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cksmart-world · 10 months

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SMART BOMB

The Completely Unnecessary News Analysis

By Christopher Smart

July 4, 2023

PRETZEL LOGIC — SUPREME COURT GETS BENT

What if you were on the Supreme Court and were burned-out from all the luxury vacations paid for by billionaires who would never try to influence you. Well, of course, you'd want to sink your teeth into some important legal case that could steer the country toward what the Founders sought: a perfect union for white, male land owners. Alas, such cases are as rare as judicial restraint in the Roberts Court. But what about taking on a case that hasn't happened yet. What if a would-be Colorado web designer worried that at a future time she could be asked by a same-sex couple to make a website for their wedding. Attorneys for the “Christian” web designer argued the First Amendment protects her from doing something she could be asked to do later. In a 6-3 decision the court's conservative majority ruled that Colorado's anti-discrimination act can't force the web designer to exercise speech in a way that she did not want to express herself if in the future some gay people sought her communication skills as the state law outlines if, in fact, any of such circumstances materialized in a way that would keep her from exercising her First Amendment right to discriminate against any group. Yeah, that's the ticket. Originalism. The First Amendment right to discriminate in the future. Gotta love it, baby.

THE CRACKDOWN CRACKDOWN AIN'T NO OXYMORON

It's time to crackdown on people who are cracking down on misinformation. It's the crackdown crackdown to ensure what you get is what you want to hear. GOP lawmakers and righteous right-wingers are going after those horrible conspirators colluding with the government to suppress conservative thought, aka misinformation, inverted oxymorons and bull pucky. Universities, think tanks and private entities that study the spread of disinformation are the targets of what The New York Times calls a “sweeping legal campaign” to undermine the fight against disinformation. But conservatives contend that researchers who study disinformation are squeezing news platforms to discriminate against conservative voices. The House Judiciary Committee, headed up by Jim “tight undies” Jordan, accused them of “censorship of disfavored speech” — including the outcome of the 2020 election. It's so unfair. How are we going to Make America Great Again if there are a bunch of fact-checkers focusing on reality that runs counter to the conservative mindset. How are we going to impeach Joe Biden, Hunter Biden, Jill Biden and Biden's dog Commander if we can't get the great unwashed all riled up with bull pucky. Hang Commander Biden. Hang Commander Biden. Hang Commander Biden.

MAKE AMERICA LIKE FLORIDA — NO F-ING MICKEY MOUSE

What do you do if you're Gov. Ron DeSantis and want to gain on the frontrunner and presumptive Republican nominee Donald Trump. For starters, you bust a hump trying to eradicate all those Disney World characters: Goofy, Donald Duck, Tinker Bell and Jiminy Cricket. They're all gay, except for Mickey Mouse who is horribly woke and wants to make your kids switch genders. And since it's impossible to overdo a good thing, you can run a video showing how in Florida you're stamping out those dangerous queers all the while criticizing Trump for saying he would protect LGBTQ folks after the massacre at the Pulse Nightclub. You would never protect them — the only good queer is a dead queer. If that still doesn't bring your poll numbers up you can make a campaign pledge to dismantle the departments of Education, Commerce, Energy and — wait for it — the Internal Revenue Service. Who needs the IRS, anyway — a bunch of deep state bureaucrats who sit around hassling rich people. Of course the IRS will never be abolished but like faux allegations of voter fraud it's a gift that keeps on giving. And you can dream up a great campaign slogan: “Make America Like Florida.” After all, it's the “Sunshine State” — perpetual summer, crony capitalism and homophobia. What's not to like.

Post Script — That's going to do it for one hot week here at Smart Bomb where we keep track of Gov. Spencer Cox's prayers so you don't have to. As Smart Bomb readers will recall, the governor asked Utahns to pray for snow to end the drought and save the Great Salt Lake. Well, according to the guv, the Lord came through with a banner 900-inch snow season. Now he says it's time to thank the Lord for answering our prayers. It's only polite, plus we want to keep Him on our good side so when we pray for snow again he won't give us the stink eye. News Flash — The Utah Division of Wildlife Resources is advising the public not to get close to bison on Antelope Island. The 1,000-pound beasts don't like to be messed with as we've seen recently in Yellowstone when tourists act like they're visiting the petting zoo. No word from the guv on whether we should pray for them. But here's who the governor should pray for: American white pelicans. They are disappearing by the thousands from Gunnison Island on the north end of the Great Salt Lake. The shrinking waters have created land bridges that allow predators to get their fill of the birds that nest there every spring. The pelicans don't have much pull with the governor and so the Lord might not know they need help. Pray for pelicans, damnit!

Well Wilson, darn it to heck, those poor pelicans are out of luck — dinner for Wiley Coyote. The Lord giveth and the Lord taketh away. Did you know, Wilson, that some people think if the Lord deems you deserving He'll make you rich. Although that does seem puzzling at times when you see who's got all the loot. Anyway, how about you and the guys in the band gin up something for those of us who are still praying to be deserving:

Oh Lord, won't you buy me a Mercedes Benz? My friends all drive Porsches, I must make amends Worked hard all my lifetime, no help from my friends So Lord, won't you buy me a Mercedes Benz? Oh Lord, won't you buy me a color TV? Dialing for dollars is trying to find me I wait for delivery each day until three So oh Lord, won't you buy me a color TV? Oh Lord, won't you buy me a night on the town? I'm counting on you, Lord, please don't let me down Prove that you love me and buy the next round Oh Lord, won't you buy me a night on the town? Oh Lord, won't you buy me a Mercedes Benz? My friends all drive Porsches, I must make amends Worked hard all my lifetime, no help from my friends So oh Lord, won't you buy me a Mercedes Benz?

(Mercedes Benz – Janis Joplin)

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pashterlengkap · 8 months

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Ron DeSantis appoints hate group member to state appeals court

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) has appointed anti-LGBTQ+ attorney Roger Gannam to serve as a judge on Florida’s Sixth District Court of Appeals. Gannam previously worked for the Liberty Counsel, an anti-LGBTQ+ legal advocacy group that opposes any expansion of queer civil rights and has been designated as a hate group by the Southern Poverty Law Center (SLPC). DeSantis appointed Gannam to fill the court’s vacancy after the governor elevated its former Chief Judge Meredith Sasso to the Florida Supreme Court last May. He will now sit amongst its nine justices. --- Related Stories GOP official calls people fleeing Ron DeSantis’s anti-LGBTQ+ Florida “perverted” Parents who support LGBTQ+ students’ well-being are just perverts, according to the Republican leader. --- Gannam began working for Liberty Counsel in 2014 and served as Liberty Counsel’s assistant vice president of legal affairs beginning in 2016. While working for the Liberty Counsel, Gannam wrote a column for the Florida Times-Union that said that a trans-inclusive anti-discrimination policy would lead to sexual assaults against women in bathrooms and changing areas. Get the Daily Brief The news you care about, reported on by the people who care about you. Though the Liberty Counsel claims to take cases involving “religious freedom,” it actively opposes same-sex marriage, anti-discrimination laws, and gender-affirming therapy — something it refers to as “mutilation.” Liberty Counsel also advocates for conversion therapy, the widely disavowed form of psychological torture that purports to change people’s sexual orientation and gender identity. Liberty Counsel group has claimed that LGBTQ+ “pedophiles” seek to “indoctrinate” kids and society at large to embrace and reward “perversion” and “harmful sexual behavior.” The group says same-sex marriage causes disease and destroys “our very social fabric.” It also calls homosexuals “immoral” and “unnatural,” the SLPC noted. Nikki Fried, Chair of the Florida Democratic Party, criticized Gannam’s appointment to the appeals court, calling it “outrageous.” “After [Republican Florida Gov.] Ron [DeSantis] threw out a democratically elected State Attorney this week, he has continued his crusade to consolidate the courts and stack the judicial bench with activist judges like Roger Gannam, who has a long history of attacking women’s rights and the LGBTQ+ community,” Fried said, according to The Ledger. “How can the people of Florida seriously expect a fair and impartial hearing when he can’t even answer a question about his own biases?” Fried added. “He should be nowhere near a courtroom — in Florida or anywhere else.” In early August, it was revealed that DeSantis and his 2024 presidential campaign affiliates had given $95,000 to The Family Leader Foundation, an anti-LGBTQ+ hate group in Iowa. http://dlvr.it/SvBbjm

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motownfiction · 2 years

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very quick character guide

i have full character profiles ... somewhere ... on this blog, but if anybody ever wants quick descriptions of the main seven characters, they’ll be here.

lucy callaghan: five-foot-three with red lips and a silver tongue. competitive student who becomes a professor of english literature; writes about victorian women and illness. teen mom to phd. will’s wife; elenore and emma’s mother. emotionally repressed but generally good-hearted. will tell you she loves you but struggles to know how everyone wants to be loved. blunt and full of passion.

will o’connor: taller than your refrigerator with a cackle he almost can’t control. clever as the devil but can’t spell his way out of a paper bag. teen dad to attorney-at-law. practices family law because there’s nothing more important to him than a family, however it looks. lucy’s husband; elenore and emma’s dad. won’t tell you he loves you but will show you everyday. adrenaline junkie and total geek.

sadie doyle: could have been a supermodel, freckles and all. sweeter than honey from the bee, with a reckless side. older twin sister of sam and future guidance counselor. daniel’s wife; michael, rosemary, and billy’s mom. cares more about you than she cares for herself. heart on her sleeve and maternal from the start.

sam doyle: born to be the cover of tiger beat. witty, poetic, and openly queer with a hatred of the american school system. younger twin brother of sadie and future owner of his own record shop (though he is not long for this world). connoisseur of music history and sommelier of slurpees. gregarious and mysterious.

daniel deluca: short king who becomes the casanova of st. catherine’s. quiet, calm, and fiercely loyal, clichés aside. future landscape hero (the name of the business he takes over from his father-in-law). sadie’s husband; michael, rosemary, and billy’s dad. will mess you up if you hurt someone he loves. staunch internal values.

steph armstrong: spirited blonde with a lust for life that would put iggy pop to shame. outgoing, friendly, and brave as can be. sam’s first love and katie’s wife. future artist and record shop/boutique owner. loves to dance but mishears song lyrics at an alarming rate. independent but craves companionship.

charlie doyle: lanky six-foot-four jazz prodigy, which feels like a contradiction in terms. introverted, in love with his marlboros, and mortally wounded by his mother’s favoritism. younger brother to twins sadie and sam. future pianist in a brooklyn jazz bar. carrie sullivan’s unfaithful husband; cordelia’s distant father. unbeknownst only to him, the villain in this story.

#text #ch: lucy callaghan #ch: will o'connor #ch: sadie doyle #ch: sam doyle #ch: daniel deluca #ch: steph armstrong #ch: charlie doyle #might go back and add another post about the supporting players #character guide

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palettes-and-prompts · 2 years

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Character Palette/Personality Palette

If I have seen the movie/show/or whatever this character is in I will let you know! But if I haven't I'm just gonna give my best guess to their personality or what I think they like and everything. I will make them two palettes, one based on their appearance and one based on what I think their personality is. If you'd rather not see this just block the tag "character palette and personality guess" I figure no one's tagging anything like that so it should be easy to filter out. If you genuinely like this character and I roast them please understand this is all for fun and it’s just a joke. If you wanna send me a character for a palette and my guess at their personality/interests just drop it on anon or off anon and I'll see what I can do.

Alright so this is Barnaby Brooks Jr. from the anime/manga Tiger and Bunny. I've never watched this, might watch it but probably not. Let's get into it.

He looks annoying. I only need to see him in this outfit and I already know he's a rule follower. This guy's got, like, such a lawyer kind of energy, you know? But not the fun and sexy Elle Woods kind of lawyer energy or like chaotic and fun Ace Attorney energy but like, the frustrating Law and Order:SVU kind of lawyers. Putting that aside I'd like to take a moment to talk about his outfit. I hate it. There's so much going on. The jacket that I doubt he's wearing a shirt under? The necklace? I don't like it. I hate it, the boots just don't feel right and don't even get me started on the belt. I just know whoever he lives with hates him because I personally would never let someone I love walk out of the house wearing something like this. Atrocious. Something about knowing that the belt has like two little metal pieces you've got to put through the holes, it just feels like too much work for a belt that's not even tying the outfit together. He looks like he's about to point to his meal and tell me the kitchen made his entree too spicy or something. I don't think he's ever enjoyed a meal in his life. He's never had that Ratatouille strawberry and cheese moment and it shows. I know he doesn't season his food, he’s got no spices in his cabinets I just know it. Something about that foot stance is telling me everything. Unseasoned food, bland taste. He's mean but in a bitchy way that tells me he's got perfect handwriting. I know his parents sent him to summer camps every year, I feel it. And they were all really lame camps parents just dropped their kids off at so they didn’t have to deal with them. He’s definitely a mama’s boy too or if his mom’s dead he used to be. Now he’s got like a complicated relationship with his dad who doesn’t hate him he just doesn’t talk to him. God, I just know he was a fucking dinosaur kid, I can just sense it somehow. The first time he saw Night at the Museum he lost his mind and thought about it every day. He's not wearing a lab coat but I can see one on him. He looks like he'd give Spider-Man a hard time, such a villain’s assistant kind of energy about him. I wish he had been given a better outfit I feel like I'm just dragging him but I genuinely can't see anything fun about him, maybe it's because he's wearing red and I hate red. Jesus, I just got a good look at his actual pants. You know those things don't have good storage space. You can't put shit in those pockets, fuckin look at them. Queer eye needs to be called, this man needs assistance. His theme song is Left Brain, Right Brain by Bo Burnham. And he's definitely left brain while whoever he's paired up with is definitely right brain.

Anyway here's his palette based on his character design.

And here is his palette based on what I think his personality is.

So, I know I don't need to say this, I've already wrote that these character palettes are jokes but I feel the need to add this because the last time I made a Tiger and Bunny post somebody felt the need to message me paragraphs about how I'd ruined their day by tagging the Tiger and Bunny post with ‘Tiger and Bunny’, you know, the name of the show. So I'll say it again, these are jokes. Please don't message me some long paragraph about how I ruined your day with my post. If you don't want to see it just block me. Or you can just hide the tag ’character palette and personality guess’ and you wont even have to see these again if you just want regular prompts and palettes. It takes like, thirty seconds.

#character palette #character palette and personality guess #personality guessing #barnaby brooks jr #tiger and bunny #these are jokes #please don't take them seriously

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nolabballgirl · 3 years

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Im a white girl and im just learning here so forgive me if im slow on this. But i don't understand why druck is put on a pedestal with regards to how they've tackled race/developed their characters of color. Druck also tends to dismiss race entirely (Sam, David, Fatou and Abdi) or make the trauma of characher their whole character (Ava and David) or underdevelop characters when they've had space to do more (Amira, Sam & fam). So why is druck deemed better than other remakes in this area?

hi, Anon! thanks for your ask. okay, so for me to answer your questions, you have to accept two premises:

neither skam nor any of its remakes (including druck) are perfect.

when a remake acknowledges audience pain and admits that it has made mistakes, hires writers of color, and then greatly improves upon its mistakes, that has to be commended.

so, let's break down race and representation for the remakes. and as you will see below, the remakes are so egregiously bad when it comes to race and representation, that when you compare druck after jünglinge took over, it's on a separate level altogether and that's why i believe druck is deemed to be better when it comes to race and representation. (also, i'm skipping skam nl and skam austin from this analysis because who knows how those two would have ended up...and begoña owes me a heart to heart after she ruined by beloved skam españa, but let's be real, eskam had a long way to go too.)

druck -

well, from the list in your ask and from the hard work that skamofcolor put in, druck is a remake with one of the most racially diverse main cast members in both the old and new gens as well as the most characters of colors in side characters as well, so that's an improvement compared to the other remakes. but you're right, there were a lot of missed storylines they could have tackled with the old gen.

druck's sana season (amira mahmood) does not put their sana through weeks of torture or ruin the girl squad in the process. (and as a muslim, i will say their handling of islam was the best among the remakes but i digress...) however, amira did not get her full 10 weeks of screen time and the show missed a huge opportunity diving into shared microaggressions and racism that sam, abdi, etc. also faced. and druck was ripped for it! for cutting amira's time and playing it way too safe and not giving sam her fair due, among others.

now, here's where druck does something that no other remake has done and honestly, this is where i think most of the praise stems from. they listened to the criticism! wait, showrunners and writers can do that?! do you mean we are not just yelling into the avoid? not only have the writers said the ways in which they could have improved (even after s6 they discussed audience perceptions and overestimating how ava/mailin would be received, etc.) but they also hired JÜNGLINGE to bring the new gen to life. if you are unfamiliar, this is how they describe themselves:

JÜNGLINGE is a film collective of mid-twenties raised in the hybrid cultures of post-migrant Germany. We believe that young, European film needs to tell queer, diverse and most of all – specific – stories about growing up and living together in our societies.

so looking at that progress over time from druck s1 to druck s6, i can't help but give them them props for such a marked improvement. in fact, i don't think ANY single skam season covers race and ethnicity as well as s5 and s6 did. sure, they were not perfect (see point 1 above), but my god, the strides that these two seasons made. so much so that in s6, we had a non-white interracial couple as main, who were both unapologetic about their ethnicities and upbringing and culture (Gambia and Vietnam). and having fatou/ava's friendship be so prominent, listening to them talk about black hair, and referencing nazis in germany - yes to all of this!

and let's talk about ava! what an amazing character who was allowed to be angry, giggly, happy, sad, and express herself, without falling into tropes like imane from skam france, and so many people can relate to her struggles with white liberal mailin. there was a sensitivity there that's so rare in these remakes. and what druck couldn't do with amira/kiki, they were given room to explore here, and i really do feel that it was an important story to tell, especially in the age of whitesplaining, white feminist tears, and white liberals talking over women of color.

skam france -

eight seasons in and skam france is STILL mistreating its characters of colors and not given them their full due. now with bilal literally taking a back seat to jo (look at the YouTube header for crying out loud!) but ever since yann in s1, skam france has done such a horrible job with its depiction of POC, especially black characters. daphne is one of the most racist vildes and the treatment of imane (even beyond her season) has been vile and unfair.

and you would think that post s6 and after a new showrunner and writing team was hired on, that there would be improvements (similar to what druck did above), but no! look at how both aurélien and judith were treated in s7, and after a strong opening for s8, it looks like bilal is now taking a backseat to jo, and once again, skam france and its new team are prioritizing a white character over a character of color.

and has there been any acknowledgment by the skam france team of the criticism over the years? rather, david has often doubled down in the face of fan critiques - just an unwillingness to listen, and so we are left with this as a result.

skam italia -

say what you want about skam italia but when it comes to race?well, they certainly take the cake for the whitest remake, so much so that swaths of fans will refuse to watch this remake for the "wana" debacle, and rightfully so. (whitewashing of the sana casting) and remember how people tried to defend this casting decision? but don't forget that italy has a higher percentage of muslims living in the country than norway does! give me a break.

and how can i forget how hajar brown was dragged after she, as a woman of color, deemed to shade and criticize casting decisions for this remake?

wtfock -

do i even need to get into wtfock and its representation on race?! i mean s4 and s5 are arguably the two worst seasons of any skam remakes period. and the complete lack of acknowledgment from the showrunners after the torrent of criticism they received. the egregiously racist writing. i am a defense attorney by profession, and even i am struggling. there's seriously no defense for them here...

so given all this above, i hope this explains why i value the steps druck has taken, especially in s5 and s6, to tackle and improve their depiction of race and representation.

#druck #skamverse #anon #answered asks

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tfpmegatron · 4 years

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Help for a black queer woman escaping domestic violence

Posted on: [June 23, 2020 06:42:00 (UTC)]

I'm reposting this from the OP's twitter, original thread here: https://twitter.com/33rai33/status/1274003193731731457?s=21

OP's cashapp -> $333ray

OP's paypal -> 333ray

As of now, the gofundme has raised $1,844 out of the $3,000 goal.

Description from the gofundme (created 6 days ago):

" Howdy y’all. I would first like to thank y’all for every clicking on this link/post.

On Sunday May 31st in the midst of the chaos that erupted after George Floyd’s murder, I was attacked by my ex-partner. I was choked unconscious and rushed to the emergency room. My attacker was jailed. To add fuel to this fire I had contacted Austin Police Department just 4-5 days before because I was kicked in the stomach unprovoked by my ex and they came into my home and told me “since you’re not bleeding and don’t need an EMS we can’t do anything...” despite my attacker admitting to physically violating me. They left without doing anything but taking a statement. I immediately filed for a protective order.

Out of fear I moved apartments. Unfortunately because my ex was in jail at the time I have to pay a full months worth of his rent just to get my name off the lease and pay for a new place. I also started school on June 1st and had to pay out of pocket because I did not receive financial aid. I had intentions of buying a car but due to all of these circumstances I am now left with an dwindling savings, no job, a payment due in July for school and a sublease that is ending in 2 months with no income.

I would really appreciate any donation/support that can be given.

I am doing my best to seek solutions so if anyone has any information on grants that I could apply for or programs that could assist me I would really appreciate that as well. "

Latest update:

" JUNE 19, 2020

by Raven Toney, Organizer

Thank you all so much! I have reached my initial of 1200 to pay for school the semester!!!! Thank you all so much I am so grateful!

Update: following this initial goal, I made the decision to take legal action action the CITY OF AUSTIN POLICE DEPARTMENT for their negligence and racism that I experienced through incident. I have increased my initial goal to help cover the cost of legal fees and other funds needed to proceed with a law suit. I hope that yall can continue to assist me whether it be monetary or with legal help and info that you may have. I currently looking to get in touch with a lawyer or attorney that can help me going toward. Thank you all so much "

#donations #mutual aid #direct action #black lgbt #lgbt donations #austin #texas #tw:#domestic abuse #domestic violence #abuse #physical abuse #q slur

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mrmallard · 3 years

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Boston Legal Curated Watchlist - Season One

Boston Legal is a courtroom dramedy that aired from 2004 to 2008. It stars James Spader as Alan Shore, a plucky champion of the underdog who tilts at windmills with incredible charm, and William Shatner as Denny Crane, a gun-toting, cigar-smoking fatcat with an ego the size of Texas.

The show is set within the offices of Crane, Poole and Schmidt as the cast tackle an assortment of cases, from the deathly serious to the absolutely ridiculous. You'll laugh, you'll cry, you'll probably retch a little before it's all said and done. It's Boston Legal.

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This is the first installment of a curated watchlist I'm putting together. The purpose of this watchlist is to collect all of the best episodes of the show, and to cut out the ones that are either outright bad, extremely sleazy or which have otherwise not aged well.

It should go without saying, but this list is my opinion and I accept that people may feel differently. Leave a reply with any episodes I missed that you want to see represented, and I can amend the watchlist if I agree.

Right off the bat, though, I can say that season one is one of the most cohesive seasons. I found myself going like "oh yeah, THAT episode!" for a majority of the season, and two thirds of season one is on this list. It hits its stride at episode 8, starts firing on all cylinders at episode 11, and it has the hottest streak of episodes all the way down to episode 17.

For season one, this watchlist is a formality. If there was any season that you should just outright watch, season one is it. And the ones I miss actually set up a lot of Denny Crane's character arc - so I would go as far as to prompt you to use this guide as a starting point to test whether you'll actually like the show, and then decide whether you want to commit to a whole season or not.

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Disclaimer: this show ran between 2004 and 2008, during George Bush's second term. The characters are sleazy and sexist at times, and the depiction and discussion of such issues as LGBT rights have a long way to go - though I would argue that season one has an episode that is significantly ahead of its time in that regard. And while the show can be a sleazefest, it does has a liberal slant.

I enjoy the show for its solid heart and great character interaction, but this show is very much a product of its time and I want to give a fair warning to potential viewers that it should be viewed within that context.

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Episode 1: Head Cases

Description: Edwin Poole, a named partner at the law firm Crane, Poole and Schmidt, has a mental breakdown. This comes as a shock to Denny Crane (William Shatner), a fellow named partner, who has to contend with losing a friend at the office.

The question is raised as to how long Denny has to go before he suffers a similar fate - he's seen as bloated, egotistical and past his prime. Despite being a legendary figure in the profession, he tends to be a liability as much as an asset to the firm nowadays. Who'll hold out for longer - the firm, or Denny Crane?

Meanwhile, Alan Shore (James Spader) settles into his role at the firm. He finds a few familiar faces, as well as opposition from firm hotshot Brad Chase - a former marine, staunch conservative and vocal critic of Shore's demeanor and courtroom antics.

Why it made the list: It's the first episode of the show. It introduces Alan Shore and Denny Crane, it sets up the character dynamic for most of the series's runtime, it has a courtroom scene that defines the sort of jokey bluster the show will be known for, and it kickstarts Denny Crane's character arc. Episode one is essential viewing.

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Episode 6: Truth be Told

Description: Alan represents the husband of his old crush Samantha, who's running for mayor. He flirts with the idea of getting back together with her as the case unfolds.

Convinced that he's slipping, Denny takes a test to determine whether he has Alzeimers.

Why it made the list: My recollection of this episode is a bit foggy. The main reason I picked it is because it's an early episode dealing with Denny's mental health - as far as I'm concerned, it's essential viewing.

But upon scratching the surface, this is also a good early episode depicting one of Alan Shore's old flames. This episode works best in tandem with episode 5, which leads into Denny's plot in this episode.

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Episode 8: Loose Lips

Description: Alan Shore is tasked with defending a mall Santa who was fired when his perchant for cross-dressing is made public. Convinced he won't be able to win, Brad makes a bet with Alan that he'll lose the case.

Lori, another attorney at the firm, is drawn into her therapist's concerns about a client who may be at risk of killing his wife. Lori wrestles with morality and doctor/patient privilege as she debates whether to inform the client's wife about his violent fantasies of killing her.

Why it made the list: This episode is the reason this list is being written. It is the best episode of Boston Legal up to this point, and it's one of the best episodes of the entire series in my opinion.

First of all - the mall Santa character is played by Jim O'Heir, who would go on to play Jerry in Parks and Recreation. That's a novelty of the episode, but he also puts in an incredibly powerful performance as a person who deviates from heteronormativity in an era where it was still very taboo to be such a person - or even to depict one in a serious, sympathetic manner on primetime television.

Which leads into my second point: this episode is incredibly sympathetic to Jim's character. Not only is he a crossdresser, which is depicted as him being a sexual deviant by his employer (and thus grounds for dismissal) - but he's a mall Santa. There's an added layer of scaremongering in that he works with children. And yet he's depicted as nothing but competent, caring and sympathetic, as opposed to furthering the stereotype of the gay pedophile that has dogged the queer community for decades.

Alan Shore has nothing but respect and empathy for this man, and he does everything in his power to get his job back by proving his competence at the job and his natural affinity for the role against the charges of degeneracy and wrongness levelled at him by his employer.

Another reason why this episode is so good is that it pays off a joke from the first episode. Without spoiling anything, Alan's first case involves a courtroom antic devised by Denny Crane. This episode sees Alan utilize the same courtroom antic on Denny's advice - essentially christening himself as a disciple of Denny's larger than life style of practicing law. It begins a theme of legacy that goes on until the end of the show.

A fourth reason I love this episode? The plot with Lori is fantastic. Alan and Denny are the main guys in this show, and other characters tend to fall by the wayside. But other characters have moments of brilliance as well, and this episode is Lori's time to shine.

To sum up - the A-plot was ahead of its time in the kindness and respect it shows to a character who would be a queerphobic butt of a joke in another show, and the B-plot is a thrilling argument between professional ethics and moral duty. All in all, this is a dynamite episode with very few weak parts. It's an excellent episode of television, and arguably a Top 5 episode of Boston Legal.

Caveats: Despite all the praise I just heaped upon this episode, it didn't entirely escape the trappings of its time. And it manifests in a form that the show will continue to be tested by - Denny Crane.

Denny is a gun-toting Republican, and he's unabashedly homophobic. This is demonstrated by the fact that he drops the case due to his bigotry and openly admits how uncomfortable he is about it. It's that dismissal that drives Alan to pick up the case in his stead, and as I mentioned, the show goes on to knock this storyline out of the park.

Alan is depicted as a more lefty type of character, more on the precipice of the new PC atmosphere that was coming in at the time. He's not a leftist persé, more of a left-leaning moderate the longer the show goes on - especially exemplified in the way he treats women - but Denny is a Bush-loving, Cheney-idolizing Republican fatcat. That's the POV he represents, wholly and entirely.

A big part of the show is how he and Alan get along despite their differences, but it does involve Denny expressing bigoted points of view at times. But please understand that his viewpoints are depicted as regressive and oafish by other members of the cast, tying into this conflict between the great Denny Crane of old and the liability that he is today.

And it should be emphasised in the face of that point that the show still shows Jim O'Heir's character with more dignity and respect than the contemporary atmosphere of the time it was made in. Even with Denny's objection to it, this episode is greatly resonant to this day, and I genuinely do believe that it was ahead of its time.

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Episode 9: A Greater Good

Description: The firm takes the case of a woman who's taken out of a clinical trial for a drug that could cure her terminal disease.

Tara, a love interest of Alan, is able to glean privileged information for a case by flirting with opposing counsel in a bar. However, Lori points out that they can't use that information without risking disbarment.

Why it made the list: It's a great early episode of the show, particularly for the B-plot with Lori and Tara. But the A-plot is a good mystery plot - why was the client taken off the drug? Was it out of prejudice or bias? She has a terminal illness - should she not be allowed to take the drug at great risk to herself? So you're wondering about the true nature of the study and the drug. The eventual outcome of this plot is pretty good.

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Episode 10: Hired Guns

Description: Alan Shore takes the case of a woman whose estranged partner keeps kidnapping their children for the holidays despite their custody agreement. After winning the case, he's confronted by the man at work, who takes him hostage in the middle of Crane, Poole and Schmidt and threatens to shoot up the place after killing him.

Why it made the list: This episode has one of Denny Crane's best moments. A lot of his character up to this point is unchecked braggadocio, which is entertaining to watch despite his outdated viewpoints. But this episode is where the zany nature of both the setting and the character really takes hold as Denny takes matters into his own hands. Must-watch episode, hands down.

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Episode 11: Schmidt Happens

Description: Crane, Poole and Schmidt has three named partners. The first one is Denny Crane, one of the stars of the show. The second one is Edwin Poole, whose mental breakdown kickstarts the first episode of the series. So who's Schmidt?

Answer: Candice Bergen.

This episode introduces Shirley Schmidt, Denny Crane's one that got away. She begins her run by firing a prominent cast member, cementing herself as a force to be reckoned with.

Why it made the list: Shirley Schmidt is a central character of the show from this point on, so this episode is essential viewing. Candice Bergen is a great addition to the cast, and her introduction bumps the rest of this season up a notch.

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Episode 12: From Whence We Came

Description: The firm defends a school superintendent who fired two science teachers who refused to teach creationism. Alan has concerns about his new secretary.

Why it made the list: This episode is important because under Shirley, the firm isn't just taking wacky feel-good cases any more. They're a law firm, and they need to make money. So they take cases like this, where they have to be the ones who are essentially defending the teaching of creationism in schools.

But the show doesn't necessarily depict Creationism as a positive. The narrative around the case is about the rise of the religious right, and the ethics of teaching something that goes against scientific evidence in a science class.

In all, it muddies the ethics of the characters that we've come to expect, but that doesn't mean that they're in favour of what they're meant to be defending in court.

This episode is also notable for introducing a recurring character named Catherine Piper - played by Betty White! That alone is worth tuning in for.

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Episode 14: 'Til We Meat Again

Description: Alan Shore starts a bar fight while out on a date with Tara - he's pushed around by a big guy who he could never hope to beat, so he starts paying people $100 each to whale on him. The man subsequently sues Alan for aggravated assault.

The firm takes the case of a steakhouse operator whose steakhouse has been shuttered. Concerns over Mad Cow Disease has led to a growing concern over red meat as a whole, which led to the business's closure. As he and Shirley learn more about Mad Cow Disease, Denny becomes convinced he has it - rationalising his love for red meat as a potential cause of his mental health concerns.

Why it made the list: Mad Cow Disease becomes an important touchstone for the Denny Crane character. Whenever he does something eccentric? Mad Cow. Whenever he acts inappropriately or forgets something important? Mad Cow. So this episode is essential viewing for that.

But what's significant about Mad Cow Disease is that its symptoms mirror the effects of Alzheimer's when it manifests in people. A few episodes ago, Denny took an Alzheimer's test - a driving force behind his character is the concern over whether he's slipping, and what his ultimate legacy will be. This episode is essential viewing.

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Episode 15: Tortured Souls

Description: Shirley asks Alan to try a case with her where they need to defend a police officer charged with torturing a detained suspect for information.

Catherine befriends recurring character Bernard, who's appeared in several previous episodes.

Caveats: I'll admit that it's been a hot second since I've seen this episode, and I remember feeling very on the fence about it. They're defending a police officer who tortured a detained suspect - what the fuck is that doing in a silly, irreverent show like Boston Legal?

It's an especially hard sell in today's climate, where intense, systematic police misconduct is widely discussed and the reputation of the police force has taken a beating. Even if the core message is that the police are fucked up, does anyone want to see a show where a police officer who tortured a detained suspect gets defended by the main cast? I don't blame you if this premise turns you off the show.

I'm recommending this episode because it's another episode showcasing this early trend of Shirley taking on morally murky cases for the sake of the firm. It's ruthless - she's taking any means necessary to get the job done, which is to secure clients for Crane, Poole and Schmidt, which the firm needs to keep its doors open. It's an important facet of her character.

It's also interesting to see what this does to other characters who try these cases with her, despite having a strong distaste for the position they're arguing for. Alan tends to be more of a puckish rogue at this point, taking on a lot of cases that appeal to his values and to a clear sense of justice. And as later episodes show, overextensions of the law are one of the causes he chooses to fight against.

So why would Shirley pick him - the quippy character everybody's rooting for - to defend a police officer who tortured a detained suspect for information?

That's the intrigue of the episode.

Why it made the list: I went over some reasons just now, but I also want to mention Catherine Piper's relationship with Bernard. Betty White's story arc at the tail end of season one is a highlight of the season, and it's worth watching.

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Episode 16: Let Sales Ring

Description: Milton Bombay is a legend in his field. A man with public recognition, an immaculate legacy and immeasurable respect. A man who's considered an equal and a close friend of both the bragadocious and self-absorbed Denny Crane, and the ruthlessly successful Shirley Schmidt.

Milton Bombay wants to be cryogenically frozen so that he may be revived in the future, free to continue his legacy in an era that can accommodate his advancing age. And as cryogenic preservation isn't legal in Boston, he enlists the aid of Crane, Poole and Schmidt to make his dream a reality.

Alan and Chelina, an attorney who joined the firm a while back, are tasked with representing a conservative teen who thinks that his school's refusal to air Fox News is unconstitutional.

Why it made the list: The Milton Bombay plotline is fan-fucking-tastic. The A-plot concerns incredibly weighty topics that affect both Shirley and Denny, which I won't reveal out of fear of spoiling the episode's plot. Ageing plays a part in it, as does legacy. It's a very good plotline, and both William Shatner and Candice Bergen knock it out of the park.

Caveats: I remember this episode bugging me with the Fox News plot. I have nothing to say specifically because I can't recall it too well, but I would advise viewers to keep a wide berth in regards to the B-plot. The show is occasionally a bit iffy - as we'll eventually see in season two with a character I heavily dislike - and I think this is one of those occasions.

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Episode 17: Death Be Not Proud

Description: Alan accompanies Chelina on a case in Texas involving the death penalty. Chelina's client insists on his innocence, but he's days away from execution and they don't have a lot of hope in saving his life. Alan is a certified wildcard at this point - if anyone can pull this off, it's him. But how will he fare in a Texan court?

Why it made the list: This is another serious, gritty episode of the show. The stakes are incredibly high - a man's life is at stake, and Alan Shore is the last line of defence. This episode has it all - drama, action, perhaps even romance???

It's also the season finale of the show, and season finales tend to be pretty okay. And much like other episodes in this guide, it sets precedent and it builds towards future episodes.

Caveats: This episode can be a tough watch. It's not just the death penalty; racial discrimination also comes up as a factor in the client's arrest and placement on death row. It's a heavy episode, and I advise caution to people who feel like the subject matter may be too much for them.

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Overall, season one of Boston Legal is incredibly solid. There's so much charisma and mirth, and a lot of stuff I grew to dislike about the show hadn't manifested in a big way yet.

I didn't mention him at all, but a big shoutout to Rene Auberjonois as Paul. He serves as a straight man to Alan and Denny's lunacy. He's often in league with Shirley, and overall he's a very memorable part of the cast.

The thing about Boston Legal's cast is that people tend to drop in and out over the course of the show. By season two, almost half the cast is shifted around. Lake Bell has already left the show at this point, and the waning screentime of the supporting cast signals their imminent demise. But on the bright side, it makes room for a bunch of new characters - Julie Bowen has a prominent role in the show, years before she got huge on Modern Family. It's all a matter of preference.

#boston legal #james spader #william shatner

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ratingtheframe · 3 years

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So 2020 sucked... but the films didn’t! The top twenty films of 2020 (in my humble opinion).

AT LAST. This godforsaken year is over and as we venture into a new year, let's hope and pray that the art’s industry finds a way to build themselves back up again, in a way that is safe and necessary for them to bring us the entertainment we so crave. It has been a crazy and unprecedented year for the film industry, a year that it has never seen with losses of an estimated $5 Billion at the end of March. Some of the most anticipated blockbusters of all time had to be put on hold and postponed for hopefully next year with No Time to Die, A Quiet Place II, Wonder Woman 1984, Dune and Black Widow being a slim few that never got onto a silver screen this year. However, there is no reason to fret or relinquish the loss film has had this year, as hopefully next year once we’ve had a better understanding of this virus, these films along with many others will have their audience. Amongst the postponed releases, many films have been resilient to the virus and still managed to gain a spot in the cinema despite the circumstances.

Christopher Nolan’s Tenet was the only multi-million dollar film to be released this year and even though the risk of release could have meant nothing for the film, it still managed to rake in a staggering $361 million, an expected profit for a film of its size. However, despite the film's success, Nolan made it clear that this shouldn’t be taken lightly and that the safety of film consumers comes before the profits themselves.

Even though we will have to be more cautious in the cinema, films will return, once we have regulated safety measures in cinemas and film festivals to ensure that customers can feel comfortable. For now, HBO has planned to put many releases from Warner Bros. straight onto its streaming platform as well as in the cinema next year, in an attempt to prevent the spread of COVID whilst still being able show the films we’ve been craving. There’s no telling what next year will bring, what the Oscars will look like or if filming for the next Batman film will ever end, however it's clear to see that the film industry has shown resilience amongst this pandemic and will continue to do so in years to come, no matter the challenges.

Here are twenty of the films that made it to the cinema (or streaming platforms) this year, that proved the durability of the film industry during this time.

20. Tenet directed by Christopher Nolan

We can all agree that Chrisopher Nolan’s Tenet should be handed the award of Most Confusing Yet Entertaining Film of the Year, or ever made in fact. The sci-fi epic adventure that sees its lead (named “the protagonist) travel back in time and then forward in time and then back in time again (?)... yup, I didn’t get it either, but I’m not the only one seeing as Robert Pattinson who played alongside John David Washingston hadn’t a clue what was going on either. And he was in the film. However, despite the film's confusion, it doesn’t make it a bad or “lazy” film, for every aspect of this film from lighting, sound design, casting, direction, stunts WAS ON POINT and those elements are truly what sets this film apart. The story may have been perplexing but at least there was one.

19. Nomadland directed by Chloé Zhao

It is such a shame that Nomadland may not get the audience it deserves due to the COVID-19 pandemic as it is a truly moving and rich film. The Nomads are a group of real Americans who’ve hit the road in various mobile homes after the Great Recession in 2008 caused millions to be homeless and redundant. Frances McDormand plays Fern, one of these Nomads and child of the road whilst the film follows her simple, yet melancholy journey across Western America. Chloé Zhao has been tipped several times for an Oscar with Nomadland after winning the Golden Lion at this year’s Venice Film Festival. Let’s hope that if this goes onto the Academy Awards, Nomadland will find the audience it so craves.

18. Uncut Gems directed by the Safdie Brothers

YES, Uncut Gems came out THIS YEAR, which is an insane thought seeing as I saw the film in a packed cinema before it was released onto Netflix. The Safdie Brothers, Josh and Benny brought us Uncut Gems this year, a declining tale of a man’s test with fate and the many many second chances he gets at life, only to f*** all of them up. Adam Sandler plays Howard Ratner, a pawn shop owner and frequent gambler. This is Sandler’s best ever role and the multifaceted, gritty work of the Safdie Brothers (Heaven Knows What, Good Time) really brought something brilliant out of him.

17. The Half of it directed by Alice Wu

The Half of It wins the Most Surprising Film of the Year. A highly credible film directed by Alice Wu, The Half of It is EVERYTHING we want and need in this world. In fact, it’s everything we kind of already have in this world, but hardly see on screen. Non white leads, queer non stereotyped relationships, unpredictable endings; The Half of It was an all rounder for me. Some may roll their eyes at the amount of diverse elements to the film and see it as a way of gaining brownie points, but why does that have to be a thing? Why can’t having active and authentic representation across all films just be normal rather than political? If anything, it should be encouraged. The story was brilliant (and made me cry) as it had so many layers to it as well as the characters.

16. 7500 directed by Patrick Vollrath

Definitely the wildcard of this list, 7500 is an Amazon Studios film starring Joseph Gordon Levitt. I’ll admit, my hopes weren’t high, but after taking the time to watch this film I was truly blown away. And who KNEW Joseph Gordon Levitt could be so deep and in tune with his emotions on screen. He plays a pilot whose plane gets hijacked mid flight. There. Enough said. I could hardly BREATHE throughout this film in apprehension of what was going to happen next.

15. Kajilionaire directed by Miranda July

2020 thus far has been the best year for female filmmakers. From Céline Sciamma’s Portrait of a Lady on Fire, Josephine Decker’s Shirley, Rose Glass’ Saint Maud and Miranda July’s Kajilionaire, a clear cut foundation has been carved effortlessly for female filmmakers this year. Miranda July’s Kajilionaire especially rocked my senses a little as I saw so much unfamiliarity yet beauty within this film. A simple storyline that follows Old Dolio (Evan Rachael Wood), a young woman trying to feel more connected with her parents. A certainly bittersweet tale that has this rose tinted like vibe to it that attaches itself to the visuals and music of the film, that make everything feel light and playful. This contrasts well with the story itself as being sad and melancholy, further proving the fact this film is more than face value. Face value films have never gotten us anywhere and its films that go beyond entertainment that truly last in the industry.

14. Bombshell directed by Jay Roach

Bombshell is a PERFECT title for this film; a film that left me angry, sad and questioning the immorality that is still prevalent in the mostly male dominant society we live in. Charlize Theron, Margot Robbie and Nicole Kidman (best trio ever) star as three news anchors on Fox news whose lives are brutally torn apart when the Head of Fox News, Roger Ailes is accused of sexual harassment on many different occasions by female members of the workplace. Despite the silence being now broken, these three women still face a whole load of other problems that come in speaking up against a powerful, white and rich male. Threats of permanent job losses, victim blaming and a weak image are the consequence of speaking up about sexual assault as a member of Fox news. The brand itself has an incredibly misogynistic view of women and continues to have an idealised image of how women should be on the news with those working at Fox actually admitting it brings in viewers. Women with tons of makeup and dresses shorter than is comfortable is Fox news and Bombshell went above and beyond exposing this scandal that truly shook American broadcasting forever.

13. Borat Subsequent Movie Film directed by Jason Woliner

Borat Subsequent Movie Film wins the award for Most Jaw Dropping Film of the Year, as its protagonist and creator Sacha Baron Cohen, went above and beyond to show us the true dark depths of America. Ballsy, outrageous, jaw dropping, scandalous; every bold word can be used to describe this film and the lengths it went to get right to the heart of American society. The ugly heart. By now you should be aware that the ex president’s attorney was shoved right into the firing line after he was taken into a hotel bedroom by a reporter who happened to be an actor. Rudi Gulliani was left red faced after Borat bursts into the hotel room proclaiming the young reporter is his daughter, with Gulliani still unaware the entire outrageous event had been caught on camera. And not just any camera. A MOVIE camera. A true triumph in free speech and comedy, Borat Subsequent Movie Film will live on forever as the most outlandish film there is.

12. Miss Juneteenth directed by Channing Godfrey-Peoples

A real eye opener into current American society using a touching story between mother and daughter as a backdrop. Turquoise is a single mother struggling to get by and support her daughter Kai through the Miss Juneteenth pageant, held annually in Fort Worth, Texas. A real competition, the Miss Juneteenth pageant promises one lucky young woman of colour a full scholarship to a black historical college of their choosing. Turquoise desperately wants this for her daughter as it’ll give her the opportunities in life she never had. A truly moving and authentic film, this scored 100% on Rotten Tomatoes which is a highly impressive and deserving score.

11. The Trial of the Chicago Seven directed by Aaron Sorkin

Aaron Sorkin’s lyricism in words was again brought to us on screen this year with his depiction of the Chicago 7 (eight if you count Bobby Seale); seven men who were accused and put on trial for eliciting the Chicago riots of 1968. When in actuality, the police themselves had more to do with riling up the protestors than anyone else, even pushing a crowd of protestors through the front window of a restaurant to make it seem like they had vandalised the property. If anyone was going to make such a film, Sorkin would be the one to do it as with any event or idea he covers, Sorkin’s words as a writer MAKE YOU CARE. Even when you had no recollection or understanding of something, the way Sorkin depicts these events on screen has you absorbed into the story till the last second. An incredible and powerful story and a film that I could constantly go back to in order to learn about the injustices of American politics.

10. The Devil All the Time directed by Antonio Campos

I feel like The Devil All the Time still hasn’t got the recognition it deserves. There is something incredibly powerful and priceless about having a group of exceptionally talented people come together to create something for screen. This film wins Best Casting of the Year (if you don’t count Dune) as the likes of Tom Holland, Robert Pattinson, Eliza Scanlen, Sebastian Stan, Bill Skarsgård, Mia Wasikowska, Harry Melling, Riley Keogh, Jason Clarke and Haley Bennett graced our screens in this dark and ominous tale. Any story that is set in a small town and is about stories interweaving is bound to be interesting and thought provoking in it’s telling, with this adaptation being no different. The star of the show was Robert Pattinson’s thick Tennessee accent along with his clean yet filthy character interpretation of a perverted priest. Not one line in this film was thrown away and every single moment held a weighty tension, further confirming to us each character’s downfall by the end. An amazing adaptation and something you will reeeeeally enjoy.

9. Soul directed by Pete Docter

What was supposed to be Pixar’s second release of the year, Soul is Pixar’s most highly executed film to date. The amount of detail and care the animators and creators of Soul had taken to this picture is INSANE; insanely beautiful. With the black community going through so much this year, having something like Soul be put out to audiences shows support of this ever changing and growing movement. Even though having black representation on screen isn’t on the top of everyone’s priority list, it’s still important that the effort is there in order to really show what the world is like on screen and to cater to more audiences. Soul itself had everything; diverse, three dimensional characters, a clear and heart warming story and comedic, uplifting points that only strengthened the important message of this movie; life itself.

8. The Lighthouse directed by Robert Eggers

Again, another film that came out right at the beginning of the year, Robert Egger’s The Lighthouse was a whole new world that we had never seen before. Shot on a Panavision Millennium XL2 using a lense from the 1930s and black and white film, The Lighthouse was a decrepit, eerie and brilliant movie to watch throughout. It just makes me satisfied as a viewer when a director not only creates a film, but creates one that is so beyond anything we’ve ever seen and could likely have been made in an entirely different era altogether. Robert Pattinson KILLED IT in his role as a surly drunken sailor alongside Willem Dafoe, whose Irish accent was enviable. Overall a highly executed film that exudes brilliance and a creative mind.

7. The Hater directed by Jan Komasa

I would say The Hater is the second wildcard on this list. It’s a Polish drama that hasn’t had a lot of rep in the media, however, this doesn’t detract from the film’s execution and drama. A real downfall story that sees a jealous ridden man go from a media intern into illicting terrorism. Like, HELLO how does one go to such an extreme? The only way to find out would be watching the film...The film really spoke to the dangers of social media and the ease of getting someone to insight violence onto someone else, all through a computer. My mouth was hanging on the floor during several moments of this film and I can 100% guarantee the Netflix film will have the same affect on you.

6. La Belle Époque directed by Nicolas Bedos

La Belle Époque (or “The Good Times”) wins the award for Most Heart Warming Film of the Year. A surprisingly unique concept that follows a man trying to relive the best moments of his past after his wife wishes to divorce him. A company that specialises in creating your past memories offers him the opportunity to go back to the time when he and his wife first met, using actors, set design and music to recreate the moment. The French film emits a strong sense of nostalgia throughout with brilliant music and set design. It’s just one of those films that heavily expresses the idea of “what if” within a film whilst answering it boldly through its unique story.

5. Ema directed by Pablo Larraín

Ema took me a few days to fully absorb and appreciate as an experimental film, rather than one with a clear cut narrative. It's a film that expresses an idea, a feeling as opposed to a story which is completely okay and doable in this day and age. Ema is a liberating, freeing and psychedelic world of a film, with the message of the film being wrapped up in Ema’s attitude as a woman and the way she sets fires to things wherever she goes. Literally, as the opening sequence is of her setting alight a basketball hoop. There is some strong, vivid imagery within this and the MUSIC...definitely the best sound track I’ve heard this year. Ema’s in my top five for its uniqueness, rawness and the weird sense of liberation it gave me after watching it.

4. Saint Maud directed by Rose Glass

Probably the biggest breakthrough film of the year and despite the pandemic, Saint Maud certainly got the rep it deserved. An entirely new perspective of horror was brought to use in troves in the form of this Irish film created by first time director Rose Glass. I cannot express how brilliant and revolutionary Saint Maud was for its simplicity, story and filmmaking techniques. An ambitious and all round brilliant film that sits prettily in my top five films of the year.

3. Portrait of a Lady on Fire directed by Céline Sciamma

Portrait of a Lady on Fire wins the award for Best Foreign Language Film and it still hurts to think it never even made it to the Academy Awards this year. One of the most moving and earthy films that I’ve seen this year, Portrait of a Lady on Fire is a slow, sensual and ambiguous picture that shows a love story between two women through the form of art. I became quite obsessed with the music of Antonio Vivaldi after seeing this as the time period and music intertwined really well in this film. Exceptionally made and incredibly raw, Portrait of a Lady on Fire went straight for the heart in this film by also putting the grievances of love at the forefront of this film.

2. Parasite directed by Bong Joon Ho

You are probably extremely bored and tired of hearing of the success of Parasite as a breakthrough picture, however there are an abundance of reasons for it! Winner of Six Academy Awards including Best Picture, Parasite really pulled the rug beneath the Academy Awards feet and certainly proved that no matter your race, it's the story that sells and that will bank you an Academy Award. A wonderfully crafted story, one that could have been found in theatre or even opera and those sort of structured narratives are what really grab people’s attention.

1. Another Round (Druk) directed by Thomas Vinterberg

And finally, my favourite, Most Enjoyable Film of the Year had to be without a doubt, Thomas Vinterburg’s Druk, which I had the pleasure of seeing at the BFI London Film Festival this year. The theatre-like structure of a narrative has been implemented seamlessly into this film and even if structure means nothing to you, you can feel when a film has been crafted differently to bring about a dynamic and earthy narrative. I’ve previously watched two films of Vinterberg’s; Festen and The Hunt and even though those two films hold a high rating, Druk is definitely Vinterberg’s best film yet. Extremely entertaining whilst also carrying a rather dark side to it, Vinterberg sells you the best and worst of two worlds whilst exposing the effects of alcohol consumption.

And that’s it! 2020 in films! If you agreed or disagreed with anything on this list or think something else should’ve made the list that came out this year, be sure to leave me a comment on this post or via instagram on @ratingtheframe. It’s crazy to think that this obsession of mine turns two years old next year and there are still so many amazing pictures to be seen! And as always, you will find each and every one of them right here on @ratingtheframe.tumblr.

Bring on 2021!

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nostalgic-pancakes · 3 years

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F is for friends who do stuff together - the awake at 2 AM remix

Joan needs a swear jar, Talyn's a lightbulb, Valerie is tired and valid, and Thomas+Sides are very confused)

Summary- Thomas has had his sides around for... a long time. That's for sure. And he knows that nobody else can see them (except maybe Lilly, but she has sides too, so).

Pairings- Pintroverts, Thomas and friends, Thomas and Sides

Read on AO3

Word count- 2666

Warnings- It has character!everyone, and NOT their real life counterparts. Please remember this.

Other notes- AU where instead of Vine, c!Thomas left chemical engineering for signing with a really dope theatre company with his friends. He still meets Nico at the mall, but Nico's a new writer for the company! All the sides are friends too! Enjoy!

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Look, the first time was an accident, okay? Joan was tired and a bit incoherent and what was Thomas supposed to do?!! Leave them be? No! So Joan ended up staying the night.

Except, the next morning was when everyone had entered the courtroom together and they'd gotten WAY too dramatic over whether to lie to them about a text they'd made like… two days ago and that Thomas had only seen after combing through a barrage of memes and that Joan probably wouldn't remember, come to think about it. But that was hindsight and after the utter nightmare that was a whole day (A whole day!!) with Aunt Patty the day before, Virgil and Patton were absolutely freaking out, probably giving Deceit (Who, in hindsight, Thomas knows as Janus) a little extra leeway into the conversation that day.

Either way, Joan had stayed the night in order to recover from the utter sleep-deprivation that they'd been going through, and Thomas had forgotten about the fact that Joan was even there for most of the morning, only seeing them after the entire courtroom spectacle (and a suspiciously dire warning from Virgil) at breakfast, and them leaving to see Talyn a little after (with plenty of hugs involved, duh).

Then Thomas told Joan the truth over the call, and Joan had said The Line (as Roman, Virgil and Janus call it with an oddly cryptid-like voice) and Thomas felt himself go frigid.

Since when did Joan know that Thomas talked to his sides?! Had they learned their names? Figured out that Thomas might just have a few extra screws loose than they might have initially thought?

"Maybe they even hate us now because we got so crazed over one little text and--”

“Virgil. Not helping!” Thomas yelps, and Virgil catches himself in his spiel of worst case scenarios, looking a bit sheepish. Patton and Thomas smile at him reassuringly (he hopes) and Logan clears his throat, causing everyone to turn to him.

“Well, Joan seems to be aware enough of the fact that you speak to us, but mostly considers it as you, as they had said, ‘talking to yourself’, and besides, you didn’t name-drop us too many times, anyways. And while it’s not really...ideal, that Joan thinks you talk to yourself for this long-”

“You can say that again, Stephen Hawk-Nerd”, murmured Roman. Logan winces, and Thomas kind of wants to hug him, so he does.

“Yes, Roman, and as bad as that nickname is, note that this is not, in fact a worst-case scenario. This can be put down to the fact that Thomas has some strange personality quirks-”

“Did you just do some wordplay there, kiddo?” Patton beams at the implication, while Logan, currently being shared by Thomas and Virgil, just groans and descends further into the contact.

“No, I did not, Patton, but what I am saying, is that this is not too bad. We can talk about it as a general personality quirk. This is fine.” Logan finishes, and becomes a heap in the total hug-pile of Thomas and Virgil, flopping over. Huh, he (as usual) has a point. Maybe this can work.

The second time was a pretty near miss, but once again, it was unexpected! He and the sides were just watching Mulan together as usual! They were piled up together, blankets in hand, and yeah, it might look weird to anyone who can’t see the sides, he guesses, with the blankets stretched out in places that have nothing to stretch onto, but once again, he wasn't expecting someone to come over! But anyways- whatever happens, happens. He's trying to be better about it.

It really doesn't stop Janus from pulling out all the stops (teaming up with Virgil, even!) when it comes to having to come up with an alibi to Terrence over why the blankets are arranged so strangely, even though there is literally nothing keeping it afloat. In the end, it's not the most believable lie, but Terrence is busy with Valerie just after, so he probably doesn't really think about it too hard. Besides, Thomas has always been a pretty quirky guy! ("Which could be an insul--" "Jack and Sullen, we love you very very much, but please, for the love of all things Disney, please breathe and take out your fidget cube..") So hey, what was a new quirk when added to everything else?

Meanwhile, Terrence is trying to figure out what the fuck he just saw, because he's pretty sure that there were more than one Thomas there, and Thomas only has two other brothers. Also none of them dress like twenties mobsters or are semi-transparent.

Nico was having a good day. In fact, he still is!

He and his (amazing) boyfriend were sitting on the couch- though more draped on top of each other than anything while binge watching ELITE and Tiny Pretty Things, while also being pleasantly high (as opposed to stoned).

Things only entered strange territory when during one of the flashback murder-y scenes in Tiny pretty Things, a strange man who looked like an even more chaotic Thomas with some grey hair on him entered the room from seemingly nowhere, and proceeded to occupy the sparse space on Thomas’s lap with his head, essntially just napping on his boyfriend’s lap while also being kind of see-through (???!!!???AAAAAAAAHHHHHHHH). Thomas noticed, waved a small wave and started playing with this weird guy’s hair.

Nico is now a little high from the bong that he and Thomas had shared, but not enough to hallucinate, especially since, when the high was pretty much gone, the guy was STILL THERE. MIERDA. At this point, he’s just going to call it ghosts. Thomas doesn’t seem to mind too much anyways, so they must not be harmful. Nico decides to table this for another day and go back to binge watching crazy maniacs with his very soft and warm boyfriend, and let the remainder of the high coast along.

"We have to talk about the Thomas thing." Is the first thing Joan says without any bullshit, as soon as everyone except Thomas himself, Gavin (because it's two AM) and Quil are packed together in Thomas's living room, where he just binged Parks and Rec with everyone. They've all finally managed to shove Thomas and Quil back to their respective areas of sleep after 42 hours without said sleep, and nobody was allowed to talk loud enough for them to wake up.

"The… Thomas thing?" Asks Valerie. Oh that sweet summer child. Joan once again quietly calls everyone's attention by asking Talyn to shake their hair around like a neon-coloured alarm bell. This was especially effective in the otherwise dark kitchen where they were trying out glow in the dark hair dye.

"Well, as of lately, we've been seeing a lot, and I mean a lot of really weird shit coming from Thomas. Everyone, recount your experiences." Joan says in the most serious voice they've got. "I'll go first."

They wave their hands like Matt Mercer, as if they were setting up a dope DND campaign. Quietly, of course.

"Well, about a month ago now, I was cleaning here, at Thomas's, because I was sleep-deprived and would have crashed and died if I'd tried to go back to mine and Talyn's. So most of the night goes normally, as one would expect, but when I wake up in the morning…" Joan readjusts their beanie. "I hear Thomas in the living room, talking to people called Logan, Roman, someone called Pat, Virgil and 'deceit'. And this debate becomes an ordeal, alright? He re-enacts a whole entire ace-attorney style courtroom scene with these imaginary people? I called him out on it over the phone when he apologized for some random thing- I don't remember, and he kind of just… admitted that he talks to himself? And moved on.

Everyone absorbs this new information. Camden keeps braiding Talyn's hair.

"But that's not too big of a deal, right Joan?" Whispers Camden, tying up the elaborate mini fishtail plait in Talyn's hair. "I mean, thanks Thomas we're talking about. He could have been rehearsing or something- isn't he JD in the next production of Heathers?"

Terrence speaks up next. "Yes, this would have been all well and good, had the Blanket Incident ™ not occured."

Valerie shakes her head. Why are her friends like this? Oh wait. They’re all theatre nerds, queer and D&D players.

"In the blanket incident ™, I was walking past Thomas's room, as one does. HOWEVER, while he was watching Mulan, I noticed something wrong with his blanket pile!"

"What, that they don't have any Vetal Miking references on them? Because that's the true tragedy here."

"Nope, sorry Tal, the weirdness here was not about Vetal Miking references, but the fact that parts of the blanket were freaking floating, in thin air! I have discreet pictures!"

"What the fuck, Terrence." whispered everyone in a strange, haunting unison that could only be possible at two AM as they saw the very strange pictures.

"And that's not it!" Pipes up Talyn, who is now realising that they are very close to becoming too loud for 2 AM kitchen chats, and makes an effort to quiet down.

"At breakfast today, Thomas's waffles were making themselves- Thomas can't cook, y'all. And he can't even use is fucking waffle iron. And he was on the other side of the room! Talking to Quil!" After Quil left, he told the waffle creator to chill out because the stack was getting too tall!"

"Is this about Thomas's ghosts, guys?" Asks Nico, the new cute boyfriend and new theatre company writer as he plops down in Quil's usual spot. Nico's nice- everyone likes Nico except maybe Nico, to which, well, mood. ALSO- ghosts?!!

"Nico what the fuck do you mean by ghosts, you serial killer in training?"

"One, just because I have to write a serial killer in this new script and I'm enjoying it, it doesn't mean I'm gonna be a serial killer, you tonte. Two: yeah, the ghosts that follow him around and look just like him? They seem nice enough." At everyone's super unspoken request to elaborate, for fuck's sake, he takes the hint and does.

“Oh! So the first time I saw them, I was at the mall. You know, where Thomas and I met?” everyone nods, and Talyn readjusts their braces.

“So there was this guy in a hoodie- Virgil, as you said, and the Disney prince. Roman, I think. And they were just kind of… there? Roman was holding Virgil’s shoulder affectionately, and that’s about it. They were only really visible after about three or four hours of us talking, though.” Some of the people hum.

“Then, we were watching a movie and these two guys who also look a lot like Thomas just kind of lounged? On the couch? They were pretty faint, like if their brightness was decreased to about thirty percent in Photoshop.”

“Hey, same!” says Terrence.

“Yeah, so those guys- the one in the green t-shirt that has the legs on the bus meme- so weird- kind of just stretches onto Thomas’s lap and stays there, while the twenties mobster just… curls up to his side? And thomas is probably like, used to this because he kind of just lets it be and curls the meme shirt-”

“I think it’s Remus.”

“-Remus’s hair absentmindedly and moves on.”

“Fuck.” Whispered Joan very softly, but with great feeling.

“So what do we do about it?” asks Camden. There, finally, someone asks the real questions.

“Well,” puts forward Talyn. “They’re not harming him, right? And he’s had them around for a long enough time, right? So what’s the harm? Thomas is just haunted and will probably be on Buzzfeed Unsolved: Supernatural at some point when he dies but hey, if he’s cool with it, we are too.”

Everyone seems to agree with that, and they’re in comfortable silence, until Valerie asks everyone to go the fuck to sleep, we’re still doing the Heather’s costume rehersals and Death Week starts in two days. With groans and cracked joints from Talyn, everyone hobbles off to their respective rooms in the duplex.

Meanwhile, a certain white-streaked side and his hoodied companion are listening through the wall, far away from what anyone can see, and they both visibly sigh in relief. That didn’t go too badly. The question remains: what do we do now?

“They KNOW????” exclaims Thomas, the next day in the (thankfully empty) breakroom, in between rehearsals- Candy Store is being run through and that means that everyone else is outside.

“Yes, Thomas, they know. Or they somewhat know, I suppose.”

“Yeah, because they think we’re-Thomas is being HAUNTED!!’

“Are you not haunted, then?” comes a voice, and Thomas turns around, forgetting to let the sides dissipate in his surprise. It’s Nico, with Talyn and Valerie close behind, who are clearly taking in the six other guys in the breakroom. Well, fuck. The cat’s out of the bag for good, he guesses.

“Could you get everyone else during lunch break? I’ll explain then.” Talyn nods and leaves with a smile, telling him that they’re not mad at him, while Nico asks, voice farther away “So are you haunted or not?”.

“So they’re… aspects of your personality that you’ve been able to manifest since you were a kid?” Camden asks, a bit disbelieving, even as Logan, Roman, Patton and Janus drape themselves over Thomas on one of the beanbags in the breakroom, filled with other nerdy gay young adults. Logan pushes up his glasses, ready to go on another tangent. Go wild, you funky little dude.

“Well yes, that’s exactly what we're saying. I myself am the embodiment of Logic- every fact that Thomas has ever learned, and his, and these are his words, not mine, ‘the only braincell’. He makes the air quotes to go with the expression, but is also smiling fondly.

“Classic Thomas.”

“Yes, Valerie, I am inclined to agree. However, this is not specific to Thomas. Other people can, in fact, do what Thomas is. Lilly Singh is one of them- the reason that she and Thomas are even friends is because in high school Thomas caught her talking to one of her sides in the art room.”

“So wait-- we can summon sides too?!” asks Nico, and he and Camden look genuinely excited, but Thomas knows the answer to that question.

“Unfortunately no, not really. You have to have an extremely active imagination, and also be ‘innocent’, as society would put it. I’d say näive.”

“For example, I couldn’t make any more sides after i was fourteen, because I watched the news by then.” pipes in Thomas. Joan seems to process this first, nodding and grinning sardonically. “Ah yes, the news. Wrecking childhoods since forever.” everyone nods in gay syncing, because gay minds think at the same time.

Valerie suddenly speaks up; “So how many sides do you have, Thomas?”

Thomas perks up, because his sides are possibly his favourite metaphysical beings (as narcissistic as that might sound) “I have six! My logic, morality, both creativities- Kids and Family and PG13-and-up, anxiety and deceit! I have two creativities because of catholic guilt and my mind’s inherent need to cause chaos, I guess.”

“Valid” replied Valerie.

The rest of break passed by pretty smoothly, with questions being passed back-and-forth about what the sides truly were, considering they clearly were not just Thomas, and Virgil even felt okay enough to come in later! So that was good. Though he kind of wishes Remus had made fewer Heathers jokes- Camden was starting to look squeamish, even as Nico frantically took notes of gorey facts to use in his script.

Honestly, Thomas thought to himself. What was I scared of?

Irrational things. And rejection, replies Virgil in his head. He laughs and pulls him in for a hug, and tries as he might to deny it, Virgil is looking pretty chuffed.

#sanders sides #sanders sides fanfiction #character thomas #nico flores #nico flores x thomas sanders #pintroverts #not rpf #do not repost #ts virgil #ts logan #ts remus #vee's writing #2021 #f is for friends verse

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ryttu3k · 3 years

Text

Already finished Coteries of New York, so on to Shadows of New York! I’ve seen the first bit in an LP, at least, but the bulk of the story will be new. This will have two playthroughs, one for each ending, since at least it has them XD First up - the ‘good’ ending!

Oh dang I like the music.

Julia is a bit on the edgy/cynical side XD

Yeah, she’s got a shit deal :-\ And what’s worse is that it’s all planned out.

Interesting note - at Lodestar, there were shadowy figures in the background, but you could rationalise it as people on the other side of the windows. On the train, you only see the shadowy features, and it’s otherwise empty, so no obvious figures casting them...

I guess if you choose the ‘don’t shoot’ option, Julia gets drained and it’s an early game over?

God that Embrace scene is intense. I got goosebumps!

Spirits, huh? Oh yeah, Obtenebration became Oblivion and is now connected with necromancy, IIRC?

I’m glad she had a good few nights XD;;

Valerie Duval, she was... the scourge in CoNY hunting down the Red Hook killer?

Nice to meet you, ‘Katherine Wiese’ XD

Cool ponytail, Qadir! I really dig the relationship between him and Julia, it’s fun. ‘sup Aisling, how’s Agathon? A blood hunt, really? Y O U. Okay yeah probably better for Julia’s long-term survival for Arturo to ignore her XD;; Samira’s so pretty. Ooh this guy is Hope’s sire, yeah?

“You wanted to hear about which member of New York City's Camarilla I dislike the most?"

"Yes?"

"Too bad. They're all my dear colleagues, and I deeply respect every single one of them."

"Sure you do. Wouldn't want to blurt out something that could lock you out of Mr Vanderweyden's legal services, would you, you ass-kisser?"

"I do expect to find myself in need of a good defense attorney when my broke, incompetent, and foul-mouthed assistant finally pushes me over the edge."

THEMST.

Benoit hi!! “Got any news about Sophie Langley?” *sharp intake of breath* Benoit backstory, that’s rad. I wonder if it’ll be uncovered in-game? Like we know Arturo is still around, Panhard is still around. Presumably Adelaide Davis is still around. Callihan... well, I know what happens to him. I think Torque ditches the scene before Sophie dies?

Father Leonard seems like a good sort. I wonder what his deal is?

Dakota is adorable. I’m going to do the ‘good’ end first even though I know it’ll make me feel horrible, but dangit, the ‘bad’ end is totally going to be my canon.

...Vin Diesel? XD

DING DONG THE DOUCHE IS DEAD. ...Deader than usual, I mean.

jfc Panhard that is pretentious as hell. Both the party description and the costume, actually XD Qadir’s mask is kind of funky. Oh my god Arturo you are a Toreador is that the best you can come up with?! Nice horns, Aisling.

...Thought, given their clans, Samira/Aisling could be interesting as hell.

Man, Arturo and Panhard must be pissed off XD Unless they’ve already picked their replacement stooge?

And here’s where the plot starts! Hey, isn’t that the priest’s house? Ohh, they’re meant to be meeting with Mia. I guess they’re just reusing assets.

“It’s a list of four names. ‘D’Angelo. Hope. Agathon. Tamika.’“ *SHARP INTAKE OF BREATH* Okay, that could be the list Sophie gave the fledgling. Which one did Callihan get it from?

Oh criminy Dakota don’t tell me you’re into that Q-Anon shit XD;; Ooh okay that makes more sense. Neat.

Ahhh man I was hoping to get a lead and instead Julia has to punish this poor fuck XD;; Yeesh. Okay, Bunny as a Reporter it is, then.

Almost run over by a limo, huh? *chinstroke*

Oooh this is the lead to Hope! Yeah, I’d say she has a connection with a Montgomery XD Wonder if she did end up eating her? Huh, contact used LeakyGutSyndrome... didn’t Hope end up having to retire that one, or was it the other one? Let’s just... Dominate this guy. Sorry dude it’s for your own good.

Agathon’s missing? :( Damn, he’s like one of the only decent Tremere. Oho, a diary! Oh sweetheart :( Oh, Silvia died :( Damn, interesting past, though... and a reference to CoNY again.

Fucking shadows, I literally glanced over my shoulder.

S C H E M E S. And yeah, looks like I’m on my way to the ‘good’ end :-\

Oh shit, Adelaide or.... whatshisname, Kaiser’s dude? Oooh man who to meet first... Kaiser’s dude. Oh. That was a bit anticlimactic XD

On to see Hope at Double Spiral. I think this is one of those choices that leads to one of the endings, so what’s more ruthless and Camarilla... busting in it is.

Nastya isn’t having a good night, is she XD;; Also Hope’s suit is badass.

...huh. Sounds like she’s actually managed to get shit sorted decently XD

Interesting... the coterie members were a list of heroes for hire that multiple people had, including Sophie. Well, that widens the scope a bit! Anonymous information broker, shall I assume that’s Kaiser? OH. No, it’s her sire!

“The story going around is, he left me alone and I hate his guts. Well, at least half of that is true.” Which half, though...

Aww man I wish I had saved some of those websites! I miss SciFiVine...

You know, I’m not 100% sure Carter’s the murderer (my main suspect is Arturo at this point tbh) but damn, the bit about Stern’s show kinda makes me want to slap him anyway XD;;

Queer Catholic blues, huh :-\

“Haven’t you noticed what’s going on in the news? People are going absolutely insane about this virus, cancelling trips and orders and --” Ahh. We’re in that 2020 XD;;

Okay the scene with the kid meeting his girlfriend was cute but then spooky time?? jfc was that the Abyss?!

Ooooh did she just find Tamika solely by accident? Thanks, Abyss XD I love how Julia’s first response is ‘shit, she’s hot’. And she took out a whole SI squad herself? Nice. Calebros mention! Huh, so the SI are maintaining the status quo... they became an issue because the Camarilla tried to sic them on the Anarchs and Sabbat and it backfired, maybe it actually succeeded here?

Ooh, a history with Torque. Neat. Also not sure with the art, but are those tattoos on Tamika’s arm, or fur? I mean, Gangrel beast marks and all.

Sorry Torque I’m just trying to get the ‘good’ end :(

Mention of the fledgling! Officially ‘disappeared’, that leaves it fairly ambiguous at this point.

Oof. The Circulatory System are... not cool. And yeah Julia’s just been called tf out, I do look forward to this scene in the ‘bad’ end XD;;

COVID strikes back. The Big Beat Burger is closed :( Charlie is sweet, at least! I hope his mom is okay.

Well that rat bit was weird. Hi D’Angelo! Oh my god blood doll rats? Drunk blood doll rats?! Still a damn good detective, though, that’s good shit. On to Kaiser and some answers! ...Yeah, okay, he’s a prime suspect too.

Kaiser, you are a deeply unpleasant person :-\

...good to know pepper spray still works. And, uh, probably satisfying to beat him up XD;; And yeah, there’s the last choice for the ‘good’ ending. Sorry dude.

...huh. Okay, I was at least partially right XD;; Oh Qadir, not you too :-\

Well that’s a bit... weird of Dakota, yes.

lmao oh Benoit you absolute mess. Religion as A E S T H E T I C XD I have a theory he’s from Michael’s line and I also quite sincerely believe that Michael would take one look at him and bitchslap him into the next millennium. He’s a Path follower, isn’t he?

Father Leonard is okay. I wonder who the ‘friend’ is?

This is very Agatha Christie, revealing the killer in the midst, except I have the horrible feeling Qadir’s going to go with ‘it was suicide’ and not ‘it was everyone’.

Denouement! Before it ends, Julia’s traits:

Loyal only to myself

Glass half-empty

A little abuse of power never hurt nobody

You can’t be a writer and not lie

The ends justify the means (duh)

Honestly she may have just blackmailed her way into power, set up Carter to take the fall, and sent poor Dakota to final death, but the drama was impeccable XD Good luck not ending up in the Abyss, Julia!

#ry plays sony #vampire the masquerade #vtm shadows of new york

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rpbetter · 3 years

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a vent (feel free to ignore if it's too much!): so recently i've noticed psd makers getting anon asks on whether they're ok with people who write certain topics (mostly rpf, incest, rape, underage, the usual "problematic" topics) using their recourses. now, i don't roleplay any of these subjects on tumblr, so even if a content creator said not to use their stuff, it's not even something i need to worry about - but, and maybe this is me overthinking it, what if i, someday, write a noncon fanfic on ao3? i'm still not using their resources on the subject or writing it on tumblr, but i'd probably feel weird about it, like i'm crossing some boundary. what if a psd maker whose content i've already purchased suddenly goes "actually don't use my psds if you rp abusive relationships", which is probably the closest to what people consider "taboo themes" of the things that i roleplay. it just feels like a fine line between personal boundaries and a shitty situation for a customer - not wanting to cross boundaries but already having PAID for something previously, when no such rules existed. it's making me want to 1. block everyone i see saying this, because even though i don't personally roleplay the topics above, i don't feel SAFE around people who tell others what kind of fiction they are allowed to enjoy and 2. just quit using people's resources and spend years learning to make my own psds so i won't have to worry about this shit. it's just stressing me out, as someone who has been harrassed and bullied online for speaking against censorship. i've had literal sock accounts made just to spew targetted harrassment at me on twitter. i've been accused of being a pedo and supporting incest and this is??? literally for saying "i don't think real people should be harrassed for fictional shit", i've not even shipped underage or incest ships. both make me uncomfortable. but fuck, antis make me 1000000x more uncomfortable than people who ship these kinda ships. i digress, this got rambley, i just. do you have any advice on what to do with the potential psd situation, or am i really just overthinking it? (always worried i accidentally send stuff like this off anon. help)

I need you to know that I actually had to rush-scroll back up and just double check that you did submit on anon lol! I always get worried I'll miss the one person who accidentally didn't use anon, if it makes you feel any better! When someone does submit with their URL attached, I message them first to be sure they are okay with them having it posted that way/it wasn't an accident ;) That's what I would want someone to do!

Alright, so, anyhow...

I've also noticed that becoming a more common thing and it's been on my (maybe huge) list of things to look into for a bit because I really do try to make sure I'm not just noticing things in my areas of the RPC/failing to notice things that do not impact me. Since I do all my edits and graphics, it falls into the first category for me. So, thank you for moving that up the list and informing me that it really is more prevalent and not my imagination!

My take on seeing it was a combination of business logic and anxiety, not going to lie.

On the first: charging to do a psd that is just that, just a psd file being used as a template/to act as an easier version of a photoshop "action" in a way, that's 100% legal and fine. Absolutely no muddy waters there. However, charging to do things like icons, edits, etc. that include images of celebrities and stills from movies (or gifs) is quite muddy. Legally, it's not legal. It's a thing we're allowed to do and use (on most platforms) because we're not making money off of it, we're not claiming to hold rights to the images, and so on - it's ignored but illegal. Charging money for it, however, even when phrased as "for my time" (which, absolutely valid feeling), is a more serious form of illegal and potentially attention-getting. This all gets more iffy though when we add donation instead of direct commission/purchase when working with these copyrighted materials. You can ask people to donate and suggest a donation based on your time spent, and that is always what I advise people to do.

Okay, so, that preface is necessary because the thing about stipulating use-rights is that they're iffy, too, there are variables present.

Often, these same people are charging for things like icon packs as well, meaning that even if they're only charging you for a template-style psd file sans imagery they don't own, they've kind of shot themselves in the foot. Not to mention, it's exceedingly damn hypocritical to pitch a fit about someone violating your rights when you're literally using other people's copyrighted materials lmao And that does tend to occur to me, yeah, it's a consequence of attorney friends and running businesses.

The other issues with this are that usage rights have to be stated at the time of purchase and morality clause-style shit, as pertains to products, is not legally binding.

When you purchase something like a psd file, that purchase acts as a sort of contract.

Think of like...buying a photoshop brush set - the person selling it puts very simple rules as to its use, such as: non-commercial use only, brush pack cannot be resold or distributed for free, separate brushes from the pack cannot be resold or distributed for free individually. Meaning that you own the brushes you bought, but you are not legally allowed to make real-life money from anything you use them in, and you cannot send the whole pack or files individually to friends for free or charge other people for them. By buying these, you have agreed to these stipulations of use and ownership.

If the person sells psd's and you agree to what they've stated about the use (you can't use them to do commissions you make IRL money from, you can't give them away to friends, etc.), that's binding even somewhere as casual as RP Land. The exchange of real currency makes it that serious.

However, there are limits to stipulations of use! One of those things is when you agreed - this person cannot, even one literal second, later change their terms of use and retroactively hold you to them. If they were okay with you not crediting them anywhere or using them in works you will gift others or charge others something like game currency for at the time you purchased, then that's it. Tough shit for them, not you, when they decide a month later that they want credit given where the work appears, that they do not want finished products gifted, or don't want you to make even in-game currency from them.

And that absolutely would apply to the morality wank, yes.

Except that this very morality wank comes with its own issues. Reality is not tumblr. In reality, at least in most instances and countries, you can't throw in a fucking morality clause regarding the buyer, use of item, or finished product.

Think of this in this way: Chik-Fil-A starts denying chicken and waffle fries to anyone suspected of being queer. They're legally allowed to run their business (as a private business, everything does have variables) with some things that are morally objectionable that they feel morally aligns with their religious beliefs. They're not allowed to deny queer workers a job or queer customers service, however, in accordance with overarching laws.

While "being gross" online in fiction is not like, making anyone a protected status person lol this is just an extreme example to drive home the point. Legally, when it comes to items/products be they digital or physical, your rights and responsibilities as the seller don't include your moral policing.

What your right is, is to make people uncomfortable to a degree, yeah. You absolutely can do that. You can state some nasty shit about prospective buyers you don't want. For example, they should (I mean, they should just grow up and get some real concerns, but) be stating that they would not like to see their psd's used by people on this following DNI list of idiocy, and they will block those users if possible to prevent interaction and purchase. That's really it, that's what they can do and the least immature way to proceed.

On the second: none of this logic would make me feel comfortable about interacting with them and their psd's in the future once they had outed themselves as morally objectionable and dangerous to me with this nonsense. And I would still feel anxious about using things I had previously bought because once harassed...it doesn't really go away, does it? It would just give me some ease about the latter with things I'd already made. Like, I could keep using the icons I'd made with those psd's with a little bit more comfort knowing that they honestly have not a leg to stand on outside of their harassment.

I might have the tendency to respond to harassment without much upset, but that doesn't mean I want to be harassed. Especially when I am not doing anything that draws that kind of attention. Not that harassment is warranted over anything, but when I make a PSA or answer an ask that I know is likely to get their attention and piss them off? That's an acceptable risk I am knowingly taking. When I'm just going about my life as a RPer, it isn't.

So, I don't feel like you're overthinking it or being too concerned! In no way did you sign up for getting unwanted attention, and because it has happened before, of course, you're trying to insulate yourself from having it happen again. That's totally reasonable!

Now, what you could do about it...

It's another of those situations in which we're only truly capable of controlling ourselves. Everyone else is kind of a NPC.

You don't have to do anything I'm suggesting, but these are things I would do!

I would block the shit out of anyone saying these things/trying to make them stipulations, yes.

By that, I mean that I would also visit blogs they appear to interact with and they'd be blocked as well. We can all reblog something like resources or a shit post from a user we do not agree with without realizing it, but when it's frequent reblogs, direct support, and friendly vibes going on, it's safer to assume that they are aware their friend sucks. More importantly, that they do not think their friend sucks and support their views.

Even if that is not the case, do you want someone else's repeated inattention to expose you to bad actors? Nope! So, don't run the risk of paying and otherwise interacting with the one resource blog in the group that doesn't express these views/"requirements," but does involve themselves with those who do.

Try to find people selling these resources, that are not connected to the problem ones, who do not have those views. Once a trend starts, it is very hard to stop until it has run its course naturally, so, this might be difficult and take some extreme effort. You might want to consider asking like-minded friends who use psd's where they got them so you can check those users out for yourself.

If they're all the same, problem, people...

Look for users well outside of your corner of the RPC(s) who are not asking to be paid. I know it sounds wild, but there really are RPers out there who just enjoy making things for others! I can think of at least one right off on my dash. They might not be advertising for doing psd's or psd packs, but either they might be willing to do so (especially if they do not appear policing-positive) if you explain what is going on, or they could at least fill some requests for you for fully made icons and such. Hell, people who love doing this work usually know others who do as well, and anti-policing people quite reasonably stick together. They could have suggestions for someone not vile selling psd's.

Depending on what it is you want your psd's to do, I promise you that it wouldn't take you very long to learn it. I know...I know lol that's both really easy for me say when I've been doing it for over twenty years and am about to piss some people off. The latter because the most common settings on popular psd's are extremely simple shit, a lot of that is the kind of thing you're expressly told not to do in design work. Like ramping up extreme contrast, pixelating the fuck out of an image, and turning up the primary colors only. Once you get to playing with photoshop or an equivalent, you will totally see what I mean. You can accidentally make an icon look identical to something that is on trend in the RPC. If that was what you were going for? You've hit the mark, and it's just repetition and tweaking it here and there!

Once you start playing with it, too, it's actually pretty intuitive when it comes to the basic things like resizing, adjusting colors and contrast, and doing easy effects like blurs and sharpening. Frankly, playing with it is better than half the tutorials you'll find because they get unnecessarily complicated when all you want to do is crop your muse's face, overlay some color, and add a damn dotted border. Listen, like I said, I have a lot of experience...and I find many tutorials frustrating and overwhelming!

It is not just you, you're not dumb or anything. People get very comfortable with something and when they try to explain it to others, they use terms and methods that are more advanced or specific to them than they realize. That's all!

If you have friends who make their own things, ask them some very basic questions about what you want to do. They know you, so, they'll know better how to explain to you, specifically. Just keep it simple until you've had some time to experiment! Ask things like, "I want to take this image, resize it to be an icon, and add an orange tint to the image while sharpening only my muse's features...how would I do that? Easy mode?"

And! You don't even have to pay for photoshop or pirate it anymore! Photopea is as an exact copy as possible entirely located in your browser for free. It's all overwhelming at first, a real case of too many options and ways to do the same thing, but the only way it gets less overwhelming is just diving into it. Dive in, get a little frustrated, have some successes, make some awesome discoveries, it gets a bit addicting in short order. Then, the tutorials and tips are so much easier to figure out and expand on, too.

If you'd like, you can always send me a pm here and ask me. I'm happy to try to explain how to do things, zero judgment or impatience. Just an additional option if you both decide to try learning and would feel comfortable doing that. Zero judgment as well on not wanting to do either of those things!

Okay, this one is much harder than learning PS basics because it's honestly a bit terrifying...the way these people are, they're going to take issue with you no matter what you do, and in the end, if they notice you and feel like bothering you, they will. There's literally nothing you can do about it. All you can do is try to buffer yourself, stay away from them, and be aware that you are not the problem.

Like with the AO3 thing or writing what could be viewed as toxic relationships. You can never write or be interested in a single, solitary thing that they're on about (and accusing you of doing in real life when the burning Eye of Moron turns your direction), but to them, you supporting the right of other people to do so is just as bad as doing it yourself. To them, the toxic relationships not only would be problematic, they'd be problematic enough. Being uncomfortable with their policing and feeling unsafe because of it is, to them, a red flag of how problematic you are. Writing anything they've deemed objectionable (or reading or viewing it, for that matter) anywhere, doesn't have to be on this platform or RP-adjacent, doesn't have to actually utilize any of their materials, is enough.

They're absolutely including you in who shouldn't use their shit. That's part of the "logic" and methodology of policing. Everyone is problematic, so, everyone can be labeled a pedo and harassed without too many people getting up in arms about it. No one is safe, so, everyone better behave. You don't actually have to be engaging with or enjoying things like underage, non/dubcon, rape, abusive relationships, etc.

It's gross, it's bullying, it's actually a problem...and there isn't much you can do.

All that is truly up to you is making an effort to avoid them, though, this is very often unfair and likely to get more unfair as resource blogs of all sorts deal in it more. At least, in this case, you do have some small bit of actionable power - by not ever buying from them. They wouldn't be charging if they did not either need or want the money, not giving it to them is a bigger hit than things like simply unfollowing/blocking, reblogging PSA's, and so on is!

Nope, it isn't like you're denying them some extreme amount of money by yourself, but every three, five, ten dollars is felt pretty hard when you desperately need money and/or are saving for something.

I know, I mean, I personally do know, that it's impossible to "get over" bullying, Anon. I'm in no way telling you to just get over it and move on, find some great well of not caring somewhere! What I'm saying is that there is power in not giving them power. The power to make you anxious, uncomfortable, unsafe, when you have every right to be here doing your thing and are not hurting anyone. And it might seem to be a deeply contrary sort of logic, but realizing and accepting that there are people out there who irrationally dislike you for literally no reason, that you cannot infallibly escape or avoid, despite doing nothing wrong is a bit empowering. Because it puts into perspective the things you can control, and when we know what is in our control, it's easier to just enjoy our time here without constantly waiting for the other shoe to drop. If it drops, we can go put it back in the closet where it belongs.

It starts to put a positive spin on the whole, damned if I do, damned if I don't feeling, if that makes sense? I'm probably way too tired to try to be explaining this lol I'm sorry!

Anyway, again, I'm not implying you can or should do any, let alone all, of those suggestions! I just really hope that something will help you feel even a little bit more at ease. It's an unfair situation, it isn't right, and you have every reason to be uncomfortable and stressed. If I could make it happen, you better believe that every policing asshole out there would be writing heartfelt apology letters and sending donations to everyone they've upset lol but...since I can't make that happen, all I can do is say what I, personally, do, would do, or have done.

#answered #anonymous #purity police #resources #rp advice

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djchika · 4 years

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Alex Appreciation Week Day 5: wanna go for a ride (smut/fluff) | music

(aka a snipper from what appears to be a Pretty Woman AU)

When Alex left Roswell for the last time, he’d prepared for a life destitute. Possibly a hand to mouth existence, but one that wasn’t bound by his dad’s rules. Surrounded by found family and good friends.

What happened was the opposite. Bank was all Alex had. No one he called family, barely any friends. Just a shit load of money from a dead father who forgot to remove his estranged son from his will.

Funny how life worked out.

Manes security was the crown of the Manes empire. It had been built on his father’s unwavering, paranoid insistence that the human race needed to defend themselves. Against what exactly? Alex was never sure. No one else knew either, but they still bought into the belief.

The company started with simple security solutions that branched out to tech which led to multibillion-dollar government contracts. His brothers were all happily ensconced in the family business while Alex had jumped ship the moment he could.

Or so he thought.

“What the fuck do you mean he left it to me?”

“Technically he left it to his sons, but Flint signed away everything to do with the company when he started his own business, Gregory insists he’s retired, and after his breakdown Clay gave Gregory special power attorney and Gregory’s saying Clay doesn’t want it either.”

“Well, I don’t want it! Jim, are you hearing yourself? I can’t take over my father’s company.”

“Your father had the entire board of trustees under his thumb and he kept a lot of secrets. Without one of you to figure things out they’re going to strip it for parts and sell to the highest bidder. You might not care for your father’s legacy, but the Manes Group cuts a hundred thousand paychecks across several businesses. That’s a lot of jobs on the line.”

Fuck.

That had been five years ago. Five long fucking years of going from a quiet life running a small music shop near the home town to living full time in New York city.

Nothing about his new life vaguely resembled his life in Roswell.

Well, except for Kyle Valenti.

“It’s two in the fucking morning. Go home,” Kyle ordered from where he was leaning against Alex’s office door.

“Should I even point out how hypocritical that is considering you’re here too?”

“That’s because you’re a slave driver.”

Kyle was lying through his stupid perfect teeth. Alex worked hard to make sure they were one of the best employers in the country thankyouverymuch.

Besides, Kyle wasn’t even technically his employee. Their firm, Valenti, Valenti and Son had been the company’s firm even before Alex took over.

“I’m going home after this. Leave me alone.”

“As your legal counsel I highly recommend sleep before signing any of those.” Kyle said, nodding at the stack of papers on Alex’s desk. “I’ll be back Wednesday. I already had Jill pencil me in to your afternoon so we can start discussion on the Long deal.”

Alex clicked opened his calendar. “My Monday’s surprisingly free we can do it then.”

Kyle walked over to Alex’s desk, leaning down just so he could point at Alex’s laptop monitor obnoxiously. “That’s because Monday is the day before Christmas Eve and you declared it a company holiday.”

“Right,” Alex said, pushing Kyle away. “See you Wednesday, then.”

“Are you sure—”

“Yes, I’m sure I don’t want to go home with you for Christmas. Yes, I will be fine spending Christmas by myself. Asking me a dozen times isn’t going to change my answer.”

Alex appreciated Kyle’s concern, but going back home provided complications he didn’t want to deal with at the moment.

With a sigh, Kyle straightened and started towards the door. “Fine. I’ll see you in four days. You also have four days to get me the present you forgot to buy me so you won’t feel bad that I already left your present at your place.”

Presents. Shit. He remembered signing off a list from Jill, but Kyle always insisted that didn’t count. Maybe he could get him something online.

Seeming to read his mind, Kyle turned and pointed a finger at him. “You better make an effort of going to a store for me, jerk.”

That was how Alex ended up asking the driver to see if there was a shop anywhere that was still open.

That was also how Alex literally fell into Michael Guerin.

“You looking for something? Wanna go for a ride?”

The familiar low drawl had Alex’s heart beating wildly in his chest. He turned quickly, misjudged his center of gravity and only avoided a complete pratfall because Michael’s arms were suddenly around him keeping him steady.

The shock he was feeling was clearly mirrored in Michael’s face.

“Alex?”

The last time he’d seen Guerin was the last of summer after high school. He was being shipped off to West Point, while Michael was supposed to be on going to UNM on a scholarship.

They’d been friends in the way that two queer kids in a small dessert town naturally gravitated towards each other. Something had bubbled beneath the surface but they’d left it to simmer. Neither wanting to risk the tentative solace they found in each other.

A long series of almosts that never culminated to anything.

Alex had graduated, gone on a couple of tours, got blown up and opted for an honorable discharge.

Michael had apparently graduated, found out working with any sort of system didn’t fit him, and chose to travel the country in his truck, picking up odd jobs where he could.

When he meant pick up. He meant pick up.

Michael gave a low whistle when they entered Alex’s apartment. It was disproportionally huge for someone living alone, but it had come with the inheritance and he’d never gotten around to looking for a new place.

"Always knew you were loaded. I didn’t think you were ‘bring out the guillotines’ rich.”

“I’m not. Or I wasn’t. This was all my dad’s. I’m always afraid I’m going to find a room I didn’t know existed and find out someone’s been living there the whole time,” Alex admitted.

Michael smirked as he made himself comfortable on the leather couch. “Still not a fan of horror movies?”

“I learn from them. There’s a difference,” Alex corrected as he slipped off his tie, coat and shoes already discarded. “Drink?”

“Yeah, why not.”

Alex poured them each a glass, watching as Michael surreptitiously took in the rest of the room. He wondered what Michael assumed of him based on it. He’d never gotten around to looking for a new place and he’d definitely never gotten around to redecorating. Nothing outside of the bedroom was his aside from the baby grand he’d gotten himself as a gift a couple of years ago.

“I see your horror movie education never taught you not to let strangers into your home,” Michael said when Alex handed him a glass of whisky, neat.

“You’ve always been strange. Hardly a stranger.”

He sat down next to Michael, taking a long drink from his glass as Michael did the same. The liquid flowed smoothly down his throat, warming his body quickly. It also served to quiet the butterflies that were fluttering oddly in his chest.

“You never know what’s going on in people’s heads.” Michael smirked, eyes roving over Alex’s body.

Back in high school, with his bad boy reputation, the almost trademark smirk had been charming and innocently dangerous. Now, the slow smirk was backed with a confidence in his sexuality that was outright devastating.

Or it would have been if Alex didn’t see right through him.

“Are the lines part of the package?”

“Depends, is it working for you?

Alex raised an eyebrow before downing the rest of his drink. Michael seemed to take that as an invitation, moving both their glasses to the coffee table before straddling Alex smoothly.

It was his teenage fantasy come true. Michael was different, the cut of his jaw sharper, a dark beard where there used to be smooth skin, but the warmth of his eyes was still the same. The pull that tugged at Alex’s chest just as strong.

“Do you have rules against kissing?”

Michael shook his head with a laugh. “That’s not a thing.”

The kiss Michael gave Alex was surprisingly soft. A tentative press of lips on lips that belied Michael’s previous confidence. Alex tongue darted out, licking against the seam of Michael’s lips until they opened up for him. He tasted like whisky, like the first burst of summer rain.

It barely lasted a minute before Michael pulled back a little, eyes searching Alex’s as if to make sure he was okay.

Unwilling to examine the sudden knot behind his ribcage at that look, Alex surged against him kissing Michael slow and deep until they were both gasping for air.

“Sure this is a good idea?” Michael asked breathily even as his hands roamed, touching Alex’s chest, his neck, his hair.

“Nothing but a business deal, right?”

“Hmmm,” Michael’s hands moved to the buttons of Alex’s shirt, undoing them one by one. “Preferences? Hard nos?” He leaned in, sucking kisses into Alex’s jaw and down his neck.

Alex groaned when Michael’s mouth latched on to his pulse point, sucking gently. He could feel himself getting harder, Michael’s own erection pressed up again him. The sweet friction was making it hard to concentrate on what Michael was saying.

“You’re not going to make me sign a release are you?” he managed to ask finally. For all he knew there might be paperwork involved. He’d never actually slept with a hooker before.

The laugh that rumbled out of Michael’s chest, drew a smile on Alex’s face. “No, but it’s gonna cost depending on what you want.”’

“Consider me your booking for the night then double it.”

He didn’t even care what that amount was. Michael was worth it. Using his father’s money to pay for him was just a fuck you cherry on top.

Michael smiled, slow and filthy. “Works for me.”

(to be continued....)

#malex #michael guerin #alex manes #alexweek2020 #roswell nm #deej writes #deej writes fic #tv: rnm

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yoursummerfrost · 4 years

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So, I've seen some chatter about this and I really feel the need to address it. I love Lucifer. It's my favorite show in the goddamn world. I think it does so, so much right when it comes to mental health, healing, and forgiveness; it has a diverse cast and solid queer rep; it makes me laugh and helps me escape my problems.

Lucifer is a cop show. Lucifer is police propaganda. We are not acting as allies of BLM if we try to erase or ignore that fact.

Definitionally, Lucifer is a police procedural. It is a show that focuses on weekly cases and how the police solve those cases. While I agree with arguments that the procedural format is ostensibly "window dressing" to appeal to a wider audience (especially when it was on FOX) and the show is actually quite character-driven, you can't just erase that massive part of the show.

Consider why making the show a police procedural made it appeal to a wider audience, and what that reinforces.

Consider why Chloe is so willing to take advantage of the times Lucifer will break protocol (the show established VERY early on that Lucifer will listen when Chloe tells him he's crossing a line, and she rarely does). So Chloe sanctions intimidation of suspects, and coercing them with Lucifer's desire powers. She sanctions Lucifer breaking and entering and not waiting for search warrants. This is actually a huge point in the latter half of season 4 when Lucifer decides NOT to break protocol and Rookie Joan dies.

Consider why Charlotte's redemption arc had to start by her QUITTING her job as a defense attorney. Now, Charlotte was shown to knowingly defend sleazy companies and rich White men. But why couldn't she decide to do pro bono work where she defended people who have been mistreated by the justice system and cannot afford attorneys? Why couldn't she become a public defender? Don't tell me they couldn't have worked it into the end of s3 plot otherwise; the writers are brilliant and more than capable of finding an ending that would work.

Now, I'm not saying Lucifer is the most egregious show out there. I appreciated that they addressed police brutality in season 4. They have made frequent allusions that suggest the LAPD is massively corrupt, including multiple Big Bads being corrupt officers. However, this doesn't erase the fact that roughly half of the main cast works for the police and are shown in favorable lights. Many activists are calling for the defunding of the police; they are not calling for more cops like Chloe or more DAs like Charlotte.

Furthermore, most of the main cast--ESPECIALLY Lesley Ann Brandt (EDIT: and D. B. Woodside, who has been posting extensively on Twitter which I don't have)--have been very vocal about supporting BLM on social media, as has Ildy (I don't follow Joe). I believe that their support is genuine and I'm sure some of them are having conflicting feelings about working on this show right now.

And that's okay! Having conflicting feelings is human. We don't have to denounce the show and it certainly isn't appropriate to go harass the cast and crew about it. However, I believe the best way to act as allies to BLM is to be willing to engage critically with shows like Lucifer, which do both harm and good (just like everyone else).

If you still want to watch and enjoy the show, that's okay! I still love it very much! Just--please acknowledge the flaws. Please don't erase the harm so you can justify enjoying the good. Enjoy the good and remember that good doesn't equal perfect.

#lucifer #lucifer critical #protests #allyship #blm #acab

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niamhuncensored · 3 years

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I've seen a couple of posts urging people to check blogs on posts before reblogging them and i want to say, as someone who does that a lot, uhh....NO ONE SHOULD FEEL REQUIRED TO DO THIS?????

reasoning below the cut. tw for mentions of self harm. nothing specific but the phrase does come up.

TL;DR: running background checks on blogs is labor-intensive, upsetting and possibly triggering, and will suffer from the same problems tumblr has always had rrt discourse and cancelling

for one thing, running a background check is not a "10 second check" kind of thing. I've spent a long time checking blogs, before, mostly for transphobic and aphobic sentiments. it is not easy, for a number of reasons:

people can turn off blog searching, so even if you type in the exact text of a post, it won't come up

even if their search is on, tumblr notoriously has a shitty search function.

even if search is working fine, they might be posting/reblogging screenshots, which won't come up unless they've been described

they might very rarely post about the things you're looking for

they might post a lot of translated quotes, so God help you if you're searching for "trans" on their blog. same with Ace Attorney fans.

the blog search function includes people's urls, so people with the phrase of your choice in their url will also clutter your search.

so unless the person in question has [garbage person of your choice] in their title, bio, or about, you're not in and out in 10-30 seconds. Your options are to run a half-assed check and potentially miss something, or to hunker down for several straight minutes of lurking. Hope you're not uncomfortable with that, and that you'll remember what you're even doing in the first place.

second off, it can be deeply upsetting! it's a risk you take when you check blogs that you'll find the content you're looking for, but that doesn't make it hurt less to find it. No one should feel obligated to seek out content that might harm them, even emotionally. Obligating people to do this will result in people getting hurt, and possibly continuing to scroll through said content in an act of self harm.

Third, if you're looking for a lack of content, you're going to turn up a lot of false positives, leaving you nothing to reblog and a shit ton of wasted time

One post in particular encouraged people to keep an eye out for crypto-terfs. while this is a good, well meaning post, one thing it mentioned was that, if a blog did not return anything related to trans people when you searched, it was likely a crypto-terf blog.

below are some other reasons you can't find anything about trans people on their blog:

the blog has a consistent focus that is not queer-related

they have searching turned off

they have deleted all of their relevant posts, for any number of reasons

they posted screenshots that weren't described

the search function is fucking up

any of those reasons could explain why you're not finding trans issues in their blog, without them necessarily being a secret terf.

There is no set boundaries delineating "problematic" content

if a tumblr user posts something problematic in 2017, are they cancelled now? people have talked before about how harmful it is to have old posts dragged up and used against you.

this is more of a tumblr cancel culture issue in general and not specifically only an issue because of background checks, but it does come up quite often. if you run a check and find shitty posts from 2014, do they still matter? what if they're the most recent posts on the subject? does that change your answer?

and what kind of content is problematic? off color jokes? "X is valid but they are not LGBT" posts? just reblogging unrelated content from shitty people? If your answer is "yes to everything," then i hope you haven't made a "gaslight gatekeep girlboss" joke recently.

additional, non-paragraph-worthy reasons/rebuttals

just use shinigami eyes! most people are using their phones anyway, and not all transphobes are flagged yet. and there's not a shinigami eyes for every issue you could choose.

no one asked you to do full checks, just to read their fucking bios. again, just the bio is not effective. most people, crypto-blogs especially, won't say "i'm a garbage human" in their bio. that's kind of the whole point of crypto-blogs.

background checks generally just take too goddamn long sorry not sorry but you can't do a thorough check in 10 seconds unless the user is a fucking idiot or the stars align

people use this site for fun y'know

#self harm mention #tumblr meta #i hate that i feel compelled to do this #i especially hate it because i'm betting terfs and aphobes aren't carefully checking blogs to make sure they're bigoted

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hachichimitsu2 · 4 years

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A Comprehensive List of Stan and Kyle Moments (I UPD8 AS I GO)

Hello. Yes, you heard me. Here are all the scenes that legit scream out “STYLE” in South Park, whether these scenes are too far of a reach or not. I mostly compiled this out of my very own convenience, and hopefully this’ll help you a whole lot too. This is extremely text heavy, so I’ll put this under “Read More”. I haven’t played any of the games, so I won’t be including it here at this time, so if you guys know any good moments from the games, please let me know and I’ll add it to the list.

Cherokee Hair Tampons:

- The entire goshdarn episode.

- Stan being concerned and distraught over a dying Kyle breaks my heart. He was even bawling next to Kenny.

- Stan willing to donate his kidney to Kyle, even if it’d hurt a lot.

- Stan knowing that Kyle ate a bean and bacon soup half an hour ago shows that he’s been by Kyle’s side for quite some time now.

- Stan holding onto Kyle while they were at Cartman’s house.

- “Dude, you’re my best friend. I don’t want you to die before I do...”

Super Best Friends:

- Yeah, um, this episode...is gay.

- Stan and Kyle entering the episode with ice cream cones while Butters and Cartman wondering where they got them from. It’s assumed Stan and Kyle were hanging out with each other off-screen.

- I think Kyle being convinced that he’s not “really happy” through brainwashing is parallel to Stan being convinced that he’s “depressed” by the Church of Scientology.

- Stan trying to help Kyle escape with him, not even mentioning this plan to Kenny, Cartman or even Butters.

- Stan and Kyle looking at each other with longing looks while dramatic music plays in the background. Ah yes. I am...not even joking...this legit happened.

- How to Find Your Boyfriend 101: “OH MY GOD! THEY KILLED KENNY!!” “Y-you bastards...”

- Stan pleading Kyle not to kill himself and to hold his breath while being there for him.

- The ending where they call each other Super Best Friends and both proceed to beat up Cartman when he teased that they should make out.

Cartmanland:

- Stan comforting a distraught Kyle.

- @belovedhomosexuals mentioned that canonically, Stan helps Kyle with his hemorrhoid cream, and IM-

- Stan doing everything he can to get back at Cartman for Kyle’s sake.

- Stan demanding the doctor to wheel Kyle out to see Cartman in misery.

Asspen:

- “YOU DON’T EVEN KNOW HEATHER!!” >:(

- Kyle not wanting Stan to do the K-13. He doesn’t want him to die.

- Kyle holds a polaroid photo of the both of them. How cute. Does he bring it with him wherever he goes?

The Biggest Douche In The Universe:

- Stan not wanting to go back to Colorado without Kyle and does all he can to convince him that John Edward is a fraud.

Follow That Egg:

- They are dads.

- They take care of their egg really well.

- “As a matter of fact, it is the nicest hat I’ve ever known”

- They’re the reasons gays could get married.

- Stan getting jealous of Kyle being paired up with Wendy. It does seem like a reach I have to admit, but if you’re a Stylendy fan, then this one’s for you.

Return of Chef

- The iconic beginning “flashback” where they both look at the sunset together.

Smug Alert:

- Stan and Kyle meeting in the parking lot in the beginning when Kyle was helping his dad give fake tickets.

- Kyle being moved away from South Park has Stan write a song to get Kyle and his family to come back.

- The cute hug in the end.

Fantastic Easter Special

- Stan, out of breath, asks Kyle for help in protecting Snowball

- Kyle helping him out anyways even though he was busy with fingerprinting.

- Cinematic parallels of Kyle killing Jesus and Stan killing that alien in Pinewood Derby.

Imaginationland Trilogy

- Kyle calling Stan in the morning regarding the “dream.”

- Stan and Kyle, unsure of the notes, both trying to recall the Imagination song. It was cute.

- Stan being distraught when ManBearPig got a hold on Kyle. (I swear, I’ve used the word “distraught” for over 1948388 times now)

- Kyle communicating through Stan telepathically with his Imagination.

Guiltar Queer O

- The whole episode.

- “I know...I need you.”

- The whole episode was literally as if they went through a break up.

- They’re both in sync when playing, right up to their tongues up.

- “Oh, so the gallant knight now comes to rescue me from the bowels of mediocrity! Oh, thank you, your royal lordship!” (Foreshadowing for SOT?)

- Stan thinking of Kyle as he’s “driving”.

The List:

- Stan doing all he can to prove that Kyle is a handsome mf. Another episode that screams Stylendy rights.

You Got F’d in the A:

- Kyle being so happy to see Stan dancing back to the Orange County kids.

- It’s canon that Stan can dance well while Kyle doesn’t have rhythm whatsoever. Wouldn’t it be a cute idea for Stan to teach Kyle how to dance?

You Have 0 Friends

- Kyle pleading Stan to water his crops.

- A short detail but if you noticed when Kyle announced that they made an FB account for Stan, he only added himself as Stan’s friend. This means that Kyle legit “friended” himself in Stan’s profile and didn’t bother to add Kenny or Cartman to Stan’s friend list.

- “Yes. WE’RE REALLY GREAT FRIENDS STAN!!” :D

You’re Getting Old:

- Oof. Yeah....

- Stan obviously loves Kyle a whole lot, but him seeing Kyle slowly turn into a turd probably did break his heart little by little. And when I mean by probably, I mean massively.

- Kyle shouldn’t exactly be demonized for not being able to handle Stan’s cynicism. Because I think it’s ok to admit you can’t handle such emotional drainage even if coming from your SBF, but do mind that him leaving Stan was most likely NOT easy for him. It’s kinda sad that they’ve slowly drifted away since then. BUT NO I REFUSE TO LET THAT HAPPEN ;-;

Assburgers:

- “Fuck you Kyle! You’re a piece of shit...Kyle, I love you. You’re a piece if shit though, fuck you...! I love you...”

- Stan immediately going back to Kyle when he’s feeling “better”

- That McDonalds Exec. literally narrating Stan and Kyle’s current rocky relationship and not believing every second of if.

A Nightmare on Facetime:

- “WILL SOMEONE GET ME A CHARGER OVER HERE!!’

- Kyle bringing and guiding Stan through the iPad.

Ginger Cow:

- Jokes aside, when Stan was asking Kyle about Cartman’s farts, he was really sweet and understanding to him. He genuinely wants to understand why Kyle likes Cartman’s farts so much and knew something was up by the way Kyle was hiding things.

- I also like how he was not afraid to call Kyle a dick. I think a good level of transparency is needed in a healthy relationship. That’s just how they roll.

- Stan helping Kyle cover up in the end....though it did backfire.

Black Friday Trilogy:

- “DID KYLE KNOW ABOUT THIS?!” “Kyle thought of it.” ;-;

- Stan being grounded and Kyle apologizing at the other side of the door was peak gay angst level.

- “That’s just how Xbox people are...” D:

- Ok now for something sweet. In the deleted scene, Stan was showing Kyle how the playstation controller works and...wow.......what cute babies.

Prehistoric Ice Man:

- “Oh my god! They killed Kenny!!” *looks at Kyle* “What? I’m not talking to you anymore.”

- Them fighting and arguing was so adorable. Their voices were so squeaky and cute in this episode.

- “First one to die loses.” SOGKEKGKRI WHAT MORONS

- Stan and Kyle kind of awkwardly trying to start the fight reminds me of Tweek vs Craig.

Mexican Joker:

- Stan angrily sending Cartman to the detention center after hearing about him sending Kyle there.

Band in China:

- “kyyyyyyYYYYYLEEEE :D DUDE YOU’RE BACK!!”

- Stan making a death metal band because a.) He hates living in the farm and b.) He misses Kyle so hard.

Britney’s New Look:

- Another Stan and Kyle episode where they both realized how so far in the wrong they’re in, and they desperately want to fix it.

- Stan and Kyle giving up in the end and joining in the chant.

The Death of Eric Cartman:

- Stan offering Kyle money so he could buy milk for lunch.

Two Guys Naked In A Hot Tub:

- “You can't just hang out with your buddy Kyle all the time. People will think you guys are, you know, funny.”

- When Kyle walks over in the end, Stan proceeds to complain to him how he had the worst night and they both go to Kyle’s house to hang.

The China Probrem

- In the beginning, Stan telling Kyle to refute Cartman’s racist sayings and got overly concerned when Kyle said he couldn’t do this anymore.

- Stan going in Kyle’s room to talk about moving on from what they’ve witnessed.

- Stan holding Kyle’s hand to run away in Kyle’s dream. Kyle waking up and crying when Stan wasn’t around to comfort him.

- Stan and Kyle crying in each other’s arms and telling each other “I love you”.

- Small detail but when they were leaving the attorney’s office and the attorney and the kids were crying altogether, Stan put a hand on Kyle to comfort him as they were crying.

The Mystery of the Urinal Deuce:

- Stan appearing in Kyle’s living room suddenly.

- “Well dude, maybe we're just super badass. Have you thought of that?” Yeah I know Stan was trying to cover up what he just did by saying that but still.

Cartman Gets An Anal Probe:

- Stan helping Kyle save Ike.

- “Hahaha you farted.” WHAT GROSS DORKS

- Kyle telling a speech to the aliens and Stan remarking how beautiful it was.

A Very Crappy Christmas:

- Kyle calling Stan in the middle of the night to get the guys, and Stan answering all sleepily is so adorable.

- Stan and Kyle voice acting together.

- Stan and Kyle doing the stopmotion animation together.

- Stan and Kyle laughing when they had Stan voice act Cartman to say the “ham” line.

Fun With Veal:

- Kyle taking care of a sickly Stan despite being a bit of a germaphobe.

The Snuke:

- Stan coming over to a sick Kyle’s house immediately after school has been suspended.

Crack Baby Athletic Association:

- Stan not being afraid to call out on Kyle.

- Kyle snuck into Stan’s room and Stan was listening to him unfazed.

Quintuplets 2000:

- Them trying to do gymnastics.

Pee:

- Kyle getting disgusted after hearing Stan talk about how it’s normal for people to pee in pools and in the shower.

Butterballs:

- Kyle calling Stan out in the bathroom, and they have this long ass stare. Kyle knowing that Stan will be jackin it in San Diego.

Bike Parade:

- Stan making Kyle laugh.

Proper Condom Use

- Stan and Kyle playing with a Jennifer Lopez doll and roleplaying.

- “SCREAM FOR ME BITCH!” “AHHHHHHHHH”

- Stan and Kyle in the same car with their cute big heads protruding.

World War Zimmerman:

- Stan and Kyle playing football.

The Scoots:

- Once again, Stan and Kyle playing football.

City on the Edge of Forever:

- Stan saving Kyle in his dream.

- Stan and Kyle sitting a bit closer to each other than usual in Stan’s dream.

Grounded Vindaloop:

- The tetherball date.

- Stan and Kyle saying “fuck you” to Kenny.

Clubhouses:

- Stan reading Bebe’s note, and Kyle being unfazed about it later in the episode. It was never defined whether he was informed the note came from Bebe.

#REHASH:

- Stan and Kyle being called grandpas by the little kids.

Tegridy Farms:

- When one of Ike’s classmates blew smoke in front of Kyle, Stan got extremely defensive about it.

Raising the Bar:

- Stan informing Kyle that it isn’t cool to continue on with “Fatty Doo Doo”.

- Stan checking up on Kyle as he’s sitting alone and listening to him lament about how the bar has sunk so low because of people.

Go Fund Yourself:

- *looking at Kyle’s ass* Boy this is the life huh.

Truth and Advertising:

- Stan and Kyle fist fighting for real, and Tweek and Craig looking at them concerned since they rarely ever fight like this.

Conjoined Fetus Lady:

- Stan preparing to catch Kyle if ever he fails to catch the dodgeball.

Stanley’s Cup:

- THEIR YOUNGER SELVES PLAYING HOCKEY!

ManBearPig:

- Stan’s head on Kyle’s lap. It’s so beautifully rendered.

Board Girls:

- “Wow, you are really into board games.”

A Scause for Applause:

- Kyle confronts Stan about cutting the bracelet by saying Heidi Turner saw him with super glue.

The Death Camp of Tolerance:

- “KYLE! KYLE! YOU HAVE TO KEEP MAKING YOUR MACARONI PICTURES!!”

South Park Bigger, Longer and Uncut:

- Stan getting jealous that even Kyle is amazed at Gregory.

Cartman Join NAMBLA:

- Stan and Kyle putting their face against the glass.

Mr. Hankey’s Christmas Classics:

- Stan and Kyle making fun of Shelly behind her back.

Raisins:

- Kyle coming to visit Stan with the gang after the whole breakup.

- Kyle wanting Stan to be happy again by bringing him to Raisins.

- Kyle being annoyed over Stan being distraught over Wendy. Jealous?

Mr. Jefferson:

- When Stan hears a knock on his window, he assumes it’s Kyle.

- Stan and Kyle being good caretakers of Blanket.

- Stan and Kyle sleeping with Blanket.

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