#you young'uns don't know how good you have it

[mantisgodsart]

THE WORLD'S MOST DATING POLL

As Kabbu's birthday rolls around, the internet turns pink, and people talk about "love" and "romance" and other things like that. Very ironic, considering the man is aroace, but in accordance with the season, we have assembled some very viable bachelors to... date, probably. Dating profiles below the cut, but you can choose from cliff notes if you want, we guess, this is just so the post isn't ABSURDLY long.

Bau (short for Bauplan) - They/any - Dune Cricket - 18-21 (varies based on fic, generally tied to Vi's age) - Bi/pan

When it comes to a date, you can't do better than Bau! Though dune crickets are normally more than a bit antisocial (and cannibalistic), Bau is an exception! Terminally friendly, great at parties, and unendingly loyal - they'll do anything for a friend, and if you can get friendly with them, they'll be more than happy to date if you ever pop the question! You'll have to compete with other friends, of course - not to mention other partners, and their criminal entanglements as a Bandit that often operates as an intimidation detail but really, is it that much of a downside?

Jask - He/they - Ashy gray lady beetle - Late 20s - Gray-ace

If you want level-headed, Jask is your bug! A bandit medic with years of expence under his belt, Jask is well experienced with taking care even the most dangerous of bugs - his boss, for example. Sure, he's a bit busy with patients - but there's a tender heart hiding under that tough exterior. You just have to stick around for... what, five months? Ten?

...more?

...you'll figure it out, we're sure.

Zoza - Whatever the bandits come up with that isn't immediately veto'd (usually she/her) - Damselfly - 70+ - None of your business

The Bandits' second-in-command, a feisty old damselfly with more than a few tricks up her sleeve. She's a bit old to be dating around like you young'uns, but this old woman can still be a loving partner - prove you can contribute to the Bandits, prove that you're strong enough to not die horribly on your first outing, and manage to build enough of a rapport with her despite her many, many vital duties, and you might have a chance... if you're into grandmothers, of course.

(...is GILF a thing? GMILF? Hold on, we need to do some research...)

Marigold - She/her - Death's Head Hawk Moth - 30s - Married to her job

The most eligable bachelor on this list by far, judging by how people have reacted to her! Marigold is a charmsmith with a good, stable job, a good, stable personality, and only a little bit of active torture going on in her basement! We, uhh... aren't entirely sure how you're planning on getting her out of her lab and into the dating scene, seeing as she hasn't really been anywhere near the zone of "dating" since she was... what, sixteen? But we're sure you can figure it out.

Agapanthus - Variable (genderfluid) - Orchid mantis - Older than you'd think - Pan

A waiter(and sometimes waitress) at Club Maenad, this mantis knows exactly how to show you a good time. Charming and attractive, even if they've been banned from bartending for the forseeable future, and flexible for nearly anything you might need in a partner, if you slip in the right compliments between rounds, you might very well have a shot! Just... keep in mind the waiver you signed at the door, and please remember that this is a bar for parasitoids and bugs of species prone to eating their mates.

ZM-32 - It/they - Io moth/cordyceps - 100+ - Fungus

Bugaria's most eligable bachelor! Everyone wants a piece of this, and for good reason! It'll be fierce competition, but maybe, just maybe, if you can evade the deadly lasers and circumvent the persistent hatred for the living that tormented it and its colony for years on end... you could win its heart.

Chips - He/they - Two-striped grasshopper - ??? - Has Better Things To Worry About

Green is in this year - and so are grasshoppers. This one is dateable! Probably. Just be sure to cosy up with him before his gambling debts do, or he might get eaten by a large praying mantis before you get the chance.

ZB-162 - It/its - Cordyceps symbiote - 100+ - Switchboard Operator

...are you into responsible bugs? Are you into fungi? Do you enjoy dating people who are preoccupied with regulating and operating the communication network used by an entire cordyceps colony? Well, ZB-162 might be the bug for you? Though, uhh, often occupied with its job, ZB-162 is a fine specimen of the cordyceps species, and certainly very attractive if you... if you...

...okay, we won't lie to you, this one's a bit of a fixer-upper. Not sure how you're going to drag them away from the communication channels long enough for

The Wraith - ??? - ???????????? - Reported active since Elizant 1's reign - ???????????

Mysterious figure from the Ant Kingdom's criminal underbelly. Married, but you can still shoot your shot, we guess...???

Marble - she/they - Wasp - late 20s - It's In There

…didn't this one get blown up? We're pretty sure this one got blown up. If you pick this one, you have to take mandatory bomb safety courses, we think.

Unit of Radioactive Decay - They/it - Iterator - First activated in late Gen 1 era - Aroace

This is... a building, but you can still give it a try, we guess? Honestly, we have no clue how you found this one. We're pretty sure it's not even a bug.

L2tM & Enot - Any u can call us anything u want bb <3 - Former iterator & karmic wyrm slugcats - Gen 1 & ageless wouldnt u like to know - yes

Why are you two here?! Get out of our fucking poll!!!

[ask-a-bot]

Alright, alright, let’s change this around shall we? Instead of berating each other with what we don’t like about each other, how about we encourage and uplift one another? I’ll go first:

Optimus: your dedication to the protection of life and freedom is legendary. You seek the good of those around you and do your best to be the peace maker in any given situation.

Megatron: your wish for justice and fairness for all is just as admirable as your desire to repent from your past. Your repentance of your wrongs and your perseverance in making things right should be celebrated and commended.

Bumblebee: Your joyous personality has the ability to make everyone’s day better and brighter. Your friendship with others is priceless.

Starscream: Your desire to learn is so amazing to see! You have a wide range of talents, and seeing you grow your talents in meaningful ways is beautiful!

Hot Rod: You are very sensitive to how other people feel, which makes you an amazing friend to be around! You are wise beyond your years, and I believe others can learn a lot from you and your sensibilities.

Kup: Hot Rod’s behavior and growth is a testament to the hard work and sacrifice you put into raising him. Your loyalty has no bounds, even going as far as staying loyal to Prime’s command even when others demanded/tempted you to stop. You’ve worked long and hard.

Now, it’s your turn, guys. Say something uplifting about one another.

🤨 I think you said it all for me.

I'll have a try. I like that Megatron was one of the first to welcome us. I like that Optimus has been really trying to make up lost time. I love Kup for always looking after me, even when I made it hard. I like that Star's been teaching me stuff about Earth and spending time with me. I like that Bumblebee's a teacher now.

OK... I've done this before, but I'll try it again.

Megatron, I admire your courage. It takes guts to rebel and lead a crazed faction like the Decepticons, but it takes all the more to admit you lost your way and try to set things right.

Kup, taking Hot Rod on has to be one of the most selfless acts of sacrifice to have taken place during the war. You say it was a pleasure and I don't doubt it, but I know you wanted to keep on fighting. Thank you for doing as I asked.

Starscream, your creativity and inquiring mind make you quite unique. You're always trying something new, learning and adapting.

Bumblebee, your ability to befriend humans has always made interspecies relations look easy. Your friendliness, polite attitude and optimism are your best points. Dot and Alex have grown to consider you a son or nephew. I can see why.

Hot Rod, I am impressed by the young mech you have grown into. Kind, confident, fun to have around. Truly, you're a credit to Kup.

Wow! Thanks, Optimus.

Optimus, I appreciate all that I have learnt and continue to learn from you. You are faithful and... and... a better leader than I could ever hope to be.

Starscream-

Uh-oh...

Where are you going? Sit down. Your love for music, games, art and... and... well... all that interests you... Optimus phrased it better than I. Hrrgh...! I admire your tenacity. Your desire to learn and adapt. Your... drive. You will make a great leader one day, but you still have a lot to learn. At the moment.

Kup, Hot Rod. I have only known you both a short while, but you have already taught me much.

Bumblebee, like Starscream, I see in you the capacity to lead well if you work hard and learn.

As a race, we all have much to learn.

I don't know what to say. I thought my speed and scouting skills were my only good points.

You've got a lot of good points, young'un. It's just that you've still got a lot to learn.

Hot Rod, I like that you're a bigger dumbaft than I am-

Bumblebee!

OK, I think we'll call time on this little exercise for now.

Good idea. For now, I think we have had enough.

[crusherthedoctor]

Not a hot take, a general question

What are levels that most hate that you enjoy, and levels that most enjoy that you hate? :>

Sorry this took a few days, but I've been trying to stick with examples that are near-unanimously loved or hated rather than being simply divisive. I also excluded examples of the "this game in general has weird physics, etc" variety… with one exception that won't surprise you.

I Give It a Gex/10:

Marble - The level design is blocky, though I can forgive that more than most since it was the first game, but the aesthetic is really unique for a lava stage, let alone the first one in the series.

Labyrinth - This one is cheating because I'm mainly including it for various mods that have given it a serious glow up, such as the Mania Misfits Pack. As such, I can't bring myself to hate the original, because I always think of those versions now.

Sky Base - Autoscrolling doesn't work so well for Sonic, but conceptually it's a climactic zone.

Wacky Workbench - Growing up is when you realise it's not a tragedy, but a comedy. Whereas other people jeer at it, I jeer with it. Also, the Good Future is beautiful, and so is the Past.

Marble Garden - Slightly downplayed since few outright hate it, but it's often considered the weakest zone in S3&K. I don't know how this can be, given the music, the spinning tops, the boss encounter with Tails helping you out, and the gratuitous pools of Pepsi.

Sandopolis - Act 1 is perfectly fine in my book, and I will not sit here while fans continue to slander it. Act 2 may involve a lot of stopping and waiting, but even so, I find it less tedious than other examples.

Egg Rocket - I really love the concept here, and while it kicked my shit in as a young'un, I don't think it's that bad as an adult.

Mania's Oil Ocean - I saw frequent complaints about why they included this zone, to which I say "Did you forget about the Fire Shield? Did you forget about the remixes?"

This Is Like Underselling Eggman At Crusher's House:

Prison hallway levels in SA2 - Overly cramped grey hallways are not particularly fun. And before someone points out the small graphical details, yes, those are nice and all, but ultimately they can't change how I feel about these stages overall. While I'm not keen on the mech shooting in SA2 in general, the other stages at least give you some room to breathe.

Lost Impact - I feel like this one stage has received the '06 treatment where it was once hated, but is now hailed as a 2deep4u masterpiece because of vibes and interpretation. This is not the case with me. I don't care what your intention is, I don't care what infinite IQ stunt you're pulling with your method of gameplay and story integration: if it's not fun, you've lost me. "But Crusher, this is perfect because it compliments the context of the story, it makes you feel just like Shadow in his situation, muh deep layers would be lost if it was actually enjoyable-" Call me basic, but if the only way you can paint a narrative is by making it shite, I don't think I can trust you with anything. And remember, this is Sonic the Hedgehog, not some indie RPG that most people watch other people's playthroughs of rather than play it themselves.

'06 Crisis City - Generic dilapidated city is not too interesting, despite the tornado carrying a car's best efforts. The Generations version is thankfully salvaged by having fun level design, even if it's the same aesthetically.

All the islands in Frontiers - The Cyber Space stages don't count since they're just Non-Specific Highway and reused Generations assets. Otherwise… well, as you might have guessed by now, bland atmosphere is my Kryptonite. I can put up with some questionable design choices if it's at least memorable in other areas, as that can soften the blow for me to an extent, but if it can't even provide the latter, it makes the former so much more excruciating for me. Needless to say, I do not have much nice things to say about Grass Simulator, Sand Simulator, Rock Simulator, Grass Simulator 2: The Return of Jafar, or Grass Simulator 3: This Is Why Eggman's In Mario Land Now.

[glasswinggames]

What are their thoughts about marriage and kids?

I want to caveat all of these answers in regardless of what I write in these asks, you are more than welcome to ignore these completely, and they'd be more than fine to go with what the Reader wants.

Athy: She has never really thought about getting married, it wasn't something that was really a concept for her family or in the place she grew up in. Love was seen as fluid and shared, her three parents were seen as unusual for committing to each other even in the informal way they did. But she is not against it, and she enjoys wedding scenes in books, so if you were to recreate a storybook wedding (with all the drama included) she'd actually be excited--

Kids she has no desire for - it's very complicated.

Cai: So, generally, they have no desire for parenthood or marriage. Ideally they would be immortal and not need an heir, and they see themself as above everyone so they wouldn't marry anyone that they don't see as their equal, because they don't want to share their power. However, when they actually fall for someone, they wouldn't dislike the idea of marriage anymore, in fact they'd love to show off both themself and their partner and want it to be a whole week long affair. As for children, at most they'd have one child who was their heir. They don't want more and to have any competition for the throne, they've experienced the consequences of that firsthand.

Helios: He is a family man at heart, and also secretly a romantic, and very much wants that marriage and family life. He would want to propose, because he feels it's his responsibility to do it right this time, but he would be flattered and a little flustered if the reader proposed. As for his kids he'd want two or three children, maybe even four, to match the family dynamic he grew up in.

Jed: Jed doesn't know what marriage is... so unless the Reader brings it up don't expect him to propose on his own. He'd be disinterested in the concept unless you pitch it in a certain way that appeals to his chaotic, monstrous tendencies. As for kids it's the same kind of thing, plus... he also wouldn't be a very good parent... /see previous chaotic, monstrous tendencies. (Oliver would want to be married and would be a great coparent though if you're in a poly with them both!)

Il: As soon as he knows you would say yes he is already on one knee. Being married to the Reader would be a dream come true and he has definitely thought about it more than once. With children he is conflicted because he doesn't want to share the Readers affection... but a little mini version of them would be the most adorable thing ever. So he could be convinced!

Farren: She wants to be married, but for her it would be important to be married in the eyes of nature rather than the law. It's a specific magical ceremony that bonds a soul to another, essentially forging them as soul mates. It's something she'd only do with someone who she believed she would be with forever, so she takes it very seriously and wouldn't say yes easily. For children, she'd have a whole coven of babs if she could-- her and the skellies would be the best family a baby could have.

Eos: They tend to avoid any process that involves the law, and marriage isn't excluded. They'd prefer a less formal, non legal ceremony, but regardless marriage isn't really something important to them. Same with children, they are much older so feel they are passed that point of raising children, and they feel like they've adopted half the young'uns in the city as it is... so they already feel like a parent. It's not something they'd be against though, and would make a good parent. They'd teach their child card tricks and how to pickpocket--

Noah: Maybe in another life, in another world, he'd love to be a husband and parent. Both of these are dreams he gave up a long time ago though, and it would take a lot to convince him that he can have that still. It's all... very complicated and I can't explain why he feels that way without major route spoilers 😅

Thank you for the question 🥰

[loublu8]

can you just ramble? ramble for as long as you want. as a fellow late 00s brit who's into some of the same interests as you (specifically vida the vet, charlie and lola, me too, balamory, abadas, and literally just any other cbeebies show i grew up with) i'd love to hear it!

if it's a ramble you want, a ramble you shall get. In other words here's like, my complete history with CBeebies. As a 08' kid, I was born in a weird transitional period for the channel. This was one year after they introduced the now iconic blocks of Get Set Go, Discover and Do and Big Fun Time, and Chris and Pui were going to move on from pres in 09' to work on Show Me Show Me. Postman Pat was just fresh from it's big SDS overhaul, which people either loved or hated (I think I liked it as a kid but looking back on it, it's nothing to get worked up over IMO, I just don't get why Pat can do James Bond-esque stunts now and is perfectly content riding a motorcycle.). Oh, and there was this little show about a garden of the night that began the year prior, I doubt that you've heard of it. Yeah, In the Night Garden was probably the first major CBeebies show I remember getting obsessed with, and looking back at it? I honestly don't know why. It's not a bad show at all, don't get me wrong, but I don't know why I was so obsessed over it to the point of having this dancing Igglepiggle toy as a kid.

Also, I remember loving the Hahoos as a young'un, part because a CBeebies magazine I got ages ago had little Hahoo toys. I took them on holiday to Turkey with me, yeah can you tell I'm autistic? I don't think I have them anymore, and if I do they're probably all scuffed up and missing paint. But that's okay, I can easily buy them on eBay to fill a place in 2 year old me's hear- HOW MUCH FOR 5 SMALL PIECES OF PLASTIC?

Yeah I didn't know these things were going for this much until my mum saw someone on Facebook ranting on how stupid expensive they are nowadays about a year ago. Anyways, on the topic of CBeebies' Bedtime Hour (and A Quarter nowadays), there's one elephant in the room I must discuss, the closedown screen.

This slightly green thing telling you to get some sleep absolutely terrified me as a kid though, it wasn't on the same level as the Eastenders theme's doofs and Christmas crackers if I remember correctly, but it still gave me PTSD for years on end. (Hey, at least I wasn't around for when the channel started, I really wanna meet whoever thought it was a great idea to make this screen bright blinding pink right after the goodnight song settled everyone down, just so I can tell them how dumb that idea was.)

Like all things I was spooked of as a kid, I got over it when I was getting nostalgic for the brand. Speaking of closedown screens, how is the closedown screen for the 2023 rebrand really good? Like, it would make a great screensaver without the text. You can say what you want about the new logo (which I think is fine, it fits in with the rest of the modern BBC branding so it succeeds in that aspect), but you gotta admit they did a really good job with revamping the idents for the channel.

Anyways, onto more of my favourite CBeebies shows. Charlie and Lola is easily up there as one of my favourites. It'sMy mum distinctly recalls taking me to the live stage show (which, live stage shows are a whole other can of worms I can talk about), and I couldn't remember much about it so I researched it, and it looks like they did a ridiculously good job of translating the show to a stage play while keeping the show's unique artstyle.

Balamory, obviously as a CBeebies viewer prior to 2016, I know what a Balamory is. I don't need to explain it. Though one weird memory I have is I remember going past the local barbers one day and seeing a Balamory rerun airing. I dunno why they showed CBeebies in the barbers of all places. On the other hand, Me Too!, which to me always felt like Balamory, but a wee bit worse (because that's exactly what it was!), and I don't remember my exact feelings towards it as a kid, but as a teenager, I became obsessed with it after found the Me Too! YouTube channel after I was pretty much done binge-watching Abadas. It quickly became my main comfort show, like if I'm not in the mood for anything else, just stick an episode of Me Too! on, there's like 150 episodes and I'm not sure if I've even seen over half of them. I've seen more MT! eps than Balamory though, probably cause it's more easily accessible. With Balamory, you gotta go on the internet archive for episodes of that. Abadas was one of the shows I distinctly remembered the intro for, though I misremembered it with Baby Jake of all shows (they came out around the same time). I went and revisited it one January day in 2023, around the time I was starting to put my Bubble Guppies hyperfix on the backseat as the show was about to end, and instantly fell in love with it. Really wish the production company behind the show didn't go bust as there was a lot of cool supplementary material with the show as well, they did a bunch of shorts on Vimeo which I happily recommend.

Eventually, I fell out of CBeebies around 2014 or so as, well, I was getting older and was ready to move on to more grown up shows (this is coming from the same kid who kept actively watching Nick Jr. well into his teenage years). But then I was channel surfing at my nan's around October 2019 or so and decided to stick CBeebies on for fun after deciding whatever was being shown on Challenge was too boring, I guess. Something Special was probably the show that launched me back into my CBeebies hyperfix, yea of all shows. Completely forgot the show used Makaton and as someone who was interested in sign language I went on a binge-spree to study all of Justin's signs. I became fairly competent at it. I got into Hey Duggee for a a bit as well, known as every parent's lifeline apparently. The game show episode is one of my favourites, mostly due to all the fun references they crammed into the episode. As a fan of the shows we people call game, it was a fun surprise. I also rediscovered some of my old childhood favourites that were still getting reruns. Swashbuckle was a bit too recent for me to have recalled watching it as a kid but my brother was certainly around for it and Tree Fu Tom, which was still rerunning at the time. Charlie and Lola still aired reruns, and back in 2019 I kinda just glanced at without much thought before realising a few years later that it was actually really good. Night Garden made me cry of nostalgia, and I also thought Baby Jake was the biggest feverdream ever conceived on television. I even was one of the weirdo's who listened to CBeebies Radio, though honestly there's no point in listening to it live as you can find all it's content on the Sounds app. Admittedly, I haven't gotten super into Bluey. Y'know, the most popular preschool show of this decade that didn't begin in this decade? Yeah I watched about 10-15 episodes of it, said "wow, this is one of the best preschool shows ever crafted", and then moved on to watching the same 40 Blue's Clues & You! episodes again. I'm sure if I force myself to binge watch it more I'll fall head over heels in love with it though. So if I haven't gone crazy for Bluey, what modern CBeebies shows have I gone crazy for? Funnily enough, two that released within the span of around 5 months. The Game Catchers was the first one I got into. I just kept binging episodes and instantly fell in love with it. Always thought the show's main concept was really, REALLY good. Teaching kids about outdoor games in the day and age of iPads is a really smart move. Don't really see many people in the fanbase yet unfortunately, it's certainly one my favourite CBeebies shows from the last 5 years. Also it has absolutely ruined me as any time I hear or say the phrase "so cute" I immediately have to connect it to Nina.

Vida on the other hand I pretty naturally got into. I checked it out, watched the first few episodes, and thought it was pretty good, but never intended it to become my next big hyperfixation. I was sooooooo wrong. I've always had a soft spot for shows with cute animals (Was a big LPS 2012 fan way back when) so naturally this was always destined to be a show I'd fall in love with. I also love all the characters in the show too. Pippen's my personal favourite, but Zigzag is a REALLY close second though. She's a cute bunny who canonically has ADHD. What's not to love.

Okay I think I've talked enough and I've been typing this out for like, 2 hours, I really need some sleep. I could talk about all sorts of other CBeebies shows I enjoy (LazyTown, Tish Tash, JoJo & Gran Gran, Carrie & David's Popshop's a more recent one I've binged from the days of old) but I've talked enough so yeah.

[ittlebitz]

10 QL People That I Want Carnally

I was tagged by @sunshinesanctuary

Thank you, bebe, this was fun! I know the original call is for 10, but I never saw a limit I didn't want to challenge. Whatever, whatever, I do what I want. So, in no particular order:

1. Inspector M - Manner of Death (Great Sapol)

Look at him. LOOK. AT. HIM. Absolutely adorable and also hot as hell. He can slap those cuffs on me any time he pleases. If he stands still long enough I will most definitely climb him like a tree (and that goes double for Great himself tbh).

2. Jang Jaeyoung - Semantic Error (Park Seoham)

Yeah, yeah, he's cocky and a bit of a slacker, but he is also smart, talented, and let's be real, a grade A simp. Don't get me started on that lip piercing...

3. Choi Jun - Jun & Jun (Ki Hyun Woo)

Like, they gave me this man's bare back within the first 30 seconds of the first episode, was I not supposed to get thirsty?

4. Yi Phayak Chatdecha Chen - Naughty Babe (Max Kornthas)

Ah, Hia Yi. Wealthy, handsome, super overprotective of his beloved. Bit of a control freak but not ashamed of giving up control in the bedroom. Love that for him (me).

5. Phaya - The Sign (Billy Patchanon)

Look, I am a simple woman. I just want him to put his hand around my throat, pin me, and call me a good girl. I don't think that's asking for too much.

6. Patts - La Pluie (Pee Peerawich)

My beloved. He was just so good, you know? He has a good job and loves animals. He dresses nicely and charms the parents. And then a total lover in between the sheets. Let the rain come down.

7. Payu - Love In The Air (Boss Chaikamon)

I'm pretty sure this man was singularly responsible for the meltdown of several of my brain cells. His looks, his demeanor, his dominance, his *gestures vaguely* everything, you know?

8. Jeng Kittiphong - Step By Step (Man Trisanu)

I know for a fact that I was not the only one who had their brain short circuit during this scene. I am willing to hold a towel for him and even help him wipe down after working out. I am also willing to work him out (wink wonk).

9. Fighter - Why R U (Zee Pruk)

Oh my god but he was so cute. The hot guy everybody wanted who had no idea how to act when he had a crush on a pretty boy. You just KNOW he kisses like an absolute dream. Also, when he was crying during the breakup scene I was ready to fly to Thailand and start throwing hands, I don't even care.

10. Bai Zongyi - Kiseki: Dear To Me (Taro Lin)

My guilty pleasure entry. Yes, I know he's a young'un and I should be ashamed but he has those giant yaoi paws (that scene where he is holding both of Zherui's hands with just one of his absolutely makes my teeth sweat) and obviously likes manhandling his crush/lover at any given opportunity. Plus he is a professional baker? Sign me UP.

11. Pisaeng- Be My Favorite (Gawin Caskey)

This is a guy who will cherish you with everything he has and will be a romantic sap about it. (I knew Gawin would be on this list, I just had to determine which role I chose...honestly he could have been on here multiple times)

12. Maya - Laws of Attraction (Silvy Pavida)

She can sing, she can dance, she can be a double agent performing espionage, and she is sooooooo hot it almost hurts to look at her. All I am saying is she can step on me and I will thank her profusely.

13. Neur - Cutie Pie (Tutor Koraphat)

This man showed up fully intending to Cause Problems On Purpose and ended up simping for the quiet, shy, devout member of the friend group he inserted himself into, and we were all of us better for it. Satu. 🙏

14. Babe - Pit Babe (Pavel Phoom)

He's the top (ha!) racer, an alpha, and also 100% babygirl. One smirk from him and I am on my knees. Don't worry about me, though, I'm doing just fine. (I will say that I never thought I would see omegaverse on my screen and yet here we are in this year of our lord)

15. Vegas Theerapanyakul - KinnPorsche (Bible Wichapas)

My problematic meow meow. He's a gangster. He's a killer. He's a sadist into whips, chains, and torture, not necessarily in that order. He's got a bit of a case of little brother syndrome. And I adore him, faults and all.

Aaaaannnddd okay! So, I could likely absolutely keep going, but I think I am going to tap out while I still have at least some dignity left after exposing myself as the thirsty bitch that I am. I've lost track of who all has already done this, so I am not tagging anyone in particular. If you decide to do this, tag me and let me know so we can thirst together!

[kuiperblog]

It's still possible to find success later in life

I'm frequently shocked by the number of 19-year-olds saying some variation on "it's so over for me" or "I'm cooked" or however it is that the kids these days express that their best days are behind them.

On a certain level, would be easy for me to laugh at them. "19 is still so young!" my millennial peers might say. It's absurd for a literal teenager to feel like they're a washed-up "has-been."

But on another level, I understand why 19-year-olds feel "cooked" in a way that their older peers don't. College is often the stage of life where many come to realize that they've lost their "child prodigy" license.

Part of this comes from the fact that as you climb up the educational ladder, you're no longer a big fish in a small pond. The kid who was in the top 10% of their class in high school who gets into a "good university" will likely end up classmates who were also in the top 10% of their class in high school, and by the inevitability of mathematical necessity, half of those kids will realize that within this new context, they are below average. It can feel crushing to go from being the smartest kid in AP calc to being in the bottom quartile of your class.

And in a much more profound sense, it's the point in your life where you realize just how big the ocean is. High school graduation marks the last point in your life where you can get "perfect marks" by following the path of least resistance. I remember being in my senior year of college, listening to my fellow mechanical engineering students chattering about all of the various certifications they were studying for. I had never even heard about this -- "huh? Apparently some states require you to pass an exam to be certified as a 'Professional Engineer?' Is this something I need to study for?" It feels as if you're expected to suddenly know a lot of things that are outside the curriculum.

The thing I think we all eventually come to realize is that everyone is in this boat. Even some of the biggest success stories had "slow starts" while they took their time to figure things out.

So, in the spirit of offering encouragement to those young'uns and 19-year-old "has beens," here are some stories about famous people who didn't find success until later in life:

Sylvester Stallone

Sly Stallone's story truly is an inspirational overnight success story. Obviously, he's famous for being Rocky Balboa -- but when he showed up to the where Rocky won three Academy Awards, he was 30 years old. He didn't even finish writing the famous screenplay until he was 29 years old!

Tina Fey

Tina Fey made history as the first woman to become head writer of SNL, but she didn't achieve this until age 29. What's more, she had to grind for years to reach this point -- she first got hired to write for SNL at age 27.

Stephen King

Stephen King didn't sell his first novel (Carrie) until he was 26 years old. Up until that point, the only things he'd ever had published were short stories. What's more, he only got a $2,500 advance for Carrie -- he didn't really "make it" as a pro author until after the book came out and started selling gangbusters, with the paperbook rights selling for $400,000 -- this didn't happen until King was 27 years old!

Steve Jobs

Funny enough, I've seen a lot of people point to Steve Jobs as an example of an "early life success story" because Steve Jobs was a 21-year-old college drop-out when he co-founded Apple. And while it's true that Apple did have some early success stories, like the Apple II, the company didn't IPO until three years after that. After the IPO, his net worth was measured in hundreds of millions of dollars, but he had to grind until he was 25 years old to reach that point!

Jennifer Lawrence

A lot of people saw Jennifer Lawrence portray a teenage Katniss Everdeen in The Hunger Games and assumed that she was a teenage success story. Not so! JLaw was actually 21 years old at the time, proving that even if you don't achieve success in your teens, it's still not too late to achieve fame and success. She didn't even win an Academy Award for Best Actress until she was 22.

In short, if you're 19 years old, it's not "too late" for you. You are not "cooked." There's no reason to think you are too old or need to give up on your dreams and ambitions until you hit your early 30's, at which point if you haven't become a famous multimillionaire it's pretty much over for you.

[variousqueerthings]

And I've got a new story for you, too. There's a haunted house and woodlice from space. And lots of young people get eaten.

in "Knock Knock" Bill rents out a suspiciously affordable house with a group of other young'uns and as someone who's rented in London... [scream]. so yeah, I'd have signed that contract too, iiin a heartbeat

sexism rank objectification (female character is ogled/harassed/turned into a sex joke by the doctor and/or a lead we’re supposed to root for and/or the camera): 10/10

sexism rank plot-point (lead female character is only there to serve plot, not to have her emotional interiority explored, or given agency to her emotional interiority): 6/10

interesting complex or pointlessly complex (does the complexity serve the narrative or does it just serve to be confusing as a stand-in for smart, this includes visually): 6/10

furthers character and/or lore and/or plot development (broader question that ties into the previous ones, at least two of these, ideally three should be fulfilled): 4/10

companion matters (the companion doesn’t always have to be there, but if the companion is there, can they function without the doctor– and overall per season how often is the companion the focus or POV of the story): 7/10

the doctor is more than just “godlike” (examines the doctor’s flaws and limitations, doesn’t solve a plot by having it revolve entirely around the doctor’s existence): 8/10

doesn’t look down on previous doctor who (by erasing or mocking its importance, by redoing and “bettering” previous beloved plotpoints or characters, etc.): 6/10

isn’t trying to insert hamfisted sexiness (m*ffat famously talked a lot about how dw should be sexier multiple times, he sucks at writing it): 10/10

internal world has consistency (characters have backgrounds, feel rooted in a place with other people, generally feel like they have Lives): 6/10

Politics (how conservative is the story): 6/10

FULL RATING: 69/100 (if I can count….)

this one is a little odd, but I appreciate trying something out. where this episode could've been so much stronger is... it's just kind of a not so impressive haunted house, I think it could have been a better haunted house. the beginning, the wall-thing with the first student, solid, but then it sort of drops the ball...

OBJECTIFICATION: there's a lot of straight young people in this episode, and I think it does a good job of the guys being a bit laddish, while not being uncomfortable. I do think they feel like your average twenty-somethings you'd come across

PLOT-POINT: perhaps this isn't the right place for it point-wise, buuut I think this is an episode that could have had more queer characters. In terms of Bill's life we had the first episode, which did tell us quite a bit about herself, but was a bit vague on friendships (she clearly is a The Club sometimes, seeing as she and Heather had a moment there -- I'm going ahead and assuming it's a university party of some kind), and look, those of us who've done the running around London trying to rent gamut know we can't always choose our flatmates, and it's fair that she has a straight friend and this is her friends, it's all fine

it's just that it could have had more queer characters. Bill doesn't seem to have a queer community -- never mind a lesbian community. I know in a later episode she goes on a date, so there's a hint there, but it just would have been nice to see a little more. it's not a big complaint or anything, this just might have been an opportunity for that

that being said, I do like this one guy kinda hitting on her and the awkward but polite conversation between them when she tells him she's a lesbian and he goes "Oh, right! I was never in with a chance. Awesome!"

it's one of those slightly M*ffat-era things though, where none of these characters ever appear again, so don't assume they'll tell you much about Bill's overall friendships and connections

I do like Shireen (just realised Shireen was the name of Rose's unseen friend as well), think she should've made another appearance (I'll eat my words if she does appear again, but I don't remember that she does), because their friendship doesn't really matter much one way or another in this episode -- Bill could have just as well been answering a facebook ad for all we really get to know about them as friends (see and facebook has queer/lgbt/lesbian houseshare ads!)

on the flipside I enjoyed that this was Bill-centric, I liked the way the Doctor was entering her life, and that young-adult embarrassment when a family member is a bit too invested in your life/friendships, that was very sweet

COMPLEXITY: it's kind of an odd one this one. I can't tell if it works for me or not, so I think the answer is "it works well enough." it feels like the kind of episode you'd get late in the series, that kind of filler "good enough" type story, where if you think about it too much it doesn't quiiite fit together, but there's nothing wrong with it on the whole

I do wish at some point I could get a decent haunted house story, neither hide nor this were quite It. you need to understand why a haunted house is a haunted house, not just put creepy things inside of a house. tosses shirley jackson at the writers. or hellbound heart. or turn of the screw. or heck, the shining. or, I've recently been introduced to white is for witching through the book tell me I'm worthless (also a haunted house), which gives us the intersection of racism and hauntings, because racism is itself a haunting. My point is.... lotta haunted houses out there, they have meaning, they have... personality, of some kind. or crimson peak. great starter haunted house, makesya go that house sure was haunted huh

that being said, I like the oddity of this guy doing all of this for his mother until he forgot why he did it. it's missing a few connection points, but it's still quite fun. not the strongest episode as is, but nothing about it makes me groan for a million years

CHARACTERS/LORE/PLOT: ehhh, not really. I've been a bit generous with this rating, I think, because I found the Doctor and Bill to be really charming in it as a dynamic, but technically this is kind of plopped in there and won't have much (any?) bearing moving forwards, which seems especially dubious considering it's about Bill moving out of her foster mum's home, with whom she has a bit of a strained relationship

maybe will go back and change this if it does get mentioned again, but I feel like this episode should have mattered a bit more than it did, it's not an easy or unstressful task, moving from home, and it could have been a mark of some change in Bill -- growing up, taking charge, moving towards who she wants to be, getting her space, and then having that taken from her

so perhaps even a tad too generous, but I'm keeping it here

COMPANIONS MATTER: Bill is the one who figures out that this guy couldn't possibly be the father of the wooden woman, and generally is quite capable

“GODLIKE” DOCTOR: nothing egregious here, other than general questions about structure, and what could have made this episode tighter -- would it have worked with less Doctor in it, with it really focusing on these young adults and Bill especially, could it have done with the Doctor bookending it in some way, or otherwise being there mostly to provide an emotional sounding board for what all of this means for Bill... just a bunch of musings, and it's not that the Doctor overshadows the episode, it's just wondering about that structure

PREVIOUS DOCTOR WHO: in this one the Doctor mentions Time Lords and regeneration and then quickly avoids any further questions... an interesting little Moment

otherwise it's pretty self-contained

“SEXINESS”: young adults being awkward rather than effortlessly sexy? hell yeah

INTERNAL WORLD: there's a big house and the rent is suspiciously cheap, but they're poor students so what are they gonna do? seems legit. I do wonder how this house actually has managed to not be affected by various council changes, taxes, and you know... numerous disappearances in it. it's a very simple setting though, so perhaps that's pedantic of me

but fully, nobody's gone "hey um... this house has eaten people." that's usually a big question about haunted houses. shoulda had some elderly person outside going nooooo don't go inside!!!!

also I rated it lower because it's not a haunted house! or rather, it is a haunted house, but it's not got the genre down, it's more like it's taking some tropes (spooky house, weird landlord, house comes alive and seems to eat people, mysterious past with a woman), but just doesn't nail the Essence, which is the ways the past infects a house (or a house just has Bad Vibes from the beginning). the house has to have a personality, it has to be alive on its own merits

I think it's the bugs that ruin it a bit for me, it could have started with some bugs I thiiink, but it should have gone way harder on it fundamentally being someone whose love for his dying mother becomes this twisted thing that starts to consume other people. that IS the story, but it doesn't fully manage to connect the love, the bugs, and the house. the house almost feels like an afterthought in the end, is my point, when the house should have been The Thing, and of course, the haunting (but I'm okay with that being a bit left-field, this woman is functionally dead, so yeah, I'm good with that)

I'm going to stop rambling about it now, because it's a whole other analysis of the function of a haunted house. eventually Doctor Who will give me the perfect haunted house story...

POLITICS: Bill's friends are a reeelatively diverse crowd. I think Shireen being South Asian was neat, it makes sense -- like in the way I feel like Bill should be (unless somewhat uncomfortable by out and proud queerness, which I don't think she is/it isn't a part of her narrative) more involved in a Queer Community -- that she would have friends who aren't white (or like, not only white, but we don't need to see a bunch of white friends is the point, Shireen being the friend we're shown makes a lot of sense and just gives a bit of an idea of Bill's friendship circle)

the others are mainly just there to fill out the space a bit, they don't have much in the way of importance other than to have some people get swallowed by the house

all this also being said, it's not a political episode, it's not a massive Thing to bring up I think. Bill is clearly quite open about being a lesbian and is out to Shireen, whether they're Close close is a bit uncertain, so it's just an episode that has some youths on the whole

could it have been more political or more diverse in a more conscious way? perhaaaps, I mean obviously I mentioned there being no queer people other than Bill, there's also no Black characters other than Bill, and youknow, it's not something I'd usually be going so into with this particular episode, which has some other structural things going on, buuut that being said, I think things become more interesting if we're more conscious about the roles we're writing and how they fit into the story -- for example, the haunted house narrative.

what does it mean that this guy targets young, possibly poor students? what does the house get out of that, how does that Change the house that it's taught who is disposable and who isn't? little things like that that make the haunted house as concept so interesting, but aren't present in this story, because it juuuust lacks a bit of that extra something

and I think the lack of these characters feeling quite real in Bill's story is a part of that

FULL RATING: 69/100 (if I can count….)

this is a serviceable episode that with a few tweaks could have been stronger, but I'm not mad about it. it's an example of the M*ffat-era trope of people being somewhat disconnected to their lives, although overall Bill is the strongest of the three main companions of this era on that front

hire me to write a haunted house episode, I'll make it killer, promise!

[ink-of-a-thousand-currents]

Mmm I definitely have Thoughts on site lore and Ancient lore. And I mean, for the most part I (as well as many people) use site lore more as Inspiration/Building Blocks for further lore building.

I've been meaning to get around to writing lore for my Clan and in general, so. I guess I'll just make some notes on the current Ancient Lore and what I think and where I'd go.

Deciding to put this under a read more since it's a lot more than I meant to write lmao

Gaolers - Part of this being because they were the first, and therefore had the most hype around their introduction, but so far lorewise Gaolers still have probably the most impactful story. Them being forgotten by modern society makes sense; withdrawn, a small population of creatures that never evolved into their softer modern counterparts. Which is another thing that makes Gaolers stand out; they're the only Ancient with an explicit connection as being ancestors of one of the Modern breeds. The whole This Thing Is You But Older, More Primal And Dangerous is just. Soooo good. Gaolers as a design have grown on me recently, so it definitely generates some ideas.

Banescales - BANESCALE LORE. BANESCALE LORE. My favorite of the bunch, but this is partially that I am someone who loooves music. The idea of Banescales having been a musical society, and now all that remains is the song that was left to their children as they protected their eggs... god it's just so beautiful to me. Plus the parallel to how Coatls ended up having a notably musical language... The idea of the Flamecaller mourning her first children and passing on their gift. The Coatls and Banes bonding over this similarity. I love them, I need more Banes.

Veilspuns - I'll be honest. I don't remember anything about the Veilspun lore. Legitimately. I love Veil's designs but their lore just Did Not Stick. I'll have to go reread it and probably rebuild it somehow lmaooo

Aberrations - Okay, I also kinda forgot this one, but they literally crawled out of the Wyrmwound, right?? Like, sort of had a "cast away by their god" type of thing? Failed experiment energy? Idk if that was actually what happened, but it's the take I'm going with.

Undertides - They felt betrayed by their god so turned their back on him, and then reintroduced themselves to modern society upon the Surge in the Elements. Cool! Interesting! I think this could be very cool to explore, especially with the modern members of Water Flight who have effectively been abandoned by Tidelord (as far as we know. Dad come back.) Also, strong ties with a specific sect of Maren! Neat! Not as potent of lore to me, maybe, but it's interesting and has potential. Execution was ehhg but I can work with the concepts.

Aethers - I love their lore yes its stupid yes its goofy and I adore them for it. If I go through with my lore crafting I'll keep all this because the other Ancients having cool and fucked up lore next to these dumbass sparkly floofs is hilarious to me.

Sandsurges - Okay I DID. Think the "pay" bit in the story was funny. But I do think a "cooler" take could have been done, with Sandsurges having a better reason to have been unknown to modern dragons aside from "They were underground all along" whsgsgs. I think you can combine the best of both world by saying they return upon seeing the exploitation of modern Lightning society, and the building of something Big and Dangerous, with allusions to this having been done in the past and having had consequences to Ancient Sandsurge society... AKA, they're here to teach the young'uns about unions.

Auraboas - Okay, so. The issues have been brought up several times, and most of us are aware at this point. I can see the angle they were going for, for a sci-fi-esque hivemind tyoe of situation. I also don't necessarily disagree with the decision to make it Nature. While Arcane might make more sense for sci-fi themeing, I think choosing a different Flight makes it a little less on the nose. In any case, I think the concepts are there, but were executed very poorly and with a decent dose of "ignorance and tone-deafness." I think the story specifically should have treated the elder Auraboas with more compassion for their fears for their children and difficulty in communicating with modern dragons. Way less infantilization, and more "person struggling with a language they barely know, reaching out to someone they never would have otherwise out of desperation." (By this I mean I think they could have written the difficulty in communicating far better than they did). The Loop is interesting as well, though very hard to grasp as a concept. This is partially on purpose, and partially because I kind if think staff purposefully left some things vague because they didn't actually want to try and figure out how the concept would work, lol (which I can't entirely blame them for, especially since with Site Lore sometimes less is more, allowing for multiple interpretations by users).

Another note: in both the recent Lightning and Nature ancient stories, they're both stated and/or heavily implied to have already been known about by certain dragons In The Know, so to speak. I have some mixed thoughts on either, and might incorporate them differently. Sandsurges as sort of secret workers was a little funny and backed up the Weird Shady Company Execs thing, but it could be interesting to make it a sort of, deliberately covered up because We Can't Have Them Teaching The New Hires How To Unionize!

As for Auraboas... Not really sure. I can see them being a culture that has been largely self-reliant for their existance, hence the lack of contact with modern dragons. But, given their connection to the Behemoth (and maybe a connection that could be elaborated on), maybe they've appeared or collaborated with moderns in the past over threats to the Behemoth. So, mutual knowledge, but no sustained contact since it was A) difficult and B) outside of curiosity, most on both sides saw little reason to establish further contact. A sort of living alongside one another but never really talking, like neighbors you see sometimes but don't talk to. It's only the disruption of the Loop in the younger generation that both kickstarts a greater Need to connect, but also a bridge for easier communication.

[dragonladdie]

Tropes that are overdone in media and how to avoid them: Part one(?)

I might make this a series depending on how well this does

But yeah this may come to a surprise for y'all but I love reading! I'm proud to say I've read hundreds of novels and book series, and when you're read as much as I have, you tend to find certain tropes, plotlines, and character archetypes that are... Eugh 😬

So, as a reader and writer, I'd like to give you a series of annoying and/or repetitive tropes I've found in books especially and how to avoid or fix them!

Starting with:

The Traumatized Emo Boy

We all love a good ol' traumatized edgy teenage boy.

Except me.

I despise this archetype with a SEARING passion, ESPECIALLY when the character in question has suffered immense trauma at a young age who's only reaction is to be edgy, brooding, and wear dark clothes.

Not only do I find it to be heavily, heavily, HEAVILY overused, but it's a lazy representation and bastardization of childhood PTSD. While yes, PTSD symptoms do include apathy and depression, there are better ways to represent this!

Childhood trauma (depending on said event(s) that caused said trauma) has an immense effect on how you develop, and that goes for anyone. Reverting back to the same "brooding, mysterious, dark-haired boy" archetype is... insulting.

And no, a panic attack or manic episode can not be solved with a hug or kiss from y/n love interest. Good grief please don't kiss someone who's in the middle of a panic attack jfc

So, let's get into how to avoid this!

To give an example, let's say as a young'un, your little emo boy's village was raided, and him and his younger sibling(s) were the only ones to survive.

Great! You have a backstory for your character. But how did this effect him?

Is he cautious and mistrustful? Is he extremely protective and shelters his siblings? Does he tend not to stay in the same place for too long? Does he nanny over those he cares about to a fault?

And how does he handle his emotions? Does he cry or get frustrated over seemingly little things? Does he constantly work to distract himself from the pain? Does he push his anger down as to not hurt someone he cares about, but when he eventually lash out, it's catastrophic? Is he aware of this, and ends up pushing his emotions down further?

There are so many ways to represent the effects of trauma, and not just with teenage boys. Everyone who has trauma, deals with it and is effected by it differently. Like I said, reverting back to the "Edgy boy who hasn't felt a human emotion since the War™" archetype is bland as hell.

And please give them a cooler character designs. Not all edgy teenage boys can be pale and skinny with dark anime hair and baggy sweaters. Where is the FLAVOR? 🤌🏽

That concludes our first episode! Let me know what y'all think 😁

[msfbgraves]

How do Terry and Daniel tell their pups that they’re going to be getting another sibling? Is there a difference in how they tell, let’s say, Sam, being the first child, vs. when Daniel gets pregnant with pup 8#?

Sammy is the sage of "Mama is having [yet another] puppy". She's seen everything, she knows everything, it could be a joint the weary way she sucks on a lollipop to tell the young'uns about getting another sibling. Yes, Robby they scream bloody murder. And they're stinky. You don't know, Gianni, you weren't there! They try and eat everything! You can feel it in Mamas tummy, Anthony! You thought you had it good, well, Gianni thought the same, and Robby - you all thought you'd be the little favorite, hm? You thought wrong!

Yasmin tries to get in on it but shut up, Yaz, you only think you know, she's the ultimate supreme authority here and she hides nothing.

By the time Luna and Anthony are hearing they're going to be a big brother and sister they're over the moon and the three Alphas are mostly talking safety. Robby's asking if Mama needs anything? Gianni is studying Dr. Seuss and going "fascinating", Anthony is making baby clothes with Luna and also chipping in a lot with housework, if he has an opinion on it, surely some of the newest innovations are worth trying...?! Luna is composing lullabies and painting the baby room ("Non-lead paint!!!!"- that's Eli).

But yeah, Daniel has had to comfort many a puppy after Sammy got to them first, which mostly made her go: "Where's the lie, though?!" when he chides her.

[truebluefantasy]

If the townspeople reacted to you showing them a Preserved Flower in HM/SOS: FOMT!

Lillia: "O-oh dear... Sweetie, I'm sorry, but I'm still waiting for my husband to come back! Please give it to someone that will cherish you."

Dudley: "A flower... I'm sorry, but no matter how many years it's been... my heart still belongs to my wife. You give it to someone that you can spend a long life with, alright?"

Duke: "Eh? What have you got there? ... What?! Get outta here you joker, I won't hear the end of it from Manna if this gets out!"

Manna: "What a lovely flower! ... Oh! I never thought this would happen! I mean I've been told I still look good for my age, and that I'd be a lovely woman that buys bags of sugar for someone younger, but- Duke, he would... Aja/Adja is about the same age as you and- Sasha and Anna would talk about it at the square and- Oh no no no NO! I don't want to imagine what would happen! I'm flattered, really I am, but I have to say no!"

Anna: "Oh, this must be the flower Basil was raving on about! ... ... ... ... Excuse me? I hope you're joking. ... Please don't give it to Marie after this. I will tell her what you did just now if you do."

Basil: "I'm so glad we got to discover these flowers! ... Thank you, but I already have tons of specimens in my collection."

Sasha: "My, a lovely flower! ... You do know Jeff is my husband, right? ... Wait a minute! Just because he's timid, can't say no, and is possibly a hypochondriac doesn't mean I don't love him! You better watch what you say from now on!"

Jeff: "Ah, that's a Preserved Flower! ... Th-that reminds me... I need to finish my painting of it for Sasha!"

Carter: "An offering? ... Alas, my calling requires full devotion to the Goddess Herself! I will gladly take it off your hands if you have no need for it anymore. Would I give it to the Goddess? Heavens no! (Now that you've caught on...)"

Zack: "A Preserved Flower! If only I could give one... Wh-wh-what?! Uhh, I- that is to say- I really- I mean-! What I mean to say is, my heart belongs to somebody else!! I'm sorry!! Please don't cry!!"

Gotts: "... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... I don't get why you would show me this."

Harris: "That's a pretty flower! ... Uhh... I, uh, I'm too busy keeping the town safe to think about dating! Yup, that's right!"

Thomas: "A Preserved Flower! What a great way to show someone you want to date them! I hope everyone makes good use out of it! ... I said I hope everyone makes GOOD USE OUT OF IT!"

Ellen: "Oh my! I've heard young'uns don't just give Blue Feathers willy-nilly anymore… I hope it works out with whoever you give it to, dear."

Barley/Mugi: "What do you have there? ... Ohohoho! Reminds me of back in my day when you'd go on a hunt for a Blue Feather! I suppose even the old folks' days of going steady are out of fashion, as they say. Why don't you go and have fun with folks your age while you can?"

Saibara: "What's this? ... ... ... ... ... ... ... Give your head a shake! You better not influence Gray with your nonsense!"

Stu/Yu: "Whazzat? Preserved Flower? ... Eww, you're gonna catch cooties from *Bachelor/ette with highest Romance*!"

May/Mei: "What a pretty flower! Who's it for? ... It's a secret? Ooh, I hope it's *Bachelor/ette with highest Romance*!"

The fun part would be minus friendship/romance points from Bachelor/ettes and other townspeople depending on who you show it to!

[ask-a-bot]

T: hello little ones! My name is Toxitron! The other Decepticons called me The Toxic Avenger. It’s a cool name, right? I’ve got a truck alt like Prime’s. It’s so cool to meet you all! I’ve never seen any Cybertronian children before!!

MS: ah. No vonder jou vere zo exited…

W: hello Terrans, Waspinator is Waspinator. Waspinator is insecticon, like Tanrantulas and Black Arachnia. Waspinator turns into a wasp. Is self explanatory.

T: uhhh… I break a lot of things as well JB. It’s the curse of being big I guess. oh! Thrash, you like music too? Humans make great music!! I’m fond of the ‘rock’ and ‘Alternative’ genres. Have you got a favorite song? Mine is ‘I am Death. Destroyer of Worlds’ by Ryan Mitchell.

DP: he keeps playing it over and over again…

🪣: it’s a good song though.

W: hrm… Toxitron is adequate dancer, Waspinator is… not. Waspinator likes the birds and internet as well. Waspinator has been watching lots of YouTube recently.

MS: he found a load of origami tutorials. We now have an army of origami frogs.

W: hm… isn’t 🪣 nonbinary as well?

🪣: ye. Gender is a scam, I identify as chaos incarnate.

W: that explains a lot about 🪣. Hm… oh, scientist? Toxitron is scientist to, no?

T: more of a chemist really. My cannons sprayed toxic waste and chemicals at my enemies, kinda had to learn how to make my own ammo.

MS: …do jou know how to make booze?

T: I ain’t old enough to drink.

MS: dang.

DP: we aren’t old enough either Sooney… why are you like this…

🪣: …wait… how old is Tox…

Please be sensible and don't make any Cybertronian "booze" until you're the right age, young'uns.

You only live once!

Exactly my point – one life, one body. Take care of it; it has to last you.

You're as bad as Megatron! He drinks!

Megatron's old enough to do as he likes. If has too much and gets sick, he's only got himself to blame.

[jaythelay]

Y'know I'm trans myself and I just thought about saying "you silly girl" to another trans person and it just...doesn't...feel right? It feels sexual, or insulting, but I'd call any male a "silly boi" no hesitation like hell yeah we're all silly bois, I'll even call them a silly girl occasionally if I'm feeling wacky, who knows, I'm like a thumbtack that fell in your bed that you can't find.

I think a large reason there's such a hostile initial reaction of disdain for primarily MtF's is that, even now there's apart of me that's socially constructed to stop and go: "Oh, oh no, don't say that to a woman" while it's honestly rather normalized to just be gay with the bros sometimes.

But being gay with women, especially when you're actually not at all a hyper aggressive Magat, feels like flirting, feels like belittlement, and feels oddly taboo. There's a language barrier where what I want to say I can't and what I do say may be bad with a specific person.

I never really gave any BoD about living being's differences from birth to present to be critical of their character or empathy. But growing up you're basically told "don't ever, EVER, do xyz to womans" as an actual toddler and it just builds up this idea that like, oh, I should just avoid that obvious hurdle because I might turn out to be a bad person, I'm a Literal Toddler, so I best go with my gut on this!

Reinforce this with failing to talk with or ask a gorl to do the date, meaning ostracization (that cud b 4evr!1!!) and you got a recipe for "How the FUCK do you talk to a women" for a shit load of socially awkward kids who got to learn emotional regulation through their mothers and thus all women must be like that and shit ya'll being a man sucks. (not projectio- NOT PROJECTI-)

As a VERY young'un, I always thought it was just universal that guys wanted to be gorls and gorls wanted to be guys, but primarily that I'd prefer being female, but without the restrictions placed upon them. I basically empathized with both situations because to me, it just felt like women would be left to do the dumbest shit and most times yeah, they fuckin' hated it. Thank god, that's not what being a women is!

I don't really know how you even begin to express that to anyone to get them to understand that there's issues in all aisles because humanity is building off some shit foundations but by golly they're foundations we can build off of regardless. (The meaning of life is other life, we build off the foundations of others so that others may build off our foundations)

With guys I just don't have that "Wait, don't say that" taboo feel in my brain, and NO I'm not trying to blame anyone other than social constructs and whatever area I personally grew up in and events in life that happened only and specifically to me to reach this point in my life that you hadn't.

I think this also creates another issue where it becomes "who can be shittier and more...-" wow I wanted to say woke but the left co-opted it for some reason, to me it just means conspiracy theorist, not... an empathetic normal person? Idunno. "conspiratorial to justify it for everyone"

If ya ask me, that's a LARGE reason why guys struggle to talk to gorls. They're not allowed to be gay around them, they're not allowed to be vile either and good honestly, this is a men's issue. They're just not willing to take a, since birth reinforcement, risk, and it will internalize for alot of them, a fear that a mistake could be the end of your "good person" badge, however realistic that is/n't.

What it comes down to, to me, is most men probably aren't gonna speak up on alot of issues because it's tied into their friend groups, and let's be honest, if you lose a friend, you're probably -1 for a whiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiilee. And then you'll have no one to grow with and reinforce the path you've taken. Again, it's all ostracization. Alot of us got lucky to be around people that straightened our bullshit and called out our bigotry and "dark humor".

I don't...know how to word this, but with how bad it's looking for R's in the upcoming elections, I think we're gonna REALLY need to buckle down on removing the MAGA virus of division, by opening a path for people in a cultural way. I'm guessing here, but I'd imagine most righty's think they're perma-banned from leftism, and most of them? Can't be helped. But we can bring alot of people into a brighter world, not by softening our language or being easier on fascism, but by saying, You Can Change, We Believe In You. When that level of ostracization of self-awareness hits them? They'll have no where else to go but normalcy if they're reasonable and open to growing.

It's not for one reason, but a variety of complex, nuanced, and difficult to confront paths to consider. None of us are to blame, we're all just on the path of growth and thinking in a desert of doubt surrounded by mother nature's righteous fury of confusion. And someone keeps breaking bottles everywhere.

Yes whatever I forgot to mention, you should elaborate upon, and whatever lengths behind you that I am, I'd love to see that path enlightened. And yeah I definitely could've worded that better. Ngl man I have only had 2 hardees burgers the past 5 days due to tooth/mouth issues stemming back to 2019 that no doctor...could or would, fix. I'll be able to eat again tho soon no worries bb.

[simptasia]

I heard they're making Final Destination 6 and I'm scared.

Final Destination is a really solid franchise that didn't overstay its welcome. The franchise ran from 2000 to 20011 (new movie every 3 years) and 5th movie technically happened before the first one. A time capsule for the 2000s. The Final Destination, movie number 4 is where it ends. Movie makers have 2 options:

Disregard movie 4 as the true ending and make the 6th movie in modern times. Which is lame. Also, I don't want to see what ''modern'' death they come up with. If somebody dies doing a TikTok challenge I will not watch it.

They will set the happening of the movie somewhere before movie 4 in the 2000s. Yet again there are two possible outcomes. Filmmakers will capture the feel of the 2000s just perfectly. No over-the-top flanderization but you can tell when the story is taking place. Or they're so out of touch they will completely butcher the portrayal of the time which wasn't so long ago and logically should be pretty easy to capture. People will come out of the woodwork and analyze how inaccurate the costumes are, and point out all the anachronisms (Everybody has iPhones in 2004, really?). We will be like those historical buffs! ''She can't wear that, in her school at the time was a rule about not showing your midriff.'' ''They're going to see a concert but the said band has broken up 2 years prior.'' I would watch those videos!

This premise is so easy you could make a million movies about it. Some accident that kills a lot of people happens, it was a premonition, some people survive but they start dying one by one anyway. Rinse and repeat. Don't even acknowledge previous movies. But that's not what the filmmakers did. They made a surprisingly coherent world where every movie naturally connects to the other. I really don't want them to fall into what the general public thinks and what movie 4 perpetuates. There is no story. It's just people dying in gory, physics-bending deaths with bad effects (3D and CGI). People who watch it do it to laugh at other people's misery, like Hunter (from movie 4).

What do you think?

Well, I appreciate the long message about something I'm into!

Yeah, right on all accounts, wow. It does frustrate me when FD is treated just as a gore/death fest, I do want the filmmakers to at least Try to make interesting characters. The problem with FD4 (besides hooorrible effects) is that all the characters were boring. Nick is the most boring visionary, so much so that for a while my brain misremembered what he looked like and I remembered him looking like Sam from FS5?? Like a copy and paste kinda thing.

I don't have an inherent problem with it being set in the modern day, tho yes there is a chance it'll be cringe. It is possible they'll go for early 2000s, cuz I've been watching netflix movies with my mum and early 2000s nostalgia is all the rage right now.

I dunno which I'd prefer.

But I do have an idea. Bloodworth mentioned in FD5 that he's "seen this before" and it's implied he's a survivour who killed to live longer. I know it's better to just leave it at that. But I'm saying it is an option for them to set an FD movie in the 70s when William is a young'un.

Technically an FD movie can be set in any time. I dunno if it would hurt the franchise if they went into lore or whatever, so... [shrugs]

Really, I'm not sure what I want for FD6. I just know I like FD1 and 3 the best because the mains were engaging to watch, with Alex and Wendy being the best visionaries. True this is due to the low bar of Expressing Emotions Good, but hey, it's a good bar to cross.

Anyways, I'd like an opening premonition set on a boat, like a cruise ship. This franchise loves the opening involving vehicles and boats are scary. There's a sense of helplessness there.

Thank you for your time.

[wahbegan]

Thinking about The Dark Knight and Joker and Jared Leto, had the most horrible thought. Do kids these days even know about Joker toxin????? DO THEY????