#a lot of the longtime fans have said there’s more things that point to him

[iwatcheditbegin]

Who is the guy Love Story is about?

Rumored to be about him

#idk if it’s true #but if so her parents were right #they were writing together when she was 17 #it’s Martin Johnson of boys like girls #he was so shady to her a few years ago - like called her fake and rude mind you he was married with a kid then #then again it’s rumored that they did actually date so who knows #a lot of the longtime fans have said there’s more things that point to him #he was also telling people love story was about him

[sunflowervoltwentyeight]

Happy 28th! Here is my April 2024 fic rec, organized by word count, from longest to shortest. You can view my other fic recs here. Enjoy!

When All Is Said And Done by lovelarry10 / @chloehl10 (76k)

“You must be thinking of another of your ex-husbands,” Louis snapped back, and Harry stilled, slowly turning to face him. There was something almost dangerous in Harry's look then but Louis stayed firm, not cowering away.

“Thankfully, I only have the misfortune of one ex-husband,” Harry said darkly, snatching up the plates and slamming them onto the table. 

*****

Louis and Harry were married, but things fell apart, ending in divorce, broken hearts and separate lives. Years later, their paths cross once more, and time together forces old feelings to resurface. But is it too little, too late?

Greenhouses AU Series by TiredTiredTz / @tiredtiredtz (63k)

Glass Closets and Greenhouses (60k) Charlton Athletic defender Louis Tomlinson and worldwide sex symbol Harry Styles are rumoured to be hooking up after a viral video filmed at Harry’s Wembley show was posted online by Tommo’s twin sisters. Sources close to the pair tell us the couple have been dating for a while, with rumours of house hunting, marriage and even kids on the cards! Styles, 29, is as well known for his whirlwind love life as his chart topping music. Most recently linked to British fashion designer Alex Millet-Sloan, Harry has stayed tight-lipped on rumours of any romantic rendezvous between himself and footballer Tomlinson, 31, yet fans online are convinced that all evidence points to #Tomlinstyles being the real deal. Not Conditional (3k) Harry is bald and this is how I’m coping. Set a few years after the events of Glass Closets and Greenhouses.

It Feels Different When You’re With Me by Rearviewdreamer / @all-these-larrythings (45k)

Harry fell in love with sign language as a kid. He never imagined the first love of his life would lead him straight to his second.

Every Lonely Place by HamPalpert (38k)

Facing the fact that he’s been prioritizing his career over his relationship, Harry proposes to his longtime boyfriend Louis on a whim. But when yet another work emergency takes precedence over their plans, Louis decides he’s had enough. Harry goes to bed drunk and alone, and when he wakes, he finds himself in an entirely different world. Over and over again, Harry visits a lifetime he’s once lived, across time and dimensions. And wherever there’s a Harry Styles, there’s a Louis Tomlinson.

The Act of Making Noise by suspendrs / @suspendrs (32k)

“Oh,” Harry frowns, waving him off. “No, I could never. I respect myself too much to sing for a living.”

It feels like a slap across the face, but Louis does his best not to stiffen, blinking once and then frowning. “What?”

“Those people are always so miserable, you know?” Harry says, hopping down off his stool and straightening his sweater. “There’s so much pressure on them, and they have to work so hard to keep up appearances, I can’t even imagine how difficult that is. I can’t even stand to listen to pop music today, let alone watch TV or read the magazines. It makes me so sad, thinking that those people, you know, the ones who actually went into it with heart, they only ever just wanted to make music and instead they got turned into things on leashes being paraded around to make money for other people,” he says. “Anyway, you can have the stool.”

Or, Louis's famous, Harry has no idea who he is, and they get snowed in together at a ski lodge in Vermont.

It’s About Time by kingsofeverything / @kingsofeverything (3k)

Best friends and roommates, Louis and Harry have been through a lot together, including law school for Louis, marriage and divorce for Harry. Their imminent eviction forces them to admit their feelings.

#28th appreciation #April fic rec #monthly fic rec #Larry fic rec #fic rec #hlcreators #read

[nonbinaryhatboxghost]

Thoughts on the State of Trek

I would be less upset about Discovery ending if they had known going into season 5 that it would be their last. But that was not the case. The additional filming to give it an actual finale is good and I have no doubt that it will be as good a finale as they can do under the circumstances.

But recently I’ve been more observant of Trek fans online and there is a thing happening where I’ve seen far more immediate praise of Strange New Worlds and the current/final season of Picard than any other new Trek show has gotten.

Strange New Worlds is a good show! It is also specifically emulating the original series and has a straight white male captain as the lead. (yes, Pike rocks, that is not the point here)

The current/final season of Picard (which I do think is good!) has radically altered the tone of the show into a revival/sendoff for The Next Generation, as well as emulating and referencing Star Trek media of the ‘80s and ‘90s. And again, straight white male lead.

Both shows, particularly this season of Picard, have been pretty immediately praised by certain types of Trek viewers. Specifically longtime straight white male fans.

I’ve also noticed less diversity behind the camera of Strange New Worlds and Picard compared to Discovery. At least if one watches all the behind-the-scenes stuff for those shows (which I’ve been doing a lot lately). There’s not zero diversity, but Picard especially has been putting more emphasis on bringing back legacy crew members who are majorly, you guessed it, straight white males.

Contrasting that with how Discovery was met with skepticism from the get-go and is openly dismissed by certain older fans (one I talked to at work said something like “I guess I don’t get it because I’m not a millennial.”) makes me a bit angry because a lot of these same longtime fans watched and stuck through the first two seasons of The Next Generation. Those two seasons are some of the roughest television I’ve ever seen, and the handful of good episodes hidden throughout do not make up for it. But fans at the time stuck through those seasons anyway.

Why didn’t Discovery get the same treatment from those vocal longtime folks?

Why did The Next Generation, which is a very different type of show compared to the original series, ultimately become a beloved show? I’d like to believe it’s because people accepted the show for what it was once it found its footing.

But when I see comments like “Picard season 3 is the best Trek in 25 years”, I get mad. You gave Picard, a show that has two seasons with a mixed reception at best, a continued benefit of the doubt because of nostalgia for an older show, and because this season is essentially a Next Generation reunion. But you dismissed Discovery because it wasn’t “your” Star Trek show.

Literally part of the purpose of Star Trek is infinite diversity in infinite combinations. Discovery not only gave us an incredible lead character played by a Black woman, it gave us representation across the entire cast of both people of color and queer folks. As a nonbinary person, Adira’s quiet coming out scene had a profound impact on me, and later served as a helpful reference point for coming out as NB to my dad, who watches and enjoys Discovery.

Discovery spends an entire season depicting a debate between multiple characters/factions about how to handle a situation that threatens all Federation members. It does so with empathy for all points of view, and ultimately resolves this threat not with an action sequence, but a conversation. That season of Discovery (season 4) is Star Trek as fuck, and some of the best Trek ever.

Hell, Star Trek Beyond is so good that it manages to take the flashy action J.J. Abrams approach to Star Trek (which I have mixed feelings about because Trek ’09 is fun and despite his storytelling problems, Abrams is by all accounts a genuinely nice person so I won’t be shit-talking him here) and make it more properly Trek by introducing a villain who believes conflict is necessary for human evolution, which is the antithesis to Roddenberry’s whole vision for Trek of being a future where we work to resolve and avoid conflict rather than seek it.

Strange New Worlds and Picard (seasons 1 and, so far, 3) are both good and also contain great Trek. But they are also fundamentally more appealing to the nostalgia of middle-aged straight white male fans. And they are the shows that are getting more visible attention and praise.

Lower Decks is awesome and has a fantastic Black female lead in Tawny Newsome. But it meant something to have Sonequa Martin-Green and Newsome be the leads of two Star Trek shows airing at the same time.

And it means something for the live-action show with a Black woman as the lead to be cancelled while the animated show with a Black woman as the lead but a straight white male as the head writer is allowed to continue.

I don’t want Star Trek to become like Star Wars and turn into an endless cycle of fan service. Star Trek has had a huge impact on our planet over the 55+ years of its existence. Don’t make the mistake of turning it into another franchise that exists as a way for whiny white dudes to center themselves over the global majority.

(PS, Paramount, how the hell have you dragged your heels over Michelle Yeoh’s spinoff for this long? She has an Oscar now, what the hell is your excuse?)

#star trek #rant #star trek: discovery #star trek discovery #star trek: picard #star trek picard #star trek: strange new worlds #star trek strange new worlds #star trek: lower decks #star trek lower decks #star trek: the next generation #star trek the next generation #yeah I'm mad about a lot of stuff going on in the world but this is the only thing I felt knowledgeable enough to comment on

[sat0sugu-angst]

This is a teaser for the first part of my newest fic "A Fortunate Misunderstanding"

You can read the full first part here

MDNI

part 1 "Uninteresting"

"Hero Critic Y/n of the Daily Post says number two hero Dynamite is 'not interesting enough' to write about"

It's a splashy headline from your interview with your longtime friend and colleague Shawn Collins, and you roll your eyes when you read the tweet. "That's not even what the interview is focused on. You're misleading your audience." You scolded over the phone, even though you're trying to quell the rush of anxiety in the pit of your stomach.

"It's not my fault Dynamite's fan base is so easily exploited. My editor said it would get views." You don't bother hiding your eye roll, not like he could see it anyway. "Besides, the interview was on your opinions of Japan's top heroes, and the only time you mentioned him was to say that. He's the number two hero, I have to point out the irony."

You scoff, but you're glad Shawn couldn't see the blush on your cheeks. Well, you think dryly, it's not like I could've put on the record why I really don't write about him.

"Still, you didn't have to insinuate that I thought Dynamite was uninteresting. That's not what I said."

It wasn't because you didn't see his flaws, didn't think he wasn't a hot-headed jackass, but you didn’t like feeling misrepresented. Because at the end of the day, no matter his downfalls, you felt nothing but adoration for the hero.

Well, adoration and a little bit horny, but either way, despite your reputation as a merciless hero critic, you didn't want any criticism about the number two hero to be published with your name attached. And you couldn't write praise about him either, not when you built your career on criticizing the hero industry.

"Well, people will see that when they watch the interview."

If they even bother, you think irritably. You could tell no matter what you said though, that he didn’t and wouldn't care enough about your qualms with the headline to change it. "Whatever. You're welcome for the interview." You said dryly, picking at your takeout.

"You still coming tomorrow?"

You sigh. You weren't entirely sure you wanted to get dressed up to go to the office party tomorrow, but you figured it'd be better than not going and being anti social. "Yeah, at eight, right?"

—————————————————————————————————

"Oi, Bakugo, did you see what that journalist said about you?" Denki said, approaching the bar with his phone raised.

Katsuki grunted, annoyed at his friend's obnoxious behavior. "I don't care what some extra has to say about me. Should be fucking grateful I'm so good at my job."

"Well, you may be good at it, but apparently, you're not very interesting." Mina said with a smirk a few seats down, having already seen the interview.

That caught his attention. A lot of words had been lobbed at him throughout his nearly ten year career, but uninteresting wasn't one of them. He was quiet as he took the phone from Denki, reading the headline. There it was in black and white, some journalist did think he was uninteresting. He wasn't sure why it pissed him off, that word, more than any of the other things he'd been called. No, he knew exactly why it pissed him off.

"S'not fuckin' true. What an idiot. Can't believe he gets paid to write garbage like this."

"Well, the one who wrote the article isn't the one who said it. It's the one who got interviewed."

"Who'd care to interview some idiot with this opinion?"

"Don't take it so personally, Bakugo," Kirishima said with an easy smile, clapping him on the shoulder. Bakugo made a face. "She burns all of us way more than she does you."

"Yeah, that stuff kinda hurts sometimes. I'd take uninteresting over incompetent." Denki said with a sigh.

Mina laughed. "Except everything she writes about you is true."

The two proceeded to bicker, but Bakugo was still pouting, swirling the amber liquor in his glass before finishing it off. "Whatever. If I ever see that damn reporter I'll chew her head off." He grumbled.

Kirishima let out a nervous laugh. "Watch what you say in public, Bakugo. Some people don't know when you're joking."

He was about to say he wasn't joking, that he would confront the extra who thought she was better than him, when Sero on his other side held up a picture of a woman.

"Well, this is her, if you're curious. I'd leave her alone if I were you, though. She may be a hero critic, but she has a pretty big following."

When he zeroed in on your face, it only took him a second to remember where he knew you from. His crimson eyes narrowed.

Interesting.

—————————————————————————————————

You took a sip of wine as you turned from the bar, surveying the ballroom, windows dressed in heavy golden curtains, adding a touch of extravagance that was too overstated for the office party. Though, you couldn’t turn your nose down at the open bar. Even though the event was to wine and dine Japan’s heroes, you were still surprised by how many pro heroes were here. You thought you’d even spotted Red Riot’s fiery red hair on your way over to the bar, probably the highest-ranking hero here.

After painfully dry conversation with some coworkers, you and Shawn broke off.

“How long do you think we have to stay before it’s okay to leave?” You wondered after a beat. Office parties weren’t really your thing. It was awkward, toeing the line of the you at the office and the you outside the office. You didn’t want people think that you were stiff, but one glass of wine too much and you’d end up fodder for workplace gossip.

Shawn laughed beside you. “You’ve been here less than an hour. At least put some mileage on that dress.”

You sighed, looking down at the navy evening dress. You suppose he had a point; it was expensive.

You opened your mouth to speak, when your eyes zeroed in on a hulking figure walking in your direction, crimson eyes narrowed. Your stomach dropped as Dynamite, the number two hero, approached you.

—————————————————————————————————

You can read the rest here

taglist: @asmaechan @animexholic @inumakicanrailme @justanothernpcartist

masterlist

#bakugou katsuki #bakugou #bakugo #katsuki bakugo x reader #bakugo katsuki #bakugo katuski #bakugo x reader #bakugo smut #bnha bakugo #bakugou katsuki x reader #bakugou smut #mha bakugo #bakugou x reader #katsuki bakugou #mha bakugou #katsukibakugou #bakugo fanfic #bnha fanfiction #fanfic #bnha bakugou #bakugou x y/n #bakugo x female reader #bakugou x you

[annieqattheperipheral]

Why the Maple Leafs went off the board to select "Cowboy" Easton Cowan

Treliving was working the phones & did try to trade down bc they knew they were picking this projected 2nd-rounder high but no bites. But i suppose in turn it puts a nice spotlight on a swell fella we should get to know

the cowboys've got The Passion™️

farmboy, loves naz, AND ✨stylin✨ has more than got the goods to fit right in w mitchy & auston

full article about cowboy:

___

Moments after he first met Dale Hunter, the longtime Knights head coach gave Easton Cowan a nickname that stuck.

“Cowboy.”

Born in Strathroy, Ont., Cowan comes from a farm in nearby Mount Brydges where his family farms cash crops like wheat, corn and soybeans. When the pandemic hit in 2020 and Cowan’s time in high school classes became limited, he began working on the farm from 6:30 in the morning till 9 at night during the busy farming seasons of spring and fall, driving a tractor beside the massive combine his father Chris uses to transfer crops.

“It’s the time you have to put in to succeed in the cash crop business of farming,” Chris told The Athletic.

That time on the farm helped instill a work ethic, as well as good ol’ farm strength, that Cowan has made his hallmark as a Knight. Ahead of the draft, Clark was clear: The Leafs wanted players who had intelligence, competitiveness and who could “influence winning hockey.”

Clark and the team’s scouting staff appear to have found a player who ticks those boxes.

“It’s a great picture of what (Cowan) could be in the NHL,” Knights associate general manager Rob Simpson said. “His motor and his engine on the ice, he is relentless and never stops working. And he’s the type of player that if you want him to play higher in your lineup with skilled guys and bring competitiveness and forechecking and skill, he can do that. If you want him to play a defensive game and play the penalty kill, he can do those things.”

That versatility was evident as the Knights went to the OHL final this season. During that playoff run that Simpson called “impactful,” Cowan’s game shone. The Leafs valued how he played in the playoffs, lapping up the spotlight and the pressure while leading all OHL rookies in playoff scoring with 21 points in 20 games.

It was his hockey sense, which shined with quick passing in the offensive zone, that popped in the playoffs. That hints at his potential for producing offence as he continues to develop.

Even though his smallish frame may remind some of past Leafs picks, it’s the fact that he’s become known as a “puck hound” according to Simpson that might well separate him from those picks. His competitiveness is well-established.

Cowan grew up a Leafs fan and said he models his game after Nazem Kadri.

Simpsons remembers games this year where Cowan would pinball from one defenceman to the other on the forecheck. He wouldn’t stop there. He chased after the puck wherever it went.

“He’s just relentless all over the ice at trying to get the puck and when he has it, he doesn’t want to give it up,” Simpson said.

He also appears pretty comfortable in his own skin.

“How’s it goin’?” Cowan, wearing black suede shoes with no socks, said as he took a seat in front of more cameras and reporters he’s likely ever faced.

Cowan beamed when he described FaceTiming with Mitch Marner.

“Happy you’re part of the Buds,” was what Cowan remembered hearing from Marner.

“That was pretty cool,” Cowan said. “(Marner) competes all over the ice. He’s a great player and a great guy. You look up to that.”

Cowan listed Knights equipment managers and trainers as people who helped propel him being an unlikely first-round pick.

Before leaving a table at the end of his media availability, he asked politely if he could take a box of Biosteel sitting in front of him.

“He’s so kind to everyone around him,” Cowan’s father said. “Not a lot of people know that about him.”

The long-term projection:

Cowan can play both centre and the wing but the Leafs likely see him more as a wing in the pros. While it’s remarkably early to start forecasting where Cowan might fit in an NHL lineup, it is fair to say the Leafs valued his sharp progression this past season and believe that he may just be scratching the surface of what type of player he can be.

His standout playoff performance especially, fueled by that tenacity, may have really struck a chord.

“The biggest thing that’s going to translate the best is his motor, his engine and competitiveness,” Simpson said. “You look at the NHL playoffs, you have to have players like that to be able to win these days.”

Cowan, who just turned 18 in May, will likely begin his time in the Leafs organization at the team’s development camp, set to begin July 3. It feels likely that Cowan will return to the Knights, not just next season, but for multiple seasons. He’s already intent on adding the kind of strength to his frame that will be necessary for him to one day join the Leafs in the NHL. That and improving his shot.

The Leafs appear comfortable making Cowan a long-term play for the organization.

“We’re trying to take the best player available, not today or tomorrow, we’re looking at the long run,” Clark said ahead of the draft.

But what Cowan could become in the long run is intriguing enough for the Leafs to have made perhaps the most surprising pick on day one of the draft.

#my leafies #easton cowan #cowboy #nhl draft 2023 #toronto maple leafs #london knights #mitch marner #nazem kadri

[ncisfranchise-source]

The NCIS team said goodbye to their beloved colleague and friend Dr. Donald “Ducky” Mallard in the touching February 19 episode that also honored the late David McCallum, who played the wise medical examiner (and later NCIS historian) beginning in the 2003 series premiere.

“The cold open scene where Jimmy comes in and finds Ducky [who has died in his sleep], man, I was just a bucket of tears,” confesses Brian Dietzen, who plays medical examiner Jimmy Palmer, Ducky’s longtime mentee, as part of our aftershow, NCIS: Case Closed. Dietzen co-wrote the episode with NCIS writer Scott Williams.

But grieving agents — and fans — got a happy surprise in the episode’s final moments with the appearance of Tony DiNozzo, played by Michael Weatherly, who departed the series in 2016. He showed up to comfort Jimmy. DiNozzo fastening a trademark Ducky bow tie around his friend’s neck before the funeral was a sweet moment that reminded us of how much we miss Tony’s wisecracking affection.

Weatherly wasn’t the only NCIS vet producers considered for an unannounced return. “We ended up deciding on having the character of Tony come back. It all made a lot of sense. This character, in addition to being close with Ducky, was Jimmy’s good friend, so when he comes to visit, it is to help the person who’s left behind. It’s really to be there for his friend,” Dietzen told us. “Getting [Michael] out here and doing all this stuff under the cover of secrecy and the dead of night sort of thing was really cool.”

Crafting the episode, in which the team solves one last case Ducky was working on to clear the name of a fallen soldier, was emotional for Dietzen. It was important to him that the case and the team’s experience were thematically linked. Both concern “the stories that we leave behind, and how those stories really matter to people and how we remember them,” Dietzen says. He and Williams started working on the script only weeks after McCallum passed away in September of 2023.

“It gets me choked up because I’m thinking of David and how parallel David and Ducky are and how parallel our relationships were — Jimmy and Ducky, myself and David — in certain ways. It definitely got to me,” Dietzen says. “In the midst of this, we went out for his memorial service at the beginning of January in New York and talked to his family about this episode. I really hope they love it.”

We all loved seeing Ducky again in clips that represented memories of the good doc that helped the agents solve the case. These snippets from the past were carefully selected.

“One that was a must for me — when I sat down at the writers’ room table the first day, I said, there’s going to be that the last clip that I want to play, and I think it’s the most fitting — is from the episode written by Steven Binder called ‘Face The Strange,’ where Jimmy is mourning the loss of [retiring] Gibbs [Mark Harmon] and the loss of [departing] Bishop [Emily Wickersham]. And before that, the death of his wife. That day I worked with David, he just knocked it out of the park. It was one of those days where he wasn’t with us too often at that point, maybe only a couple episodes per season, but he came in and just delivered this beautiful, beautiful scene saying that our pain is a small price to pay for [Gibbs’] peace. He seemingly in this flashback will eulogize himself.”

On set, memories of McCallum were the order of the day. “Every single person in this cast and crew were sharing stories, talking about him a lot,” Dietzen says. “There was a shared sense of duty to say that just as NCIS tries to honor our fallen servicemen and women, this is our opportunity to honor one of our own that we’ve acted alongside for the last two decades.”

Watch the full video above for more from Dietzen about working with McCallum and creating the episode, why certain clips were chosen, and what’s ahead for Jimmy and girlfriend Agent Knight (Katrina Law). Come back each week for an inside look at the latest episode of NCIS from the people who make the show.

#ncis #interview #Youtube

[popculturebuffet]

Chip N Dale Rescue Rangers: Double 0' Chipmunk Review (Comission for RainbowSixVegasSamurai)

Hello all you happy rangers and it's a new day yes it is because I got a comission from a new person. Always lovely. Longtime fan first time comissioner rainbowsixvegas samurai wanted me to take a look at some cccchip n dale, with it's 007 spoof Double O Chipmunk.

Admitely.. i'm not a huge spy fiction guy. It's just not a thing I seek out outside of mission impossible. So you'd THINK this would be a weird fit for me. And while it kinda is there is one part of it I have a small soft spot for: parodies. I watched archer for some time, I loved the film Spy, and as for the soundtrack to the musical spies are forever

I don't seek them out persay, but I can enjoy them as the tropes of the genre are woven into the pop culture and they have a hightned goofiness to them most modern spy stuff, trying ot be more realistic, dosen't have. So I was fine with covering one and seeing what chip n dale brought to the table. And the premise is pretty neat: Dale watches a ton of the CND universes Bond parody and wants to try and apply that to rescue rangering and it swerves into another neat plot from there. Does it work or is it shaken not stirred? let's find out.

The setup is simple but effective: Dale and Zipper are watching a Dirk Suave, Double'O Super Spy film. And it has easily the worst part of the episode: Odd Shoe, Dirk's cowardly racist caracture of an asian person who works as his sidekick. Bond films certainly had their racisim but .. this was never a thing and I struggle to think why the writers here thought it was a good thing to ad. I'd just.. like to go one disney afternoon review that isn't goof troop without slamming head first into casual late 80's racisim

The rest of the episode thankfully isn't.. anything like that and we get into the main meat nice and quickly: Dale's been watching these films a lot and Chip, as usual is just a tad pissy about it. In this case he's mad Dale didn't go with them to look for cases at the police station. Which is just a hilariously .. weird statment for me. I had to look it up and see if they really have that many human related cases and well, they do, so looking for weird crimes involving animals makes more sense than It hought. That said Chip being pissy at Dale for not going when A) he'd have to know Dale wasn't going up front and it dosen't come off like Dale lied about why he wasn't going and B) This REALLY isn't a 4 person operation. You need ONE of them at a minimum, probably 2 in case they find a case in progress and need to go NOW.

In fact having someone at your HQ when your not on a mission and your public figures with a known headquarters, is just.. smart. It's the reason the avengers in the comics have Jarvis the butler. I mean Dale could be doing something to actually help out while their there, true, but it's weird Chip assumes they all have to be there to talk to clients and set up missions. He's basically the team's leader: it's HIS job to meet with clients unless he has better buisness. It's something I can see even in say Helluva Boss: Blitzo may be a lot of things and most of those are a hot mess.. but he's not handled the

Side of things exactly one episode I can think of and he was understandably worried about his sister. If Chip dosen't want to formally say he's in charge because Dale would throw a fit fine but then don't get pissy when Dale dosen't do what you'd rathe rhim do like study a crime file or something, especailly when that something DOSEN'T require him.

Not only that while Dale is spending tons of time watching movies.. he IS actually planning to help the buisness, suggesting they take the super spy tricks from the movie and apply them to their stuff. Is it the BEST buisness strategy? Not really and I get Chip dismissing it to a point: It'd be a possible waste of time and resources. I'm really more sore for Chip's reason for disliking it: it's because Dale thinks it's a good idea.

So Dale naturally tries to prove chip wrong. And the how is well done in how bad an idea it is: he tries to dick around in gadget's lab and make the gadgets. Naturally this goes caca with his wrist gas grenades just falling off and his helicopter pack blowing upa nd everyone laughs at him... and the poor guy runs out while Chip is just happy to be right.

Gadget goes to comfort him but Dale's convinced becaues he screwed this bad idea up.. hes' just a screw up and no one respects him. Which is quite sadly a mood for me. Granted he did screw up but in my eyes it's not just the failure... it's the laughter. It's the fact Chip.. dosen't take him seriously. We see both sides as Chip, while annoying, does have a point Dale dicks around a lot.. but Dale was GENUINELY trying to help> He reminds me of Hank Venture: his heart is in the right place but his head is in some weird parallel dimension that only makes sense to him. It's an objectively stupid plan, but what makes you feel for Dale is what it meant for him: in a team where the others are his detective best friend, gorgeous genius crush and badass aussie, it's hard to not feel he has no real role here.

Gadget feels bad and decides to help. Her plan is an old sitcommy standby: fake a mission so Dale feels better. It's the kind of plot you've seen a million times and just gets boring. It only works here because the work is old enough. Not old enough for it to have NEVER been a trope but old enough to be before Spongebob did it better or a million other things ran it into the ground.

So as seen in the article image, Gadget shows up playing her femme fetale sister and sends dale on a mission to get microfilm. She also kisses him deeply. And this episode must be the holy grail for Gadget and Dale shippers. The attempts to comfort him, doing this whole scheme, kissing him really damn hard, even if it's for the bit. And honestly out of the two options in the main love triangle.. Dale just fits her better. He's got this loose weirdo energy that fits her spaciness. Chip just seems updight.. and also gets horribly jealous over this even though his bullying is the whole reason this game happened. As you'd expect, some real spies show up for a real microfilm, it gets mixed up, Dale finds out it's a game but still thinks it's real and plans to mess with them only to end up in a real thing. This part of the episode is ab it weak if you've seen enough of these. While using this cliche dosen't hurt most of the episode as the disguises are fun enough as is Gadget's hastily made double o gadgets for the first part, it does hurt this portion.

So our heroes end up inside a giant doomsday weapon. The spies finallyr ealize dale REALLY thinks this is a game after everyone tried to tell them that, and this is really what helps the use of this cliche and makes the episode: the fact instead of INSTANTLY getting that "shit this is real moment" the villians actually get to use this to their advantages. Our heroes escape in time of course to avoid getting blasted when Dale turns the rat's bosses super tank on, but it's still neat to see some sort of twist.

So Dale pilots a tank with his mind to chase the spies

Chip apologizes, our heroes win and beat the spy. And this episode is .. alright. It's not the greatest bit of storytelling, Chip's a bit of an asshole, and the plot i've seen a billion times but it's charming. And not just because of that gadget outfit. It's got a sense of fun to it, it's not reallyt aking this plot too seriously, has a nice twist on it, and it's fun seeing the hastily made gadgets gadget whipped up. It's not a bad watch, it's just nothing incredible.

Thanks for reading

#chip n dale rescue rangers #double o dale #007 #james bond #chip #dale #gadget hackwrench #monterey jack

[prettyboysdontlookatexplosions]

i was going to make a joke here about how the OG anti jedi movement was started by george lucas and is called the prequel trilogy (and they are like garbage as films but not because of that) but i realized that actually as someone whose family luckily is not in star wars a more salient irritation to me is the conversation about The Luke Of It All and like i could go on about this at length but mostly what i want to say is that in high school i decided i wanted to celebrate my eighteenth birthday by having all my friends over and having a marathon of the original star wars trilogy, which we had all grown up with and loved except one girl who had never seen them and when this came to light we were like WHAT????? HOW CAN THIS BE?????? and we were all a little judgmental when she got bored and went to bed halfway through. because we all had been star wars fans since childhood and thought the movies ruled. we were obnoxious and superior teenagers who went to the last two prequels preparing to hatewatch and eager to make fun, and it was consensus (not shared by me, a lifelong lover of critters) that the ewoks were dumb, but our love for star wars was deep and sincere. my dude friends probably had some knowledge of the world beyond the movies even from like video games and maybe some novels idk. anyway. so we sat down on my birthday to watch these movies that we all agreed were awesome and great. and one of my friends was like, “i should count every time luke whines onscreen.” and we were all like LMAO HAHAHA THAT’S SO FUNNY YES DO IT. and he got to like 110 whines by the end of a new hope and then abandoned the bit. but like. one thing that makes me feel insane is if you’d asked me in november 2017 “how do star wars fans feel about luke?” i UNHESITATINGLY would have said, “oh they think he’s a whiny bitch and the most lame character in the movies and also that mark hamill can’t act.” like i can’t emphasize how much this was the reality i knew as a person who liked star wars but in a normal way. i swear i wrote some line to this effect into a piece of fiction at one point. and in fact as a person who tends towards generosity once i’ve decided i like something i also could have told you of the years i spent alone in the luke-loving trenches, coming to his defense because yeah he does whine a lot but that’s part of his charm. it’s part of the magic of the movies, went the argument i swear to you i had made, that if luke is on the screen he’s probably whining. it wouldn’t be the same any other way! this was, i stress again, as per all evidence available to me, a niche opinion. like it was a really hot take to be like “yes luke whines so much… but i like him anyway! and i think mark hamill is pretty good once you get to empire.” so like i feel really truly berenstain/berenstein bears about this universe i portaled into 5 years ago where apparently longtime star wars fans have always thought that luke was awesome and cool and a total hero. like setting aside all debates over artistic merits and narrative consistency and how to read the best star wars movie of all time (the last jedi), it just makes me feel fucking crazy that people would act like “luke sucks” is a concept invented out of thin air by rian johnson in 2017. like it goes against everything about my experience of being a person who has thought the original star wars trilogy is pretty great since i was 8 years old in 1996.

#the serious adult artistic beef i have with this #is that to me the heart of the movies and the most compelling scene by far is the lightsaber duel with vader in return of the jedi #which is another way of saying #that the most memorable and significant thing luke ever did #was to fail - fail hard - fail brutally - fail in a really ugly and disturbing way #and then having failed - having given in - find it somehow in himself to make a different choice #so… like just putting that out there #my dumb and petty beef is that it is insane to me that people carry a grudge about this #but will forgive jj abrams for deciding that han and leia broke up and also raised a school shooter #i think i would be a lot less idiotically capable of reacting to bad tlj opinions #if not for the fact that the culture has decided to act like the force awakens is like #Fine as a film and a totally acceptable entry to star wars canon #it is not and it was not.

[ilyrafe]

Hi!! I hope I don’t offend you but I don’t think people are upset or disappointed in Henry bc of the Witcher, it’s more so because of his new personality and his “gf”. Henry has integrity so they know he’ll do what’s right and he’ll step away/down if need be (we see this in the Witcher) but his standoffish behavior rubs some fans the wrong way. In the past 2-4 years, he’s been in his own world, only posting on IG to promote his work but not interacting with his fans like the previous years. He always did the running thing, the charity run (sorry forgot the name) in his hometown but hasn’t said a word in years, not even a post to show support (he hasn’t been physically there for the run either). Don’t get me wrong, he’s allowed to be private and doesn’t owe anyone anything but how he’s spoken so fondly about his fans in past interviews is a stark contrast to current day. There was this interview where he talked about how he dislikes people who only post about themselves on social media and are quite self-centered and I 100% agreed with him then (still do now) but someone just did an edit of how his current “gf” is that type of person that he said he didn’t like so I found it funny because she’s the sort of person he was talking about yet…they’re together but oh well, I digress. All I’m saying is I understand why some fans don’t like him and are losing their interest in him as a whole because the Henry now isn’t the same Henry from 4 years ago. Yes I know, people grow and change but this is beyond the average maturation of a person. Anyways, I just wanted to point this out bc of that anon who asked what tough time Henry was going through and you mentioned the ending of his Superman and Witcher career…I think it’s more than that.

oh hi!

yes i have noticed he became quite distant from fans, and while i don’t know much about his girlfriend, i think this behavior change happened because people on instagram are sending hate messages to her on his page, which i think is unacceptable in 2023. he has politely asked people to stop and they haven’t, so of course he’s not acting the same.

as fans, we have to understand that we’re here for his work. his personal life is his, he’s 40 years old and i’m seeing lots of fans saying they don’t approve of his relationship. fans don’t have to approve anything regarding his personal life.

i have seen people saying natalie was racist. if that’s the case, henry isn’t a saint either. if she’s problematic then he is too, because he’s dating someone with a racist past. are you gonna send hate messages to him too, or is it only natalie?

i do believe that if you know something, you’re allowed to have an opinion about it. you’re very much allowed to not like natalie for her racist past (i haven’t checked that out, so i can’t confirm anything), but you can’t go out of your way to harass someone because of that, you know? she did nothing to any of you personally, so let’s just mind our business and support his work (unless he commits a crime).

as a longtime fan, i am upset that he’s distant, he used to be a lot more communicative (especially on instagram, i miss his long ass captions 😭) but i don’t blame him for changing, his comment sections are full of people being mean and disrespectful to him and his girlfriend, some even to his family (???)

anyways, you didn’t offend me and i hope i didn’t offed you either. 🩵

#ask

[septembersghost]

This is the hardest week or so that I've ever had as a longtime swiftie. I saw people say this can't be worse than 2016 but it is for me because back then we were on her side and knew she was being wronged, we could defend her, but this time it's us being hurt and we can't. it's marginalized fans being upset and other fans talking over and ignoring us. I've never felt this bad and I love her and her music so much but I don't know how I'll ever look at her the same after this, and I'm not holding her accountable for that guy's actions, but that she'd be okay with it is complicity and giving him more of a platform, mouthing "ily" (barf) onstage to someone who's views are disgusting? I'm sad. I'm sorry it's been really hard for you. 😞

i'm so sorry. i'm at the point where i don't have words to express it because it's just exhausting and is crushing my heart. and i know i shouldn't even look at comments for my own mental health, but i've read a lot of things in the sub, and it's...killing me to see fans feeling this way, especially bipocs/jewish/muslim/disabled (is there a marginalized group he hasn't targeted? :/) fans, that they are not only asking these questions about her, but that they are feeling unsafe and unheard in the fandom. this post was shared with me, and it's a difficult read but it articulates a lot about the impact here, as do many of the comments.

my emotions have ranged all over the place this past week, but where i am now is this deep sense of sadness because i don't know what to do or where to go from here. she is intimately tied to her music, in an unusual way (i'd argue she's more connected to hers in ways fans know about than many other artists), which makes it difficult to separate. and yet her music is also ours and has accompanied countless fans through their lives, sometimes for many years (like i've said, fifteen in my case!), and that matters too and is extremely hard to disconnect from - music is such a profound and precious thing, it's not only sentimentality, it's in the very wiring of our brains, it's in our core memories. knowing fans are grappling with pain from that and trying to reconcile it...it hurts me so much. and there's a realization that overall, anyone struggling is still in a minority, so it doesn't make that much difference - thousands of people being upset feels wrong and terrible to me, no one should be experiencing that, and yet that's such a tiny fraction out of millions, which i think is another part of why the ones raising their voices feel a bit lost. i'm also frankly sick of seeing pushback about how fans hurting right now shouldn't be allowed to speak, because some intense double standards are at play (praise her and never criticize her is not a fair or healthy environment tbh). every fan i've seen upset is very clear about why, they're not holding her responsible for his actions, they're not confusing their reaction with real activism or social justice, they are raising concerns, and they're grieving a safe place that brought them joy and comfort before. you can't underestimate what art means to people and how valuable that safe space is, to feel like it's been shattered is a deep loss.

kelly (@butimnotseventeen) wrote a post about why this isn't comparable to 2016, and i think part of the conflict here is that, previously, it was always us with her, against the many who've torn her down and hated her unfairly. in this instance...that's not the situation. this is fans hurt and disappointed, and not being able to defend her, and it's also fans against other fans, which i think has made the anger worse. feeling attacked and shut out in a space you've cultivated and that makes you happy is terrible.

idk if we've reached the moment yet where we have to decide what we're going to do moving forward, or that moment likely will come at different times for everyone who's currently struggling. this is not something that's going to be addressed, and i think everyone needs to face the reality of that. we cannot demand anything from her personal life, and everyone knows that. if he apologizes, it will be because his hand was forced, and it won't change anything. if/when they break up, this still happened. anyone who leaves the fandom permanently is a drop in the bucket compared to how vast the fanbase is, so ultimately it's like...the decision you make should be centered on you and your well-being only. allow it to be about you, and your heart, because there's unfortunately no larger impact to be had here. is her music still meaningful to you, does it still make you happy? you're allowed to hold onto it. do you still love her and are you able to recognize she is flawed and contradictory and a wealthy white celebrity who lives in a world of privilege and never has to confront certain realities, can you reconcile that with caring about and enjoying her? because it's not wrong or hypocritical if you do. it's complicated. and if you want to step away for a while, or permanently, you're allowed that too. it truly is whatever is best for you.

selfishly, i miss coming on here and reblogging posts about her (and the beautiful things creators make) and being happy and excited, i miss coming on here and not feeling a sense of unease, and while i am in groups he targeted, and fundamentally am disgusted as a woman and human being, i cannot imagine what it's been like for bipoc fans. i've intentionally prioritized those of you who are hurt because you're important and you've been impacted in a way that taylor, who is not here seeing this, will never understand. she will never know how vulnerable fans feel. she will never have to read your pained and disappointed messages and try to counsel people through this. it makes me ache that any of us are struggling or experiencing that disconnect. i'm personally more affected by caring about other fans right now than i am by her, though i am worried about her to a degree too. we desperately need to hold onto empathy whenever we can.

her music has been such a light and carried me through so much. there's almost an irony to the fact that at any other time when i was hurt, i'd immediately turn to her music for comfort, and at the moment that's exactly where i can't go. it's very heavy and hard to say when that will fade. i just...i want you to know i've heard you and i love you and i'm sorry. i'm sorry you're hurt and sad. i wish i could do more. i wish i could predict the future and somehow tell you this will get better. i wish nobody felt this way at all. you matter and your safety and happiness matter. you can decide what brings that to you, and i hope you can keep finding it.

#i just. am so sad #anonymous #letterbox #thrown out speeches

[justreputationnoexplanation]

Ask game 2023 swiftie edition 🩵 As a longtime football girlie I have to ask 18, but if you’re not into it then 23 💙

I am also a football girlie, but I'll go ahead and answer both anyways lol

18. Favorite football/KC Tay moment

Not directly related to them, but my fave football + Taylor related things were: a. my mom and another friend of mine (neither of which are Taylor fans) both made sure to inform me that Kelce was both a great player and, by all accounts, a genuinely great guy and they were happy for him and Taylor. My mom even let me update her weekly on Taylor's presence at the games and what she wore and all that stuff, including watching the Karma "guy on the chiefs" video with me. so like for both its just that we got to bond over major interests overlapping and I could finally talk about Taylor in connection with something they cared about, instead of just screaming about the surprise songs constantly. a. I'm in a fantasy football league made up entirely of Swifties, and the chaos of figuring out if anyone had him drafted was lots of fun (I was not the one who had him which is extra unfortunate because i really could have used a good tight end) c. at the end of every appt after we've got the next one scheduled, my therapist asks whats going on with them and what I think about it s just like closing conversation. it just amuses me greatly.

23. If you could pick your top two songs for surprise songs what would they be? I would have to go with Dear John (Guitar) & Soon You'll Get Better (Piano). That being said, I feel like SYGB is one of the few that she probably won't perform at any point. My next choice, Would've, Could've, Should've, I don't think she'd play with Dear John, just for her own emotions about it. Plus, it's also a guitar song, not piano. This brings us, finally, to a realistic choice of Innocent on Piano. That was probably a lot more of an answer than you wanted, and I almost feel like Vizzini in The Princess Bride, logicing my way around pairings like poisoned wine lol.

Thanks for the ask!!

#thanks for asking #ask

[tayfabe75]

I love your thoughtful opinions on things! It would be great to read some more of your thoughts. 

What do you think happened with the collab, do you think the reason was only because of the hate? And do you think they might release it anytime soon? I mean, it's no secret anymore that it exists, and now a lot of people really want to hear it, like there is the logic in just releasing it now.

And what do you think about Matty's verse? I read that people think his lyrics are terrible, but I really liked them, I think it matches the vibe of the song. And "then she called me a gentleman" will haunt me forever 😭

Sorry if this was too many questions 😅 these two just live rent free in my head 

Hi anon! Oh, trust me, these two live rent-free in my head, too. Or, perhaps I should say that the Fearless Love Gaze™ acted as an advance rent payment for some indefinite period. Probably a while. Also, never too many questions! I love answering questions.

When it comes to speculation, I live in a very weird nebulous state where I can see several different viable realities at once. Before I give my opinions I want to preface a little bit…

I don't base any of my opinions or speculation on gossip sites (including longtime assumptions regarding who this or that song is about - you'd be shocked easy many are to debunk, actually). I mostly speculate based on lyrics first and foremost, things that I can prove Taylor or Matty have said or done (with the understanding that they are also unreliable narrators when necessary, as 'Dear Reader' suggests). That said:

What I think happened with the collab:

My best "inside-the-box" guess about what happened with the collab was what I stated previously, but the "cliffs notes" version is that it seems most likely to me that Matty would have requested to pull the collaboration because of the hate campaign against him. As the lead singer of The 1975, he's something of a spearhead or mouthpiece for their band and tour, and dating Taylor put him at the center of our current cultural Panopticon. They might've broken up, gone on break, or distanced themselves from each other for optics.

However, I prefer my best "outside-the-box" guess: Taylor and Matty never broke up. They just want us to think that they did. In actuality, they are proud partners in crime currently writing their Kayfabian 'Love Story' (with the help of Brad Troemel and I would wager to guess, many others). They're pulling a Robbers-style heist on the media and celebrity culture as we know it, and they have us right where they want us: engaging in discourse about the collab.

What I think might happen with the collab:

If my first guess is accurate - Probably nothing will ever come of it. I personally hate this scenario, and not even because I don't get to hear the collab of my dreams, but because then it means the hate mob won. Taylor is about as close as Americans get to having royalty, and I guess that means she's what, beholden to medieval values of her many subjects (fans)? Look at how they rejoice in this strange cultural alliance with the NFL that came as a result of a 'betrothal' to the All-American football Prince. However, the video for Bejeweled mocks this idea. Alexa, play Lavender Haze!

The only kinda girl they see is a one night or a wife I'm damned if I do give a damn what people say. No deal, the 1950s shit they want from me

Meanwhile, Taylor has likened herself to Juliet since at least 2007/8. The entire point of writing 'Love Story' was to change the ending so Romeo and Juliet could be together.

In this scenario, we probably will get the collaboration! When? Whew, well…

Disclaimer: Wild speculation ahead!

As I've said, "Slut!" feels cyclical to me. In 2014, Taylor described herself as being a "lightning rod for slut-shaming" and she's been quoted as saying, "People often greatly underestimate how much I will inconvenience myself to prove a point." I get the sense that she could coax the world into slut-shaming her more overtly (just after they all streamed the hell out of "Slut!", how poetic that would be!), as right now the public is very interested in this whole "betrothal" storyline going on with a certain football star. The world, so it believes, took away her "bad bad boy shiny toy with a price" and if "Slut!" is any indication, she still wants it: "we'll pay the price, I guess"

That would be he perfect time to drop the rumored music video to accompany it (especially if say, they happen to have some kind of archival footage from 2014).

Again, this is all under the assumption that this is all an elaborate Kayfabian ruse. Let the fans choose her Kens and "play Barbies" until she burns down the dollhouse… While this sounds perhaps callous on its surface (especially for supporters of her current pairing) but… she already told us: This is why we can't have nice things.

But Mark my words: Taylor choosing Matty over a beloved "Chad" in such an overt way could be the catalyst for the cultural reset we desperately need. But that's a different tangent… back to "Slut!"

My thoughts on Matty's (alleged) verse:

I am going to take a wild guess and assume you saw people making fun of the lyrics on Twitter, aka the place where all benefit of the doubt goes to die. What people who simply read the lyrics and judge them to be "bad" are missing is… the melody! Matty's verse is longer than its replacement by one line, but you can kind of sing along with Taylor's second verse, let me try to help by putting them side-by-side with Taylor's lines:

Lights blink // Send the losing // code, he's my mind // waiting What // there we think // the sticks happens // and stones to rhyme // they throw I // Froze drink, drink // mid-air Fortune timing // Everyone's wants him Days shrink into long nights now // that was my crime (sing fast!) Plus 44 // the wrong place on an American phone // at the right time Cat eye // and I running down // break down her cheekbone // then he's But it's elegant // pullin' me in (sing fast!) I tell her, "You are not a slut, // in a world of boys You're just relevant" // he's a gentleman

It's also hard to judge the lyrics without hearing how Matty would sing them, right? Like go ahead and make fun of the 'relevant' line if you must, but I bet his inflection is what makes it.

So, are the lyrics "good"? Well, here's what I will say: it's much easier to criticize someone else's art than to share your own. Regardless of whether or not Matty did pen these lines, gotta admit, I like them (especially correctly paired with the melody). They seem specific to the point that they are likely inside jokes that only Tatty would fully understand, particularly the word most often criticized: "relevant", which I think Matty gave a clever nod to on Chicken Shop Date.

Apart from that, these 'new' lyrics feel Tatty-coded in that they might be self-referential. Considering most people still don't believe 'About You' is actually about Taylor (despite Matty heavily insinuating that it is on multiple occasions, for instance: 1, 2, 3), I won't even bother going into possible parallels…

Anyway, even before the alleged "leak", I felt quite confident that this song was about him (and that The 1975 were always meant to feature on 1989). The "leak" did nothing but validate my suspicions.

#answered #tatty #maylor #taylor x matty #song: “slut!” #topic: leaks #topic: collaboration

[soaringonblackwings]

Legacy of a Dream Ch 1

External: A03

Chapter: 1/4

Summary: One night a vision from the Crimson Dragon spurs Crow into looking into Pearson's death. As his student he feels he should find out the truth. At the end of it all, will he figure out how to continue Pearson's legacy?

Crow tossed around under the covers. A nightmare version of his memory of when Pearson died was replaying in his dreams.

He ran into the burning building. It wasn’t an exact one-for-one recreation of the event. Pearson was nowhere to be found. Amidst the flames there was laughter. A shadowy figure floating about causing a ruckus. Crow couldn’t make out what it was. It was no use trying to follow it as the flames were blocking the way. The fire became more intense causing part of the building to cave in.

Crow shot up, breathing hard. Beads of sweat falling down his face. The tail mark glowing brightly on his arm before dimming down. The last thing he wanted was to relive one of the worsts time in his life while asleep. He didn’t want to recall that memory properly when awake.

“What was that dream…?” He looked at his arm.

-

The day started off relatively normal. Crow got up and got ready for work. Just before that he checked the mail. A letter was addressed to him.

Hey, Crow! I found out you made it to the city! There was only one person I know that could have a name like ‘Blackbird Delivery’. So, I did some snooping around. I hope you don’t mind. It is good to know you are doing well. I know it has been a long time since we met, so this might feel sudden. Once I got my company up and running, I got a grave for Pearson. I know how much he meant to you, so I thought I let you know.

          From, Bolton.

At the end of the letter was directions to the gravesite. It has been a long time since he has ever thought of his mentor and Bolton. He made a note to visit the grave at some point.

Though he did have to wonder about the impeccable timing of this letter. Right after that dream.

Crow let out a yawn preparing for today’s work.

That night the memory played out again. When he ran in, he saw Pearson. He knew it was dream but he still wanted to save his mentor. When Crow got close, the shadowy figure from last time flew between them. It fanned the flames, making the fire spread and rise. A piece of the ceiling came falling down on Crow.

Crow jolted awake. Gasping for air. His right arm once again glowing a dim light. Was the Crimson Dragon trying to tell him something? It had to be because the only other option was that Pearson was trying to reach him from death. For normal people that would be a crazy thought. But for Crow, that possibly had to be a consideration. After two nights in a row of prophetic dreams, he figured it was time to pay a visit to an old friend.

-

He arrived at the graveyard, following the instructions Bolton gave him in the letter. There was a lot he had to tell his old friend. He didn’t think to bring flowers, so he came empty handed.

“Crow is that you?” Hearing a familiar voice, Crow looked up to see another longtime friend.

“Bolton!” Crow shouts.

The two greeted each other.

“Crow, man it has been so long. I am glad my letter reached you.” Bolton said.

“What brings you here.” Crow asks. “I would think a CEO like yourself would be too busy for stuff like this.”

“Aww, don’t be like that.” Unlike Crow Bolton brought flowers. He placed them on the grave. “Let’s talk for a while.”

The duo chatted about the past and their new lives.

“So you are joining the WRPG?” Bolton asked. “If so, I can sponsor your team. I can get you brand new engines and everything you need.”

“Huh, that would be great!” Excited he almost agreed without discussing his team. This could put an end to their engine problem. “Let me talk to my friends first.”

Bolton looked in the direction of Blackbird. “I want to do whatever I can to help you.”

“Thanks Bolton. I’ll get back with you as soon as possible.”

“I should get going.”

“Um Bolton… were you… able to talk to him before his death?” Crow asked. It was silent between the two. Bolton could tell this was hitting Crow hard.

“I was off doing my own thing. I don’t even remember what I said to him before he died.” Bolton placed a hand on Crow’s shoulder. “Let’s work hard to continue what Pearson wanted.”

The two parted ways for now. Crow looked to the sky. His day was just beginning. His next destination was the factory.

Those dreams were recollections of the day he found Pearson burning alive. The key difference between his memory and the dream was the shadow. He did not remember a shadow during the event. He glanced down at his right arm. Just what was it trying to tell him? That was the mystery.

He arrived at the abandoned factory. It was barely standing. This whole place was a danger zone. Fallen beams everywhere. Bad air quality. But there was no choice but to go inside. He had to hope that the mark would give him a clue. Walking in Crow took careful steps over the burnt debris. Further in he recalled all the memories he had in this place.

The mark began to shine when he reached a certain spot. The area began to morph. The walls became fixed and there was no sign of arson. In the vision the shadow monster was attacking Crow’s monster. It was a Blackwing that belongs to Pearson. When the monster attacked, it knocked over an oil lamp setting off the fire. When that happen, the area returned to the present and the mark stopped glowing.

“What was that?” Crow had been paying more attention to the monster than the person controlling it. One thing was for sure; this wasn’t a freak accident. Pearson was murdered. Crow was going to find out who did it.

#crow hogan #yugioh 5ds #ygo 5ds #5ds #fanfic #crow works #i have finally finished #after so many re-writes #will this be better than what we got #lets find out together

[petermurphyfunkopop]

i grew up in the height of emo/scene/rawr aesthetic. like i was in middle school when mcr, fall out boy and patd got HUGE and it was so oversaturated and their fans were legitimately fucking awful people, rude and mean for 0 reason whatsoever (i'm not saying they are NOW just that's how it felt then). like i was ready to go see my favorite band of all time but then mcr joined the tour and i changed my mind bc i didn't want to be around those people. i didn't end up seeing the band i wanted to see for like 8 more years.

i was always kinda into panic (until after pretty odd, brendan urie in general has rancid vibes and i don't trust him) i don't really have an opinion on fob (i did eventually get over my shit and check them out and i like some of their stuff but lets be real - their singles are the singles for a reason) but i cannot stand mcr. i did my best to actually sit down and listen to them to see if i could enjoy them without the "wah it's popular so it sucks!" shitty teenager vibe but straight up, i never could. and i have NO idea why the younger generation loves them so much, except maybe their older siblings who would be my age were into them. gerard is an extremely whiny singer, and that's coming from a longtime placebo fan.

but really what this comes down to is that i just don't like pop punk

and i really, really wish people would stop thinking mcr is a goth band

"let people like things" i'm not saying you can't like anything i'm just saying i think it sucks

also side note in high school me and this other girl wanted to see who the better writer was so we each wrote fanfiction and had a third person read it. my competitor wrote waycest and i wrote vam.... which was, unfortunately, ville valo and bam margera. they used strawberry shampoo as lube and i won the contest. she was so fuckin' mad and said i only won it because i'd written porn but i was under the impression that i was supposed to? idk

that competitor was the same person who, a few years later, was busted writing Hanson incest smut fanfic on a school laptop and was forced to read it aloud to her social studies class until the teacher figured out what direction it was going in and made her stop

hanson hadn't been popular for like a decade at that point and now that girl is married to a guy who posts a lot about how much he loves guns and had a new england patriots themed wedding cake

#darren is broadcasting his pointless thoughts and opinions again

[rndyounghowze]

What You Might Not Know About…

Jacques Ze Whipper

Jack Lepiarz or “Jaques Ze Whipper” or “Jack the Whipper” has been whipping it good for about fourteen years now. You may know him from his appearance on America’s Got Talent when he whipped a piece of straw from between Simon Cowell’s legs. You may also know him from his viral short videos where he sings parodies to songs like “All the Single Ladies” or the Animaniacs “Yakko’s World” song all while cracking the whip to keep time. However, there are some things about Jaques that you might not know about. We got to chat with him for a short while to bring you some trivia like…

Jack Comes From a Circus Family

“I grew up in the circus. We were with the Big Apple Circus until I was about 6 years old and then we did a bunch of Renaissance Faires when I was a kid. I have a weird parentage. My father is a circus performer (His father John Lepiarz currently “Mr. Fish” with the Super Scientific Circus) . My mother, now retired, was a college professor of anthropology with a doctorate in anthropology. She was very big on me getting a normal education so I kinda split time between normal school and the circus growing up.”

Jack Started On The Streets Of Boston

 “I went to Emerson College. I’m like ‘I have all these circus skills, why don’t I just try to do some street performing and see how that goes?’ It went as well as you would expect for someone who’s not very polished to go, which is that it went alright, there was nothing catastrophic, but it wasn’t great work. But it helped me kind of polish the act. Then I was like ‘well alright now I have this slightly more polished act let me do Renaissance Faires’ so I started working at King Richard’s Faire when I was twenty. 

Father’s Advice 

“My father, who had done the Renaissance Faire circuit for years, said ‘well what makes a good, successful Ren Faire act is the character and the comedy. You don’t have to be the most talented circus performer as long as you can make people laugh and keep them engaged and a character is a great way to do that.’ One of the things that we wanted to do is to make the whips less threatening. We kind of played around with the idea of being a goofy character and that didn’t quite translate. We decided to try being the French character because, you know, everyone at the Ren Faire is English, Irish,  Scottish. There aren’t a lot of French characters at the Renaissance Faire. We tried that for a couple of days and it went alright. Then the last day of my first weekend I drew on the mustache and it was like everything clicked. People understood this show is dumb and that it’s okay to laugh.”

Jaques Fans Are Why He’s On Tik Tok 

“[In 2021] a couple of longtime fans of mine came to my show, recorded bits of the show, put up 30-40 second clips of the show on Tik Tok and the first one got like three hundred thousand views, the second one got two million views and the third one got two point two million views. I was like ‘oh okay apparently there is a demand for Jaques Ze Whipper in the world that I had never known’. So I started on Tik Tok and from there it’s kinda been like, as I find I have the brain space to expand I expand to a new social media and so from there I went to Instagram and from there I went to Facebook and then Youtube.”

Digital Show 

“As my following has grown on social media there are these people who are like ‘come to the UK, come to Germany, come to Indonesia’. There’s no way for me right now to easily get to those places and even if I could get to those places the amount it would cost for me to get there would be prohibitive for a lot of people. So I said ‘why don’t I do this show where we can kinda do the best of my show and the secret show that I do with Ses Carny and by making it a digital show what we could do is get people from all over the world and that helps us keep the price point pretty low’. Ten bucks is still too expensive for some people that I’ve talked to but I think that it’s reachable for most people who are fans of mine. You could get four people to all pitch in $2.50 and just share one ticket. That’s fine. 

My plan is to do a show like this every year around this time for as long as WBUR will have me. We did a walk through in the theatre this week and they said they’re fully on board for another show next year and the year beyond that so I think my plan is: once a year do a digital show like this and assuming the interest is still there bring in other performers and kind of make it ‘Jacque’s Circus Hour’ and use it as a way to profile some of my wonderful colleagues who I think are just as if not more talented than me who just for some reason or another haven’t gone viral yet”.

The Physical Toll 

“A lot of people don’t understand quite how physical the show is and the amount of work that goes into making sure that my body is able to hold up under the stress of the show. The last couple of years I have been semi injured while performing and it’s been amazing how something as little as [spraining] my wrist in August of 2021 and the entire ‘21 season…there were certain tricks that I could not do without a lot of pain. Then this past season I tweaked something in my right shoulder just before the season started or early in the season and it never felt quite right until I had a chance to just rest it for a few weeks. (You can see this video where he sings a “Sound Of Silence” parody while remarking that his Physical Therapist would be mad because he wasn't cleared to whip with his right hand yet.)  I think that’s the biggest thing. The show is an athletic performance even as I’m just up there just cracking whips and singing songs. It is a workout.”

Get your tickets now! Virtual Ticket sales end at 5pm Eastern on Friday Jan. 27

[stephantom]

A friend of mine died this Tuesday. I just found out. He was 69, he’d been fighting cancer and I knew he thought it was close to the end a few weeks ago. I wish I’d said something more to him. So idk I just want to talk about him for a bit—maybe this isn’t the place to memorialize him, maybe I should post on his twitter but I don’t feel ready for that, I just want to let out some thoughts to the void / to people who didn’t know him.

He’s well known in some circles as Dink but we always just knew him as Alan. I met him at my husband’s professor’s charity event—she was the head of an organization to protect retired race horses from slaughter, neglect, and abuse. Alan had been a longtime supporter of the organization and they’d become friends. Years ago he’d taken her to some wrestling matches and she got hooked. He was also a professional gambler, which my husband thought was fascinating, so they got to talking, and he invited us to a wrestling event. We agreed. Skeptically.

It turned out wrestling is awesome, of course. And this was probably the best possible first match. It was a PWG All Star Weekend, back when they were still in a little VA hall (packed with folding chairs, selling beer by the pitcher), so much insane talent from the wrestlers, so much fun and passion from the crowd, just an incredible vibe all around. Alan got us front row seats. My mind was blown. At the end, he encouraged us to go talk to the wrestlers as they were packing up. Tell them you enjoyed their work. Buy a shirt. Make friends.

Alan was friendly to all the wrestlers and most of them seemed to know who he was. So did the bouncers and the other fans and the people running the thing. Alan was a pillar of the indie wrestling community. He was there for the founding of PWG. He drove wrestlers from the airport, bought them dinner, even gave them a couch to crash on if they needed it. Once or twice, he ran his own promotions, but he said he couldn’t keep doing it because it’s just so expensive. Like throwing a wedding, he said. You don’t do it to make money, you do it out of love.

My husband and I stayed with him at his home in Vegas once. We were there to join him for a Ring of Honor event (filmed live and a very different atmosphere from what we were used to!). We got dinner with one of the wrestling tag teams, along with their entourage of students of wrestling. It was very cool to get some perspective from them (although the main guy said at one point that he didn’t like to give secrets away that would break the illusion and that maybe he was kind of old-school in that way—which was itself interesting to me, but I digress).

Over that weekend, my husband and Alan and I chatted about lots of things, like how Alan got into gambling as a kid, how his love of wrestling has changed over the years, his dog (such a sweet dog!), and our favorite movies (his was The Princess Bride—he talked a lot about Andre the Giant and how great he was; come to think of it, I think Alan reminded me a little of him; he was a big guy, very tall, with big bushy hair and a kind of slow, calm way of talking).

He was pleased that I got so enthusiastic about wrestling, and then bemused when I wound up suddenly much more obsessed with rock climbing, a world he didn’t know. I think he wished I’d stick with wrestling and get deeper into it, but alas my interests have a mind of their own. Even so, he sometimes commented supportively on my climbing videos, which still makes me smile to think of.

He was a deeply generous, humble, honest, friendly and down to earth guy who loved to share what he loved and never stopped doing the things that made him happy. I hope I can still be so involved in a community around something I love as I get older, like he was. I’m glad I knew him.

It sucks that he’s gone, it really really does.

#personal #long post