#this is not anti jack btw i love her and understand what she was saying i just wish ppl tried to understand shep a little more

[monowires]

you know what fucks me up the most about me2, though? it isn't just the fact that there was a 2 year time gap, it's that that time didn't even pass for shepard.

shepard was, as jacob puts it, "in a coma or worse" for most of it—the only real conscious moment he has before waking up at the start of the game during the attack is that one moment where the sedatives wore off and he started waking up.

everyone he runs into gives him some form of "it's been two years, you shouldn't expect things to be the same," but it's literally been like blinking to shepard. he was asphyxiating in space and then he was fighting for his life in a cerberus facility. he's expected to handle this reorientation himself; it's never really talked about, not fully. he catches up with people like anderson on what's happened in the past two years, but it's never really clarified how he processes it. and even so, he makes a visible effort to try and understand it, to try and understand the viewpoints of old allies like kaidan and tali and garrus.

this is something that i feel a lot of the characters overlooked when chiding him for 'working with' cerberus. like, my dude died and then woke up immediately thereafter (to him) in a cerberus facility. his only options were to ally with them or die, and then the elusive man went to extensive lengths to make it such that shepard COULDN'T leave—where would he go? the normandy wasn't his anymore. what crew would he take with him? they'd all been contacted by cerberus beforehand.

it just breaks my heart, because he dies saving joker/his crew during the normandy attack, and is then thrust into the future—literally, to him—and expected to just get up and keep moving. he was never given any time to process it, never given any time to argue, never given any autonomy beyond which mission he did first.

in me3, he still isn't given the luxury of being understood—people don't trust him, and understandably so given the reputation cerberus built for itself—but they also don't listen to him. when he tries to defend himself by saying he didn't have much choice, he is told "isn't that just what they want you to say?"

even jack gives him shit for it, and she was with him in me2. and if he tries to say he knows, he knows cerberus is awful, she says something along the lines of 'i'm sure that'll comfort all the people they killed' and that just stung in the moment because it really shows how alone shepard is, how alone he always has been. how being alone is a necessity when you're tasked with the fate of the galaxy—how he has to sacrifice himself in more ways than one to ensure the continuity of time itself.

[tooti-fruiti]

UNDERTALE BOYFRIEND/GIRLFRIEND SCENARIOS

Halloween!

-TORIEL

Halloween with Toriel is a little boring to be honest.

She only hands out candy and watches kids movies with Frisk.

Her costume doesn't even match yours. She's a witch because it's the least scary thing she can think of. (She'll also get mad if you scare Frisk with your costume)

But this part is a little understandable because the only decor she has outside her house is spiderwebs and gravestones.

However, if this is what you're looking for, then Toriel is for you.

"So, (Y/n)! How do I look?"

-SANS

Halloween with Sans is always so much fun.

You two watch scary movies and later he hosts a Halloween party and all your friends are invited.

There's all sorts of Halloween themed games and desserts (thank you Muffet).

Costumes with Sans are always dirty. Something kids would think is innocent but not adults.

Such as the charger block and socket.

Or one time, Sans dressed up as a hotdog and made you dress up as a donut.

You two have fun with it though because this sort of shit is your style.

Or, if you two feel especially lasy, you'll just wear sweats and t-ahirts that say "Error 404, costume not found" and instead of throwing a party, if you two feel lazy, you'll just go around to Haunted attractions and stuff.

However sometimes you go trick or treating with Frisk and Toriel, and if he sees any bones, skulls, or whole ass skeletons as decor, he's going to be disturbed.

"hey, you humans sure do hate skeletons huh?"

-PAPYRUS

Papyrus HATES scary movies. So don't expect him to watch any on Halloween.

The only Halloween movie he'll watch is The Nightmare Before Christmas. (He loves Jack Skellington [Sans will watch it too])

Papyrus loves to pass out candy to little kids and go trick or treating with Toriel and Frisk.

He, like Sans, also gets disturbed when he sees skeletons laying around. Including Jack Skellington.

Papyrus is also extremely torn between three costumes.

A vampire, a pumpkin, and Jack Skellington.

He loves to wear capes and being a vampire is just an excuse to wear a cape, look cool and attractive, and sharpen his teeth.

He thinks he looks really good in orange and that's why he wants to be a Papyrus shaped pumpkin.

And then Jack Skellington is self explanatory.

So he switches between the three costumes every year. And you're happy to dress up with whatever he chooses.

"(Y/N) LOOK! JACK'S SUIT HAS A TAIL THINGY!"

-UNDYNE

Since Undyne is a piranha, she thought it was only right that she was a pirate.

You two absolutely DECK the house in booby traps to scare little kids.

(Toriel and Frisk don't visit during Halloween)

You both think it's funny scaring the shit out of kids.

Once "passing out candy" is over, you two watch scary movies.

But if there aren't any new ones to watch, you two will go Haunted houses or Sans's party instead.

"OH! GOOD IDEA (Y/N)! WHEN THE KID WALKS ONTO OUR LAWN, THE FAKE SPIDER WILL FALL FROM THE TREE AND SCARE THE CRAP OUT OF THEM!"

-ALPHYS

Alphys doesn't really want to participate in Halloween.

She likes to cuddle up to you when you two watch something scary.

But she's anti-social and doesn't want to pass out candy to kids or go to Haunted Houses.

The only thing she will do that involves going outside is go to Sans's party because she knows everyone there.

And the two of you dress up like mummies. Because that's the only Alphys can really agree to dressing up to.

"O-Oh! (Y-Y/n)! Friday the 13th is on! You wanna w-watch it with me?"

-METTATON

Mettaton knows he's sexy.

And what kind costume is sexy enough for Mettaton?

A vampire.

Ever since Mettaton came to the surface, he knew that vampires had a high sex appeal, and that's what he dresses up as every Halloween (he takes very good care of his costume btw).

He knows you like seeing him look so elegant too.

Mettaton wears that costume all day until he needs to recharge his battery.

You two spend the day watching monster romance movies because it's Halloween-y and he thinks they're cute.

You two don't pass out candy or go to haunted houses either, but you two do go to Sans's party.

Fashionably late of course.

To match Mettaton's sex appeal. You also to decide to dress up in something slutty. Either it be the devil, another vampire, or even a cat.

"(Y/N) DARLING, YOU LOOK ABSOLUTELY STUNNING! GLORIOUS! RAVENOUS EVEN."

-ASGORE

Asgore, despite being able to be a fearsome king, is quite scared of Halloween.

He doesn't like getting scared and he gets scared quite easily.

More easily then he would like to admit.

So when Halloween comes around, you two just stay inside and watch comedy movies instead.

He knows you like Halloween and apologizes for getting too scared.

However, you both still dress up. Your couples costume is a demon inspired one.

"Hey. I'm sorry we can't do anything Halloween-y except for dressing up..."

-GRILLBY

Grillby doesn't care for Halloween.

He doesn't get it and he doesn't see the point.

He lets you do Halloween activities by yourself while he takes care of Grillby's

"...have fun at the party."

-MUFFET

Muffet loves Halloween. She loves every holiday, but Halloween is her favorite.

Not only does she get to make holiday themes desserts, but this is the one time of the year where monsters have feel like they belong on the surface.

She doesn't dress up, but she definitely celebrates Halloween.

"Oh dearie! Look at these cute Pumpkin Donuts I made!"

-GASTER

Gaster, like Papyrus, also really likes the Nightmare Before Christmas.

But he also likes old horror movies. Like Dracula, Frankenstein, The Invisible Man, and The Wolf Man.

Black and white movies like that.

Gaster actually was the invisible man one year for Halloween, he created an elemental formula that allowed his bones to turn invisible.

You can bet he had funny teasing you that way.

However, he did figure out a way to make himself visible again.

Like Papyrus, Gaster switches between costumes.

Gaster will either be Dracula, Jack Skellington (when Papyrus isn't dressed up as him), The Invisible Man, or Victor Frankenstein.

You two visit everyone at the party, but don't stay for long.

Once you two get home, you'll pass out candy and watch old horror movies.

"☟︎♏︎ 🙵♏︎◻︎⧫︎ ♒︎♓︎⬧︎ ◻︎❒︎□︎❍︎♓︎⬧︎♏︎! ☟︎♏︎ ♎︎♓︎♎︎ 🙵♓︎●︎●︎ ♒︎♓︎❍︎ ♋︎⧫︎ ⧫︎♏︎■︎ □︎🕯︎♍︎●︎□︎♍︎🙵!"

(Translation: He kept his promise! He did kill him at ten o'clock!)

[Hope you enjoyed. Stay tuned for more and have a good day]

[startreatment]

literally no one asked, but i'm listening to midnights in full (again) to see if my opinion's changed so! a little track by track review!

lavender haze - i got it the first time. nothing bad to say about this track tbh! really like the melodies, it's catchy and feels fresh and new. well, it kinda reminds me of false god in a sense? maybe it's just the sultry nature of the track. 8/10

maroon - this fuck ass song. the metaphors are giving "high schooler trying to write poetry" at times, the chorus is just. . . no, thank you! earlier on twitter i said that it feels like too much and not enough at the same time? her vocals are clearly the focus, but i don't particularly enjoy the melodies on this one, so. . . don't like the production either actually! it's kinda like afterglow but worse in every way to me. the outro's nice though, i love her voice! still i skip it every time it comes on shuffle and roll my eyes every time i see maroon praise on the tl. 4/10

anti-hero - actually a lot better than i remember! that sexy baby line still catches me off guard every time tho. the bridge is very funny TO ME! i kinda see the vision now i think. maybe! idk. the verses are kinda there, don't really do anything for me (which is actually a problem with most track on this record, now that i think about it). nonetheless it's like a 7/10

snow on the beach - genuinely a great track, even though i never get the urge to listen to it. love how dream-like and hazy and Cold it sounds! like a particularly frosty night in the middle of december. it's a very purple track as well, if you know what i mean. i like it! some of the lyrics are questionable ("life is emotionally abusive" is just not it for me SORRY).

ALSO the "weird but fucking beautiful" part is incredibly annoying to me . . .something about it is so lana that i just can't stomach it, it makes me physically cringe. when i do listen to the song, it's always the clean version lol. also i just couldn't give less of a shit about lana and i'm glad she didn't get a verse! 8.5/10 tho, a beautiful track.

you're on your own, kid - i get what she was going for, and if it weren't for jack i would've loved this one a lot more bc lyrically and vocally it's very very nice! unfortunately they both hate me. oh well! 8/10

midnight rain - love the concept, but the execution could've been wayyyy better tbh. lyrically it's a bit corny at times and production-wise it's nothing to write home about, but it's not outrageously horrible, so i guess a 6/10?

question...? - i have the bad taylor swift songs enjoyer gene so TO ME this isn't half as bad as everyone makes it out to be. the bridge is meh, but the melodies are very fun! lyrically, it's kinda all over the place, but i still get it . 7/10

vigilante shit - look. didn't i just say i have the bad ts songs enjoyer gene? it could've been in my top 5 if the production was even a tiny bit interesting. lyrically? it's atrocious. unbelievably corny, this weird mixture of edgy and awkward only taylor can achieve. in other words, PERFECT !!! it kind of reminds me of lwymmd, if lwymmd was like 3 times less cunty and camp, and like 10 times less interesting production-wise. vocally, she delivers though! very sexy, playful and fun!!! we could've had it all!! jack had other plans, i guess. 6/10

bejeweled - really fun. one of my favs since day one, actually! loooove the production on this one! the synth (? i don't know shit about instruments btw) makes me think of those 3-in-a-row games and it's just Perfect! love those "nice!" moments, love the chorus, love the bridge. in the famous words of Taylor Nation, let's reclaim the land, uk swifties! 8/10

labyrinth - too boring, sorry. i've seen someone say that if this song were on folklore, swifties would "give it the attention it deserves", and i couldn't disagree more. it's just not It lyrically, sorry. 5/10. SORRY. genuinely don't understand why she put this on the record instead of something like would've, could've, should've, or the great war or even glitch (which would make the bejeweled -> karma transition seamless. do you guys think we'll ever get a solid ts album tracklist that makes sense? i doubt it.)

karma - again, i got it the first time. verses are boring and if i could, i'd only listen to the chorus+the bridge, but it's still soooooo FUNNNN!!! like. karma is a cat purring in my lap cause it loves me. that chorus melody is Insane and her vocal delivery is top notch. she's a pop mastermind. 8/10 only because the verses suck otherwise this would've been a 10 and i mean it. i like pop music a lot btw.

sweet nothing - really sweet. doesn't make me feel like i'm slipping into a coma, unlike labyrinth. beautiful piano, beautiful melodies! like a 7/10 maybe. should've been a tad shorter i think.

mastermind - i wish it didn't suck this bad production-wise. i think the concept's really fun - a song about being a mastermind from a woman known to leave easter eggs everywhere she goes. the idea of working hard behind the scenes trying to construct a perfect love story for you and your lover... i get it. unfortunately, it's also . . . boring. 5/10.

not gonna do the 3am tracks and hits different because they're all great and i don't feel like writing out "this has great lyrics!" 7 times in a row. i do have to say that dear reader is the worst thing ever because JACK ANTONOFF. like it just makes me want to throw up how much i like the lyrics and how shitty the song sounds. goddamit.

it's a 6.7, according to my calculator!

[and-stir-the-stars]

hi if Cas had a soul I feel like he wouldn't love Dean anymore. He just wants his missing piece

So we need to get him a soul somehow

Or we can teach Cas that who he is, is already an amazing, brilliant, and worthwhile angel, and that he doesn't need a soul (re: to make himself "more human") or to change himself to be worthy of being treated with love and respect

[soundsof71]

So, considering you are a passionate fan of music released in 1971, I feel justifiably obligated to ask you what you think of Buffy Sainte-Marie's 'She Used to Wanna Be a Ballerina' album. 😂 (Also, it would make me beyond happy if you could post more about Buffy, my friend! Thank you! ❣)

Buffy Sainte-Marie + Crazy Horse - what’s not to love? LOL I confess that it was the Crazy Horse connection that caught my attention first. I had a general idea who Buffy was, had seen her on TV a few times, but I was a big Crazy Horse fan. News that they were her backing band for this album was easily enough for me to scoop it up.

They weren’t doing anything much with Neil Young in 1971 (other than this album, on which Neil also appeared!), but they had released a tasty solo album in February 71, produced by Jack Nitzsche (who also produced this, and would later marry Buffy), and featuring Ry Cooder (also featured here, although did not marry Buffy). 

(btw, the first place that Buffy, Ry, and Jack worked together was on the Nic Roeg film Performance, starring Mick Jagger. People obviously remember Mick in that, but musically, Buffy was the best part!) 

She Used To Wanna... also features Jesse Ed Davis, a Native American guitarist and singer who was a frequent “usual suspect” at these sort of “sure, invite everyone!” jam albums of the era, and played a prominent role at 1971′s biggest concert (at least in the US), The Concert for Bangladesh on August 1.

(I know you know  RUMBLE: The Indians Who Rocked The World, the documentary about indigenous music’s influence on rock and roll, which has chapters on both Buffy and Jesse Ed. I just watched it again recently, and love it! A reminder of Buffy’s pivotal role in classic rock history. Not mentioned in the film: she relentlessly championed the work of her fellow Canadians Joni Mitchell and Leonard Cohen, helping them get their first record deals.)

I haven’t listened to She Used To Wanna Be A Ballerina for a while, so I definitely need to do that, along with posting more pictures of Buffy.  (I can’t believe I’ve only posted two!) 

But I’ll tell you what still stands out to me about that record years later. “Smack Water Jack” is an underrated track from Carole King’s Tapestry that got a ton of airplay at the time. Quincy Jones did an instrumental cover as the title track for his terrific 1971 album, too, but it has somehow faded to obscurity since then. Buffy takes a playful trifle, and turns it into a powerful fable of men of color who explode into violence in response to the violence visited upon them, and self-satisfaction of whites in authority who answer their demands for better living conditions by killing them on the spot. 

No need for a trial when you can murder them in the streets, right? “You can't talk to a man when he don't wanna understand / And he don't wanna understand” hits different when Buffy sings it, and in 2020 for that matter. 

It’s also just a terrific performance whose combination of soul and rock and roll and driving piano in a sort of Old West-sounding context would have made this sound right at home on a record like Elton John’s Tumbleweed Connection  or something by The Band. I’m limited to five video embeds per post so I can’t embed it here, so I'm linking instead: anyone who hasn’t heard this definitely needs to.

Her cover of Neil’s CSNY track “Helpless” has things I like even better than Neil’s original, including Merry Clayton standing in for CSN. Buffy’s version is more muscular (thanks again to Crazy Horse), and taps even more deeply into the isolation of the song that the star power of CSNY somewhat obscured. 

Buffy’s version also made a brief but memorable appearance in the 2018 film Hotel Artemis, starring Jodie Foster. A weird little movie that I loved maybe more than it deserved LOL but I recommend nonetheless:

I know that this album gets attention because of the unusual number of covers, including one by Leonard Cohen, and a cover of a cover that Leonard had made famous on top of that, called "Song of the French Partisan” (hers is the far superior version imo, a song of French resistance to Nazi occupation from the perspective of a woman hiding a resister), but there are a couple of standout originals too. 

I love the title of this record, and the title track is a delightful little stomper that playfully cautions against equating the intentions of grown women with the childhood fantasies they’ve grown out of. More Merry Clayton goodness here on backing vocals too. 

“Soldier Blue” is a powerful song first written for the 1970 film of the same name, billed at the time as “The most savage film in history” -- and maybe it was. It used the 1864 Sand Creek Massacre as a metaphor for Vietnam, and it's still shockingly brutal. It was the third-highest grossing movie in the UK in 1971, though, and the single became a top-10 hit for Buffy there. 

It didn’t do as well here, either the song or the movie. Perhaps not shockingly in retrospect, Soldier Blue was pulled from American theaters after a few days, the Vietnam metaphor not at all lost on the Nixon administration. 

As horrifying as it was, this is about when I was reading Bury My Heart At Wounded Knee (first published in 1970), and Soldier Blue resonated with me in a whole lot of ways. Here’s the song in the opening credits of the movie.

I was also really struck by “Moratorium”, which is the story of “Universal Soldier” (from her 1963 debut, but a bigger hit for Donovan in 1965), coming from the opposite direction. In the earlier song, she blamed war on the soldiers who think that fighting is honorable, but here, she has empathizes with the young men, boys really in many cases, who’ve been lied to by their countries, their parents, and even their friends. They’re not vainglorious. They’ve been duped by people they trusted. 

(I don't think she takes enough into account how many men sign up to fight because they want to embrace and celebrate their worst, most violent impulses, which was of course an undercurrent of “Universal Soldier”, but I appreciate her empathy here. More than one thing is true at a time.)

Buffy goes even farther, though, calling on soldiers to support and validate demands for peace as explicitly supporting them, summed up in the unforgettable cry, "Fuck the war and bring our brothers home!" 

1971 was the peak of antiwar demonstrations in the US, with the biggest crowds ever seen in this country until the 2017 Women’s March. The May 1971 demonstrations pretty much shut down Washington, culminating with Vietnam Veterans Against The War throwing back their medals on the steps of the US Capitol, incredibly powerful stuff to see on TV in my formative years, and Buffy was right there in it. Anti-war songs were a cottage industry for sure, but nobody was writing with the nuance and empathy that Buffy was.

Here’s a 1972 performance of “Moratorium”, Buffy and a piano, and more emotionally bare than that:

There’s obviously lots more to say about Buffy, far outside the realm of protest music that was actually just a small part of her musical palette -- her pioneering experiments with electronic music, her educational philanthropy starting in her 20s, Sesame Street, you name it. Her commercial peak was still in front of her, and while I can’t say that this is my favorite of her records, it does have some of my favorite songs of hers, and 1971 and She Used to Wanna Be A Ballerina is definitely where I went from knowing who Buffy Sainte-Marie was to being a fan. 

I'll also note as I do now and again that while this blog started as an offshoot of a book on 1971 that I’d started but abandoned, I mostly listen to music released now. That’s always been my policy, including in 1971. When 1972 rolled up, I was mostly listening to music from 1972, music from ‘80 in ‘80, ‘91 in ‘91, 2018 in 2018, etc., to name just a few other favorites. (Plus The Beatles, okay? LOL I still listen to The Beatles every day. No apologies.) Honestly? It took me until 2011, in my fifties, when a whole bunch of 40th anniversary editions of 1971 albums got released all at once that made me think, “Wait a minute, this was maybe THE pivotal year in classic rock history!” 

So yeah, the historian in me dug into 1971, but even though I happened to be alive and enthralled by music in that year, what I’m doing here has nothing to do with nostalgia, or any idea that that was the *best* year in music, even if for the narrow slice of music that is classic rock, yeah, it absolutely is. For soul/R&B too, and for the explosion of women artists outside the even narrower confines of pop as well. This is not subject to debate. No year like it, before or since. It's just that classic rock is a such a narrow slice, and I like my slices wide. LOL Which is also why my blog has less and less 1971 content as I go along. 

While my general policy is that my favorite year for music is THIS year, this particular year hasn’t left me as much energy as usual for listening to music. Some of it is These Trying Times™, some of it is my bipolarity and schizophrenia getting the better of me in waves, as is the way with these, uhm, things. (Keep taking those meds, kids!) I listen to music and post about the people making it as a creative act, not a passive or reflexive one, and I just haven’t felt as creative as usual.

(This is also has everything to do with why so many Asks have been piling up unanswered. I apologize if you’re one of the many kind and indulgent souls who’s gotten in touch, but I swear I’m gonna get to ‘em all!)

To get an idea of what I’m ACTUALLY passionate about right now, my “to be edited later” running list of 2020 favorites randomly added to a playlist as I encounter them, to be properly curated later, is at Spotify, cleverly entitled “2020″ -- 94% women, which is about right. LOL 

But since I do in fact listen to old stuff (by which I mean 2019 LOL), I made a list of mostly 2020 bangers from women rockers with some tasty treats from 2019 that I haven’t been able to let go of just yet, inspired by a post I saw at tumblr saying that punk music by women is just plain better (also beyond debate), called “Women Bangers: A Tumblr New Classics Jam”. I’ll be posting an essay with a YouTube playlist soon, because god forbid that I only talk briefly about anything LOL and most of these women need to be heard AND seen.

Like Buffy Sainte-Marie, whom you'll both see and hear more often on my blog soon. Thanks for the reminder! Always a pleasure to hear from you and be challenged by you. :-)

Peace, Tim 

[queensgaybeach1d]

HELLOOO, I just discovered your blog, shame on me. So, I read your masterpost about the stunts in the industry (great work btw) and was wondering how to tell if something is real or purely pr. Would you mind giving me a few pointers ?? Answer however and whenever you can.

Hello Sweetie,

Thank you so much for your lovely words. I would love to help you dig deeper into the PR industry. In fact, I did some research myself and I stumbled upon a great confirmation on how everything works. I think it is just the right fit for you, sweetheart.

Please take your time reading the post and if you have any questions or suggestions, please do not hesitate to ask me. Have a great day and enjoy!

Kisses,

Suman 😊

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How to spot a PR relationship?! 

This post is made for everyone who would like to learn how to spot a fake relationship in Hollywood. This information is supported by a very reliable source. The name of the source is Jack Ketsoyan, he set up two PR relationships himself. If you would try to compare this to your favourite Hollywood couple, you might be surprised of the outcome. I wish you all the best while reading this and if you have any questions/suggestions please do not hesitate to ask. Enjoy! :)

 This is the link of the podcast about the PR relationships (skip to 5.40). I will make a little summary of the very important things Jack said. There is also another man who is speaking about this subject. His name is Christopher and he is a lawyer who has worked with cases like these for a long time.

 (Please note that I am in no way hating on anyone. I have a strong dislike for all ‘’beards’’, but what they do with their lives is their responsibility. Therefore I mean no harm to any of these people. It would be very sad if any of these people would do it because they needed money for their families. If that was the case I would truly feel sorry for them, but the thing is they want to become famous by dating someone else who put his/her hard work in his/her career. That it just not fair. There are plenty of ways to become famous by dedication, hard work and staying yourself.)

I want to give compliments to the lovely @Totallylost4you on twitter. She made me aware of the podcast.

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-’’To hide the artist’s sexuality; boosting of the careers.’’ --> (Louis, Harry, Zayn, Liam and Niall. Also, Kristen Stewart, Cara Delevigne and Taylor Swift) -->

‘’It is more common on the male side than on the female side. There are certain celebrities who were, back in the day, in the closet and it was not okay to be out. We live in a completely different time nowadays, these days being gay is okay. So back in the day that was the biggest secret, it was a big taboo, if a certain high profiled male, the heartthrob is all of a sudden gay, they were not going to get the bigger roles anymore. They were going to be type casted, so that was the big way of hiding things. Them hiding their sexuality was dating a female who would keep them in the limelight basically and cover it up.’’  [about closeting] ‘’Times have changed, it still happens, but a lot has changed.’’ --> There are still people who would not like attending a Harry Styles (the heartthrob) concert when he comes out as gay.

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-’’To be able to sell the hype of it.’’ --> (Whenever a picture of Taylor and Tom or Louis and Eleanor comes out, people are quick to retweet, post and talk about what happened. Within no time the pictures have traveled through the internet. Which automatically means that a lot of people have seen it. All of this gives the label/couple/artist attention and money. --> Whether it is bad attention or good attention, attention means money.) a few examples of these couples are also: Haylor, Zigi and Elounor.

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-’’To sell tickets to concerts or movies.’’ --> 1D world tours and solo tours. That is also why beards like Camille Rowe, Eleanor Calder and Maya Henry attend their concerts. As for movies think about Robert Pattinson and Kristen Stewart (who is gay) fake dating, moments after Twilight came out. Think about 1D bringing their fake girlfriends to the world premiere and Zayn and Perrie getting engaged a second after. The purpose of these events are attention. Sweethearts, whenever people go to these shows/movies all they will focus on is 1D and their ‘girlfriends’. Photos will spread faster than ever and people will talk about how ‘real’ they are. Their aim is to kill two birds with one stone; making them look like a ‘real’ couple whilst promoting their movie/album.

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-’’To sell albums.’’ --> (Zigi, Chiam, Elounor, Hamille, Nailee, Haylor.) Let us be honest, are they not the biggest reasons why antis buy the album? Just to see what stuff they write about their fake girlfriends/boyfriends. Just to see how ‘Camille’ pronounces ‘’Coucou’’or just because Gigi Hadid starred in Zayn’s music video. Or maybe to finally know the ‘truth’ about Taylor’s fake relationships.  

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-’’It's all about the hype at the moment. Especially with the social media world.’’ --> I am going to point out an important thing Jack said. He said ‘’especially with the social media world.’’ Remember when there were only rumours of Louis and Eleanor being back together? The whole fandom tweeted about it. This made it popular and that was the solid moment 1D’s label knew that Elounor 2.0 would do it for them. They would earn a lot by it. The same thing counts for Zigi, Chiam, Haylor, Hamille. Hamille is a good example too. When all of you heard that Harry wrote a song about her and that her voice was going to be included in his song, what happened? Exactly, everyone went nuts and made sure to listen to that exact song. That is exactly what they want. They want that power over you, that is what gives them the money. Another example, how fast do you think solo Zayn stans and Directioners tweeted about a ‘power couple’ when the news broke that Zayn and Gigi are ‘expecting a child’? How fast did people open their social media accounts when Kylie Jenner was pregnant for the Kardashian’s 10th anniversary? (Social media does A LOT. Whenever a picture of Eleanor (beard) and Clifford (Louis’ dog) arrives on the internet, people automatically assume they are together in a room. This, is not the case. That is how convenient social media is to arranged relationships. Why start a rumour by hiring newspapers instead of posting a message on social media? It is much cheaper and more people will know about it in less than four hours.)

Promoting certain brand like Coca Cola (Elounor), YSL, Gucci, Vogue (Zigi) and Hugo Boss are also a part of it. Celebrities wearing those brands make their fans want to buy it too, think of the Kardashians promoting Adidas and other expensive brands. Also think of people like Briana Jungwirth promoting flat tummy tea. This is called ‘celebrity branding.’

Tell me, how many times do you get HQ pic of your PR couple on your phone? People tend to go out of their mind when pictures come out. That is the immediate effect Hollywood has on social media/ you. That gives them the promo they need, even during quarantine the beards post pictures of themselves, making you think they are together when in reality they are not. :)

{About why Jack hooked an arranged relationship up himself} --> ‘’It was more of a mutual agreement between the agents. {Tells a story about an actor getting bad reviews for a movie and in order to let people focus on something else they got the actor a girl, so the media would focus on the girl instead of the bad movie.}’’ -->  ‘’Just a one year deal. Basically they finished of the press and the international press and then they went their separate ways, because she did not want to do a two year deal.’’ {interviewer asks if it worked} --> ‘’It worked.’’ -->  A few examples of (approximately) a one-year deal: Calvin Harris and Taylor Swift, Niall Horan and Hailee Steinfield and Louis Tomlinson and Danielle Campbell. It is also good to point out that the beard can decide whether she wants to continue or not, but the celebrity has to do what the agent arranges.

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{Interviewer asks what reasons people might have to agree to one of these PR relationships} --> Different reasons, that could be to deflect attention away from a controversy (damage control. think of something Larry or Ziam related happening and the next day Zigi and Elouno are papped. Or fans finding out Louis is in the same country as Harry and the next day they will let Elouno do a pap walk. Another example is when Ziammies find out a Zigi picture is photoshopped, the next day you will see Zigi in person. This happens when their stunts fail). So if an actor has drugs and alcohol problems they may want to give the appearance that they have settled down and are in a committed relationships so that they can banked for films. Or they are going to be able to get bonded and get work and people will trust them, because they have settled down. It also could be done to create a brand. Two celebs getting together and 'now there's this tremendous interest about them being a power couple.' [...] We create strong provision against the disclosure of any negative facts against the celebrity - with consequences. So these agreements need to be structured with a hold back of money so that over time if they have complied with the agreement and not disclosed ehh no personal information and violation the agreement then they would be entitled the payment, so under the agreement. " --> The last part might be difficult to understand, because the lawyer uses difficult words, but what he is actually saying is very important. He says if the celebrities who are in the PR relationship have done their part (parading around with each other) then they will receive their money (please correct me if I am wrong). The host also confirmed that contracts like these are the reason why a lot of celebrities do not admit they had a PR relationships.

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Clues on how to spot a PR relationship:

-‘’The main clue you would see is if, you know, a certain high profiled male is dating a female (or when a high profiled female is dating a regular male), who was not high profile. All of a sudden, she is, overnight, the most talked about girl in Hollywood and everyone want a piece of them. That is the biggest thing, you know, it is such a career boost for the female that some females end up taking the deal.’’ --> Zigi, Elounor, Chiam, Brouis, Haylor, Taylor and Calvin. How does the world know Eleanor Calder? Because of Louis Tomlinson. No one knew her before, except her family. How did Gigi gain so many followers? Because she started dating Zayn Malik. Gigi already had a platform for herself, but she gained a lot of followers by dating Zayn. Zayn also gained followers by dating Gigi. Gigi needed promo and Zayn was in the spotlight, because he just ‘left 1D.’ This made him the perfect target. I hope all of you also notice that when beards/fake girlfriends post pictures of them with their fake boyfriend, it gets way more likes than their usual pictures.

{What was the benefit for the girl in the scenario?} --> ‘’Ehm, she has a huge career at the moment. She benefit from that by becoming a household name (someone that is well known) and getting bigger roles than she would have. She would use to be the 3rd or the 4th lead in any auditions or any jobs that she was getting. She then became the first lead. She got a great career boost out of it, for sure.’’ --> Gigi Hadid, Eleanor Calder, Sophia Smith, Cheryl Cole, Maya, Camille Rowe and Kendall Jenner are just a few examples.

How did the world know Townes? Because ‘Harry named’ her in one of his songs. How did the world know about Maya Henry? Because Liam Payne started dating her. Before this, she was just a fan. How did Cheryl Cole get the attention back? Because of baby gate and by fake dating Liam Payne. How did Briana gain so many followers? Because Louis Tomlinson fans gave her the attention and because she participated in faking a pregnancy. How did Shawn and Camilla become a couple in the spotlight? Because people have always shipped them, ever since the beginning and their label gave the fans what they wanted. How did Kim Kardashian become famous? A *** tape of her and Ray J leaked and she became famous. Now, she is a lot richer and more famous than he is. A quick note, not many people know how Kim Kardashian became famous. They only really know her from Keeping Up With The Kardashians. The newer generation does not know about the tape scandal, and that is what they do. You need to dig a little deeper to see that. This all is an on-going cycle and it will not stop unless we all stop believing it. 😊

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  What do they do in order to make a PR relationship look real?

{Interviewer asks what the clauses in an arranged relationships contract are} --> ‘’An arranged relationship is estranged by definition. So certainly we are going to see requests that are equally odd. They are certainly going to have requirements as to how they hold themselves out to the public as a couple. This would mean appearances at award shows, parties or events together as a couple and that there would be requirements maybe for specific events.’’ --> Eleanor attending Jay’s wedding and being ‘maid of honor’, Calvin and Taylor at Award shows, Elounor at the fashions show 2013, Haylor and their NYE ‘kiss’, Zigi at the MET gala and Chiam at the Brits, celebs at after parties with their ‘girlfriends’. All of these couples have also pictures with each other’s family members. That made a lot of you think they are close and real, well my loves, now you finally know that it is all part of a PR stunt. The fake girlfriends also have to look supportive, that is why they have to be there at concerts, soccer matches, award shows etcetera. 😊

Remember when Eleanor (beard) posted a picture of herself and in the background you could see a picture of her and Louis in 2012 and ‘Louis’ written on a board? Remember when she posted a picture of herself with her and Louis’ boots in the background in 2018? All of these things are there to make it look like they truly live together and  that they truly own each other’s stuff. The same thing counts for Haylor’s airplane necklace. Do you genuinely think they did that by accident? No, that is the purpose of the whole picture. 😊

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‘’Then there is going to be particularly some none disclosure issues surrounding them as to what cannot be said about the relationship and what needs to be said. There could be a script even as to what they have to say if asked about the relationships. There would be photo sessions showing them as a couple. And then I have seen issues of sexual relationships and specific whether this would happen or not happen in an agreement. But if it is truly a PR relationships then sex would not be a part of that relationship, because it is not real.’’ --> Loves, do you remember a moment when someone asked a celebrity about his/her relationships and they stuttered and looked uncomfortable, or they just said something wrong or embarrassing or tried to talk themselves out of it? Well, that happens when you have to make up stuff that never happened.  Louis Tomlinson confirmed his interviews are scripted, so this one is just an extra thick layer of confirmation. I also recall Gigi doing a live and someone asked about Zayn and she just stuttered and looked away, not knowing how to answer a question. (I think there have definitely been times when two people who were in an arranged relationship gave different answers to the same question, why? Because they do not know anything about each other.) Here is an example of a moment that is repeated and scripted about Louis’ ‘relationship’ with Eleanor, even know we have legit proof that is not what happened:

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Now I can hear all your lovely brains working and thinking whether a celebrity is willing to sign a contract like that or if their label is making them sign it. Well, if you have read my previous masterpost about the music industry you can see confirmations of the label making the artist their puppet. They own you, so if they think you should have a girlfriend to hide gay rumours then they will give you one. ‘A label cannot force you anything’, but it does make you sign a contract. When you sign the contract without reading it carefully, then your label will mess you up. In those contracts they do not write ‘’Taylor Swift has to agree to arranged relationships.’’ They write stuff like ‘’When signing the contract, Taylor Swift allows the label to make changes in order to get her to fame.’’ Of course Taylor (and other artists) would think that they mean changing her outfit and looks, but no. The label thinks being gay is something that will not get people enough fame. So what do they do? They change her, they change her sexuality. They closet her and even though Taylor and other LGBTQ artists do not want that. You cannot deny because when you do so, the label will show you the contract you signed. A contract like that is never written literally, they can manipulate their words. To the label ‘’being gay or a part of the LGBTQ+ community’’ falls under ‘’making changes’’ in order to make her famous. Of course there are celebrities who willingly closet themselves for various reasons. I hope to create a single post about how devious these contracts are for you all! 😊

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Here are a few things I hope you have learned from this: 😊

 - Fake relationships still exist and they will always exist. It has been confirmed, so no one can deny this anymore.

 - The girl and boy have to go to special events, such as award shows, family dinners and weddings in order to make it look real.

 - Homophobia is still a thing and the biggest reason why arranged relationships exist.

 - The beard has a contract too, so your idol has no say in how long she can or cannot stay. If she does good then she will stay. (I see many people say that Louis chose Eleanor because they are friends and that is why she is back, but he actually has no say in anything. Your idol is their product to sell. Your idol is basically a marionette.)

 -The PR team does everything to make it look like they are truly together, think of photos of each other in each other’s homes and ‘personal gifts.’

 -Celebrities get an enormous boost on their social media accounts when they start being part of an arranged relationship. Something I have always thought was a bit odd, is the fact that Eleanor never created an insta account until her and Louis’ ‘relationship’ had its peak; in the middle of June 2012. When in reality, insta was created in 2010. She also created twitter in 2012. Exactly when the first few big events were attended by them. (I genuinely think she did that, because everyone wanted to see more of her. Plus, she has always wanted to be a fashion blogger and this was her ‘big moment’ to do so.)

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The credits for this post go to @Totallylost4you. They made me aware of the podcast and they continue to shine light on hidden treasures like this one. They also hardly get credits for their solid hard work and I hope they will continue doing this! Thank you!

Thank you so much for your attention. If you have any question/suggestion, please do not hesitate to ask/tell me! I wish all of you the best and please stay safe. Have an amazing day!

[secretly-a-nerd]

Destiel is bad for mlm. An essay with comebacks.

CLARIFICATIONS BEFORE I START: DESTIEL FANS DON'T INTERACT WITH THIS OF COURSE!!! Btw, I am mlm, I have a loving boyfriend who acts like Castiel while I act like Sam a lot... so yeah, I'm a Sastiel shipper so this post may come off as a little biased but I want to help other shippers who are against Destiel.  So if you're not a Sastiel shipper, still, don't leave- I'm not forcing you to ship it. That's wrong to force someone to ship. I'm also anti-Dean person.  In this post, there will be spoilers for Supernatural.

Ight let's put this show on the road... first off...

WHY DESTIEL IS BAD: -Yes, the ship is mlm and if canon, will be a mlm ship... but it’s bad rep. Why? Because if you want good representation, you gotta have a good relationship and not be queerbait for about 12 years. Dean literally beat Castiel up multiple times (even without the Mark of Cain). Let me ask you this fellas in a relationship... do you beat your partner? Bark commands at them 24/7? See them as a monster at times? I don’t think so.

-Stepping away from the ship itself, the fans are toxic and normally straight cis women who think they know what’s good for mlm or fetishizes mlm. (However, I’m not saying everyone who ships Destiel is straight and a cis woman) Also, the Destiel shippers will often times force others to ship that ship with them.

-What is mlm fetishization? People who solely love mlm ships- they barely have any wlw ships or straight ships. Just... mlm... or forces two males together, even if they are straight. They are or the equvialent of asking a gay male to be their 'gay friend'. That is very toxic. Destielhellers... get a new hobby, something healthier than reading/watching sexual assault, emotional abuse, and physical abuse.

COMEBACKS:

-When Castiel raised Dean from hell, he didn’t do it because “he loves Dean!” It was because Castiel is a soldier, a perfect soldier too, created by God to obey orders without question. When Castiel was first introduced to the show, he didn’t understand human emotions nor actually feel them so how could he quickly love Dean? Castiel also raised from Sam from hell.

-“#Theysilencedyou” on Instagram... the CW didn’t silence you, no one did. It was never canon in the first place. If Destiel was canon in the first place and Dean says “I love you too” OUT LOUD to Castiel, then killing Castiel off and NOT GIVING Dean a happy ending would be a “they silenced you” moment. But did that really happen? No. In the end, Castiel and Dean got a happy ending, just not together. And WOAH WOAH WOAH DON'T PULL CHARLIE INTO THIS. The show does a good job of giving her a lot of screentime about her sexuality and whatnot. She got a girlfriend multiple times. Her first death... she died in a Joan of Arc kind of way too which is awesome to me- but that's not the point with Charlie. She didn't come back in the finale because of covid and it's heavily hinted that everyone in the alternative universe place did go to heaven. I bet you anything she's in heaven right now.

-Castiel’s last words were the words he said in 15x18. He was dying. The empty was getting him. Those were his dying words, if he had said those while not dying, I would understand “they silenced you” there too. But Castiel didn’t say it while NOT dying, right? Also, there are different types of meanings behind "I love you" such as the friendship kind, which I say "I love you" to a lot of my friends, there's the family kind, and yes, there's the lover kind. Castiel most likely meant it in a family way since he said- same with Dean- that the Winchester brothers were like family to him.

-The CW writers aren’t homophobic. Here’s a list of the lgbtq+ characters from their other shows:

-Sara Lance (Arrow) -Alex Danvers (Supergirl) -Clarke Griffin (The 100) -Nyssa Raatko (Arrow) -David Singh (The Flash) -Anissa Pierce (Black Lightning) -Toni Topaz (Riverdale) -Teddy Montgomery (90210) AND MORE.

Granted, there aren't many gay men in that list. That's because they haven't found an actor who would feel comfortable playing a gay man... toxic masculinity happens guys... Reminds you of a certain character in Supernatural?

-“Kill Sam/Jared!” Sadly, I’ve seen that comment. Firstly, if you kill Jared... that’s literal murder and... dude that’s so extremist... you shouldn’t wish death upon anybody. Secondly, Sam is a main character in the show. He’s Dean’s brother. If Dean was left alone with Castiel, it still wouldn’t happen. Why? Because like we saw in the finale (15x20), Sam was mourning after Dean and it left him to FOREVER remember his brother. Dean would be the same if Sam were to die and go to heaven. Dean’s and Sam’s brotherly relationship is the glue that keeps it all together in the show. One brother is very rarely without the other in screentime.

-“Sam is Destiel’s number one cheerleader!” Okay, no, I get where they get it from... the episode, Fan Fiction (10x5). But Sam was messing with Dean because he knew how squirmy he’d get. Dean sees Castiel as a brother... and imagine being shipped with your friend that you see as family. Horrible, right? because it’s getting rid of the aspects of your relationship? Sam even shipped himself with Castiel in one of the scenes. So how would that make him a cheerleader of Destiel?

-Destiel fans admitted to being queerbaited, which is bad and can lead to other shows in the future doing that. I’m gonna add the definition of queerbaiting: "a marketing technique for fiction and entertainment in which creators hint at, but then do not actually depict, same-sex romance or other LGBTQ representation." -from Wikipedia. I'm sorry but there was little queerbaiting with Destiel... because Dean would CONSTANTLY be a jerk to Castiel then we'd have like... one scene where Dean wasn't a jerk to Castiel in the episode, then never see a scene where Dean was kind to Castiel until two episodes later.

-"Dean isn’t straight!!!" Yuh he is straight, have you seen him with a man? Let alone, feel comfortable with one romantically? I'll type up all of the episodes in which he was passively homophobic later on... AND don’t push Sam into this saying some stupid stuff like “he’s homophobic!”

-“Jensen is homophobic!” I actually used to believe this until I woke up and did some research on that. How that started was by Dean, the character Jensen plays, not saying "I love you" back to Castiel/Misha. They're practically forcing the ship to happen. Jensen was just following the script, same with Misha. They're under a contract guys, they don't have much say in it. However, there have been some rumors saying Jensen is homophobic even before 15x18. I cannot confirm this but I've heard that Jensen did decline a fan's request to hold a pride flag... but there's not much context behind it because the fan themself could of been weird and creepy and harassing Jensen, or forcing Jensen to say Dean is something so he needs to hold up that pride flag. Or... yes, Jensen was lowkey being homophobic...

-Destiel fans are signing stuff to change the ending... like??? That won’t work. The cast's contract with CW is done. Also, this like the equivalent of Trump’s “STOP THE COUNT!!” and “I won the election!!!”.... changing stuff to make people believe you are right. That's hella manipulative. -[Insert that one shot of all of the crew together at the end of 15x20.] Destiel fan: "WHY WASN'T CASTIEL THERE?!! WITH DEAN IN HEAVEN?!?!!?!?!" Okay, firstly, Jack wasn't there too and he's now God, covid happens and the writers really wanted Bobby's actor to be there ((I forgot why, I'll add it in later!!! BUT THERE'S A REASON)). Mary and John Winchester could of been in that finale... there are so many characters that could of been in that finale guys, but COVID-19 happened. The lack of characters was for the actors' safety. I don't know about you but some show isn't more important than my own safety. Besides, the contract is about to be lifted, and they had other shows to act in.... Jared with Walker... Jensen with The Boys...

-"How is Destiel bad for mlm...? It's gay ship..." I already answered that question, but I just wanted to remind you guys that Destiel fans WILL ask this. But I'll sum it up for you guys: it's fetishization because you're pairing up a toxic man who sees that other person as another brother/best friend. Also, that 'toxic man' isn't bisexual. He always has been with females and makes lowkey homophobic remarks. On top of that, Dean has beaten Castiel up sooooo many times, both physically and mentally. ***This essay is a WIP... and I take constructive criticism. However, if you are a Destiel fan and write about this, I will ignore you.

[thetaylorfiles]

this is the like. it’s not the first iwanthermidnightz like. when’s the last anti like come through btw? and you seriously believe that Taylor wouldn’t remember singing very clearly “I want her midnights” twice? :/ whatever lets you sleep at night. and ttf, you think you are in love is compelling evidence. why do you think she quoted yail for the lover release on instagram if not referring to that 1989 era lover? ———- Submission ———- I gotta be honest. YAIL is the weirdest thing to me ever. As a Kaylor it totally made sense. As a regular Swiftie, I can’t believe it’s about Lena and Jack. That’s just odd. If I had to guess, I’d say it was her fantasizing. Or fiction like folklore. Maybe she was projecting what she wanted to happen with Harry and felt too embarrassed by the time it came out to say that. Or maybe she was dating someone we didn’t know about. Or that she took inspiration from a friends relationship and part of her own new relationship. Because I 1,000% believe we do not know everyone Taylor has dated. Hell, I have a friend who went on a couple dates with her years and years ago and just because he’s not famous (he’s a working actor, but not famous), no one ever cared or found out. As for the “her midnights”, I think you’re hearing what you want to hear. I hear “you’re”. I can understand how you hear “her”, sure. But it’s very ambiguous and I wouldn’t have heard “her” had someone not pointed it out. Beyond that, why would she only switch one pronoun in that song? Why change only one pronoun to be female when the rest of the song is in second person? It makes no sense and makes the song sound poorly done. Either sing several jets to make the whole chorus make sense or don’t change it. On the other hand, I DO hear “that SHE never loved me” at that awards show. As a Kaylor and Even now, that’s all I can hear. So please know that I am not standing on some imaginary line in the sand and stomping my feet because I need to be right and Kaylors need to be wrong. I’m merely telling you what I, myself, one person only, hear. This is just one persons opinion. I would hope by now that you can see I’m not the kind of person who’s out to fight just for fighting’s sake. I don’t need to be right all the time and I will admit when I get it wrong and I will apologize. YAIL is incredibly weird. I don’t get it. I hear “she”, but don’t hear “her”. None of this helps me “sleep at night”. What my opinions are based on are not one offs and clues and coincidences. They’re based on years long observation. They’re based on what’s actually happening right now and LOGIC. Can you give me a good reason why Karlie and Taylor are no longer publicly friendly? Why they aren’t even amicable on social media? There’s no good reason for their friendship to have come to a screeching halt. Can you provide a good reason that Karlie married Josh and continues to be seen with him in a somewhat low key manner? Not in a way that he shows up any time she’s promoting something? And why she doesn’t have a beard that would actually be good for her promotion? A big name would do wonders for her brand and promotion. Instead she chooses a nobody outside of NYC social circles who has family members with shitty reputations. Can you provide a good reason Taylor isn’t single publicly? Why is there a Joe at all? Why doesn’t she have a beard with bigger name recognition? Either she wants privacy and should be single or she needs a beard and should use that beard to her advantage. She doesn’t use Joe to her advantage at all. He is not well known and doesn’t seek out fame. He’s an actor’s actor. Why do Karlie and Taylor send messages through clothing and similar IG posts, etc? Who is it to? Is it really to Kaylor fans to let them know they’re still together? Why do they do that instead of just being friends publicly? Why so cryptic? Why did Karlie support Scooter so publicly? Could you answer some of these questions for me like I did you? You guys come here and also me stuff and I usually answer. I’d really appreciate you doing me the same courtesy. Oh! I forgot the like. As for that, she liked someone who reblogged someone else who reblogged iwanthermidnightz. So she clearly doesn’t follow iwanthermidnightz. But even so, what’s the big deal of her liking her post? She liked a post about her video. She didn’t like a Kaylor post. When she likes a Kaylor post, currently, then that will give me pause.

[ruffiorocks]

Long post about the reasons Lena sold Cat Co.

FYI very Anti James Olsen, and not very Kara friendly either. You've been warned 😊

This makes me sad, even though it was obvious Lena would sell Cat Co. What's heart breaking about it is Lena was essentially driven away from her own company.

Remember when Kara was ghosting her at the beginning of season 3? She only came back to Lena when she needed her for something, ie. Help with Cat Co. What did Lena do? Lena FREAKING brought it!

Kara "no! Edge has Cat Co!"

Lena "no... I brought it" - Lena hesitates when she says this as though she isn't sure how Kara, who has recently been a jack ass to her would react.

She then gets more confident and says

"pretty bad ass right" - she sounds so pleased with herself and is expecting Kara to be happy.

Kara? Basically says she quit. She came to Lena for the first time in ages to rant and rave, complain and then basically ask her to help sort it and Lena DOES! But Kara seems to forget all of this and just quits het job.

Lena is shocked and is like

"well unquit!! I can't do this without you! I don't know anything about running a media empire"

Kara, like she can't be arsed and didn't just get what she went to Lena for says "well neither do I". It's so dismissive, and it's bullshit since she does know how that stuff works to a point because she was Cat Grants FREAKING assistant! Kara was waaaay more qualified than bloody James "I take pictures of my posing best friends" Olsen.

This here just proves that Lena would have had second thoughts about have brought Cat Co if she knew at the time Kara was going to quit. She clearly thought Kara would be there to help her run it.

Lena also says "how often do you get to work with your best friend" it's so cute, and so sad. Lena was looking forward to working with Kara.

Fast forward to the end of the Episode and Kara has a realisation that Lena Luthor is a God Send and did EXACTLY what Kara wanted and couldn't give a rats ass she quit and decides being a"boo hoo my boyfriend is gone so I can no longer be the person I was well established to be before he showed up" Emo is ridiculous.

So first day at Cat Co and the elevator opens up to Lena and she looks excited and then meets Eve, who to be fair (even though we know what happens) is actually the nicest person to Lena the whole time she's at Cat Co and that includes her best friend and boyfriend.

James is shocked she dared show up to her own business without informing him, he then has the gall to say they don't have an office ready for her, erm.... James? Cats office is now HER office! Every office in Cat Co belongs to Lena now. He just assumes he's still running things and says he was thinking about weekly updates. Lena who is clearly used to men telling her how to run her businesses and setting her aside tells him there's no need and she will be there every day. James again is SHOCKED his new BOSS is going to be at her the place she spent $750 mil on 😑

Kara shows up and to begin with is a little love who gives Lena a diary and basically calls her family. But then Immediately runs off the moment Lena asks her to do something.

Kara does this more than once and Lena asks James what's she's doing and James dismisses Lena's question with a snotty "she's a reporter! It's what she does!" Seriously rude!! I don't give a rats ass she didn't tell James she was turning up and she did tell Kara. She had a reason to tell Kara, she wanted to work with her and trusts her. She had no reason to tell James, she has every reason to turn up and check out the buisness and how he's running it without him or anyone else dressing it up because the boss is there.

Lena is an understanding angel and even though Kara is ignoring instructions and being rude Lena isn't rude back. When Kara pushes it past the limit Lena has no choice but to reprimand her. Kara took full advantage of Lena here, thinking she could just do what she wanted because that's what she has been doing with James running things. News flash Kara, Lena isn't in on why you ditch work every 5 minutes.

Kara realizes she's been an ass and apologizes and Lena, understanding as ever immediately forgives and they hug it out.

Later Lena tragically gets involved with James even though he was pushy and handsy when she said she didn't want to do anything without talking to Kara first, because Sister's before Misters! She dotes on his ungrateful ass and he puts her whole business at risk by meeting and working with the COL which she told him not to do. Which she is FULLY entitled to so as his boss. He of course ignores her, she gets him a TV appearence to talk with Ben Lockwood which would boost his career and putCat Co in a anti COL light but noooo... Apparently Lena has no say in work matters! Did you read that correctly? Lena has NO say in WORK MATTERS!! why didn't she fire his ass on the spot?!!

So James, only caring for his ego and wanting to be relevant since no one ever remembers he's Guardian feels that hanging out with terrorists is more important than his job as the face of Cat Co, putting Cat Co at risk. To further put Lena's business in jepordy he picks KARA the junior reporter to take his place?!! Kara?? There wasn't a fully qualified journalist with more experience available? Well that went to shit anyway because Ben Lockwood destroyed Kara in that debate.

James nearly gets himself killed, nearly gets Kara killed, nearly commits an act of terrorism without any regard whatsover about what Lena, a LUTHORS association with the poster boy of the COL would look like, no regard for her hard earned reputation and no regard for her business.

James even humiliates her further by making her look whiny at Thanksgiving dinner in front of all their friends, even though 5 seconds later his little Field Trip with the COL proves how clueless he is since he didnt even realize what they were doing. He basically praised the guy he was with and thought he was on to something. What... A... Dumb... Ass!!

Remember James also revealed himself as Guardian, a STUPID idea that serves Virtually no real purpose, but Lena was supportive because she's an angel!! But he's a dumb ass and thinks he is above the law and thought HE of all people was able to stop the DA from going through with the charges against him for being a vigilante. James ACTUALLY thought by doing NOTHING he had fixed the problem, like the authorities just forget these things?

He decides going out as Guardian is a good idea even though no one needs him to do this and he serves no real purpose as Guardian. But Lena because she isn't a moron, tells him he WILL go to prison. He insults her and says she worries to much and he sorted that issue. Here Lena finally tells this jack ass that she solved that issue and what was his response to her declaration of love and not wanting to see him go to prison or die? "If you think that's what love is, I don't want it!" And he leaves her in a corridor to awkwardly go back into Kara's loft, humiliated.

James goes all Ross Gheller and invades Lena's space at L Corp after she told him she was busy and thankfully she kicks his ass out!

He pretends to be on board with her Harun El ideas and uses this to get her into bed, only to sit up looking awkward about it while she sleeps. (Jesus my 34 brother watched this and was like 'he basically lied so he could sleep with her)

James considers using Lena's own resources to investigate her?!!

Lena thankfully dumps his ass and stops coming to Cat Co.

Now here's where its really relevant:

Kara and James basically run Cat Co without Lena to the point she doesn't even show up anymore. Harun El experiments aside, Lena no longer feels excited to be working at at Cat Co on a new adventure with Kara. Plus why would she want to see James??

Kara basically ignores Lena as Kara but she treats her like absolute garbage as Supergirl. Then returns to her as her bestie Kara. Lena was up to this point unaware she was being duped. Lena even makes a comment to Kara when she FINALLY decides to remerge as Kara Danvers that Kara hasn't been there at all but Alex has.

Lena finds out that Supergirl asked Lena's BOYFRIEND to spy on her and betray her trust which he actually does do btw, then he sours things even further between Lena and Supergirl by revealing it?? What purpose did that really serve? And NO! Do not tell me 'he had to be honest' what he HAD to do, was not break into L Corp in the first place!

Now we have Alex reprimanding Supergirl for being an ass to Lena and they come to a shaky truce.

During this time Lena and Kara get close again by trying to track down Lex and then Lena and Supergirl have a few bonding moments. Kara, however let's Lena think she's been blown up for a good few seconds!!

Now Lena finds out that Kara has been lying to her this whole time, it was Kara who treated her like garbage as Supergirl, Kara who interfered in her personal relationships. It was all the other super friends all lying to her. Etc etc. She even saw Kara burning all the pics Linda's cell so Lena won't find out. She learns all of this from Lex of all people! This just tells Lena that Kara never trusted her, second guessing why they are even friends? Realising Kara tricked her into revealing personal feelings she would Never have told Supergirl to her, yelled at her, called her a Luthor and then came back to her as he shoulder to cry on oh and let her think she had died.

Yeah..... I wouldn't want to work at Cat Co with ANY of them either. No way is Lena going to want to work with James and Kara (I know James is leaving) and be the one paying their wages.

Lena was Virtually driven from Cat Co by James and Kara even before she learned the super secret. She was never really treated with the respect she deserved as their boss, and the thing is she never demanded it, she only pulled rank when they were being jack asses and thinking they were above being told what to do, acting like Lena being the owner and boss meant nothing.

Poor Lena's enthusiasm for working at Cat Co with Kara died very early on. Mostly thanks to both James and Kara. All that joy and optimism she had? It's all gone. 😢😢

So I'm glad she sold it!

[annashipper]

Megapost Nr. 4 - May 17th 2018

Nonny Nr. 1:   Anon - skeptic since 2014 This purple minion aka the greatest Ophie, queen of Pillows of all time made my entire day😂😂 from now on - all her photos - i will be imagining only this ! 👏

Anna:  I’m glad you’re enjoying yourself Nonny.  My aim first and foremost is for all of us to have a good laugh while Ben is still trying to sell the unsaleable showmance to the general public.

*

Nonny Nr. 2:   I want 5 unblurred pics of the kids that show clearly its the same kids in each shot. oh wait, can't do that, can we ben? oh dear

Anna:  Ben CAN do that Nonny.  I’ve basically drawn the Intern a diagram on HOW to go about achieving it.  The problem is he can’t be bothered to put the effort and money in...

*

Nonny Nr. 3:   OF COURSE no kids. better put out that casting call! make sure you blurr their faces! just pay to fly w them you two losers, its not hard

Anna:  There’s a tiny bit of a problem with blurred faces on pap walks Nonny:  the entertain us more than they convince the general public this is a real family.  And when they don’t even get picked up by the Fail (who have to blur them out to begin with), the whole thing becomes even more ridiculous.  Especially when Weirdo is smiling at the paparazzi who are invading her precious offsprings’ privacy... 

*

Nonny Nr. 4:   I saw a BI about another couple recently were they pretended to look mad at the paps, but called them every time. this is the same for these two. pretend to be mad, but conveniently the pap know right where to be right when they want us to tune in and shell out money. always. the. same.

Anna:  Like I said to Nonny Nr. 1 from Megapost Nr. 1 earlier today, this is Ben’s default setting when Weirdo is within a five foot radius Nonny.  He has to make an effort to smile when she’s standing / walking next to him.  I doubt he could be bothered to make that effort and smile for the paps after an 8 hour trip from London...

*

Nonny Nr. 5:   SO funny that the paps are ONLY ever around when his wife is there, hmm? oh, but this marriage is totes not a pr stunt for publicity.

Anna:  It is rather interesting that the last time Ben was spotted by the paparazzi at an airport it was back on the 6th of August 2016 when he hired a paparazzo to take a sneaky pic of him that they were trying to pass off as a fan pic when he was leaving Heathrow alone, then he was photographed by the the paparazzi at LAX arriving alone being very cordial to the airport staff, then one day later Weirdo showed up at Malibu and we had a pap walk extravaganza where the paps spotted them the minute they stepped out of the hotel they were staying at, followed them to the shopping district and took pics of them driving down the road, then took pics of them walking around shopping, then followed them back to the hotel, took a few more pictures as they unloaded the car, and then they weren’t spotted by paps again until Ben showed up at LAX alone (again), was phtoographed and taped by the paparazzi signing autographs and being lovely to Marvel fans, and travelled back to London and was photographed by paparazzi at Heathrow alone again.

I guess that was a different time and Ben was peddling a different narrative   :D

*

Nonny Nr. 6:    CCC is too old. he may be in pre school. ppl will recognise him from his real life, so they cant show him. showing his face in the US is too risky, blurring is too obvious. they will have to do it in the UK so they can blurr the face so no one can see who the kid really is

Anna:  That is a very interesting point Nonny.  A VERY interesting point indeed!

*

Nonny Nr. 7:   quick! PR! get sophie to the airport so it doesn't look like ben is an asshole who makes his wife fly separately and shows they live together! oh wait...FUCK THE KIDS!

Anna:  Tisk tisk Nonny.  LANGUAGE!

*

Nonny Nr. 8:   @messanon totally nailed it with the REALLY? post. For anyone who can't stomach the BCBS that PR continues to post as a steady diet for nans and antis, read what skeptics who've outlasted and outwitted them all have to say. But check out the Antis (erm PR) here on Tumblr too, just to have a better understanding of how PR works. It will help you understand how fakery works. And it's worth a laugh.

Nonny Nr. 9:   Hi Anna. Are the antis all sockpuppets? They all talk the same. Do you think they are PR?

Anna:  I don’t think Antis are PR.  They’re not smart enough for me to assume otherwise...  But yes, they do have lots and lots and lots of sockpuppet accounts.  Especially the angriest one among them  ;o)

*

Nonny Nr. 10:   Oh Anna, so many funny things going on: 'Why can’t you smile when walking next to your wife?' He's under the illusion that if he acts like they're being hounded/annoyed by the paps -that they called themselves btw- makes it look more real. 'Don’t you know wearing sunglasses indoors makes everyone except Jack Nicholson look like a douche?' Or as Larry David said: 'Blind & douchebags wear sunglasses indoor'.

Anna:  So hounded, much smug smiling at the floor.  Ben has to realise it would look better if they appear to talk to each other every once in a while during a pap walk, making it seem like they’re lost in their own world, not paying attention to the pesky paps.  After all, they’re such a power couple that attracts so much attention every time they step out of the house, that they must have grown used to it by now, no?   :P

[din-skywalker]

Robbie’s Awakening Part 7

(Crap I think it’s part seven. I’ll check after posting lmao. I can’t believe we’re on part seven now. I thought I was only going to post one part and no one was going to like it but now everyone loves it and it makes me so happy! Anyway, enough me, the fic):

Marvin knew it’s good that Robbie is remembering things, even if the memories aren’t with him. And he knows he shouldn’t be growing jealous of Chase, but he can’t help it. He has been working with Robbie for three days now, trying to say things that they used to speak of together. Anything to trigger his memory. And then Chase comes in for five seconds, says five words, and Robbie is remembering so many things they had done.

He leads the zombie to the car, trying his best to get over his ridiculous jealousy. Robbie remembering things with Chase could lead to him remembering the things he did with Marvin. He helps Robbie into the back seat this time and Henrik climbs in after, needing to reattach the arm.

Chase takes the driver’s seat before he could and so he hops into the passenger’s seat. As they pull out of the driveway he glances into the backseat to check up on Robbie and Henrik.

The doctor had pulled out the medical needle and thread once more and Marvin begins to wonder if that’d be enough. Then he pulls out a miniature and medical staple gun as well and the magician has to look away because he has such a light stomach. These past few days have been hard on him with the eating of flesh, body parts falling off and all of these medical procedures.

For Robbie, however, he can push those weakness aside.

It takes them about thirty minutes to get to Chase’s house.  These minutes are filled with Chase rambling about how wonderful his kids are and how much Robbie will love them again. Also Robbie attempting to speak but failing every time and Henrik chuckling at the attempts. Marvin stays silent, listening to Robbie’s attempts with a small smile.

They eventually pull into Chase’s driveway and Marvin gets out to help Robbie out. The zombie stumbles a moment and he graces himself to catch him but Robbie catches himself with one of those stereotypical zombie groans(like in minecraft) and begins to sniff at the air. Marvin half wonders why he does that but then he remembers it’s probably his way of seeing. At least, he guesses that.

Henrik steps out of the car and moves to the front seat, bidding everyone goodbye before driving back for Jack’s home. Anti would be getting there soon.

Marvin glances over at Chase’s house and is impressed. He’d actually never been here before. Chase normally brought his kids to Jack’s and didn’t like people coming to his own home. Probably because of Anti, which is totally understandable. That’s the exact reason why Marvin hasn’t told anyone of his secret house in the countryside he uses as an escape and place to create new potions and such. It’s small, but it works.

Chase’s house is one that is in a row of connected houses, stairs leading to the door with a small space for both his car and a tiny area for a flower bed and grass. It’s a light brown color and it’s actually quite cute.

Marvin grabs Robbie’s hand and this seems to scare the zombie a moment before the hold is returned and he can’t help but smile. At least Robbie still seems to trust him and feel most comfortable around him. He should be staying just because of these two facts, not just because he knows how to “control” him. Which is true, to an extent.

They reach the door and as soon as Chase turns the key in the lock it flies open and three kids coming running out, flinging themselves on Chase. “Dad!” They cry in unison, not noticing the two visitors.

Robbie’s muscles tighten and his nostrils are smelling at the air heavily and saliva is dropping in his mouth. Marvin readjusts his hold on the zombie and makes sure it’s tight enough to hold him back because he’s always like this around new people, it seems. Even if he doesn’t want to be. Maybe it’s the new scent of flesh or maybe it’s because he feels the need to be defensive. Either way, Marvin knows he can’t let Robbie especially attack the kids.

Chase pulls away a moment later and motions to the two visitors. “Kids, this is Marvin and Robbie. They’ll be staying with us for a while,” he informed. “Please introduce yourselves… but don’t get too close to Robbie.”

It’s a necessary precaution Marvin is glad Chase is setting.

The tallest of the three kids steps forward first, a large grin on his face. His hair is also dyed a shade of green and it falls a little bit into his face. “Hi! I’m CJ!” He introduces and reaches a hand out. Marvin smiles in return and takes it with his free hand.

“I’m Marvin,” he said in return. He then motions to the zombie he has to hold. “And this is Robbie.”

“He looks kind of funny,” CJ remarked and chuckles when Chase tries to smack the back of his head, but he ducks just in time. “He does! He’s got purple hair!”

“You’ve got green hair!” the little girl behind Chase points out and CJ runs at her and she runs off with a loud laugh.

The remaining child watches them run off before he shrugs and looks up at Marvin, crossing his arms over his chest. “I’m Steve,” he informed and Marvin has to admit that for a young child he sounds deadly serious. “The girl that just ran off is my idiot sister named Cindy.”

“I’m not an idiot!” Cindy called from the other side of the driveway before letting out an “oof” when CJ tackles her to the ground.

“Though, CJ does have a point,” Steve continued speaking before Marvin could say anything. “He does have a different appearance than the average person.”

Marvin sighs heavily. Yes, these are children, but their remarks about Robbie are still getting to him. In fact, he can tell that they may even be bothering the zombie. His eyes are locked on the ground and his head is more lowered than usual, shoulders more hunched.

“He looks fine,” Marvin told Steve, moving the hand from Robbie’s hand to wrap his arm around the zombie’s shoulders, pulling him in closer. Robbie glances up at him, or, he would if he weren’t blind, but doesn’t push or pull away. In fact, he seems to lean into Marvin like he enjoys the half hug. “People can look different from the “average”. I do, your dad does, no offense Chase.”

“Nah, dude, I agree,” Chase said dismissively before looking from Steve to CJ, who is now being repeatedly punched by Cindy. “CJ! Come here!” Once the boy has run over to them Chase places his hands on his hips and gets a stern look on his face. Marvin has to stop himself from snorting because Chase is “being a dad”. “You and Steve should know better than to rudely remark on someone’s appearance. Now, say sorry to Robbie.”

CJ pulls a face but slowly turns to face said zombie, kicking at the ground like the ten year old he is. “I’m sorry, Robbie, that was mean of me,” he said.

“Yeah, what he said,” Steve agreed and when Chase sends him a glare he sighs heavily and tries again, “I’m sorry, Robbie.”

Robbie’s ears twitch and so Marvin knows he heard the apologies, he just doesn’t know if he actually understood. “He accepts your apologies,” Marvin said for the zombie, not wanting to strain him too badly with speaking. He always seems to have such trouble doing it.

“Now, let’s go inside,” Chase said and straightens his back, stepping inside, his kids following behind him much like ducklings follow after their mother. “Cindy, could you show them where they’ll be staying?”

“The couch?” Cindy quipped and giggles at the teasing look Chase sends her over his shoulder. She hops onto the first step of a flight of stairs leading upwards, holding onto the bulb at the top of a small pillar connected with the rest of the railing. “Come on, the guest room is upstairs!”

“I’ll start to make dinner,” Chase informs and pauses when he hears Robbie let out a loud and long grunt of hunger. He meets Marvin’s eyes who presses his lips together in a thin line. “We’ll take Robbie to eat later today.”

Marvin once more helps Robbie up the stairs, waiting on each step for the zombie patiently. He is getting much better at going up and down stairs, but he is still quite slow. Marvin never forces him to go more quickly, however, because he can already hear his bones creaking through his flesh with the speed he’s going now.

The guest room that Cindy takes them to is at the end of a hallway at the top of the stairs. Of course it is on the opposite side of the hall that they stand at now. It’s a reasonably sized room with a single and large bed tucked in one corner and a small dresser on the other wall beside it.

“Here ya go!” Cindy exclaimed, leaning against the door frame. Marvin smiles back at her. He’d have to guess she is around the age of six years. He’s sometimes envious of Chase… Having kids and a kind of family. He has always felt lonely in that aspect of life. Then again, he doesn’t think he could ever raise kids. “I’mma go back downstairs. Bye!”

And with that Robbie and Marvin are left to be in the room.

***

He doesn’t like this.

Marvin, Chase and Schneeplestein are not in their usual places. Not where he likes them to be.

He’ll need to fix that.

***

Technically it’s two parts in one but that one anonymous part was too short to post on it’s own lol. Oh, I wonder who it could be!!!!!

@magic-marvin-protection-patrol

@robthezombie-support-squad

Do ya’ll still want me to tag ya’ll for this fic, btw?

Also, @chase-brody-protection-squad this is how I imagine Chase’s kids ^^

[nettlestonenell]

2017 Fandom Feels Update

(in no particular order)

Peaky Blinders - I probably don't quite know how to talk about Peaky Blinders. It's a show that both fascinated and repulsed me. It's definitely unforgettable. But I think it also overly takes advantage of the fact it doesn't air on US network television (in the sense that I absolutely believe it is far more graphic far more of the time than it needs to be). Cillian Murphy is mesmerizing, an anti-hero (of which there are just so very many right now) created in the belly of poverty and the tunnels of WWI, he has very few illusions about himself. He's a man who says very little, and as frustrating as that is at times narratively, it works for me. I fall into what tumblr lets me know are the rare ranks of those who really enjoyed the character of Grace (to be specific: S1 Grace). As with many shows that I prize, it made choices and went in directions opposite of what I expected, which always gets my attention if the writers and actors can pull it off, which here they did many times.

TURN - June 17. I have no idea what to expect. S3 seemingly terminated so many at-play plots for the show (Andre, Arnold, Rogers, Simcoe, Hewlett), I found it personally to be the weakest of the 3, but will definitely tune in to S4 and what may come. Frankly, I am disappointed the Arnolds will still be in the mix, because I had hoped that uncomfortable plot had been put to rest last season. Also, I am a little allergic to tumblr's deep fascination with Robert Townsend on the show, who as far as I can see has done little so far in his few scenes other than pout.

Miss Fisher's Murder Mysteries - I watched S1 of this about a year ago, but found the S2 opener altered in tone and production values and so I walked away for awhile. Recently I watched and enjoyed S2 and S3, but S1 will forever be my special baby. It's the rare show that really is everything tumblr wants to tell you about it. And as far as I'm concerned the genius will-they-won't-they could have gone on forever and a day. It didn't matter. I never genuinely wanted them to in-story. And that's a rare show, where creators know what's just right, and what might be too much. In many ways, this show is Robin Hood-ish. The found family that just also happens to be made up of people whose exact skills you need to accomplish your ends. Maid Marian as Jack Robinson, on Robin's side but not yet ready to fully join the gang. I just love the beats we get with Miss Fisher's gang of unusuals, we know things about them, we understand them. No one's a caricature.

The Musketeers - Let me say first that I never watched ONLY for Athos' and Milady's plot (no matter what my tumblr might convince you). I would have watched this show even without her being included. I went in to S3 hopeful on a number of fronts, and wanting to see something like what S1 had given us. And while I don't think the loss of Capaldi broke the show (no, I don't, I really don't--though of course it was a harsh, harsh blow), and think something internal (after all, the creator/writer WALKED OUT before S3 was finished, which frankly speaks to cracks in the show/network/creatives relationship starting in S2) DID, I watched what I think were three episodes of S3. This was about the time my system and couchtuner stopped getting along. Those three episodes convinced me I didn't need or want to watch the rest, and that retreating into S1 and what I liked of S2 would make me far happier.

BBC Robin Hood - Look, it's never going away. (Coincidentally, I did a similar thing with this show's S3 as to Musketeers, and watched two episodes and gave up. In the long run, it's allowed me to continue to love the show and "my" seasons of it without reservation. Knowing when to quit a show really can be key.)

Marvel's Agent Carter - This is a rough one. S2 was appreciably 'off' from both the tone and look of S1 (which I will claim among top 10 TV shows in my viewing lifetime, no doubt), which was disappointing. Peggy's narrative goal was less focussed. The show tended more toward that 'everyone Peggy encounters is super/special' and less toward an environment like that at the Griffith, where we see Peggy, who knows from strange and super, living in a mundane world, among normal people. The ending (particularly the romantic reveal) was rushed, and a huge disservice to the two excellent actors it was given to. I really liked how they didn't redeem Thompson, and want to know what happened to him in the cliffhanger. On the whole, though, a disappointment after a stellar year-one of very tight, extremely stylish storytelling. Yet I'm deeply dismayed it's not available on DVD (only Blu-ray)

Victorian Slum House - I wish the cast had their own confession cams, like they did on 1900 House, because I'd like to know each of them better than the show allows.

Daredevil, Season One - I did not know I watched this for Claire Temple. Look, I'm not a depressive person, yet I struggle with sustained bleakness in fiction. Couple that with hyper-violence (ymmv as to what that means for you), and I don't sleep well. I watched S1. And I can say it was a high quality. I enjoyed the cast. I really liked the Russians. And Madame whatever her name was that disappeared. But I got to a point where I was fast-forwarding every fight scene (and as you know there are a lot). I made it through to the end. But the payout was not (for me) worth the viewer anguish, and S2 and on will never be my flavor of enjoyment. Yet, send me all the Matt/Foggy gifsets.

Jessica Jones - I watched this for Claire Temple. Man, that was NOT a wrong choice. This show was (if possible) better than what even tumblr thought of it. Which is not to say there weren't portions I had to watch on fast-forward, or through my hands. I love that it takes place in the same world as Daredevil, and yet it's depiction of Jessica's section of New York is aesthetically so different than that of Matt's. Also, Malcolm.  And Carrie-Anne Moss.

Harrison Ford - With all this Star Wars revival stuff, you know, despite my original deep affection for HF I often find myself feeling grumpy about him, about his talents, about what he meant to me in the 1980s (yes, I was alive in the 1980s, and long out of diapers). And then Netflix gets Working Girl, and I remember again that I forgot, that my personal trifecta of HF roles (Han Solo, Indiana Jones, Witness' John Book) is actually...whatever you call a quartet of charming effortless awesomeness. *Please go watch Working Girl. But don't even watch it for HF. Watch it for Melanie Griffith who proves she is a Grade-A Star.

Arrow - I removed my Season Pass on TiVo. Thing is, the show got caught (it's a common enough problem in long-running shows) constantly dragging Oliver back to having issues we had been shown he'd overcome. (This is so Emma Swan on OUAT, btw) I watched Arrow b/c I loved Oliver. But someone's trapped him in character development limbo, and also reduced his show to The Love Boat (in the sense that it exists now largely to introduce characters that springboard off into their own shows, rather than to move its own plots forward). Also, I have never been a fan of 'everyone in the world AND IN THIS NARRATIVE is super! No room for regular people here!' (see my comments about Agent Carter) Oliver vs. the occasion super villain was okay. Oliver in a world 99% (at least who he comes into contact with) super? No.

the 100 - If there is something in the first seasons of a show that you like, what the show turns into later you will despise. (This goes for nearly every show I can think of, not just this one. Shows change, often around season three. Non-procedural drama shows run out of the story they originally set out to tell and have to redevelop and redefine themselves. Sometimes the show finds itself. Others, it founders. Frankly, this is the subject of a longer post.)

[habibialkaysani]

okay, let me preface this with a little note about my identity. I am a queer, mentally ill muslim british cis woman of colour. specifically, I was born in britain and my parents both hail from bangladesh. I am not white or black or latinx. so my opinions will - understandably, I hope - be from the perspective I am offering based on the intersecting parts of my identity.

so, let’s start with that. as a nonblack woc, I think it’s pretty patronising to be told that you don’t have to be black to be a person of colour. I know that. I don’t need that explained to me when I am literally not even black to start with. nowhere in my post did I say a mixed race pairing requires a black person. of course it would be interracial if someone was latinx. rene/thea is interracial. so is cisco/caitlin, and amy/jake, and those are just off the top of my head. pairings involving asian people are also interracial - wally/linda, for instance, and lena/jack. and while not latinx myself, I am aware of the issues latinx people face, enough for me to know that of course they are people of colour. I never said that latinx people face the exact same struggles as black people. I know they don’t, although they do overlap at least insofar that they’re groups that deserve far better.

my focus on black people in this post, btw, was partly to address the antiblackness I see in my own racial community. but also, me making the focus on antiblackness in my post does nothing in and of itself to dismiss other poc or, as you’ve suggested, throw other poc under the bus.

and that brings me to my main point. as far as I was aware, for a character to be considered racial representation and thus a person of colour onscreen, I thought the person portraying that character had to be, at the very, very least, a person of colour also and preferably also at least the same race as the character purports to be.

let me put this another way. as a desi woman, I would not have considered jack spheer to be desi if he was portrayed by a white actor who’s a bit tanned, calls himself bengali onscreen and calls his mother “amma” and, idk, eats rice and curry every day, and thus I would not consider him bengali representation because he was whitewashed. I was under the impression that a similar logic could be applied here, because, yes, maggie calls herself nonwhite and andrew kreisberg called her latina and she spoke spanish to her father, but floriana lima is still white. if you personally feel like whitewashed representation counts as representation, fine. but to me, sanvers is just another white wlw ship that the racist white non straight fandom flocked to because god forbid they give an interracial ship, irrespective of genders, a chance. I listed it because I was trying to make that very point - and, absolutely, if maggie were portrayed by an actual latinx actress, I would never suggest that sanvers is the same representation wise as clexa, wayhaught, cophine, avalance, etc., because there would be a person of colour who could potentially make the pairing important and groundbreaking and different. but she’s not. floriana is white. chyler is white.

now, I don’t know a lot of latinx people on here, so I’m not sure what the general consensus is on this. but I have seen latinx people speak out against maggie being whitewashed. at the same time, I fully acknowledge that I am not latinx myself, so if you think that representation that is so watered down and in your own words flawed is still adequate, fine. but put simply, me slighting maggie sawyer or sanvers with regards to racial representation isn’t me slighting latinx people at all. because maggie, to me, at least, and to a fair few others, isn’t truly latinx when she is portrayed by a tanned white actress. just like an ~exotic-looking white woman does not desi representation make. *coughamyjacksoncough*

I feel like poc should be in solidarity with each other. and if I said anything against samantha arias, rosa diaz, amy santiago, cisco ramon, rene ramirez or any of the other latinx characters on tv who are genuinely portrayed by actual latinxs, I do apologise. but in this instance, I can’t in good conscience consider maggie a woman of colour when the actress portraying her is white and she is clearly whitewashed, and therefore, I don’t see sanvers as a truly interracial relationship when they clearly are not in reality.

fandom racism is a huge problem, I agree. but you pointing this out doesn’t help. in this instance, I’m pretty sure it was supergirl and floriana lima who whitewashed a character who was meant to be a woc, not the fandom. the fandom whitewashing actual poc played by poc is what you should be calling out - zari tomaz, for instance, is often whitewashed in edits, and people assume sameen shaw is white even though she’s persian. people lauding chyler leigh and caity lotz, two straight white women, for being lgbt ~allies when maisie richardson sellers and keiynan lonsdale, two non-straight black people, are right there being as straight and white as a rainbow, is fandom racism. the 100 fandom practically starting a riot over a fridged white lesbian who wore brownface and a bindi and then staying radio silent or, worse, defending poussey washington’s death is what you call fandom racism.

I get that you mean well, but I did not say anywhere in my post that I felt nonblack poc were in any way less important than black people. me focusing on one race of people in no way diminishes the importance of other (nonwhite) races. if you truly consider maggie sawyer a woman of colour, good for you. I don’t, and I won’t until they decide to recast her with an actual latinx person (which is highly unlikely). so please don’t assume all other poc share your view, and don’t label my behaviour as ignorant or careless. 

- same anon as before, that's understanable. and i'm sorry for the racism that you do get. i'm glad you're able to just ignore it, and that most people respect you. (and for the a*dena,l*xa,s*ra thing) that makes sense. i like them all as characters. but the fandom saying that l*xa is wearing the helm of awe? (not sure if that's what they call it, but it is a bindi, that's just awful. s*ra being shipped with only white women, makes sense. i haven't watched lot for awhile. - p1

p2. but i did hear about the fandom shipping her with “new” character called a*ya? ev*? i’m not sure. and i was a bit confused, if they had like 5 lines together. (if ev*) now that i think about it, she is white right?

yeah, her name is ava, and they’re clearly building up to it and that’s - whatever, but just. five white women and one fleeting poc (leonard) and one woc who isn’t even mentioned by name this season does not diversity make. 

it’s sad that that more subtle racism exists, but what’s sadder is that fandoms on the whole don’t want to admit that it’s a thing and that we’re complicit in that racism. and I say “we” because I’m guilty of it too. I remember when I was watching poi and I was for some reason reluctant to ship carter with reese. just like how I was initially reluctant to ship sara with jax romantically. even tho in both cases the ships had wonderful dynamics. I’m not saying that everyone who brotps them is racist. but this refusal to view black people as love interests for white people is definitely a worrying trend - look at finn in star wars, for example, or even iris west with barry allen and to some extent amaya jiwe with nate heywood. it’s this less blatant racism that most if not the vast majority of us are guilty of to some degree that I think we need to recognise in ourselves and try to do better with. and that doesn’t mean you can’t ship sara with ava, or kara with lena or cat, or, hell, even maggie with alex, but I just think we also have to recognise that that racist bias exists and is a real thing, and, I don’t know, just try to do better by taking a step back and seeing where that racism inherent in all of us is manifesting itself.

[atleastputinsomeeffortinuroc]

Rant/Analysis: Logan & Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 --aka -- Redefining the Comic Book Film Genre

(As for why this gif specifically…yeah, I couldn’t think of a better one…)

Y’know…Logan and Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 were really freakin’ good. Like…REALLY freakin’ good. Most people I’ve talked to have said that they liked it, but nobody seems to share the amount of enthusiasm I share about these two films in particular, and often say “It’s good. I dunno if I’d see it again, but it’s pretty good.” But, not only do I think that both are good, I will even go so far as to say that both of these comic book movies have shown what it means to redefine the comic book film genre in their own unique ways. BOTH. Bit of an odd claim, especially with that second film being…well it’s Guardians of the goddamn GALAXY. Volume TWO. And the other one is just…it’s WEIRD. It’s the dour follow-up to Deadpool to cash in on that sweet R rating they got. But, again, I have claims. Specifically, I believe that narratively Logan pushed the genre the farthest it’s gone, while I believe that Vol. 2 became the first film in the genre to work with one of the most unique and hard-to-get-right story-telling structures.

But, let’s go into detail about these things. Spoilers, btw.

First off, let’s tackle Logan.

The ways in which Logan pushed the boundaries for comic book films are roughly as obvious as you’d expect if you’ve seen it. It actually provides finality to a character, is self-contained, and successfully does the opposite of what we’ve been taught to be a comic book film ought to be. There ought to be big action set pieces, the villain has to be cut and dry from the get-go, make room for a possible sequel, if a hero dies, it has to be ceremoniously, etc. Logan has the downright balls to stick a finger to these ideas, and actively do the opposite. As the name suggests, we see the man underneath the Wolverine mask. The man behind the myth. In fact, that’s what the film’s main central theme lies in. Taking down myths that we have around heroes that we praise ala Unforgiven and the like. It’s almost a reverse Batman Begins, where Bruce Wayne is making a symbol, while Logan is trying to dismantle it. What’s more, the film downright stood against the very Hollywood mantra for how a sequel should work. It’s usually accepted that you should go bigger, instead going small, which is what Logan did. In fact, if you look at the Wolverine trilogy, you’ll notice that they actually steadily go smaller as the films go on in scale—with the quality just getting better as they progressed. The fact that both of these happen in the same trilogy itself makes it almost the anti-trilogy, as that kind of notion would be previously unheard of. But, that’s another subject for another day.

Despite Logan basically spitting in the face on how most comic book films are supposed to go, with the director himself scoffing at the very notion of seeing the films become something along the lines of carnage for the sake of carnage (sorry Kleatus Kassidy,) the film still remains true to the character in the best way it can. It stays on Logan himself. The man behind the mask, which, to be honest, is the real reason any comic book fan worth his salt likes the character. Not just for the excess violence and swearing and one-liners, but because of who Logan is. How he holds himself, how loyal he is to those who he cares about, how he’s too scared to be too close to anybody, and his general rejection to take a knee to just anybody. As such, it makes sense that the final villain that he has to face off against is a jacked up version of himself, the Wolverine that has been advertised and sold to the masses. A blood-filed rage machine that doesn’t have much in the way of character, but is just about the carnage and violence. By doing so, you make the audience question what it is that they expect from a comic book movie. Which makes it all the more tragic when Logan is eventually killed by this monstrosity. It takes another generation, X-23, or Laura, to put the Wolverine down, and finally do the character justice…perhaps it’s more of an open ending statement. How it’s up to the next generation to decide what matters more: the character or the caricature? The fact that Logan even poses these questions makes it stand out among both the top of the Fox brand of X-Men films, but also in general as a film tackling the subject of super heroes.

And then, conversely, there’s Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2.

Before I go into detail about this one, I should back up a bit.

In film, there are certain structures that most films abide by, that all mainly circle around the 3 Act Structure, and hence be more narratively driven. Main character sees a problem in his environment that reflects himself, and he or she must conquer that evil, though not before entering his or her lowest point that he or she must conquer. Typical stuff that nearly every movie does. It’s not a bad thing, hell it’s pretty satisfying if you can do it in a unique way, but not all films actually follow this structure. One of note, and the one I’m going to be focusing on, is the “hang-out” movie. The hang-out movie, arguably invented on accident by the film “The Big Sleep” and hitting the mainstream with films like “Pulp Fiction” and “Jackie Brown,” is basically what the name suggests. It’s a movie where you “hang-out” with the main characters, and the plot takes a backseat. There is no clear end-goal that you can see from the get go, but that’s not the point. The point of the film is just to sit around and enjoy the company of the characters, and watch them bounce off each other in different scenarios. The plot winds and curves as dictated by the scenarios that the characters have been placed into. If you try to piece it together at the end, you may find yourself more confused to find a cohesive plot, which is a reason why it isn’t usually embraced by general audiences with a couple exceptions, though to try to pin it down would miss the general point, I think. To rephrase, it’s similar to watching a movie go from scene to scene, rather than plot point to plot point. Hell, the film basically spells it out for you that that is the direction the film is going to go during the opening credits. In it, Baby Groot is dancing to Mr. Blue Sky while the action and destruction is going on behind him. The plot is LITERALLY in the background to the character.

This isn’t to say the plot is unimportant, but it’s very much meandering, but oddly enough meandering with a purpose, which is something that a lot of films in general can’t seem to master. And the fact the film decided to go that direction is endlessly FASCINATING mainly because of one little fact. If I’m not mistaken…Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 is the first comic book film to actually use this structure. Every comic book film that I can think of has a very rigorous plot structure that the characters must fall into. That’s to say that there’s not a comic book film other than this one that doesn’t have its fair share of character moments, look at Logan for God’s sake, but this is the first that I can think of where the plot didn’t matter. They tossed out the handbook and just did whatever they wanted to do to flesh out the characters by placing them in different scenarios, see how they bounced off each other, and let it go from there. What you then get in response is this piece of film where every single major character is provided with enough character development and depth. Every single major character, I should remind you, include the already established five heroes, as well as five additional characters. That’s TEN characters who hold their own in terms of how much their characters are just that. Characters. With depth and layers that you could peel back to see the real humanity in them, or lack thereof in Ego’s case. (Avengers and Justice League: take note.) To see all of that come from a comic book film is honestly rather refreshing, when placed to all of these plot heavy films that are focusing on either setting up another movie down the line, mindless action or is just chucked into the same formulaic structure that Marvel has become damn near infamous for following. Add to that the most stunning visuals ever seen in a Marvel movie, and you have one of the most unique comic book films in both the MCU, as well as in general. The subject that Vol. 2 tackles is also very much an important subject matter as well, if you think about it. Focusing on toxic father figures as well as asking what’s more important: what your legacy is or what you value. (Insert political joke here.) Which, in this case, can be seen as family. I’d go into detail about this, but that’s another discussion for another day. Point is, you have a character heavy film in a very plot heavy world, and I couldn’t help but love every single minute of it.

In many ways, perhaps the two are more similar than I gave them credit for initially. Both are character driven films that defy convention and push the boundaries and demand more from their niche medium. Both are relatively contained with uniquely satisfying character development. They are both still vastly different, with one being a neo-western that tears down the “mythification,” for lack of a better word, of the characters, while the other is a hang-out space opera with the slightest echoes of old Greek legends. Both, I should also add, aren’t perfect. Each have their own set of issues, and if you didn’t like them, I can understand why. They also broke so far from tradition in each of their own respective ways, that I can see how it can be jarring and maybe a one-time watch for some of you, as hang-out movies always being an acquired taste, and Logan being so dour, dark and harshly blunt. That being said, I do think that both should be recognized as innovative in the genre in their own unique way. If you think that one’s a bit of a stretch, feel free to disagree, but I stand firm in saying that these two are among the best and unique I’ve seen come out of each studio. One is more critical, while the other is looser.

As to which one is my personal favorite, I’m torn. I’m leaning towards Logan, with its jaw-dropping performances from Hugh Jackman, Sir Patrick Stewart and Dafne Keen as well as the pure grit and honesty that went into it, but the more I think about it, the more I can’t help but smile when I think about how well those scenes between Yondu and Rocket (also, GIVE IT UP FOR MICHEAL ROOKER, Y’ALL. Best damn Mary Poppins I EVER did see), or how devious Ego was that FINALLY GAVE ME ONE GREAT FANTASTIC FOUR VILLAIN ON THE BIG SCREEN, or the eye-watering visuals….so I dunno. The jury is still out at the moment. But I’ll tell you what…they were both better than Iron Fist.