#watching that timestamp getting close to its end is like

[thewizardthewitchandthewildone]

when a new wbn ep comes out its like a dear old friend finally visiting. the joy of being there to welcome them, the comfort of listening to their stories and the sadness of watching them leave so early. wont you stay overnight friend? the stars arent even out yet. you didnt finish your cup of tea. look its raining out youll be cold if you go now. stay there friend, stay. it all becomes so dire when you're not around. yes the time will still pass. just promise you'll visit again and know that you'll always have a place in my home. thanks for stopping by.

#watching that timestamp getting close to its end is like #ugh #im trying with everything ive got to pull that little string back #just a little bit #its like im asking please dont leave #worlds beyond number #wbn #the wizard the witch and the wild one #www #wwwo #oh boy oh boy #i dont even know man #twtwatwo

[lysreadsbookssometimes]

I watched the finale of young royals and here are some of my rambles, collected while watching. Enjoy.

Spoilers!!!

So i didn't make it a minute, i paused at 00:59 because i could already feel the tears coming up. What the hell.

I honestly didn't expect the reactions to the closing to be that way. A lot of screaming and blaming? Sure. But August breaking down? Very in character, but unexpected.

I was especially surprised by Vincent going for a hug to calm him down. Really surprised me.

Felice is probably my favorite person in this show ngl

And they see each other from across the room, through the partying people, and we have come full circle back to the first episode. Honestly poetic. I love it.

August got redeemed. And although i am still rationally thinking about the consequences, emotionally it works. My emotional side thinks he's earned it. Somehow.

Felice and Sara making up is healing my soul

Nils finally coming out to his friends. No comments, just that.

They are wrapping everything up so beautifully in the first 30 mins. All the smaller things. The rush from the "last" everything, everybody finally getting their shit in order, all of it. Beautiful.

I am also insanely worried about what is going to happen now. I am writing this at timestamp 26:25 and the 30:53 of emotional damage on the other side of the progress bar is still staring at me. We'll see.

And the interaction between August and Sara just killed me. And its not even over. I had to pause so i could handle Augusts puppy eyes after the rejection. Judging from the big sip of cider i just took i was subconsiously rooting for them. I think i just want them to be happy. All of them. Even Sara and August.

Okay homebro is panicking so bad he PROPOSED, he is down BAD

Also the line "You love who you are when you are with me" was killer, oh my god

The last kiss. The wiping away the tears. "It will pass." Wound, Salt, and then they twist the knife.

But it is a fitting ending. It works. It fits their characters, their journeys. They wouldn't have worked out in the long run and they get their ending. Both heartbroken, but on their way to healing.

I love and hate the idea of "one last night together". It implies and ending i am still dreading. But they deserve to forget everything for a night.

I honestly didn't realize it was still sun out and it caught me off guard so bad (or is that a sunrise? I am so confused)

I don't have the scene on hand but i am pretty sure they framed the scene in the bed at the end of s3e5 the same way as them lying on the blanket (?) here. Super interesting visual storytelling.

(Small detail here, i recently had a crash course on tv journalism and a big part of that was scenes and pictures, thats why i pay so much attention to the visual language here)

The entire lake scene is beautifully shot. The way they have mirroring motions (like brushing hair out of Willes face) in different perspectives, the way the water is shot, the entire calmness of all of it. And then they have these emotional conversations under it that build up these emotions, with these big pauses in speech, drawing out this bit of retrieve from everything.

The way they show Simon swimming away, the distance between them, when they speak about exactly that.

And how they go from Wille sitting at the lake, watching Simon swim, being physically not in the same thing as him (the lake), Simon swimming away, and then the cut over to him alone in his bed.

Beautiful, artistic storytelling.

Also fucking heartbreaking, i am nearly crying already and there are 23 minutes and 54 seconds left to completely destroy me.

I am clutching to the hope that twenty minutes are left to figure everything out and that that would be too long for this to be the end. Twenty minutes, 30% of the finale, cannot and will not be the epilogue, i dont think thats likely and i also refuse to believe that.

Okay, Stella and Frederika are finally together, at least some of my sanity is clutching on. I literally yelled "fuck yeah" and punched the air.

Henry and Valter (i hope i spelled that right) together in the fields also makes me happy. I know they were shipped a lot and although I am not a religious shipper of them, i am rooting for them. Go them.

Wille taking down the pictures could also be taking the happiness out of my heart. Whats wrong with the showrunners for making us do this rollercoaster?!?!

Also him taking off Erik and him before Simon and him. Beautiful.

OH MY GOD THE BIRTHDAY GIFT

I am not prepared. Not at all. Oh my god.

Is that like a farewell? Or a "stay with me"?

Not ready. Will press play though and hug my pillow expectantly.

I made it like three seconds. WILLES SONG?!?!?!!?!?

Wille walking through Hillerska. Seeing all those spots. All those memories.

EVERYONE TAKING DOWN PICTURES. THE GOODBYES.

THE SONG. THE SONG.

Don't let them make you hide yourself.

The callback to the football field.

"WE WERE NEVER WHAT WAS WRONG" !!!!!

All the callbacks. "I could be free" was from the "he would give up the crown for you" scene, if i recall correctly. Simon is revisiting every moment in their story.

"'Cause we were a revolution" WHY IS THIS IN PAST TENSE? NO. NO!

It shouldn't be a revolution to love another.

That quote itself. Then showing August and Sara. Back to Wille.

What is slightly concerning to me is that they haven't shown Simon yet. His voice is singing, but they show everyone but him. (Sara was on the picture, i count that, but he is nowhere. Just a ghost of memories.)

"You were my revolution before it fell apart" I'M SORRY JUST TAKE MY HEART, BREAK IT AND STOMP ON IT. SURE, GO AHEAD, DIDN'T NEED IT ANYWAY

(sorry, this shit is getting to me)

(Although, you apparently read this far through my chaos, so honestly your fault)

(Still cool you're still here)

THE SNOW GLOBE. IN THE TRASH. BROKEN. DISCARDED.

Now, are we discarding Erik or are we discarding broken and damaged things? Like this relationship? fucking tell me i am losing it here

Wille looking at August after he officially graduated. I can't read his look. And i am so confused to the situation and emotions here. Because last time they were drunk, now they are sober and both their relationships with the Erikssons are basically over. That is an interesting dynamic.

SIMONS SONG INSTEAD OF THE CLASSIC HILLERSKA HYMN. SIMONS SONG ABOUT LOVING WILLE. THE ENTIRE REVOLUTION.

Wille standing alone. Then seeing his parents, behaving different from the other parents, but at least being there.

His mom trying. The hug.

And i am finally crying. These breaks to write down my thoughts have kept this at bay so far, but a mother trying and asking for forgiveness has finally broken me. (I should bring this up with my therapist)

Wille going after Simon. And his mother smiling at that.

The heartbeat in the background. After "I never gave up on us." Hope.

WHY ARE YOU SAYING GOODBYE

YOU STILL HAVE THIRTEEN MINUTES TO FIGURE IT OUT

And again Wille is telling Simon to enjoy a holiday. It was christmas. Now its the summer holidays.

But no "i love you"s. Just a heartbeat.

Simon leaving. Again.

And Wille is hesitating. I swear the heartbeat is speeding up. He is hesitating.

And i find myself yelling at the tv for him to finally move and go after him. Fight for him. Fight for them.

Fucking move. Get your man.

And this idiot walks physically backwards. Back to society and his parents, away from his love.

Fuck me, he called Simon the love of his life. And maybe he's young and doesn't know better. But i am not much older and am fairly sure someone would not say that if they didnt mean it. SO BETTER FUCKING GO AFTER HIM.

WHY ELSE WOULD THE HEARTBEAT BE THERE? i mean i am not a medical expert but i am pretty sure that was not one heartbeat, that sounded off. I hope it was two, two hearts and their beats, two lives entangled.

Felice and Sara are actively healing my soul. I am pretty sure i have written that sentence earlier but i refuse to check.

Also Wille being uncomfortable in the car. He should have run after Simon, than he wouldnt be, change my mind.

"You will be a fantastic king."

What if i don't want that?

Ladies, Gentlemen and friends of other assorted genders: FUCKING FINALLY

An honest, open, (somewhat) calm conversation. The one thing they have needed for three seasons. We finally have it. Finally.

The visual conflict of emotions in the queen. The motherly pride and concern for her child and the disappointment and fear of the monarch losing their heir. It's brilliant acting.

The realization on Augusts face hitting him when he sees Wilhelm leave.

The shaky camera as Wille is looking around, searching. The camera was steady in the car, a bit shaky around August, and now it is full on wobbling around. It is a panic, with the music, the emotions swelling.

And then he runs. And yells. And the camera gets steadier.

The regret in his face when he can't keep up anymore. And then the hope when he sees the car stop.

The relief in Willes voice when he tells Simon. And the pain in Simons eyes. Slowly morphing into hope.

The distance between them. When Wille was coming clean, they showed the faces, not the distance between them. Just that they were talking face to face. Now, as Wille asks, if Simon is done with him, they show this distance between them.

Simon starting to smile.

And now, paused, my brain moving faster than i can type, i was wondering why he was sitting in the backseat. They must have someone else in the car. And you can see Felice peeking through the rear window.

And the way they kiss. Passionately. Not holding back. Finally free.

All their moments. Their story. Their love. Finally, them saying i love you. To each other. In the open. Free. Declaring themselves. Together.

And Wille coming with them. Their little found family. Them whoooing in the car, like they did on that night at the football game on the motor bikes.

Them being happy.

And then that final look in the camera. Finally happy, finally free.

Cut to black.

Okay, that was absolutely brilliant.

I loved it, every second of it. It was a beautiful way of wrapping everything up, a happy ending at last. For everyone.

August becomes king. Or whatever. We dont care.

Sara and Felice make up. Are friends again. Are free together.

Felice finds herself outside of money and in people. In her friends.

Sara realizes she has people that care for her and see her as she is. She finds happiness in platonic love, not romantic.

Simon and Wille end up together, overcome their differences. Find a way.

Simon has his love and reconsiled with his sister. He can be true to himself and created his song, his music. Music that touches others, Music that others like.

And Wilhelm got out of that system that caused him so much pain. He got closure, threw away the snow globe, quit being royalty. He is free, the one thing he wanted all this time. Be happy, be himself, be free.

Sometimes family is a former crown prince, his musician boyfriend, a neurodivergent horse girl and the worlds best best friend.

[I think this is the point where i thank you for reading all this. I am going to post this without reading it a second time to keep myself surprised and not edit any reactions. But i hope the rambling made some sense. Thank you!]

#young royals #young royals season 3 #young royals finale #prince wilhelm #wilhelm x simon #wilhelm young royals #simon eriksson #felice ehrencrona #sara eriksson #august young royals

[telomeke-bbs]

BAD BUDDY'S BASEBALL MOM – ROOFTOP RUGBY WITH LUCY IN THE SKY… OR ON A BASEBALL DIAMOND?

One of the most mystifying aspects of Bad Buddy was the decision to have Pat wear the now-iconic Baseball Mom tee for the Epic Rooftop Kiss at the end of Episode 5.

It's so utterly incongruous with the drama onscreen. The scene was a pivotal moment for the narrative, with Pat's big coming out to Pran followed by the very steamy demonstration of mutual emotions, after episodes of unending turbulence around where they stood with each other. And The Kiss they delivered was so stupendous, it rocked the Internet to its very foundations.

And for that hugely important moment, Director Aof decided Pat should wear – a big woman's t-shirt more associated with loud, overzealous American moms cheering on their kids at Little League baseball? 👀

At first I thought production simply wanted something open and sporty for Pat, to contrast with Pran being all covered up (mirroring their states of mind – Pat actively seeking to confess his feelings on the rooftop, Pran all closed-off and repressed). That line of thinking was definitely behind a lot of Pat and Pran's outfits, and I assumed they just used a random tee and cut off its sleeves for this.

But in retrospect this seems altogether too blasé an approach, especially since we can see how purposeful the wardrobe decisions were throughout the rest of the series. (The Soon Vijarn Recap video for BBS Ep.5 also makes it very clear Director Aof was closely involved in wardrobe selection, choosing all the outfits for their appropriateness to the narrative – see this link here, at timestamp 23.24.)

(above) The Soon Vijarn Recap video for BBS Ep.5 timestamp 23.49

The examples of the wardrobe reflecting the characters' inner states are copious. Pran's emotional journey in the first half of BBS – learning to open up, getting his feelings returned, and falling into a relationship – was mirrored by his sartorial journey, and he went from all colorless and buttoned-up to a wardrobe filled with more relaxed, expressive and colorful outfits when out in public:

(above) Pran all buttoned-up in his early whites (Ep.2 [1I4] 1.56, Ep.3 [1I4] 12.40 and Ep.5 [1I4] 6.03)

(above) A selection of Pran's more relaxed and colorful sweaters that he wore outside later in the series (Ep.7 [3I4] 2.52, Ep.10 [3I4] 0.26, Ep.12 [3I4] 6.36 and Ep.12 [4/4] 10.14)

Loud extrovert Pat on the other hand was decked out almost from the beginning in bright prints and wacky t-shirts (with some rivaling Baseball Mom in wackiness), all the better to broadcast his outgoing character and personality:

(above) A selection of Pat's bright and wacky tops (Ep.2 [2/4] 5.03, Ep.6 [3I4] 4.37, Ep.8 [2/4] 8.30 and Ep.10 [1I4] 4.52)

The mystery deepened further when the fandom tracked down the maker of Baseball Mom – it looks like a small, possibly home-based business in the US, and the t-shirt is part of a line, one of several related tops (see this link here). It simply wasn't a random tee from some small Bangkok shop (unless the vendor had gotten it secondhand off some American tourist, and was re-selling it locally). This looks like a t-shirt that was specifically procured for the show (possibly even sourced from overseas), rendered sleeveless with low-cut armholes to echo the openness of Pat's personality, and then put on Ohm with absolute intent.

But why?

I'm convinced that there is an element of subversion about this (not the least because the t-shirt undercuts the heavy drama of the scene so drastically). @ranchthoughts has already pointed out in this write-up linked here that the feminine Mom is an allusion to the subversion of gender roles embodied by Pat's character, and I very much agree. It's also possible that this particular tee was chosen because the baseball standing in for (and thus somewhat obscuring) the letter 'O' in the word Mom kind of makes the word call out to M🤍M or MLM. (And here's an afterthought that occured to me watching Only Friends and the promo trailer for My Golden Blood – the baseball bat is also visual shorthand for the emotional violence that Pat and Pran wreak upon their relationship when each figuratively beats up on the other – and on himself too – while acting out their strange, rambunctious relationship as enemies who are secret friends and later lovers.)

But I also do think that there's still more to Baseball Mom than the above, and this particular train of thought was triggered by an Ask from @pandasmagorica about Ep.5's rooftop scene (linked here).

I now think we can piece together a reason for Baseball Mom on the rooftop, but it's only fair to signal that this wackiest of wardrobe choices is getting possibly the wackiest of explanations (and it's a doozy).

Now what @pandasmagorica's Ask triggered for me was the realization that Pat's directness on the rooftop was actually almost the complete opposite of something that he'd been doing very often, right up until Episode 5 – and that was his propensity to torment Pran with the bait-and-switch.

Time and again, Pat would reach out with the offer of something precious to Pran – a smile, a kind word, a tender moment, a suggestion of intimacy – but then quite suddenly he would subvert the situation and switch out the proffered affection with something wholly discomfiting, crushing hopeful Pran's expectations.

There are several examples:

During their childhood, Pat returned Pran's watch after Pran saved Pa from drowning (Ep.1 [4/4] 9.46), signaling the start of his friendship with the lonely little boy next door – only to impose the caveat "But…don’t talk to me in front of people. They might think we're buddies."

That (almost shirtless) bedside conversation at the end of Ep.4 (beginning at Ep.4 [4/4] 10.43), when Pat kept bombarding poor Pran with personal, leading questions, half-begged to be allowed to share his bed and cuddle, before shattering his neighbor's heart by declaring that it was Ink whom he liked romantically.

Tending to Pran’s injured shoulder at Ep.4 [3I4] 7.07, before suggesting he only wanted Pran to recover so that they could compete in rugby again;

Returning Pran’s long-lost guitar to him, then ruining the tenderness of the moment with “I just like to see your face… when you lose” (Ep.3 [4/4] 10.30).

And with Pran deep in his feelings for Pat, the constant intimations of closeness and deeper feelings, shell-gamed away at the last minute, must have been soul-crushing for our poor yearning boy. (This is also what the lyrics of Pran's theme – Just Friend? – are all about, e.g., "I can’t make sense of what you’ve done"/"Are we just friends or are we more?"/"If you don’t mean it, don’t act that way".)

No wonder Pran was trying so hard to keep a distance from the cheerful boy next door, who was always invading his personal space (after having taken over his heart). So much so that Pran on the rooftop was expecting more of the same, which explains his blunt statement "Pat, you've got to stop doing this to me. We are not a thing" in response to Pat telling him that it hurt to see the song they co-wrote in high school played with someone else.

Pran saw this as more of Pat's teasing games, but irony of ironies Pat was being totally serious this time. And yet, even on the rooftop in Ep.5, Pat did a version of the bait-and-switch one more time, but with the polarity reversed for once – he listed all the ways Pran's exile should have brought him joy, only to end with "It was so depressingly lonely for me." 😢

I think Pat learnt early on that this is what you do to your loved ones – because there's actually an example of Ming doing something similar to his son at Ep.8 [2/4] 16.12. Helping to wash Pat's car, he quietly allowed his son to natter on about his day with fibs about rugby practice, before landing a sledgehammer blow saying "When did I teach you to lie?" at Ep.8 [2/4] 16.41. This was an ambush, intended to take Pat by surprise and inflict the maximum amount of damage – and judging by Pat's despondent moping after, Ming certainly succeeded.

But it's not only Pat doing this to Pran, or Ming doing this to Pat, that we see in BBS. Director Aof and his writers actually littered the narrative with other examples of the set-up and switch-out as well, doing it to us the viewers:

Pat may have started out Ep.1 a ruffian, but then we saw that he was really a cheery big kid who needed his popsicles and cuddles from Nong Nao for comfort (Ep.1 [4/4] 8.37 and Ep.2 [1I4] 1.36).

Ink was introduced as a demure girl from the north (remembering that northern Thailand is seen as close to the birthplace of Thai culture) in Ep.4 [1I4] 7.41; then she tripped and let out a curse word at Ep.4 [1I4] 8.01.

Pa's glow-up at Ep.7 [1I4] and subsequent story arc subverted her initial (albeit not very successful) portrayal as the frumpy kid sister with no life and no agency as a character.

BBS placed the emotional burden of Episodes 1 to 4 solely on Pran's pining shoulders, and then suddenly whipped it away in Ep.5 and dumped it squarely on Pat (kudos to Ohm, who gamely played Pat as a shining object of affection for the first third of BBS, before showing us that Junior Jindapat was so much more than a lovable, empty vessel himbo, and was instead someone who actually did possess an inner life that he could access).

And perhaps the biggest BBS bait-and-switch of all – Pran's unrequited love for inaccessible Pat turns out to be requited after all, but then without warning it's Pran who spins out of reach on the rooftop.

Looking at BL as a genre, the bait-and-switch is sometimes employed as a storytelling device to provide an unexpected dramatic twist (though whether or not it satisfies is debatable). For example there is the trap set for Lhong in TharnType, the aloof ice prince Sarawat turning out to have been carrying a torch for Tine in 2gether, and Nubsib's reveal in Lovely Writer as someone who also shared a past with Gene.

And if you think about it, all of Bad Buddy itself was kind of one big bait-and-switch as well. They set it up so that – at the start – it looked like the series would be shaping up into a run-of-the-mill, formulaic romance. The roadmap was laid out quite clearly – enemies to lovers, Romeo and Juliet or Kwan and Riam but the BL version thank you very much, star-crossed and kept apart by their warring families.

So we were expecting BBS to follow the usual romcom beats and rhythms, delivering the standard tropes, with the main storyline about how the enemies would fall in love against the odds, then find a way to beat the odds and stay together, or fall victim to it and be forever driven apart.

Except that Director Aof and his team pulled the rug out from under us time and time again, after setting this all up. The idea that Pat and Pran were enemies got turned on its head (they'd been secret friends since childhood). The process of falling in love didn't follow conventional beats at all – Pran was already in love, while Pat was… possibly already beset by emotions, just getting them all mixed up and projecting them onto Ink.

Instead of showing us the main couple falling for each other over the course of 12 episodes, this was firmly established by the end of Episode 5. Instead of their families being the primary conflict driving them apart, it was Pran's overthinking and emotional walls that drove a wedge between them in Episode 6. When family conflict finally did rear its head to threaten their relationship, well Pat and Pran just sidestepped it and carried on.

And the tropes? One by one they fell by the wayside as well. Ink turned up in Ep.4, looking like a formidable love rival for Pran (and he believed it too). Except that she wasn't the stereotype of the evil girlfriend at all – she turned out to be Pat's supportive bestie, while her eye (and camera) were focused on Pa instead. Any stereotypes overhanging macho Pat and pernickety Pran got subverted too, with Pat ditching sports practice for musical theater and Pran a credible street fighter and also a star player on his rugby team – so much for the seme and uke in this BL. The "gay for you" trope got put down (Ep.9 [2/4] 1.41), as was the "wifey" one (Ep.9 [4/4] 8.48). There are so many examples.

Even the end of Ep.11 was a bait-and-switch as well, when a large portion of the fandom was hoodwinked by Director Aof's Ep.12 preview into thinking that we were headed for a break-up. (Fortunately they switched it out for the happy ending that we got instead, thank goodness.)

There's so much of this going on, it seems as though BBS was actually celebrating the bait-and-switch (and in that way kind of subverting its use in BL as well). The thing is, nothing was ever what it seemed in Bad Buddy, and it was all intended to be so, from Day One, because it's solidly a thematic preoccupation underlying the series.

I now think Baseball Mom really plays into all of this glorification of and subversion with the bait-and-switch as a storytelling device. But in a really wacky way, as perhaps is only fitting for the wackiest of Pat's t‑shirts.

So looking back on decades of popular media, who's been crowned the Big Boss of the Bait-and-Switch, the Grand Poobah of Switcheroos, the Queen of the Short-Con, the House Mother of all Bamboozlers?

It’s this little lady right here: 😍

This is Lucy Van Pelt, from Charles Schulz's comic strip Peanuts. Lucy is many things in the Peanuts universe, but one thing she's iconic for is a bait-and-switch prank, where she holds a football and then goads Charlie Brown on to kick it. He usually takes a bit of convincing, but eventually he goes for it and at the last second, Lucy pulls the ball away and poor Chuck ends up kicking the air, sent flying in the process. It's a running gag in the comic strip, first appearing in 1952 and recurring every year after that:

So what's the link with Baseball Mom though?

Football aside, in Peanuts Lucy is also a member of Charlie Brown's baseball team – and significantly she's absolutely terrible at the game. She misses the easiest of pitches, and even when perfectly positioned she gets hit on the head by the ball instead of catching it in her mitt.

So while she may be totally, confidently in charge of the situation baiting Charlie Brown with the pigskin, when it comes to baseball instead of football – Lucy is completely out of her element.

The parallel with Bad Buddy is that master of the bait-and-switch Pat Napat Jindapat – the BBS manifestation of Lucy – was pulling different versions of the Charlie Brown football prank on hapless Pran over and over again, causing much anguish to the latter's battered heart.

But suddenly on the rooftop, the tables got turned and Pran pulled the big switcheroo on him instead – by confirming their mutual feelings with a kiss so dizzyingly sensational that Pat must have been delirious with happiness… only to send it all crashing down by abandoning him there without a word of explanation.

(above) Bad Buddy Ep.5 [4/4] 12.58 – an abandoned Pat stares uncomprehendingly as Pran walks away from the wreckage of their broken hearts

In that moment Football Lucy morphed into Baseball Lucy, from self-assured manipulator to incompetent klutz, all alone in right field when the ball came zooming in from way out left. And what better way to mark this moment than with a t-shirt loudly proclaiming Pat's newly-minted Baseball Lucy status on its front?

(above) The Baseball Mom graphic – BBS's own version of The Scarlet Letter

Yes, I know this explanation is outlandish; that's how it sounded to me too when it first took shape in my head. So I decided to test it, by looking for supporting information elsewhere in the context of Bad Buddy. And the findings are truly surprising. 👀

No characters from Peanuts actually appear (in canon form) within any of BBS's visuals (not that they could, I suppose, for licensing reasons). But Charlie Brown and his cohort of characters aren't unknown in Thailand – there is a Charlie Brown Café (79/335 แขวงช่องนนทรี เขตยานนาวา, Bangkok, Thailand, 10120) that was previously at MBK Centre and a Charlie Brown's Restaurant (315/303 ซ.นราธิวาส24 แขวง ช่องนนทรี Yan Nawa, Bangkok 10120, Thailand) at Belle Park Plaza/Fortune Condo Town:

(above left) Charlie Brown Café; (above right) Charlie Brown's Restaurant

And even though we don't directly see Charlie Brown, Lucy or any other Peanuts characters in BBS, there are oblique references. One of the more obvious ones alludes to Lucy's younger brother, Linus Van Pelt:

When we see Pran out in the world with his PP hobo bag (written up here) or Pat snuggled in bed with his beloved Nong Nao (written up here), we know by now that the bag and the stuffed doll-pillow are our boys' favorite comfort objects, providing psychological security even as they face their personal fears.

(above left) Bad Buddy Ep.2 [1I4] 3.01 – Pran and his PP hobo bag, that he deploys like a shield when outside; (above right) Bad Buddy Ep.2 [1I4] 1.37 – Pat cuddling Nong Nao for comfort when he's all alone

But another name for these comfort objects actually has a connection to Peanuts – they can also be called Linus blankets, after the security blanket that Lucy's brother carries around with him all the time. Just a coincidence? I'm not so sure. (I think it's also significant that all three objects have blue as their predominant color.)

There's also a nod at Charlie Brown himself later, on the rooftop in Ep.7 [4/4] – Pat's tee is an unmistakeable visual reference to Charlie Brown's signature yellow top with its zigzag motif:

(above left) Bad Buddy Ep.7 [4/4] 1.48; (above right) Charlie Brown in his own iconic t-shirt

After their roles were reversed on the rooftop at the end of Ep.5 (with Pran pulling the ultimate bait-and-switch move back on Pat by walking away after The Kiss), the mantle of Charlie Brown the football prank victim was thrust onto Pat instead, and that is what we see here in Ep.7.

The brand name emblazoned on Pat's t-shirt also rings some bells – it's Patriots, which immediately calls to mind the NFL team from New England, and is another nod at Lucy's American football. (There is also a Minor League baseball team called the Somerset Patriots based in New Jersey; not as well-known as their counterparts – compatriots? – a few states away, but still… 👀).

(above) Bad Buddy Ep.7 [4/4] 2.13

And looking a bit closer the Ep.7 scene on the rooftop (the last one to be filmed among all of Bad Buddy's queues) really starts to overflow with meaning because it's actually a parallel to Ep.5's rooftop bait-and-switch.

It's far too much to include here, so I've put it into its own separate post (see this write-up linked here) – the short of it is that Pat as Charlie Brown plays the bait-and-switch one last time on Pran in Ep.7, but for the very first time turns the last-second switch-out into a win for his beloved instead, rescuing Pran who was floundering with the musical. And this reversal of the bait-and-switch, a redemption of sorts, is what convinces Pran to end their courtship competition and enter into confirmed couplehood instead. 👍

‌

Now all that aside, there's still one more element in Bad Buddy that I think is a direct reference to Lucy's bait-and-switch in Peanuts – and that's all the rugby, doing its part as a stand-in for Lucy's American football.

(above) Bad Buddy Ep.4 [4/4] 2.04 – the boys face off on the rugby pitch

It would never have been possible to feature American (gridiron) football authentically in Bad Buddy (it's not a popular sport outside of North America, to be honest, and would have been totally alien in a Thai setting). So they shone the spotlight on rugby instead, most probably because the ball used for play there is ovoid and almost the same as the one used in American football – it seems like the rugby in BBS is pointing at Lucy and the American football she deviously deploys.

(top) Bad Buddy Ep.7 [2/4] 13.01; (bottom) Bad Buddy Ep.7 [2/4] 13.02

This would explain why Director Aof and his team opted to feature rugby instead of soccer –the latter is far more popular in Thailand, and would have been a more obvious choice. In addition, soccer would have been far easier to stage – all the BBS rugby scenes had to be filmed at a completely different campus from the primary uni location (Bangkok University instead of Rangsit University) because the latter doesn't seem to have a rugby pitch, though it does have a soccer one. In case you were wondering as I was, the goalposts are starkly different so they couldn't just pretend to play rugby on the soccer pitch – it would have been a terribly obvious fake-out if they had.

They couldn't substitute another team sport even if it was easier to accommodate, because rugby (or rather the ball) was integral to this aspect of the storyline. It needed to be rugby if the intention was to evoke Lucy's favorite weapon of torment.

Further evidence in support of this can be found when you look at the original (rough-draft promo) Bad Buddy trailer that was released in 2020 (I think) to promote the 2021 lineup, before actual filming of the series itself in mid-2021:

The rugby was present even at that early stage (and Toto was on Pat's team! 😂). But what's mindblowing is that they're actually using an American football (the AF500), not a rugby ball (you can tell from the laces, which modern rugby balls do not have). 👀 So the gridiron football was very much part of Bad Buddy's primordial DNA, way back at its inception, even before actual filming began. Another nod at Lucy in Peanuts here.

(above) A screenshot from the original Bad Buddy promo trailer at timestamp 1.48

(above) A screenshot from the original Bad Buddy promo trailer at timestamp 2.15

Now all of this is dandy I suppose, but even with Linus blankets, Pat dressed like Charlie Brown, the oval ball and BBS's insistence on rugby (masquerading as American football) over soccer, for the longest time the hardboiled skeptic in me still wasn't fully convinced that Pat wearing Baseball Mom was actually Lucy in disguise getting her comeuppance, Bad Buddy style.

UNTIL I DECIDED TO LOOK MORE CLOSELY AT THE RUGBY MATCH IN EPISODE 4. And that was the clincher, that cemented the intentionality behind Baseball Mom in my mind, because there actually is a sequence where Pat executes Lucy's signature bait-and-switch move, with the rugby ball standing in for an American football, and with Pran as his fall guy.

The sequence in question starts at Ep.4 [4/4] 3.33, when we see Pat running with the ball, coveted by Pran (in more ways than one).

(above) Bad Buddy Ep.4 [4/4] 3.33

Pran tackles him, but in a blink-and-you'll-miss-it moment, Pat flicks the ball away and before any of us (Pran included) can realize what's happened, Korn is off and running with it instead (and I think he scores the rugby version of a touchdown too).

(above) Bad Buddy Ep.4 [4/4] 3.38

Meanwhile, Pat and Pran are still locked in a full-body clinch – and if you look closely, it's Pat who's actually holding on to Pran, not letting him go (with obvious delight, even if he's unaware of exactly why he's relishing the contact so much).

Much of Bad Buddy is really chaste, but there's something about this moment here that makes it seem like a line has been crossed, and that things have turned inexplicably raunchy somehow. There's full-body grappling, legs spread wide, crotch jammed to butt, a whole lot of heaving and panting. Pat is clearly enjoying every second, almost as though it’s the successful climax of his great big plan to waylay Pran with this bait-and-switch. And of course it's the perfect cue for him to deliver that now infamous, golden line: "If you hug me this tight, you might as well take me as your boyfriend." 😂

Actually Pat had been teasing and taunting Pran with hints of romance even before the game (going so far as to acknowledge that his behavior was flirtatious, at Ep.4 [4/4] 0.48) so it's impossible not to see that body tackle on the pitch as anything but a close encounter suffused with sexual tension – and Pran would of course be the first to notice it. (It's possibly also a subversion of the accidental "falling on you" trope, since it's at once contrived yet consensual.)

If you break it down, Pat used the ball to get Pran to tackle him, only to switch it out at the last minute with something else (close, practically intimate body contact) that poor Pran (drowning in his crush) would have found absolutely devastating. This is practically a playbook version of Lucy doing the football bait-and-switch with Charlie Brown.

To be honest though, I'd always found this rugby clinch a little odd and confusing, and had wondered why they even had this scene. It was logistically complicated to set up (two whole teams of players!), and the bait-and-switch portion would have been extremely tricky to choreograph and film. The whole rigmarole was also a lot of work for just a few seconds of screen time. That the ball slips away unseen also makes it seem anti-climactic for the viewer – but not for master gameplayer Pat, who successfully got his planned payload nonetheless.

And because he did it using Lucy Van Pelt's signature move, I now think the reason for this scene is for it to be held up as the paragon of Pat's bait-and-switch traps in Bad Buddy, and a parallel for the Epic Rooftop Kiss when Pran slaps the old switcheroo back on Pat instead.

On the rugby pitch Pat baited Pran by pulling away (with the ball), and then crushed his heart with physical intimacy (hugging him like a lover, but making it seem like he was only play-acting at returning Pran's love). On the rooftop Pran baited Pat with physical intimacy (The Kiss, proof to Pat that his feelings were returned), and then crushed his heart by pulling away (and taking with him all promise of his love).

Atop Chana City Residence at the end of Ep.5, perpetual prankster Pat couldn't stop himself and went in for the bait (Pran offering himself up romantically), only to see it whisked away from him at the very last second.

Suddenly the rules changed and Football Lucy, the House Mother of all bait-and-switch bamboozles, became the victim of the biggest bait-and-switch of them all, and was thrust into a different game instead. Bereft of Pran and denied his moment of victory, Pat became Baseball Mom indeed. 😔

(above) Bad Buddy Ep.5 [4/4] 13.06

‌

P.S. You can order Baseball Mom (the t-shirt, not Pat 😂) from Amazon at this link here. (If the link doesn't work, you may need to change your "Deliver To" location at the top left of the landing page on Amazon to another country – not useful if you want to buy it when they don't deliver to your location, but useful if you just want to view the page, or get them to deliver to a third party who can then forward it to you. If changing the location doesn't work, try following the other instructions in this post linked here.)

I suspect the fandom has been buying up Baseball Mom like crazy, because it went from limited stock and availability on Amazon (selected locations only), to becoming available for other global locations and on Walmart.com as well – so maybe demand from the BBS fandom has boosted sales so much they started marketing it on more channels? Thai BL soft power trickles down. 🥰👍

‌

P.P.S. OK, just a little aside – this Peanuts fan theory for Baseball Mom is really wacky, but I think the universe is telling me to put it out there anyway because just as I was finishing the write-up, this random post about the Peanuts football bait-and-switch appeared on my dashboard.

What are the odds of it crossing my dash at the same time I'm writing about it, when I've not seen it referenced before throughout my history on Tumblr, ever? (There were a few random Peanuts and Charlie Brown posts that appeared at the same time as well.) I'm not superstitious, but I do think the universe has spoken. 😂

#bad buddy #bad buddy baseball mom #bad buddy baseball mom t-shirt #bbs baseball mom #bbs baseball mom t-shirt #bbs lucy van pelt #bbs bait and switch #bad buddy bait and switch #patpran #bbs charlie brown #bbs linus van pelt #bbs linus blanket #bbs peanuts #bbs rugby #bad buddy analysis

[phoenixspencer]

Hello! I love your gifs! How do you make yours so clear and high quality/What's your process? <3

Hi!! Thank you so much!! I've never really had to explain out my process to anyone and I don't know how much detail you need, but I'll try my best and try to be as thorough as possible just in case!!

For my D:BH gifs, the process starts out with recording my own game play. I have a gaming computer that already had the GeForce Experience app downloaded, so I use that to record my game play. It records at 1920 × 1080p, 60 frames per second, so the files can get... rather large 😅 The video of my playthrough of the Russian Roulette chapter (~11 minutes long) was just under 4 GB. So its not light...

From there, I figure out what in particular I want to gif (for the timestamp roulette series, I let a random number generator figure out whereabouts I'm looking). Once I know that, I open up VLC and use it to isolate that particular shot + a little more on either end.

After I have the shot(s) I want to gif isolated, I open up Photoshop. I use "File" > "Import" > "Video Frames to Layers" and choose the video I want. You can do this straight from the video of your playthough, but I find that the shorter the video is, the easier it is to work with in this step. I trim my video more, to about a click or two outside of the specific shot I want. Like so:

From there I delete any extraneous frames from the "timeline" section that comes up.

Then is cropping: my go-to crop uses the "W x H x Resolution" option - I put 540 px in the first box, 300 px in the second and leave the third blank.

After that, I have an action in Photoshop that does the next steps for me (to make things quicker), but what it does is sets the frame rate (which will have to be done again after saving the gif because Photoshop hates everyone apparently), converts all the layers into a single object, and sharpens the gif. I've only been gif-ing for about a year and a half, and before that I had exactly zero experience with Photoshop at all, so all the numbers from these steps are still the same as the numbers I pulled from the tutorial I used when trying to figure everything out. For those, you can look at this absolutely AMAZING tutorial, by hayaosmiyazaki, specifically steps 7. gif speed and 8. sharpening.

From there, I start adjusting the colors. From what I've noticed, I seem to do a good bit less color adjustment than some, or maybe even most, other gif makers. It's honestly all about personal preference, so play around with it and find what you like! I personally like to stick as close as possible to the original colors, while still brightening the image up enough to make it clearer and more legible. So, for a majority of my gifs, I only apply an "Exposure" layer, a "Brightness/Contrast" layer, and a "Hue/Saturation" layer (from the "Layer" > "New Adjustment Layer" menu.) The numbers here change dependent upon the lighting in the shot.

For example, here's a before and after of this shot I just did so I could type this out and make sure I got every step 😅 For this one, I did Exposure +1.0 (no change to Offset or Gamma Correction), Brightness +20, Contrast +10, and Saturation +5 (no change to Hue or Lightness).

Once I'm satisfied with my coloring, I go to "File" > "Export" > "Save for Web (Legacy)". I watch the gif there to make sure it looks how I want, maybe go back and do a few tweaks to the coloring if I'm not quite happy, check the file size and then save it!

Tumblr's maximum file size is 10MB so if your gif is over that, you won't be able to use it on tumblr - in order to fix that, you may have to delete a few more frames. Or you can crop it to so there's less pixels in the "Save for Web" pop-up by changing the numbers in the "Image Size" section

And now, once I have my gif named and saved. I go back to "File" > "Open" and open up that gif. From there, I go to the little three lines icon in the top right corner of my "Timeline" section, click "Select All Frames" and then click the three dots on one of the frames and change the frame delay. For my DBH gifs, I do 0.02 seconds cause it looks best to me. Depending on how many frames per second your recording software does/what you personally like speed wise, this may be different for you. This is also different for gifs from live action or other media (for those, I prefer 0.05 seconds - it looks the most realistic to me.)

Then, I just save again, overriding the file from before I changed the speed, and voila! That's my process!

I hope this helps; if you have any more questions, my ask box is always open!! And again, thank you so so much 🥰 I'm so glad you like my gifs!!

#so yeah that's the process #gif making #phoenixspencer gifs

[ploo-toe]

The Crow and the Mourning Dove - Intro

SCP-049 x SCP!Reader

Series tags/warnings(18+): fem!reader, slowburn, (eventual)smut, horror, gore/violence, death, unethical experiments, dark, mentions of past trauma, happy ending

Chapter Summary: “Just one more question for today, and then I'll leave you be.”  Leeward chose his words carefully.  “It says you were found in Marseille.  Why did you leave Paris?”

Notes: I'm so excited to begin this new series!  The song I had in mind in this chapter was Piano Concerto No. 1 in E Minor, Op. 11:1. Allegro Maestoso by Frédéric Chopin and the Warsaw Philharmonic Orchestra.  The referenced “melancholy” part is roughly at 4:40.  Here’s the youtube link for anybody interested in listening:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GWd0O0TlJqM

___________________________________________

Leeward had just finished up his report on the progress made in his most recent interview with SCP-049, or lack thereof, when he had been flagged down by the site director.

"Adam!  I'm glad I caught you.  I need you to take on the series of interviews Dr.Rivera was conducting. Not all of them, just this one; SCP-9528.  It's located down in humanoid containment. "  The director held out a file to him. 

Hesitantly taking it from his hand, Leeward let out a nervous but exasperated chuckle. "I don't really have a choice, do I?"  It was framed as a joke, but his words held truth to them. He was in no place to refuse the directors request and keep his job intact. 

The director let out a cold and unnerving laugh, one that didn't reach his eyes. "Be sure you get on this as soon as possible.  I'm trusting you Dr.Leeward, don't make me regret it."

There was a pit in Leeward's stomach as he watched the director leave. Confrontation was never his strong suit.  With a heavy sign, he began thumbing through the file, walking as he read. 

He was intrigued to say the least, this scp was definitely a curiosity. He had taken a pen out of his coat pocket and began making notes in the file, underlining phrases like "seemingly female humanoid", "152 cm in height", "strange eyes", "musician", "spirit maiden" whatever that means, "reaper", "friendly", "deadly" that's a little contradictory.  Reading the file had certainly left him with more questions than answers. At the bottom were notes written by Dr.Rivera.

-prefers to go by y/n, but will respond to designation

-states to originate from the 15th century

-claims to wear perfume, although never seen putting any on, emitted naturally?

-interview with song moving forward, timestamp changes with recording

-when asked about the ring on its necklace,  answers given were vague, distant, and almost… somber. 

Looking up, the designation on the door stared down at him. He must have been so lost in thought that he hadn't realized he was here already. Straightening his coat, Leeward held his keycard to the scanner, and braced himself as the door slid open. 

The first thing that hit him was the soft lavender scent when he walked in. The second was the music that filled the room, with seemingly no point of origin. If he closed his eyes it was almost like he was at an orchestral performance. But his eyes stayed curiously trained on the figure before him.

In the center of the room stood SCP-9528, arms gently moving through the air as if conducting the room around it.  As the door closed behind him, 9528 moved its head to the side, acknowledging him but not turning around.

“Where's Dr.Rivera?”  The voice that questioned was warm, and if he didn’t know any better he would think it was human.  Luckily he did know better.  

“Dr.Rivera’s starting her maternity leave today, so I’ll be the one working with you for the time being.  My name is Dr.Leeward.”  This answer seemed to satisfy the scp, its head turning forward again to continue its musings.  

Leeward sat at the table to his right, taking out his notes and signaling to the two way window across the room that he was ready and to start recording. He cleared his throat lightly before beginning.

“It says here your name is y/n, correct?” Leeward started with a simple question, choosing to go with the basics to gauge how to best lead the interview.

“That’s correct, although no one’s had the decency to call me that in ages.  The numbers you’ve assigned will suffice as well.”  It spoke with a soft French accent.  Why it hadn’t been noted until now, he was unsure.

“Well y/n, I’d like to ask you some questions; get to know you better.  Is that alright?”  He remembered seeing something in the file about “good days” and “bad days”, so he thought providing some illusion of choice would increase its likelihood to cooperate.

“I suppose.  You seem pleasant enough.”

“Good, now I know that you’ve most likely been asked some of these questions before, but I'd like to start from the beginning for myself.”  Leeward paused before continuing.  “It says in your file that you’re from the 15th century, is it safe to assume that you’re from France?”

9528 nodded “Yes, that’s correct.”

“Where in France specifically?”

“Île de la Cité.  It was fairly populated at the time, even more so now I assume.  I was one of the lucky few who lived there at the time to have a garden.”  9528 began to open up to Leeward, pleased with the topic of conversation.  The music in the room took a more cheery tone to it.  

“You say you had a garden?  What kinds of things did you grow?”

“Oh, vegetables, fruit, spices, a few medicinal herbs, etcetera..”

“Medicinal herbs, could you elaborate on that for me?”

“You see, I always preferred homemade remedies over bought ones.”

“And what did you do for a living?”  Leeward moved on, trying to find something substantial.

“I made music for the townspeople, in the market square by the cathedral.  I always hoped to entertain and lift their spirits.  It was a hard time in Paris back then.  I loved the way the children would dance around without a care in the world.  As if nothing could ever harm them.”

Leeward decided to take a chance.  “It says here that you wear a ring on your necklace.  May I ask why?”

The music in the room turned melancholy, and 9528 stilled.  It paused, as if lost in thought, or perhaps pondering what it should tell the doctor.  Leeward took the chance to listen to its melody. It sounded wistful and saudade.  The more he listened, the more it felt like he was longing for something unknown and far away.  What that meant, he was unsure.  He was brought back to the present when 9528 spoke.

“It was a gift from someone close to me.  I wear it to remember them.”  That was all it seemed willing to divulge.  The music softly paused.  “I'm growing quite tired, Doctor.”

“Just one more question for today, and then I'll leave you be.”  Leeward chose his words carefully.  “It says you were found in Marseille.  Why did you leave Paris?”

The answer it gave sounded thought out, as if only part true.  But it shook the doctor nonetheless.

“The Plague.”

#scp 049 x reader #scp049xreader #scp 049 #scp 049 x scp reader #scp foundation #scp containment breach #the crow and the mourning dove #scp 049 x oc #back in the swing of things #buckle up folks #its giving dark AND spicy #SLOWburn

[horsegirlalexkralie]

late but Yeah.. jay getting revenge and pissing tim the fuck off by being painfully slow giving head, switching between lazily licking at his dick to gagging on it, always pulling away before he could cum lol. jay wants to savor the strong grip tim’s hand has on his hair, the way it tightens when he’s close.

all while that stupid camera tim loathes is recording every twitch and gasp coaxed out of him for jay to replay later lol. he’s got a dick like a soda can btw and jay’s mouth is fucking SORE by the end of it but it was soo worth it

😵‍💫 REAL SHIT .

tim not realizing what hes doing at first. just thinks jays not confident abt his gag reflex, out of practice sucking cock, something like that. and hes a polite guy in general & not used to being selfish in bed & awkward about being on camera so he doesn't let himself really do anything about it for a while, just sighing and clenching his fists in the sheets or the empty air (jay pulls off ten or so torturous minutes in and licks at him and tells him oh so innocently that if he wants to pull his hair he can- but, yknow, be gentle? with those big doe eyes blinking up at him) and wondering if he should say something and trying so very hard to be sweet about it when he tightens his grip. trying not to clench his thighs around jays head. trying not to pant too loud in the quiet.

meanwhile jays having a religious ecstasy/autism moment working on his tim encyclopedia- it has a spreadsheet with a body language section thats currently getting a lot of much needed updates and jays going to cum his jeans over the thought that he can watch this tape back and take more notes. find the exact timestamp for when tims squirming becomes more pronounced, his cock wet of its own making, gasping when jay takes him deeper and twisting his fingers in his hair hard enough to hurt.

(he only lets tim cum when the camera trills that the batterys going to die in ten- swears up and down he'd have done it sooner if tim wasn't too proud to beg ask. honest.)

#g.txt #jam #nsft #lol tim thinks jay saying he wants to film 'for research' is just him being cute abt saying hes gonna jerk off to it #cut to him catching jay watching it back fully clothed taking notes #oh tim perfect timing!! *clicks to a new timestamp* can u tell me what exactly i was doing here its for the spreadsheet

[mrs-monaghan]

You said jk will never say anything rude to jimin. Okay. But he can do something rude? https://www.instagram.com/p/Cq-6zwRP5JW/?igshid=MWNmMTk3NmQ= isn't this so rude of him to do something like that to jimin in front of thousands of people?? Jimin looks really upset. And what about this.....https://www.instagram.com/reel/CrIdOElI8Dz/?igshid=MWNmMTk3NmQ= is it okay for him to initiate this if he's really in a relationship with jimin and clearly knows how Tkkrs are...and at the end it's gonna be only jimin who gets the hate. So it's okay for him to do this?

Short answer concerning your first link; No. It's not the same.

Anon's first video

Before we proceed take a look at JK's face at the end. He's being a brat on purpose and he knows it.

This was the Love yourself, speak yourself tour in 2018.

Okay so OG content is always important but if you've already been around a while then there's nothing wrong with compilations. Especially if they're not badly edited and manipulated. Which is why I also use compilations as proof because 1) the moments are easier to find and b) They're not usually out of context. Not the ones I link anyway.

So, Made in Busan made a timeline of the high fives. Timestamp: 3:51 to 6:19. U don't have to watch her personal commentary unless u want to.

People only talk about Manilla, but they don't talk about this tour. Something was happening with Jikook. They were clearly not in good terms. And it seems to me like Jimin was the one who shut the bed, going by JK's behaviour. Members notice but they don't intervene. 1) because they're in the middle of a performance and 2) because its a lover's quarrel and therefore none of their business. Jhope does keep laughing at them though but we know he knows the most about Jikook 😂😂

What JK did to V in the new years live and what he was doing to Jimin on this tour are not the same thing my dear anon. Not even close. JK was downright rude to V, with Jimin he is just snubbing him because he's clearly upset about something. With V he just did it randomly at a live. He also apologised for it and they moved on. With Jimin it kept happening.

Idk what to tell u anon but I just don't think these 2 situations are the same at all. Not even a little bit. Watch Jimin get ignored and run after JK to kiss his ass. Which is why again I think Jimin was the one who did something. This is how a lover's quarrel looks like anon. Especially when u see how happy baby was whenever he got a high 5. He looks at Jin and smiles happily. Does this mean members knew what was going on with them? Who knows.

2017/2018 Jikook were really fucking petty and they sometimes forgot to leave drama at home. That's that.

Now for your second link about Busan

Anon, first of all, yes its okay for JK to interact with any member he wants to on stage, not just V. It's not JK's fault that the fandom is full of assholes. He and all other members can do whatever they want with whoever they want, whenever they feel like it. End of.

That being said, yes this ended up being a Tkk moment. But it is of my personal opinion that JK needed help standing up but V didn't understand the assignment. Ugh. I wanna share a link but all of them are from the vermin and I dont wanna ruin your algorithms. Anyway, we all watched, we saw it happen. Before JK squatting he was limping a bit. Idk why. And then when V approached JK offered his hand. I am pretty sure he just needed help getting up. But Taekook_lives said otherwise and that's all she wrote.

Dont get me wrong, there's nothing wrong with Tkk fan service, I just don't think that's what JK was trying to do.

#bts ask #ask shaz #jikook #kookmin #minkook #bts #jimin and jungkook #park jimin #jeon jungkook #jimin #jungkook #jikook fights

[applecrumbledore]

Fic: He talked like you (timestamp)

sam/dean, 5k. tw: underage, recreational drugs, recreational f-slur. sam/OMC + wincest pining

This is a timestamp from Human hands, a fic in which Sam mentions that his first time was with a friend of Dean's when Dean was in high school.

I wrote to get it out of my head, then realized I don't want to actually post it, but it seemed like a waste to not post it anywhere, so I'm posting it here, even though it's way too long to be a tumblr fic.

Sam took the joint Eric offered him and Eric gave him an approving look, a wordless 'attaboy.' Sam was not immune to 'attaboy.' He had, in fact, made the worst decisions of his life in the wake of that specific brand of older-boy peer pressure, via Dean.

Read below, also in a gdoc here.

The RV was, in John's defense, close to a national park. In John's not-defense, it wasn't parked in the quiet, verdant paradise of the park, it was parked at the curb across from a self-storage compound and down the street from an industrial laundromat.

The RV had two rooms, three if you counted the bathroom. They found it for sale in the classifieds, and John didn't buy it so much as traded a stolen car for it. It hadn't been a great six months, financially.

Sam was laying on the sagging tweed sofa-seat with a makeshift heat pack, a tube sock filled with rice, tied with an elastic band at one end and microwaved until hot. For the past week, his back had been aching worse than any of his growing pains thus far, it felt like he was going to split in two down his spine and across his shoulders, and it didn't help whether he curled or arched or how he lay. The heat helped a little. The heat was also awful, because it was late August and it had been scorching all week, hot well into the night, and he was sweating into the couch.

It was after ten and Dean was still out. That wasn't too weird, those days; Dean had made friends in this little town the way he hadn't in others, and he was never home. That wasn't the case a few years ago, and Sam felt pathetic about how badly he wanted to go back to how things used to be. 

Three years ago, Dean seemed a million years older than him, he was a teenager with all the exciting bells and whistles that came with that. Back then, Dean didn't mind hanging out with him. If he went to the creek with kids from his class, Sam would go with him, and if he didn't, Dean was home by seven and they'd have dinner together and watch a movie or play cards. 

Then, overnight it seemed, Dean was sixteen and then seventeen, and all he wanted to do was drink and smoke and chase girls. Those were things it was lame to bring your little brother along for, so he didn't. So, Sam was left alone, now old enough to make his own dinner, and he had an infinite amount of time to think about this weird creature in the place where his big brother used to be.

Now Sam was thirteen-and-a-half, and the whole thing wasn't so much of a mystery. He knew what sex was. He knew that his brother, despite his endless heart, could be kind of an asshole. The confusion melted away into awkwardness and a misplaced sense of betrayal.

It also left something else in its wake, that only came out while he was trying to sleep, or when he was laying on the couch with a heat pack. A horrible, Dean-centric feeling that made it torture to be alone with his thoughts. He didn't know what to call it, only that it was like jealousy but different. 

Well. He was pretty sure he knew what to call it, but he didn't want to.

He unstuck his back from the couch again. It was down at the far end of the trailer, boxed in on both ends like a booth. If he stuck his leg out, he could touch the table, and the sticky vinyl booth that surrounded it. If he stuck his leg out the other way, he hit the small, ancient TV they bungee-strapped to the narrow ledge under the window. The floor was covered in dirty clothes (both of theirs) and beer cans (Dean's). Everything stunk in the heat.

He heard voices first, one of which was unmistakably Dean's, talking and guffawing down the street outside. Sam groaned preemptively—he hated when Dean brought people back to whatever shithole they were living in. Dean milked the whole 'our dad's never home, no one tells us what to do' bit to its fullest extent, and Sam always wondered whether he genuinely didn't notice the flicker of pity on his friends' or girls' faces when they looked around and saw the mess and the poverty, or if he was just pretending not to see.

The whole trailer rocked as they climbed in, the screen door squealing protest. Dean, as always, surreptitiously scuffed his sneaker through the salt line at the threshold to scatter it beyond detection.

Sam smelled the beer on him instantly. He regretted not pretending to be asleep in the bedroom.

Dean stopped in the doorway to pry his shoes off as his eyes found Sam on the couch.

"Sup, dork. You're up late."

Dean's omnipresent denim jacket was gone in the summer heat and his arms were sunburnt to a salmony pink past the sleeves of his faded black tee. His nose was also burnt, and freckled beyond belief. His hair had gone nearly blond with the sun over the past few months. His lips were dry.

Before Sam could answer ("It's a free trailer"), a pale hand shoved Dean from behind and he pitched forward, cackling and swinging his fist blindly backwards.

Dean's friend Eric ducked his head to get through the door behind him. "Move your ass."

Eric looked insane. He was half a head taller than Dean and built like a scarecrow, all angles, a sharp nose and hollow cheeks. His hair was a messy stack of black, and Sam had never seen him not wear black, which, along with his twiggy legs, made him look like a crow. But Eric's skinny looked cool and punk, where Sam felt like his own skinny was gawky and childish and weird. 

He was nice, as far as Dean's friends went. He acknowledged Sam's existence on several occasions, which was more than he could say about most of them.

Dean swatted at Eric as he pulled his boots off. When Eric straightened up, he looked at him and gave him a big, wolfish grin.

"Hey, Sam."

Not dork or nerd or bitch or Sammy, just Sam. Sam suppressed a little shiver and shuffled up on the couch.

"Hey."

Eric had a grocery store bag swinging from his wrist. As Dean slid into the table-booth, Eric took a six-pack from the bag, twisted a wet PBR out of the plastic rings and tossed it to him. He got out a second one and paused, then looked at Sam, then Dean, then back.

"Absolutely fucking not," Dean said, cracking his beer noisily. "Put 'em in the fridge, they taste like ass warm."

Eric gave Sam an 'oh well' look before putting the remaining beers in the fridge.

Sam was just grateful he didn't laugh at the sheer thought of giving Sam a beer. Dean mothered him and brothered him and managed to be the worst of both worlds: he cared about Sam's health and safety with an oppressive, smothering intensity, while also being kind of a bully. He knew Dean loved him, but whether he liked him was up in the air, because Dean loved him on autopilot. Dean loved his brother and tolerated Sam.

He knew, on some level, that this was a tragic thing for a thirteen-year-old to be aware of. At the start of the school year, two towns ago, a teacher told him, "You're incredibly self-aware for your age." He hadn't taken it as a compliment. His classmates didn't seem particularly self-aware, and they were way happier than him.

Dean had a talent of spreading out to fill all available space—something he did both literally and figuratively, taking up all the air in a room—and managed to sit on one side of the table-booth and also have his thigh on the other side, so Eric headed for the couch.

Sam hurriedly tucked up his feet to make space as Eric flopped down next to him. He was bigger close up. He smelled like beer and sweat and pond and/or river scum; they'd been outside, in the woods they habitually wasted time at. Sam stared at Eric's sharp, witchy profile.

Being in the same eye-line as Dean made him look startlingly masculine, his features being very much the opposite of Dean's long lashes, big doe eyes and lush mouth. Dean, despite his very best efforts to come across as gruff and hardened, was sunny and shiny and pretty even when he was half dead. Eric looked like he hadn't slept in a week, and when he did sleep, he slept in a coffin full of nails.

Maybe because he was so un-Dean, Sam found him kind of attractive. Was desperate to find him kind of attractive. 

Eric's eyes flicked to his and caught him looking. Sam wanted to throw himself off a cliff.

Dean pointed at Sam's heat pack laying over his stomach.

"You got cramps, Samantha?"

Sam whipped the heat pack at him. He missed, but it almost hit his beer. The way Dean fumbled to save the can told him it was far from his first.

Sam said, "Fuck you, my back feels like it's splitting in two."

Dean snorted and drank his beer. "Sucks to suck."

Dean didn't see it this way, but he shaped himself to fit situations. He read what people wanted from him and, perfectly fluid, he became that thing. He was a crass, slick cool guy around his friends, the perfect foil to his dorky little brother. He was a drill sergeant around their dad, like his only purpose in life was honing Sam into something faster, stronger, safer. And he was almost sweet when they were alone, when he asked Sam about his day and remembered his teachers' names and talked about movies and comic books like they were actually friends. If they were alone, he might have offered to microwave the heat bag again, or let him have a beer to get his mind off it.

It was annoying, but the many facets of Dean meant that there was a secret, special Dean that was just for him, that nobody else got to know. It was the best Dean, too.

Anyways, Sam didn't blame him for being two-faced. If anything, he was jealous. It was a survival mechanism, and they both did it—you pretended to know about things like daycare and grandparents and soccer practice firsthand and not just from TV. If you only wore plain black or white t-shirts, no one would know you only had two of them and not a closetful. Your scars were from playing around outside. You were 'outdoorsy.' Your dad was outdoorsy, too.

"So you're in Michelle's room," Eric said to Dean, picking up the thread of an earlier conversation. He moved his knees apart in an affected sprawl and his thigh touched Sam's foot. Sam had a hard time thinking about anything else.

"Oh, shit, right, so, okay." Dean finished his slurp of beer. "Okay, so, she invites me up, I forget what she said, something about showing me some picture of her at some gymnastics competition, I dunno."

"And her parents are gone."

"And her parents are gone," Dean confirmed, "and she's all over me, like, we're on the bed instantly, and she's on top of me."

Sam stared at the TV, which he'd forgotten was on. He wished it was something even halfway absorbing, but it was a nature documentary about prairie dogs and they didn't have a remote, and getting up would have drawn attention to himself, which was at odds with his main goal of sinking into the floor and disappearing completely.

"And she's like," Dean went on, pausing for another cartoonishly lewd slurp of beer, "soaking wet, I never felt anything like it, Jesus. Her gray panties were black, I could smell it."

Sam couldn't help it, he made a choked-off, upset-disgusted noise.

"God, shut up, Dean."

"It's a free trailer, prude! Go someplace else! Eric wants to hear it, right, man?"

Eric looked, if not interested, amused. He didn't seem as drunk as Dean. "Sure."

"See? Close your ears, Sammy."

And so Sam watched prairie dogs teach their young how to hunt while his brother described, in excruciating detail, going down on and then fucking some poor girl he wasn't going to call again.

At some point, Sam very carefully put a couch pillow over his lap. He didn't think either of them noticed.

Dean was nearly slurring his words by the end of his story, that final beer pushing him from stinking drunk to nearly blackout, and that was when Eric pulled out a joint. Eric was kind of a bad friend, Sam thought.

Dean said, "Hell yeah," clearly having other ideas about that. "That's what I love about you, man."

Eric smiled. "I'm always holding?"

"You're always holding."

It was none of Sam's business whether Dean got high, and frankly, he preferred it to when Dean was drunk. It made him spacey and laughy and sweet, boneless and moving slow.

Eric lit the joint as Sam watched, prairie dogs forgotten. Eric had a sharp jaw and a nice mouth. He was allowed look, it was the only movement in the room other than Dean trying to shake the last drops of beer out of his can and into his open mouth, and that made it the safer choice.

He watched Eric inhale and hold it and then let smoke pour out of his lips. Sam always liked the smell of weed, earthy and musty and sweet. Maybe it was some Pavlovian knowledge that smelling it meant Dean was in a good mood.

Again, Eric looked at him and hesitated with the joint.

"Dude," Dean barked. "You're so fucking weird, give it."

He made a grabby motion with his hand. Eric leaned over and gave it to him, but not before he rolled his eyes at Sam, like a private joke between them: this fucking guy, right? 

Sam's whole body flushed. Not getting the joint was secondary.

Sam watched Dean smoke, too. His chest got tight. Like watching a horror movie and yelling at the TV, Watch out! Don't go in there! Don't stare at your brother's mouth!

He wished he was still ten. He didn't do any of this when he was ten, didn't have to constantly slap himself on the wrist and police his eyes and hands and deal with his stomach rolling over things he wished he didn't understand.

Dean's eyes met his. Sometimes they did, when Sam was watching him, but he never called him out on it. It was the one thing he never made fun of, no 'like what you see' or 'take a picture it'll last longer.' Sam wondered—dangerously, dangerously—what that meant.

Dean passed the joint back to Eric and they did one more rotation. Then Dean put his head down on the table.

"Fuck, man, I'm tanked."

Eric laughed at him, all teeth. "Pussy."

"I gotta— sorry, dude, I'm gonna call it, I'm fucking wiped." He struggled out of the table-booth, looking about as bad as he sounded, stumbling and mealy-mouthed, but Sam had learned to appreciate the way Dean's sheen wore off. It helped. "You good to get home?"

"Always am."

Eric didn't move to get up. Sam noticed this, but Dean didn't seem to. He headed for their dark bedroom door, waving aimlessly back at them.

"We on for Thursday?"

Eric said, "You know it."

"Cool. Later."

Dean all but fell over the threshold into the bedroom, just barely kicking the door shut behind him before he went face down on the bed. The door didn't close all the way. Dean's feet disappeared from view as he scooted up the bed.

"He's a fuckin' character," Eric said, in a completely unreadable tone. Sam stared at the doorway.

"Uh-huh."

Eric laughed. "What, you don't get along? You seem alright."

"I dunno. It's weird."

"'Cause you live in an RV?"

"Kind of."

Sam wished the weirdest thing about his life was that he lived in an ancient RV with his brother and, only occasionally, his dad. He wished it was the weirdest thing about his relationship with Dean. It wasn't either.

"You don't like it when we talk about chicks," Eric said, so matter-of-fact. Sam wanted to fold back into the couch and have it eat him whole.

"I dunno," Sam said again, feeling stupid and young.

Eric just shrugged. He looked at the joint in his hand but didn't light it again.

"Yeah. I mean, I guess it's gross, it's your brother. I wouldn't wanna hear about my brother getting laid. That's nasty."

Sam spent a few luxurious seconds imagining what it would be like to have sex be a thing that was so far disconnected from your brother to the point of being gross. It was a beautiful concept.

"But," Eric started up, and Sam tensed, "not to like, philosophize at you or whatever, but you better learn to talk about girls."

He looked right at him, with his dark eyes. Hawkish features. Sam wanted to shrink away, but there was no couch left to shrink away into. Was he talking about what he thought he was talking about?

"Oh." Not sure what else to say.

Eric rubbed the back of his neck and slurped at his beer.

"I'm just saying, dudes notice if you don't talk about girls. I know it's with your bro, but I noticed, and you're like— you're, what, fifteen?"

Sam recalled a deeply morbid, deeply awkward conversation Dean had with him about a year ago, the thesis of which was 'don't trust a guy who asks how old you are.' Dean was talking about strangers and truckers and hunters when he said it, older guys with a syrupy smile and a glint in their eye, but now, hearing it from Eric, it just made Sam's heart ratchet up. Triple time. He was stupid.

"Yeah," he lied. Stupid.

"Right, yeah, fifteen, so. That's too late to not be talking about pussy, you know? If you liked pussy. Like, if you were into that." Another drink. "And I'm not saying you're not, I'm just. You know."

It was awkward, both waiting for the other to go first. Sam picked a scab on his knee; a sharp rock, sliding down an embankment a week ago. He could be brave.

"Can you tell?" he asked quietly.

It felt like falling out of a plane. Eric sighed like he'd been holding his breath, waiting for it.

"Yeah. Like, big-time."

Sam wiped his palms on his shorts. How could anyone know if he didn't know? Did the kids at school know? Did Dad?

"Shit."

"Sorry. Just giving you a heads up."

"Does Dean know?"

"About… you? Uh. I dunno. He never said anything to me. The guy's not, uh… he doesn't pay attention."

That pause before you, that questioning intonation. Sam's heart was fully gone, taking off for the horizon. 

"Does he know about you?" he asked.

He winced, expecting a shout or a fist in his face. You didn't ask a guy that, you didn't suggest it, you didn't even suggest suggesting it.

But, Eric seemed nice. Eric was helping him out. Sam had no idea how to do any of this.

Eric looked at him for a while, moving his jaw back and forth.

"Nah. I'm not stupid." Eric looked down at the joint, rolled it in his fingers, then got out his lighter. "S'not just me, though, your bro's a fag magnet. He doesn't know it, but. Ain't a guy we hang with who doesn't wanna stick it to him at least a little bit. We don't say, but."

That made Sam sick to think of: the lies, the however-many guys that Dean thought were his friends, but they just wanted to— wanted—

Was he one of them? Was he a guy like that? He was lying to Dean the same way. He wanted to throw up.

"Oh," he said again.

Eric squinted at him. "Don't tell him I said that."

"I won't! Jeez."

But he would have, if he thought they were staying for longer than another month. Dean would be furious and grossed out and, worse, he'd know Sam was talking about him behind his back. He'd wonder why him and Eric were talking about liking guys.

Sam realized all of a sudden that this was the first time he'd ever talked about liking guys, maybe even to himself. His head was pounding.

Eric brought the joint to his lips. The sweet, herbsy smell filled the trailer again and Sam just watched. Eric looked blissed out. He looked good. 

"But," Eric added, extending a finger in the air like he was making some important point, "for a straight dude, he sure gets handsy when he's drunk."

This was, officially, either the best or worst conversation Sam ever had. His mind was racing, horribly remembering that he already knew that about Dean, his noogies and shoulder squeezes and an arm thrown around his neck when he got home late and loose. He hadn't thought of it as handsy. It made a sick jealousy crawl up the back of his throat to think that anyone else got to be on the receiving end of it.

God, he had to figure out how to tell Eric to go home, it was too much.

Just then, Eric's knuckles bumped against his arm. He jumped. Eric was holding the joint out to him.

Sam froze. A thousand thoughts all at once: stupid, Dean's gonna know, this is weird, you don't know him, he's cute, he's so cute, he's Dean's friend, he's so much like Dean, grow up, it's fine, what good is being smart if you're still so fucking stupid?

He took the joint and Eric gave him an approving look, a wordless attaboy. Sam was not immune to attaboy. He had, in fact, made the worst decisions of his life in the wake of that specific brand of older-boy peer pressure, via Dean.

He took a hit the way he'd seen them do it. It was scratchy and hot in his lungs, musty and grassy. He tried to exhale and instantly started coughing, his eyes streaming, hand blindly groping to give the joint back to Eric, who was laughing.

"This isn't your first time, is it?"

"No," Sam managed quickly, furiously wiping his eyes with the back of his hand. "Dean and I smoke all the time."

He wished. If Dean denied it, Eric wouldn't know which of them was lying to sound cool.

Eric just shrugged and nodded. He was looking at the TV. The documentary about prairie dogs was over and now it was something about World War II, some monotonous narrator and black and white footage. 

Why wasn't Eric leaving? Did he not have somewhere to go? They sure as hell couldn't fit him in the trailer. Was Dean supposed to wake up and rally?

Sam guessed he was starting to feel it. He felt gauzy and weird, hyper aware of the texture of the couch under his hands as he scratched his nails against it. He didn't know what he expected. It didn't feel like on TV, when people laughed at nothing and fell down.

"Does this thing pull out?" Eric asked, looking down at the couch and bouncing a little. 

"No."

"Then where do you sleep?"

Beyond humiliating, every time this came up. Dean was better at talking around it than he was, most of his friends were nice enough not to ask.

When he didn't answer, Eric's eyes flicked past his head to the dark bedroom. It was obvious just looking through the wedge of open doorway that it was the size of a closet.

All Eric said, after a beat, was, "Weird."

The older they got, the weirder it would be that they shared a bed, and the more embarrassing it was that they were so poor they didn't have a choice.

The tiny, horrible, secret thought that Sam kept to himself, with such vicious fervor that he wasn't even sure if he really thought it, was that he was glad that his height and constant increase of that height meant it would be inhumane for him to ever sleep on the couch.

(About once a month, he woke up with Dean's hand somewhere on him—on his shoulder or arm or resting on his chest, his fingers loosely curled in sleep—and it gave him something that got him through the following three weeks.)

"Yeah," Sam agreed.

He hoped the primary takeaway was 'man, these guys are poor' and not the other thing. He didn't think many people's minds would go to the other thing.

His thoughts spooled out. He felt heavy and tired, nice, empty. He didn't know how long they sat there, he just stared at the TV without really watching it. They were showing tanks rolling through the European countryside and it was freaking him out a little but getting up to change the channel seemed impossible. The night had finally cooled off, but he still felt sweat roll down the back of his neck.

He realized at some point that Eric's knee was up against his. He didn't know how long it had been there or if he was the one to close the gap. So embarrassing if it was him. Eric's bony knee with his black jeans, his own, smaller and scuffed and bare below the hem of his blue basketball shorts. 

He looked up. Eric was leaned back into the couch, the picture of relaxation, except he was looking at him. He didn't know how long he'd been looking at him.

"What?"

Eric smiled. Sam's stomach flipped over again.

"You, uh. You look like him."

Huh? "What?"

"Dean."

Sam scowled. He hunched in and stared at the TV. "I do not."

He wasn't an idiot. He was in second grade the first time a girl asked him to introduce her to Dean. No one ever asked Dean to introduce them to him.

Eric said, "Yeah, you do. Same eyes and shit." A pause. "He a heavy sleeper?"

Eric shifted on the couch and now their whole thighs were pressed together.

Sam forgot to lie. "Only when he's drunk."

Eric nodded. Sam was looking at him now and he couldn't look away, paralyzed. His whole body was thrumming, partially stoned and partially turned on, he'd been half hard since Dean's story about his date and then he started thinking about that, Dean taking off some girl's panties, Dean's face between her legs, Sam hadn't met the girl he was talking about but he'd seen others and they were gorgeous, tall college girls who might as well have been alien for all Sam wasn't even on the same planet at them. It was insane that Eric said he looked anything like Dean because he'd know if he looked like Dean, people would like him the way they liked Dean, they'd let him— Don't think about Dean, think about Eric, think about—

Eric leaned in. He put his knuckles against Sam's thigh.

"You always stare at me. Whenever I'm around."

He smelled his beer and smokes and he had such nice skin close up, pale and unmarred. His eyebrows were brownish, he dyed his hair. Sam swallowed.

"Yeah."

"Yeah. So." Eric was looking at his mouth. "I stare at you, too."

That couldn't be right. This couldn't be real. Weed didn't make you hallucinate, right, could he be making this up? Guys like Eric didn't like him, they smoked cigarettes and drove cars and liked girls or guys like Dean, not stupid little kids.

"Oh," he said, and regretted it. Not cool, not smooth, Eric was gonna change his mind from wherever the hell he'd put it in the first place. "Really?"

"Yeah. You're hot."

It's like he was talking about someone else. He reached out and brushed his hand through Sam's hair and Sam shuddered at the feel of it, he was so weird and sensitive, it was like a bomb going off in his head, warm heat and pleasure just from Eric's fingers in his hair. 

Eric asked, "Can I kiss you?" and Sam thought that was pretty polite. No one had ever asked before. He couldn't think of a reason to say no.

He nodded, and Eric put his big hands on his face and kissed him, and kissed him, and kept kissing him until they started doing other stuff instead.

-

During it, Sam imagined Dean coming out of the bedroom and seeing them. He'd shout and beat the shit out of him but he'd see them, and he'd know that someone he liked, this friend, liked Sam enough to have sex with him. The fantasy tripped out of control; maybe Dean would push Eric aside and take over. Or join them. Whatever. Whatever it was, Dean would see him, and he'd know.

-

Dean didn't wake up. Eric left afterwards.

Sam crammed into the RV's tiny shower stall to wash under the lukewarm spray. His whole body felt hot and pounding, swollen and weird, sticky. He was still kind of stoned and his hands were clumsy. His heart wouldn't slow down. His only complete thought was: it was good to get it over with.

As the adrenaline dissipated, other thoughts came through. Dean would kill him if he found out. Eric asked him not to tell him, like Sam was that fucking stupid. He saw a future where Eric and Dean had some falling out and Eric threw it in Dean's face. Maybe it would come up that Sam lied about his age: Dean would say he's only thirteen and Eric would say he told me fifteen like that was any better at all, and then Eric would kill him if Dean hadn't already. 

The whole thing had been… good. It felt good, anyways. He was so quick he hardly remembered parts of it and he was blisteringly awkward, clumsy and bumpy, but Eric didn't seem like he cared. No one had ever seen him naked before and, importantly, now he wasn't a virgin anymore. He got it over with. It could have been worse. One of his knees had a friction burn on it from the couch and he couldn't think of a good lie to tell Dean if he noticed. 

He knew that Dean had been older than thirteen, his first time. Sam had no idea what to do with that information. Being proud of himself felt gross.

He crept into the bedroom, his heart thumping loud in his ears. He could see the shape of Dean on his side of the bed, shirtless in the heat and laying under only the thin top sheet.

Sam went around to his side of the bed and took his shorts off, kept boxers and t-shirt on; he worried he'd have marks from Eric's hands on his back, Dean had great night vision.

As soon as he got into bed, Dean turned his head to the side and mumbled, "Hey, baby," thick with sleep.

It was a term of endearment that only came out when Dean was very drunk, stoned, tired or hurt, usually appended into 'baby brother.' 'Baby brother' was bad enough, but left unattached the way it was then, it made Sam want to put his head in the oven.

Sam didn't respond. If he responded, he was baby. He couldn't let himself be baby.

Dean said, "Back still giving you trouble? I can get in there."

Dean gave him massages when the growing pains were bad, sitting on the couch with Sam's twiggy leg in his lap, absentmindedly working his calf with his strong hands as they watched TV. It was heaven.

"No." Sam's hands itched towards Dean in the dark. They stayed very firmly balled into fists. "Go to sleep."

Dean turned over. "Bossy."

Sam slid into bed next to him and stared up at the ceiling. Once Dean's breathing went slow and even with sleep, Sam turned his head and looked at him. His eyes traced the planes of his back and his big shoulders in the barely-there light from outside and he decided, once and for all, that there was something very, very wrong with him. The important thing was that Dean never found out.

#this was very much a 'wrote it for myself' thing but that always feels like a waste #no one will read 5k words on tumblr and that is fine #just go read the parent fic. I like it #wincest fic #weecest #roncillary

[bloodpen-to-paper]

Small but neat detail I realized upon watching Helluva Boss S2 EP1: “The Circus”

When kid Stolas went to the circus, his father refused to be there in person. He had a servant carry around a mirror for him to look through, yet oddly enough Paimon actually seemed to be paying attention the entire time. In every shot we see of Paimon while the performance is going on, he’s excitedly clapping and very invested in the show (save for when he’s examining Stolas’s reaction to Blitzo). Paimon not being there in person didn’t seem to be an excuse to not invest in time with Stolas, as he clearly did just that.

However what it did seem like, based on some key dialogue, was him not wanting to be around Imps (or more specifically, the middle/lower class).

The moment Paimon “enters” the circus tent he’s looking around uncomfortably at the rest of the audience, all comprised of Imps. He ensures they get a seat far enough from everyone else.

"Is there a spot that is close to the front, but also far enough that I don't have to *sniffs* ugh, smell the poor?" (Timestamp 2:15)

Paimon seems very classist and self-absorbed as a result of his own wealth, and tends to view those of lower status as having lower value to his. Mind you, he’ll still have Imp servants and make deals with impoverished ring leaders to rent out their sons so his can have a playmate for the day (you could make an entire essay on how “buying an Imp child” adds to this idea), but he generally has a very low view of anyone not on his “level”.

Stolas, however, is a bit different.

For one, Stolas doesn’t seem to have any problem with being in proximity to or in spaces dominated by Imps/”the poor”. He could honestly care less, and as an adult he’s shown to engage in pleasant conversation with Imps of all sorts, even giving an in-person speech at the Harvest Moon Festival, a gathering made by and for Imps.

As a child, he didn’t seem to have nearly as much of a mental barrier between himself and the lower class as Paimon does (proven by the fact that he literally develops a crush on Blitzo). He even bows for Blitzo as a social curtsey before his father reprimands him, saying “Don’t bow to that one; he bows to us. Idiot.” (Timestamp 7:40) 

When Blitzo is bored with Stolas raving about his books, Stolas agrees to play pirates "-if its what you want to play...", showing that he tends to act more politely and considerately to those of other status than his father did.

One could say this is highlighted in the very obvious parallel of “going to the circus”.

When Stolas wishes to cheer up Octavia in S1 EP2, he takes her to a circus, as his father once did for him. Except in Stolas’ case, he actually comes to the circus with Octavia in-person (even with Loo Loo Land being far more shady and crappy than Cash’s circus was).

So what’s my point to all this?

Well for one, this sort of classist behavior is definitely learned and taught. Even well into adulthood, Stolas never shows the same amount of contempt for the lower class as his father did. 

Now, this isn’t to say that Stolas is completely free of his father’s influence. The power imbalance and problematic view of the lower class/Imps that Stolas has is a central talking point among the fanbase when discussing his character and his relationship with Blitzo. He can be somewhat if not completely condescending when talking to those of a lower caste (as shown by his various conversations with Blitzo, Moxxie, Millie, and even the Imps at the Harvest Moon Festival). Even as a kid Stolas gets excited at Blitzo’s treasure hunting game on the proposition of it being “an Imp game".

My point is, Stolas definitely has some issues with classism/racism that must be sorted for his character to grow in a positive direction. However, considering the kind of social conditioning that is forced into the elite’s children, its a bit of a wonder that Stolas didn’t end up worse. He’s better than Paimon, and I think its an interesting case study on how certain ideologies/traditions can slowly die or evolve within each generation. Certain learned behaviors are passed down the family line, but each member can chip away at unlearning them. This sort of progress doesn’t often happen quickly, and hardly within one generation (it can, but that’s a lot of pressure for one person). Rather, its a slow change that comes throughout a person’s whole life, and within multiple generations. And I think its cool that Helluva shows that with Stolas and Paimon.

Who knows? Maybe the change we’re looking for will come from an unexpected source, maybe a grumpy teenager with a mild obsession for some “stylish” occult...

#helluva boss #helluva boss spoilers #the circus #stolas #paimon #helluva boss stolas #helluva boss paimon #meta #helluva boss meta

[romeo-golf]

Another Day of Growth

He's sitting at his desk shirtless, in a tight fitting pair of "gym" shorts which haven't seen any more exercise use than regular shuffles to the kitchen. Since moving to home-working he's found it easier to snack undistracted and his weight has skyrocketed over the last two years. An already chunky 190 in early 2020, his last weigh-in was a solid 376; a number he knew was outrageously overweight for a man barely 5'9 on a good day.

He'd tucked his left hand under his overhang while scrolling through the day's emails with his right and reached the end of his inbox just as the microwave beeped with his breakfast.

After adding an embarrassingly large quantity of Nutella to his oatmeal he flopped back into the creaking desk chair, armrests tickling his love-handles, and balanced the warm bowl on the top of his rotund gut. Reaching forward to the desk had long become an uncomfortable position to eat in and the benefit of such a ball-gut was an easy-to-reach lap tray for all manner of snacks.

A mirror on the wall to his right was perfectly placed for him to watch himself eat. Around 100lbs ago, which didn't feel like very long, he realised how enjoyable it was to admire his body while he was growing it. In the same way a gym rat poses between sets in the mirror, he took deep pleasure in watching himself gorge.

As he took a spoonful he watched the rolls under his chest stretch and sink, merging with the one below them which ran under his arm, and then a final huge slab of side-gut which spread down to a good half-inch below his waistband, swallowing it whole. He was beautiful, a beauty which made him hungrier and encouraged him to eat quicker, packing in the full triple-serving before his body could tell him he was full.

He quickly searched online for a BMI calculator and fingered in his height and weight. Pressing enter he got a rush from watching the arrow graphic slide up the scale, stopping right at the very end. The scale only went a few pixels past 35 but the number 55.7 displayed at the top in bold letters, closely followed by the line "your result suggests you are obese". His heart pounded with horny adrenaline; An indescribable thrill. His next goal was a BMI of 56 before the weekend was out.

**

At 11:45 his phone vibrated; "Reminder: Lunch 1230". Once upon a time that was both a timestamp and a calorie target, but these days that would just be a snack. He opened a second tab on his browser and went to the paid-content page he ran, logging in to check the account balance and withdrawing enough for lunch. He'd always been surprised at the number of people willing to throw money his way for photos and video clips, things he'd happily give away for free to the guys he liked, but it certainly helped cover the costs of his appetite.

A few clicks later and the cash he'd withdrawn was already on its way to Dominos for his increasingly frequent lunch order of a large pizza, 2331 calories, and a tub of ice cream, 1390 calories. He knew in less than 30 minutes he'd be be tucking in to another fattening feast and sent a screenshot of his order to one of the guys whose encouragement, and teasing, he enjoyed.

The shocked-face emoji and mild insult which came back almost immediately made him chuckle and he took a photo in the mirror next to the desk to give a quick visual. The next reply was instantly x-rated; he loved how much his body turned this little feeder on and highlighted the contrast between them.

As a matter of routine he took a large bath towel out the cupboard and lay it on the living room floor. When he was in this kind of mood things could quickly get messy.

The doorbell rang and he answered it as he'd been all day; shirtless and fat. The way the delivery driver struggled to keep their eyes on his face made the endorphins dance in his head and he made a forced joke about the ice cream melting in the hot weather just to give himself and excuse to laugh and make his body jiggle in this semi-public situation. He was proud of his size and showing it off like this was both empowering and erotic. Every time he did it his confidence grew and with it his lust for more.

Settling down on the towel he enjoyed every bite of the pizza, not forgetting to take a few photos and send them to a few encouragers, knowing their responses would keep him entertained while he gorged himself. Predictably, one replied with the calorie content of his meal and he pretended to be shocked while also feeling a thrill at being reminded that his lunch was almost twice the recommended in take for a man with a sedentary lifestyle.

The last few slices were harder to finish, his body starting to tell him he was full. He loaded Grommr and quickly browsed the recently uploaded photos to try and find a man bigger than him. He wasn't attracted to big guys, but scrolling their photos gave the most fantastic inspiration.

He found a photo of a near-500lb behemoth and closed his eyes, imagining himself growing to that same size as he pushed the final slices in, letting his other hand caress his stuffed body, spreading his legs a little wider and feeling the end of his dick start poking into his waistband as it joined the party. He smiled to himself and remembered how ridiculously perverse this kink was, how wild it is that eating and becoming grotesquely overweight could be so erotic; The thought just turned him on further and he finished the last few bits of the pizza while grabbing his erection through his shorts.

He took a few moments to breath, slurping down large mouthfuls Pepsi and let out an earth-rattling belch, easing a little pressure at the top of his belly. He'd left the ice cream on the kitchen counter to soften and he was hoping it was now liquid enough to pour into a glass. With a deep breath he heaved himself forward onto all fours, briefly enjoying the sensation of his gut being tickled by the towel beneath him, before grunting involuntarily and raising himself to his feet.

**

He poured the ice cream into a measuring jug and took a heavy mouthful, leaving a thick white moustache on his top lip. The liquid was sweet but refreshing in the heat and he took another gulp while holding the thought in his mind of where each of those calories were going to stick on his body.

Settling down at his desk again for an afternoon of feigned productivity he finished the whole 1400 calorie drink long before 4pm, tipping the jug back to get every last drop from the bottom. At this point he felt enormous and found his libido pushing him back to browse the Grommr newsfeed every few minutes.

In the mood for a little attention he snapped another photo in the mirror, taking care to leave the empty pizza box and opened ice cream carton visible in the background and gently stroked his gut while typing a witty caption.

It wasn't long before he found himself in a friendly back-and-forth with a slimmer guy who seemed just as obsessed with gluttony as him. Every teasing reply, an insult laced with eroticism, made his heart beat harder and it wasn't long before he realised he'd been chatting away for two hours and a thick wet patch of precum was starting to drip through his shorts…

**

T.B.C.

[felassan]

I have a friend that has never played the games (They're very close to my heart, I forgive them this sin 😂) but they are really interested in watching Absolution. Do you have a basic run-down or know of a pre-existing post that would have the most important bullet points of the games to get the most out of the series? Appreciate your immense wealth of knowledge!! My wife and I intended on watching just the first 2 episodes and at the end all 6 were like.... that's it?! We need more 😭

hello! tysm and I know what you mean, more pls!! (๑*ᗜ*) that's a good question. the Dragon Age wiki has plot details/summaries of each of the games (DA:O, also DA:O, DAII, also DAII, DA:I, also DA:I). lots of YouTubers have done Lets Plays of the games over time. Ghil Dirthalen has a series of YouTube videos on Thedas lore here. in the one called "Nations of Thedas", the segment on Tevinter starts at timestamp 9 mins 30, and "A Brief-Complete History of Thedas" covers the history of the world. IGN did a "Dragon Age in 5 Minutes" video that covered the story so far/general broadstrokes lore up until before DA:I, Kotaku wrote a beginner's guide to all things Dragon Age article designed to help new players to DA:I who hadn't played DA2 and DA:O which could be useful, and The Kingdom has a series of 3 videos explaining the history of Tevinter (one, two, three). and to help get the most out of the series it might be helpful if they browsed the wiki pages on Tevinter, mages, blood magic and spirits/demons/possession.

I think the most important bullet points would be that:

the world is called Thedas and in it, being a mage often comes with a cost due to risk of demonic possession or perceived risk of this. because of this in most of the countries in the world mages are made to live in a system which is part of the main in-world religious organization, the Chantry, called the Circle, which keeps an eye on them and is policed by an order of knights called the Templars. however in one country, Tevinter, the country's government is made up of noble mages called Magisters, and it's effectively a magocracy. lots of bad things, dark magics and corrupt stuff goes on in Tevinter so it doesn't have a good reputation among the other nations

the Chantry religion is centered around a god called the Maker and his prophet, a human woman called Andraste

Tevinter has its own version of the Chantry, its own Chantry leader and its own Templars

Tevinter is a socially stratified society which has slavery

there are 4 races in the world, humans, elves, dwarves and Qunari (a tall horned people). elves are oppressed by humans who are the dominant race. in Tevinter elves are often enslaved. members of the other 3 races are also sometimes enslaved in Tevinter.

blood magic is a form of magic powered by blood (usually through sacrifice), it's very powerful but most people fear it and consider it to be evil. it's usually forbidden. it carries increased risk of possession. there's lots of blood magic stuff going on in Tevinter

a few years before the show begins, a corrupted ancient Tevinter magister from long ago basically came back to life and tore open part of the veil/barrier between the waking world and the magic dream world where spirits and demons live because he was A Bad Guy. this was called the Breach and demons from the other world poured through. a group of heroes got together and set up an organization with Chantry backing called The Inquisition. it was led by the Player Character from the most recent video game in the series. they could close mini-holes in the veil because of a magic mark on their hand. their title was the Inquisitor and some people thought they were chosen by Andraste so they called them The Herald of Andraste. many people joined the Inquisition to help. after closing the holes and saving the world, the Inquisition did some other stuff and then eventually disbanded.

I feel like those are the main things someone would need to know? (I tried to pare it down and put it into like, non-DA fan general fantasy terms)

I hope something here is helpful and that your friend enjoys the show ^^

#dragon age: absolution #dragon age: absolution spoilers #dragon age #bioware #mj replies #xkatchy #video games

[anthrcpophagi]

SUMMER of JULY 1990. Camp Ameewagan, Catskills, NY, USA

The night air is cool, a bit too cool for a summer night in the Catskills. Maren knows it’s an omen of something bad to come, but she’s determined to make the best of this summer. Maybe even make a friend. Luke was nice, and she hadn't done the bad thing in a while, not since Penny Wilson. And if she started getting the urge she could run off and sneak back into the girls’ cabin before anything could go wrong. It sounded like a fool-proof plan, or at least she wanted to convince herself that it did.

The sticks and dead leaves crunch beneath her sneakers, a graveyard of summer scattered across the forest floor as autumn slowly creeps upon them. She follows Luke, following his scent more than his body. The night is dark and all they have is a little kerosene lantern Luke stole from the storage shack. But he smells like cedar and bubblegum, like sweat and excitement, and she follows it like a shark with blood in the water.

His tent sticks out like a sore thumb in the middle of the trees and flora. It’s nothing fancy, but Luke’s smile would make one believe otherwise. His pace quickens as he nears the tent and Maren hurries along after him. She watches as Luke holds open the tent flap for her, ushering her in like a true gentleman. He’d probably seen his father do the same for his mother and he knew it was only fair to respect a lady. Maren had never truly known respect, but she bows her head in thanks and slips into the makeshift hideaway.

He follows her in and as soon as the flap closes, he turns on the lantern, almost as though he timed it to perfection. The light wasn’t very bright, a dull flame that flickered on its last breath, but it was enough to illuminate the patterns on the walls of the tent. The outer layer was a ratty blue tarp that he'd probably stolen from the storage shack, too. But the interior had more personality. The inner layer was a mixture of old Superman bedsheets and Batman beach towels draped over a metal skeleton of what she could only assume used to be a much more sophisticated tent than this. He beamed as she took in the sight of his secret hideout, the light just bright enough to reflect off the edges of his features, rounded cherubic cheeks and a smile with missing teeth. The innocent cheeks of youth, the timestamps of age. It was contagious and Maren actually smiles back at him.

“I like you, Maren. I never shown anyone else this place before.”

She knows it’s a compliment so she nods and smiles gratefully, but there’s a churning in her stomach, a seed of dread bubbling up from her molten core. She doesn’t pay attention to what he says as he rambles on about his summer so far and the things he plans to do between the end of camp and next year’s camper orientation. It’s only when he mentions his father that she tunes back in, like a radio signal, a part of her desperate and eager to live vicariously through someone with two, loving parents.

“My Dad’s gonna teach me to ride a horse next summer. Says I’m not tall enough now, but I should be come next year. He'll get me boots and everythin'.” His smile is wide and it’s obvious he’s waiting for some kind of validation from Maren, but all she can imagine is her own father teaching her to ride a horse. This faceless spectral in her memories holding her hands as she clutched the reins. “Because I’m gonna be a park ranger. Gonna ride horses and protect the animals and forest.”

Maren blinks, and her confusion must be clear enough because he continues. “Like a superhero of the woods. Makin' sure people are camping right, and the animals are safe from hunters and poachers. You know what poachers are?”

She shakes her head.

“They’re people who hunt animals for bad reasons. They kill the innocent animals because they want to, not ‘cause they need to, like the cavemen used’ta.”

“Poachers are bad guys?” She asks as she watches Luke grab a lukewarm Sprite can from his little blue cooler. How long it’s been stashed out here she couldn’t tell, but she could tell by the dripping water that clung to the can that it’d been long enough.

He cracks open the can of soda and brings it to his lips. He takes a sip, carbonated water dribbling down his chin before he wipes it off with the back of his hand. Maren cringes, but he must not see it because he holds out his hand and offers her a sip, ever the gentleman. She shakes her head again, but all she can focus on is the rising warmth in her chest, a gnawing sensation that she couldn’t quite place. She knows she should leave, that she should get back to the girls’ cabin before her counselor notices.

“I should get back. I don’t wanna get in trouble.” The tarp beneath them crinkles as she moves toward the exit, desperate to slip away before the monster inside of her gets too loud.

But Luke grabs her arm and the look on his face is pure and beautiful and his eyes are too sparkly for her to say no.

“Please stay. Just a little longer.”

Maren doesn’t fight against his hold, not that she needed to. Luke Vanderwall was a gentleman, after all, and his grasp on her was gentle, but pleading. She doesn’t sit back down on the tarp, but she doesn’t continue her trajectory to the outside either. Instead, she watches as he rips open a bag of Doritos and offers her a Dorito from his stash of snacks, his fingertips caked in cheese dust and dirt.

Her nose tickled with the overwhelming mixture of aromas. She could smell his sweat and the wet dirt beneath them. She could smell the cheese and citrus scent of the Sprite can, emptied and cast aside. She could hear his heart pounding, the blood of a nervous child pumping as he speaks to a girl he likes.

Maren retreats back into the tent, letting the flap seal the two kids inside once more. As he holds his hand out, Maren knows it’s coming, something bad. Something really bad and she knows she should run and leave now before the bad thing happens, but Luke stares at her with his sparkly eyes and red cheeks and she clenches her fists with defiance. But it doesn’t last long.

In the blink of an eye, she leans forward and wraps her mouth around the triangular chip, a gesture that might’ve been sweet if not for the sweat on her brow and the way her lips enveloped his fingers as well. She bites down, and she doesn’t know if the crack she hears is the corn chip or his bones, but his cry of pain makes her think the latter.

He tries to pull back his hand, scared of the pain but not necessarily of Maren, but her jaw is locked and there's no escaping fate now. Not for either of them. He should be scared of Maren. But there’s hardly any time for the fear to grow because without any further hesitation she’s on top of him, legs straddling his little body as she devours his fingers one by one, moving from wrist to forearm to shoulder until all that was left was the Dorito crumbs on the tarp floor and an eerie silence that felt deafening.

She’d done it again. Just like before, with Penny, but now she was old enough to remember, old enough to know it was wrong. She knows she should feel bad, should cry or scream but all she can do is smile, little giggles bubbling out from her bloodied lips as she feels the adrenaline rush through her. She feels light, like a feather floating down from the heavens, but she knows the feeling won’t last forever.

Come morning, everyone will be looking for little Luke Vanderwall and they’ll never find him. Because she hadn't left anything to find, devouring him bones and all. The camp will shut down early, the parents will be called to come rescue their children, and Mama would know exactly why and what happened. And she will be so mad.

#you could’ve been something someday ( luke ). #the truth won’t set me free ( headcanons ). #violence tw #gore tw #q

[telomeke-bbs]

OUR SKYY 2 x BAD BUDDY x A TALE OF THOUSAND STARS – INTO THE WOODS, AND WHO CAN TELL WHAT'S WAITING ON THE JOURNEY?

We're now at the halfway point of OS2xBBSxATOTS's four-episode arc, looking backward as much as forward. 😍

Because it's Khun Noppharnach in the director's seat, I think an uplifting ending for this little mini-series is a given (OS2 is ultimately a feelgood vehicle, after all). If he keeps to form he'll probably undercut it with something wistful and/or bittersweet at the end though (remembering how he closed off He's Coming to Me, Bad Buddy and Moonlight Chicken).

So with some reservation (caveat here: all predictions so far have been off the mark by varying degrees; you can never fully trust clues planted by Director Aof, as we all know) I think the following are likely:

There will be a play (I just don't know in what form); and

Tian will get Phupha down from Pha Pun Dao to meet his parents.

There are two tiny clips in the OS2 trailer that point to this.

The first, at timestamp 1.22, shows the red curtains opening and confirms in my mind that the play will have its premiere (unless this is from some OS2 eps that I didn't watch):

I'm not ruling out the possibility though that Tian will give in to Phupha and withdraw permission for Pran to use their story, because that would be a nice comment on how there should be limits around the way the BL industry packages and commodifies queer romances for public entertainment. But that might mean we get to see Korn in Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, instead of a university version of ATOTS, and I'm not sure I'm ready for that! 😂

The episode slated for 7 June 2023 (I'm calling it Ep.3, though that may not be the official numbering) looks like it's going to be played around the "emotional growth in the wilderness" trope for both couples PatPran and PhuTian, with their struggles to find each other in the forest a metaphor for each couple's struggles to come together in agreement whenever conflict forces them apart, as they grow in their respective relationships.

PhuTian were arguing for most of Ep.2, and PatPran's mountain quest for signatures began in disagreement as well. So that's why they split up PatPran and PhuTian at the end of Ep.2 – it's going to be both a physical and figurative journey in Ep.3 to reunite these clashing personalities and move them to safer ground, both in Pha Pun Dao and within the context of their couplehoods. (And we the lucky viewers will get to see some of their relationship growth that wasn't in the original series. 😍)

Because of this, I'm convinced Phupha will relent and meet up with Tian's parents again. They're going to Bangkok for sure (or maybe Chiang Mai at least), since we see them in a clothing store (i.e., they're bound for an urban setting) at timestamp 0.27 of the trailer:

It looks like Tian and his mountain man have gone shopping for outfits to get prepped and presentable either for the stage premiere of their story at South Technology University, or for Phupha's meeting with Tian's parents as his official partner (or maybe both?). Though Phupha would have looked just as fine if they left him in his ranger uniform, in my opinion. 😍

As usual, nothing is confirmed so I'm not holding out too much hope that the above will actually materialize in said form. I'm also still sending out psychic entreaties to the universe for there to be a cameo from Director Aof and for Rang to appear. There's still time for these pleas to be heard! 😂💖

‌

#bad buddy #our skyy 2 #our skyy 2 x bad buddy #patpran #our skyy 2 x bad buddy x a tale of thousand stars #os2 x bbs x atots

[anthrcpophagi-moved]

📼

Send 📼 to see an early childhood memory of my muse’s

SUMMER of JULY 1990. Camp Ameewagan, Catskills, NY, USA

The night air is cool, a bit too cool for a summer night in the Catskills. Maren knows it’s an omen of something bad to come, but she’s determined to make the best of this summer. Maybe even make a friend. Luke was nice, and she hadn't done the bad thing in a while, not since Penny Wilson. And if she started getting the urge she could run off and sneak back into the girls’ cabin before anything could go wrong. It sounded like a fool-proof plan, or at least she wanted to convince herself that it did.

The sticks and dead leaves crunch beneath her sneakers, a graveyard of summer scattered across the forest floor as autumn slowly creeps upon them. She follows Luke, following his scent more than his body. The night is dark and all they have is a little kerosene lantern Luke stole from the storage shack. But he smells like cedar and bubblegum, like sweat and excitement, and she follows it like a shark with blood in the water.

His tent sticks out like a sore thumb in the middle of the trees and flora. It’s nothing fancy, but Luke’s smile would make one believe otherwise. His pace quickens as he nears the tent and Maren hurries along after him. She watches as Luke holds open the tent flap for her, ushering her in like a true gentleman. He’d probably seen his father do the same for his mother and he knew it was only fair to respect a lady. Maren had never truly known respect, but she bows her head in thanks and slips into the makeshift hideaway.

He follows her in and as soon as the flap closes, he turns on the lantern, almost as though he timed it to perfection. The light wasn’t very bright, a dull flame that flickered on its last breath, but it was enough to illuminate the patterns on the walls of the tent. The outer layer was a ratty blue tarp that he'd probably stolen from the storage shack, too. But the interior had more personality. The inner layer was a mixture of old Superman bedsheets and Batman beach towels draped over a metal skeleton of what she could only assume used to be a much more sophisticated tent than this. He beamed as she took in the sight of his secret hideout, the light just bright enough to reflect off the edges of his features, rounded cherubic cheeks and a smile with missing teeth. The innocent cheeks of youth, the timestamps of age. It was contagious and Maren actually smiles back at him.

“I like you, Maren. I never shown anyone else this place before.”

She knows it’s a compliment so she nods and smiles gratefully, but there’s a churning in her stomach, a seed of dread bubbling up from her molten core. She doesn’t pay attention to what he says as he rambles on about his summer so far and the things he plans to do between the end of camp and next year’s camper orientation. It’s only when he mentions his father that she tunes back in, like a radio signal, a part of her desperate and eager to live vicariously through someone with two, loving parents.

“My Dad’s gonna teach me to ride a horse next summer. Says I’m not tall enough now, but I should be come next year. He'll get me boots and everythin'.” His smile is wide and it’s obvious he’s waiting for some kind of validation from Maren, but all she can imagine is her own father teaching her to ride a horse. This faceless spectral in her memories holding her hands as she clutched the reins. “Because I’m gonna be a park ranger. Gonna ride horses and protect the animals and forest.”

Maren blinks, and her confusion must be clear enough because he continues. “Like a superhero of the woods. Makin' sure people are camping right, and the animals are safe from hunters and poachers. You know what poachers are?”

She shakes her head.

“They’re people who hunt animals for bad reasons. They kill the innocent animals because they want to, not ‘cause they need to, like the cavemen used’ta.”

“Poachers are bad guys?” She asks as she watches Luke grab a lukewarm Sprite can from his little blue cooler. How long it’s been stashed out here she couldn’t tell, but she could tell by the dripping water that clung to the can that it’d been long enough.

He cracks open the can of soda and brings it to his lips. He takes a sip, carbonated water dribbling down his chin before he wipes it off with the back of his hand. Maren cringes, but he must not see it because he holds out his hand and offers her a sip, ever the gentleman. She shakes her head again, but all she can focus on is the rising warmth in her chest, a gnawing sensation that she couldn’t quite place. She knows she should leave, that she should get back to the girls’ cabin before her counselor notices.

“I should get back. I don’t wanna get in trouble.” The tarp beneath them crinkles as she moves toward the exit, desperate to slip away before the monster inside of her gets too loud.

But Luke grabs her arm and the look on his face is pure and beautiful and his eyes are too sparkly for her to say no.

“Please stay. Just a little longer.”

Maren doesn’t fight against his hold, not that she needed to. Luke Vanderwall was a gentleman, after all, and his grasp on her was gentle, but pleading. She doesn’t sit back down on the tarp, but she doesn’t continue her trajectory to the outside either. Instead, she watches as he rips open a bag of Doritos and offers her a Dorito from his stash of snacks, his fingertips caked in cheese dust and dirt.

Her nose tickled with the overwhelming mixture of aromas. She could smell his sweat and the wet dirt beneath them. She could smell the cheese and citrus scent of the Sprite can, emptied and cast aside. She could hear his heart pounding, the blood of a nervous child pumping as he speaks to a girl he likes.

Maren retreats back into the tent, letting the flap seal the two kids inside once more. As he holds his hand out, Maren knows it’s coming, something bad. Something really bad and she knows she should run and leave now before the bad thing happens, but Luke stares at her with his sparkly eyes and red cheeks and she clenches her fists with defiance. But it doesn’t last long.

In the blink of an eye, she leans forward and wraps her mouth around the triangular chip, a gesture that might’ve been sweet if not for the sweat on her brow and the way her lips enveloped his fingers as well. She bites down, and she doesn’t know if the crack she hears is the corn chip or his bones, but his cry of pain makes her think the latter.

He tries to pull back his hand, scared of the pain but not necessarily of Maren, but her jaw is locked and there's no escaping fate now. Not for either of them. He should be scared of Maren. But there’s hardly any time for the fear to grow because without any further hesitation she’s on top of him, legs straddling his little body as she devours his fingers one by one, moving from wrist to forearm to shoulder until all that was left was the Dorito crumbs on the tarp floor and an eerie silence that felt deafening.

She’d done it again. Just like before, with Penny, but now she was old enough to remember, old enough to know it was wrong. She knows she should feel bad, should cry or scream but all she can do is smile, little giggles bubbling out from her bloodied lips as she feels the adrenaline rush through her. She feels light, like a feather floating down from the heavens, but she knows the feeling won’t last forever.

Come morning, everyone will be looking for little Luke Vanderwall and they’ll never find him. Because she hadn't left anything to find, devouring him bones and all. The camp will shut down early, the parents will be called to come rescue their children, and Mama would know exactly why and what happened. And she will be so mad.

#you could’ve been something someday ( luke ) #the truth won’t set me free ( headcanons ) #gore tw #blood tw #answered #long post #okay i know the gif doesnt /really/ fit but its exactly baby maren and you cant convince me otherwise

[gillianthecat]

The Devil Judge: Episode 8

I just finished The Devil Judge and something about this show compelled me to take copious notes - it had emotional intensity and layers of mystery. These are long and rambling, so they're likely not of interest to anyone else, but since I spent all that time writing it I decided, why not post it. Perhaps someone will find it interesting.

Below are my moment-to-moment reactions, predictions and analysis as I watched episode 8.

eps 1&2  ep3  ep4  ep5  ep6  ep7  ep8  ep9 ep10  ep11  ep12  ep13  ep14  ep15  ep16

I wrote about my initial impressions, up to episode 5, here and here.

This is cleaned up only slightly. I followed the spelling given in the Viki subtitles. I mostly don't explain what I'm reacting to, so this will probably only make sense if you've seen the episode recently. Occasionally I give timestamps. 

I was confused by the prisoner switch because I thought the point was supposed to just be that he aged. But i guess it really was a switch

i love how they showed this same prison yard breakdown scene from different angles and shots in the next episode recap

i'm confused about a lot of things surrounding this switch including:

What did Yo-Han want Ga-On to believe? that someone somewhere is doing something shady?

Does Ga-On suspect Yo-Han of doing the switch?  In the alternate angles of that scene we the audience see Yo-Han's conspiring behavior.  Are those shots implying that Ga-On sees it too?  In general I can't figure out how naive vs. observant he's supposed to be

and then of course the question of what is actually happening. I think it's that Yo-Han got Mysterious Assistant to organize the switch for the specific purpose of winning Ga-On to his side.  and nothing happened to the scammer, he's still wherever he's supposed to be, no one else in the story cares about him besides Ga-On.  But this show, as is often the case for political intrigue shows, keeps tying the threads of characters' pasts together, so the scammer himself could end up being a major or minor plot point.

Yo-Han vs. Seon-Ah confrontation, wow! did they both come out as bisexual to each other?  is that one of the implications the show wants the audience to take from that? this whole bit with the pin is excellent.  and the way they tie it back with the "do you like me" So far i'm pleasantly surprised with the backstory they're giving Seon-Ah and how they're revealing it, but not too much and using it.  it doesn't feel flat

This show is starting to say interesting things about gender and about sexual violence.  I'm not sure what yet, and i think what the show is saying probably connects closely to its korean context so it's not necessarily what i'm interpreting from it.  

this whole scene with Ga-On at home.  and calling up Su-Hyeon  and everything in the restaurant.  I'm starting to get more interested in her as a character in her own right (and I think the show is getting more interested also). so beautifully done, and - not understated exactly, but just the right amount of 'stated, not overdone

I think Ga-On's actor is excellent in this.  It's not a virtuosic part like Yo-Han, and I suspect the actor is not as skilled as Ji Sung, but he conveys Ga-On perfectly.  I know he's a very famous K-Pop star, but I haven't seen him in any other context, which I'm grateful for so I don't have anything else overlaying the character.  

I do see the dancer in him - I feel like his physicality is very dancer-like.  not so much that he's graceful, although he is, just that he looks totally at home in his body in a way that feels specific to dancers.  He's not carrying extra tension, but also not floppy.  Able to move in any way at a moment, but not telegraphing his readiness.  It ends up working very well for the character I think.  It adds some layers, because it's not what you'd expect from a lawyer/judge.  And it gives the character I quiet confidence that gives his opposition to Yo-Han more heft.  I think because the script itself mostly puts the balance of power in Yo-Han's favor, if the actor was more timid in his physicality the push and pull between them wouldn't be as interesting.

Yo-Han on the other hand I feel like is holding himself very tightly in order to appear very relaxed and confident.  And I believe that's a deliberate acting choice by Ji Sung - look at the difference when he's playing around with Elijah.  or even that bit where he trips over the wheelchair.  

That was such a small moment, but it felt so revealing to me! the way he trips and the way he reacts somehow felt the most human we'd ever seen of him. so much so that i first wondered if it was an accident during filming that they kept in, but they shot it from multiple angles/takes, so i think it was scripted.

back at the house but the kitchen in these shots is looking very shiny like the political outside world.  they're in their suits with their public facing hairstyles

we're explicitly being told that Yo-Han is manipulating Ga-On.  I mean, we knew it, but it's interesting that the show is telling us

I have thoughts on the shifts in Y and G's relationship, but they're not quite coherent yet.  the rhythms of getting closer, pulling apart.  how that is shown in the way things are framed as romance vs. corruption. and i think maybe it's Yo-Han who is the most variable. He started letting down his mask, felt betrayed by Ga-On taking his sister to meet the cop, and slammed it back up again.  So that's the romance plotline, but the political intrigue plot conveniently also requires him to switch to corrupting?  Or was he the one who instigated this huge change in the political game?  Hmm. He threw down the gauntlet of naming the big 5.  that was in response to Cha's attack on him. Not sure if he had another option at that point, so i tend to think it's more the convenience of the plot lining up with their romance plot than him doing politics stuff in reaction to his romance feelings.

I wonder if we'll ever learn more about Mysterious Assistant?  I feel like it could go either way - this show likes connections, but it's also pretty conservationist in its use of characters - e.g. Our Two Representative Businessmen,  and willing to let secondary characters be flat.  we are getting more and more from Seon-Ah's assistant, so there is some hope.

Su Hyeon and Elijah together again! I'm excited to see what this relationship is going to be.  and that we now see Elijah as part of the game.  she has been, mostly behind the scenes, but now i think we're going to see it.  The actor is only 16! She's so good.

unformed thoughts about the parallels and differences between Su-Hyeon and Ga-On's relationship and Elijah and Yo-Han's relationship. and the lines and connections among all four of them.  we've seen all combinations so far besides Yo-Han with Su-Hyeon.  So far I can't picture them as anything except antagonists over Ga-On's love/his soul, but I can also see this show bringing in something more interesting.  Does she also get won over to his cause?

I feel like we're seeing a Hunger Games' style love triangle, where in choosing between his two love interests Ga-On is also choosing what kind of person he wants to be/what life he wants to live.

I'm confused again about Yo-Han.  if the revenge is just about the church fire, it seems not bad enough to fuel all this work?  even the hypocrisy of asking for the money. Do the series-makers want us to see Yo-Han as sufficiently justified? or are we supposed to see him as overreacting because he is in fact a bit of a sociopath?  or did his anger about those specific personal harms lead him to a more general moral quest to bring them down because they are the most harmful people to S. Korean society? I can't tell if the show wants us to believe one of those, or if it wants it to still be a mystery.  probably the mystery.  part of the problem is that it flattens some things into caricatures (like the businessmen) and keeps others richly complicated (which is understandable, there are a lot of moving parts in this show and not all of them can be realisitic and human) but that sometimes means i can't tell what is flat and what is intentionally mysterious or ambiguous.

(44:00) cute rooftop scene (thoughts on meaning of this rooftop -safe space? feeling space?) but also useful for info on Su-Hyeon's feelings on Ga-On

Is Ga-On gay? That's not the only potential reason he's not dating Su-Hyeon, but it would fit.  (He loves her and relies on her and sees her as family.  part of him wants to be in love with her but he can't be) because there are times where he almost acts like he's in love with her too but afraid for some reason to take that step.  but perhaps it's that he's afraid because he's not in love with her. [this would mean that the show is acknowledging both queerness and homophobia, which i get the sense korean shows tend not to do]

(the symbolism of that knife! she will literally cut herself to prevent him from turning evil [doing something immoral] )

(47:48) Revealing conversations on the rooftop yet again.  Su-Hyeon and Ga-On:  "Have you come back for good now?"  "Actually no, but I need to take care of these. [plants]"  "You shouldn't visit, you should return completely.  This is your home."  "But there are people I need to take care of over there, too."  "How about taking care of yourself? Please."  "Me? What about? Why do I need any care? I'm living an exceedingly comfortable life as it is."

i feel like this convo between Prof. Min and Su-Hyeon is one of the few glimpses we're getting (outside of the generic faceless masses or our power hungry main players) of how people see and think about politics in this society

I don't have the cultural context to interpret this line, but it stands out: "I didn't become a police officer to point a gun at our citizens' chests."

the battle over Ga-On's soul.  Prof. Min and YSH vs. Judge Kang

I still can't tell how seriously this show is taking its statements on politics.  I assume we're supposed to see YSH and prof Min as the voices for morality here.  they let our hero say something that is (to me) such an immoral statement.  obviously they are showing his internal conflict, but i don't know how extreme this would sound to mainstream Korean audiences, or at least how extreme the show creators meant it to sound

once again Ga-On is being asked to choose sides

Prof. Min is the only person shown entering the battle who's outside the power structure.  Well, technically he's inside since he's on the supreme court, but in the framework of the show he's an outsider who wants to bring the whole system (I'm a little vague on what that is - is he just blaming the televised trials?) down.  and he's saying he's going to be using public opinion and the media to do it, the very thing that he's saying is causing the problem in the first place.  Is he supposed to come across as naïve?

I guess it's confusing because he seems to be trusting the public here to make changes, but the only reason that the public trials are a problem is because the public is blindly swayed by them to violence.

I guess the weirdest part for me is that the televised trials seem to be presented as such a powerful force in this society whether they're seen as good or dangerous.  but it's hard for me to see them that way.  like i wouldn't go from 'police brutality is a problem' to 'it will get significantly better if we get rid of he public court'

and it's probably a shorthand, or a show writing convenience to make Yo-Han a powerful figure: whatever he's in charge of has to be a powerful force in society because in order for the show to work he has to be powerful.  but it just makes the politics of the show feel odd.

(I think that's why I struggle with political shows in general.  their depreciation of the causes and solutions of political problems usually strikes me as either offensive, ridiculously oversimplified, or both.)

like, i guess there are no figures here advocating for actual structural change, or even pointing out what the problems are.  The show itself sort of points out problems with wealth and corruption and powerful people not having any accountability.  And interestingly, saying that implies, what we need is accountability and transparency - which is what Judge Kang was saying he was going to be doing with the court.  but then his courts were portrayed as, not bad, but nonsensical and arbitrary, not transparent at all.  but he and prof. Min have been the only people to even mention transparency.  interesting.

Is this show going to have a nihilistic view of political change and power?  seems likely at this point. By portraying the general public as a monolith of easily manipulated sheep, only those in power have any agency or chance of affecting the world.  That's convenient for making a show - it greatly reduces the number of characters that can affect the plot and keeps it to issues and themes that can be controlled.  but it's also an inherently anti-democratic world view.  

here it seems like they might be saying that the media and public opinion are so powerful, you can't escape using them if you want to have any impact on society (whether for personal gain or for public good) but I can't tell if that's a statement that the series-makers are making about S. Korean society/society at large, or just a way they're fitting Prof. Min's beliefs and actions into the simplified world of the show.

unformed thoughts on public vs. private.  Media/public opinion etc is portrayed as all powerful, and the big decisions are all made behind closed doors. This is both a point of the show, but also doesn't always work.

I think maybe I'm not quite feeling the weight of Kim Ga-On's moral struggle because the moral and political logic of the world around his ethical quandary feels so flimsy.  like, the choice doesn't feel as meaningful to me as it should or as the drama wants it to.

i think prof. Min is supposed to be the moral center of this world.  The other option is that he'll turn out to also be corrupt, but I don't think that's the direction the show is going in.  

rewatching, his plan does make a little more sense and is less let the mob fix it.

(50:40) Ga-On wears a sweater at work! Is there significance to Ga-On's two hairstyles?  I haven't seen a pattern yet.  but Yo-Han's two styles are very meaningful so I'm inclined to look for meaning

We get to meet Mysterious Assistant!!! And so does Ga-On.  I did not predict this.

Also, the first time I saw Mysterious assistant I thought he was Isaac.  He looks a little like Ga-On, and they gave him the same hairstyle

This feels like jealousy? like i know Ga-On has reasons to be mad at M.A. but if you ignore the words it feels like they're each staking a claim to Yo-Han.  and he's smirking in the background.  I guess I don't understand why M.A. would be pissy unless he's also feeling possessive of Yo-Han

The best version of Kang Yo-Han has the same goal as Prof. Min.  If that is the true version of him (which I think it will turn out to be) then the moral quandary Ga-On is facing becomes one of methods and 'does the end justify the means?' 

I guess this would need to be a dystopia in that case, if Yo-Han's way was the best way.

Oh! The defense attorney is working for Judge Kang. Lawyer Go was Ju Il-Do's lawyer

i'm confused about what this actress did during Cha's son's trial..., oh she was the first caller.  i just needed to wait two seconds lol

(55:00) I'm getting heist movie vibes.  The gang's all here, gathered for the first time, meeting in a picturesque abandoned warehouse.  I'm sure there's some symbolism or something evoked by the fish and aquarium tank...

 the first time the politics feel real

still the question of trusting Yo-Han is there, but that look at the end.  Ji Sung's expressions! although the musical cues help too

(58:20)  And immediately following is the other seduction/corruption campaign - Seon-Ah's of Judge Oh

I feel like this scene support my theory that Judge Oh is an avatar/stand in/representative for the manipulatable faceless public

(1:00:05) more mirrors in scenes where people have on or are putting on a mask

that is a sexual seduction

Is this evidence planted by Yo-Han? or is it real?

(1:02:35)  Ga-On in his seat!

Here is an explanation of the scammer guy stuff.  I think we're supposed to take it as the true one.

honesty from Yo-Han about his willingness to manipulate.  so he's saying he didn't switch, but would have.  But what was up with his conspiratorial looks with the prison guard?

"this is me. take me as i am"

1:04:10 /dinner with Prof Min.  "what have you decided"

prez buffoon - emblematic of and chosen by mob mentality.  xenophobia.  mob violence.  this youtuber guy - another form of taking justice into his own hands - is that an intentional parallel?

(1:06:10) who created the rage in the first place

(1:07:21) "Were people so stupid that they become enraged just because they were stirred up? It started from something else, didn't it." He's finally asking my question.  Don't know if we have quite the same answer though. or at least Ga-On's is in a more limited sphere. "It was the bad guys. Those guys who deserve death for making innocent people shed tears of blood. Was asking to properly punish them such an impossible request?"  "Ga-On"  "You should have done better. If people like you had done better, if people like you who even joined the Supreme Court had done your job properly, then none of the would've needed to happen. If the people who took these positions had done their jobs properly." "So in the end... you have made your decision?"  "You were the one who forced me to make a decision, Professor. If there is no justice in reality, but only a game, then I also want to be among the winners."  Ga-On gets up and walks away to the opening credit music. with a slight smile on his face - is that an intentional acting choice?

I have to remember that mild mannered Ga-On is filled with rage and resentment.  I don't know why I keep forgetting this.

ok, wow, he's pissed at prof. min.  I assume, I can't think why else he would be so in his face about choosing Yo-Han ('s path) over him.  That is some dramatic staging.

(1:10ish) "Do you regret it?  I will promise you..."  "It's not just for revenge.  I want to fight the world that's gone wrong."

their faces here! the way they look at each other (or don't)!

ok, copaganda.   :-/

eps 1&2  ep3  ep4  ep5  ep6  ep7  ep8  ep9 ep10  ep11  ep12  ep13  ep14  ep15  ep16

#the devil judge episode 8 #kind of like liveblogging #the devil judge reaction #the devil judge #the devil judge spoilers #reaction by gillianthecat

[offlineagain]

Screencastify tutorial

Screencasts give students the ability to truly absorb the information, take notes, and complete assignments without fear of missing anything. When students have a screencast at their disposal, they can pause, rewind, watch multiple times, or even ask a friend for clarification on a specific timestamp. In-person teaching has its benefits, but it can’t be rewound or replayed. 🔁 They allow students to watch lessons on their time as many times as they need There’s a wide variety of visual, audio, and annotation tools, from on-screen notes and drawings to audio recordings and closed captioning. No matter where they’re learning (traditional classrooms or at home), people learn via different mediums.Ī screencast is an all-in-one teaching tool, letting you cater to everyone’s unique learning style. 💻 They provide a full visual and audio experience school districts use Screencastify to improve student learning.)Įducators can even use screencasts to communicate with fellow teachers, parents, administrators, and more. It’s a natural way to teach and explain topics while demonstrating those concepts in real time.Īny instructor, from K-12 through graduate studies, can use screencasting to get more content and instruction to more students. Screencasting has many benefits for teachers and students, especially in flipped classrooms, hybrid learning environments, and other forms of virtual instruction. 👨‍🏫 They’re all-around great for teaching - and learning So, why are people using screencasting? Here are just a few reasons. Screencasts often include audio narration and may also include an embedded webcam video so that viewers can see the person who’s creating the screencast.

What is a screencast and why are people using them?Ī screencast is a type of video content that captures what a person sees on their own screen. Here’s everything you need to get started, plus 24 tips for creating a high-quality viewing and listening experience. But the truth is that a great, professional-looking screencast is easier to make than you might think. Note: If you make the entire Screencastify folder shareable, then anyone who has a link to that folder will be able to view all of your past and future recordings.If you’ve never made a screencast, you might assume that only tech-savvy people with expensive software and equipment can do it. The shareable link to the recording will automatically be copied to your clipboard. The second way to get the Drive link for a recording is to click the Paperclip icon next to Google Drive in the sidebar of the Video Page.

Click Copy Link to copy the link to your clipboard.

Select your desired privacy settings for the recording.

On the Video Page, click the Share icon.

There are two ways to get the Drive link for a recording. When your Screencastify account is connected to your Google Drive, you can grab a link to your recording and share it wherever you'd like. Share a Recording with a Google Drive Link The full-resolution version of your video will be available within 15 minutes. Note: Your recording may appear blurry in your Google Drive immediately after uploading because Google processes the low-resolution version first. If you move a video out of the Screencastify folder in your Drive, you will no longer see it in Your Recordings in Screencastify. Note: If you delete a recording in Screencastify, it will also be deleted from your Drive. This process could take a few minutes depending on how long your recording is. You can confirm that your recording has been saved to your Google Drive by checking the right sidebar of the Video Page. Note: You can also pause and resume a recording.Īfter connecting Screencastify to your Google Drive, every recording you make will automatically be saved to your Google Drive in a folder named Screencastify.

You will automatically be taken to the recording's Video Page, where you can edit, save, and share your recording.

Click the extension icon again and then click End Recording.

Note: When Screencastify is recording, a red dot will appear in your extension icon. You'll see and hear a countdown, and then your recording will begin.

(Optional) Check the box next to Embed webcam.

Check the box next to Tab Audio or System Audio to capture the audio originating from within your browser tab or application (e.g., from a video being played).

Check the Microphone box to narrate over your recording using an internal or external microphone.

Choose what you want to record: your browser tab, entire desktop, or webcam.

Click the Screencastify extension icon.

If you have not installed these yet, go to Module 5 and follow the instructions. You should have also created a Google account, as you will be saving your recordings to your Google Drive. You should have already installed Google Chrome and the Screencastify extension.

#Screencastify tutorial