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whateverloomis · 29 days

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Lick me like a lollipop ✒︎ Billy Loomis x GN reader

Warnings: SMUT, Infidelity, Stu is annoying (lol), oral (male receiving), edging, unedited.

Note: Afab or amab people apply for this <33

Readers POV | Word count: 1.4k / Part 2

It was Tatum. She had gotten me addicted to freaking lollipops after I told her I have an oral fixation. Apparently she does too, and Stu was very happy about it, if you know what I mean.

It was Friday after last period, I was at my locker with Billy, Stu and Sid putting away my books -- with a lollipop in my mouth, of course -- before we all left to Stu's house to get ready for movie night. It was a routine at this point, every Friday night after class we'd go to Stu's house to wait for Tatum to get out of practice and bring Randy over from work with a scary movie to watch and criticize all night long until one of us got too tired to continue the pointless debate.

"Stu, we watched that one last Friday!" I said for the third time, patience long gone. This was the fourth week he suggested watching Halloween.

"But it's Jamie Lee Curtis, man! She's hot as fuck! I bet Randy would be on my side here, you guys are no fun." Stu replied with a huff.

"Yeah, because he has a weird obsession with her too." I replied, rolling my eyes as I pulled the lollipop out of my mouth, it releasing a soft pop sound because of the suction.

There was a brief pause, Stu smirked at my actions and shamelessly looked at my lips when I pulled the sugary bulb out of my mouth. Billy was staring too, but he was subtle. His eyes raked from my eyes to my lips, lingering a tad bit more than usual before he took a deep breath and glared at Stu. "Shut up about it will you? We're watching Psycho. It was decided last Friday, dumbass."

"Can we all leave the argument for tonight? It's too early for this." Sidney said, closing her locker before we walked out of college and made our way to Stu's house.

Once everyone arrived at Stu's house, we didn't take long to settle and start the debate about the movie because Stu couldn't keep his mouth shut. His argument was that Psycho isn't even that good because you can't see the color red of the blood therefore it's not scary. Randy and Tatum were practically arguing about the topic while Sidney laughed at their unnecessarily serious discussion.

"All I'm staying is; what makes a movie scary is the blood, man!" Stu commented.

"Stu, it's a classic black and white movie. Plus, horror isn't all about the blood and gore." Randy countered, and Tatum agreed. "See? That's what I've been telling you doofus!" She told Stu, and he laughed at her slight anger.

I decided to pitch in and attempted to cut the conversation to continue watching the movie. "Guys, it's not that serious. Stu is clearly too basic with horror movies-" "Am not! I bet you haven't watched nearly as many horror movies as me and Billy!" Stu cut me off, and I pointed at him with my third lollipop of the day. "Not fair! Two people versus one person's movie knowledge? That's not how it works Stu." I countered and Billy placed his beer bottle on the glass table loud enough that it caught everyone's attention.

"You guys are being idiots and I need a refill." The man said, and I quickly stood up from the couch as I put the lollipop in my mouth and followed Billy to the garage.

When we arrived at the door, Billy opened it before me so I could climb down the stairs first. I pulled the lollipop out of my mouth before sending him a small smile of appreciation, and his eyes scanned my lips before he caught my gaze and smirked at me. As I climbed down the stairs I could feel his eyes on my back, so I purposefully walked a bit slower, adding a bit of swing to my hips.

When I opened the fridge and bent down to look for the beers, I felt one of Billy's large hands on my lower back. "Need help carrying those?" He questioned, following my gaze as I leaned up to face him. Placing some beer bottles on the table next to the fridge, I took the lollipop out of my mouth again to answer "yes", and he visibly tensed up at my actions.

"You really need to stop doing that." Billy said, voice lower than usual. I looked at him questioningly and before I could pull the pop out of my mouth again, he did it for me and put it in his mouth, pulling it out a second later. "This." He said.

I raised an eyebrow and smirked, took the lollipop out of his hand and repeated his actions before I discarded the candy in the trash next to the fridge. "Can't handle your imagination, Loomis?" I asked teasingly and he took a step forward, towering over me. A tense silence washed over both of us before he closed the gap and kissed me softly as he placed his hand on my hip and pressed me against him.

"Billy, Sidney is upstairs. We agreed not to risk it like this..." I said, reminding him that our ongoing affair could cost us a lot.

"I don't care... You've been driving me crazy all day sucking on that lollipop." He replied and kissed me again, this time more desperate and needy. It didn't take long for us to start playing with each-others tongues, tasting the sweetness off the candy we had been savoring earlier.

I pulled Billy's hair softly with my left hand and grabbed his shirt with the right, pulling him impossibly close to me. We continued making out hungrily and then he broke the kiss, leaning on the edge of the table and pulling me towards him, parting my thighs with his leg so I could rub myself against him.

As I continued kissing Billy, he moved my head towards his neck and I knew what he wanted instantly, so that's what I did. I kissed my way down his body and kneeled down in front of him. He unbuckled his belt and unzipped his jeans for me before pulling his throbbing cock out and I opened my mouth for him. Billy smirked at me and tapped the head of his cock against my tongue a few times before sliding half of his length in. I started bobbing my head up and down slowly, moaning softly around his length while looking up at him with the most innocent look I could give him. That drove him crazy, so Billy grabbed the back of my head and started to thrust into my mouth, slowly picking up the pace.

We moved together in unison, never breaking eye contact. I moaned and whined around him while sucking, pushing him closer to his orgasm, and as I felt him getting close I slowed down my movements, edging him. Billy loved it. He hissed at the sudden change of speed and bucked his hips so his cock penetrated deeper inside my mouth. I pushed his length all the way inside and then pulled my head away, opening my mouth with my tongue sticking out. I licked the tip of his cock as if I were licking a lollipop, then I sucked, and licked, and sucked, and licked, and;

"Oooh fuck..." Billy moaned. The sensation of his most sensitive spot being overstimulated was enough to get him close again. I noticed the tension building up and I giggled at the neediness he was displaying. Taking him all the way inside my mouth, I continued bobbing my head like I was before and looked up at him once more, observing how he panted and threw his head back in pleasure.

"Fuck, baby... Open up." Billy said and I did as I was told, sucking a few more times before opening my mouth for him, tongue sticking out for him to cum inside me. I chuckled at his attempt of him trying to keep quiet while the orgasm washed over his body. I swallowed his load in front of him, licking my lips and biting my lip afterwards.

Standing up in front of him, he kissed me and tasted himself on my lips. "You're so good at giving head, my God." He said and chuckled, before zipping his pants up, along with his belt and fixing his hair.

"I know." I said, smirking at him before pulling another lollipop from my pocket and putting it in my mouth.

"Leave your window open tonight, we're not finished here." He said and kissed me one final time before picking up the beers from the table and joining the group as if he hadn't gotten his soul sucked out of him a few minutes prior.

#ghostface x reader #billy loomis x reader #billy loomis smut #ghostfacesmut #ghostface smut #scream (1996)#billy loomis x you #stu macher #stu macher smut #stu macher x reader #stu macher x billy loomis #stu macher x you

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vitaminseetarot · 9 months

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PAC Pick a Song - What About You Currently Shines Brightest?

Sup y'all, I'm back in time for the start of Leo season with another pick a card reading! The full moon is coming right up and I will likely do a reading for that as well very shortly, but I already had this done the other day and wanted to get it finally posted after much delay!

Below here are three cards to choose from belonging to the now-obsolete board game DropMix. It was a game connected to an app now unfortunately no longer in service, but it allowed the game to play by having chips in the cards activate a code that would send to a phone app to tally points as well as play music. You could pile the different cards together on a jockey board based on color and basically create your own remixes. You could play or make freestyle music. My basic pack has as many cards as the minor arcana + 4, so I thought these would be fun to bring out and work with for the partygoing Leo energy that's budding this late summer.

1, 2, 3

Pile 1. The Weeknd - Can't Feel My Face

Cards: Baroness (Fire, Leo); "I am in touch with my purpose and passion in life"; 7 of Swords, XIX Sun, XVIII Moon

(Okay just a quick note I just gotta let u know that I eventually plan to paint over the Sun card for my only RWS-esque deck because the smiley face creeps me out lol so I put a tiny candle over its haunting face. The Sun is supposed to be a positive card dangit!)

Anyway back to your reading! Right off the bat I feel like you're gonna be shining bright this season no matter how you personally feel about summer, get in the mood and live it up! Light that bonfire. Jump in the pile of autumn leaves. Tap into your senses in the most innocent and playful way. I feel like you shine brightly when you get excited about literally anything in your life, it could be a new brand of coffee or new pair of jeans or something but people like how you react to things. Reminds me of Youtubers who have these funny but authentic personalities as they review random products or whatever.

I feel like you can get so in love with something that you kinda, as the song suggests, "go numb" and let everything else fizzle away from your focus. But the thing to remember is that all those other things are still there even if they don't light you up. It's all about learning to find the sweet spot between really enjoying the moment and being in flow with the best of things while also attending to the gritty details. It doesn't mean you should "go numb" in the other direction by only focusing on practical things. When I see Sun and Moon in the same three card reading I am reminded of Temperance because you're trying to balance two different energies together that are ultimately meant to work together. Manifestation+work, joy+catharsis, reason+instinct, yeah? It's a lot to seesaw back and forth every day but 7 of swords tells me that you find ingenious ways to pull it off. Don't let the shyness snuff the light out, and don't let the egoic sense of duty override your needs.

If you feel like sometimes you have to sneak away to find time to enjoy what makes you shine from the inside, I'm getting guidance for the collective to simply learn how to share a little bit of what you're doing while balancing it with the part of you that wants to protect your creative ideas and work on them. Again, there's a message here about balance. You don't have to spill everything about your life to the first person who asks, but at the same time there will be people who benefit from your fiery energy. Your interests and talents deserve to take up some space, pile 1. I think this pile just shines in general even if you're not always aware of it, even if it's incredibly subtle. It's in the little things.

⊱ ──── {.⋅ ♫ ⋅.} ─── ⊰⊱ ──── {.⋅ ♫ ⋅.} ─── ⊰⊱ ──── {.⋅ ♫ ⋅.} ─── ⊰

Pile 2. Evanescence - Bring Me to Life

Shield (Fire, Sagittarius); "I attract relationship in harmony with my authentic self"; 5 of Cups, 10 of Pentacles, 9 of Pentacles

This pile could be going through some awakening period right now. I know, I know, it may sound cliché with "wake me up inside" as the lyrics, but it occurred to me that the Shield in your card is like this old energy that has been barricading you from material experiences. Like this is a pile who's really already been in the thick of the brambles and is wanting to come out. The Sagittarius arrow sign is in my mind like a flare set off from deep in the woods as if to say, "hey! I'm over here, come find me!" It's being let off in the sky in the hopes of rekindling some sort of lost connection to something, could be a person or to a certain goal. You currently shine brightest when it comes to relating to others, and seeking out positive relationships.

It could be that you've gone through some disrupting experiences that have encouraged you to wall off to self heal. This may have taken a long period of time to work through. I feel that you're moving into a part of the thicket where more light is pouring in from the outside, that you're near the end of a long isolating tunnel. You're entering a phase of your life where you're ready to have connections that feel more solid and real, rather than fairweather friendships. You're looking for sustainability, for people to have some sense of loyalty with. People with whom you can truly enjoy the abundance of life. The main issue is that grief and isolation can becomes habits that we may need to temper with in order to allow the new. Forgive yourself when you still feel the need to retreat even as you begin to stand out more. Depending on how long it's been, it can be quite an adjustment.

Maybe abundance is coming a little slow here, as the green color here is blocky. But it's rich like emerald, so once it's found, things will transform in your life radically. It's saying that even if you identify as an introvert, there is still "treasure" to be found in building new relationships. It could be totally virtual. But you shine from making the most out of the opportunities that your current or as of yet undiscovered relationships have to offer. You have a lot to offer others as well. I do get a strong teaching role from this pile. Maybe you've thought about going into teaching. I think your students would see you as sensitive and resourceful.

⊱ ──── {.⋅ ♫ ⋅.} ─── ⊰⊱ ──── {.⋅ ♫ ⋅.} ─── ⊰⊱ ──── {.⋅ ♫ ⋅.} ─── ⊰

Pile 3. LMFAO - Sexy and I Know It

Marigold (Water, Scorpio); "I am wise and wonderful"; 6 of Pentacles, 2 of Pentacles, 10 of Cups

Your reading is so clear to me, you shine brightest when you are fully present in the moment and loving what you're doing and who you're being. I don't think this pile likes to waste any time lol. I think you've had some hard experiences that have taught you how to value the time and resources you have, especially when you give this energy way generously. And I get the sense that you're learning how to manage both the philanthropy side of things with the personal fulfillment side. You're learning that one does not necessarily require the sacrifice of another. Compromise, maybe, but not at a net loss. You can give without overextending the hand, you can seek out bliss in life without taking it away from others.

This is not a common trait to shine in, pile 3. It's a mature place to shine, but not always easy to develop. It's required a lot from you right from the beginning. There were probably some things you had to let go to make it all work before. But it doesn't always have to be that way. Your ability to rise above the situation, brush the dust off your coat and move forward is what makes you shine. Although I'll say this: even if it looks like all is going well, you're still allowed to feel whatever grief is stored up inside you. It's part of moving past it in order to make the most out of the present.

Some of these experiences may have had something to do with your sense of confidence, your body image, how your present yourself to others, self-expression, and I'm also getting pretty privilege as a topic. Self worth over buying the right kind of things too… I think you're letting your hair down finally. You're letting some outdated ideas about your image go, you shine when you declare yourself to be beautiful and sexy "just because". Why does there need to be a reason? Some people might tell you that you, in particular, aren't "allowed" to feel good in your own skin and clothes. Some may get threatened by your confidence. But it's because that's where you shine and it's up to them to adjust their vision. Tell em to make an optometrist appointment if they can't handle seeing your presentation.

⊱ ──── {.⋅ ♫ ⋅.} ─── ⊰⊱ ──── {.⋅ ♫ ⋅.} ─── ⊰⊱ ──── {.⋅ ♫ ⋅.} ─── ⊰

This reading has not been evaluated by the FDA to diagnose, prevent, treat, or cure any disease or infection. Please ask your physician before going online.

2023, Vitaminsee Tarot ™

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orbdweaver · 1 year

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One subtle thing about Nemona that stood out to me: there’s this moment, around the 4th gym or so, where she runs up to you and apologizes profusely that she can’t battle you yet because her team isn’t balanced right yet or something

It’s a Funny Moment because

1) I’m not the one itching to battle; she is. She doesn’t need to apologize this much, it’s fine lol.

2) I’m not picky with opponents. I’ll happily fight her team in whatever wack-ass state it’s in. She’s fretting over an imaginary problem.

At the time, I wondered if it was like an honor student thing. Maybe Nemona's the kind of person who, inspired by the genuine skill, kindness, & dedication of those around her, grinds herself into a pulp trying to live up to that imagined standard.

That pressure is ENTIRELY self-imposed. If any of the adults she looks up to noticed this anxiety spiral, they’d tell her to relax, it’s fine, you’re doing too much as is and we’re proud of you no matter what, we promise. And they’d mean it, sincerely. Which of course would just make it worse, because “oh no, they’re even kinder than I thought they were, much kinder than I am, I need to work even harder to become as kind as them”.

Anyway, having completed the game, I think all of that is still *an element*. Nemona is a rich kid, student council president, honor student, and particularly close with the kindest & most influential adults in the country. The writers didn’t make her those thing on accident.

What I hadn’t picked up on was, the thing that was eating at Nemona the most was probably that she was worried she was fumbling her chance to make you her friend

Nemona, explicitly, has a weird autistic hyperfixation on Pkmn battling. Nobody else her age does. So her only real friends are adults, who, with the wisdom of age, are able to appreciate her idiosyncrasies, and know how to direct them toward something positive.

But they don't share them, as far as Nemona can tell. It’s hard to tell if someone Gets It or is just navigating around It, especially when they keep treating it as a means rather than an end.

Then you come along, showing a hint of sharing her Niche Special Interest, and she thinks “at last, this is my chance, I can make someone else Get It”.

So she tries to give you a guided tour, basically.

Nemona is already champion-rank; she is deliberately holding back & using a weak team so she can do the gym challenge alongside you. She isn’t worried her team is too weak. She’s worried her team isn’t properly tuned to give you the experience she wants you to have.

She's trying to streamline the process of you falling in love with this thing she likes. Which is of course a self-defeating effort.

The adults in Paldea are all hilariously hands-off. I think it’s fair to say that Nemona lacking a Nemona of her own is part of what helped her develop her weird special interest. The adventure of crawling thru a thorn bush is part of the fun. (I'd wager this is the ethos behind the school's mostly-unsupervised treasure hunt.)

And to her credit, I think Nemona knows this. She’s trying not to weird you out; she doesn’t want you to know she’s following you around. She *certainly* doesn’t want you to know how much she’s tying herself in knots over this, trying to determine how much contact is appropriate. She's attempting the impossible task of trying to suss out how someone is feeling without interacting or being fully honest with them, because doing either might make you think she's weird.

The arc ends appropriately anticlimactically. Of course you like the game; that’s why you started playing it. Nemona was fretting over nothing. All she had to do was consistently be there for you while you grew into what you were going to be. Which she did.

#scarlet and violet #nemona #character analysis

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obstinaterixatrix · 10 days

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I recently got my first office job where I am interacting with my coworkers regularly. do you have any evil conversation skills that you think i should learn first

1. Figure out the easiest/most comfortable ways to say the whole spectrum of soft no’s to hard no’s from a scale of ‘genuine regret (invites future attempts if scheduling allows)’ to ‘polite deferral (respectful and evasive, somewhat firm)’ to ‘stone-cold shut down (professional Fuck You)’; you gotta know them all and you gotta be able to deploy them as needed. or at the very least, you gotta know how to give yourself time so you don’t automatically say ‘yes’ when you don’t want to.

2. The easiest way to make a good impression on people is to balance being useful and making others feel useful, which means offering some of the specific knowledge/insight you have and also asking for/acknowledging the knowledge/insight of others. offering/asking can be a weird balance, sometimes for some people in some contexts it comes pretty naturally, other times I find myself parsing out one (1) resource bit by bit to gauge whether someone’s actually looking for it or if it’s received in a lukewarm way. If ‘useful’ can’t really be a selling point at the moment (e.g. starting with zero experience rather than having an established knowledge base in a new environment) then you can always swap out ‘useful’ for ‘interesting’. know a charm point you have that can hook other people’s interest, know how to find and highlight other people’s charm points. If you want a mutual relationship it’s better to make an effort to share equally (for some people that means intentionally holding back, for other people that means intentionally speaking more), but if you’re just trying to coast it’s usually easiest to keep turning the conversation back on them and track topics the other person can get chatty about (pets, kids, shows, how they’re doing, etc).

hang on those are too reasonable and not evil but I’ve typed it all out so I’m not deleting. so, there’s a bunch of worksheets about ‘rules for fighting fair’ and if you ever meet a coworker you fucking hate then you wanna take those rules and do the opposite of all of them in order to have an on-purpose bad faith conversation and to make it as miserable for everyone as possible

1. If the coworker you hate is trying to talk about one specific problem, disagree with whatever their definition is and refuse to compromise

2. Bring in as many stupid tangential asides as possible so their original point gets buried

3. If you want to be legit evil, always imply or directly state that whatever they’re going through is a personal problem and a Skill Issue

4. Always find a way to vaguely disagree with your coworker. If they have a good point, say ‘Well, no, it’s actually like [basically rephrasing their point]’; you can either be subtle about this (negging) or blatant about this (The Mansplainer)

5. There’s a limit to how disrespectful anyone can be as a new employee. Find that limit and keep just short of it.

6. Always deflect and blame someone else, or if there isn’t someone to blame, have different excuses at the ready for anything that anyone might take issue with.

to some, evil communication skills is to win. but I think the most successful (insufferable) application is when the point is to make everyone as miserable as possible. I’m not trapped here with you, You’re Trapped Here With Me. also I wouldn’t actually recommend doing many of these things if you want functional working relationships. but it’s good to keep in mind if you’re ready to go nuclear! but more seriously, I do think these are important evil communication skills to learn because if you recognize someone using them against you, it gives you the chance to make strategies based on their behavior. 1. If someone is disagreeing with you any time you try to express a problem, shut down the conversation and reengage with a mediator that will be fair to you; 2. if stupid tangents keep showing up, it’s up to you to be the terrier with its teeth sunk into the mailman’s leg; etc. anyway this has gone too long and someone else should probably be giving more legit advice

#ask #anonymous #whoops this got long #oh almost forgot #congrats and good luck! hope you don’t have to use the evil skills!

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katyawriteswhump · 2 months

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the power of love, part 12 (steddie, steve whump, stobin fic)

Alternate ending S4: Steve has a habit of surviving near death experiences then getting sick for no reason. And Eddie and those fatal bat bites? After an impossible feat of mouth-to-mouth resuscitation from Steve, he’s mysteriously fixed. So, Eddie’s back to being banished, this time with Steve and Robin in tow. Eddie’s healing, but Steve isn’t… and life gets even more confusing, when Eddie develops feelings for Steve, which aren’t entirely unrequited.

Part 1 Part 2 Part 3 Part 4 Part 5 Part 6 Part 7 Part 8 Part 9 Part 10 Part 11 Part 13

(also on AO3 here and as part of my steve whump fic series)

Eddie POV

To Eddie, there’s something way too police-like about the way Hopper escorts Steve to the Humvee. He even raises a hand to check Steve doesn’t knock his head, while climbing in the rear seat. Eleven gets in the far side of Steve, and Robin piles in on the near side.

Robin shoots Eddie such a mean look and slams the armoured door. Left standing in the mud, Eddie gets it—subtle as a monster punch in his gut. Stay away from Steve.

“Let’s move.” Hopper motions urgently, and Eddie trudges over and gets in.

“You sure you want me riding shotgun? What with me being… Oh, I dunno, verified spawn of Satan?”

Hopper drops his voice to a barely audible rumble: “Whatever game you two were playing last night, I don’t wanna know.” He doesn’t sound chummy. Not actively hostile either. “I promised your uncle I’d look out for you, if I could.”

Eddie inhales sharply: “You’ve seen him? He’s okay?”

“He salvaged your six-string after the quake. He wanted me to tell you.”

Eddie snorted; cannot deny it’d played on his mind. God, Wayne knows him too damn well.

Hopper fiddles with the switches on the spartan dashboard. “Not gonna say he’s okay, because nobody in Hawkins is. Our best hope is that the military pull out when they can’t find Eleven. We still have allies, acquaintances of Owens, though their numbers are thinning fast.”

“That who we’re running to?”

Hopper has some kind of plan, which he explains as he grinds into gear. They’re heading for a remote road, where these remaining ‘allies’ have arranged further transport. “Luckily,” says Hopper, “you guys were pretty much on route.”

“We can’t stay away long,” says Eleven. “I have to go back. I can beat One, with help from friends, and…”

Eddie peeps over his shoulder, sees her staring hopefully at Steve. Who is staring glassily ahead.

“Steve?” prompts Robin. “Anything you feel like sharing.”

“Will you gimme a break? Look, I got an idea about what’s behind all this. I don’t know how much sense it’s gonna make, so…”

Nothing could’ve prepared Eddie for what Steve discloses next. “I know how nuts this must sound,” Steve says. Eddie, like the others, is temporarily stunned speechless. “That I should be… That I should’ve drowned in that lake, when I was a kid.”

“The only thing nuts,” says Robin, who’s literally cuddling him from the side, “is that you didn’t tell us this sooner.”

Steve squirms. “Honestly? It only came together in my head in the past day or so. It was like a really annoying jigsaw puzzle, and jigsaws are basically my least favorite thing ever.”

“We need to figure this out,” says Hopper. “There was no gate open to the Upside Down in 1978. Doesn’t mean Steve’s powers, if that’s what you got, aren’t linked to the Upside Down, or the experiments at Hawkins Lab. If they are, doesn’t mean they’re all bad news. Look at El.”

“I guess.” The Humvee rocks and rolls over a particularly cavernous pothole, and Steve flinches hard. “In my dreams and shit, I see this trippy… I don’t know how to describe them. They’re like a ghost or something; also, not quite a ghost. Whatever, I got this hunch they’re behind it.”

“Could be some kind of water spirit,” says Robin. “Or even a goddess. Oooh, so the Romans worshipped this water goddess, Minerva, and the ancient Celts had Sulis—"

“Be serious,” says Steve.

“I am serious. In Native American religions, water can represent a link between life and death. I wish I knew more.”

“Not sure I wanna know any of this.” Steve peeps down at El, who’s not quit staring at him. “If this is your crazy-pants frenemy after all, now would be a really good time to tell me.”

She shakes her head. “No. If I sense anything, it’s good… soft… like Mama should’ve been.”

“Oh,” says Steve. “Can you, like, see them too?”

“No.”

“Son-of-a-bitch!” bellows Hopper. The Humvee’s wheels churn uselessly in the sludgy ground. “Everyone out, apart from you.” He points at Steve. “You okay to take the wheel?”

Steve revs for about ten seconds. Eleven uses her powers to unstick the armoured vehicle, and nobody needs to shove. Trouble is, they get stuck again about ten minutes later. And again, five minutes after that. Soon after they next get going, there’s a loud metallic clunk. The Humvee chokes, splutters, and dies completely.

They all tumble out yet again, apart from Steve, who stays put, and nobody argues. Hopper props up the hood. “Munson, you any good with cars?”

“Uh, hello?” says Robin. “My moms jumpstarts her Chevette every single day.”

That distracts Steve’s guard-dog. Eddie suffers a moment of agonising indecision then pops his head in the rear seat.

“How you doing?” Eddie knows it’s a stupid question.

Steve shoots him a withering look, fluffs his messy hair. Eddie slides in beside then totally freezes up. He feels horrible about Steve’s arm in the sling, and as for the rest of it…

HE DIED! On the other hand, I died too.

Yeah, how exactly does Eddie Munson fit into this beyond-freaky legend? He hardly gives a shit— he’s not the one seeing ‘ghosts’ and, worse, starting to resemble a ghost.

“Eddie,” whispers Steve. “I might need to get away.”

“Get away?” mouths Eddie. “What do you mean? From Hopper?”

Steve’s silence is answer enough.

“Granted, the dude’s packing heat,” says Eddie. And driving a freakin’ tank. "He’s not holding you hostage.”

“I know that. God, I’m so confused.” Steve’s stopped being grouchy or fighty. Which is pretty un-Steve, and scary in itself. He curls a hand over his eyes. “I feel like I’m being… I dunno, pulled in the wrong direction.”

A power chord of fear twangs across Eddie’s every fibre. “You want us to go back to Hawkins?”

“Us?” Steve emerges from behind his fingers. “No. Hop’s right. You’d be arrested and I’d be… Ugh, I’m so goddamn sick of this. I want this all to be over, so we can… you know, fool around together.”

He reaches out, hooks a strand of Eddie’s now-totally-mad hair behind his ear, and sorta smiles. For a single damn fine moment, that smile sparks in his eyes; Eddie loses himself there, and their world is perfect.

Then Steve’s fingers drift away. Eddie wants to catch them, kiss them, promise he’ll do anything Steve needs. He’ll take down the whole damn US army, slay Vecna in a blaze of glory, even if he dies AGAIN trying, and yet…

… Holy shit, he’s terrified of Steve! Scared that, if he touches him, he’s gonna crumble into dust, or…

“Earth to Eddie?” Steve waves in front of Eddie’s nose. “Have I added invisibility to my list of useless powers?”

“No. It’s just… I want this over too, so we can do, uh, yeeeaah, stuff.” Wow. Call yourself a lyricist, Munson? He’s rescued by a roar from the Hummer’s engine. That sleepwalker’s glaze returns to Steve’s eyes, and it feels way too much like another door swinging closed in Eddie’s face.

Although the dinged motor is fixed, the mud continues to be literally a pain in the butt. Nobody enjoys the bruisingly rough ride on the rock-hard, upholstery-free seats.

“At this rate, we’re gonna have to ditch this piece of garbage and walk,” says Hopper.

“Jesus Christ, just ditch me already,” mutters Steve, who’s turned a disturbing shade of gray-green. Hopper doesn’t argue, which makes Eddie think he isn’t taking all that Steve says seriously. Which makes Eddie feel kinda sick, too.

What should they do? He wishes he could talk to Steve alone again, this time be less of a tongue-tied dipshit. That said, how can Steve go back to Hawkins? Right now, he can’t hardly walk.

They’re halfway across a patch of open land when they get stuck yet again. Eleven’s nearly as washed out as Steve, her nose bleeding. Hopper suggests they get the Humvee moving the traditional way.

“Shame about all that rain,” says Robin, as she, Hopper and Eddie pile out to push.

“Is that a dig?” snaps Steve, from the driver’s seat.

“Wasn’t supposed to be. Sorry. Sorry.”

They’ve barely put their backs into it, when Hopper squints into the air and curses louder than ever. A distant juddering noise reaches Eddie’s hearing.

“Oh my God,” cries Robin. “Is that—”

“Sikorsky search-and-rescue Hawks,” shouts Hopper. Yup, Eddie counts a battle-wave of ten or more. “Into the trees. Go, go, go!”

“What about our tank?” Eddie jumps on instinct to help Steve, who’s clambering out, seeming kinda dazed. Robin blocks Eddie’s path. It’s all a moot point, because Hopper’s already got to Steve.

“If they see it,” says Hopper, hustling Steve ahead of him, “chances are they’ll take a potshot.”

“I can crash them,” gasps Eleven. “Done it before.”

“Not a great idea, kiddo,” says Hopper. “They’ll know for sure it’s us, and throw everything they got into this part of the country. We’ll never make our meet.”

Eddie is scratched from head to foot by outdoor crap, before Hopper says, wheezing hard, “This’ll do.” They all get down in a bunker-like dip. Steve kneels beside Eddie, Hopper behind them. Robin shuffles around to crouch beside Steve.

“Do you hear that?” murmurs Steve to Eddie.

“Uh, yeah,” replies Eddie. “Evil empire TIE fighters, straight outta the Death Star.”

“Not them. A river or something. Loud. Like a waterfall.”

“Could be a giant bear taking a slash?” says Eddie, because life is currently so unfunny, he really might as well. And no, he can’t hear any water. Only the crescendoing approach of that airborne death squad.

“Bears have gotten so far down my ‘worry about’ list,” says Robin, “that that’s scary itself.” She picks a cobweb out of Steve’s hair. Steve, meanwhile, closes his eyes. He starts to tremble. “Uh, Steve,” says Robin, “what are you—”

“What d’you think I’m doing?” Bitchy Steve has returned, which Eddie chooses to find reassuring. “They’ll see the Hummer for sure. If I can actually do what you say I did—”

“It makes you sick,” hisses Eddie.

Robin bristles. “Since when did you care?”

“Will you both zip it?” says Steve.

Robin rubs his back. Eddie considers squeezing his knee, then decides against it. Hopper stops scrutinising the skies, brow furrowing: “What’s he doing?”

“Nothing!” Robin’s overwrought smile is stupidly guilty.

“Stevie?” prompts Eddie. “Is there anything we—”

“No, no. I remember this insane crackling. If I can get that going… Gnnng!”

“Anger helps,” whispers Eleven, from the far side of Robin. “What makes you angry?”

“A ton of shit! I can’t… Jesus, it feels like my head’s gonna explode.”

There’s a blinding flash, and a deafening thunderclap. Steve crumples forward, and Hopper grabs him by the scruff of his sweater before he hits the dirt. Eddie shrinks back, his own heart beating like it’s gonna bust outta his chest.

Steve’s now basically hyperventilating. “Ssssh, you did great.” Hopper gently braces an arm around him. “You gotta calm down. Breathe slower, nice and steady, huh?”

Eddie glances up at a bank of wispy grey clouds that hadn’t been there before. A few tense moments pass, the air palpably crackling with an electric tension. Then the noise from the choppers begins to fade.

“They’re turning around,” says Hopper. “Hawks can’t fly with lightning around.”

Robin’s shoulders sink with a relief Eddie shares. Steve, however, groans miserably. Hopper is still keeping Steve upright and asks, “You gonna puke?”

Steve scrunches his face and nods.

“Stop goggling and get lost,” says Hopper to the others. Nobody disobeys. They’ve not gone a dozen yards, before Robin trips and falls on her face. As Eddie stoops to help her, she springs back up without aid. Far more shockingly, she throws her arms around Eddie’s neck:

“Oh my God, oh my God, I know the powers are awesome but he’s sick and I’m so scared he’s dying. What do we do? How can we help him? WHAT DO WE DO?”

All Eddie can do is press his cheek to her hair, and answer with an honesty that jack-knifes through his guts. “I don’t know, Robin. I haven’t a goddamn clue.”

Part 13

...

PS--In case anybody's worried... while there is plenty of trauma ahead, I only do happy endings ;)

tags: @estrellami-1 @kal-ology @finntheehumaneater (thank you, thank you, thank you!) If anybody else would like to be tagged on this fic or any of my writing, please let me know :) Reblogs, comments and likes also very much appreciated :) Thank you for reading so far :)

(also part of my steve whump fic series on AO3)

Part 1 Part 2 Part 3 Part 4 Part 5 Part 6 Part 7 Part 8 Part 9 Part 10 Part 11 Part 13

#steddie #steve harrington #steddie fic #steve x eddie #steve harrington whump #steddie fanfic #stranger things fanfic #steve harrington x eddie munson #eddie munson #stobin friendship #platonic stobin #stobin fic #stobin

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pluck-heartstrings · 1 month

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My mind is in shambles, I hope you know that. Here I am tangled up into like 3 different gauges and types of threads trying to determin the difference between steel grey and platinum and what becomes a hand and what becomes a dress while making her look like a creature of distinct parts. Should I double strand some cool pastels into her dress to make an Aurora affect ton mimic sun and moon taking on sun rise and set adjacent coloring? Or try and make her as acurate as possible with flat coloring so my brain doesnt itch? Maybe I could try and ombre her skirt in an attempt to make her face as striking as possible? Like a singular blinding star in the sky. Do I use micro thread for a tiny, figurine like statue, or more versatile larger gauges that look messier but allow for more variety, but a floppier plush like design? How much do I have to pay you for a reference sheet or should I go all and just freehand her a dress design? What color is the gem on her circlet I cant find a reference?!?! I know its non canon but she's about to get my ballet slipper pattern feet and become and en point queen. I could streamline the design by forgoing feet altogether and make a stand and thick skirts and pose her and straight up make like 10 of her! GOLDEN PRINCESS PLUSH! Oh my god, sleeping beauty dress split in sun and moon colors I can't. I feel a deep connection with Sun to the point of pulling my hair this princess has me in a death grip. Her aesthetic got me quaking. *her god damn head is a nightmare!!!!!!!* I've got a third of a two year project left to do *that I was paid for, and can not put on hold* or else I would be elbow deep in dragon scale patterns trying to make 3D eyelashes!

And part of this design process is trying to like... reverse enjineer Fazco type branding. What parts of ger are most marketable and thus, simplified and emphasized? With her and sun being the only two without "cool accessories" my brain wants to go whole fucking ham into the rose prop that will most likely be her signature and remove her legs so her skirts can become an inverted rose. I'll bet they'll be all over her merch.

Ima go die now. Or lie down and shake from overstimulation. Princess fixation always be hitting at 2 am.

Nelly I'm shaking you. I'm kicking my feet in a furious attempt to keep it together.

If there was a head of merch at Castle Faz I'd hire you in a heartbeat. You understand. /italian gesture hand/ No matter what happens Castle Faz is still a FazCo business and they'll do whatever it takes to make a profit.

Shitty little cheap plushies of the Princess? Fly off the shelves. Every little girl either buys one of the Princess cap crowns or a plush. Their parents bring them back to Castle Faz because the doll basically disintegrates with too much playing so they have to return to get a replacement. But the die-hard fans that follow the company and turn a blind eye to all the mysterious circumstances of the past? Those are the ones that shell out BIG BUCKS for the high resolution, hand painted figures. Especially one of the newest character in their lineup, the first in however many years. The Princess isn't well known yet, but if the business does well then she'll be the marketing face for the brand.

Her aesthetic is platinum, with an array of subtle colours. Picture fine particles of glitter that catch the light and refract into a multitude of colours. Because of her simplistic mask and hat, she looks good in all colours. That means her merch can change often, and it does! Dress up Princess dolls with changeable outfits for every occasion, holiday, theme.

See now you got me goin'

#ask pluck #medieval times au

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blueskittlesart · 2 years

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tell me more about voltron please

i considered putting this behind a readmore but i dont think i will actually. i think im going to subject you all to this. okay to begin with when i say voltron i am not talking about the 1984 anime voltron. i am talking about the american 2016 reboot of that anime, voltron legendary defender. it had eight seasons within 2 years and i was obsessed with it for the majority of my time in middle school. it did irreparable damage to my brain.

voltron was run by two people named lauren montgomery and joaquim dos santos. voltron voice actors and writers also had a kind of unprecedented amount of interaction with their fans, both in-person and online. the majority of those fans were adolescent lgbt people, as are fans of most netlfix cartoons. this did not end well. i'll get into it later.

the first two seasons of voltron came out to relative praise. it appeared, at the time, to be an interesting character-driven children's show, similarly to steven universe and other cartoons of its time. As I mentioned, a lot of fans were adolescent and/or young adult lgbt people. this obviously led to fandom, and, as a consequence, shipping culture. the problem was that the shipping culture in voltron was insane. there were two MAIN ships that people were into at the time. keith/lance (klance) and keith/shiro (sheith). for context, keith and lance were 17 & 18-year old classmates and established rivals who had several heart-to-heart/romantically-coded scenes in the first two seasons, causing fans to latch on HARD. shiro was keith's 26-year-old adopted brother.

the mid-stage voltron fandom literally coined the terms "anti" and "proship." "anti" originally meant "anti-sheith" that is the kind of fandom culture were talking about here. before voltron, these debates had obviously still been present in fandom, but voltron dialed everything up several notches. it was insane. I was put on blocklists for being anti-sheith, as a FOURTEEN YEAR OLD.

I mentioned earlier that the showrunners and voice actors had a kind of unprecedented amount of interaction with their fans, and i actually think this is what lead to the show's downfall. What happened was, basically, at the very beginning of the show's run, one of the showrunners teased that they would have lgbt rep in their show. everyone assumed that this rep would be either klance or sheith, and went insane about it. the staff of the show could not have a single event without some fan asking if shieth or klance was going to be canon. they would always dance around it, which i don't REALLY blame them for. the biggest problem was that they actively REFUSED to condemn sheith, an incestuous ship between a 26 year old and a 17 year old. some fans at the time suggested that they even encouraged the shipping culture within the fandom because they knew it brought them more engagement. however, encouraging this kind of thing and refusing to condemn sheith led to several unsavory situations with voice actors and fans, most notably pidge's voice actor bullying a 13-year-old off this site after they pointed out it was weird that the voice actor openly shipped sheith. there were also several incidents where FANS were in the wrong, most notably when a klance shipper took photos of unaired material during a tour of the studio where voltron was being made and then threatened to leak it if the showrunners didn't make klance canon. it was an insane couple of years to be in fandom spaces on the internet.

this is bad, obviously. all of this is really bad. but it also all came alongside the steady, obvious decline in quality of the show itself. what had once seemed like an interesting, well-paced, character-driven narrative was clearly devolving into a badly-paced serialized mess. subtle racism began to creep into the writing. the racism became less subtle as the show went on, obviously favoring white characters. Characters would have development teased and then never followed through on. filler episodes would be full of weirdly malicious digs at fan-favorite characters for seemingly no reason. the story became disjointed, the tone shifted to be much darker with little warning, and the plot became nearly impossible to follow. what came out later on, after the show had concluded, was that sometime after season 3 or so, the showrunners had THROWN OUT THE SHOW'S BIBLE. meaning past a certain point, there was ZERO PLANNING, zero written plot, zero ANYTHING. it was obvious in hindsight why the show started to go downhill so quickly. It was speculated that the bible was thrown out specifically to spite klance shippers, who the showrunners later openly admitted to hating and wanting to screw over.

six seasons came and went with no lgbt rep like they'd promised. the fans were getting incredibly impatient. the longer they went without the satisfaction of a klance or sheith payoff, the harder it became for them to overlook the writing problems in the show. something had to be done.

at sdcc 2018, the voltron team showed a clip of their new season.

this was an EVENT in the fandom. like. i remember exactly where i was at the time. i remember refreshing the blog of a mutual i had who was at the panel, liveblogging it, and praying that they would finally fix everything they'd fucked up over the last year. they showed a clip of shiro and another man, who was named adam. the clip itself was ambiguous, but when asked about it afterward the showrunners confirmed that adam was shiro's fiancee.

this literally sent voltron fans into a rabid state. we were going fucking INSANE for those 2 weeks between the panel and the season's release. as far as we knew, at the time, we had been given the lgbt rep we'd been promised, and they'd somehow managed to do it WITHOUT PISSING OFF EITHER SIDE OF THE SHIP WAR. it was a miracle.

two weeks later, the season aired. adam was in about 2 minutes of the episodes, total. EPISODES, PLURAL. there were 13 in the season. his presence on screen amounted to the ambiguous scene which was played at the con, where it's unclear what his relationship with shiro actually was, and a scene of him DYING IN A FIGHTER CRASH.

the fandom fucking imploded at this point, and i left it basically immediately afterwards because the lgbt rep was basically the only thing i'd been holding out for. i can't tell you exactly what happened after that but the rotten tomatoes score for voltron went from like 79% to 10% overnight, if that gives you any idea. voltron legendary defender is also currently cited as an example on the wikipedia page for queerbaiting. they lost about 90% of their fanbase that day, and the rest was lost a few months later when they killed their only black character and redeemed their genocidal villains in the final season.

voltron sucked ass and i have no idea what possessed me to sit through ONE season of it, let alone seven, when it was just so obviously never going to be what i wanted it to be. that being said, the fandom was a literal cultural reset for every lgbt person between the ages of 14 and 25 at the time. make of that what you will but for the love of god do not watch it for yourself. stay as far away from this fucking show as humanly possible

#asks #god its been a while since ive explained voltron to someone. i could do a video essay on this shitshow fr

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thenationaltreasuregazette · 8 months

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Really?? Nicolas Cage and the Art of Weirdness

It’s kind of strange that Nicolas Cage is the star of National Treasure, right? Tame, family-friendly Disney flicks aren’t exactly his brand.

While the casting still strikes me as an odd choice sometimes, I am eternally, supremely, primordially grateful that he took the role of Ben Gates.

As I touched on while discussing Abigail’s Accent, National Treasure isn’t a film with a lot of subtly or nuance. At least, it wasn’t going to be until it slowly morphed throughout production, as giant collaborative projects tend to do.

Just like Diane Kruger brought nuance and depth to the role of Abigail Chase through both her acting choices and the presence of her accent, Nicolas Cage transformed Ben Gates from a generic action-adventure hero into something far superior: an awkward, obsessive forty year old man.

To fully appreciate the Nic Cage of it all, let’s begin with what the role looked like before he signed on.

More ↓

For those unfamiliar, there’s a version of the National Treasure script available online that’s dated from the month before Cage signed on as the lead. It’s hugely fascinating in the ways it’s the same as, and also wildly different from, the finished film. You can read more about it here.

Age

The first major effect casting had was changing Ben’s age. In the 2003 script he’s introduced as

…intrepid explorer BEN GATES(late 20s, strong family resemblance)

Obviously Nic Cage was not in his late 20s in 2004. Born in 1964, he was 39/40 when the film shot and 40 by the time it came out.

We know from Ben Gates’ drivers license that his character is supposed to be 39 in the first film, as his birthday is shown as May 1965. Why the one year difference? Hollywood is allergic to people over 40. Next question.

So, Ben went from a 20-something to a (basically) 40 year old man. And that changed the story in a few subtle but important ways.

First, it makes Ben’s quest take on a different flavor. To be in your late 20s and still chasing a pipe dream is not that unusual or socially unacceptable. People in their 20s do stupid, impulsive, risky things. They are socially ‘allowed’ to be a mess. At 40, not so much. Ben’s peers have houses and families and kids who need to be taken to soccer practice.

This makes a difference to me because it emphasizes the desperation of Ben’s quest, and his absolutely unwavering belief in the treasure. It also paints a starker contrast between Ben and his father, because when Patrick was 29 he was still gallivanting around treasure hunting too. By the time Patrick was the age Ben is now, he had disavowed treasure hunting and “grown up” into a normal life. But Ben just won’t let go. The older Ben gets, the less hope Patrick has that he will eventually grow out of it. At 29 that kind of hope would still feel possible for his son. At 39, it probably doesn’t.

Hotness

I’m so sorry that we have to talk about this, but we do.

Ben Gates was clearly written to be played by a hot young actor. That’s hot as in popular, and also as in sexy.* A typically implausibly fit and handsome leading man. This is evidenced not only by his age, but by the two (2) shirtless scenes written for Ben in the 2003 script.

Ben Gates is supposed to be hot.

And Nicolas Cage is...I'm not going to say "not hot," lord knows I'm on the being-normal-about-that-old-man webbed site but sex appeal not the primary reason you cast him.

What Nic Cage is know for is being weird.

*I’m aroace and vaguely sapphic, help me I don’t know what I’m doing here.

Weirdness

Weird. Eccentric. Zany. Over-the-top. Melodramatic.

These are the qualities Nicolas Cage is famous for, but they aren’t qualities the role of Ben Gates necessarily calls for. In fact, too far in any of these directions, and the performance could push an already implausible movie over the edge into farce. We wouldn’t take Ben or his quest seriously enough to get invested in the story.

But Nicolas Cage knew that. For as absurd as the iconic “I’m gonna steal the Declaration of Independence” line is, it's the premise that's ridiculous, not the performance. This isn’t the place to find one of Cage's signature zany performances. Search any number of "Craziest Nicolas Cage performances" lists and National Treasure won't rank. He tones it down enough that Ben feels like a rather grounded person in an over-the-top story.

However, he doesn’t tone it down completely, and that is so important.

The little places where Cage lets a hint of his signature weirdness flicker through round out Ben as a character, and give him more (or at least a different flavor of) nuance than he might have had in other hands, particularly if he were cast and played as a typically suave and macho leading man.

Case Study (Cage Study?)

Let’s look at this line from the 2003 script. This is what the FBI has to say when they’re searching Ben’s apartment.

AGENT JOHNSON Profilers say we're looking at an adult male, a loner, has a high IQ but has never been able to hold down a job, is socially inept, has probably written numerous letters to the White House expressing antigovernment sentiments. We're expecting him to contact us shortly with ransom demands.

This line is supposed to show us how off the mark the FBI is in their theory. The joke is that they’re all wrong about Ben.

Except, are they?

In this version of the script, every one of these items after “adult male” is incorrect.

Ben’s not a loner; he’s been working with Riley for 7 years.

He hasn’t not been able to hold down a job, he’s been salvage diving and treasure hunting consistently.

He’s not socially inept; he’s a ladies man. We hear multiple references to past girlfriends, and of course there’s Patrick’s assumption that Abigail's pregnant.

And obviously he hasn’t expressed anti-government sentiment and has no plans to ransom the Declaration, even in exchange for his own freedom.

What I want to argue here is that with the casting of Nicolas Cage, most of these false assumptions about Ben became true, at least a little bit. Of course there were many forces at work shaping the final tone and content of the film, but all of them—writing, directing, acting, costume design, etc—became oriented around fitting this character to the man playing him.

Loner

In the final film, Ben is a bit of a loner. He doesn’t seem to have known Riley for that long, and he immediately gets betrayed by the only other person he’s close to. His status as an outsider is emphasized by the fact that he and his family have been ostracized from the historical community.

In the 2003 script, this element isn’t present and Ben gives a fake name for other reasons. We also meet his landlady, whom he’s very kind to, and hear about at least one former girlfriend. In short, we get a sense of the web of people in Ben’s life outside of the treasure hunt. In the final film, Ben is seemingly much more isolated.

Job

We also get no evidence about Ben’s job. The 2003 script makes multiple references to Ben working as a salvage diver, which might not be what he hopes for, but it is a clear profession. In the final movie we only get reference to Ben being trained at the Naval Diving and Salvage Training Center, which implies that he’s qualified to work at a salvage diver, but gives no indication that this is what he regularly does for work.

We also have Patrick saying:

PATRICK I have a job, a house, health insurance. What do you have?

The contrast makes it clear that Ben doesn’t have any kind of consistent job. Now, my guess is he does still work salvage jobs in this version, and that’s how he affords his apartment and the other things he needs to keep treasure hunting, but it’s never directly mentioned.

As to why he doesn’t hold down a job, the obvious answer is that it would interfere with his relentless pursuit of the Charlotte and the Templar Treasure. It makes sense that he simply chooses not to keep a consistent job because that’s not compatible with his goals. However, I want to raise the possibility that Ben would struggle to hold down a job even if he tried. If, say, he needed some expensive new diving equipment and took a several months long “normal” job in order to afford it, I think he’d be constantly distracted by the treasure and might quit and/or get fired the next time he needed to dash off on a lead.

Socially inept

Likewise, in the final movie, Ben is charming and clever and all the things a leading man is supposed to be, and also awkward and fairly socially clueless.

On the Charlotte he seems surprised that Ian and his guys turn out to be armed criminals, so either he was so desperate for resources and support to continue the hunt that he’s in denial or he’s very bad at reading people. Or at least, very bad at reading Ian. Maybe both. (There’s also the matter of his very poor attempt at bluffing in this scene.)

He’s awkward with Abigail in their meeting in her office, and even more awkward giving the toast. She even points out to him that he says the poetic things that are on his mind even though most people know they're not supposed to do that.

Then of course we have the “cavalier in my personal life” exchange, which I plan to dig into in depth at a later time, but for now let’s leave it at: Ben is not always on the same page as the people he’s in relationships with.

And there’s the very strange reading of the line “really?” after Ben and Abigail survive the collapsing staircase sequence. He’s amazed that he’s met someone who would also prioritize a historical artifact over personal safety, and he delivers the line just…weirdly.

Conclusion

He’s weird! (affectionate)

Ben Gates is a weird guy!

By the final film, Ben Gates had become a hybrid of the thing he was always supposed to be—a suave, swashbuckling hero—and the thing he was not supposed to be—a weirdo outcast on the fringes of society.

To draw a comparison to another popular Disney adventure flick that came out the year before: Ben was supposed to be the Will Turner of National Treasure, the hunky young underdog who always gets the girl. By casting Nicolas Cage and letting him bring a little history and a little weirdness to the role, Ben Gates ended up edging just a liiiiiiittle bit into Jack Sparrow territory as well.

He occupies both spaces, and I think that duality serves to deepen his character and make him far more interesting than if he was a straight-forward action-adventure hero.

Hooray for weird middle-aged men.

#the national treasure gazette #national treasure #ben gates #nicolas cage #national treasure meta #articles

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snarkylinda · 9 months

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I’m very glad you’re talking about spencer being parentified because it feels like people sometimes gloss over it a bit? or maybe I’m just looking in the wrong places. if this isn’t something you do in you’re blog feel free to just. not respond but do you have any more thoughts or. idk headcanons on how that might have affected him as an adult?

Hi anon! To be honest I have no idea what is essentially discussed alot on the fandom other that a tiny fraction of it I expose myself to because 1#I am too tired and old to deal with fandom discourse about my blorbo, and based on my previous experience with fandoms I KNOW that the most popular the character, the bigger the discourse so haha no- 2# I joined in late lmao literally a couple of months ago, so I am super out of the loop just screaming to the void in desperate needs for someone to scream back 🤲🏼 do this kind of asks actually made me so happy agahagaha 🥰🥰 Buckle up bois this is LONG-

Ok now to those that might come across this and ask themselves what the hell does being parentified means, it's a broad term used for the phenomenon of (at best) a child sharing parental responsibilities due to x circumstance, or (at worst) downright having the parent/child dynamic completely swapped, with the child being the caretaker for the parent and household. You don't have to know deep CM lore knowledge to realize the latter is Spencer Reid to a T. Hell, they aren't even subtle about it lmao:

Btw parentification is often mixed in with abandonment and while they share the "child being forced to grown up" too quickly, the former is often distinguished by the fact that, more often that not as is this case, the parent still cares for them but are unable to do so how it should be (tho there are several cases where parentefication is an part of willing neglect, sadly) and added to the fact that they have to look after themselves- they have to look after another.

This is a really complicated, broad topic and I just mentioned this to go full disclaimer and that I don't blame Diana at all for how messed her son ended up since she can't help it- and to make a joke about how Spencer was abandoned and parentified. Also harassed. Guys he wasn't even 18-

Anyways but back to your question, how do I think that affected Spencer growing up....well in everything basically lmao

But I will take on two instances that had stood up to me the most: emotional management and hiding secrets.

The second one is easier: you would catch this man dead before he vents to you over something other than his shitty dad (that I find very funny tbh) and when he does is because he is at his limit and about to fucking cry.

Now don't get me wrong: we all are entiltde to our privacy. These are grown ass adults and they have lives outside of their working circle....

Right?

Haha we have an problem-

So yeah, Spencer kind of actually needs to rely on his co-workers because he has literally nobody else to rely on-

And yet

Oh here is the thing- Spencer is one polite boi but he is also blunt, if he doesn't want someone on his business he says so (look back when Alex discovered him and Maeve) this is literally "I wanted to tell you but I feel like I shouldn't"- this is not season 1 mind you, this is season 11, and yet here he was one of his oldest friends literally grabbing him by the arm and having to tell him it's never a bother- I am the only one fucking crying at this?

Excuses seems to come to Spencer like it's second nature- "sorry a tube on my apparment broke" "Oh I....I tripped!" "There was a lot of traffic so..." "I was watching an movie" and I am not am expert on USA's history or some shit, but Child Protection Services had been a thing since at least the 60s, so I don't think that a 10yo living alone with his mentally ill mother would have flown well- you get the idea.

I think this scene summarizes the whole thing perfectly

Get it? it's irony. (I love how Spencer is about to say something like dismissive "thank you" but because this shit hit too close to home to comfort he just gave a polite smile and walked away. That silence was LOUD) Because Spencer had always had done the former but the latter er.... :D

And it's not only when it concern Diane btw, any problem whatsoever Spencer would rather lock himself up (literally lmao) that sit down and talk about it- it's only when his bs is exposed and he can't refutage (like that little scene after Gideon's death when Rossi asks him if he had been there all night- he points out the fact he is wearing the same cardigan as the day before) that he opens up....or he runs away, which leads me to the second big point that I think shows how much Parentification fucked him up:

Spencer has the emotional maturity of a teenager.

I talk about this literally all the time so I'll be shorter lmao basically Spencer... has an issue- ok he has lot of issues- and that is the way he dislikes direct confrontation, so whenever he is hurt or angry he would rather be dismissive and passive-agressive that talk it out with the person- even going as far as turning away and storming out of the room.

(Here is the part where I put the screencaps but him storming off would be out of focus so lmao er.... Elephant Memory, Memoriam, Proof, a little part in 15x2 and The Gathering)

Now... I do think that a grown-ass man doing this shit is hilarious, like I love Spencer's bratty side so much lmao but it's an clear sign of someone that never learned how to deal with his emotions on a healthy way, someone that 6 out of 7 days of the week had to interiorize everything in and because of that holds on so much....resement, so much repressed anger but also without an stable force on his life to help him manage that- so we are left with an teenager trapped in an adult's body, loss at how to handle shit like he always did.

....And want to know the worst part about an Parentified boy onto adulthood?

That they don't know better.

#criminal minds #spencer reid

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charcubed · 1 year

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Listen. I'm going FUCKING. INSANE. because it seems like almost no one on the internet gives a shit about Shy Baldwin/Reggie Harris from The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel, which boggles my mind because like ???? they're in love?????? and their relationship is so compelling??

And what we see of what becomes of Shy's story is so tragic obviously but to me it also hints at potential for him and Reggie to maybe someday get out of showbiz and be together. And from what I can tell, no one in fandom TALKED ABOUT THISSSS when season 4 came out!!! What the fuck!!!!! This is maddening!!!

So. I'm making this post mostly to get this off my chest and as a yell into the void. Because maybe somewhere, someday, someone else will ALSO be searching tumblr to see even a glimpse of content about these 2 exceedingly compelling characters, and I will write this so that I save that person the despair of coming up empty-handed like I am.

I'm also gonna drag other people down with me if anyone who hasn't seen this show happens to be curious enough to read this, so in that vein, I will cover some basics to outline this. Because I want to TALK ABOUT THEM despite most of this being obvious and no one giving a shit, Goddammit!!

(Spoilers or whatever I guess but who cares)

This is Shy Baldwin. He's a singer (clearly) and canonically a Black gay man who (obviously) has to hide his sexuality because this is set in the 60s.

This is Reggie Harris, Shy's manager and longtime best friend.

This is how Reggie introduces himself:

Let me tell you what kind of manager I am, Susie Myerson and Associates. I've been looking after Shy since we were kids tossing rocks in vacant lots. We was running numbers for Stephanie St. Clair before we were ten. When he found his singing, I collected the money, kept him out of trouble, kept people from bumping him. I'll be at his side when he draws his last breath unless I get there first. I would lay down my life for him. That's what's going on here. You hear me?

–3x02, "It's the Sixties, Man!"

In episode 3, they casually sing "Is You Is or Is You Ain’t My Baby" together just for fun.

youtube

INSANE harmonies. And their flirty banter in this whole 1 minute long scene makes me want to eat my own arm.

Anyway... hold those thoughts.

So, Midge Maisel (the titular character) is the opener for Shy on tour with her comedy act in season 3. The show reveals in episode 3x06 that Shy is gay, in a scene where Midge finds him bruised and bleeding because he hooked up with a guy and it went sideways. Shy comes out to her as part of his explanation, and she helps cover up the bruises on his face with makeup so he can get on stage that night.

That leads to him doing a sitting "stool set" with slower songs because his ribs are fucked so he can't stand/dance, and the unsubtle song the show has him sing is "No One Has To Know."

The clip isn't even on Youtube, which is indicative of how much I'm suffering with how under-appreciated Shy's storyline is, but you can listen to the song here or on Spotify.

youtube

No one else can tell I think you're beautiful No one else can tell You're my favorite view Let the world all think what they will I'll wait until they're through 'Cause no one has to know I need you No one but you

^^^ Literally the whole song is like this / about being gay but that's a piece of it.

Shy looks at Reggie as he sings.

Thankfully Tumblr user microclown made several GIFs. Here are two.

KILLL MEEEE

Clearly, obviously, this is deliberately not subtle. Everything telegraphs that Shy is in love with Reggie.

Now, considering wider context of Shy hooking up with a random man etc., one could be forgiven for thinking it's meant to be seen as unrequited love... but I really don't think that's the case. I think there's a delicious undercurrent of angst that ties into how Reggie tells Susie (Midge's manager) at various times throughout the season that their job is to make the hard decisions on behalf of their clients, and Reggie references making hard decisions on Shy's behalf or for Shy, because his job is to do what's best for Shy even at the times Shy doesn't like it. So... are they in love and Reggie tries to keep them from properly being Together to protect Shy? And/or does Shy think his love is unrequited at this point? Lots of room to play there.

So now comes the part that no one's talking about!

More explanation: season 3 ends with Midge being very straight and very white as she does a comedy routine in which she makes way too many cheeky references that out Shy as gay on stage if you know gay-related coding/lingo. There are Reasons why she sort of panics and does this, and the audience loves her jokes, but that is very much Not The Point. She's fired from the rest of the tour as a result–rightfully so.

In season 4, it's announced that Shy is suddenly getting married to his longtime girlfriend and it's totally a publicity stunt 🙃 Midge and Susie are invited to the wedding... but not by Shy; by the team of straight white dude management who stepped in to control Shy's every move in the name of "helping him to stay on the straight and narrow" to keep his career on the rails. Midge's fuck up gave them the opportunity they needed to control him. (Shy and Midge end up reuniting in a bathroom at the reception but we won't be unpacking that conversation and how I disagree with how Midge leaves things between them).

So the suits invite Midge and Susie to the wedding so they can escort them to a side room and have a meeting with them, and they try to pay them off to sign an NDA. (Midge declines for them both, saying she will keep her silence for the sake of Shy, not for the suits.) Come to find out that that management team also forced Shy to pay off / fire his entire band–who were shown to be like family to him throughout the tour in season 3–and also forced him to pay off / fire Reggie.

LOU: Look, he's a good guy, Reggie. I like him. But he's too close with Shy to control him. There's too much history.

...

SUSIE: Reggie got Shy to where he is now. You realize that?

LOU: Reggie's taken care of. Big severance. We threw him some publishing. He's buying a house in Westchester. Everybody's happy.

SUSIE: Oh, I bet. 'Cause when you think Reggie, you think Westchester.

–4x05, "How to Chew Quietly and Influence"

Here's the obvious thing: Shy and Reggie clearly had no choice in this matter.

There's no way in hell that Reggie would have left Shy willingly. Absolutely no Goddamn way in hell. Whether he's in love with him or not, Shy is "his boy" (his words, repeatedly) and he said "I'll be at his side when he draws his last breath unless I get there first." That was his character introduction! Holy shit!

But here's my hot take: I DO think Reggie is in love with Shy, and I do think he intends to keep that promise of being by his side as much as possible. And I'll tell you why.

At the wedding, Shy sings a short excerpt from his new single to his new wife:

Come close to me, baby Cool as the river When you're here in my arms Manhattan's getting dimmer I know it sparkles, too But city lights don't shine as bright as you

Once again the clip is not on Youtube and I am suffering.

There are a few more lines from the song in that episode referencing Paris and Rome (where Shy and Reggie and the band went on tour in season 3...), but it's a piece of a longer song. We thankfully have the song in full, here or on Spotify:

youtube

And in the episode, Shy says on stage that the song was written by Reggie.

"You just heard a little of my new single. And it's a special one because the lyrics were written by my boy Reggie Harris. Which is fitting because that man's been putting words in my mouth since we were kids begging his grandmom to buy us ice cream.

–4x05, "How to Chew Quietly and Influence"

This makes me FUCKING FERAL.

Especially because of the lyrics in the full version of the song... which, as it turns out, is all about giving up fame and the spotlight to be with the one you love.

There are hidden lyrics in the full track that are meant to actually be in between the shortened ones we hear in the episode. The lyrics from the full version that Shy doesn't sing at his wedding are as follows:

I’ve had the spotlight Been bewitched by wealth and fame But I’d give up that hot light Just to hear one special someone Call my name

...

I could search the world over Go as far as a man can roam But nothing I’d see Would mean nothing to me Like the vision of you when I’m coming back home Baby, you are my home

Buildings may rise And reach for the skies They twinkle and flash But they won’t ever last Like the beauty in your eyes

Whatever they may do Those city lights won’t shine as bright as you

Reggie wrote this song for Shy. He literally wrote this song for Shy. Shy says it himself! And Reggie's not in attendance at Shy's publicity stunt wedding because the suits are keeping them apart for now, but he's in Shy's heart, and Shy chooses to sing this song and share that backstory about the lyrics because they're each others' home in secret.

I can't handle it! I can't FUCKING handle it!!!!!

Like are you SERIOUS!!!! And in the episode where the suits say Reggie took his severance pay and went and bought a fancy house? BITCH. If he even actually did that (and didn't just claim he was doing it to fly under the radar), then he bought a house so Shy could one day join him there because ???? "You are my home." Ohhhh myyyy Goddddd ;___; A song about giving up the spotlight to be with the one you love........ I have connected the dots. Just wow.

So yeah I'm literally going insane. I LOVE them. I've been thinking about this for like 2 weeks and no one gives a shit but I love them! They are important to me and every part of their subplot is so compelling and makes me so emotional!

There is fic about all this that's in my brain and outlined in my google docs and if I ever write it I will post it on AO3 for the maybe 2 people who will care someday. But yeah.

WHERE is their spinoff!!!!!!!! Jk I don't want it because I don't trust they'd be handled properly. However, I am manifesting even a crumb of information about them in season 5 because Shy Baldwin is my son and I would like any kind of hint he and Reggie manage to eventually orchestrate their happiness <3

If you actually read this post, thank you so much for indulging me. I had to get this off my chest, okay, I'm losing it.

I love them and they're in love. That is all.

#shy x reggie #shy baldwin #reggie harris #the marvelous mrs. maisel #tmmm #shy/reggie #char writes things #FUCKING. LOOK AT THE MATERIAL. wah 😭

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tangledbea · 10 months

Text

I finally found the posts with the topic I want to be salty about, but since they came in a conversation from several separate anon asks (same anon), I thought I’d just transcribe them here with links to the original posts.

Here we go!

Anonymous asked: Am I the only one who thinks the sound people for this show don't value Eugene's singing as much as the other characters? Yes technically he's of a different calibre singer than all these broadway stars, but he still sounds amazing. And yet every time he's part of a song they bring his track in the mix down a little bit lower than the others, even if it's a duet. When mixing you don't hafta diminish the harmony (for example) to make the melody stand out, and they do it to him every time. 1/3

Even in the buddy buddy song, when they’re singing together Eugene’s track is just ever so slightly underplayed. It’s done super subtly, but it’s there. Basically they treat Eugene’s voice like the underlying score, which you typically sidechain to the main tracks so that it doesn’t overpower them without sounding like you just turned the volume down. (sidechain is magical and I love it btw). Anyway… that’s important to do because then when there’s a musical interlude you can bring it up 2/3

again… but the sidechain makes it subtle, so the listener doesn’t notice. That’s what they do with Eugene’s voice. It’s sidechained underneath the other singers so that it can’t / won’t / doesn’t overpower them, but they bring him back up when the other named character stops singing. And I just can’t figure out why the sound people for this show would do that unless they just value him less than all those Broadway stars and the pop princess Rapunzel.

Me: You are definitely speaking a language outside of my realm of casual knowledge. lol I know a little about music but almost nothing about sound mixing. That being said, I don’t have an explanation for you, since I’m not a part of the mixing process. You’re hearing something that I’m not, since I’m not familiar with it. I know @cnotes sits in the mixing booth with most if not all of the songs, so maybe he’s got some input onto why that’s the case.

Anonymous asked: Sidechain anon here... I saw people were commenting on my last asks saying that they can hear Zach's voice just fine and I wanted to clarify. That's how sidechain works. It's not that it's quieter or harder to hear. It's exactly as clear as it would be without the sidechain. What it does is make sure Eugene's voice doesn't overpower anybody else. For example: pick any one song. You can still hear the instruments clearly, even though they're not the focus. But they also never overpower the 1/5

vocals. If you just turn the instrument volume down, they’d sound like they were coming from farther away than the vocals, and that’s distracting. By using sidechain, you keep the instruments just as present as the vocals without letting them overpower what they’re not supposed to overpower. And if the worry is that he couldn’t perform on an equal level as the Broadway stars, they’d give him a boost with that so their voices don’t overpower his, rather than the other way around. And I know 2/5

that most people aren’t trained to notice stuff like this, but because I am it’s driving me up the wall a little bit. Also, best example I can think of off the top of my head. Listen to Stronger than Ever Before, particularly Eugene’s line at the end when they’re flying on the lanterns. He’s singing with the townspeople, but Eugene’s voice is clearly discernible from them while it’s focused on his face. But the townspeople still sound like they’re present and not a mile away while still not 3/5

overpowering Eugene because they’re sidechained under him. If they had just turned the volume of the townspeople down, it creates a sense of distance that the visuals aren’t telling us exists. So I’m not knocking Zach’s talent at all, or negatively comparing him to broadway stars. I’m actually mad because the sound team is not seeming to value his talent, or is valuing it less than the broadway stars, because they keep sidechaining him under the other named characters whenever he sings with 4/5

them. And it makes me super salty. Also I typed sidechain so many times it doesn’t feel like a word anymore. Also also sorry if this is boring you, but audio is something I love to bits so it’s fun for me to talk about (even in the context of frustration) . Basically Zach is talented enough that they don’t need to be doing this to him in the mix, and they keep doing it (if that is what they’re doing… and it really sounds to me like they are) . And I don’t like it. 5/5

(And this one, I posted without comment because I had nothing to add, but wanted people to see it.)

However, reading it again, it’s really grating on me, because Zac has been on Broadway. I mean, he’s not a big time Broadway star like Eden or Jeremy or James, but he’s been the star of two musicals that both had soundtracks released, and he’s had professional musical training. Eugene’s voice is still my favorite amongst the cast, and rereading this is just pissing me off all over again about how under-utilized and outright downplayed he was!

#Tangled #Tangled the Series #Eugene Fitzherbert #Zachary Levi #TTS #Songs #Links

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sullustangin · 11 months

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SWTOR 7.3 Feedback

Non-spoilery stuff first

No technical glitches that I experienced on two playthroughs on Pubside. Minus one or two moments with Odessen NPCs wandering around, nothing broke the game or immersion. All the quests worked for credit; I had the weekly for Ruhnuk not work the time round, so this was nice.

I am aware that there are some financial changes they’re trying to patch back. Basically, too much is being charged between trades with other players directly and when mailing to alts. Also! There is now a 30-day cooldown period between joining a guild and being able to access the guild bank. So get those alts in sooner rather than later, especially if you plan on raiding/doing group stuff with them.

On the Gunslingers and Snipers you now have a 2% per 3 seconds passive heal while in cover -- level 64 option. This is a big deal for survivability for these two classes. I ran dailies and set my companion to DPS. I had to pause and heal the comp after combat, not myself. No more glass cannon, but this might be nerfed soon, since it’s a little op. I’m going to have fun with it while I can.

If you love the Mantellian Privateer or Mira’s Armor from KOTOR II but can’t afford either on Cartel Market, good news: the Mira set from Bounty Association (the event that comes around every 1-2 months) is now unlockable in collections. So if you have a Mando char that goes hard on Bounty week, you now have a new cert sink + unlock with Cartel Points for the whole account. There are some subtle differences in the outfits for the discerning Space Barbie player.

The Date Nights don’t happen in this patch; I would guess it will probably be activated during Night Life in July. Speculation on my part, though

Non-Spoilery Plot Stuff: A lot of characters that we had the previous option to kill are present in this patch. This really gives me hope for future content; I previously complained that Bioware was writing to the deadest version of the game (where they assume everyone is dead and only work with Lana). We got A LOT of coverage with ‘optional’ characters, so this does give me hope for the future writing: assume everyone is alive, and some people get less content. I’ll talk about what that means later for this patch.

Onward to spoilery stuff.

Torian does get an Alliance alert, which his ba’vodu Eva answered; this is unromanced I feel good about the Torian piece I just reblogged, because it seems consistent with what we see here. Torian thought the drama over his father was over, the shame was done, the name redeemed -- and there is all is, resurrected from the dead. Even more content with our neighborhood Mando really does make me want equivalent content with Vette; given that (shitty) decision was almost 7 years ago now and we JUST got a storyline with payoff for that choice, Vette needs some love now, romantic or platonic, beyond Date Night.

The only downside to letting Torian live at the moment, especially if you’re a smug or bh, is that you lose quality screen time with Akaavi Spar on Ruhnuk. She comes to your rescue in the final fight. I also feel as if this scene should have been back with the 6.2 content drop, when the banner is first stolen, but it does work here as well, with the burning of it compounding all of Torian’s feelings about his history.

While Eva does hate that burnt tater thot, the content for Arcann was really good. I actively wonder if they are pulling things from the aborted third KotXX expansion. THIS is the character development many of us wanted to see before romancing him: we wanted to see the realization of what he’d done, the desire to fix things, the acknowledgement it may never be enough for some people. Ding Ding Ding! I did view both versions of the Darth Nul investigation -- I killed him on DS Eva and let him live on my sunshine and Rainbows LS smug Dyo -- and the version with Arcann in it is so much better. You also get an additional scene with him; romanced folks get a hug!

Like the Torian scene, this Arcann development probably should have been earlier in the plotline, but WAAAAY earlier -- like 6+ years. I think before the romance trigger, most definitely, but at least by the time of Nathema, especially if the Commander takes any of his advice to heart regarding Theron. I think this falls to fan fic writers to fix, in terms of char dev.

As I mentioned above, both of these guys are killable. And they got some great content this patch. The story feels better with both of them in it.

As for our dynamic duo, Lana and Theron do show up and play a vocal role with Shae in regard to the interrogation of Malgus. Theron does get to call Shae out on her working with Malgus to sack Coruscant 2x years ago (I have no idea what year we’re in since COVID screwed everything up). We also get wonderfully protective partners in Lana and Theron. Theron makes a comment that the work among other “benefits” keep him young if you’ve romanced him -- poor Lana. There is noticeable smoldering going on between him and the romanced PC. Theron does provide significant dialogue content and reaction shots, even though he’s killable. And of course you get a Theron letter, which alludes to Date Night. In sum, I don’t think Theron was at all side-lined compared to Lana.

The one weak part of all this is the tenuous connection between the Voss and Malgus’s plans. In part, it’s becacuse Sana Rae had to be on Voss and decided to kill a few birds with one stone (or one Commander). It boils down to a vision in which the PC saves the galaxy again. We do get the tidbit that if we outright kill Malgus, things happen faster, but ‘things’ are ‘inevitable.’ Some of the ‘mundane’ quests verge on the ridiculous, but Star Wars always stomps on character hubris when it can.

Did I enjoy going back to Voss? Yup. Did it make sense, given the nature of the Arcann content? Yup; if you didn’t spare Arcann, this feels more contrived than if you did, in my opinion. If I recall correctly, Voss was supposed to be visited in an earlier expansion but that was also canned.

The transition from Bioware to Broadsword may be bringing old things back to life to ‘finish’ the game -- or start a new beginning. I remain optimistic. I will say that the old story of Voss and the new story post Eternal Empire does spin together well.

Good patch, in my opinion, minus the issues with the economic system that are ongoing.

#swtor #swtor 7.3 #swtor 7.3 spoilers #torian cadera #arcann #theron shan #lana beniko #voss #arcann tirall #space barbies

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raven-at-the-writing-desk · 1 year

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In regards to the 'canonically handsome' ask before, wasn't Sebek called 'handsome' before? Like I seen different translations of the scene (Part 2 - Chapter 13 of Scary Monsters with the Magicame Monsters), that also say he's "dignified" or "cool" as well, but would that also count towards him being handsome or just more them commenting on the way he physically presents himself as a knight in training?

Credit to OtomeAyui for this translation.

I am guessing it's another one of those words or phrases that can have multiple meanings though... Mind you I am no translator nor have a talent for it, but I'd be grateful if you were able to help explain what the person meant if you could?

Also apologies, I like reading the older translations as much as the newer ones and may get some of the names for things mixed up a bit lol.

PSPSPSPSPSPS Big thanks to @curekibouka-writing for helping me fact check 🤓

[Referencing this post!]

(For reference, the image above/second screenshot is the full unobscuredJapanese text for what the NPC says about Sebek.)

I’m afraid that the translation that you’re referencing (in the first screenshot) isn’t entirely accurate 💦 The specific terms that the NPC is using to describe Sebek are “姿勢良い” and “かっこいい”; the former translates to “good posture” and the latter translates to “cool”. So basically, the NPC is saying, “Hey dude, you’ve got such good posture and you’re so cool but still hilarious! You’ll totally go viral!”

It’s true that “かっこいい” /”kakkoii” can sometimes be used to speak about something that is good looking, but the more common/generalized term is just to comment that something looks “cool” (which, I think, is much more subjective than what is considered conventionally “good” looking). I’d personally lean towards acknowledging that “cool” is the more accurate of the interpretations, just because it pairs better with the comment preceding it (which is the NPC complimenting Sebek’s posture). Additionally, there is no reference at all to Sebek’s face or what it looks like in the original Japanese text.

Context is important to take into consideration! “姿勢良い” /“good posture” and “かっこいい” /“cool” together give me the impression that the NPC is more amazed with Sebek being a diligent guard (and how he presents himself as one) more than being a remark on his physical attractiveness. In this case, dignified/cool doesn’t always automatically equate to also being handsome/beautiful.

Some may say it’s a subtle difference or that it “means the same thing anyway”, but the wording still changes our understanding of what’s being expressed here. In one version, Sebek is being called handsome. In the other version, Sebek is being praised for his presence as a knight. Those are two VERY different things which can and will have an impact on how the character is interpreted in the eyes of a fan. Nothing’s going to translate “perfectly”, so there are sure to be these differences from translation to translation (be it fan translations or the official English localization). Please keep that in mind!

#Sebek Zigvolt #twst #twisted wonderland #disney twisted wonderland #notes from the writing raven #question #spoilers #advice

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dykelawlight · 4 months

Note

hello isa!!! can i ask 42 and 43 for the meme?

Hello Kyo!! Absolutely!

42. favourite book(s)

In no particular order and hopefully switched up a bit from how I often answer this question:

Our Wives Under the Sea by Julia Armfield

This book made me CRAZY INSANE clawing the walls. Story of a lesbian marriage that's dissolving after the primary narrator's wife returns from an exploratory submarine mission during which her vessel sank to the bottom of the ocean and stayed there for three months. Told in snippets of the present from one wife and flashbacks of being trapped in the submarine from the other. Just so so so fucking good.

2. Harrow the Ninth by Tamsyn Muir

Okay, like, obviously all of tumblr has heard about the Locked Tomb series, and I probably wouldn't recommend reading this without reading the first book first, but this book, the second installment, is imo far and away the best. Told in really compelling second-person narration (the reason for which is revealed near the end of the story) with lots of eerie dream logic and also features a sensitive depiction of schizophrenia that's a perfect blend of mundane daily grind after dealing with it for one's whole life and still genuinely frightening for the main character to experience when new symptoms develop. And it's a scary lesbian space opera about imperialism and nuclear war and bone magic. So there's that.

3. Milk Fed by Melissa Broder

This one got really mixed reviews, and I see why, but personally I really enjoyed it — I sat down in a bookstore to skim through it and didn't stand up again until I had read the entire thing, lmao. Bisexual Reform Jewish woman with a severe lifelong eating disorder has a brief and tumultuous affair with a fat Orthodox woman whom she may or may not have willed into existence, which results in her dealing (certainly imperfectly) with her own fucked-up body image through the lens of intense desire for another woman. There are weird Kabbalistic dreams and smatterings of mommy kink throughout.

4. The Immortal King Rao by Vauhini Vara

FREAKISHLY prophetic spec fic by a longtime tech journalist basically asking what would have happened if Apple and Instagram had been invented as a single huge tech conglomerate (called Coconut) by a Dalit immigrant to the United States, King Rao. Narrated by his daughter, Athena, to whom he has left his recorded consciousness after his death. Vara started writing this book in like 2009 and published it in 2022 and it's so insane the shit she predicted. The sections that take place in India are also really good; the author is Dalit and interviewed her family members in India who grew up on coconut farms similar to those featured in the book.

5. Fair Play by Tove Jansson

Really bittersweet, subtle, odd little telling though short story about a pair of middle-aged women artists who have been in love for a long time and live together on a small Scandinavian island in the 1980s. Partially autobiographical and based on the author's romance with Tuulikki Pietilä. I read this a lot when I was first embarking on my relationship with my fiancée back in 2018.

43. favourite song ever

Really hard one!!! I am going to tentatively lay this honor at the feet of SPECIFICALLY the 1985 version of Bobby Jean by Bruce Springsteen off Live/1975—85. Oh how I howl along to that shit.

#ty!! <3

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alpaca-clouds · 9 months

Text

Castlevania and Themes

I experienced an epiphany yesterday, while discussing the series with a friend. And while I will still maintain that season 4 is very messy in many regards (especially writing), some choices make a lot more sense to me now.

The series is not really subtle about the base message. It is mostly really the "I know people who use subtext and they are all cowards" meme. With characters in every single season giving a big speach about the themes. You know, the entire thing about "building things" and "teaching people". But what I did not realize until yesterday is, that the series does not fall under the umbrella of progressivism, but radical progressivism. (Note that in the sense of the series this does not really maintain towards modern world interpretations of the words, but the original meaning.)

Let me explain. Within the series characters fall mostly into a spectrum of ideals. And those ideals fall into one of three categories:

Radical Progressivism: Building new things, sharing knowledge, teaching

Conservatism/Regressivism: Keeping things as they are, hoarding knowledge, upholding a sense of stability, undoing change

Destructive Nihilism: Destroying things, killing, not valueing life

Again, the show is not exactly subtle when it comes to the entire idea of making new things and teaching. We literally start out the series with Lisa lecturing Vlad about that topic. It is brought up through Sypha several times in season 2. In season 3 we have most obviously the Captain holding his monologue about the topic. And in season 4 we have both Isaac's and Trevor's respective monologues.

But watching the series under this aspect - specifically under the idea of contrasting conservatism with progressivism - certain things make a lot of change. Especially in regards of who ends up living and who ends up dying.

Also, under this perspective the Targoviste arc finally makes sense. As well, for that matter, where the entire thing with Taka and Sumi is going. Or why Lenore dies.

Let me explain: Adrian's decision at the end of season 2 is actually a wrong one. He decides to "protect the knowledge" in the castle. Which under the perspective of the moral good the series aims for being the sharing of knowledge is, in fact, a moral failing. He falls into the same battern as his father had before Lisa's arrival. Hoarding knowledge and not doing much with it. What the moral says he should be doing is, to go out and bring the knowledge to the people or outright advertise the castle as a place of learning. Hence, karma ends up kicking his ass.

Taka and Sumi meanwhile fall under the destructive nihilism thing. They want knowledge, but they only want that knowledge to destroy things. Hence, they are bad.

Same we see with Zamfir. She is a conservative. She wants to uphold the status quo. The fact that that status quo is a city literally in ruins basically exists to drive that point home. Which is also, why she ends up dying.

Carmilla starts out as a conservative, but then also runs into nihilism and she dies for it.

And while Lenore is not destructive, she is also not constructive or progressive. She just wants to maintain things as they are, and when change happens either way she resents that change - and hence she kills herself, because she does not accept the change and whatever new thing Isaac builds.

And it is also why Striga and Morana, who explicitly want to build a future together, get to live. And why Lisa and Dracula come back. Because Lisa is the serie's paragon. She is the one who wants to change and make new things and share the knowledge. And as long as she is around Dracula, who stands for the collected knowledge, actually can be a force for good. He comes back, because he embodies knowledge.

This moral is also, why Hector ends on the "I am going to write a book" thing. Because under this moral framework writing a book (meaning: sharing his knowledge) is one of the ultimative moral things to do.

To put it differently: From the very beginning of first watching the show, I could not shake the feeling that there was some blue-orange morals going on (aka: the moral framework the show works under is different from what you'd usually expect). But I could not quite put the finger on the moral set. Watching it under this perspective however and assuming the moral set involves "building/sharing knowledge" as the ultimate moral good and "destroying/hoarding knowledge" as the ultimate moral failing... the show actually deals out a ton of karmic justice.

And as I said: Lisa is a paragon from this moral point of view. So is Sypha. Heck, Sypha's character arc actually suddenly makes sense: She looses her way in season 3 as instead of returning to her people (whose entire thing is collecting, but also sharing knowledge and enabling an exchange of knowledge) she instead goes adventuring. Hence this entire thing bites her in the ass and she has to go to Targoviste to be reminded of her ideals.

An interesting bit about the entire thing is, that the framework also assumes that everyone can at any point become good and make up for anything they have done. Because if you start holding knowledge as the highest good, rather than something like human life... Yeah, it is actually pretty easy to rebuild that kinda stuff or make up for it.

Which is also why the show mostly deals with Dracula, Hector and Isaac and the entire genocide with "yeah, that was horrible - eh, whatever". Because it is not the moral framework that the show works under.

Also: St. Germain's moral failing is hence not his acceptance of death, but actually his misuse of knowledge with the firm goal to regress from it.

It suddenly all makes sense!

#castlevania #castlevania netflix #philosophy #analysis #media analysis #morality #ethics #blue orange morality

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