "i love you too" was all that left your lips which made him go silent this time and glared at you “huh?” "at first when we started, i felt something for you but i pushed it down and ignored it until you kissed me and that's when i realized and when you told me you liked someone, i got a little jealous before i went to sleep that night and back in my room i wanted to finally tell you how i feel but you ran off"

beomgyu stared at you, looking for words to say "fuck, i'm sorry y/n for all of that" you shook your head "it's fine" you smiled along with him.

he moved closer to you, cupping your cheek with his hand and caressed it gently. "well, i know this is awkward to say but be mine?" beomgyu teased and you chuckled and nodded.

"of course, gyu" you smiled leaning in for a kiss. this time when your lips touched you felt more sparks than before as you wrapped your arms around his neck. he deepened the kiss and pulled your body closer to his.

"finally!" you heard taehyun yell making you both chuckle.

𝐚𝐭𝐥𝐚𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐜𝐰𝐡𝐨𝐫𝐞 © 𝟐𝟎𝟐𝟐

[avatar-anna]

please may you do some blurbs on professor yn she's my fav !!

this had no business being as long as it is, but here we are. enjoy!

The Professor Series

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“Tell me a secret.”

“A secret?”

“Yeah. Something no one else knows about you.”

You wracked your brain for something to say, searching for something that Harry didn’t already know about you. It was difficult, seeing as you shared everything with him.

“I’m not sure there’s anything you don—”

Harry understood your pause perfectly. “You found something, didn’t you?”

You shook your head, perhaps a bit too fervently to appear genuine. “I didn’t.”

“You did! What’s got you blushing so hard, love?” Harry asked, poking your reddened cheek with his index finger.

You curled into his chest and began to plant kisses along his skin, hoping to distract him. For a moment it worked. Harry held you there, his hand tracing patterns over your sleep shirt and humming contentedly. Eventually, though, he seemed to realize what you were doing.

“As good as this feels, now I’m really curious.”

Sighing, you resigned yourself to the fact that he wasn’t going to let this go. So instead of kissing his chest, you poked it. “You can’t tell anyone.”

Harry drew an X over his heart with his finger. “Promise. Now what has you so flustered?”

“My...favorite movie is Footloose, but the remake not the original.”

“That’s not embarrassing, is it?” Harry asked, looking perplexed. “I mean your movie taste is questionable, but I wouldn’t call it embarrassing.”

You leaned your forehead against his chest, astounded that you were about to unearth something you’d long buried into the recesses of your mind. Something that wasn’t an easy task for you.

“Give me your phone,” you said, sliding off the bed. You and Harry had been reading before going to sleep when he asked his question, and now here you were.

“Why?”

“There will be no evidence that this ever happened,” you said seriously.

He seemed to find your serious tone amusing, but when you pinned him with a stare, he sobered up. “Yes, ma’am.”

Harry handed over his phone, and you used it to queue up a song, skipping the first verse and going straight for the chorus, pausing once you found it.

“So, you know I’m from the South, and that I—I had a lot of time to myself growing up, and this was one of my favorite scenes, so I, um, I memorized it.”

“Don’t take this the wrong way, darling, but don’t you memorize everything?”

“You’ll see what I mean,” you said, trying not to feel so nervous. This was Harry after all. You were pretty sure there was very little you could do to turn him off. And he wasn’t the type to judge either.

So before either of you could say anything else, you played the song and began to dance.

“Hey mister won’t you sell me a fake ID. There’s a band in the bar that I’m dying to see...”

You hadn’t line danced in ages, but the muscle memory came back to you like you’d done it last week, each movement easier than the last.

It was embarrassing how obsessed you were with this movie as a kid, but your dad loved country music, and the movie itself was like a small taste of home without actually having to go back. And the lead was cute, so there was that.

It was a fast paced dance and had a lot of complicated footwork. You’d always been terrible at sports and couldn’t actually dance. Except for this dance. You practiced it for hours and hours when you weren’t locked in a lecture hall doing marh. You had your own dorm at the university because you were so young, so you had no one but yourself to entertain you.

One night you even snuck out to a bar that had line dancing, just to see if you could keep up. It was much different than the movie, of course, but you ended up learning a couple steps before people noticed you were much too young to be in a bar.

That was it. Your deepest darkest secret. Not only could you line dance, but you weren’t half bad at it, either.

“Hey mister won’t you sell me a fake ID.”

You were quick to pause the song once the chorus was over. Chancing a look over at Harry, you saw that his expression was one of utter shock and disbelief. He was looking at you like you were a completely different person.

“I don’t want to talk about it,” you said, quickly scrambling back to your side of the bed and pulling the covers over you completely.

“That was...” Harry started to say, but it seemed you had left him speechless.

“I said I don’t want to—”

“Hot.”

That made you peek your head out from beneath the covers. “What?”

“What do you mean ‘What?’ are you kidding? That was so fucking sexy I don’t even know where to begin.”

You frowned at him. “I looked ridiculous.”

Harry’s grin softened as he pulled you over so that your chests were flush against each other. As you inspected his face, you saw that his smile wasn’t one of teasing like you automatically assumed it would be. He was telling the truth. He actually liked your little dance.

“You, my love, looked anything but ridiculous. Almost got hard just now.”

“Harry!” you said, slapping his chest lightly.

You didn’t necessarily have a problem with your looks, but sometimes it was hard viewing yourself as sexy, or someone to be desired. You knew the stereotypes around “nerds” and inexperience and lack of inherent desirability, and you had your own track record to back that up. You’d had two boyfriends besides Harry, and even they only wanted to pick apart your brain, their compliments having to do with your intelligence rather than looks. It was fine, you supposed, but it would’ve been nice to be called beautiful or pretty or hot or something.

Harry was always more than eager to compliment every single thing about you, and he didn’t shy away from his obvious attraction to your body or your mind. But sometimes it was hard to believe him when he said things like that, to believe that you turned him on.

“I’m serious! Seeing you sway your hips in nothing but my t-shirt...” he said, trailing off as he replayed your little performance in his head. “I might need you to do that every night before bed.

“That will not be happening. I can’t even believe I did it just now.”

“Special occasions, then?” Harry asked, green eyes pleading with yours.

He looked too sweet to resist. Eyes wide, hair falling over his brow, freckles smattering across his nose. His hands had gone back to tracing mindless patterns on your back, but now they traveled lower and lower with each swirl and loop.

“Fine. But only on special occasions. It’s embarrassing enough as it is.”

“Deal,” Harry said, leaning up to seal it with a kiss.

It was easy to get lost in him when he’d already been tracing your back and slowly scrunching your shirt up. Your leg slotted between the two of his, your fingers finding purchase in the silky strands of his hair as he nibbled on your bottom lip before moving to kiss along his neck.

He giggled for a moment, the quick rise and fall of his chest making you pause and quirk a questioning brow.

“Sorry, I was just picturing you dancing in cowboy boots and denim shorts like they do in that movie. It’s my new fantasy now.”

“New fantasy?”

“Yeah, it used to be you lecturing me in your classroom, but that is now a close second,” he admitted.

“Oh,” you said. Harry went back to kissing you, taking the time to flip you over so that you were beneath him and spreading your legs nice and wide so he could fit comfortably between them.

For a moment, you got lost in him as he left sloppy kisses all over your chest, but then his confession hit you all of a sudden.

“Wait, what?”

“Shh. We’ll talk about my secrets after.”

You let him distract you knowing that you would remember to question him about his fantasies later.

::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

“You’re ruining her, you know.”

Harry looked over to where your mother appeared at his shoulder. “Sorry?”

“You. You’re holding her back. She is one of a kind, has a gift that no one else has, but you have clipped her wings, and now she will never reach her full potential.”

It wasn’t Harry’s choice to visit your mother, but you begged him.

“She promised me she’s going to try to be better,” you told him, a hopeful look on your face. Harry wasn’t convinced, but he wanted to support you either way, so he agreed. A trip to the town where you grew up to meet your mother.

It had gone smoothly for about an hour.

“Keep your voice down,” Harry demanded, trying to quiet his own. You were cooking for him and your mom, and he didn’t want you to hear this conversation.

“You baby her. Coddled her so much that she probably doesn’t know left from right. Do you know how much I gave up so she could succeed, so that she could reach her full potential? And now you cart her around the world like a piece of arm candy, like a trophy you won.”

“That is not—” Harry didn’t even know where to start. Gave up? More like what she got. You told him early on in your friendship that your mother sent you off to some school, had been paid handsomely for it, yet your mother had the gall to act like it was some big sacrifice.

“I don’t cart her around. She works, she has a job that she loves, one she chose long before she met me. Why can’t that be enough for you?”

“That psychology nonsense? Anyone could do that. My daughter is an exceptional human being, but she prances around like everyone else when she is not. And you let her. Take responsibility and do what’s right for her, for all of us. She could be the thing that cures cancer, that—”

“See, that’s your problem,” Harry seethed, trying hard not to lose his temper. “Y/n is not a thing, she is a person, and the fact that you can’t differentiate that is disgusting.”

Your mom looked affronted, offended by Harry’s words and tone. “How dare you! This is my house and I will not allow you to—”

“It’s mine actually. I paid for it with the money I made from my nonsense job.”

Harry’s heart broke when he heard your voice. He hated that you had to hear what your mother said.

Even though he never liked the woman, he knew how optimistic you’d been about mending your relationship with your mom. It was clear now though that she’d had no change of heart.

“Y/n, is this the kind of man you bring into my house?” your mom said, completely disregarding what you said. “He is rude, he—”

“You were rude first. To Harry and to me,” you said, your voice painfully void of any emotion.

“You seem to think that because we’re dating, Harry controls what I do, but that is not the case. He supports me and I support him. I enjoy traveling with him and seeing the world, something I never got to do because you sent me away before I was old enough to get my own passport.

“And my work isn’t nonsense. I save lives, and I teach others how to do the same. Perhaps I could’ve been the person to cure cancer, but if there is anyone to blame for not doing so, it’s you,” you said, your voice breaking on the last word.

Harry wanted to reach out and hold your hand, but he knew he didn’t need to. Despite what your mother thought, you could stand on your own two feet just fine.

“It has taken me a long time to be happy, to rid myself of the belief that I was put on this earth to ruin myself trying to improve the lives of others, including yours. It’s time you learn the same. I suggest you start packing your things, because I’m kicking you out. You will no longer benefit from me or the work that I do, neither of which you have ever loved or supported.”

It was like a grenade had been thrown between the three of you. No one spoke for about five seconds, and then your mother erupted.

“You can’t kick me out! This is my home! I’m your mother, Y/n! Do not disrespect me like this!”

“You are no mother to me,” you said softly, and Harry could hear the wobble in your voice.

“You’d really kick me out? Onto the street? After everything I did for you? You never would’ve even met this man if it wasn’t for me!”

Now your mother was just spewing nonsense, doing anything she could to make you change your mind. She tried to reach out to you, but Harry was there to block her, shaking his head as a warning.

“If it was always true to say that it was or would be, it could not not be, or not be going to be. But if something cannot not happen, it is impossible for it not to happen; and what cannot not happen necessarily happens. Everything, then, that will be will be necessarily,” you said out of the blue. And when your mother looked at you confused, you continued.

“Are you not brushed up on your Aristotle? Let me explain. Things that happen in life are a necessity, that’s why they happen, but not every necessary or unnecessary event eventually plays out in actuality.

“I would’ve always met, Harry, I think. It’s a necessity. But how I got there,” you shrugged. “Not a necessity. You can watch the show Loki. It’s explained better there.”

You took Harry’s hand and led him out of the house. It wasn’t the one you grew up in, but he felt like you were leaving all those terrible memories behind you.

Silence filled the car as Harry drove to the nearest motel. You were supposed to stay at your mother’s house, but that was clearly not an option anymore.

Harry chanced a look at you as he drove down empty streets. You were staring ahead blankly, your hands folded nearly in your lap.

“How’re you feeling?” he asked. He wanted to rest a hand over yours, but you refrained, knowing you probably wouldn’t want that right now.

You shrugged, a very rare movement for you. “Disappointed, I guess? I don’t know why I thought she would be different.” You looked at him, but Harry had a hard time reading your expression. “I know you didn’t really want to come. I’m sorry for dragging you out here.”

“It’s not that I didn’t—I just didn’t want to see you get hurt,” he said turning into the motel parking lot.

“I can’t believe I actually thought she would change,” you said, looking down dejectedly at your hands. “I guess that’s why the saying is that a tiger can’t change its stripes, right?”

“Hey, look at me. Y/n, look at me,” Harry said.

Your lip was quivering and your eyes were lined with tears. When you sniffled, he leaned forward and rested his forehead against yours.

“You are a remarkable person, no matter what that woman thinks. If she can’t see that, then that’s on her.”

“But she was right, wasn’t she? I could be doing more—”

“Y/n, what you do is enough. You are enough. And if you don’t believe that, I’ll believe it for you until you do.”

“Promise?”

“Promise,” he said, kissing the top of her head. “Now, what do you say to a hopping on the next red-eye out of here?”

“Back home?” you asked with a sniffle.

“Anywhere,” Harry said. “Let’s just go somewhere. You and me.”

His heart swelled when a smile flickered on her lips. You were hurting, but that pain wouldn’t last forever. Harry would make sure of that.

::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

“Y/n! Y/n! Over here!”

You looked over to where a couple of girls were calling out your name. It was a hard thing to get used to at first, people suddenly recognizing you, whether it was for your educational videos or dating a celebrity.

All your life you could count the number of friends and family you had on your hand, and now you had hundreds of thousands of followers on something called a “TikTok.” You didn’t really know how to manage it but your partner for making your videos did, so now you made short, one minute videos about whatever popped into your head, something you used to be bullied for growing up but were now praised for.

Hesitantly, you went over to the girls, clearly fans of Harry in their tour shirts and custom made merch. You’d been taking your cats for a walk, all three of them. Harry had gifted you a kitten for your birthday a few months ago, and you welcomed him with open arms into your home.

In a past life, someone calling out to you on the street would’ve made you run in the opposite direction, but now you just smiled and said, “Hello. How are you?”

“Where’s Harry?” one of the girls blurted, which made her eyes bug out with embarrassment. “Sorry, that was so rude! I’m just really nervous and I say stupid shit when I’m nervous, and obviously you guys are together, but you’re also your own people so you—”

“Jen, shut up!” one of the other girls hissed with a quick smack to the arm.

Your eyes were wide during the whole exchange, but you weren’t offended. You could tell this girl, Jen, meant well. And you also knew what it was like to nervously babble and blurt things.

“It’s okay. He’s actually in California right now,” you said, adding the last bit as an afterthought. He had business to take care of, and you had work at the university. Sometimes your schedules didn’t add up the way you and Harry didn’t like, but you made the most of your time and tried to see each other as much as possible.

“Oh. That’s—That’s so cool!” Jen’s friend said, looking a little disappointed.

Feeling bad for the girls, you slipped your phone from your pocket, telling them to wait one second.

Dialing Harry’s number, you waited for Harry to pick up. He usually only let it get to about two rings before he—”

“Darling!”

You blushed at the girls hearing Harry’s pet name for you, but you tried to ignore it and their giggles so you could respond. “Hello.”

“I was just thinking about you, actually,” he said.

Frowning, you replied, “You always say that.”

“Well, I’m always thinking about you.”

One of the girls couldn’t hold back and, “Aww,” which helped you remember why you called in the first place. “Hey, so I ran into some fans of yours, and I thought you would like to say hello to them.”

“I’d like nothing more!” Harry said.

You let the girls say their hellos, not really listening to their conversation until you heard, “She’s with the cats, isn’t she?”

Harry said goodbye to the girls soon after that, thanking them for listening to and enjoying his music, and once the call went dead, you quickly said your own goodbyes so you could be on your way.

As you left the fans behind, your phone buzzed again. “Hi, Harry.”

“I was so wrapped up in conversation, I forgot to talk to you! How was your day, love? How is Marcus Arugula?”

“Aurelius, Harry. How many times do I have to tell you?”

“That’s what I said, isn’t it?”

You let it go with a roll of your eyes, knowing this particular conversation could go on for a good long while.

“We’re all fine,” you said as you pushed your cat pram towards your townhouse. “I’m going to try out a new recipe and prep for the new semester.”

“A riveting evening indeed,” Harry said, and while he was joking, you knew he enjoyed a night in with you. “It was nice of you to call me so I could talk to those fans.”

“I’m a nice person,” you replied.

“You are,” Harry agreed. “But you’ve also never done that before.”

You hummed. “You know me, H. Sometimes conversation is hard. Especially if I’m not expecting it. Might as well let them talk to you instead of me.”

“I think you’re a great conversationalist.”

“I’m comfortable around you.”

“An honor I carry with me proudly.”

He was talking funny, or just not like himself. “What’s up with you?”

“Oh nothing, just waiting for you to get home so we can have dinner together.”

“How is that possible? You’re—Wait, did you fly home?”

“Got in ten minutes ago,” he said, and you could hear the smile in his voice. “Come home, Y/n. I’ve missed you too much.”

He didn’t have to tell you twice.

::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

“Y/n? Is that you?”

You turned around, wondering who could possibly be calling out to you, but when you saw his face, you immediately clammed up.

It was Peter. You went to high school together, though you weren’t even a preteen. He was one of the only kids at school who didn’t bully you and was very handsome. He still was.

“Peter. H—Hi.”

Why you were speechless after all these years was beyond you. But being here, at your high school reunion, brought it all back. Like the rest of your graduating class, he was older than you, but time had been kind to him, unlike some of your other classmates, who didn’t even recognize you.

“How are you?” he asked.

You felt like a kid again, blushing at his question. You weren’t into him, but it was like you’d been zapped back to the past, all of that kiddish admiration surging back.

“I’m good. And you?”

“Me? I’m good too, I guess. Surprised you came, though.”

“Me too, but, I don’t know. I thought I’d show everyone I’m not eleven years old anymore.”

Coming to your high school reunion was a last minute decision. You hadn’t been back in your hometown since you officially cut ties with your mother, which had been years ago. You were perfectly content and fulfilled, but when you received an invitation in your school mailbox, you didn’t what to think or how to feel.

“You actually do that?” Harry asked when you showed the invitation to him over facetime. “I thought that was just a thing in movies.”

“Oh, it’s real,” you said. “Is it bad that I want to show you off to all of my tormentors?”

“Not at all. I don’t mind being a trophy boyfriend.”

So here you were. Harry ran to the bathroom less than five minutes in, which was when Peter found you.

“It’s hard to look back and think that you were only eleven,” Peter said, shaking his head in disbelief.

“Yeah, I suppose it’s—”

“I’m sorry,” he blurted, cutting you off.

Tilting your head to the side, you asked, “For what?”

“For the way you were treated at this school. It was awful, and I’ve felt guilty about it for years.”

“You didn’t do anything,” you said with a frown.

“Yeah, but I didn’t try to stop it either,” Peter said. “I—I have a daughter now, and to even think about the things that were said and done to you happening to my daughter just fills me with so much anger, and I just—I guess I’m just glad you were able to move on from it. From all of us. And I’m truly, truly sorry.”

You blinked, not sure what to say. You hadn’t really spoken to anyone else, but you couldn’t even fathom any of your former bullies apologizing. Yet here Peter was, apologizing for being a bystander.

“Thank you for saying that. It means a lot,” you finally said.

Peter nodded, realizing that the conversation was pretty much done. “Well, it was good seeing you, Y/n. Or Dr. Y/l/n. My daughter watches your videos all the time, so I know that much.”

You smiled, watching him walk away. When he disappeared into the throng of people, you remembered that you did not come to this reunion alone.

“Where’s my Harry?” you muttered you yourself as you walked out of the gym towards the hallway where the bathroom. You’d spent many hours in these halls. Not walking up or down them. No, you were actually stuffed in a locker on occasion until someone realized you were missing.

As you reached the end of the hallway where the boy’s bathrooms were, you saw Harry. “There you are!”

Harry looked up as he wiped his hands on his trousers, and you couldn’t help but shake your head at his outfit choice.

For one his shirt was see-through. A knitted long sleeve shirt that did very little to hide tan skin and tattoos underneath. And it was barely buttoned too, but when you asked him about it, all he said was that if he was going to be arm candy, he was going to choose what flavor.

“And what flavor are you supposed to be?”

“Boyfriend of a well respected professor, with just a hint of slutty. But just a hint,” he said, pinching his thumb and index finger together.

Sometimes you swore he said things just to see how you would react.

“Here I am,” he said. “Ready to—”

“Let’s get out of here,” you said suddenly, taking his hand in yours.

“Where?” Harry didn’t even question it, just trusted your desire to leave.

Where did you want to go? You thought for a moment, then pulled him along through your old school until you were outside and on the football field.

“People used to come out here and...do things,” you said, staring at the red and white hash marks on the turf.

“What kind of things?”

“Nothing I was supposed to know about at eleven.”

“Scandalous.”

“Very,” you agreed.

Time passed in silence, Harry content to just hold your hand while you gathered your thoughts. He was used to it by now, as you often took long pauses to think before speaking.

“I had a crush on this boy while I was at school here.”

“Cute, but...he didn’t have a crush on you...did he?”

You shook your head. “No, no, nothing like that. He was just cute and...nice to me, you know? He made my life here just a little less miserable. I never held anything against him, but he—he apologized to me.”

“When?”

“While you were in the bathroom.”

“Well...that was nice of him...Wasn’t it?” he asked, not sure where you were going with this.

“Yeah, I just—I don’t know, I just wasn’t expecting it. I didn’t blame him. I hardly even thought about him until today.”

Harry draped an arm over your shoulders, pulling you closer to his side. You’d been through so much, and he didn’t even think you realized it.

But that was the marvelous thing about you. Despite everything, you were still happy, still living life how you wanted, and Harry couldn’t have been prouder. To know you, to watch you grow and flourish, to just be around someone incredible.

“Did you know that Greek philosophers believed that humans were originally made with four arms, four legs, and two faces?” he asked.

He knew you knew, but he wanted to be the one to share the knowledge about philosophy. Just this once. He read up on it just for you.

“I did, but tell me more,” you said, wanting to know his take on it.

“Well,” Harry said. “They were so powerful, that the gods separated them, and the two halves spent the rest of their lives searching for each other, and if they did, there was just this...this cosmic understanding that they were soulmates.”

Harry’s tale was a little bit more romanticized than the original, but you liked it better than way. “Are you saying we’re soulmates?”

“I’d like to think so, yes. Do you concur?”

You smiled at his use of the word “concur.” You affected each other in practically every way possible, and vocabulary was no different.

“I do concur. Your argument was very sound.”

“Why thank you, Doctor.”

You kissed him then, making him stumble with the force you used to lean into him. But Harry was always quick to catch you, wrapping his arms around your waist and holding you tight, almost uncomfortably so. Almost.

Harry was usually the one to take the lead with these kinds of things, and you were more than happy to let him. Now, though, you were spurred on by nothing but the desire to let him know how much he meant to you.

You did all the things you knew he loved—sucking his lip between your own, rubbing your hands from the top of his head all the way down until they were sneaking beneath his shirt, tracing his tattoos with your fingertips, nibbling gently on his ear until his knees were so weak he had to sit down on the bleachers.

“Love you,” you mumbled against his neck, sucking a mark there for good measure. You were usually careful about giving Harry hickeys because he was constantly being photographed, but at the moment you didn’t care, and neither did he. Holding his face in your hands, you peppered it with delicate little kisses, all over his cheeks and nose and eyelids. “Love, love, love you.”

“Love you too, darling. With all my heart,” Harry panted, not even bothering to open his eyes. “But let’s go somewhere a little more private, shall we?”

Kissing him one last time for good measure, you said, “Lead the way.”

[purgetrooperfox]

Honestly? Probably Bastra. I feel like he's the most well adjusted. But if I wanted the most fun route, Nocte.

[oc dating sim ask game making my brain vibrate again]

this is actually so fair. and I did talk about Nocte some here but yeah he is uhhh not going to commit any real emotional depth. he's fun though!! ideal for playing it fast and loose ahem

Bastra though ! you're right lol he's pretty well adjusted, generally speaking. very committed to the Jedi, which means his spare time is both limited and very important to him. expect

to probably meet on Coruscant, but there are several options for specific spots. he spends a lot of time in the lower levels and the Senate district, and is familiar with most districts around the capital. the Entertainment District might see him from time to time. he's a regular in Coco Town! pick your poison, he'll probably pop up eventually

however it starts, he's going to want to Woo You. to do it differently because he's never had something real before, he he doesn't want to fuck it up

dates will be few and far between at first. he's busy, you're busy, Coruscant is expensive. those dates will count though, he'll take you to his favorite spots and unfailingly introduce you to an owner or manager who he seems to know well

do you know about the aquatic district? because he has a Padawan you see, and she's a nautolan, so he's always down there, right? and at first he wasn't so sure, he's not the strongest swimmer out there, but it's really grown on him. to have beauty like that in the middle of so much industrial development is something special (pack a swimsuit because this is as close as you'll get to a beach episode)

eventually though, the natural solution to seeing each other so infrequently is to just have him over for an evening. he'll show up, I shit you not, with bags of groceries and cook for you in your own kitchen. it will be spicy. it will be delicious. you can pick a movie with decent confidence that he hasn't seen it before and savor being able to tuck into his side to watch him react as much as the plot itself

this breaks an ice. he'll be around significantly more when it can be more casual. for all that it seems like he never brings anything with him, you'll start finding traces of him in your space. a long lost sock in the dryer. a jacket slung across the back of the couch that gets its own place in the closet. miscellaneous rings on counters

traces in your bed, if you're feeling brave. lingering heat in the early morning, a pillowcase that smells like him

he'll bring you back to his place, but you'll probably have to either ask or wait a long while. not because he doesn't want you there, he's just nervous

but go over. the Padawan in question is at his place and she will probably give you a shovel talk, but she's a good kid and she's like. the most important thing to Bastra. you know this. and you get to see the way he softens in his own home. the lopsided angle of his smile when he sees you, dressed down and comfortable, there with him

what can I even say. he's Very overly formal until that threshold of "oh we can be causal together" is crossed, but in a way that's more a show of respect than anything else

once he lets himself, he cares soooooooo much

love languages acts of service and quality time

comfycozy shared silence. parallel activities. calls to check in that are so late that they always wake you up, but you always answer them anyway. spzoom calls when he's offworld, then postcards when he gets back

if you have a cat you get bonus points, sorry I don't make the rules

I know I said no beach episode but he'll take you to a planet with natural beaches eventually

the gloves stay on. smirk emoji

not a route for the faint of heart. it's long and probably drags, but he'll fall hard when the time comes. don't play with his heart

wow this got wordy. oops

[doberbutts]

Sincerely thank you for reminding me that I am not immune to propaganda. It's sobering for me to realize just how easily I swallowed "RoP is bad and anyone who watches it is a traitor" when it was presented to me using the social-justice terms I was familiar with.

Well of course, that's the whole point of what I've been saying. I don't think the majority of the people who are blindly hating on a show they haven't seen are themselves doing it because they are actively attempting to be racist. I do think that many of these people are swallowing concepts spoonfed to them by racists who've figured out that if they wrap their hate-pills in woke-appearing language then they can easily rile up a mob that still accomplishes their goals.

I'm seeing a lot of people swallowing up posts like "can you believe Amazon is deleting bad reviews??? man this is what happens when entertainment companies own review sites" without questioning WHY Amazon may be deleting bad reviews when a quick look at both Amazon and also the social media of the cast and production crew are saying "hey we're getting review bombed and harassed and threatened by misogynists and racists"

I'm seeing people using reasoning that applies to other Tolkien media as THE reason to hate on this show and force it to die, and when asked why it's different, the logic becomes circular or defensive.

I'm seeing people acknowledging that the cast and production crew and Amazon itself and even people involved in the PJ movies and unrelated celebrities and content creators discussing the real actual racism and harassment and threats and saying "you guys just want to use racism as a shield" and "calling us bigots for not liking it is missing the point".

I'm seeing people who are adamantly "Amazon bad" praising fucking Elon Musk for speaking out against the show as if Elon fucking Musk is also not an evil man with an evil company.

I'm seeing countless black people going "hey, wait a second, there's an awfully suspicious amount of racists on the side slinging the vitriol, let me just check and see what this show is about" and then when they watch it they go "yeah uh... it's the racism, the complaints are the racism, you guys are falling for racist propaganda"

I'm seeing people have Totally Normal :) posts about how the show is bad and you shouldn't watch it and no one should watch it and people should review-bomb it and it's the worst thing ever and then like three posts down is some rant about how black elves don't make sense or Galadriel was never supposed to fight or "why can't the black people be restricted to [evil race] like they were in the books".

And it's all very suspicious to me that when it gets pointed out, people immediately get mad that they're being told they're doing racists' job for them instead of idk listening to the people actually affected by racism.

[werezmastarbucks]

8. Fate chooses me

part 8 out of 8

warnings:

word count: 584

So, some people are more important than others. Duh. He thought. It was really loud in his head as he landed back on the floor of the Batcave. He saw his own back disappear in the doorframe, and dissipating in the shadows of erased future.

He couldn't stand, so he just rolled on his back and let himself breathe. The pictures ran through his eyes like a silent movie, and he needed to eat.

"Barry?" he heard a polite voice.

Clark stood above him, mildly puzzled.

"I thought you'd just left. Didn't you want to get us all some lunch?"

He admired this man's soft, quiet voice. He thought, if everything works like that here, too, he'll be doing, probably, well, the strangest thing in the world today. Or tomorrow. Or whenever the fuck.

Superman gave him his hand. Barry took off his mask.

"I've been to the future, buddy. We're fucked. Can you call Bruce, please?"

And he smiled, like he always did, to let people be entertained at his clownery.

Soon everybody was gathered around the table. Chewing and gulping down the remnants of pizza in huge bites, feeling the hiccups approaching, Barry explained, that an alien ship was closing, but not to worry, because he knew what to do exactly, to keep all Eastern Europe still on the map of the world. He gave them two big thumbs up, and patted Wayne on the back, quietening him and his late anger and concern. He was the hero of the moment, as everybody was getting frantically ready at his word, giving him meaningful looks; the most meaningful one was given by Clark Kent, whose destiny was to die tonight, at the blow of a spear with kryptonite.

Perhaps he couldn't do anything about it, or he didn't want to; the gut feeling that never let Barry down told him that it's the fate itself punishing him for meddling with the time. Part of him told him that he, the Flash, Barry Allen, was going to let Superman die to save the girl who isn't even his girlfriend, and might not ever be.

He felt what it was like, to carry this all alone.

You didn't even hear him come home, that's how quiet it was. Not like the usual Barry at all.

He knocked on your door three times, almost frightened by the sound of it, and opened it.

You took off your earphones and greeted him.

"God damn, Barry, I read something about aliens? What happened at night?"

He didn't reply, but looked at you with such warmth that you became concerned. You could see there were tears in his eyes.

Carefully, you strode across the room to the door where he stood uncertainly, holding on like his life depended on it.

"Are you hurt? What happened?"

"It wasn't too bad. Their ship was very vulnerable, we just blew it up as it was landing, and very few of them made it to land", he said timidly.

Concerned, you felt his forehead.

"Everything is fine, I promise, it's just that... Superman is dead".

That was like thunder.

"Superman can't be dead", you gasped in disbelief.

Barry winced as if this hurt him.

"That's what I thought, but... yeah, he's dead".

He took your hand and squeezed it lightly. Then he smiled.

"I'm glad you're home".

You gave him a hug, one of those you always provided - awkward, but big, keeping your face off his shoulder. However, you decided to lean in a little.

[girl4music]

I miss with everything in me TV shows/movies and visual art/entertainment of any kind that are self-referential in a clever campy, fourth wall breaking, lampshading way. Basically visual art/entertainment that is able to and has the balls to take the piss out of itself and can admit where it goes wrong within the narrative itself. Honest, transparent clever meta TV.

Everything is just so fucking serious and dramatic now. Even when it’s a comedy, there’s still an urgency and a need to make you laugh that really takes the fun out of watching it. I don’t know if this will make any sense but I feel like TV visual media today just tries too hard. And it’s probably because it’s no longer just TV. What’s the word I’m looking for in explaining what I mean by this? I can’t think of it. Contrived? Forced? No, that’s not it. I don’t know how to articulate it.

It’s like you just can’t help but notice that there is a goal or an agenda to it while watching it so it takes you out of the experience of interacting/engaging with it when it’s supposed to pull you further in. ‘Xena’, ‘Buffy’ and ‘Charmed’ had it down so fucking well. Yes, all of them have their flaws and controversies but it was exceptional writing to the point where you feel like you’re part of it. Like you’re up close and personal with the characters and the environments and you feel like family. Like you belong with them and it. No TV show or movie has made me feel like that since. I’ve tried. I tried with ‘Sense8’, I tried with ‘First Kill’, I tried with ‘Santa Clarita Diet’, I tried with ‘Warrior Nun’. And I know that it was happening ever so slowly, but in the next second it was ripped away from under me. I didn’t even get chance to become a part of any of them, let alone let them become a part of me. I mean you wouldn’t really call fantasy or supernatural shows like Xena, Buffy and Charmed realistic storytelling. It’s some of the wackiest, most over-the-top, ridiculous shit ever for much of each respective show’s run. But all of them really feel more real to me than anything I could watch today on a streaming service of any kind. It feels real because it feels like me. Who I am, what I care about, how I perceive the world, where I stand. Makes me feel like I’m at home. When everything else I watch just makes me feel even more alienated. And it really is hard to explain how special these 3 are. How they’re just leagues ahead in my heart and mind over all else.

I both miss the realism in the absurdity in TV as well as I when it was about learning something significant. I miss the balance in the comedy and the drama. And I really miss when it never took itself too seriously yet was still able to get the point across without forcing it. You know, the way it both grows within and with you. The way it began with you and never leaves you. I guess what I really mean is I miss character-driven. I miss those episodes that had nothing to do with plot but told you more about the characters because of it. When the TV show wasn’t necessarily or specifically about anything. It was just the characters. They are that show. You know? Yeah, that’s what I mean. 😌

I’m always talking about how ‘Xena: Warrior Princess’ especially doesn’t really have any point to it. What it means and what it stands for is entirely up to you. I always say that it’s magic is in its ambiguity. How you’re supposed to interpret it over just watch it. And it’s just one big fucking headcanon that never ends. And they’re all like that in their own ways. All 3 shows. If they weren’t they wouldn’t be such cult classics. People wouldn’t still be watching them years after the very last episode aired. So timeless and so special. Unlike anything you could even find in visual media today. You can put it down to nostalgia but I think it’s more than that. I think they’re lightning in a bottle. With amazing chemistry between the actors and exceptional writing in storytelling and metaphor meaning. And with the fact they gave you room to create in it all that matters to you as a sentient being. To say I’m passionate about them is an understatement. I feel like I’ll never know anything that knows and fulfils and satisfies me completely like these 3 incredible shows do: Xena/Buffy/Charmed.

[moviemunchies]

Right! Back to the dystopian action.

[Side note: I watched this on YouTube, free with ads. I still don’t recommend it, because it puts ads at really weird places (like it does with all videos). None of them were as frustrating as the time I watched Solomon Kane, but still a bit annoying.]

Katniss has been recruited by the rebels of District 13 after escaping the Hunger Games and her home District being bombed out by the Capitol. But she’s not just called to fight–President Coin of District 13 and Plutarch Heavensbee want to make Katniss into the Mockingjay, the face of the rebellion, to help inspire their p people and rally the citizens of the Districts into open rebellion against the Capitol. Of course, Katniss has complex feelings about that, and she also wants to rescue Peeta, who was left behind in the Capitol–and it turns out! Has been brainwashed into becoming President Snow’s mouthpiece! Ohes noes!

In the wake of the Harry Potter film series, every young adult film series and massive blockbuster type made the questionable decision to split their final installments into two parts. The result is often a third film that’s almost entirely set up for a fourth film that’s almost entirely action sequences. I was worried about that going into this movie, but I didn’t find it too egregious. It is a problem, on reflection–there are a lot of sequences of hunkering in the bunkers that could have been shortened or cut. But it didn’t feel like the cliffhanger for this movie was any more abrupt than the ending of Catching Fire.

I thought that an interesting aspect of this movie is how much it focuses on media and propaganda. The rebellion doesn’t want Katniss to just go out and lead troops in battle and shoot all the bad guys (though I don’t know if that’d mind that), they want her to film public service announcements about how much the Capitol sucks. Which of course, doesn’t work, because Katniss isn’t an actress. Haymitch points out that the best way to capture her being inspirational is to let her just do her thing. But this also means putting Katniss in rough situations and pointing cameras at her to see what she does.

I don’t know, I feel like a lot of movies (or other , especially movies involving rebellions, don’t talk about the aspect of public relations. I liked that take on the subject.

Still, that also means that there aren’t that many action sequences. Which is fine, but apparently that’s a sticking point for many–that they wanted to see more of the war itself. It didn’t bother me much because I think many people don’t like thinking about how little of a war is actually, y’know, combat compared to other considerations, but I’ll admit it is also a little annoying that they’re probably going to pack the next movie with more action sequences and so this one will seem quite boring by comparison. I’ll let you know if that holds out to be true when I get to the second part.

Performances are great across the board, but I can’t help but miss President Snow. He’s not in this movie that much; which is a shame because he’s loads of fun to watch. He’s a bastard, but he’s an entertaining bastard.

That being said, while  I think that Jennifer Lawrence’s performances are good, it isn’t always fun to watch, because you have scenes of Katniss trying to act, and Katniss isn’t good at acting. So yeah, in-universe, it works, but it’s still a bit cringey to watch. 

It’s fine, but I don’t know if I will feel the same after the second part. And this is a thing that I hate about this whole ‘Part 1-Part 2’ thing Hollywood used to do. I watch a movie, and then I have an opinion, but then it turns out that it’s an incomplete opinion because the story’s not meant to be taken on its own.

[Then why did you write a movie review for just half a movie? Well, because I got over halfway through writing this before I came to this realization.]

So I didn’t mind this film being a bit slower, but it IS a bit slower, and I can’t help but think that I can’t make a final judgment. Right now, it’s fine, and the movie’s enjoyable enough, especially if you’ve been keeping track of the story thus far. But we’ll have to see if it all comes together well in the final installment.

Especially because the actor playing the major character Plutarch Heavensbee, Philip Seymoue Hoffman, died after filming his parts for this movie?

[soyouareandrewdobson]

A hat full of shit

Just a very short post compared to others this time. Lets start by playing a game, shall we? Can you identify the difference between these two pics of Dobson?

And no, just because they show the same douchebag, they are not the same. Cause in one pic, something important is missing!

Yeah, that's right, the hat. To be more precise, the fedora Dobson would like to draw himself with, based on the fact that at least ever since college Dobson had been a fedora wearer in real life. Likely to hide his eggshaped, bald calvaria.

Now frankly, I don't think the fedora as a hat in itself is something terrible. In fact, it is actually something of a feministic icon, originating from a headpiece a female character named "Princess Fedora Romanova" wore in a theater play called "Fedora" by the french writer Sadoun from 1882. The character even played by a highly respected actress at the time called Sarah Bernhardt. And after it got popularity via the play, it was worn mostly by women in the late half of the 19th century -particularly members of the first feministic movements- it became popular with men in the 1920s all over the world, especially in America where it was famous during the prohibition, the 40s-60s, in Hollywood movies (particularly the detetive noir ones of the time) and so on.

Nowadays however... well, we all know the memes, how the fedora is something of the first indicative piece of clothing a fake feminist or unhinged social justice warrior likes to wear.

And even Dobson, though a bit late to the party, eventually became aware of the negative association the fedora developed online, which is actually the reason why he stopped wearing the hat altogether.

As he made known in a "humourous" fashion through this dumb SYAC strip...

And would also confirm quite a few years later on twitter, when he ranted randomly about how internet creeps ruined the hat for him.

And as to be expected of Dobson, utter lack of self awareness. At all.

Cause honestly, if he thinks only male douchebags wear a fedora now... well, then he should have kept it on. After all, it fit him.

There is really not much here I can say than the following: If Dobson wanted NOT to be associated with (male) douchebaggery at all, then getting rid of his hat was not the right course of action. Cause being Dobson, it did not matter if he wore a fedora, 80s leggings, nothing, a plain white shirt or started vapping: A douchebag, is a douchebag independent of his choice of clothing.

Dobson wasn't seen as a douche because of his hat or rather a lack thereof.

He was a douche because he was condescending, creepy, acted like he was a semi authority at what "decent" and "progressive" entertainment is like/should be, despite a severe lack of actually creating stories of his own and many other reasons.

Heck, Dobson couldn't even be halfway "consistent" with the fact he abandoned his hat. After all, even in the years following that comic, he would occassionally still draw himself with the hat.

No, seriously. The comic condamning fedoras, according to the base timeline I can construct on the release date of the comics, indicate it to have come out sometime before 2014.

And then when he made his patreon campaign video in 2015... well, I unfortunately only have a modified version of that video found online, but guess what sort of headwear shows up in the "unedit" parts.

I hope that whatever happened with his hat, it found a better use than resting on his skull. Who knows, perhaps it was donated to the homeless and is now catching more money on average, than Dobson earned via patreon

[ben-the-hyena]

''puss in boots 2 made strange world its bitch proving ppl dont want stories where the conflict is intergenerational trauma but really just want classic villains'' that's such a ridiculous take, you can't compare the two

strange world was given barely any promotion by disney, that's why it's not popular and why so many ppl dont even know it exists. meanwhile puss in boots 2 had 1) a shit ton of promotion 2) it comes from a loooong franchise, shrek, and is a SEQUEL so obviously it was more anticipated and popular. so if you're basing that claim on popularity and reactions then....idk maybe compare it to encanto which was actually extremely popular ??

and like, pretending ppl just want classical villains is just incorrect- many do, but have you seen the amount of ppl who were happy about movies like encanto, turning red, and strange world utilizing different themes (intergenerational trauma, capitalism, metaphors to climate change and how people react to it in malicious ways, etc) instead of having a classical villain?

idk i just feel like you're getting unnecesarilly pressed about this. why are you so upset about great movies talking about real issues and focusing on that instead of focusing on a mad scientist trying to destroy the world or whatever

Because enough with movies especially cartoon movies that HAVE to be deep and psychological all the way with the antagonist who is actually a misunderstood baby and everybody needs to go to a therapist, it used to be fresh now it is overdone and unoriginal and moralizing everywhere it feels like watching a therapist session not a movie. And Disney has been doing that for a decade now and no magter how that shit called Encanto was popular it did not help much its company since it is losing in popularity a financial say and even already looking at a new strategy. However Puss in Boots ? It HAS psychology and a deep message, BUT it is also FUN with an ACTUAL FUN villain and doesn't believe itself pretentious, original and smarter than thou, they do have a redeemable villain yeah but is she really a villain, to be fair ? I repeat, Jack however makes that Disney trend to be "more realistic and smarter by having ALL our movies metaphorical without pazzaz anymore or it wouldn't be realistic in a magic world" its bitch. People want variety. People want something fresh. It was alright to have a few times a free therapy session through a character, but not all the time, now give actual entertainment or if you do give therapy give it with fun and not just "boohoo sowwy I was absolutely awful but I have an excuse" and "I HAVE TO RELATE TO ABSOLUTELY EVERY CHARACTER OR THIS MOVIE SUCKS" every fucking movie. Some people love fictional assholes for what they are or character who are drasrically different and go watch movies for adventures, and don't need to be reminded everytime of real life issues ALL. THE. TIME. Both kinds of movies can and MUST co exist, it must not be JUST one and not the other (it used to suck to have just evil villains and when Disney started to make redeemable deep ones who are not truly villains but miscommunication or situation are it was super fresh and welcome, to me too), and Disney has kept doing only one these days whereas Dreamworks has done BOTH in ONE movie which is a genius move and which is why despite all its promotion which sure did help (and let us be honest : I remember not a lot were thrilled by the trailer because it had Perrito pass as an annoying sidekick, some purists didn't like the animation and art change and some thought it was an unnecessary cashgrab sequel), it also had success because we both know promotion doesn't mean everything and a lot of movies were good or bad surprises throughout history. People are tired, people want to relax and people want novelty (which is ironically older)

[rubykgrant]

This is going to be slightly vague... that’s because I’ve been seeing similar situations more and more over the years, so this applies to a LOT of things, but if this reminds you of something recent, there’s a reason; this keeps happening.

I really love drawing and cartoons, but I’ve never been able to really “make a thing” in terms of having a career in art/animation. I’ve mostly given up on ever doing anything myself (for several personal reasons, I’ll talk about that elsewhere), but I’ve still got some thoughts about that; first, I guess I dodged a bullet, because every part of the entertainment and creative industry just seems to be DESTROYING itself. Big companies, small organizations, everything; we constantly hear about employees being mistreated, not getting paid properly for their work, being let go/fired over petty reasons, and so much more. People nearly killing themselves under the pressure to meet crunch deadlines, working through medical problems and various disasters, and then not even being financially compensated for what they do. Voice actors, both new/aspiring and well-known stars, are treated like they have no value.

Never mind how the content gets treated once it is finished (shows getting cancelled after the first season, not for lack of interest or success, but just because nothing is allowed to be “re-watched” or enjoyed more than once, a new show needs to come out every month, and the previous ones basically get erased), or the obsession with “no spoilers” (writers not even allowed to plan out plot-lines, actors not being given full scripts to read, nobody even knows what they’re doing or why), or video games all turning into the same thing (hyper-realistic graphics that glitch and make the game run slow, DLC for more than half the game to even be playable, and so much micro-pay going on you basically buy the game three times). So many people keep getting thrown in the trash. How is anybody supposed to CREATE anything? Even the “big” companies treat their employees like they’re working at some dinky little start-up that will “pay you in exposure”, so you wind up living in your car while they sell T-shirts with the art you drew, but you never even got a paycheck, so you definitely aren’t getting royalties.

Between movies, animation, video games, and every other creative field, people are working themselves past burn-out, and going “above and beyond” has become the constant state. I’m not even worried about myself getting a job; I hate the thought of seeing all the creative people I know (both personally and just from a distance) who have talent and passion potentially being eaten alive by what these industries have turned into. Yeah, jobs are hard, that’s why it’s called WORK, but PEOPLE DESERVE TO BE PAID FOR THEIR WORK. If your dream-job has turned into a nightmare, at the very LEAST you should get enough money to survive... but that just doesn’t seem to be happening. It’s terrible, and sad, and frustrating. It has also been going basically since FOREVER.

On top of that, incredibly unpleasant work environments just adding fuel to the fire. I hate that any complain regarding mistreatment between co-workers gets ignored as “PC nonsense”. It isn’t a NEW CONCEPT to be reasonably polite and professional in the workplace. Yes, even when you make silly internet videos, or cartoons, or whatever. I’ll be fair and say- sometimes people don’t know how rude they’re being, they don’t see how hurtful something is, and it can be embarrassing to be told they’ve done something wrong, and they wind up getting defensive. That much is understandable (to a degree). It still means they need to try and STOP. Don’t keep insisting actual harassment is “just a joke”. Jokes are what you tell people because you want them to laugh, and you want to make them happy. If somebody isn’t enjoying it, then it isn’t a joke. Sometimes you just need to say SORRY, because you didn’t realize it was a problem, and then move on. You DON’T just keep doing it until your co-worker is so miserable, they can’t even focus. If you can’t handle the idea of treating co-workers decently, then YOU are the problem.

Meanwhile, certain people who constantly share how deep their hate goes keep making money, because one time they made something that became popular, and it stayed that way. Not just hurtful, but HATEFUL, and fueled by the never-ending money from fans who don’t care about real people with real problems. Some people learn, change, and grow. I want to really stress that growth is hard and shouldn’t be discouraged (not to say minimum effort to be kind should be applauded, but if you finally see what’s wrong, and you want to do better, it is WORTH the effort to do so). However, some people double-down and intensify. They can’t let go of every awful thought they have, and turn it into a war, not caring about how much damage they cause. It is such a prevalent problem that almost NO organization or title is without people like that; so many movies, TV shows, cartoons, comics, books, and games connected to awful people... even when you drop something and boycott it forever, the person who caused the problem doesn’t get hurt. They still have all their money.

The way people get treated in the workplace is killing their creativity, and sometimes literally threatening their lives; between mental/emotional health getting destroyed, and not making enough money to pay bills or buy food, how is anybody supposed to live through this? It also makes the content itself suffer, and instead of giving the employees a chance to catch their breath so they can be satisfied enough to make quality work, they all get fired. Big companies buy smaller ones, studios get shut down, jobs suddenly vanish or get “dissolved”, projects are cancelled even when they were nearly complete, and people are left destroyed. Again, this has ALWAYS been a problem. Even way back in the old days of black-and-white movies and cartoons without sound, people got mistreated at work (and that can apply to basically any job). Media of all forms and entertainment might not be integral to survival, but creativity is still IMPORTANT. Telling stories, making music, and sharing art of any form is how we connect, both with reality and fantasy. How can anybody tell their stories in this condition? How can anybody even help other stories be told? It isn’t fair that so many GOOD shows get dropped on cancelled, it isn’t fair that so many people are worked nearly to death, it isn’t fair that problems like racism/homophobia/sexism/transphobia/etc get ignored for years and years. It never has been fair.

I’m not at all “internet famous” enough for anybody relevant to see this, but if they could; Start paying the people who work for you properly. Start treating them decently. Start allowing creativity to actually grow. Start rewarding all the effort being put into projects. Start paying attention to what needs to change. Start being better people.

[measuringbliss]

Spider-Man Read-Through 007: Doc Ock Strikes Again! (P1)

MASTERPOST

Annual 4 + ASM 53-61 this time!

A very long post, but there's fun storylines!

So the Human Torch is running amok and unsurprisingly (comics writing), Spider-Man fights him for a bit without asking for an explanation (and the Torch doesn't give him one either) until a movie director intervenes - he was filming a movie! Spider-Man goes away, complaining that Johnny's too good of an actor - but I think the director could have hired him as well. The Torch and the Spider would sure bring people to the movies. And it's actually a plot point of the story (see next screenshots).

In the opening scene, the narrator challenges the readers to figure out who pencilled this issue, and I regret to inform that I'm utterly baffled. Peter has the pretty face of John Romita Sr, but the flat ass of... did Peter ever have a flat ass? I ranted about his inconsistent ass (literally) already, but sounds like it downright downgraded here! ...Still handsome as ever, though.

So yeah, Peter is called on a film set and two characters are conspiring in the shadows and I am intrigued! So they're shooting the movie and Peter's spider-sense keeps warning him and I'm even more intrigued!

I feel like the penciller is Steve Ditko (the previous one) trying to imitate John Romita Sr's style, but maybe it's a newcomer that's promoted through this issue. Through my quick Google Search, I learned (or rather, re-learned) that 1973 and 1974 were drawn by Ross Andru and not John Romita Sr, which does make sense considering how it *is* similar to what I remember, yet a bit different too.

The Torch has gone mad and at this point, I'm starting to wonder if he's actually the Chameleon. And it appears there is truly an impostor, as Johnny's resting in his trailer.

AND SUDDENLY...

It makes sense! The actor background!!!!! Aaaaaaah I'm so hyped, didn't expect to see him!!!!! And who's that other guy?

First, thank you for the fanservice, there's never enough men in tight undershirt and underwear. Legs!!!!

But who's this Wizard?

The helpful wikia indicates that prior to his first appearance in Spider-Man comics (this very one), he was in Strange Tales (later Dr Strange) which makes sense, and also in Fantastic Four. This crossover definitely makes sense! Meanwhile Mysterio has already appeared, but it's still very nice to see him again.

YES! Especially in a 40-pages issue. Let the art speak for itself.

Case in point! These comics had a tendency to be *too* talkative, and it's part of the pacing of the usual 20 pages issue, but still.

Overall, I think it's a great issue! Well-paced, entertaining, surprising, fun! There's a few more pages after that.

Notably this spread.

I don't think they exactly knew they were still gonna be read 60 years later, but it's fun to read this in 2023. Harry calls me out, Peter looks swell as always (VERY swell), Fu Manchu and Woody Allen are here (what a time piece!) and Anna and May are acting like their usual lesbian selves. Once again, good for them!

*swoons*

And they mention how much the artists have to deal with perspective! Nice.

AND...!!!!

YES, YESSSS, YEEEEEEEEEESSSSSSSSSSS!!!!!!!!

Yes, close your closet, Peter. Wouldn't want Harry to barge right in, would ya? *snickers* Closet jokes are always fun when you're gay.

What a stellar final page. And we learn the penciller was Larry Lieber, who returns one year later for ~the truth about Peter's parents"! I've watched The Amazing Spider-Man movies, folks, I don't think I can be surprised, but stay tuned! Oh, by the way, about Larry Lieber...

Okay, that's what I figured. I thought it could be a family member.

Now then, onto the main course!

We see Octopus again, yay. Peter is notably angrier than he was in Annual 4, which makes sense if you ignore it happened, considering what happened in the previous issues.

Harry's also quite annoyed, unsurprisingly. He loves his roommate, but Peter does have a tendency to be absent... Harry's irritability is similar to earlier issues, where Peter never went out with him and everybody else and seemed quite aloof. Was Spider-Man No More a return to basics?

But Peter is much more interested in bringing Gwen to a science expo, and Warren is overjoyed to see her. Oh boy...

Now kiss.

At the science expo, Octopus intervenes and he still sports the worst haircut ever known to mankind. I wonder if he's stealing the nullifier to sell it to the highest bidder... Could it be Hammerhead? Or the Kingpin?

Stan Lee obviously had something against me, but we're on Tumblr, and modesty shall not prevail! Who could ever think Octopus retconning "If This Be My Destiny" is more important that ogling at Peter?

So yes, Octopus does want to sell the nullifier to another nation.

More importantly, everybody recreates the coffee bar double spread from Annual 4. May and Anna are looking for a third for some nice granny baking time.

PLOT TWIST!!! Look how goofy Octopus is. What a goofball.

This issue was fairly enjoyable, it had more soap than fights, which I'm all for. Dear readers, I am enthralled.

I'm thirsting and also showing the humorous situation. Marivaux would be proud!

Also: more Parksborn domestic love! Yeah Peter, don't let Harry see you mixing fluid... or the content of your closet!

MJ is still incredibly mean to Gwen and this is both outrageously funny but also a bit sad. Aside from this, two gays are jealous of Peter.

And this is iconic. Peter's shocked face, Octopus holding the tea cup like Queen Elizabeth, "I dabble a bit in science myself"...

So Aunt May dies and Peter's understandably angry and I'm HOOKED. Two great issues.

The right panel speaks for itself, Harry is a great comedic character.

The action takes place at Stark Industries, but Tony wasn't paid enough to do a cameo so he lets Spidey will with this mess. And the mess gets worse, as the nullifier makes Peter lose his memories...! My jaw dropped.

This is stupid, but I'm curious to see where this is going.

However, Harry keeps being annoyed at Peter and this is sad because I thought we were over this. But I wonder if it's leading to a big plot point, like Peter's friends giving up on him for a few issues.

But then.

Oh. Oh no. I know where this is going.

This arc highlights once more how full of silent rage Peter really is. He's frustrated. A much more compelling character than Insomniac's Peter.

And it ends with a Peter who's quite affected. I didn't expect Peter's amnesia to stick for this long though! This is very compelling stuff.

Aaaand I've gotta stop here because I can only put 30 pictures in posts. Next time: a relatable guy!

[withfeelingthistime2232]

So I've finished a few books already from the disturbing novels iceberg and ill say a little bit about how I felt

first off The boy in the striped Pajamas, I've already seen this movie multiple times and have cried many more, reading it was a bit different though in my opinion watching the movie and the book is just matter of taste in entertainment

I read As I Lay Dying next and its was an ok book, kind of boring and hard to read as the words were written in dialect form so i had to read out loud to understand what was being said most of the time. and even reading out loud was still troublesome as it felt that the book just kept repeating the same things in different ways quickly making it annoying.

the second book I read was A Head Full Of Ghost which was a very entertaining read! I finished it very quickly and it had the effect of watching a tv show with ever chapter, my own opinion on the book would be I hated the way the main character talked in her blogging tone and the ending of the book itself was very to the point and dropped but a good read

I've read Animal farm back in highschool and I enjoyed it but also at the same time didn't really care for it (maybe blame it on the school aspect of it) but i enjoyed the characterization of the animals and how they thought about the certain order in the way the farm should be and i remember siding with the female horse little bit "yeah I probably would also get sick of sticking it out here and would just want my luxuries at a certain point lol" all in all a good book to read on your own if you have the chance. i think school might bring it down abit.

A Modest Proposal was just a very quick read since it was just a satirical letter addressed about the poor people and the number of children they had and they joked about just giving your children away for food and money since you all have so many.

Currently I'm on Clockwork Orange but it is immensely pissing me off lol, It makes me sad honestly because I've been meaning to read this book for a long time now as I've herd it referenced in many things but you see the thing is now one told me there's an entire language I had to learn in order to understand every god damn thing this character was saying. If it was just the sentences I could over look it no problem but its in the characters POV so everything he's describing is in a language called Nadsat an i have to take 5 minutes to try and understand ever line of what's being said. I've only made it to 2 chapters and already feel left out in what's going on lol ( I think they stole some ciggerates and beat up an old guy but that's all i can understand so far overall bad guy.

i herd alot of people sudjest watching the movie first then trying to read the book if you have processing difficulties and maybe ill do it like that but if im still having so much trouble then ill probably read a synopsis then move on the Carrie

Anyway guys if you have and opinions you'd like to share let me know! send me an ask I would love to talk about some more of the books

[crehador]

alphabet challenge 2023 round 2 final report

have made absolutely zero progress in cutting down my planning list (in fact i think it’s longer than when i started this round lol) but watched another 11 one-cour anime, 2 tv shorts, and 1 movie

full list with some thoughts here, three most notable series under the cut (beware spoilers)

actual best: gotta give this one to hourou musuko with the caveat that i do think it’s an imperfect adaptation, and i suspect it most shines in its original manga form (which i haven’t read yet but look forward to checking out one day)

it’s very possible i just haven’t read/watched broadly enough, but off the top of my head i can’t think of a more sincere and real portrayal of trans adolescence (or just transness in general, honestly) in animanga

i think in my notes i called it something like messy and clumsy, and i meant that in a good way; it’s messy and clumsy in ways that feel authentic and even deliberate, though for sure some parts of that are due to limits of the adaptation

the anime does imo get off to a somewhat disorienting start, we’re dropped straight into the lives of these kids who already have a deeply complicated past with one another, and it takes some time for that past to take shape

being told chronologically might have helped this story (and maybe the manga does do that) but it still felt like a very solid adaptation despite its shortcomings, and its strengths more than made up for its weaknesses (which i feel weren’t the fault of the story but rather the production, like with two of the final episodes being condensed into one for airing before being released in full as specials? yeah that doesn’t sound ideal)

personal fave: was pleasantly surprised and very entertained by id:invaded! it’s very inception-esque, and i don’t mean just because of the diving into someone’s (sub)consciousness and dream (well) within a dream (well) stuff

i’ve always felt like inception had a solid story but blank slate cast, as in its characters all filled specific functions and archetypes but weren’t really the most nuanced or... characterized, so to speak (and imo that’s why they were so easily fandomizable, so i don’t actually think it’s a bad thing that they just did what they were put there to do)

id:invaded makes me feel the same way, in that the plot itself is much stronger than the cast, though i imagine if it had been a two-cour series it would have used its additional time well and fleshed out the cast some more

it’s very easy to compare id:invaded to psycho-pass as well, and while i’d say in terms of plot/mystery/worldbuilding they’re almost on equal footing, psycho-pass does way more and way better with its characters (but of course psycho-pass had a lot more time)

that said, i did still like the characters of id:invaded, they were just fleshed out enough for you to start projecting your own ideas onto them, and the more they marinated in my head the more i enjoyed them (though for reasons that largely weren’t on the page tbh)

this one was honestly a strong contender for ‘actual best’ as well, because i think there are some things it did incredibly well, like not underestimating the viewer and over-telling in its writing

like you’ve got id wells (the pun of which, by the way, i felt the subs did a great job of explaining fluidly) and you’ve got kaeru-chan in the id wells, and the show never shoves the frog in a well imagery into your face, it doesn’t bother to go “you know *wink wink nudge nudge* like the proverb” it lets you put some of these things together yourself

(similarly, really loved that they didn’t outright say fukuda got all his piercings before putting a hole in his head, they let you imagine it yourself, how he must have gotten piercing after piercing and they never felt like enough, it’s just better to not have that stated outright, the obvious conclusions are obvious enough)

biggest disappointment: seikaisuru kado solely for the ending and i’m not even talking about the deaths or anything (ryo expy should kill akira expy after all) it was just a rushed and poorly written, poorly executed ending that brought an overall good series crashing down

[mashounen1945]

Maybe people should stop talking about videogames

Okay, that's too extreme. Let me re-phrase it...

I'm okay with people playing videogames they like while they talk about various things and sharing that with everyone else (either on live streams, like most people dedicated to this, or on pre-recorded videos, like "The D-Pad" in most of their playthroughs), or talking about technical stuff like how something in a game works or what you can see when going out-of-bounds on a 3D game (yeah, I'm talking about "Shesez" and his Boundary Break series here), or telling fun facts such as unused content (like "TetraBitGaming" does sometimes). I'm even okay with showing and explaining glitches, which the watchers/readers might very easily interpret as you mocking a game for its flaws; I've seen "Son of a Glitch" talk about glitches in games he seemingly likes genuinely, such as both Sonic Adventure titles and NiGHTS Into Dreams..., and also with games usually seen by the general public as "objectively good" like the first Mega Man X, The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past and Sonic 3 & Knuckles, and it's very clear he does it out of legit appreciation of all those games (especially when a glitch is really obscure or difficult to pull off or -like screen-wraps in classic Sonic games- a side effect of something clever the developers did to solve some other bigger problem -such as finding a way to save memory while the game is being played in the case of those classic Sonic games-).

But what I can't tolerate anymore is videogame critiques, reviews and journalism. Yeah, the entire field of videogame journalism is already like a rotten apple tree, but even if it wasn't... If those guys saying "videogames are The 10th Art" are right, then videogames are one of the most subjective forms of art ever, much more like painting and less like movies and television. Moreover, while, it's true that every form of art is subjective, the highest priority for a videogame is to entertain its receiver, more so than for any other form of art. More precisely, a videogame seeks to entertain in such a way that each individual player feels like the game is tailor-made for them.

But really, videogames aren't art. Okay, yes, the task of developing a videogame certainly requires knowledge and skill and they could be considered arts in their own right (and by that, I mean the technical work to create what was asked by the person/team who had the idea of making a game in a certain way, regardless of what kind of game it turns out to be once all the bugs and glitches were repaired and it can officially be said there's a completed product ready to be released), and the story within a videogame might be a masterpiece. However, a videogame's story is still dependent on the game itself (perhaps it'd be more accurate to say it's dependent on its gameplay), through which that story is told, and the story is always something secondary during a game's development. And more importantly: gaming itself, the specific act of playing videogames and getting good at them, isn't art.

Rather, videogames are a hobby. Yeah, big surprise... But seriously videogames are, have always been and will always be a hobby. And that's not something bad, a hobby isn't necessarily inferior to art, but it seems some people feel like they'll not be respected as adults (or even as human beings) and the stories told through videogames won't be respected as actual literature and the people working on videogames won't gonna be appreciated and better compensated if they don't prove there's something serious, some sophistication, some finesse, some je ne sais quoi, some quality metric with a sharp line separating the good from the bad, in both videogame development and gaming.

There are very, very few "videogame reviewers" I still respect, and one of them is "That Trav Guy". His reviews are much more... How to call them? "Down-to-Earth"? "Humble"? Also, all videogame YouTubers say their reviews are "just their personal opinions" but it feels like Trav's videos convey that message much clearer and much more unambiguously than the work done by many others (it certainly helps that he didn't create a whole-ass character as part of his reviews, unlike some obnoxious, self-aggrandizing YouTubers like AVGN). During one of the Metroid anniversary streams done by "SomecallmeJohnny" (when he was playing Metroid Prime 2, IIRC), Trav had explained his reviews aren't about whether a game is good or bad and how good/bad it is, but about what worked and what didn't work in that game. And really, that's the exact thing reviewing videogames should entirely be about.

To top it off, there are so many cases of the gaming community's perception of something changing a lot through the years and depending on which game they're talking about. There are the famous "First Game Syndrome" and the "First Installment Weirdness" trope and things being either well received or at least neutral only to "age like milk" later on, all cases of something in a comparatively old game getting either better or worse when it reappears in sequels of that old game or when the old game itself gets ported to newer platforms. Lastly, we have "gamers" just being hypocritical in general. And even if they're not, perhaps they have their emotions too high or each of them is too desperate for making their favourite games look good and they can't think straight despite having good intentions and being convinced they're not biased.

If there's a genuine need for some kind of quality standard, then let's shut up about videogames, keep playing whatever we want while letting everyone else do the same but staying all silent about it for 10 years, and then come back to meet up and compare notes. Maybe that way, we can effectively get rid of all biases and stop judging a series/genre for past failures and stop holding each series and genre to different standards and just... calm the f*** down about all this and start again.

Now, what would be the moral of this rant? I guess it's "Nobody can really assign a score to a videogame". As long as it's playable from a purely technical standpoint and we're leaving its story aside, there are no such things as good or bad videogames. Just let everyone play and share whatever they like, let players of each game share advice on how to play it. In a nutshell: let videogames be enjoyed as the hobby they are.

And for those out there who see themselves as "true gamers"...

Stop being annoying Beta Male Cucks ™.

[memryse]

many thoughts about Scar in Last Life

We all know Scar is one of the standouts of Last Life; he’s always been one of the key players ever since 3rd Life, driving conflicts and shaping the course of the server. His chaotic nature lends itself perfectly to 3rd/Last Life, and he seems to have only refined it in the hiatus between seasons.

In 3rd Life, Scar was more of a subjective villain. From his own perspective and Grian’s perspective, he wasn’t scary at all! The two of them were just having fun and causing problems – sure, they threatened people, but their dumb antics together made them just feel like two friends messing around; their POV was lighthearted until the final session, really. From other perspectives, however (particularly Dogwarts’ POVs), that was not how the two of them came across. They felt malicious, scary in how casually they approached such a bloodthirsty game. They’d laugh as they took lives, showing no care for anybody but themselves – they’d betray their allies in a heartbeat without an ounce of remorse, and the rest of the players knew it. Scar wasn’t someone to fear from his own POV.

Since Last Life began, however, Scar has become very openly malicious. Even watching his own POV, it’s hard to see him as anything but a villain – his own comment section is full of people commenting on how scary he suddenly seems. I want to expand on some of these villainous moments, because holy fuck, Scar.

In session 1, Scar is certainly a prominent figure, but we mostly get to see his classic silly Scar antics. Sure, he plans on “selling souls”, but it feels like the equivalent of his reputation points in S1. We still don’t get the sense of him going full villain arc yet. He allies with Joel and commits a crime, and we all expect another lighthearted Scar scam which definitely does not go to plan.

And that is what happened… sort of. He’s immediately caught by Scott and Pearl, etc etc etc. The two of them cheerfully agree a scheme to try and kill Jimmy, but that casual discussion of murder is as bad as they get.

Session 2, Scar is chosen as one of the two boogeymen, alongside Joel.

Things go decidedly not to plan immediately. The two of them had agreed last session to try and kill Jimmy, and were supposed to be trusting enough to tell each other if they’re the boogeyman – and yet what does Scar do? Immediately try and push Joel into lava. He’d betray Joel without a second thought – already a contrast to 3rdLife, where upon turning red Scar threw flowers at Grian and asked if they could still be friends. He doesn’t succeed, of course, and Scar and Joel realise they’re both boogeymen, before parting ways.

Scar heads to the nether, where he immediately decides to deceive Etho and Bdubs into thinking he’s weak and has no food, so that he can get close to them nonthreateningly or something. I’ll talk about this more later, but here we get to see what a good liar Scar actually is. People want to assume that he’s all bark and no bite, that he’s a schemer who poses no real threat – when Scar plays into this, he can be reallyconvincing.

The next big moment I want to talk about is, of course, Joel’s trap. The first thing to comment on here is that Scar cries “Joel, are you trying to kill your best buddy?!”, and I can’t work out whether this is Scar acting to diffuse suspicion, or genuine surprise that he’d pull the trap when Scar was right there, but either way it definitely has the former effect. None of the Southlanders suspect Scar in the slightest. Until Scar murders Mumbo in a matter of seconds.

What’s really horrifying about this is that Scar had been begging Mumbo to ally with him just last session. And yet here… not only does he go for Mumbo without hesitation, his reaction afterwards is downright chilling. He just laughs, and tells the others “Welcome to Magical Mountain!” – it’s really quite like a movie villain in how little he seems to care. He doesn’t actually say a word about killing Mumbo; again, despite having desperately wanted to ally with him. To Scar, this was nothing more than an opportunity. Or maybe it’s all a show to him. Maybe it’s both. Scar doesn’t actually care about winning this game – to him, it’s more fun to put on as good a show as possible, and drag as many people down with him as possible (which is definitely a “cc!Scar being a good entertainer” thing, but it translates very well into being a LL!Scar character trait too).

He then hands Joel some supplies, and with the exact same level of nonchalance, tells him to go burn Scott and Pearl’s house down. I’m… getting the sense he enjoyed burning down Etho’s castle in 3rdLife.

Not much of note happens during his subsequent conversation with the Southlanders beyond him failing an initiation spectacularly – after this, he heads back to Joel. They chat from opposite ends of a broken bridge, which is quite a poetic scene honestly, representing the gap between their lives, the destruction of their alliance, etc. I’m just here to talk about Scar’s villainous moments, though, so let me point out one specific line from this conversation.

“I did avenge you, to be fair - Mumbo, I burned him to death, which was enjoyable. I heard him cry, so it was- yeah, that was a thing.”

Just… what the fuck, Scar? What? I know he tried to push the “red lives are psychopathic and feel nothing except a small sense of happiness when people die” in 3rd Life, but this was definitely a lie or at least an exaggeration, because 3l!Scar definitely had a much wider range of emotions than that. Either way, here he doesn’t even have the excuse of being a red life; this is just active malice, pure and simple. Bdubs had a similar level of pride in his boogeyman kill, but I never got the sense that he enjoyed it like Scar did.

Scar goes off to visit Scott and Pearl, and figure out whether they have the enchanting table or not. Note the emphasis on simply figuring it out, not actually getting the enchanting table. Here’s where I want to talk about Scar being a great liar: he fully convinces them into thinking that he was willing to trade lives for the enchanting table, and then he convinces them that he’s so desperate to get the table that he’ll lie about Joel burning their house down. The thing is, Scar had no intention of ever getting the table at that moment – he wasn’t going to trade lives for it to begin with. He’d try his luck at threatening them, but nothing more. He got exactly what he wanted out of that situation: proof. Meanwhile, Scott and Pearl were left believing they’d outwitted him, that they’d called his bluff and bullied him into leaving. They never saw his true intentions, never saw him as an actual threat. Scar is much smarter than people believe, which only makes him all the more threatening.

And finally, he goes on to prove this intelligence even further. He figures out that Scott and Pearl planned to trade for the enchanting table simply by seeing Scott ask Lizzie if she’s home in chat. He then goes to visit Lizzie, and she tells him she declined their offer. What’s notable about this scene is how much less belligerent Scar is than usual: he readily accepts what Lizzie says for once in his life and leaves without being too annoying about it. He later talks about lulling the others into a false sense of security, letting them think he’s not after the enchanting table anymore; that makes me think his visit to Lizzie was purely to confirm that the offer was even made, and he’s now certain that she accepted it. It’s not hard to work out, especially if he noticed her life count.

So, all in all, if you’re not scared of Scar in Last Life, you most definitely should be.

Did I forget to mention he’s currently tied for the highest life count on the server?