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jenlrossman · 10 months

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Darts as a metaphor for gay sex between Miles O'Brien and Julian Bashir

Yes, I'm serious. Bear with me.

Miles and Julian first play darts in season three, episode 16, "Prophet Margin."

They are playing darts because Julian was getting tired of racquetball—since Miles's wife has been away, they have played 106 games of racquetball. ("Rivals," the episode where we first see them play racquetball, make a strong case for that being a sexual metaphor as well. So basically Keiko is gone and Miles has been… "Playing with Julian" a lot 👀)

There's some good natured mockery/flirting, and Julian ends up throwing off Miles's concentration by mentioning his wife.

In the next episode, season three episode 17, "Visionary," Miles convinces Quark to put a dartboard in his bar. Quark argues that no one has ever come in asking for a dartboard, but Miles assures him people will.

To me, this reads like trying to convince someone that marketing specifically to queer people is important even if no queer people have ever complained about not being marketed to.

Miles and Julian play darts twice during this episode as well, but nothing particularly gay happens (outside of them being gay for each other in general).

Season three, episode 24, "Shakaar," has Miles playing darts with various guys on the station until he ruins his shoulder and needs to have Julian perform surgery to repair it.

Well that's what you get for playing with people who aren't your boyfriend. It's called karma.

In the fourth season premiere, "The Way Of The Warrior," Miles and Julian invite our old buddy Worf to play with them.

He throws a dart, and it goes extremely deep into the board.

The boys look intimidated. And rightfully so. As Jadzia will later (happily) learn, sex with a Klingon is anything but gentle.

(I wish he had thrown two darts, wink wink.)

Keiko returns in "Ascension," season four, episode 17, thereby ending Miles's "year as a bachelor," as Julian calls it.

Miles spends more time with his family, even trying to teach his daughter to play darts (in this context, darts with Molly does not represent sex, it just represents him trying to be a good father and husband and not having sex with his boyfriend). But he is clearly missing Julian; look at the way he longingly gazes at the outfit they wore together:

Julian has also been unsuccessfully playing darts with other people, and he and Miles lament that it just isn’t the same without each other. Eventually, Keiko arranges for them to spend extra time with each other because Miles is so depressed.

Season five, episode 16, "Dr. Bashir, I Presume?" reveals that Julian is augmented and has exceptional strength and hand eye coordination, among other things. This makes Miles realize Julian has been letting him win at darts all this time.

He is understandably upset that his boyfriend has been… uhhh… "faking it" 👀 and makes him play from 3 feet back to level the playing field (Miles metaphorically using marital aids).

He also suggests Julian play blindfolded. 👀

The next, and last, significant time they play darts is in season seven, episode 23, "Extreme Measures."

This is the episode in which Miles and Julian go through a harrowing ordeal which forces them to finally acknowledge that they love their significant others, but they like each other more.

At the end of the episode, the boys are playing darts in the bar. They are drinking. Miles is struggling with his sexuality at the realization of how close he and Julian are.

He says he needs to go home to Keiko. This is the conversation they have, word for word:

"She's a hell of a woman."

"That's why you love her."

"Mmm. That's right. That's why I love her."

There is no eye contact. It is awkward as hell. Is very obviously Not About Keiko, but rather Miles's last ditch attempt to avoid admitting that he would rather be with Julian right now.

So he leaves. Julian is alone, sad.

Then Miles pops back into frame. He has reconsidered. "Do you want to come?"

They leave the bar together, but not before Julian throws one last dart.

It's a bull's-eye. He scores, and, if you believe my metaphor, it won't be the first time he scores that night.

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imtryingbuck · 5 months

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Happy at last

Pairing: Bucky Barnes x fem!Reader

Summary: The team lose their friend (I’m bad at summaries sorry)

Word count: 751

Warnings: fluffy (my attempt at it anyway), mention of suicide. there’s a bit in the fic that is most definitely wrong by law but just go with it okay? Okay. the last chapter

A/N: I’m really sorry this is short. This weekend hasn’t been the greatest so…anyways sorry if it’s shit but I genuinely don’t have the energy to do anymore. I do hope you enjoy it though and thank you to everyone who’s commented, liked and reblogged each chapter it truly means the world🤍

Masterlist Series Masterlist

It’s been three years since Y/n and Bucky left hand in hand for Wakanda. The first nine months they were there was pretty hectic.

Shuri got her prepped and ready for the deprogramming, which didn’t take as long as Bucky’s. When she was clear of her trigger words that Bucky had read out, just like she read his all them years ago.

Steve let Bucky know that the President had been arrested for his role at Hydra, just after he was arrested he committed suicide. His name was still tarnished and the whole world knew what he had done.

Y/n made sure that his mistress, the mother of his unborn child, Alisha Grey and Baby Grey’s bodies were found and given a proper burial, right next to where her grave lays.

The new President gave Y/n a full pardon and gave her the Presidential Medal of Freedom medal. Stating on national television that Y/n L/n was never a traitor but a hero. A hero that had been saving people’s lives since she was 16 years old and that’s what she should be always known and remembered for. A hero.

The bosses and agents of SHIELD were all fired for what they did to her. Some were even arrested and sent to prison.

The warden of the Raft was arrested and sent to prison for endangering life that he was in charge of and for abuse and neglect, as well as profiting from assaults. He got 20 years.

Hydra had finally been shut down completely, all agents arrested and charged to with life imprisonment.

Y/n and Bucky’s relationship started. After she was given the all clear Bucky didn’t waste a single millisecond to kiss her. Kissing her like his life depended upon it right in front of T’Challa, Shuri, Nakia and Okoye - who all cheered and clapped.

When the time came for them to go back to their other home, Bucky tried to convince her to stay-

“Doll we have a life here, we’re safe”

“But… then that means we’ll have a normal life”

“And?”

“I-I don’t know how to live a life that’s normal Buck, all my life I’ve been trained to fight from one fight to the next…”

“I know, and my love you’re not alone. I’m right here with you. We’ll do it together I promise living a normal life scares me too but we can continue to be happy here”

She hesitated, what he was saying was true and she knew that. Though she did have to admit she took to farming rather quickly, naming all their goats after members of the team and the bull they had after Fury. She also did enjoy helping out on the markets, bouncing from stall to stall. Loved helping the children with schoolwork and keeping them busy by playing with them when their parents were busy or tired. She especially loved the day she delivered a beautiful baby girl - bless Bucky’s heart he had to hear about it every day for nearly two weeks, in full detail.

She loved the feeling of being free. Free from the pain and suffering she either saw or went through. Free from one order to the next. Free to finally be herself.

But even if she did love that feeling she was terrified off it, what she had told Bucky wasn’t wrong, all of her life the only thing she knew what to do was to fight and to survive.

Wakanda was her home from the minute she stepped foot in the country many years ago, and with Bucky by her side she knew everything was okay, right?

“Okay…”

“Okay?”

“Okay we can stay” Bucky picked her up and spun her around until he lost his footing making them fall to the ground, it didn’t stop him from placing kisses upon kisses to her face.

The team understood when Bucky and Y/n told them that they was retiring, nor was they surprised by the two’s relationship.

One by one the team followed suit and retired too, all being welcomed openly by King T’Challa and the people of Wakanda.

Each and everyone of them had found happiness.

It’s now the 9th of March 2026, time currently is 11:54pm, their whole family is waiting outside the couples home wincing at hearing Y/n’s screams.

The clock strikes 12:01 and all is heard is the cries of a baby.

Bucky runs out a few minutes later with tears streaming down his face.

“It’s a boy!”

<Previous

Tags: @unaxv @learisa @vicmc624 @bethexo07 @doublebassallie @cyberficlya @elijahssuit @sapphirebarnes @wasffginc @ladyvenera @casa-boiardi @cjand10 @iloveceandsswithallmyheart @violetwinterwidow01 @avocadotoastwithegg

~ banner credit goes to @sweetpeapod ~

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cricketnationrise · 2 months

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Congratulations on 500 followers omg you definitely deserve it!! I love, love, LOVE your fics I swear your writing never fails to make my day!!<3

16:04

Anywhere in the brownstone

Percy Okonjo

(I'm ThePlayfulFairy on ao3)

PEZ MY BELOVED

thanks for the excuse to write some more of him, with bonus Henry friendship because i love that too.

read the rest of the ficlets here

❤️🤍💙❤️🤍💙

4:04pm, the brownstone

Now

“Henry, I’ve found it. I’m sending you the address right now, so get your royal backside in gear and get here as soon as bloody possible.”

Pez sends the voice note with a distracted tap, not taking his eyes off the facade of the building in front of him.

Then

“What do you think about me helping out more with the shelters?” Henry’s wringing his hands—not playing with the signet ring as usual, although Pez has his own private suspicions about where that particular heirloom fidget toy has gone—which means he’s nervous.

“You’re already donating every cent you can get away with, Hazza—”

“I mean— What if I were more hands on?”

The lightbulb goes off in Pez’s head. “The New York shelter. You want to move to The States.”

Henry ducks his head with a blush. “It would be a good way to give back more immediately than donating could ever be.”

“And you want to be closer to your strumpet.”

Henry blushes again, but doesn’t deny it. “It would be enough to be in the same time zone more than a few times a year.”

Pez pulls his best friend in for a fierce hug. “Then let’s make it happen, babes. The Brooklyn location will need a Director once it’s done being renovated.”

Now

A sleek SUV with blacked-out windows pulls up to the curb where Pez is waiting. He bounces on his heels while the PPO’s do a sweep of the building. When they return with the all-clear, Pez bounds forward to haul Henry out of the car.

“See? Isn’t it bloody perfect? The whole building is up for sale—not on the general market, my realtor tipped me off that the current owner is looking to move out of the city.”

“Pez…” Henry’s speechless, gazing up at the perfectly maintained brickwork and welcoming front stoop nestled among the rest of the brownstones on the block.

Then

Hazza: PEZ PEZ I GOT PERMISSION DISGRUNTLED, BACKED INTO A CORNER, RELUCTANT PERMISSION BUT PERMISSION NONETHELESS I’M ALLOWED TO MOVE TO NEW YORK

Auntie Pezza: [excited.gif] [muchexcite.pic] [sqealing_charlotte.gif] HEN YOU BEAUTIFUL BEAN SPROUT YOU’RE EVEN MULTIPLE TEXTING IN ALL CAPS I’M SO BLOODY PROUD

Hazza: The situation did seem to call for it. I guess Alex has been rubbing off on me.

Auntie Pezza: HENRY I’M—

Hazza: Wait.

Auntie Pezza: I’M SURE HE IS

Hazza: Don’t. I beg you to not.

Auntie Pezza: IN MORE WAYS THAN ONE

Hazza: I really should know better by now.

Auntie Pezza: 🍆💦🍆💦🍆💦 You really should.

But seriously you should send me whatever draconian security measures your new abode will have to accommodate and i’ll get someone looking asap

Now

Pez escorts Henry up the steps and into the brownstone with unrestrained glee, delighting at the awe and dawning excitement on Henry’s face as he looks around.

Each room they pass through is well taken care of, and clearly well-loved. Nothing is pristine; doorways and floors and furnishings bear the hallmarks of age and growing children. There’s heaps of windows letting in natural light, catching the edge of Henry’s smile as he drags his fingers along countertops and railings. Henry doesn’t interrupt Pez’s monologue about the specifics as they climb the stairs to the top floor, content to listen as Pez rambles on about bedroom size and how long it's been since the bathrooms were updated. He doesn’t speak at all, in fact, until they get to the main suite.

“Oh,” Henry gasps, staring at the bay window overlooking the street. Pez watches him move toward it as if drawn by magnets, one hand already reaching out to stroke the window frame reverently. Pez congratulates himself—he knew Henry would love the rest of the house, but that the window would sell him completely.

“I’ll take it,” Henry says, resolute. He’s sat on the cushion in the window now, looking down at the people bustling on the sidewalk below. He looks at home there, like the house was designed with this moment in mind.

“I’ll get my realtor on it,” Pez says, already texting furiously. “And I know a few contractors from the shelter that could do the security updates the Crown will insist on and—”

“Pez.”

“Hmm?” He pauses and looks up at his best friend at the sound of his name.

“Thank you.”

Pez crosses the room, pulls Henry up and into a tight hug. “It’s my genuine pleasure, Henry.” He squeezes a little tighter before pulling back, smirking. “Reckon Alex will cry when you tell him?”

#cricket writes #theplayfulfairy #ficlet fest 500 #rwrb #pov pez #the best friends will house hunt for you

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glitteringcrab · 2 months

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One True Morty

Whaaaaat ifffffffff:

1. Rick C-137 really did personally start the Morty Market by letting the Citadel Ricks use the DNA and memories of "his" Morty (aka Morty Prime)

(we don't know if the Morty in the above memory is a random Morty or not)

2. The clone Mortys knew they were clones because they remembered the cloning process but they didn't know whose Morty (or Mortys) they were the clone of

3. One of the clone Mortys managed to break into the Citadel records or something and found out that they were all clones of "Rick C-137's Morty"

4. Said clone Morty visited C-137 dimension, found it in ruins because of C-137's weird Groundhog Day time loop

with Rick C-137 either still living there in a drunken stupor or having moved to the Prime dimension with Morty Prime, but in any case, no actual "Morty C-137" anywhere in sight.

5. Said clone Morty got cocky because he knew that "no Morty C-137" meant that he wouldn't get caught if:

6. he returned to the Citadel pretending to all the other clone Mortys that he was "Morty C-137", the one they all originated from -- in other words: "the one true Morty".

7. He started a weird little cult centered around his person, by pretending to offer clone Mortys guidance on "How To Be A Real Boy" or "What They Should Really Do In Various Situations" because "It Would Be What "The One True Morty" Would Do". (Theoretically he could have also encourage them to stand against their Ricks, but given the defeatist attitude of his cult members in Close Encounters of the Rick Kind, it seems unlikely.) It could even be a death cult ("we'll find out peace in the next world"???)

8. He did this in exchange of getting follower Mortys who I imagine would cater to his every need.

9. The higher ups in the cult knew what the supposed dimension origin of the One True Morty was (C-137) while the rest of the Mortys only knew "there is a naturally-occurring Morty they all originated from" but didn't know his dimension.

10. The higher ups may have even visited dimension C-137 to check, but as no Morty could be found there, they believed the Morty clone parading himself as the "One True Morty".

11. The "One True Morty" suddenly vanished - since, you know, his cult members are still waiting for his "return".

12. Which in turn would either mean that he, like Evil Morty, managed to escape the Curve (which seems unlikely because he'd have to use the Citadel to create a rift like Evil Morty did) OR that he managed to hide somewhere in the Curve OR that he was summarily killed either by a Rick or by a Morty -- and I'm betting my money on a Morty because Ricks are not really attentive on Morty issues, and I'm betting even more of my money on Evil Morty, because of the weirdly large proportion of Cult Member Mortys he targeted for the Morty Dome.

13. With the sudden absence of One True Morty, the cult fell apart with a bang. I dunno how exactly this could have played out, but if enough Mortys were members of this cult, then they might have been acting in a non-optimal (for Ricks' standards) manner all along, or they tore each other apart to present themselves as the One True Morty, or attacked Ricks, or if it really was a death cult, a lot of clone Mortys might have started committing suicide. Or even, the One True Morty might have been encouraging Mortys to take out their Ricks by comitting suicide (like a suicide bomber) and with the disappearance of the One True Morty the whole thing came to light. Not a clue. In any case, this could be what Rick C-137 referred to as a "cocky Morty" who "is bad for everyone".

14. Ever since, the cloning process mixed things up, using various other Mortys' DNA and memories, to prevent such a thing from happening again (and so you have Glasses Morty and Left-handed Morty).

15. The reason the imprisoned cult members in the Morty dome were so quick to title Morty Prime as "the One True Morty who returned" was not because of his hearty speech (although I'm sure it played a part)

16. It's because he freaking introduced himself

17. Which, if the dimension origin of the One True Morty was a cult secret, would not have been something a random Morty would know and therefore random Mortys would be unable to impersonate the One True Morty.

18. Which would in turn mean that Evil Morty wouldn't know Morty Prime could be titled as "the One True Morty" because, come on, it's kinda risky to hand cult members their (potential) cult leader.

(And yeah, I know that in Pocket Mortys the "One True Morty" is a specific figure very unlike the one in the theory I posted above, and Justin Roiland decided that Pocket Mortys can be considered canon since the Rick and Morty universe is an infinite multiverse... But precisely since it is an infinite multiverse, Pocket Mortys doesn't exactly negate the above theory)

I dislike this theory for two reasons:

I REALLY don't like the idea that ANY Morty who has EVER done anything of value is a literal copy of the protagonist, instead of their own person

If the cult Mortys were really the sort to commit suicide (possibly by taking Ricks with them) then they're really not the best people to kidnap, which would make this a really poor decision on Evil Morty's part.

That said, I do find it suspicious that the cult Mortys were quick to recognize Morty Prime as "the One True Morty".

#One True Morty #Morty Smith #Morty Prime #Evil Morty #rick and morty

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seasurfacefullofclouds1 · 3 months

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I think the point of that ask was not that he wasn’t doing well but why he is doing well. It’s formulaic. The industry encourages you by the levers it has created to follow their preset path to success.

Also, his management is still modest, they did create 1D so they do know a bit about marketing.

Modest Management hasn’t managed Louis since 2015. Niall has started a golf management branch with them (which is doing well, I guess?) but Louis is with Seven 7 Management and Matt Vines.

The assumption behind the ask is that critical acclaim can elevate an artist’s popularity enough to get them on airwaves (not true), and pop music criticism is independent of the influence of power and money in the industry (also not true).

Strangely, an album by a former 1D alum — the best-selling band in their day— that outsold Bruce Springsteen (!) to get a UK No. 1 was reviewed by barely enough critics in the USA and UK combined, to get a Metacritic score (5 reviews are required).

The number of FITF albums sold that week was more than twice as many as James Arthur sold last week to get a #1 (he sold 17k).

For any other artist, beating Springsteen would be a triumphant David v. Goliath type story, and the album would get spins. Following this achievement, BBC Radio One played FITF songs about 16 times that year, total, mostly between midnight and 5 AM. In contrast, they played Harry Styles (whose album was released 8 months prior) roughly once per hour.

In the meantime, Louis went on BBC Radio. He worked with Abbie McCarthy, a BBC DJ. In years past, he interviewed with Jack Saunders. You can see on bbcr1 Instagram that Louis is very popular— there’s no lack for an audience; he gets views and clicks. Following these endeavors, there were minimal spins for Louis’ current music.

Louis went on Elvis Durand’s program at iHeart NYC. He sold out Forest Hills Stadium. He went on iHeart LA with Jojo Wright. Louis sold out Hollywood Bowl, and his audience was enthusiastic enough that Variety was forced to mention it in a review of Neil Young’s concert.

No spins from iHeart NYC or LA.

In the past, when fans have called radio stations to request Louis’ music in the USA, they have been told that “it isn’t available.” Sony did not release every Walls single for radio stations to obtain rights — which means the stations had to request the songs on their own, one by one.

So you can see that the layers of obstruction / blacklisting are systemic and it start with Sony, with Rob Stringer. It isn’t a conspiracy dreamed up by Louies; there are years of documentation.

#louis tomlinson #blacklisting

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usafphantom2 · 2 months

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Russia would have deployed Su-57 fighters to attack targets in Ukraine

Fernando Valduga By Fernando Valduga 02/29/2024 - 16:00 in Military, War Zones

The Russian Air Force would have recently deployed its newest Su-57 fighter for combat operations, specifically targeting Ukrainian forces in eastern Ukraine.

On February 18, 2024, an operation saw a Su-57, accompanied by two Su-35 jets, carry out a missile attack against Ukrainian military installations. The mission originated in the Luhansk region, currently under occupation, where the Su-57, accompanied by its escorts, penetrated Ukrainian airspace to carry out a missile launch, according to the Defence-blog website.

The operation involved the use of a Kh-69 stealth cruise missile designed exclusively for the Su-57. However, due to a malfunction, the missile deviated from the intended trajectory and fell into a field, failing to reach the target. Despite this setback, there were previous cases, specifically on February 7 and 8, in which Kh-69 was successfully used in air strikes. This missile, evolving from the Kh-59MK2, is compatible with several Russian military aircraft.

Some points about the mission are not yet clear. For example, there is a confusion about the type of Kh-59MK2 cruise missiles that would have been used. Strangely, a Su-57 would not normally need to cross Ukraine's airspace to hit targets in Luhansk. That's because the Kh-59MK2 can hit these targets even in the depths of Russia's borders.

Despite the uncertainty, it is known that there was some action in the region in early February. Ukrainian sources confirmed attacks involving Kh-59MK2 on the 7th and 8th. This missile is effective against small and fortified targets, proven by its successful previous use in Syria.

Although the Kh-59MK2 can reach targets up to 300 km away, it is small enough to fit inside the internal weapon compartments of the Su-57. This means that the plane can maintain a low radar profile. The most interesting thing is that no other "fifth generation" jet fighter is known to carry this type of missile internally.

It was also observed that the use of the state-of-the-art Su-57 in the missile attack against Ukraine served a dual purpose, with the intention of producing a military propaganda film. This production aims to demonstrate the feats of the Russian defense sector and is expected to play a significant role in the narrative that will precede the next presidential elections in Russia.

No official image was released of the Su-57 operation in Ukraine.

The Sukhoi Su-57 (NATO codename: Felon), Russia's main fifth-generation multifunctional poacher, represents a significant leap in the country's military aviation capabilities. Developed by Sukhoi, a subsidiary of United Aircraft Corporation, the Su-57 was designed to fulfill aerial and attack superiority functions, boasting advanced stealth technology, supersonic cruising speed and highly integrated avionics.

Despite its advanced capabilities, the development of the Su-57 faced challenges, including delays and excessive costs. However, it progressively advanced to operational status within the Russian Air Force, with the first production model delivered in 2020. The Su-57 is seen as a key component of Russia's future air combat capabilities, intended to challenge fifth-generation Western fighters, such as the F-22 Raptor and the F-35 Lightning II.

In addition to its military role, the Su-57 is also positioned as a flagship project that shows Russia's technological prowess and its ability to produce a state-of-the-art stealth fighter that could potentially be offered for export to allied nations, further expanding its influence on global defense markets.

Tags: Military AviationRFSAF - Russian Federation Aerospace Force/Russian Aerospace ForceSukhoi Su-57 FelonWar Zones - Russia/Ukraine

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Fernando Valduga

Aviation photographer and pilot since 1992, he has participated in several events and air operations, such as Cruzex, AirVenture, Dayton Airshow and FIDAE. He has works published in specialized aviation magazines in Brazil and abroad. He uses Canon equipment during his photographic work in the world of aviation.

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mygwenchan · 4 months

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15 people, 15 questions

I've been tagged by the lovely @visualtaehyun - Thank you, baby 😘

1) Are you named after anyone?

Nope~ My dad was the one who picked my irl name (had I been a boy, my mom would've been the one to pick it, since my parents had that kind of arrangement). He chose a name with same first syllable as my older sister's, so the names would sound nice together :) (kind of like what a lot of Thai parents do when they have more than one kid)

2) When was the last time you cried?

I actually have no idea 😳

So must've been a while.

3) Do you have kids?

No. And I don't want to have any

4) What sports do you play/have you played?

I wanted to write "none", but actually I used to play in a local basketball team for a while when I was like 16/17. Did some archery as well :) Other than that, I'm mostly a couch potato lol

5) Do you use sarcasm?

Sometimes~

6) What's the first thing you notice about people?

I usually don't notice shit cause my thoughts are all over the place XD Hmm... maybe if they stand too close to me? I need my 2m personal space bubble around me, thank you very much

7) What's your eye color?

Gray-blue (or red when the allergies hit lol)

8) Scary movies or happy endings?

Both sound good! But only if it's scary as in classical ghost story without gore and jump scares

9) Any talents?

I'm stubborn as hell, especially when people tell me I can't do the thing. Bitch, watch me! I'll do the thing and I'll excel! And I might be a shorty, but if anyone dares to threaten my loved ones, I'll turn into a pure force of nature. Other than that, I'm pretty good at crafting and upcycling :)

10) Where were you born?

I'm nordisch by nature, baby~ Born in an old Hansestadt at the Baltic coast 🌊

11) What are your hobbies?

Watching BLs and sometimes writing meta about it. And I've recently gotten into making book nooks, I also like to sew (not really clothes, but small things) and I'm trying to learn how to play the piano. I'd also consider art history and archaeology a hobby of mine. I like to learn interesting facts about the every day life of normal folks from the past

12) Do you have any pets?

I have over 200 plants, do those count? And there are some wild animals that visit me every now and then (a red and a black squirrel and lots of birbs, plus the occasional neighbor's cat)

13) How tall are you?

My passport says 1,61cm, but that's a lie... I'm only 1,58cm 😅

14) What was your favorite subject in school?

I've always liked biology and art. Though for some reason that I can't recall now, I still chose german and physics as my advanced courses. Fun fact: I didn't like history in school, but ended up studying archaeology lol. But well, it was mostly because my history teachers sucked, not so much because of the subject itself.

15) What is your dream job?

Not having to work at all 😔 Idk, I never really had a dream job or a career path I wanted to take. Mostly because my interests tend to shift every couple of years or so and I don't like to get stuck with the same thing forever. Right now I'm working as an e-commerce and online marketing manager for a small nerd company. I'm pretty much my own boss and can decide when and on what I want to work, which is great. Recently we've started building a new online shop and I've been helping out with that, which can be pretty interesting actually.

Ok, that's it about me. Now let's learn something new about you guys~

I'm tagging @boysslove @scarefox @blmpff @lukaherehelp @pinkkop @sparklyeyedhimbo @fleursyoongi @bunni-bun @howlingmusketeers @7777-deactivated @vegasandhishedgehog @dekaydk @shouyou910 @asdfghjklmpff @bl-bam-beyond

#tagging game #15 people 15 questions

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conejita-canelita · 21 days

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I just wanna hold hope (even if it’s feeling low rn 😭) instead of the automatic jump to dooming about debling overstaying his welcome and Shonda potentially having created an (unwelcome) love triangle with this season. To me at least this kind of makes sense? of course they’re gonna promote debling in one way or another! He’s playing a significant role as pen’s first official suitor, which plays a big part in how Colin and Pen’s love story will advance. Do I think that automatically means love triangle? No, I don’t. I’d be just as disappointed if s3 entertained the idea that pen would seriously consider debling and Colin as equally possible love interests as if Penelope hasn’t been head over heels for Colin since she was 16. But I think at most, debling will serve as a placement holder for Colin (which pen tries to make palpable for herself by insisting on how nice Lord Debling is, because she’s really not interested at all in him aside from wanting an out from the featherington home) but will drop him the second she realizes that Colin is serious about them.

I think my only criticism so far has been how Netflix marketing has done yet another lead couple dirty (like they did Kate and Anthony) by not showing them off enough to build up excitement. I wanna see more of Colin and pen together!!! A sneak peak!!! Something!!! And with the premiere coming up I’m just hoping that their press tour will finally give us it, because I’m pretty sick of the cash grabs and low promo.

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religion-is-a-mental-illness · 9 months

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By: Te-Ping Chen and Lauren Weber

Published: Jul 21, 2023

Two years ago chief diversity officers were some of the hottest hires into executive ranks. Now, they increasingly feel left out in the cold.

Companies including Netflix, Disney and Warner Bros. Discovery have recently said that high-profile diversity, equity and inclusion executives will be leaving their jobs. Thousands of diversity-focused workers have been laid off since last year, and some companies are scaling back racial justice commitments.

Diversity, equity and inclusion—or DEI—jobs were put in the crosshairs after many companies started re-examining their executive ranks during the tech sector’s shake out last fall. Some chief diversity officers say their work is facing additional scrutiny since the Supreme Court struck down affirmative action in college admissions and companies brace for potential legal challenges. DEI work has also become a political target.

“There’s a combination of grief, being very tired, and being, in some cases, overwhelmed,” says Miriam Warren, chief diversity officer for Yelp, of the challenges facing executives in the field.

In interviews, current and former chief diversity officers said company executives at times didn’t want to change hiring or promotion processes, despite initially telling CDOs they were hired to improve the talent pipeline. The quick about-face shows company enthusiasm for diversity initiatives hasn’t always proved durable, leaving some diversity officers now questioning their career path.

In the wake of George Floyd’s murder in police custody in May 2020, companies scrambled to hire chief diversity officers, changing the face of the C-suite. In 2018, less than half the companies in the S&P 500 employed someone in the role, and by 2022 three out four companies had created a position, according to a study from Russell Reynolds, an executive search firm.

Once mostly tasked with HR matters, today’s diversity leaders are expected to weigh in on new product development, marketing efforts and current events that have an impact on how workers and consumers are feeling. Warren and other CDOs said the expanded remit is playing out in a politically divided environment where corporate diversity efforts are the subject of frequent social-media firestorms.

Falling demand

New analysis from employment data provider Live Data Technologies shows that chief diversity officers have been more vulnerable to layoffs than their human resources counterparts, experiencing 40% higher turnover. Their job searches are also taking longer.

“I got to 300 applications and then I stopped tracking,” says Stephanie Lubin, who was laid off from her role as diversity head at Drizly, an online alcohol marketplace, in May following the company’s acquisition by Uber. In one case, Lubin says she went through 16 rounds of interviews for a role she didn’t get, and says she is now planning to pivot out of DEI work.

The number of CDO searches is down 75% in the past year, says Jason Hanold, chief executive of Hanold Associates Executive Search, which works with Fortune 100 companies to recruit HR and DEI executives, among other roles. Demand is the lowest he has seen in his 30 years of recruiting.

At the same time, he says, more executives are feeling skittish about taking on diversity roles.

“They’re telling us, the only way I want to go into another role with DEI is if it includes something else,” he says of the requests for broader titles that offer more responsibilities and resources. He estimates that 60% of diversity roles he is currently filling combine the title with another position, such as chief human resources officer, up from about 10% five years ago.

During the pandemic, some companies moved people into diversity leadership if they were an ethnic minority, says Dani Monroe, even when they weren’t qualified. Monroe served as CDO for Mass General Brigham, a Boston-based hospital system and one of the largest employers in the state, until 2021 and convenes a yearly gathering of more than 100 CDOs.

“These were knee-jerk reactions,” she says of the hurried CDO hires, adding that some of those elevations didn’t create much impact, leaving both sides feeling disillusioned.

On-the-job obstruction

American workers are split on the importance of a diverse workforce, surveys find.

Diversity chiefs also encounter obstruction from top executives, says Melinda Starbird, a human resources and diversity executive who has worked at AT&T, Starbucks and OfferUp, an online marketplace. Leaders sometimes associate diversity efforts with mandates, such as the equal-employment rules that apply to federal contractors. Those requirements for compliance can create executive resistance that bleeds over into other cultural or policy shifts, such as adding Juneteenth as a company holiday, she says.

“Even if you report to the CEO, it’s still a battle and it’s a smaller budget,” says Starbird, who was laid off from OfferUp in November during a broader restructuring.

Many diversity executives feel a lack of buy-in from their colleagues. In a survey of 138 diversity executives conducted this spring by World 50 Group, a networking organization for corporate leaders, 82% said they had sufficient influence to do their job, down 6 percentage points from 2022. Asked if they felt supported by middle managers, 41% said yes, an 8-percentage-point drop.

Since the Supreme Court overturned affirmative action in June, companies are anticipating spillover legal action could have an impact on them. Those that are still hiring CDOs want people who can help the board navigate the political and legal landscape of diversity work and figure out how to take defensive moves to shield them from litigation, says Tina Shah Paikeday, global leader of Russell Reynolds’s diversity, equity and inclusion practice.

“They recognize it would be smart to get ahead of that.”

People are more resistant to company-backed efforts to advance diversity when they are worried about their own jobs, whether because of impending layoffs or disruptions from AI, says David Kenny, chief executive of Nielsen, the media-ratings company.

Kenny was both CEO and CDO for a time, taking on the diversity role to emphasize how important it was to the future of the business. Even as CEO, it could be a tough sell. Efforts to restructure compensation to make it more equitable created a backlash.

“A lot of it is, ‘I’m losing my slice of the pie,’ ” he says.

[ Via: https://archive.vn/jHRFo ]

The grift is over.

There seems to be a built-in implication that much of the movements around DIE in the last few years have been performative: organizations making the approved signals to keep the puritans at bay. Perhaps they've now figured out that these measures are, at best, unable to demonstrate their efficacy, or at worst, anti-productive. The number of DIE programs that can or even will quantify or demonstrate their effectiveness with metrics and data can be counted on one hand; the truly fanatical ones will scold you for even suggesting that you should. Or more likely, perhaps they've figured out that as an insurance policy, the impact to the bottom line is no longer worth the investment; throwing buckets of money to purchase indulgences during a moral-religious panic might have made sense in 2020, but not so much in 2023.

Study after study reveals that none of this social snakeoil - from the phrenology of "implicit bias training" to the Maoist struggle sessions of "white fragility training" - actually help, and reliably make things worse by making everyone fixate on identity politics rather than doing anything productive. Meaning DIE is nothing but expensive and destructive virtue signaling. If you want to destroy an organization from the inside, there's no better way than embracing DIE.

You're far better off sticking to your core telos, supported by liberal ethics like equal opportunity, colorblindness and the ideal of meritocracy. Or more formally, Merit, Fairness and Equality (MFE). Whatever results you get from a fair process are inherently fair.

"Diversity" in particular is always about superficiality and thinly-veiled racism, while "equity" requires someone in authority to artificially create preferred outcomes (establishing the perfect conditions for an authoritarian), rather than a system of fairly and consistently applied rules (equality).

I can name five people, men and women, where I work who have different ethic ancestry, who grew up within 40 miles of each other and have the same local accent.

And I can name five white men who grew up on four different continents with three different first languages, who have worked for over a dozen different organizations, from multi-national companies to military to non-profits to education institutions before immigrating.

"Diversity" apparatchiks don't acknowledge the diversity in the latter. Only, like any good racist, the bogus "diversity" in the former.

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lucifer-is-a-bag-of-dicks · 2 years

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found an old folder of OC art for a comic series I never made

this bitch be THICC

thank you 16 year old Lula for putting the date on all the art in here so now I know that I filled this entire thing in less than two years

the concept was about the personal lives and interactions of the Minions and Side Kicks of a small group of heroes and villains (who you never actually see)

the focus was on their interpersonal relationships, with very little attention on the actual battles

there was also a whole worldbuilding aspect with this military drug that gave the superheroes their powers, but the creator of the drug went rogue and started selling it on the black market, which is what causes the supervillains to rise

diluted versions of the drug with more minimal effects start hitting the streets and drawing the attention of teenagers who take it in the hopes of getting cool superpowers, at best they're harmless mutations of some sort (one minor character gained the ability to unhinge his jaw like a snake), and at worst it's something debilitating that affects their daily lives

none of the main cast have any abilities, the Side Kicks are part of a controversial government training program and won't be allowed to take the serum until they've graduated from the Side Kick program and become fully fledged Heroes in their own right

the Minions have been promised the non-diluted drug in return for their service, but of course they never actually deliver on that promise (except one who was actually the daughter of the villain and ended up inheriting her father's abilities via genetics, it was supposed to be a big plot twist because no one ever knew they could be passed down, since her father was one of the successful early trial runners before she was born, she was the first child conceived by someone who had taken the drug)

there's a mystical, immortal, omnipotent being that gives information to whoever can track him down in exchange for puzzles and toys, he was a schizophrenic homeless boy who was kidnapped and experimented on, he was the very first successful (and unwilling) recipient of the drug trials, but he escaped and was never recaptured thanks to his teleportation powers, he is incredibly powerful and also completely unstable, his omnipotent abilities combined with his schizophrenia make him unable to tell which voices in his head are telling the truth and which are lying

the two main characters were childhood best friends who are surprised to find themselves facing each other in battle, they meet up in secret and maintain a friendship while pretending to fight each other on the job

so much of this folder is just artwork of the 8 main characters hanging out together, playing with costume designs, experimenting with art styles

but in this whole thing there are only a small handful of actual comics, all of them being isolated encounters between characters with no real plot

I had a lot of ideas for character concepts and worldbuilding, but very little idea on how to pull it together into a cohesive story, I would keep getting sidetracked with new minor characters with their own side plots, or background worldbuilding info

so I spent over a year building and building and building this idea and then eventually it just fizzled out and I never touched it again, kind of a shame tbh, some of these ideas still kinda slap (definitely a few things in here that did not age well though yeesh, 16 year old Lula had some real shady views and opinions she had yet to grow out of)

this was a fun romp down memory lane though, maybe I should do a redraw or two, could be fun ~

#lula's thoughts #M.A.S.K.#ocs #original concept #let me know if you actually wanna see any of the art

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thegeekyartist · 9 months

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for the choose violence ask meme 😘: 9, 10, 16, 17, 18, 19, 22. if this is too many, feel free to pick and choose 💌

OOH okay!!!! I, of course, will answer every single one of these, I have Opinions and am always waiting for any opportunity to share lmao. (These are all for wwdits, and also I am on desktop so please imagine my usual unhealthy amounts of emojis for emphasis/joking cadence, thank u)

9.worst part of canon

The lack of consistency/follow through with pretty basic plot points. For example, Laszlo literally says "God" in the pilot, but then also flinches when Guillermo crosses his fingers in the same episode? Nandor can turn into vapor but can't escape the cage in Animal Control? (we can assume that one is because they're all Big Dumb). Colin Robinson has parents - that are still living??? And of course the glossing over of the year abroad. (but that's my television-wide gripe. I HATE time skips, no matter the show. They're lazy and tell me that you didn't actually know what to do with your plot). I could go on, there are lots.

I will accept the girl wives/guy wives change. That was pure Nandor and I loved it.

10. worst part of fanon

Listen. I love the drama. I LOVE the angst. This is a *comedy show*. We are never going to get the huge, dramatic, heart-wrenching love confession and hour-long sex scene that some fans are actually expecting. Like it can *absoluely* have serious moments, but please lower your expectations. This show averages like 4 shit jokes per episode.

16. you can't understand why so many people like this thing (characterization, trope, headcanon, etc)

Forgive me everyone, but Jackie Daytona. Hilarious episode, I love Laszlo so fucking much and Mark Hamill as a vampire is everything I didn't know I needed. But I really do. not. need. another. episode. It was perfect as is. Let it lie.

(also Laszlo has some WAY better lines/arcs outside of his one episode where he was essentially someone else)

17. there should be more of this type of fic/art

Ooh, for fic... I love when people play with the characters/situations from canon a bit. Not necessarily a full AU, but taking some element and asking "what if this happened instead"? I love that.

And there are absolutely no personal biases here, absolutely none, but I would love to see more traditional media fanart. Gimme some paintings, some linocut prints, watercolors, anything! I love to see it.

18. it's absolutely criminal that the fandom has been sleeping on...

22. your favorite part of canon that everyone else ignores

I'm combining these two, since they're kind of similar. I feel like there's SO MUCH that everyone appreciates, it's hard to come up with something that people have fully ignored.

But I think one of my FAVORITE parts of the show is when they combine actual artwork with images of the characters. My whole life is art history, so I geek out a bit every. Single. Time. I LOVE the attention to detail, and every time I go to an art museum (which is fairly often) I can't help but wonder where the characters could fit in.

It ALSO makes me OBSESS over what contemporary artist would paint vampire Guillermo. I've definitely already made a post about this, but my current bid is for Alejandro Pasquale.

(EDIT: Another artist I think would be great is Ben Ashton. His visuals with the classical style would be so interesting to see hanging next to the actual old artwork in the mansion)

19. you're mad/ashamed/horrified you actually kind of like...

I'm not ashamed about it, but since I somehow still see hate over a year later, I want to voice my support for s4. The lighting? GORGEOUS. The costumes/practical effects? STUNNING. College-me that thought I was going to be a theatre set designer could write BOOKS on the changes they made to the house, let alone the club and night market.

Yes, the time skip pissed me off. Yes, there's the entire Marwa/Freddie can of worms. But literally everything else was incredible and the characters had SO MUCH growth. They are so much closer to the family we've been desperate for them to be since s1 because of s4.

#thank you for enabling me and my Thoughts i love you #asks #wwdits #overnightmask

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judgeanon · 1 year

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Plastic Skies - Models 9 and 10: Sk 16 and Fairey Swordfish

It’s a prop plane double feature WWII spectacular!

Due to a number of personal circumstances, 2023 hasn’t started off quite like I would’ve wanted, and since most of those circumstances involved money, I wasn’t able to jump right away from the F-16 Falcon I bought in February to the next project I had in mind. But thanks to a kind act of generosity, I was able to not only keep my meager hobbyist skills sharp, but also breathe new life into some old models.

Now, here’s the thing: I’m not really into old school propeller planes right now. I kinda used to, I remember building a very neat P-51 Mustang when I was a kid, but thanks to Ace Combat I’m far more interested in jet planes at the moment. So no Spitfires or Hurricanes or Messers for me, no thanks. I’m good for now. However, about a week after finishing the F-16, I received in the mail a care package from an overseas friend who for the last couple of years has made it a tradition to send me a box of old toys, comics and other random stuff. Of course, our postal service usually delivers them around March, so it’s a bit of a late present, but a very welcome one nonetheless. Especially this year.

Very thoughtfully, my friend had packed in not one, but two whole model kits in the box: a Swedish Sk 16 from Heller and a British Fairey Swordfish from Airfix, both in 1/72 scale. A quick search on Scalemates confirmed that both models were from the 80s, and the Swordfish’s mold was from 1958, which I naturally found thrilling. There’s something very fun about working on something older than you are. Plus, it turned out that these models had a backstory to them: my friend had bought them with his family at a second hand market, so second hand that the Sk 16 had already been started. He never got around to actually putting them together though, and despite his family’s repeated requests over the years to just throw them out, they remained there, safely boxed up.

(In this case, the cockpit and fuselage had been glued and the black stripes already painted, albeit a bit haphazardly)

To be honest, I didn’t know much about both planes, which only added to the excitement. The Sk 16 turned out to be a Swedish version of the very popular American T-6 Texan, a plane that also flew in my own country’s air force. And the Swordfish is better known as the English naval biplane that helped sink the Bismarck (and the star of Garth Ennis and PJ Holden’s graphic novel THE STRINGBAGS). So these were, by all accounts, very fun planes already. And I was ready to have some fun with them.

Above all else, I think my favorite part of doing old planes is all the exposed engines and exhaust tubes. I’ve mentioned before how much I adore metallic paints, and I immediately realized that this would be a great chance to break them out. And of course, having both planes have movable propellers, which I also love. I know a lot of hobbyst like to build models as a snapshot of a singular moment in time, but I prefer them to be toys, things to play with a little, so any “play-features” like this immediately makes my heart soar. Look at that little prop spin. Weeeeeee!

The Sk 16 was a very fun build. The hardest part had already been made, after all, and the rest came together very quickly and very snugly. Not having any weapons also helped a lot, and I appreciated having an excuse to use the box of yellow paint I’d bought months ago. The canopy was a pain, and I fear I’ll never be able to have the pulse or right tools to get them looking just right, but I still see at least some improvement over previous attempts.

The other thing that was shockingly comfortable and even fun were the decals. Given the model’s age and remembering my bad experience with the Berkut, I was terrified that the decals would dissolve into water the moment I even thought about dunking them. To my surprise and joy, not only did they not break, they were also extremely easy to place. I’m rarely fully satisfied with my decal placing skills, but this one is probably the best I’ve done so far.

The whole thing was done over a weekend, and once I was done, all that was left was deciding whether I wanted to age it up or not. I consulted with the friend who’d sent me the model, who decided for me: this old plane had to look old.

Fortunately, my washes worked like a charm on this little wasp, which gained a couple of decades overnight. I showed it to my friend, who gave it his seal of approval and also mentioned the thing about his parents asking him to throw the models out if he was never gonna build them. So of course, I did what any person would do in that situation: asked him if he wanted an online album of all the finished model pics I had so he could show his parents. And of course, he said yes.

That’s kind of the thing: as much as I enjoy building models for myself, every time I finish one I find myself burning with the desire to show it off to everyone. I know that’s nothing unusual, but the thing is, I’ve rarely had the chance to show off something I made to other people. Everything I do is either prose, which is not exactly a thing people can just take a quick look at, or comic book scripts, which have the same problem. Even when they’re beautifully turned into actual comics by some incredibly talented folks, it’s still hard to whip ‘em out and go “This. I made this.”

Now, I have a folder in my cellphone full of finished model pictures to pull out like a proud dad just in case anyone asks. And even if they don’t ask, odds are they’ll see at least one.

(friend’s parents did indeed see the pictures and were reportedly surprised to see those old things looking so good. Which is another thing I’ve found very pleasant about model kit making: with the right tools and the right application, even an inexperienced newbie can make a 40 year old kit look impressive)

Pretty much the day after I finished the Sk, I started work on the Swordfish. This one didn’t have any work done other than some pieces having been awkwarldy separated from their sprues, but the plastic felt nice and everything seemed solid enough. Plus, for the first time since I started, I had to paint not just one, but two tiny little plastic men:

It... didn’t go terribly well, mostly because I refused to actually go out and buy new paints for them, but with apologies to my friend, it’s easier to cheap out on things when you weren’t the one who bought the model. Apart from that, I also decided to replace the goose egg blue that the kit’s instructions suggested for the undercarriage with the weird light grey I’d bought and used for the bottom of the F-16, since I still wanted to try it out. That turned out to be... not a mistake, per se, but it didn’t do me any favors.

As it turns out, it’s *REALLY* hard to get something to stick to this kind of paint, and there was a lot of sticking to be done with these two wings. Even worse, some of it was done practically blind, since fitting the struts and bars into their holes turned out to be harder than it looked. Looking back, I probably should’ve just glued the whole thing together first and painted it later, but I figured getting the paints in first would be better than having to sneak tiny brushes into hidden crevices.

Particularly troubling were the bars right in front of the pilot, seen here hovering like a full inch above where they should be. Not ideal at all. In the end, I had to resort to far more glue than I wanted and holding everything in place as best I could until it dried. The results look decent enough from an angle...

... annnd then you look at it from the front.

Ouch. Of course, I also skimped on using wires and stuff, but I was already getting a bit peeved at this old stringbag. On the other hand, painting the grey camo was an unexpected delight. All the paints worked well with each other, and the end result was pretty lovely, if not exactly historically accurate.

Soon enough, all that was left were the decals, and here I ran into a different problem: yellowing. Although there was also a bit of that in the Sk 16, the plane being bright yellow helped hide a lot of it. No such luck here. I tried leaving them out in the sun inside a plastic bag, which the internet said was the cure for yellowing, but they also warned me it would take a few weeks or even a month depending on how much direct sunlight they were getting. Which in my apartment is precious few. After two days, I caved in and said fuck it. Yellowed decals it is.

I’m not proud of what I did, but the odds are pretty good that I’d still be waiting if I hadn’t. Once everything was ready and varnished, I broke out the washes again, only this time I didn’t go for the full Sludge Treatment. Instead, I focused only on the details, the flaps and some other areas. I could lie and say it was to give it a cleaner look, but in all honesty, I was just kinda tired of it by now and didn’t want to deal with having to clean the sludge.

The results are a bit hard to tell, since the flaps were already pretty visible, but it was still a nice relief to have it all done and looking decent enough for another online album. The response I got from friend’s parents was similar, and similarly, it made me feel quite happy with myself.

Overall, I enjoyed this little detour into prop planes. But above all, I think what I enjoyed the most was the idea that doing model kits is turning into My Thing. That people are starting to pay attention, and that in some near future, the answer to “What should we give Judge for his birthday/christmas/wedding gift?” will always inevitably be a little plastic plane to build. Not just because it’s fun and because it opens the door to all kinds of surprises, but also because I think there’s something very unique about being able to tell someone “Hey, thanks for the gift, wanna see what I did with it?”. It’s a rare kind of connection, a back and forth of thoughtfulness and creation, and I’d like to do more of it.

But first... it was time. Time to finally knuckle up, shake that bottle of light gray paint and face my personal final boss of model kits. I just didn’t expect it would happen during one of the worst weeks of the year so far.

#My stuff #Hobbies #Journals #Return of the funky shades of grey #Stringbaggery #Oooh metallic paints make me feel so good~

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shotbyafool · 1 year

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I completely agree with your thoughts on hadestown but i just think it’s interesting to look at it in comparison to a show like great comet that a lot of the same people love for a lot of the same reasons as hadestown (any version but nytw particularly) and wonder if great comet had made more sacrifices and made more changes to appeal to a wider audience when transferring from its off broadway run, would it have lasted longer? personally i do think so and idk i just think it begs the question of is it better to have a production that’s true to the show’s original purpose and has that charm that makes it an objectively stronger piece of theater even if it won’t last as long versus a more sanitized production that is more widely accessible and therefore has a greater longevity?

brilliant take here anon. so much of this conversation is going to be tinged by subjectivity (I personally think the few changes that Comet made in its transfer were generally quite excellent and only worked to streamline the story... and there is also of course the behemoth that is Dust and Ashes) but Great Comet did, in fact, refuse to make concessions in its transfer. a lot of my issues with the concept of the NYTW transfer for Hadestown come from me finding most of the choices so utterly inexplicable on an artistic level that I can hardly fathom being Mitchell and killing my darlings like that.

but to the actual point, I think Great Comet also had an uphill battle in its subject matter, and its marketing team (and Malloy himself, in songs like Prologue) had absolutely no choice but to lean into the inherent insanity of making a musical out of War and Peace. which necessitates a trust in the audience, and one which I think certain audiences really relished in (having trust like that built in is bound to pet ones ego; I know it petted mine as a 16-year-old!). but at the end of the day, it was always a tough sell to tourists (to whom our industry is so reliant on!!!), and this is totally regardless of its insane per-week costs for its technical elements. as an adult, I can realize that it never had much of a chance at a long Broadway run, especially with its behind-the-scenes issues which I will not discuss since they've been beaten to death. and I do wonder if there was less trust, would it have lasted longer? but to me Malloy is not an artist who necessarily dreams of Broadway; I think he works on passion projects and never expected Great Comet to make it to a Broadway house. good for him! so he didn't concede, but then again, how could he have, with the subject material and the concept of the musical to begin with?

(then again, Malloy was so terribly spit up on by the industry for Great Comet in a way that makes me feel livid. what personal vendetta robs him of a Tony for orchestrations?)

yesterday I (drunkenly) posted that I think no shows should aim for Broadway, which of course was a simplification of a situation. to me the best fate of a show in the long-run is probably starting Off-Broadway, transferring to Broadway for a season or two, then transferring back Off-Broadway when it's harder to fill those massive Broadway houses (but you're still getting audiences in seats) - a very different show, but this is what happened to The Play That Goes Wrong, which to me works so much better in an intimate stage anyway. then again, this still allows for the initial edit onto Broadway to occur, but I think Mitchell always dreamed about Hadestown having an expansive open run in the Walter Kerr and that it has done. so like. kind of shrugging here. the changes made in the transfer are (insanely) so... careful, done so much with an artistic hand that to me it's clear that Mitchell did it, but WHY for some of them. it's going to keep me up at night.

like of course, shows can't run forever, but it's a bit of a 'die a hero or live long enough to see yourself become the villain' or whatever. and it is so miserable that the Broadway machine necessitates a watering down of material or else you are fated to a short run; A Strange Loop of course enters the conversation at this junction, and of course upsets me. I have nothing else to say in particular and I think you are absolutely right, and I am upset.

#talking myself into circles etc. etc.#anonymous #ask #I do think I would've enjoyed GC more in an Off-Bway house more #due to intimacy. don't have strong thoughts on actual lyric changes tho

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dovesndecay · 1 year

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Tell us more about your amnesiac aasamir? :)

[img: A HeroForge mini of a masc-presenting person in thick, brown furs with purple accents. He has medium brown skin, short, spiky white hair, and light brown eyes. He is holding a staff in his left hand and a ball of flame in his right. One white brow has a slit, and both ears have hoops. His expression is somewhat confused or disdainful, lips curled and brow lifted. At his feet are fallen leaves and a small campfire. /end]

Level 4 | 13 STR | 14 DEX | 17 CON | 14 INT | 16 WIS | 18 CHA

Kelric Ashling has been in Ten Towns since just before the eternal winter began. He was found in the woods with the beginning of hypothermia and already frostbitten, losing his left ring and pinkie fingers. He was found by Ulrich Frostborn, played by @chaosqueer, a half-orc barbarian living outside of Brynn Shander. The two of them are basically besties, though Kelric would be confused by that. Ulrich, meanwhile, would be terribly hurt that Kelric didn't think they were besties. After all, Ulrich carved him prosthetics for his hand!

He has no memory of his life prior to arriving in Ten Towns, and so, after getting patched up, he stayed. It's been nearly three years of simply existing in this bullshit cold-as-a-witch's-rectum hellscape, but he doesn't have much else to do, so he stays and he does odd jobs in exchange for room and board, and funds to stock away for rainy days. He can do some fire magic, but has no idea how he knows how to do it, and lately it's been a bit ... out of control.

Since some of the settlements in Ten Towns have human sacrifice lotteries, he and Ulrich -- the two of them are often referred to as "The Ricks", although never to Kelric's face -- travel around to mitigate the risk of ending up on the lottery and getting sacrificed to the Auril, The Frost Maiden.

At the beginning of our campaign, Heliodora Arleccina, played by @natalieironside, a goth jester Drow bard, showed up in town, presumably for shits and giggles, and joined our little band of job-doers. She seems to be mostly inclined towards making money and enjoying shenanigans, and she's good at both, so Kelric is cool with her tagging along. A bard is always useful.

One of the ways I've been playing with his amnesia is that I'll roll a d20 to see how he reacts to certain things. He doesn't know all the spells he knows, so when Heliodora tries to Message him to work out a plan during a job, in front of the target, in public -- who we are meant to kill, subtly and without getting caught -- Kelric freaks out and accidentally ends up in a fight with the town guard in the middle of the market. During the fight, he also accidentally sets an inn very on fire, and lets one of their enemies go to try and save the people while the party flees the town.

I'm waiting to see how that one comes back to bite us later.

There's a massive Bumble problem -- abominable snowmen, which we've taken to calling Bumbles -- throughout the area, and the party has been running into them every time we leave town.

The Eternal Winter Bullshit has drawn a newly graduated ... *squints* druid??? maybe?? I don't remember, tbh. Her name is Danikka, but we've taken to calling her The Nerd. When she arrived in town, he felt a flicker of recognition at her robes, but couldn't place them. He may have unnerved her slightly when he approached, sat down, and stared at her as if he could will himself to remember something. Ulrich's gentle intervention was necessary as a third party to ease the awkward encounter.

Every so often, he knows or uses a spell he didn't know he had -- the scene below was because he used Druidcraft without even realizing it. The Nerd is helping him "learn" magic -- and he's gathering materials for her to cast a spell to hopefully restore his memory. Our last job was to retrieve an gem trader's inventory, and our reward was one diamond specifically because The Nerd needs it for the spell.

Kelric looked across the bar to where Danikka sat at a table, the Chwinga resting on the beehive she'd wrestled her hair into. "Hey, nerd!" Danikka looked up, blinking wide eyes. "Yes?" Kelric immediately groaned. "Don't answer to that, kid!"

Kelric is a very gruff, no-nonsense sort of guy. He's not a chatter. He fails to ask follow-up questions, and walks away from conversations the moment he feels he's done with them -- regardless of whether the other person feels the same way.

And then he walks back in when he remembers that he needs more information, like, where the fuck he's supposed to be going.

Honestly, thank gods for Ulrich, because Kelric would walk off without his head 90% of the time if it weren't attached.

He also doesn't know he's an Aasimar -- pretty much everyone assumes he's a genasi or a half-elf or something, thanks to the slightly pointed ears and the scales -- so when he never "sleeps" for more than four hours, he thinks he has insomnia. Ulrich makes him various teas to try and help, which Kelric drinks despite having Zukoesque ideas about tea.

He always takes last watch. He's a brandy man. Green is his favorite color. He's very impatient -- nearly barging into the rooms of inn guests in order to follow up on a flyer they left on the Craigsboard -- but thankfully, Ulrich is there to rein him in most days.

Mostly.

Oh, and if the Northlook Inn ever burns down, he'll save Ol' Bitey before anybody else.

[img: A red fish with a wide, bold forehead, a number of scars, and a white belly, mounted on a piece of wood like real world singing fish products. Beneath the fish, there is a name plaque that reads, "OL' BITEY". /end]

#askbox #dungeons and dumbasses #dnd

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night-market-if · 2 years

Text

Part 19

Paper Lanterns is a community based IF game here on Tumblr. I need something to fuel the creative fires while I chip away at The Night Market demo, and I want to give you all a little something in the meantime. Here’s how it will work.

I will post a snipped under the cut every few days. At the end of the post will be three options. Comment below or send me an ask if you would rather be anonymous, over which route you would like to see. I will tally them up and write the majority option and post it in the following days. From there, we repeat the process until we, as a community, have crafted our story.

Please reblog and share this with others. The more people we have participating, the more fun I think this can be for us.

Winner of last vote: Curl up on the sofa and sleep next to him.

Leaning forward, you press your lips softly to his. There is none of the frantic desperation that you two had before. Your hands are soft against his chest, slipping under the collar of his tunic to feel the skin there. He sighs against you, leaning back and dragging you to rest between his legs. The two of you lay, reclined on the small floral sofa, scrunched together before a roaring hearth. Malcolm snickers as the lights over head dim.

“I don’t think Hazel will be returning for cards,” you tell him.

“Knowing her, she was listening at her bedroom door, ready to come out on full attack if we didn’t play nice.”

That sounded about right for Hazel. She was the softest and sweetest girl. Until she wasn’t. That’s when true fear bloomed.

Letting your body rest fully against his own, you tuck your head under his chin, your fingers playing with the sleeve of his shirt. Malcolm shifts beneath you, getting more comfortable, and pulling one of the woven blankets from the back of the sofa to cover you both. You can feel yourself slipping into some sort of haze, the world around you becoming soft with sleep. It still felt odd, to slip back into familiar comforts that you had told yourself for so long you had no right to have. Despite the way your eyes grew heavy, you didn’t think you’d be able to sleep just yet. Not with this uncertainty.

“So what have you been up to?” you ask, wincing a little at how awkward your words sound. “You know. Since…”

“You stabbed me?” He cranes his neck downwards, making sure you see the amused smile there. It puts you somewhat at ease.

“Yeah. Since that.”

“Nothing of note,” he says, his fingers settling at the small of your back. His favorite spot to play with. “Mainly doing small tasks for my job, renovating the apartment, liberating mermaids.”

“You’re full of shit.”

“It’s true,” he protests. “There was an entire colony of them held captive right off the docks. I was able to free them, kill their terrible captor, and now they are forever in my debt. They’ve thrown themselves at me and everything. I was offered a bride, Button. Several in fact.”

“I’m sure they were all virgins, too.”

“Nah, no fun there,” he grinned wickedly. “Experience and confidence is what I look for in my partner. That’s why I have no idea why you and I ever got together.”

“The fuck is that supposed to mean,” you tilt your head upwards.

He laughs. “When we met, you had no confidence. You were unsure of absolutely everything, and the Night Market scared the shit out of you. I don’t think you came out of your damn room for a month. And your experience was lack luster as well.”

You blink at him. “I was a child, you fucker.”

Malcolm’s laugh is warm and bright, and you settle against him with a roll of your eyes as he pulls you closer. Asshole always did have a way of leading you on. Didn’t seem like much had changed in the last year. You wondered though, what kind of truth his story was actually hiding.

The fire popped loudly before you two, and you felt yourself grow heavy, surrounded by warmth and care. Hazel’s place always did have that effect on you. The time you had lived here had been the safest you had ever felt. You felt your eyes slip shut, the last few days and the lack of sleep catching up to you. The nightmares wouldn’t get to you tonight, however. They never had when Malcolm was holding you.

“Button? You can hear the hesitancy in his voice. “You know I still love you, right? That no matter what happens, no matter how this all plays out, I love you.”

You swallow thickly, keeping yourself incredibly still. You are afraid that if you dared to move, he would take back his words.

“You asleep?” he asks. Again, you don’t move, just focus on your breathing and keeping your body still in so-called slumber. You feel his arms tighten around you then as he tucks his face against your own, closing his eyes. You feel the moment he drifts off into his own slumber. Feel the way his body loosens.

Opening your eyes, you stare at him for a moment. His lashes dark against his skin. You didn’t know what the future was supposed to bring for you two. Or even if there was one to be had. But you did know that he mattered. He mattered more than most in this world. And you would do anything to keep him safe.

You just didn’t know what that meant for you in the end.

~~~~~

Malcolm was gone when you woke. Stiff and drowsy from a long night on a tiny couch, you had stumbled downstairs, where Hazel made you eat at least a three-course meal before shoving you out the door. You had things today, and she made sure to remind you to be careful with that stern mom look she often gave. With less than forty-eight hours left for the key, you needed to get to work. The sleep the night before was exactly what you needed to make such a thing happen.

Stepping outside, down through the arched gates of Hazel’s garden and into the burnt out sector leading away from her home, you rubbed the last of the sleep from your eyes. Now to decide just what you were going to do.

Voting closed! Part 20 here

Find Rat like Belladonna suggested.

Tail Malcolm to see if you can get more information on the Gatekeeper

Start asking the market vendors about where they got their products. Maybe bribe them to show you.

Please check out the Night Market demo linked below if you haven't already. Reblogs and feedback are also love! Also, there is a Paper Lanterns discord now. Click the link below to join.

Patreon || Ko-fi || Demo || Discord

#paper lanterns #community fiction #community if #interactive fiction #we finally got them snuggling

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nedlittle · 1 year

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Top 5 mcr songs!

ookay here we go songs that weren't included in my previous top 5

it's not a fashion statement it's a fucking deathwish - i've been really into this one lately for the simple reason that it fucking rips. absolutely unrelenting from the very first seconds, the way the guitar kicks things into ultra-turbo gear at "from the razor to the rosary" (a seminal line!) then i! will! a-venge! my! ghost! with! ev-very! breath! i take! does you gender ever nip at your heels so you run a little faster until you can't see it anymore but you know it's still there waiting to catch up to you? do you ever hide from yourself because you know it's the only way to stay alive? do you have to drag your gender behind you like a corpse? do you have to drag your ill-fitting self behind you like a corpse because you cannot bring yourself to let it go also what a title...i think about about the truck stop eyeliner quote and the polarize/irritate/contaminate quote and all the time they got things yelled at or thrown at them in a scene that didn't want any part of them until it could be marketed, until it was clear that people loved them. unrelated but this song is wuthering heights to me. i will not explain.

house of wolves - i think this was the first non-single that i got really into in late high school and then refused to check out any of the other tracks (besides the singles) bc i was Scared and intimidated. it's okay 16-year-old me, you'll get there. another ripper straight from the duelling guitar slides in the opening seconds. the guitar drops in after "you better run like the devil 'cause they're never gonna leave you alone" and my heart falls out of my ass every single time. casual blasphemy IS always sexy

the sharpest lives - thank you bert mccracken for inspiring one of the best songs on a record with no skips (except for blood). fuck you bert mccracken for inspiring one of their best songs that they cannot ever play because it's going to activate a kill switch in frank's mind and he will subsequently break every bone in his body. i know they've played it since prorev i just find the whole thing hysterical. while i do find the instrumentals in this one a little bit repetitive but the production for the first few lines alternating on headphones really makes it something special. some of my favourite lyrics especially in the second verse, wonderfully crunchy bassline right before the breakdown mikey way i owe you my LIFE

you know what they do to guys like us in prison - if you held a cup up to my tilted head after ray's solo my entire brain would pour out like a melted slurpee. i have nothing intelligent to say about the gay prison sex song because, like the band, it activates the part of my brain that wants to howl and climb the walls.

hang 'em high - YEE THE FUCK HAW. a 100m sprint in song form. we NEED to make more fanart for this one maybe this is just because i've been writing a western for the past almost two years but we NEED to embrace hang 'em high's yeehaw punk. it is ESSENTIAL. manages to be its own self-contained story while also working within the context of the demo lovers; some of the songs on revenge work better as parts of a whole, but i think that hang 'em high's versatility isn't given its due because it stands alone in its' western influences (which is laughably fitting). some very fun vocals and weird pronounciations from mx gargling into the mic

#these keep getting longer because i have so many feelings. i don't know how music works but i know how my heart does #people keep unfollowing me lol. if you can't handle me rhapsodizing about mcr you don't deserve me at my posting mary oliver pdfs #ceilingninja #answered #mcr #i promise i like danger days lol!! i just haven't gone back and re-listened to it. i get stuck on certain songs for weeks at a time #long post

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