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saffron-nova21 · 3 years

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Hospitals—

Jokes on You! Masterlist

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Warnings: Mentions of violence, the boys giving us exceedingly high expectations

As you had said, you were ready in twenty minutes, waiting for your dorky best friend. Your friends were amazing and you couldn’t ask for better ones. But Lev... He had been looking after you, since high school. You’d both been first years together. You’d both gone to college together.

And now, you were here, and he was still looking out for you. As he knocks on the door, you bid your goodbyes to Akaashi and Bokuto before stepping out with him and grinning at your patronizing, silver-haired asshole of a best friend, who grins back down at you.

“You’re going to see your little boyfriend dressed like that?” He teases you, “No no no. Let your very own model dress you.” After dragging you back to your room, he removes your comfier attire from you and gives you something more fitting to your style and the occasion. Plus, he bags up some PJs for you since you’re staying the night.

After that, he pulls you along to the market, getting the male some chocolate ice cream and snacks. You also got him some real food to eat, knowing how awful hospital food was.

He doesn’t leave until your right outside of Tendō’s room, knowing it’s going to take you a minute. Sure you FaceTimed, texted, and subtweeted one another until your thumbs were sore, but somehow, this almost felt scary. Meeting him in person, you felt, would make your feelings so much more real. And feelings were scary. Especially after all you went through with Shane. But Tendō was different. He was a good person.

Taking a deep breath, you open the door and look at Tendō. “Just a concussion and broken hand my ass.” You huff. He had a black eye and a busted lip.

Walking over, you narrow your eyes in a glare. “You are such a dumbass. Why would you get in a fight with him? I know he might not have done that much, but fuck me, sue me for being worried about you, but you’re hurt because of me and it irritates me so much that you’re sitting here in the hospital. What if he’d had a friend with him and they’d joined it? Where would you be? Possibly in a worse state or in surgery — Why the fuck are you smiling like that?”

“Because you wanna kiss me so bad right now, it makes you look stupid.” The way he grins at you has your heart melting.

“Oh, shut up.” You glance him over, before crawling into the hospital bed with him, “Move over,” you huff, to which he does, though he looks at you near incredulously. Though, you just sit next to him, looking down at him with soft eyes.

What were you doing — Oh... Oh... He feels fingers gently running through his hair, jerking back a bit at first to watch you closely. You halt your movement and tilt your head at him, a soft smile gracing your lips. It takes a moment, but soon, he’s leaning into your touch.

His eyes fall shut as he feels you affectionately run your fingers through his hair. He sighs in content, trying to keep the tears from forming, but he can already feel the pinch in his nose that signals the need to cry.

He opens them again when you move your hand to his cheek, your thumb gently stroking his jawline. He doesn’t realize that he’s shifted to sit up beside you, until he’s looking directly into your eyes, trying to stop the tears. Though he knows by your saddening look that you can see his watery eyes.

“Kind of pathetic aren’t I?” The quietest sniffle escapes him as he tries to play off a chuckle. Though, the tears that roll down his pale skin bely his words.

“No,” you whisper, bringing your other hand up as well, to cradle his face. “But I’m going to make sure you never have to go so long without physical human contact again.”

His head drops to your shoulder and slender fingers come to cling to your shirt, not wanting to let go as he relishes in your soft touch. “Thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you,” he whispers the words like a soft chant as he tries to contain the sobs that he wants to emit.

But who could blame him? For someone who craved affection like he did (though it was a well kept secret), he had spent his whole life waiting for someone like you to come along, to not think he was a monster, or that he was strange, or that he was too sadistic to be around. He just couldn’t let you go.

Tendō didn’t throw the first punch. But he made sure to throw the last one, that was for sure.

Tendō already can’t resist your affection. He got his first taste of it. Now, he’s definitely not going to be able to resist whenever you mention a cuddle puddle.

You don’t know what it is about Tendō that tipped you off that he was severely touch starved, but whatever it was, you were glad you could do this for him.

Please don’t come after me if this isn’t how you see him. Yes, I know he has friends and jokes around a lot, but I feel like if someone was truly affectionate and sweet with him, the poor baby would melt 🥺 I hope you’re all enjoying, though! 💕

You guys better be getting something to eat, drinking some water, and taking care of yourselves mentally and physically! But remember, no matter what, I’m proud of you and I love you! 🤍 You’re doing wonderfully!

Taglist: (Bold couldn’t be tagged, but I’ll keep trying!)

@kookie-doughs @missalienqueen @kodzuklutz @halesandy @pelicanpizza @pandauniverse @sevenlol @mixed-bag-of-tricks @satoriluver @uniquepickle @geloikawa @babyshoyo @ilauvcoldpizza @ghoulgirlradio @maer-333 @tobi--o @ermahgerd-larry-and-ziam @ashtounding

#haikyuu smau #haikyuu x reader #haikyuu!!#haikyu x reader #tendō smau #tendō satori x reader #tendō satori smau #tendō x reader #tendō satori

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harvestdew · 3 years

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Hi! could you talk more about Kiki's friendship with Haley, and Cleo's friendship with Linus? They seem to have a cool dynamic :D

OMG of course i actually have a whole post here but i love haley so i will ALWAYS elaborate on anything about her ^_^ i’m sorry if this isn’t long i’m on my last week of school + finals

haley + kiki dynamic

i’ve already said this before but haley is one of my favorites because i enjoy her development. i think that mean girl with issues turned best friend is one of my favorite tropes and works with haley really well, and kiki works really well in terms of breaking the tough girl exterior because she’s WAY nicer than cleo (probably why haley takes longer to get around to liking cleo even though they’re dating)

haley didn’t get around to liking kiki that fast - i mentioned this in another post but kiki stayed in pelican town around middle school - freshman year, but she couldn’t have been that close to haley because i think haley gives me 19-20 year old vibes and kiki is 23. if she was a 13 year old in middle school, haley would be 9-10 and they wouldn’t be in the same grade. given i’ve finally nailed down their ages after writing that post i wouldn’t have kiki crush on haley to overcompensate for ME wanting to marry her, i have cleo who is haley’s age

SO why does haley come around to liking kiki? when kiki first moves back to pelican town, haley is kinda nosey and tries to figure out why someone would move away from the city without showing much interest. she’s also distrustful being haley, so it doesn’t really seem like it’s going anywhere. kiki also doesn’t get haley’s deal until emily (who she befriends faster) tells her it’s not haley’s fault she’s insecure, so she starts to feel bad for haley. but i feel like haley isn’t really won over by a lot of gifts even though kiki probably gifted her daffodils or expensive clothing she doesn’t want anymore. the only actual tipping point is when (in my funny little universe) kiki found haley crying over ALEX (no shade to him, but he does avoid haley and tells you not to tell her where he is) and talked to her about how she feels like everyone thinks she’s shallow. the whole convo ends with haley figuring “oh she’s not that bad,” warming up to her, and them becoming best friends

i also like to think kiki is just as overprotective of haley as she is over her but just not overtly. she has a pretty bad impression of alex for a number of reasons, but 1 of the biggest contenders is the haley thing. she gets defensive or mad when sebastian, abigail, sam, EVEN SHANE points out incorrect stuff about haley because it’s annoying when people make assumptions about haley

kiki does try really hard to bridge the gap between sebastian and haley, but their differences seem so disparate that it feels like she’s trying to make a bird and a cat friends. it doesn’t stop her from trying to and they both hate it like it’s the worst experience in their lives until they learn to tolerate each other

haley seems like a good cook, so she bakes with kiki frequently to spend quality time together. sometimes kiki also hangs out with haley by the river so she can forage/fish (before cleo comes to take over fishing) while haley takes pictures. when she unlocks the movies, she also takes haley a lot. i’m 100% sure that kiki hangs out with haley the most out of ALL of the villagers including sebastian because haley is less of a homebody

haley gave up on figuring out what kiki’s beef was w/ joja and zuzu city until she accidentally finds out. haley convinced her to go shopping in a district in zuzu city without knowing kiki is technically a missing person, and kiki only went because haley really wants to. like she figured, okay i dress differently and my hair is dyed, it’s fine. also, it’s some random shopping district where rich people wouldn’t go. they hit a department store anyway until kiki, being paranoid, freaked out because she thought she saw her mom and hid in a bathroom. but haley, feeling bad for her, bought kiki a hat and sunglasses to cover her so they could go back home, then figured out what happened afterwards

tl;dr: haley for best friend of the year. she is what she is and eric barone should let me rewrite her

linus + cleo dynamic

this one seems weird (?) probably as weird as kiki and shane being friends. cleo being 19 and linus being an old man seems like they’re on opposite sides of the spectrum and she’d probably hate him. in actuality linus is 1 of the first people she befriends. she gifts him the fastest, and rather than willy teaching her, linus helps her get better at fishing

cleo frequents fishing at the mountain lake more because it’s less boring. linus stands by the river at certain times of the day and she fishes according to that schedule so they can chat or she can drop food off at his tent

also if it wasn’t obvious, cleo’s 100 times harder to befriend than kiki. she’s rude asf and has an issue with being blunt, plus she thinks everyone around her only gives a fuck abt themselves. but if you’ve played the game you can tell linus is a nice old man, minds his business, etc., right off the bat. it’s his down-to-earth attitude and non-judgmental advice that makes him the least annoying and she takes his wise advice SUPER seriously. so instead of hating linus, he’s a positive grandpa/dad figure in her life

and whenever haley + cleo get married (FAR future they’re both 19 and 20), she is probably not going to invite her dumb as balls dad to walk her down the aisle, it’s 100% going to be linus. he’s probably the only old person in the valley besides evelyn that she thinks wouldn’t be awful about her being a lesbian

also, cleo is not out to her family, prior friends, or really anyone before stardew valley. she doesn’t trust her parents, actually dates a former male bandmate to stop speculation, and thinks it’ll be negatively publicized if she does. cleo might exude sapphic energy, but she doesn’t say anything about her sexuality when she runs away either. it’s not that she feels particularly unsafe with kiki or even sam (her best friend) knowing it either, but she just feels like she’s better off never saying anything. linus, oddly enough, is the person who talks cleo through dealing with this

and b/c linus gives me super “got his shit together” and calm energy, which levels out cleo’s impulsivity and anger streaks. it’s probably not a good idea to bring this up to abigail and sam because they’d hype her up more and she’s just go ballistic. so if alex pisses her off, linus gets her to cool down. she could be annoyed because pierre side-eyed her and linus would say 5 words to make her stop fuming

i also really like the headcanon that linus used to be like? a huge business CEO whatever and gave it up to live in the nature. cleo would hear that and be like are you fr? that’s so cool. i too hate capitalism

what’s even weirder is linus definitelyyyy goes to cleo’s band performances as moral support. no one knows why this old man is hanging out at a venue with young adults, but cleo says it is what it is and it’s no one’s business

anyway that’s it for now! this was a fun exercise/break for me, thank you sm for asking!!! i always have fun doing these

#answered

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awastelandheart · 4 years

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Sebastian’s personality analyzed through his theory-crafted natal chart: The perspective of a professional astrologer.

PART ONE: SUN SIGN.

i apologize in advance to any capricorns i unintentionally read to filth in this post.

i think out of all the bachelors & bachelorettes, Sebastian has the oddest, most abrasive post-marriage dialogue. i’ve heard plenty of people over the years complain about how awkward being married to him is & i, myself, tend to not marry him when i play since locking him in pelican town like that when he so clearly wants to leave feels bad. even before marriage as well, he has a lot of almost cringey & certainly concerning dialogue. Sebastian’s not a man that’s made for marriage or long term relationships i think, at least not in his early to mid 20s which is how old i believe he is in canon. unlike the rest of the bachelors & bachelorettes, his character arc & development don’t do much for melding him into someone worth being with. even Shane who is troubled in a much more obvious way than Sebastian has more moments of reflection that convince the player that he’s a good person despite his flaws. Sebastian may seem to be gentle in his internal struggle, it’s easy to believe that, at most, he’s rude & depressed, but i think there’s a lot more to unpack here that suggests he’s violent, angry to an awful degree, & possibly the worst marriage candidate, if not just the worst townie out of the whole cast.

to start off with, i believe Sebastian’s sun sign is Capricorn. my reasoning for this is a blend between a post on reddit i found that used a simple algorithm to convert the in game dates to real dates. taking into account the slightly flawed method that gives each date 2-3 days worth of wiggle room, “ january 17th ” implies he’s on the Capricorn side of january. to be honest, when i was first thinking about what sun sign i wanted Sebastian to have, i was leaning towards Aquarius since he has several lines about escaping the town & wanting his freedom ( both being very Aquarius-like qualities ), however i think the case for Capricorn is much easier to make. to start off, i’ll give a run down of the most defining Capricorn characteristics, then i’ll move onto showing in-game examples of how Sebastian demonstrates these traits ( while leaving room for his other natal positions that i’ll extrapolate on in more posts to come ).

Capricorn is an earth sign, reveling in stability with a handful of almost toxic traits to display if that stability isn’t achieved. ruled by saturn, or kronos if you wanna get greek, Capricorns are at a constant war with themselves between the general human experience & cutting out as much superfluous expression & feeling as possible. the story of kronos is very reflective of the Capricorn struggle: it’s the tale of a man ( god, but that’s not important ) whose wife is predicted to bear a child who will surpass him & take his legacy. kronos, in his anxiety to prevent this change, begins eating each of his wife’s children as they’re born until one day, his wife replaces one of the newborns with a rock so that it will survive kronos’ consumption. of course this leads to the child growing up & indeed surpassing kronos just as the prophecy foretold. the lesson to be learned from kronos is one of restriction & the inevitability of time.

between their earthly reliability & love of practicality, Capricorns are viewed as the traditional fathers of the zodiac sphere. they guard their values of yesteryear close to their chest. anything too different is cast far away from themselves or, rather, consumed until all traces are disposed of. thankfully not as stubborn as poor Taurus ( another earth sign ), Capricorns have a touch of adaptability in all their logic. their modality is cardinal, implying they take charge of situations. they are the leaders next to Cancer, Libra, & Aries: any good leader knows when to give up their morals for the betterment of their charge. to boot, Capricorn is represented by the mythological creature, the sea-goat ( a creature created by dear old kronos, himself, consisting of the torso of a goat & the tail of a fish ); the goat half delivering on that steady earthly nature of an unrelenting climb to the top of a mountain called life, yet the inclusion of the ocean in this aesthetic implying an amount of emotion only water signs can relate to.

in the typical male-dominated, fatherly way, however, emotional expression does not exist for Capricorns, resulting in this implied depth to lurk well below a Capriorn’s surface. they are deeply independent in a way that leads to intense loneliness. they must do everything for themselves, another thing lovely kronos has taught us here. why look for a different solution to this problem when i so clearly have found one for myself, the ruler of saturn proclaims. a Capricorn’s independence is almost panic charged in this way. they so dearly want to be seen as capable that they will shred their own livelihood as a price. they are masters at self control for it, each having taught themselves the art of stoicism from a young age. Capricorns are at best, friendly in a superficial way. knowing their loneliness is created by their own hands but never knowing how to move passed their own cold & distant heart to enact any change necessary to improve their relationships.

something that is often associated with Capricorns & the other earth signs is the act of earning money. while Taurus enjoys earning money to support their lavish, venus-ruled lifestyle & Virgo sees money as something to worry over thus resulting in them hoarding it, Capricorns crave for their income to be stable & plentiful in order to provide for their loved ones, or for the more lonely Capricorns, to provide for themselves.

saturn is the first planet to take a substantial amount of time to complete its cycle through all the signs. compared to earth, which takes one year to complete its solar rotation & jupiter which takes 12, saturn takes upwards of 30 years. we astrologers take that as symbolical for how Capricorns get significantly better with age, as well as their “ slow & steady wins the race ” attitude. Capricorn is a sign of wisdom but only at the hand of experience. young Capricorns frequently find themselves discontented with their environment & lifestyle, craving a stability that cannot exist without first having established themselves in the world. every seven years it’s said, a Capricorn reaches a new level of understanding & maturity, as it is about every seven years that saturn completes 1/4th of its solar cycle.

Capricorns, like Scorpios, love their privacy. regarded as one of the more shady signs of the zodiac, a Capricorn is the type of person to have everyone believing they know everything there is to know about them while simultaneously only ever revealing surface level knowledge about themselves. Capricorns love having friends & spending time with their loved ones, however they lack a sense of trust that would allow them to form deeper connections. while a Capricorn does experience their emotions as thoroughly as the rest of the zodiac, they have an equally intense insecurity about expressing them. a Capricorn lives their life wanting to be depended on or at least wanting to provide for those that do depend on them. emotions are seen as a weakness that cannot be spared.

with the basic personality of a Capricorn outlined, i’ll now go through some choice quotes that demonstrate these traits & then talk about a few parts of his heart events that do the same.

“ if i just disappeared would it really matter ? ” “ i was thinking... people are like stones skipping over the water. Eventually we're going to sink. ” “ what am I going to do today ? probably nothing.”

when the player first meets Sebastian, he is overtly depressed & never goes out of his way to hide it. there is a solemn dark cloud filled with rain, ready to burst constantly following him & it’s difficult to ignore. this seriousness is very characteristic of many signs, Capricorn being one of them as it is ruled by Saturn, an outer planet with a very melancholic tone.

“ hey, don't let me stop you from getting your work done. if you aren't busy i don't mind if you stick around. ”

this quote demonstrates the productive mindset of a Capricorn. compared to all the other bachelors, Sebastian is the only one to ever really consider the player’s work schedule.

“ i was so close to screaming at mom for throwing away my old comic collection ... but something stopped me. hmm ... with age comes wisdom. ” “ the older i get, the less i'm drawn to the city. ” “ sometimes i feel so angry ... but when you show up i always start to calm down. maybe i'll mellow out with age. ”

while these quotes are also depicting other personality traits, for now i want to emphasize Sebastian’s constant referencing to the passage of time. time is always on a Capricorn’s mind, even the less self aware ones always feel the effects of its passage harsher than other signs. after dating & at points in marriage, which is when these quotes are from, Sebastian begins to view time as something more positive & optimistic. he recognizes that he has anger issues, at the very least, & hopes they’ll get better as time goes on. it’s quite the feat to make a Capricorn see growing older as something positive instead of something anxiety inducing, so from this alone we can really tell that Sebastian is absolutely in love with the player, without a doubt.

“ i couldn't sleep last night so I went for a night ride on the motorcycle. i need to stay independent, even though we're married. that's just how i am. i still love you, though. ” “ hey ... want some coffee ? i needed some ... woke up early from a nightmare & i just couldn't fall back asleep. ” “ hey. i couldn't sleep last night so i took a walk to the caves. ” “ i'm going to take a walk today. i need some time to myself. i'll see you in the evening. ”

Capricorns tend to be almost predisposed to sleep issues due to their immense amount of anxiety that comes with the disconnect between productivity & incapability, or craving emotional connection & viewing emotions as unnecessary. Capricorns are also fiercely independent, so independent that it’s no surprise Sebastian’s the kind of person to sneak out of bed & go off alone when feeling anxious instead of waking his partner up for comfort.

“ i don't want to get soft now that i'm a married guy. maybe i should start eating more hot pepper & working out ? just an idea ... ”

while i’d also be willing to chalk this expression up to Sebastian being anxious about not passing as masc, i’m also willing to attribute this to a Capricorn being afraid of time passing & “ missing out ” on life. growing soft can be a fear of a sign so dedicated to seeming tough & dependable.

“ i don't really feel like doing work today. maybe i'll see what's on tv. ” “ i did some work on the laptop today. ” “ i'm debating whether i should work or just read comics all day. ” “ you know, i should be doing something productive right now. i just lose focus too fast ... maybe i should drink more coffee ? ”

Sebastian references his work so frequently, in typical Capricorn fashion because the urge to justify one’s pleasures by mentioning the fact that they’re also being productive is something ever-present. they are a very guilty breed; on top of their other burdens, they feel especially bad for moments of relaxation or times when they should be doing something, but cannot bring themselves to.

“ you’re probably making a lot of money on your farm, huh ? i guess i should get a job soon … ” “ we should raise more slimes. in big quantities they can be really profitable. ” “ i did some work on the laptop today. i was actually brainstorming some ideas for a game i want to make. with your farming income, i can afford to do what i want with my life. it’s pretty amazing. thank you. ” “ hey. look at me. never forget that i love you ... you’re everything to me. now go make us some money. ” “ are we doing okay on money ? i don’t want to have to sell my laptop ... ” “ *sigh* ... if gas wasn’t so expensive i’d ride my motorcycle to the city today. so what do you do when you aren’t working ? ”

Sebastian talks SO much about money & to me, it’s really hard to imagine concernedape didn’t intentionally make him a Capricorn with this much dialogue about income when no other bachelor or bachelorette has any mention of the topic ( except for harvey who mentions he’s afraid he’s not bringing in enough money from the lack of people in town ). the biggest one that jumps out at me to really signal a significant change in his personality after marriage is when he mentions having the freedom that comes with a steady income, a freedom that now allows him to do what he really wants which is, apparently, to make a video game. another one that jumps out at me here is his immediate association with feeling like he should get a job after assuming the player is making a lot of money. since income is such an important subject for Capricorns, it’s easy to imagine Sebastian feels inferior in comparison to the player since he’s “ just ” a freelancer.

“ i often felt unappreciated at home ... but here i feel like i really belong. ”

this quote kind of hits Capricorn’s need to be appreciated & useful directly on the head & is a good transition for me to talk about the fact that Sebastian never progressed very far in his career while living at home with his family because he felt unappreciated. compared to how he almost immediately has a dialogue line after marriage where he tells the player he’s been inspired to make a video game, it’s easy to see the almost instant maturity Sebastian obtained just from moving out; something he had assumed was in the far off future, implied by his heart scenes.

now let’s break down Sebastian’s heart events.

his first heart even opens with him busy working, already a very Capricorn setting honestly, as i’ve said a few times now since Capricorns are prone to productivity. Robin enters after a moment & informs Sebastian that Abigail is looking for him, to which Sebastian responds to ask if his mother had informed Abigail that he’s working. Robin says that while she had, Abigail still intends on visiting Sebastian at some point today. Sebastian’s next piece of dialogue is very important.

“ *sigh* no one takes my job seriously. ”

this is an incredibly Capricorn thing to say, both because Capricorns always feel the need to be taken seriously & also due to their signature insecurity about income.

the scene continues so that the player can ask Sebastian what his career goals are. he explicitly says: “ well, i’m trying to save up so i can move out of here. probably to the city or something, ” which by itself is obviously very Capricorn, both nailing their need for income, their constant validation that they deserve what they want, & their desire for independence, however his dialogue continues for another textbox that contains the most Capricorn lines i’ve ever heard.

“ you know, if i went to college i’d probably be making six figures right now … ”

Sebastian is so very & obviously obsessed with money, it’s crazy to think he’s any other sign but Capricorn. this portion of the heart scene ends with him saying,

“ but i just don’t want to be a part of that corporate rat race, you know ? ”

this dialogue i’m willing to attribute to another one of his signs at a later date in another post, but in my experience, i’ve known several Capricorn suns that feel the same: that while they strive for a stable income, they hate participating in capitalistic culture.

this first heart scene ends with Sebastian dismissing the player, saying he “ has to get this module finished by tomorrow, ” indicating he has a very set schedule when it comes to his work. organization being yet another characteristic trait of Capricorn.

Sebastian’s second heart scene opens with the player catching him working on his bike. after a moment of introspection, Sebastian starts talking, again, about how when he saves enough money, he’s going to get out of the valley, just him & his bike. this scene doesn’t have anything specifically Capricorn about it & i plan on revisiting it when i talk about his other placements.

likewise, Sebastian’s third & fourth heart scenes don’t have anything outrageously Capricorn in them -- in fact neither scene tells us very much about Sebastian in particular aside from pointing out that he likes tabletop games ( which obviously isn’t exclusively Capricorn by any means, but i’ve known so, so many Capricorn suns that have been hardcore into dnd over the years ... ) & has social anxiety. i’ll most likely dip into his fourth heart scene a little more when i talk about his other placements, though.

Sebastian’s fifth ( & final before marriage ) heart scene is, of course, important, & probably the most memorable for anyone who’s played Sebastian’s route, but it honestly doesn’t tell us much about his core personality. what it does tell us is how he acts & feels when he’s in love, so i’ll definitely come back to this scene when i talk about his venus position.

& that’s on his heart scenes !

so, in summary, i believe Sebastian has a Capricorn sun because he shares many qualities with how astrologers perceive the position. of course this is all just my personal interpretation, but i hope this was an interesting read & shed some light on the kind of person Sebastian is !

#stardew valley rp #stardew valley #stardew valley meta #stardew valley headcanon #stardew rp #i seriously apologize to any capricorns i called out with this #i want u all to know i have a 4 position capricorn stellium so #by writing this i also called myself out #🐸 did i even make a sound? it’s like i never made a sound ― about.#ok to reblog!!

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gasstationshane · 4 years

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Tales From The DishWasher, Part 1

In a small town, on the north end of main street, on the same side as the dollar store and local ice cream shop, there's a restaurant that is one of the more popular dine in places in town. On the front side, there's a large sign made out of an maroon awning that shades the outdoor tables and chairs for those that want to eat outside or smoke.

On the back side, there's a sign painted on a metal maroon wall with the restaurants name. There's also a lable on the side of the walls that tell you if the doors are for the kitchen or the entrance. If you were to walk in from the back entrance you might wanna make sure your not walking in through the kitchen door. We've had an array of customers that walked in and ended up with a bag of trash falling onto them. One guy even tried suing us because salsa got on his brand new white jeans. Look, even if he didn't see the sign, the door is obviously a kitchen door.

Now if you walked into the actual back entrance, you'd see a small array of arcade machines that were more then likely made in the 90's. The audio from the games faded from years of dust and play time.There's also a small stand of gumball and candy machines, one of the ones where you can get a temporary tattoo for 50 cents each.

A few footsteps and a turn to the right, you'd see the vast open area. Booths to the immediate right and left, a bar on the slightly farther left, tables all scattered around with more booths on the right and left against the walls.

The kitchen area, which would be left at the arcade machines, has a few different sections. The left of where you walk in is the front line cooks area, a grill, friar and a freezer along the front and back as well as countertops with storage cabinets for lettuce, tomatoes, cheese, and other toppings or side foods.

On the right of the entrance is the dishwashers station. A shelf and carts for the servers to sit the dirty dishes on, and a big sink with a sprayer and a few different soap options on the wall. There's of course, the washing machine that's usually used just for sanitation purposes.

Behind the dishwasher station is the shelves where the majority of the dishes that aren't plates or bowls are kept. Most of the kitchen employees keep their stuff there so it's out of the way. And finally, behind the front line cooks, are the back line cooks area as well as the walk in cooler and freezer.

In the dishwasher area is where I work. I spend most of my shifts there and only leaving to put away dishes or use the bathroom or even get a drink. Not everything's normal here though, most of the eventful things happening at night when it's just me and whoever is the main cook that night, and the closing bartender.

We've dealt with a pack of stray dogs that live in the old car wash station across from the dumpster. Their friendly though thankfully, begging me for pets and belly rubs after every shift as well as treats. All of them are a mixed breed between a husky and a wolf. I've taken the liberty of naming them all.

There's Yogi, the big grey and brown male who got his name from how much he looks like a bear. Luna, a blue-ish grey and white one, who got her name from the moon shaped crescent spot on her back. Waffle, a all black one with blue eyes, who got his name by sniffing out the waffle's in my bag one day. Then there's Crash, who's red orange-ish fur makes him look similar to the famous video game character.

There's a few pups too that I haven't named yet because I haven't had time to witness their personalities. Luna, the assumed to be mother of the pups, keeps them in the old storage room of the car wash. I've re done the storage room a bit to give them a bed and a few other things to help her take care of them.

I'm thankful that no animal control or pound people have taken them yet. If they tried, I wouldn't hesitate to take them home to keep them safe. The only reason I'm not taking them home now is because they are used to this place and I don't wanna make them uncomfortable. But believe me, the moment I feel like they are danger whether it be animal control, or them needing a vet visit, they'd be in my custody in no time.

And then there's the mysterious bar truck driver, a trucker who is always at the bar, no matter how early we open. The only time he's not there is when we're closed. He's always wearing a hat, flannel, and some form of camo. He drinks so many combinations of alcohol during his visits, it's a miracle he never passes out or hadn't died of alcohol poisoning. He knows all the words to all the songs on the digital bluetooth jukebox. If you ask him, he'll stop drinking long enough to sing a long to a full song of your choice if you buy him a drink.

And then there's the mysterious puddle of water surrounding the water softener and the pump. The puddle almost always fills the area where the tile is broken. No matter what we do, the puddle never goes away, and is a murky grey color. Sometimes it won't be as much water, but we could be closed for a week and the puddle will still be there. It doesn't help that some water that sprays off from the sink or gets spilled can add to the puddle.

I guess what I'm saying is, weird things happen at the patio restaurant in town. Mostly at night. Weird stuff has been happening even before I started working there. I remember a week before my first shift, there was an incident where all the liquors and vodkas to make mixed drinks were stolen, broken, or empty, as well as ate a whole gallon of ice cream. The whole situation could have easily been blamed on one of the bartenders or other employees at the time, but they were closed that day.

T-Dog, the main front line cook that I close with most of the time, thinks that the bar trucker pick pocketed the key and the security alarm code when we closed early one night. That would make sense, since they closed early the night before and he could've needed to make up for a days loss worth of drinks.

If you ask him, T-Dog always has a somewhat reasonable explanation to any weird thing that happens there. "That puddle isn't mysterious.." He told me after I had accidentally stepped in it again and almost fell over.

"The water softener is leaking, but since we run water so much with the sinks, washers, and bathrooms, the leak doesn't have a big impact. You think the owners would fix this shit, but since it's not causing any problems, they ain't touching it just to save them some fucking money." I always made an effort to hear out his explanations. They may or may not be true but it's way better than my theory about the bar trucker peeing on the broken tile. But my theory would explain the weird smell that happens over there, no matter how much we clean over there.

T-Dog isn't the only cook I close with. Some nights it's Danny, or Jack. Jack tends to ignore the weird things happening here. But he's also the cook that doesn't make me do everything I need to do before giving me the okay to leave.

And I know he doesn't do it because Tobias, Toby for short, is the opening cook in the mornings has told me multiple times whenever something doesn't get done. I see Toby once a week when I actually work a morning shift. He's one of the not so serious cooks, and jokes around every now and then. There was one time where acted like he was gonna knock over my drink.

What's kinda funny, about Toby being the not so serious guy around here, he doesn't believe any of the weird things that I've told him about. He thinks it's rumours to get more customers in.

"Shane, that bar trucker is only here for entertainment purposes. We don't have a stage so he just sits and takes his drinks at night to keep the drunks entertained." He explained. Well.. There was one night that Toby closed for the first time. He learned the hard way that the weird things really do happen here that night.

It was around ten thirty, and we were working on finishing our stuff up for the night when we heard a loud crash come from the cooler. "The fuck was that?" He asked. I shrugged.

"Maybe Alex is still cleaning his stuff up." I replied. He shook his head.

"No.. I saw Alex leave almost an hour ago. There's something back there." I finished taking care of the next load of dishes that needed to go in the washer, before following Toby to the walk in cooler. He was carrying a broom to defend us incase there was something that could attack us or scare it away.

We opened the door slowly to see, not one, not two, but three possums in the cooler. They were snacking on our most recent batch of precooked fish sticks. They looked up at us like a kid who had just got caught sneaking out. Toby went to swing the broom to get the mammals out of there, but as he did one of then jumped on the shelves, knocking down the large ice paddle.

It smacked into Toby and made him fall back. When he landed, the force of the fall against one of the shelves, causing a case of beer to fall onto him. Glass shattered, making him covered in glass shards, beer, and blood. Most of them in his legs and chest.

"Gah!" He cried out as he went to pulling some of the glass pieces. I rushed to the shelf where we keep the first aid kit, handing it to him but he smacked at out of my hands.

"Call an ambulance Shane! A first aid kit ain't gonna fix this shit." He yelled with a look of frustration on his face. I sighed and went to the area where the phone was and dialed the number for the station. When I had explained the situation, the man on the other end sounded genuinely confused.

"You said a Possum snuck into your walk in cooler, and made a ice paddle fall onto your co worker, which caused a case of beer to break onto him??" She asked to confirm what I said.

"Umm yeah that's what happened."

"But how would a Possum get into the cooler?" Possums usually never bothered with the busier end of town."

"I have no idea, but that's what happened!" She let out a sigh.

"And which restaurant in town was this again?" Now it was my turn to sigh.

"Darbie's Patio on Main Street..."

"Ooh that place!" She said, realizing who she was dealing with.

"Please hold." She said. I assumed she forwarded the call to the department that takes care of our cases. As much weird shit that happens here, the department has given us a specific branch and a officer to take care of us.

"Hello, this officer Mark here. Who is this?" He asked in his professional cop voice. Mark was the officer assigned to us, being close friends with the owners. Him and the owners have probably seen more weird shit than I have my whole life.

"Hey Mark, it's Shane Redfield from Darbies Patio. There was an accident with a few possums in the cooler, and now Toby is covered in glass shards." I briefly explained.

"Hang tight, I'll be there with an ambulance in five minutes or less. If there's any big chucks of glass in him, do not let him take it out. If he bleeds out before he can get to the hospital, that's bad news." I thanked him, hung up the phone and stayed with Toby while we waited. The bartender brought us both a drink. He took a long sip before looking back at me.

"Hey Shane?"

"Yeah?"

"..Does weird shit like this happen all the time...?"

To be... Continued

#tales from the dishwasher #tftgs fan blog #dishwasher shane #darbies patio #shane redfield #shane from darbies

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closetofanxiety · 5 years

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50 Wrestling Questions: Why Not

Remember this? It’s been a while. Let’s do this again. Let’s twist again like we did last summer. Or the summer of 2017 in this case.

1. What got you into wrestling?

People ask me this all the time, and I don’t really have a good answer. I’ve liked it on and off since I was very young, and who knows why you like the stuff you like when you’re a little kid?

2. What is your favorite wrestling promotion?

Of all time: ECW, even though I would probably think of it very differently if it were happening today. Currently: Beyond Wrestling.

3. Favorite male wrestler of all time?

Gorgeous George, but if we’re talking about people who were alive when I was alive, Dusty Rhodes. I want to say Bruiser Brody, but in my heart I would know I was just saying that to look cool.

4. Favorite female wrestler of all time?

Gail Kim. For the longest time, she was the only woman in a major global wrestling company who got over based on her wrestling ability. She was doing stuff in TNA that was years ahead of its time, and could adapt her style to get great matches with a variety of opponents with very different backgrounds. And she can still go, as she showed in the match against Tessa Blanchard the other night. I know it would be cooler to say Bull Nakano or Chigusa Nagayo or something, but I don’t know enough of their stuff to make that claim credible. I am who I am, a person who goes to the mall to buy shoes.

5. Favorite current male wrestler?

Nick Gage

6. Favorite current female wrestler?

Momo Watanabe

7. Favorite theme song?

Joey Janela’s music captures his vibe perfectly, and sounds great being blasted out of PA speakers inside a small bar or VFW hall. Of all time, probably, I don’t know, Honky Tonk Man? In an ironic way that slowly becomes sincere?

8. Least favorite theme song?

Ricochet’s WWE theme music is pretty dreadful.

9. Favorite gimmick?

Currently: Orange Cassidy. All time: Road Warriors maybe? They were almost 100 percent gimmick, and they were the biggest tag team in the world at a great time for tag team wrestling.

10. Least favorite gimmick?

All the racist and gay-hating gimmicks that have been used throughout the years are more or less equally horrible. If we’re talking about a terrible gimmick that was non-malignant, I’d say it was taking giant indestructible ass-kicker Mike Awesome and making him “That 70s Guy.”

11. Best entrance (either their usual entrance or a special one, like a Wrestlemania entrance)?

Gorgeous George had the best entrance of all time, and it’s been copied ever since (Ric Flair’s entrance is basically Gorgeous George’s, scored with a different piece of classical music). The Sandman also had a great entrance. He was kind of all-entrance, now that I think of it. I also love those old shows in Japan where Brody would come out to “Immigrant Song” running through the crowd, swinging a fucking chain over his head like a lunatic. An entrance that makes you fear for your life: mission accomplished.

12. Best Undertaker Wrestlemania match?

I am not the right person to ask for Undertaker superlatives, but the Lesnar match had a legitimately shocking conclusion that I still appreciate

13. Most overrated?

I’m tempted to incur the wrath of the online by making a contrarian hot take selection like Ken Omega, but in reality it’s probably the Undertaker.

14. Most underrated?

There are a million choices from before the 1980s, the Before Time of contemporary pro wrestling. Edouard Carpentier, say; he was having matches in 1970 that would not look out of place in 2019. Since the 1980s, I’d say Jerry Lynn is a very strong contender for most underrated. The popular choice would be Sid or Lex Luger, but I think they’re pretty much rated exactly as they should be.

15. Have you ever been to an event? If so, which one?

I certainly have been to many pro wrestling events. I go to one or two a month. Like a lot of things, wrestling is pretty much always fun in person. It helps that the Northeast has a ton of good companies within easy driving distance. My favorite show of all time might be Americanrana 2016.

16. Who has the best merch?

We’re in a weird period where people on Instagram are making better shirt designs (in insanely limited editions) than the vast majority of wrestlers or wrestling companies. I will say that Kris Wolf has yet to make an ugly or boring piece of merchandise, which is a huge complication in this day and age.

17. Do you own any merch?

Nope! Wait, I mean, “yes, entirely too much.” Shirts, 8 x 10s, DVDs, magazines, random pieces like fancy enamel badges and a stack of Okada bucks. The one thing I’ve never gotten into is action figures, and that’s probably good for the ol’ bank balance.

18. Best nickname?

"The American Dream” Dusty Rhodes is an all-time classic.

19. Worst nickname?

"The Game” is a dumb nickname. “The Cerebral Assassin” is also a dumb nickname. Are assassins supposed to be stupid? I bet they’re typically very smart, although of low moral character. “Triple H” is his only good nickname, and even that sounds like the nickname of a guy who owns a car dealership out by the highway.

20. Best mic skills?

Nobody was ever better than Bobby Heenan, who had incredible range and versatility. He could do comedy and he could do menace. He could do calm and he could do spitting rage. He had an uncanny sense of timing and was quicker on his feet than almost anyone. No one really comes close at matching his astonishing depth, but Dusty Rhodes was an all-time great promo. He really made you care about wrestling matches, which is not an easy thing to do.

21. Most annoying?

I mean, it has to be Vince McMahon.

22. Most attractive male?

Is Tanahashi too obvious a choice? Best hair in wrestling. It’s incredible and luxurious, like an untamed mountain stream. Andrade “Cien” Almas or whatever they’ve shortened his name to (”And”) is a handsome man. Killer Kross: very handsome. We live in a golden age of attractive wrestlers. Just look back at the gassed-up Zubaz mastodons of the 1980s, or the territories-era guys who all looked like they were 48 years old and had pot bellies. You almost have to try to find unattractive wrestlers. Nick Gage, for instance. But I’m sure even he has his swooning admirers.

23. Most attractive female?

Again, what a time for attractive wrestlers. It may be shallow, but wrestling is a business that’s at least partially cosmetic. Attractive people sell tickets. I would, and have, bought a ticket to see Hana Kimura.

24. Favorite faction?

Of all time? Probably the Barry Windham-era Four Horsemen. More recently, Team Pazuzu.

25. Worst faction?

BULLET CLUB. No, it’s not the Bullet Club, as exhausted as they’ve become. It’s probably the nWo after early 1998 or so, when they had like 60 members and dragged down every storyline.

26. Best ring gear?

Su Yung and Pentagon Jr.

27. Who do you think would be the nicest in real life?

I bet Jerry Lynn is a good guy to know. People in wrestling universally praise Little Guido, which is very rare. The Young Bucks seem like they might be decent dudes. Willow Nightingale told a story on a podcast about Nick Gage excitedly playing with Solo Darling’s dog backstage, so you never know.

28. Who would be the rudest in real life?

On the indie level, it’s probably someone who doesn’t work very much. Above the indie level, I bet some of those British guys are secretly horrible, like Jimmy Havoc.

29. Favorite heel?

Currently it’s a tie between MJF and Alisha Edwards, two of the only people who can regularly get indie crowds to boo them. Of all time, heel Flair was hard to beat.

30. Most hardcore?

It’s definitely either a guy in Japan or a guy in Mexico, and he’s definitely been burned by explosive charges multiple times. Onita? It’s probably Onita. Or Jun Kasai? I think Onita has probably been exploded more times than Jun Kasai.

31. A wrestler you could beat?

At wrestling? Not a single one of them. Nicholas, the small boy who won the WWE tag team championship with Braun Strowman, would wipe the floor with me. Even the most callow bodybuilder-turned-wrestler would not break a sweat beating me senseless. But writing talking points for senior administration officials in preparation for legislative testimony? Now you’re on my turf. Not so tough now, huh, Nicholas?

32. Best story line?

Freebirds vs. Von Erichs or Stone Cold vs. Vince. My heart says the former, my head says the latter.

33. Biggest missed opportunity for a story line?

The WWE blowing the invasion angle after purchasing WCW is the obvious one. More recently, they blew it by not turning Reigns heel.

34. Worst story line?

Ha, so many of them. Impossible to choose just one. At least most of the dumb embarrassing Russo ones in WCW and TNA were basically harmless, like the time Samoa Joe got kidnapped by ninjas. The Chuck and Billy wedding thing was far worse. A low point even by Vince’s impressively cretinous standards.

35. Which wrestler should turn heel?

I’d like to see a Jordynne Grace heel run in Impact. Heel Finn Balor would also be good.

36. Which wrestler should turn face?

Samoa Joe has a good fiery babyface, “I’m tired of doing your dirty work, McMahon!” run in him.

37. Who would be the worst to room with?

Can you imagine sharing a living space with Enzo Amore? Or the thicket of twee Disney merchandise you’d have to negotiate every day if you lived with Johnny Gargano?

38. Who would be the best to room with?

I bet Eddie Edwards would be a surprisingly thoughtful roommate, like he’d always do the dishes “because I love doing them!,” that kind of thing. I have nothing to base this suspicion on, he just seems like my old roommate, Shane, who was like that.

39. Who would be your best friend if you were a wrestler?

I’d like to say Jushin Thunder Liger, and posit that we would go on exciting adventures, but the answer is probably something like “Comp Time” Terry Dandridge, who wrestles monthly for 2Xtreme All-Pro Wrestling Alliance out of Euphoria, Kansas and has a 9 to 5 as a hardware store manager.

40. What would your job be in a wrestling promotion?

I’d normally make a self-effacing joke here, but I do social media training at my real job, and so many wrestlers are badly in need of help in this area.

41. Favorite wrestling podcast/Youtube channel?

I like AIW’s “The Card is Going to Change” podcast a lot, and there’s one by the owners of RevPro that’s pretty good. It’s hard to find a well-produced wrestling podcast that talks about independent wrestling. My favorite wrestling YouTube channel is OSW Review.

42. Favorite finisher?

BURNING HAMMER

43. Least favorite finisher?

The Bayley-to-belly suplex. HOW IS THIS A FINISHING MOVE

44. Favorite match?

Kerry Von Erich vs. Jerry Lawler at Superclash III. It was a bloody, weird, engrossing spectacle, and it was the symbolic end of the territories era.

45. Favorite PPV?

Royal Rumble is the last PPV my casual fan friends reliably want to see, and with good reason: it’s engrossing.

46. Guilty pleasure wrestler?

Big Banter Baron Corbin, but I feel no guilt here. He rules.

47. Favorite submission?

THE KATA HA JIME, otherwise known as the Tazmission.

48. Most entertaining to watch?

All time? Randy Savage. Currently? Io Shirai.

49. Best spot?

Anyone spitting mist into the unsuspecting eyes of their foes

50. Who do you most respect?

I respect you, booker man.

#50 questions #lists

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sugrmottas · 5 years

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what actually are your glee ships?

short answer is everything, more or less. i’m too much of a multishipper lmao

long answer is under the cut.

here are my preferred endgames:

rachel: jesse/rachel, but in an entirely different way than it unfolded in the show??? also they’d get together pretty far into their twenties/maybe even early thirties vs. rachel being 21 and jesse being 23.

finn: i have an oc endgame for finn (had he lived) because i honestly don’t really see him working with anyone actually on the show.

kurt: i do stick by my preference of adam/kurt (he needs to be someone more mature than him Honestly), but as time goes by i do find myself growing more and more fond of the adam/elliott/kurt ot3. i never quite got the appeal of any of kurt’s other ships (especially kurt/puck and kurt/karofsky) so that might be a factor there, admittedly.

mercedes: in the event that tike isn’t endgame, i do find myself pretty soft for mercedes/mike. they have such a great dynamic in s4 (that was dropped thereafter but that’s glee i Suppose) and it’s easy to see how it could grow into a romantic relationship between the two of them. they’d do friends to lovers so well. i’m endlessly fascinated by their potential. i have an oc endgame for her otherwise, because nobody else on this hellshow deserves mercedes jones.

tina: mike/tina was super undeveloped but also one of the healthiest relationships glee had so they’re automatically my endgame for them but as i delve more into the post-glee headcanons, idk. maybe not. if not mike, i’d probably end up putting her with an oc. maybe a warbler, but lbr, all but blaine/kurt/sebastian/hunter count as ocs. sooooooooo

artie: honestly? idk. i’m v soft for artie/kitty but i enjoy artie so little as a character that i find it hard to pair him with anyone.

quinn: i ship quinn with literally everything under the sun. i don’t think i have a stable endgame for her, but i always end up coming back around to pairing her with warbler wes. (kids born into ohio’s high society and forcing themselves to live up to impossible standards until they just can’t anymore is my LIFEBLOOD.)

santana: dani/santana. i think santana does need an intellectual equal to be fully satisfied in a relationship and as much as she loves brittany, she just… doesn’t hit the mark. and that’s okay. seriously. dani and santana kind of feed into each other’s prejudices (fuck your biphobia ladies) so they need to do a lot of growing together, but i think they’d do it well.

brittany: i don’t have a solid endgame for brittany just because i struggle to understand her character, which is my bad. i think if anything i’d have her in a polyamorous relationship (usually of 4, sometimes 3, rarely more) with a group of ocs - usually a warbler’s thrown in there (jeff more often than not) but the others are completely from scratch.

puck: puck/rachel has always owned my heart, so i feel it necessary to give them a shoutout here. but honestly, lauren/puck is just… so good.

mike: mandatory callouts for mike/tina and mercedes/mike. i think for mike, mike/tina makes a lot more sense - she pushes him to challenge his father which is Huge, but i struggle to see where he’d challenge her. he’d support her to the end, but stops short of telling her to be more. i think there’s less of him holding back in his relationship with mercedes (they have a dynamic built on mutual respect, where mike and tina started hooking up behind tina’s boyfriend’s back), so i think i’m more partial to them here.

matt: i felt weird not including him but honestly matt/screentime

sam: blam, surprising nobody.

blaine: blam, surprising nobody. seblaine’s a Big secondary ship, though.

sugar: warbler nick fuck y’all crusty bitches who don’t give a shit about boys if they ain’t gay!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

rory: ??? idk man, rory deserved better than this hellshow.

joe: i have an oc endgame for him!

marley: jake/marley/ryder. jake and marley date for-freaking-ever (fuck the cheating storyline), breaking up when the time comes for college - jake gets an insane scholarship to julliard while marley’s staying in ohio. who else is staying in ohio? oh gee, ryder! so marley and ryder spend a Lot of time together, eventually begin dating, except there’s always a weird cloud of Jake hanging above them. jake ends up dropping out of julliard and drops off the map for a while and eventually jake’s mom calls ryley begging them to try and help find her baby because they were His People and even though they haven’t spoken to jake in nearly three years, they go because of course they do. there’s a Lot more to this story, but i’m trying to keep this short so: they find jake in new york eventually, in with the entirely wrong crowd and end up staying in the city (in blaine and sam’s apartment which is too small for the two of them let alone all five) to try and help him recover/through his withdrawals (they do long-distance schooling because blaine mother hens the shit out of them and refuses to let them fuck up their hard work just because jake’s struggling) and a few years laterrrr they’re all together.

jake: read above

ryder: read above

kitty: artie/kitty. also v partial to kitty/warbler thad. i just like putting the second generation of new directions with warblers oKaY

unique: i honestly. do not know. i love unique but have such a flimsy grasp on her character (probably because i hate alex) that i just never know what the fuck i’m doing with her post-canon?????? probably an oc, though.

i feel like the 3rd generation pairs itself up nicely (alistair/spencer, jane/mason) and don’t have too much of an idea of madison and roderick’s endgames (not each other, fuck y’all crusty bitches not being able to come up with unique endgames for them when they clearly weren’t super into each other) sooo uh END SECTION

i mentioned various secondary endgames above, but here are my big midgame ships.

rachel: finchel (uh fuck canon), pezberry (uh fuck canon x2), samchel, puckleberry (idk how i feel about canon here).

finn: finchel, fuinn strictly in the sense of “i don’t ship them romantically but view them as integral to each of their individual development”.

kurt: klaine. also ngl i’m vaguely interested in what Could have happened with chandler/kurt but i don’t think i ship it much.

mercedes: samcedes, idk their ship name but mercedes/shane was also a good ship, you guys are just mean.

tina: tartie. also the older i get, the more i lowkey ship sam/tina tbh.

artie: tartie, quartie.

quinn: fuinn, quick, quam, quartie. also it’s Mostly a crackship but st. fabray kind of??? appeals to me??? also quinntana and faberry but there’s so much meta there that idk if i ship them or just find them incredibly interesting

santana: brittana, pezberry, quinntana.

brittany: brittana, bram (quinn and sam are kind of my shipping bicycles pls help).

puck: quick. also the age-difference was super whack, but i’d be interested in him and kitty dating when she’s, you know, legal.

mike: personal headcanon is that mike’s demisexual but biromantic, so i don’t do a lot of casual shipping with him. i’ve been playing with the concept of him going on a few dates with a male oc when they’re in college, though idk if it’s a Big thing yet.

matt: MATT/SCREENTIME

sam: samcedes, quam, bram, samchel, sam/tina (sina? tam? ew).

blaine: klaine. also i’ll be honest, the concept of a bi!blaine is super interesting to me (i cried when biota aired lmao) and if it was Ever a thing, i’d ship blaine/brittany/sam so hard.

sugar: rory/sugar, artie/sugar, a bunch of idiot men/sugar.

rory: rory/sugar. also i have a weird thing where i think he and marley would be super close but idk if it’s in a ship way or best friends??? sos

joe: i know it was never super developed, but i was kinda soft for joe/quinn ngl.

marley: n/a??? idk she’s a v first love/last love kind of girl.

jake: jake/kitty.

ryder: i have a Thing for ryder/tina and i don’t understand it but blake and jenna had some Super Cute moments so i blame them. also i’m adding ryder to the list of “members of new directions 2.0 randomly dating warblers”, this time the lucky warbler being an oc soooo SRY

kitty: jake/kitty. jitty? i feel like they had a ship name.

unique: n/a???

and then there’s notp’s, of which i have one: k*rtsofky :) also k*rley is…kinda gross lads. also s*btana just let thm b gay!!!

#SPICY OPINIONS UNDER THE CUT #jk i'm super boring #asks #Anonymous

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everettaddamsmacleod-blog · 6 years

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The Player of Games - Review and Deconstruction II

In part 1, I talked about how Gurgeh is way more invested in having a dick than is normal for The Culture. Now I’m going to talk about why that has something to do with being a fascist.

Part I: Gurgeh’s a dick

Part II: Azad: Vicious but Sexy

Part III: Getting the Girl Handsome Androgynous Person

Once again, spoilers below the cut.

Part 2- Azad: Vicious but Sexy

Jernau Morat Gurgeh is a game-player. He is skilled at manipulating a set of rules with clearly defined pieces and players, and it is in his skill at this that he finds the most fulfillment. I think this is why we see him have trouble with the biotech pieces of Azad (the game) - pieces that can change their role. His discomfort there mirrors his discomfort with the fluidity of gender in the Culture. With a rigid gender role, there is a structure Gurgeh can exist in, fulfill, and steer towards his ends much like he can manipulate and steer game pieces. Gurgeh, with his masculinity to cling to, knows who and what he is, and so knows how to dominate via playing by and manipulating the rules.

Unfortunately I think this biotech metaphor gets dropped somewhere - I’m not sure we ever see an Azadian play with them, and without the Azadian view of them, it's hard to see if there’s anything more to it. But given the rigidly hierarchical and identitarian nature of the Azadian state, I’d wager the biotechs give them trouble as well. I might go so far as to say (just...let me go here) that the general strategy for handling them would be as follows: decide what you want/need them to be based on early signals, apply stressors to mould them into that, and ruthlessly dispatch of any that cannot fit into the role you have determined for them, as deviation from the role would disrupt your streamlined, unified, top down and elegantly choreographed strategy for world game-board domination.

I might be getting to where fascism comes in to all of this. And so, a brief digression:

There are probably a million different definitions of fascism flying about these days, from “racism”, “any authoritarian political philosophy”, “a political system that fulfils these 14 vague criteria” to “a syncretic form of ultranationalist ideology developed through patriarchal mythopoesis, which seeks the destruction of the modern world and the spiritual palingenesis of an organic community led by natural elites through the fusion of technological advancement and cultural tradition”1. Shane Burley in “Fascism Today” makes his attempt with “Inequality through mythological and essentialized identity”2. I’ll also point you to the wikipedia page Definitions of Fascism to get a decent run down of the conversation.

Given fascism’s complex history and the amount of moralizing and editorializing done around it in the past century, defining fascism isn’t exactly a new problem, but it remains more of an open question than I suspect many people would like it to be. However, my current synthesis of what I’ve read leads me to operate with a definition of fascism as “a political structure that enforces a perceived natural hierarchy based on essentialized identity as key to maintaining the perceived unity and power of the nation”.

Thus, the role of race, gender, sexuality, religion, etc in fascist society is to create a structure wherein the participants know their place and their relation to those around them. They seek to minimize the variety of these identity vectors, as the more combinations/intersections of these are, the harder it is to line people up in order. Also, the more elements the people have in common, the easier it is for the people to see each other as part of the same whole. By simplifying identity within the society, a common overarching myth of identity becomes clearer and easier to attain, which unifies the people even further. The aim of this delineation, simplification and unification is clear - it makes for a well oiled, highly efficient chain of command.

And it is this vision of the fascist state that brings us its allure. In this state, you will have a place, a role, a destiny as part of a greater, glorious whole that wields great power. You will know who and what you are. This state, and you by proxy, can achieve many great things you could never achieve while broken out into complex, distinct nodes of a shifty and uncertain nature. Simply by following and using the set of rules given to you, you can have (or rather, in a subtle and often missed distinction - you can be a part of-) great power.

Now, dear reader, you may have noticed that there are a few flaws in this vision of a glorious unified state. Chances are, if you are anything other than completely white, straight, able-bodied, cisgender, and male, when I started saying ‘you will have a place, a role, a destiny’ in the paragraph above, you had a knee-jerk reaction along the lines of “yeah, as a corpse”3. This vision only appeals to those that see their place in the proposed hierarchy as a privileged one. This vision is only appealing to those who feel not only like they do not currently have enough power, but also that they’ve followed the rules that should have entitled them to that power - and so feel cheated out of it.

It also relies on an enemy- something to aim its gleaming spearhead of patriarchal hierarchy at, something to give it grand displays of its dominance and power. Those that do not fit into its roles make useful enemies, as do neighboring states to conquer, though you can never really run out of either, both because they’re very hard to eliminate, and because the structure needs them to give it purpose. And the fascist nation really doesn’t do that well if its hierarchy, its chain of command, breaks down; if there’s any incongruity, if there is dissent, if there is a diversion from the ideal, if its pieces step outside their boxes.

As I said, a digression.

Anyway, now that we’ve set up a framework for what fascism is and who would be attracted by it, notice where our man Gurgeh is at the beginning of this book. He thirsts for glory, domination, but feels impotent and unfulfilled by the lack of stakes or “real challenge” that life in the Culture has given him. He sees himself as a clear and natural better to most of those around him, sees his relationships with women as opportunities for conquest, and sees himself as incontrovertibly and traditionally masculine. He enjoys playing around in the confines of rigidly defined structures in order to dominate them, and finds opportunities to apply the same logic to the relationships and conversations he has with people around him. He feels cheated out of a more heroic existence4.

In many ways, Gurgeh is ripe for fascistic tendencies. But, importantly, we never see him really sink into them, and in the end he learns to overcome them. So what saves him?

One - Empathy with the suffering of those who do not fit within the Empire’s molds or have been tossed aside by it.

Two - Seeing that the Culture’s approach - letting its constituent parts flourish within loose guidelines and allowing for flexibility and fluidity - can be tactically superior.

Ross, Alexander Reid. Against the Fascist Creep. Ak Press, 2017.

Burley, Shane, and Matthew Nemiroff Lyons. Fascism Today: What It Is and How to End It. AK Press, 2017.

Or a slave, or a broodmare

This, by the way, is how we have body-building, LARPing Nazis these days.

Anyway, stick around for part III, where I try to refrain from going on another tangent about social constructivism and the nature of truth to wrap this all up in a bow.

Part I: Gurgeh’s a dick

Part II: Azad: Vicious but Sexy

Part III: Getting the Girl Handsome Androgynous Person

#The Player of Games #masculinity #fascism #Iain M Banks #gender #books #book reviews #reading #critical reading

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miasswier · 6 years

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miasswier’s ultimate glee ranking: no 81

81: Asian F

Written by: Ian Brennan Directed by: Alfonso Gomez-Rejon

Overall Thoughts: Here is a Mercedes and Mike centric episode and like, I really want to like it. I want to like it a lot. There are things that I like, but overall it’s just… Ugh. It’s typical Glee – give Mercedes a moment to shine, but act like she’s in the wrong for demanding the moment. Make Rachel the victim, when really it’s her own damn fault she was so blinded by her ego she couldn’t have even considered somebody beating her out, or even coming in a close second. And Mike finally gets a storyline, yet it’s riddled with racist stereotypes. Honestly, I’m almost more frustrated than happy that Mike and Mercedes get lead roles in this episode, because both of them deserve so much better than this episode gave them.

What I Like:

Shane being so goddamn supportive of Mercedes. You know, people hated him for what he said. When this episode first came out, people were blaming Shane for Mercedes “attitude”, claiming that he was the reason Mercedes and Rachel weren’t friends, that Mercedes was “out of control” and it was Shane’s fault. You know what Shane did? He did what y’all praise Finn so much for doing to Rachel. He supported his goddamn girlfriend. He believed in her. He told her she was amazing, and you know what? She needed to hear that. So I’m really sorry if you dislike Shane for this, but honestly, if you dislike Shane for supporting Mercedes, then how much do you really care about Mercedes?

I will talk about this a bit in the negative section, but even though I have mixed feelings about it, I do think it was cool for Brittany to not just run because she thought it would be fun, like she actually has a bit of an agenda behind it. It’s just frustrating that 1) her agenda wasn’t that great and 2) she forgot all about it by the next episode.

Mike singing and dancing his little heart out, and going “It’s what I love to do. It’s never going to be a waste of my time” like shit yeah boy.

The two scenes of Mike in the dance studio, by himself, and then with his mom. I love those scenes. They’re so powerful and amazing. They should have given Mike more to do ages ago.

Kurt telling Rachel off for running against him in the student body elections. By doing this, she basically said “Me succeeding is more important than both of us succeeding, and I don’t care if my success comes at the cost of your failure.” It’s so frustrating watching this season, knowing it all leads up to Rachel fucking up her audition and somehow still getting into NYADA while Kurt nailed his and he doesn’t get in. It’s so. goddamn. frustrating.

Mercedes pointing out that Rachel is obviously Will’s favourite, and also the fact that the only reason they double cast them is because they didn’t want to hurt Rachel’s feelings. Which, let’s be honest, we all know is fucking true. Rachel would have set that entire school on fire if she hadn’t been cast as Maria. There was no way they couldn’t cast her, and THAT is what Mercedes is speaking up against. The fact that she won that role, fair and square, but the entire faculty of McKinley lives ten feet up Rachel Berry’s ass, and so she was being forced to share something she deserves and has really fought for with someone who genuinely thought that her very existence demanded she be handed the role.

We finally have Will admitting he made a mistake and apologizing for it! Seriously, has he ever done that before? I legitimately don’t think he has.

The little smile Shelby gets when Mercedes joins her group. She knows she just won the fucking jackpot.

The Klaine scene :) So cute and sweet.

What I Don’t Like:

Beiste’s advice to Will to introduce himself to Emma’s parents is terrible. Hey, here’s an idea, why don’t you sit her down and genuinely ask her why it is that she’s so against you meeting her parents?

Everything about the way that Mercedes is perceived in this episode. Basically everyone turns against her because she has the gall to stand up for herself. I know it’s a fantasy sequence, but it really does make me sad to see Kurt, Santana, Quinn and Tina turned against Mercedes in “It’s All Over”, since they were all good friends of hers.

Basically everything about Mike’s story is coated in racism. I mean, the whole thing is called “Asian F” and refers to an Asian character getting an amazing grade and being seen as a disappointment. How is that not racist as hell?

Emma’s parents. They’re always played for laughs, and I’ll admit, there’s a couple of scenes in season four with them that give me a chuckle, but they’re actually really terrible people. White supremacy isn’t funny. It’s not a joke. Neither is child neglect or emotional abuse.

While I do like that Brittany was taking a stance against something real, she did it in a really faux-feminist kind of way. That whole song has always annoyed me, because it ultimately comes down to “Men are in control, but I can manipulate men with my sexuality, so I am in control” which is a complete false sense of control. Girls don’t run the world in that scenario, men do. And it also sets it up so that only a certain type of girl can run the world – only a thin, beautiful, allosexual, straight, cis girl. It sucks, because Brittany is bisexual, and they could have played that up. They could have had Kurt and Brittany team up and run for President and Vice-President together on a platform to improve the lives of all minorities in McKinley. It could have been queer teens working together to make a difference instead of being separated and pitted against one another in a battle of male vs female, as if Kurt receives the same kind of privilege that other men do. If Brittany was running against Puck or Finn it would have been one thing. But Kurt? No.

Songs:

Spotlight: Such a great Mercedes solo to start us off with! And such a great audition song (though, much like with Kurt in “I Am Unicorn”, I do wish she’d auditioned with a song from the play she’s auditioning for).

Run the World (Girls): I think I’ve already said everything I need to say about this song in my negatives section. Oh, also autotune. Goddammit if they always have to autotune the shit out of Brittany then why do they give her such powerful songs?

Cool: An amazing song and an awesome performance. It’s really too bad this is the only solo Mike got.

It’s All Over: This is a fun sequence that I think really shows the reality of what Mercedes is feeling – she’s isolated, her friends are being turned against her (at least she believes they are), and all because she’s standing up for herself. I do like this scene, even if it’s hard watching Kurt, Santana, Quinn, and Tina be against Mercedes.

Out Here On My Own: Again, a great audition song. Rachel is right, though. Mercedes was better than her.

Fix You: This is a good song to end this episode on. It gives it a nice closure while also opening the door to what’s still yet to come. I just get really emotional watching Will get down on his knees to pray with Emma, even though he doesn’t really know what he’s doing.

Final Thoughts: I really don’t know what else to say. This episode is pretty racist, and even if it does have some things I like, I just can’t get over those aspects. Also, Mercedes was wronged. She was wronged by the show, and she was wronged by the fandom. She deserved that role, and I’m still upset that she didn’t get it, even if it led to the Troubletones, which was an awesome place for Mercedes to be (even if that whole story really ended up being more about Santana).

#ultimate glee ranking

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worth-it-dump-blog · 6 years

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Stars and the taste of wine

Chapter 1:

The tantalizing music made the smoke and warm currents in the room quiver as the patrons of the lonely bar slowly swayed. The singer pretended the room was empty as slow tones penetrated the hearts of any who actually listened to foreign words that felt like a river of molasses in a blue moon-soaked forest on the verge of catching fire. The pianist tried to just keep the melody alive, as it took twists and turns that no one, not even the players themselves really expected. But they were a team, the singer and the pianist. They fit and were almost one being as they produced sounds that would fill the room now but just be a hazy and warm memory for the patrons later. This was no special night. This hadn´t been a special week. The bar on the hectic street seemed the same as always. The guests were the same mix of regulars, new faces and lonely ghosts that drifted in every few months or so. This was no special night. It had no plans to become extraordinary either. So… what was this sense of foreboding? The bartender, a man with a history of knowing events before their time, took a moment to determine the nature of this shift of feelings. He poured himself a glass, determining there was no danger coming, so he may as well let himself be surprised by the present, not the future. His wine distinctly tasted like a dry summer day. He was slightly weary. The city that never slept certainly had streets asleep in the night. This bar was in a limbo between reality and dream. So, it was no coincidence that everything was in a tight balance. There were the humans whose presence kept the slightly less human patrons in check. Ambrosia looked like white wine after all. The bar had sprung up in the city of New York quite some time ago, but no one really had kept a record. The duo playing never changed in that time, but thanks to a hazy atmosphere hardly anyone noticed or care. The duo was related to the muses in some way, at least the singer, the pianist might have some blood of one of the graces and even Apollon. But like it was said, no one really kept a record of things around here. The owners liked their small reputation and lack of any bigger deities, since that kept things from getting messy. They liked the easy atmosphere and heavy air. The casual mixes, may it be the drinks or the patrons. In their whole times they hardly had any problems here. Creeps were swiftly dealt with and fights were stopped with a flexing doorman´s arms.

So, their dismay was big when they felt the aura of one of the bigger deities enter their little haven. Of course, they still had to be hospitable. But every head in the bar turned. The reality won over the dream. The river of molasses turned clear. The dream was over. And the deity looked ignorant to the attention. All eyes, may they be obvious or subtle, were on his person. He seemed almost unsure now, but still made his way to an empty bar stool. The music continued, but now painted a different picture. It was clearer, like salty foam covering green rocks with grey paint strokes that disappeared in seconds. A cautious yet beautiful melody, slightly distracted as the pianist kept his eyes on the new-comer. Whose hair, like molten silver, and occasional flash of gold in brown eyes made his out-of-this-world-ness obvious. The beauty of eons on a youthful face was fascinating. Yet the natural aura of old power had all the other patrons keep a healthy distance from him. Luckily the bartender seemed brave enough to approach him. They couldn´t afford pissing him off, it didn´t matter that he looked like he wouldn´t hurt a fly. The elusive stranger smiled an honest ray of sunlight as he ordered the sweetest cocktail on the menu with extra ambrosia. The bartender, a quiet soul that exuded warmth from his very being, let the stranger talk a water fall over him, answering in gestures more than in words. The bar settled down and only some of the not entirely human guests were still tense.

“I like this bar… Are you open every night?” the voice was surprisingly nervous, a slight accent playing at the edges of words. It made the powerful deity more sympathetic in the eyes of the bartender. “We- we mostly play it by feelings, so we don´t have set opening times…. Your highness?” the added title was a careful question, meant as a subtle invitation for the stranger for an introduction. The deity laughed and waved him off. “Please! Call me Steven, we´re at a bar, not the Jade Emperors palace.” Steven laughed, a throaty but melodious sound, and took a sip. At least the question of his pantheon was now cleared. Steven leaned closer as if to share a secret, false worried sketched in his face, “But be honest… is it that obvious? Do the others here know?” The bartender quirked a lip under his warm beard. “Well let´s just say, even the mortals noticed you, and they are blinder than the fates without their eye…” “Oh noooo” Steven laughed again and turned some heads in the process. Intelligent and old eyes on a young face kept his gaze of the bartender though. “And your name, Mister Bartender? It´s only fair to exchange names” The bartender raised a strong brow but had to smile at the deity’s antics. “Well, I go as Adam around here” they both knew the names, Steven and Adam, weren’t their original names, but it was hardly important in these circumstances. They felt right enough.

The music had been slowly transforming its tone during their slow conversation. It reminded of a hazy lilac sky whose orange stars slowly fell and left shining streaks in their wake. Adam knew, the duo would take a break soon. The bar and it´s staff developed their own rhythm and non-verbal language over the decades, and Adam recognized starry melodies as the duos need for a break. Steven seemed enchanted by the music. And Adam felt more talkative and jolly than normally: “What do you see when you hear it?” Steven pondered the question with closed eyes and slightly parted lips as he listened more closely. “It feels like flying. And falling? I think? It´s just- I see the night sky and I am- the stars are slowly descending, but not in a threatening way. It´s peaceful…” Adam smiled slightly, is this a clue? Did he have a star sitting across him? Or even a constellation? Steven almost shined with glee as Adam recounted his own music-fueled visions. “It´s truly amazing how music can do that!” The duo ended their song, though it didn´t sound like a real ending and bowed swiftly as the whole bar clapped and whooped. The pianist came over, while the singer chose to get lost in the crowd. He made himself comfortable next to Adam and started mixing himself a drink. Towards the deity he gave a slow nod, that may have been an implied bow, not daring to not recognize the presence of someone with that kind of power oozing into their natural aura. “You play wonderful! I´m quite enthralled! Do you play every night?” Steven leaned forward and gave a glinting smile, accidently showing sharp canines in the process. The pianist looked pleased at the praise and nodded his head as thanks, while never leaving his eyes from the golden orbs of the deity. “Mostly, we try and have live music every evening. But sometimes Jazzmyne just sings alone, or I try my hand at solo-playing. Sometimes we also have guest players” almost breathless after saying so much, the pianist gulped half his drink of scotch down, suddenly unnerved by the molten gaze.

Steven kept his gaze springing between the two, who, well aware of the attention, while they tried getting busy with bartender obligation. Their effort at keeping busy had it´s origin in an uncertain feeling they got when meeting the gaze of the deity. A warm sensation usually found when feeling truly at home. Steven tried to not let his disappointment show. “Hey ho Adam-bro, can ya get me something?” A tall lanky figure leaned on the bar next to Steven, in his arms a much smaller more solid built male. Adam sighed and put a glass down that he was cleaning. “Sure Shane, what do you want?” Shane smiled innocently while sitting down on a bar stool next to Steven. The other male, once in Shane arms, seemed annoyed but still sat on the other side of Shane and linked their hands. “Go and surprise me, bar-man!” Shane’s companion let out an annoyed huff and lightly kicked the others shin. “You always say that and then you complain about the flavor and I have to drink it!” “You love trying new things, Ryan! And Adam has no idea of good taste!” Andrew glowered at Shane and forcefully set down a glass that was filled with a clear fluid. Shane grinned and raised his glass in salute. He took a sip and immediately spit it out. He would have looked furious, if Ryan hadn´t ascended into giggles and wheezes, inspiring the same reaction in him. “Did you just give me fucking lighter fluid?!?” Andrew shrugged nonchalant and possessively put his arm around Adams waist; “You shouldn´t insult Adam.” Though blushing Adam pinched Andrew and escaped his grip to clean up the mess. Steven observed this all with an unreadable expression. He fiddled with the orange wedge of his almost empty drink and looked forlorn into its depts. His melancholy was interrupted as a refill was presented to him by Adam. “Don´t worry, no lighter fluid in this one… It´s on the house” If Steven didn´t know better, he would have thought the bartender winked. Adam was rewarded with his trouble by an honest twinkling smile that made Andrew also stop in his tracks and just watch. For a moment Steven was glowing from within as he gave some heartfelt thanks. Now Shane and Ryan and even some nearer stand-byes just watched in slight amazement.

The night slowly ended and as the bar emptied more and more until even the tipsy bickering of Shane and Ryan got quieter as they walked down the street homebound. Soon it was only the employees left. Andrew and Adam talked quietly among themselves as they cleaned up the bar and surrounding areas. Their conversation seemed to only turn around one particular deity though. “I think Steven might be a star-deity” Andrew stopped mopping the floor to muse on Adams words. “He did shine like one earlier…” Adam nodded fondly at the memory. “We´re lucky to have seen that” “We´re lucky the mortals stayed oblivious” “Don´t pretend that you didn´t think that that might have been one of the prettiest things you have ever seen.” Andrew leaned on his mop while grinning flirtatiously: “How can that be, when I get to see your eyes every day?” Adam threw a towel after him while his ears burned: “Go mop the floor, lover-boy!” Despite golden light slowly filling up the air in the bar, these two were not particularly tired anymore.

#stadamdrew #steven x andrew x adam #worth it fic #i hope you like it #i´m new #the god fic noone asked for #like get a grip #tell me if you guys like it?#maybe?#is this how tagging works #gods au #firstfic #be gentle #no beta

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junker-town · 4 years

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‘We just made history’: The story of hockey’s first ever Team Trans

How a group of 17 trans athletes came together last November to make history.

On a Friday in a little Cambridge, Massachusetts, ice arena, as a gaggle of middle schoolers lingered after a game and two men’s league teams were taking the ice, 17 hockey players were huddled in a corner, getting ready to make history.

Jessica Platt’s excitement shone in her eyes as her teammates on Team Trans, perhaps the first-ever all trans hockey team to play a game together, dug through a stack of blue and pink uniforms to find their own. Platt, a 30-year-old former CWHL player, said she had stopped playing hockey in her early 20s because she was uncomfortable with the overly masculine attitudes of the male players who surrounded her.

“I pretty much had to be careful how I presented myself,” she said. “I got really good at putting on the facade of who I thought I needed to be, and I tried to stick to that as closely as I could when I was in that area. I was a little bit more myself around my friends, but definitely not in the hockey scene.”

Platt traveled from Toronto to play with Team Trans, which was taking part in the 2019 Friendship Series tournament hosted last November by Boston Pride Hockey, New England’s largest LGBT hockey association (not to be confused with the Boston Pride of the NWHL). About five years ago, she finally felt comfortable enough with her transition to enter a women’s locker room and return to hockey. Though she had never met many of her new teammates, they bonded quickly around the familiar fear and anxiety they had felt to play a game they loved.

“Knowing that you’re the only one and no one else has the exact same experiences as you, makes it a little bit harder to, I guess, connect with them,” Platt said. “It’s a little lonely being the only [trans] person.”

That loneliness is why the team met in Boston. Transgender adults make up an estimated 0.6 percent of the general population. There are just 1.6 million trans people in the United States, according to the Williams Institute at UCLA. In Canada, as many as 1 in 200 adults (roughly 0.5 percent) are trans, according to the Trans Pulse Project. In any given town in North America, there likely isn’t enough athletes to form an entirely trans team.

Hockey was my life I also used it as a way to try and be more masculine, where if I was good enough, like being trans would go away.”

A dozen players had to travel from outside Boston to fill the roster, from as far away as San Francisco, Chicago and Ottawa. The draw of playing on an all-trans team even attracted two professional players, with former NWHL defenseman Harrison Browne joining Platt. Each were the first openly trans players in their respective leagues.

Brynn Toohey, a 30-year-old speedy winger and transgender woman from southern New Hampshire, often makes the trek south to play for Boston Pride Hockey, but that weekend she suited up for Team Trans, too.

Toohey’s BPH teammates love to point out that she drives a bright red Porsche. Contrary to her flashy game and bold eye makeup, she is disarmingly reserved and soft-spoken. Growing up in New Hampshire provided Toohey plenty of opportunity for ice time.

“Hockey was my life,” Toohey said. “I also used it as a way to try and be more masculine, where if I was good enough, like being trans would go away.”

She played junior hockey until college, and bounced around several club teams before dropping out of the game entirely in her early 20s. Life got in the way of her passion the way it does for many young people. But Toohey also struggled with gender dysphoria, the clinical term for the distress caused by a disconnect between a person’s assigned sex and their internal sense of their own gender.

Toohey said that she fell on hard times after college, intermittently struggling with depression and substance abuse before beginning her transition early last year.

“I had to get sober,” Toohey said. “And really once I was like, ‘All right, I’m trans,’ I was like, ‘Well, now there’s a future for me.’ Everything opened up.”

Around that time, she heard about Boston Pride Hockey. “I normally don’t do any LGBT anything,” she said, but she felt the sport pulling her back and decided to give the league a try. She attended a skate around and found a welcoming environment where she could play without being judged by her identity.

“If you told me six months ago, before I started transitioning or anything, I’d be playing on an all-trans hockey team, I would be like, ‘Yeah, right,’” Toohey said. “‘That doesn’t exist. There’s not enough trans people that want to play hockey like me.’”

Like Toohey, no one on Team Trans had ever played hockey with more than a handful of other trans players, if any. Typically, trans athletes have to seek out welcoming but predominantly cisgender teams if they want to compete.

Chris Harrington

Harrison Browne, left, and Jessica Platt, right.

Browne, a 26-year-old former two-time NWHL champion, said he experienced dysphoria triggers throughout his women’s hockey experience, like hearing his deadname, the term used for the birth name of a trans person who now goes by a different name, over the PA whenever he scored. Or when someone would yell something like “Let’s go, ladies” to the team when he was on the ice.

“When somebody hasn’t gone through what you go through, they can sympathize, they can empathize as much as a person can and my teammates did a really, really good job of making me feel as included as they could,” Browne said. “But when somebody doesn’t understand your way of life or doesn’t understand your mindset, it’s difficult. And this room here, this dressing room that [Team Trans] are all in, it definitely was an environment that I had never seen.”

Shane Diamond, a defenseman from Maine, skated with a men’s beer league team for several weeks to prep for the Friendship Series. It was his first time skating with a team of men as a “passing” trans man — meaning, a trans person whose outward appearance doesn’t immediately out them as trans — and the experience was unsettling.

“I walked into the space and it was one of the most homophobic, transphobic locker rooms I’ve ever been in, and that’s including growing up [playing] with the boys,” Diamond said. Stories like his were common among Team Trans players. And while some players tried, or are trying, to play through their transitions, others, like Toohey, were only drawn back to sports once their bodies were more in line with their inner sense of their own gender.

When somebody doesn’t understand your way of life or doesn’t understand your mindset, it’s difficult. ... This dressing room that [Team Trans] are all in, it definitely was an environment that I had never seen.”

Rather than risk exposing themselves to teams and spaces that don’t understand their identities, many trans athletes simply quit sports. Fortunately, more and more athletic associations and cisgender people have begun educating themselves on how to better treat and support trans people.

Unlike most of the players on Team Trans, William Frahm-Gilles, a 35-year-old trans man and defenseman, took up the game as an adult when he lived in Madison, Wisconsin, about nine years ago. “I always wanted to play hockey, but I just never had the opportunity growing up,” Frahm-Gilles said. He was enrolled in an intense veterinary educational program, and wanted a hobby to help him work out his aggression within an accepting community.

Frahm-Gilles became involved with the Madison Gay Hockey Association at a key point in his gender transition. “It was just this really bizarre flip from every other aspect of my life, where everyone assumed I was a really butch lesbian instead of assuming I was a straight woman,” he said. “But they were so encouraging about it that it was just like a really weird space to have to kind of come out in a totally different way. I’m actually super into dudes, not a butch lesbian.”

Frahm-Gilles was the first openly trans player in the MGHA, and he had to endure the league’s growing pains as it learned to accommodate him and his identity. In an effort to signal that the league was welcoming towards trans players, league officials and other players often went out of their way to tell new and potential trans players about Frahm-Gilles, even if he had never met them. That often put him in awkward positions, off the ice.

“A new player would join who was trans-identified and come up to me and start chatting transition talk,” Frahm-Gilles said. “That happened a number of times and there was just a lot of [league officials] not quite understanding how to actually be sensitive with that information about players.”

Life gradually became easier for Frahm-Gilles when other trans players started playing in the league. One of those players was K8 Walton, a 39-year-old nonbinary person who plays defense and joined Frahm-Gilles and Team Trans in Cambridge. Walton saw how the other trans players were being treated at the MGHA and set out to change the league to be more understanding.

“The driving thing was we needed to come in from the very get-go and teach people,” Walton said. The league needed to “make sure that everybody understands basic trans etiquette, like that you don’t out people or say, ‘Oh, you’re trans. Let me introduce you to my other friend who’s trans.’ And that you’re sharing a locker room with people who may have all sorts of feelings about their bodies, and that’s [whether they’re] cisgender or transgender.”

The MGHA has evolved in Frahm-Gilles’ time there. He has been happy to see more people like him on the teams he plays with and against. “I’m glad I fell so much in love with the sport,” he said, “because I don’t think I would have touched playing after the first couple of seasons.”

The night before the first game of the Friendship Series, Team Trans held its first and only practice. At one point, Platt deftly lifted the puck off the stick of an opposing player, weaved effortlessly through the defense and passed across the crease to a waiting teammate. An audible gasp followed by oohs and aahs sprang from the dozen-strong crowd.

Greg Sargent, president of Boston Pride Hockey, was among those watching. He would be suiting up and playing against Team Trans the following night. “She’s going to be tough to contain tomorrow,” he said. I leaned in and asked how his team would try to stop a line with Platt, Toohey and Browne, who wasn’t on the ice because his flight was coming in the following morning. “We won’t,” Sargent said. “But we still want to win.”

Like MGHA, BPH has recently gone out of its way to open up to trans players. BPH formed in 1989 as a space for gay hockey players to compete. Thirty years on, BPH is up to 45 members.

“Our number one goal is just to provide a great place to play hockey that you don’t worry about what the other person is thinking,” Sargent said. “When I grew up, it’s kind of like I was checking everybody out in the locker room but [was] never comfortable, never felt safe to say anything. It was the complete opposite. And so when I found BPH ... it was just amazing.”

Sargent’s experience in creating welcoming environments led him to help set up Team Trans. The organization regularly holds series with other gay hockey associations. After a tournament with the New York City Gay Hockey Association, Sargent spotted an opposing player who was nervously off to the side from the others.

“In Boston, we have a thing where if we notice anybody new not talking with anyone, our board is keyed into that and so we all take turns,” Sargent said. “We go and talk to them and make them feel welcome, introduce them to everybody.”

Sargent introduced himself to the player, and learned that the person was trans. After some discussion, the player told Sargent that there is a Facebook group full of trans hockey players, and that it was hoping to set up a game with an all-trans roster. The player, who ultimately couldn’t make it for the weekend series in Boston, explained to Sargent that while the NYCGHA was a safe place to play, it wasn’t specifically a trans locker room, so some trans athletes felt some lingering discomfort within the team.

Kyle Outlaw

Sargent wanted to help. “I said, ‘Let’s do this.’ So I told our board that and a lot of our older members were like, ‘That’s our story from 1989. We’re doing this, let’s make this happen.’”

The weekend didn’t quite go off without a hitch. Team Trans goaltender Alex Lefebvre said at one point after the first game, several of the team’s trans men had to wait in line to use the one stall in the men’s bathroom, which had run out of toilet paper. “Some of us were like, ‘I kind of just want to use the women’s room, but half of us have full beards.’” The incident was a stark reminder that many public spaces still aren’t designed with trans people in mind.

But Sargent took the event seriously, working with trans players from all over the continent to put together the team, and even ordering personalized Team Trans jerseys and socks with the players’ numbers on them, as well as commemorative pucks. The sweaters featured a pink and blue design with a diagonal split between the colors, inspired by the pink, white and blue trans pride flag. Several team members teared up when they first saw the design.

The atmosphere inside the Team Trans locker room before Game 1 was almost joyous. Players smiled without a hint of nerves. Hockey sticks lined the front wall, each taped in trans pride or rainbow colors. There was banter, of course. The team captain, who didn’t wish to be named, read out the lines, and mistakenly said one player’s name twice.

“I know there’s a bunch of trans guys in here, but you listed two Jacks and there’s only one Jack,” quipped one of the players, poking fun at the fact that “Jack” is a common name among trans masculine people.

Later, someone pointed out they needed a team chant, and Diamond immediately yelled out “T4T!” in reference to trans community lingo for when two trans people are dating each other. A unison of giggles followed; it was agreed.

Browne said after the game that he forgot to wear an undershirt and had been worried how his nipples would feel directly under his shoulder pads after top surgery. Several teammates understood his anxiety and offered personal experience to reassure him. To Browne, moments like that brought home what many on Team Trans had felt they’d been missing throughout their athletic careers.

“We’ve only been together for two days and I felt like there was a cohesive feel in there,” Browne said. “There was a comfort level that I’ve never really felt [before].”

Despite their fast bonding, Team Trans was up against a stiff challenge from a team that has been playing together for years. BPH put away two scrappy goals over the first two periods, and took a 2-0 lead into the third.

But Team Trans hadn’t yet put Platt, Toohey and Browne on the ice together. They wanted to spread their talent across multiple lines as best they could. After the second intermission, Team Trans held nothing back.

“When we score … we’re going to celebrate,” Toohey said in the team huddle. Her confidence felt brazen. They were still in a cisgender-dominated world where trans people have long had to be content with scraps of validation.

Team Trans won the faceoff to start the period, and Platt carried the puck over the blue line. She dished off to Browne, who quickly scanned the ice and spotted Toohey blazing down the slot, just to the left of the net. His pass found Toohey’s stick, and Toohey’s one-timer found the back of the net. The Team Trans bench and small crowd in attendance erupted together.

As she skated past the BPH bench, Toohey dropped to one knee and mimicked shooting a bow-and-arrow. “It was a great celebration between all three of us,” Toohey said. “Obviously I’d been playing for BPH so I had to give it to them with an arrow shot, and it was just great. It felt so good for us to get on the board and into the game.”

The first all-trans goal in history, in hockey history. That is wild. I think I’m just processing it as I’m saying it.”

It was an unforgettable moment for Browne. “The look on her face when it went in, it was like ... It was really, really, really special to see that,” he said. When asked what it meant to assist perhaps the first all-trans goal in hockey history, Browne raised his eyebrows. “The first all-trans goal in history, in hockey history. That is wild. I think I’m just processing it as I’m saying it.”

Riding the momentum of Toohey’s goal, Team Trans score another a few minutes later and tied the game, 2-2. The teams traded goals again, but BPH notched the eventual game winner with roughly two minutes left and took Game 1, 4-3. Both teams shook hands, and Team Trans turned to the 50 or so people in the stands, many of them trans people and family, and tapped their sticks on the ice, chanting, “thank you.” As they stepped off the ice, Diamond remarked, “We just made history.”

Lefebvre played well in net despite the losing effort. His family traveled from Albany, New York, to watch him, and he stayed on the ice after the final whistle to take pictures and chat about the game. At one point, a player from a team that was taking the ice next approached and told him he played an amazing game between the pipes.

“That was cool,” Lefebvre said later. “I have no idea if those guys had any idea what the game was or not. I was kind of thinking of that, I was like, ‘Does he know? And he’s coming to say that because of that? Or just appreciating good hockey?’”

That night, Team Trans and BPH met up for a long night of drinking before gathering for Game 2 the next day. The score wasn’t nearly as close, with BPH winning handily. When the final whistle sounded, Team Trans once again thanked the fans, and many of the players lingered in the small space between the rink and locker room, not wanting the experience to end.

Throughout the weekend, players discussed continuing Team Trans into the future. There’s a tentative plan to enter Team Trans into several LGBTQ hockey tournaments around North America, and encourage trans players anywhere to join — a sort of rotating roster on a barnstorming team. Each player interviewed said they couldn’t wait to skate in the blue, pink and white again.

They were supposed to get another chance soon. Team Trans had arranged for a second Friendship Series, this time traveling to Wisconsin to face off with MGHA in April, but were forced to postpone the event due to the coronavirus pandemic. But the feelings from the first Friendship Series endure.

“Hockey isn’t my everyday thing anymore, but I still love it,” Browne said. “These past two games have definitely ignited that love and camaraderie ... This was bigger than hockey for me and it was more than just a game. I was able to meet people that played my sport that were like me.”

Platt hopes that continuing Team Trans will help trans hockey players maintain their connection with the game as they work through their gender identities. She recalled what a team like this would have meant to her when she was growing up. “Maybe,” Platt said, “if something like [Team Trans] existed, I wouldn’t have quit.”

Chris Harrington

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thesinglesjukebox · 6 years

Video

youtube

KEITH URBAN - FEMALE [2.22] Now it's time to hear from a man!

Eleanor Graham: Tag yourself, ladies. I'm "broken halo mother." To be fair, if I was married to Nicole Kidman, this chorus would probably be my internal monologue at all times too. [3]

Katherine St Asaph: If you respect women so much, could you give them more than some suspiciously breathy and wordless backing vocals. The future is feeble. [2]

Anthony Easton: That a song so patronizing, so absurdly dumb, and so loathsomely contemptuous of women seeks to be performed by a man who wants everyone to know his virtue is bad enough. That it was written by CMA/ACA award winning Nicolle Galyon just adds lazy complacency onto the whole disaster. [0]

Will Adams: I suppose we were overdue for another entry in the "Accidental Oppressor" series. To Keith's credit, his song isn't six minutes long and is at least modeled on an interesting albeit questionable concept: "What if 'Bitch' were written by a man?" It's got the clumsy handwringing you'd expect as well as some bizarre notions of sexism -- is "Adam came first" an actual argument, or is it only there to earn the "hey girl" punchline of "is he saving the best for last?" But the worst feature of "Female" is the anonymous woman's voice, played by Nicole Kidman and co-writer Nicolle Galyon, threaded throughout. She's pretty, nondescript, unquestioning; she's just there to reassure Keith and his male listeners that their surface-level understanding of misogyny is fine and that they're the good guys. [2]

Katie Gill: That chorus is the world's weirdest game of word association imaginable. Is there something that I'm missing? How are "technicolor" and "holy water" even associated with women in the first place? Still, I've got to give Urban credit for at least calling out the "she asked for it" bullshit, even if he manages to do it in the weirdest way possible, and ends his chorus in a remarkably out-of-touch way. Tip for ya, Keith: nobody calls women "females" unless they're a certain type of MRA red pill m'lady Reddit-dwelling neckbeard. [5]

Alfred Soto: The arrangement has a tick-tock simplicity, and Keith Urban doesn't cover the words with syrup -- but what words! No matter his sincerity, "Female" comes from another era of country songwriting, an era when "female" remained a louche noun and men thanked god Almighty for Ma and the missus. [4]

Stephen Eisermann: I've always believed that the best way to be an ally to a marginalized community is to listen intently to the community and speak up for them when they are being victimized; however, you are to never speak over. This feels very "speak over." It sounds like a man who wants to fix everything for women everywhere, but doesn't want to know what they want because he knows "the best" way to fix their problems -- and that's just plain unhelpful. Also, lol at "Technicolor." [0]

Josh Langhoff: Mexican banda singer Edwin Luna is overzealous in re: female modesty, but here are five ways "Un Aplauso," his banda's recent ode to The Female Gender, is superior to this shite. 1. Luna's song has horns. 2. Not sure how both songs fare in the Willis test, but at least "Un Aplauso" is upfront about its desires. Like, literally; Luna shouts out himself and his banda at the beginning of the song, which unexpectedly makes the whole thing less icky than whatever Urban's trying to do here. 3. Luna sings like he's thinking of a couple actual women he's met, and not like he's emceeing the poetry slam at the Gethenian sex museum. 4. WTF does "holy water" have to do with any of this? 5. Luna's video features a live birth. If Urban coulda pulled that off on the CMA stage, I might up him a notch. But the more expedient option might be for both of them to shut up. [1]

Jonathan Bradley: I first heard about "Female" when its release was reported by the kinds of websites and television comedians that don't have much of anything to say about country music unless someone's done something stupid. After reading these outlets' transcription of "Female," I had to check in with a credible lyrics site to confirm I hadn't been duped by an elaborate practical joke. Keith Urban's new song isn't a lumpen but well-intentioned attempt at Male Feminism -- that's "Shattered Glass" -- it's a stocktake of signifiers snapped in the soft-hues of a homewares brochure and catalogued by a befuddled onlooker who tallies his observations with a biologist's remove. Oddly, the writers include a woman (Nicolle Galyon) and a man who has written a number of nuanced and resonant songs for women performers (Shane McAnally -- though he did also write "Different for Girls"). A few years back, I suggested that "God Made Girls," another country song with a reductive view of femininity, plausibly insisted some people could find power and value in its conservative interpretation of gender roles. Urban's song is liberal in intent, but is there room within its ephemeral free-association for anyone to find anything? Apparently yes, but they deserve better: in this week's Billboard Hot Country Songs chart, the highest spot held by a woman is number fifteen. [3]

[Read, comment and vote on The Singles Jukebox ]

#Keith Urban #Female

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knightofbalance-13 · 7 years

Text

http://dudeblade.tumblr.com/post/166151533694/some-of-my-personal-thoughts

Kudos to anyone who can hype themselves up for volume 5, because after how much of a letdown volume 4 was for me, I donâ€™t want to risk myself getting disappointed. It made me get angry at aâ€¦ certain part in volume 4, and overhyping myself probably isnâ€™t going to be good for my health.

I don’t buy this for a fucking second: All you’ve done is lie and ignore facts just so you can claim to be disappointed and shove your agenda down people’s throats. You want to be disappointed so you can berate the show and as you have shown, you’ll do anything to keep up that narrative.

In all honesty, you should just go to one of the other toxic fandoms like Voltron or Steven Universe: At least the people there know not to take your ass seriously.

Look, these guys have made a name for themselves. As much as people would like to think that Roosterteeth is this massive company, theyâ€™re still just an indie company with a (relatively) small amount of people, and not a whole lot of effort going to the right places.

And yet you set up standards that not even big budget shows with large groups of people and massive companies backing them could live up to and when someone calls you out, you throw a hissy fit. Remember when I pointed out that RWBY was doing just as well as shows like Korra and such despite the numerous disadvantages the show has? You threw a hissy fit and lied throughout the whole thing. And yet you think I’ll take this seriously? The way I see it: you’re starting to get it through your fucking skull that your voice is not only a part of a vocal minority that is growing more despised everyday but said voice is being exposed in their bullshit and their credibility is tanking.

Boo fucking hoo.

Red vs. Blue was their first project. They told so much with so little. They didnâ€™t have famous voice actors or fancy fight animations, they just did it in a Halo engine. I explain this because, if it hadnâ€™t been for this, they would never be as big as it is now.

You talk as though RT only got famous off the work of another. Red Vs. Blue succeeded because it was funny and endearing and is still followed and loved to this day due to years of fantastic comedic timing and writing. And if I may point out: The only redeeming factor about RWBY was it’s action scenes in the first Volume. It only survived because of the action scenes which gave them enough time to develop and grow.

Nobody wants to see the same repetitiveness that is coming out of their (relatively) new flagship show. Itâ€™s starting to get a bit repetitive. Establishing character moments for characters that have already been established, introducing characters when we already have enough characters who donâ€™t have enough development. How long until even the most dedicated fan gets tired of the same old â€œJust wait! Youâ€™ll get your LGBT+ Representation. Trust us!â€ and joins the overly critical part of the rwde tag (Which is basically just the crtq tag to be honest (HEY-YO!))?

Never happened. Characters were never reintroduced that way. Seriously, name one instance.

While I might agree with that: The RWDE tag has proven time and time again they don’t know what the concept of a “one off” character is. Characters like CFVY, NDGO, SSN and so on have been cited as characters without development when they were never meant to be developed at all.

And what do you say about fans who have stuck this long? Weiss rose? hawkeyedflame? They are all examples of long term fans that go against you rnarrative. What does that say when the few who do leave do so for petty reasons like the setting changed, the show got darker or that a character died?

Gee, I don’t remember the last time anyone using the crtq tag sucide baited someone. Or lied, Or misinformed. Or attacked the creators. Or attacked someone for having a different opinion. Or showing a lack of human decency. guess you couldn’t stand there being a better version of you out there huh?

How much longer can this keep happening? Itâ€™s starting to feel as if they donâ€™t want to plan ahead. The recent Yang Trailer fiasco being enough proof. They could have had done all the trailers a month ahead of time so that we could have time to let it sink in, and talk about it and stuff. But instead, weâ€™re jumping right into it, then getting the official Volume 5 trailer right after. This scheduling thing is starting to become a bit of an issue here. They seem to write things without thinking ahead of how this would play out.

What fiasco? The trailer isn’t even out yet and mind you, the ORIGINAL trailers were spaced the same way. SO if you had no problems then, you should have no problems now.

And considering the RWDE tag talks about shit like the “asset stealing” and Shane’s Letter like their hotcakes: you don’t care about that kind of discussion. And considering it takes the average trailer a day to be dissected and reviewed by everyone: Its life span isn’t as long as you claim it to be.

â€œHey! How should we write this scene here?â€

â€œThe one where Blake is about to open up to her parents?â€

â€œYeah, actually, we didnâ€™t have the time yesterday to write what she was going to say, can we have Sun interrupt her instead?â€

â€œSure, I guess. What should it be for? Important information? The White Fang are there, maybe he saw something-â€

â€œNo. Just have him use some excuse because heâ€™s eavesdropping. We have this hilarious joke planned out where Blakeâ€™s sister-â€

â€œMother.â€

â€œ-Whatever, does the exact same thing. Itâ€™ll be funny!â€

â€œWait, you had the time to plan that, but not the time to figure out what Blake is going to say to her father? Why not ask Arryn? She knows Blake inside and out. Maybe she has some suggestions.â€

â€œWhat? And have her cut into my-â€

â€œOur.â€

â€œMY writing pay? HA! No thank you!â€

â€œAlright man. Youâ€™re the head writer.â€

â€œYeah. Yeah I am.â€

One Week Laterâ€¦

â€œOkay, so how about we have Sun try to explain that he had valuable information about the White Fang-â€

*THUNK!*

â€œWhy do you have your head on your desk right now?â€

Except if you look at what Blake said in EPisode 11, you’d know from the context of both conversations that what Blake said to Sun about leaving her team because she didn’t want to hurt them (You know, the question ghira asked) I her answer. And if ypu paid any attention to anything that isn’t a white male for you to screech at, you'd notice that Ghira and Kali have the EXACT same relationship as Blake and Sun does: Ghira being the serious, driven but socialy awkward one and Kali being the easy going, joking, social adapted one. Thus that joke is to show their paralells. If you were as critical as you say, you’d notice it. I did the very instant it happened, why can’t you?

I hope you liked my sketch of how I personally think that whole discussion went down. I had fun writing it.

And I had fun using it to show you have nno critical skills whatsoever. Keep going, you’re just proving me right. I would have also said: “Probably the same way a political party slanders it’s opponent like a group of immature children.”

And speaking of fun, I think that the writers arenâ€™t having any of it. I think they need some new blood in the writing room, and maybe get some women into their female-centered show or maybe some people who arenâ€™t white to help better portray their entire fictional race that acts as a stand-in for ALL RACIAL MINORITIES. - Iâ€™m still bitter about that if you couldnâ€™t tell.Â

Does that mean that Steven universe should kick off Rebecca Suagr because Steven is a male?

Or that their shouldn’t be a single male writer for MLP?

Or that characters like Tex and Carolina should have never been made because RvB is male centered?

Or that Monty, a man, shouldn’t have made a female centered show at all?

See, when you automatically assume that only women can write women and vice versa, not only do you limit what a creator do as well as spit on RWBY’s message of freedom of expression but it also implies you think that women and men are entirely different and that they can’t share any personality traits or experiences or anything the other gender. Which is basically the definition of sexism: Same thing goes with the race thing. And funniest thing is: Both women and racial minorities disagree with you so you exposed yourself as a racist and a sexist for nothing.

How much longer can the fanbase be baited for the representation that they outright promised several times? I mean, have you seen the notes section of this post for their Q&A? Thereâ€™s a split between the people who are (rightfully) pointing out that they said this last time, and still havenâ€™t delivered, and others who are basically saying â€œThey said â€˜yes.â€™ Now shut up!â€ How much longer can they keep this up? How much longer until even their most die-hard fans start to question them on their ability to write a character in the LGBT+ community? At this rate, I donâ€™t think it can last for very long.

So the side that ahs attacked them numerous times while demanding they make a Mary Sue while demanding it e clevery written is better than the side that respects the creators wishes and treats the as human beings? Because considering you have used LGBT people despite not being LGBT: You shouldn’t be one to talk.

And there you go again, putting yourself. You do seriously think that every LGBT person who watches RWBY watches it for an LGBT character and not the animaton, the music, the characters and their personalities, the plot or the world? Because if you do (and considering your history, you do): You think every LGBT person thinks the same way, acts the same way and wants the same thing. That’s homophobia you idiot. Congrats on seeing nothing but their sexuality and disrespecting their individuality.

Look, these guys seriously need to either get their act together, or someone needs to create some competition major for them. Itâ€™s getting obvious that they can be lazy with how theyâ€™re scheduling things because thereâ€™s no other American-Made Anime around to compete with them. If someone can create a show that can compete with RWBY for a Streamy, then they would be forced to improve and take harder criticisms.

Except that even in Japan, RWBY is booming even with conpetitors like My hero Academia, a Shounen anime written by a guy taught by the writer of One Piece, and Dragon ball Super, the successor to the anime that BIRTHED SHounen as we know it. It has been acknowledged by the creator of Blazblue of all people And that’s all with an admitted shotty translation. So what’s your excuse for that?

And by harsher criticism, you mean your personal opinions you want to force on the CRWBY. Because not once have you made a critique that wasn’t riddled with misinformation, edited parts and even outright lying all while even admitting you have a personal bias. You don’t care about RWBY: You just want to control.

Itâ€™ll be a win for everyone. Rwde will finally tone it down a notch because their voices are being heard and taken into bigger consideration, anti-rwde will calm down due to initial rwdeâ€™s calmness, fans will see improvement, and the actual show will improve. The show has to improve. Because if all itâ€™s going to do is introduce new characters to avoid giving development to ones that need it (Sage and Scarlet), then those characters may as well just be killed offâ€¦ I hope to every single God that I didnâ€™t just give them an idea.

Except RWDE doesn’t deserve to have their voices heard. You’ve all done irredeemable shit to the point I salivate at the thought of the LGBT character being introduced so I can indulge in my sadism. You’ve all shown a disturbing lack of human decency and respect to the point you think it okay to suicide bait people and use the dead for your own purposes. You lost the right to have your voices heard a long time ago: to the point you’re finally understanding youll never be heard so you pull this bullshit to manipulate people into hearing.

Well, let me say: You could start apologizing right now and continue until the end of Volume 9 and you wouldn’t be forgiven so nice fucking try.

#rw/de bullshit #dudeblade

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getseriouser · 5 years

Text

20 THOUGHTS: Bugger

FAR too many assumed we’d be having the biggest grand final in over 30 years this time last week

Half-time Friday night we all thought we’d got it wrong but alas regular programming prevailed and they then expected Saturday to be the breezier of the two prelims .

Yeah nah.

Now we have third playing sixth in a Grand Final no-one saw pre-season, mid-season, to start the finals or even last week when it was a one in four chance.

Expect the unexpected they say. And they are usually right on that.

1. Tigers just win, by five goals plus. As soon as that siren went Saturday, and thousands of male Collingwood supporters suddenly sprouted innies, thousands of Richmond fans grew really firmly in the trouser knowing it was only the expansion kids ahead of them next week now. Giants have won two games by under a kick in the dying minutes, once lucky, twice you’re kidding yourself, three times though, yeah nah.

2. Actually, lets knock out some Brownlow before getting back to the on field. Interesting year, probably the greatest field of live chances going in for some time. So much analysis available these days that someone out there will get it right but about a dozen others, whilst looking super schmick with their spreadsheets and formulas, will be way off. This column has no idea although liked Fyfe for a while. Gets 2 or 3 votes in each Dockers win. Nice platform.

3. Otherwise, three randoms to watch – Boak, Yeo and Treloar, could easily podium. And a real smokey from the clouds? James Worpel. One for the exotics.

4. Back to on field, let’s go back to Friday. Cats missed a Scott Selwood type in the midfield. Getting ahead was one thing, and they did that well to their credit. But when it got tough in the second half, when the Tigs were coming, they lacked grunt and determination like the Giants showed in the final term Saturday, to get the job done. And to be honest its plagued them since the bye too. Can look flashy, can score, but when it needs to get ugly for 15-20 mins, think back to the first half of the first final too, no dice. Kinda like when its past 2am on a Bucks night, usually phantom, usually pass out, usually Ryan Babel.

5. Alrighty, Saturday. Yikes. Wet weather clearly didn’t favour the Pies. No excuse but it mattered. Why? Well would you like to know who trained in a down pour midweek? The Giants, in their main session. Probably the best training session in that football history given the conditions that eventuated.

6. So – and thanks to Rohan Connolly for this, who I’m shamelessly stealing from – between 2008 and 2015 only one Qualifying Final winner of 18 lost a prelim final. The last four years where we’ve had a pre-Finals bye, it’s a 4-4 record. Look at the Pies, didn’t turn up until three quarter time, the Tigers at least turned up after half time. Plus last year, the Pies had no right in their matchup with the Tiges and jumped them something shocking in that first half. Might be something to it. Might not be wrong, but there’s something to it.

7. If you look at the Pies, Tigers and Giants, on balance this all looks about right. Richmond since 2017 probably deserve at least one flag and a go this weekend at a second. The Giants these last four years probably deserve a Grand Final appearance for their body of work. And Collingwood these last 18 months, a toss of the coin Grand Final result probably sits about right for them too.

8. Difference between Richmond and Collingwood? One covered their injuries a lot better and was better set up for the pointy end as a result. Injuries aren’t the reason the Pies lost Saturday or that they would have been underdogs to Richmond had they won, but it’s the reason Richmond has a better list and is likely to win a second flag in three. Case in point – Richmond’s reserves win the Grand Final a week before their Seniors probably win as well, the Collingwood reserves didn’t even make the VFL Finals.

9. Bucks getting questioned a bit in the media, ‘oh, that’s 22 years now without a flag, ho hum indeed’. Relax. On that basis we should give Bob Skilton a call, interrupt his midday movie to let him know despite his three Brownlows and everything else he means to South, his Hall of Fame Legend status is getting revoked coz he never won a flag. And that his spot will be taken by Tom Barrass instead, because he has actually won one. That Buckley hasn’t got a flag isn’t news, it might be factual but its not a story. The idea that obviously would clearly yearn for one is also factual, but not a story. Please be serious.

10. Matt De Boer was excellent on Saturday but then again the Collingwood mids weren’t requiring a tag to be kept quiet. Does he got to Dusty and try and ruffle him again like he successfully achieved last time in Sydney? Won’t matter, Martin goes forward and kicks four on him in that case. Whether Martin gets shut down in the midfield by De Boer or not won’t prevent a Tigers’ flag anyway, lets not bother about that discussion all week.

11. Norm Smith tip – no Tiger is in better nick than Shane Edwards, otherwise Bachar Houli for a little value with you preferred corporate bookmaker. But Titch onball will be as dangerous for Leon Cameron as nailing your Tinder date in Bali. You better put a clamp on that otherwise you’re in big trouble.

12. Marlion Pickett was BOG in the VFL GF yesterday. We know that the Tigs have held over Jack Ross and Kamdyn McIntosh in lieu of the incredibly-stiff Jack Graham being doubtful to get up for Saturday. But back on May 28th we said this lad, who was playing for South Fremantle four months ago “would be best 22 by year’s end”. We’ve left it late but whilst McIntosh might be the safer play, Dimma will go very close to debuting the Western-Australian in the hope his mercurial style might just be perfect for an occasion like Saturday. If he’s picked, remember where you heard it first. Or read it first, even.

13. Presume Kevin Sheedy is on standby to present the cup to Phil Davis and Leon Cameron should the Giants salute, the link to Richmond notwithstanding. The GWS best and fairest is the Kevin Sheedy medal, and unless you’re looking to Chad Cornes or Izzy Folau it has to be Sheeds. On the Tigers side, I think about Dale Weightman, otherwise Matty Knights or even Chris Newman if you want to go more recent.

14. So yes, Richmond has been the pick for a while and it remains the pick. They are beatable though. Last four games their opponents all had strong chances they didn’t take. Eagles down here, in the wet, stuffed it and lost by a kick. Brisbane the week after got spooked but did a lot right but too late. First final, Brissy again, they kick straight they’re in it up to their eyeballs and then Geelong was leading by 21 points at half time, kick straighter its over five goals and the Tigs are staring down a repeat of last year. They’re not invincible, but it was only ever going to be a hot Essendon or hot Collingwood who stood a chance this finals series. Yet the Bombers lasted as long in September as Saturday Night Rove and then the Pies made a mess of it like The Veronicas on a Qantas flight.

15. This column gets it right far more often than most and has banged on about the Clarkson-assistants theory for some time. This week’s Grand Final coaches, both ex-Hawthorn assistants. It will mean that after this weekend the last seven premierships will have been coached by Al Clarkson or one of his ex-assistants. Incredible. By this column, that is.

16. More people in Sydney watched the Giants on free to air Saturday afternoon than people in Melbourne watched the Storm on free to air that night. What do we make of that?

I love Victorian footy as much as the next Ted Whitten. This column still lapses occasionally and refers to Fitzroy instead of Brisbane, and it’s only been 20+ years. And whilst this column’s position on the Gold Coast experiment is well documented, the idea of a team in Western Sydney has always made sense to me. The population out there alone is more than Perth, Adelaide and Geelong combined.

So to see GWS successful, largely on their own merit now (Gold Coast with the same concessions stuffed it, and you didn’t see Toby Greene playing on Saturday did we), is a good thing for the comp. Leave Gold Coast and Tassie aside, mind you.

17. Speaking of Victorian footy, can we just kick the AFL reserves team out of the VFL into a legit reserves comp, and let Williamstown and Port Melbourne and Werribee actualy duke it out for a proper VFL title? Williamstown are long-storied VFA club who were looking for their 15th flag in 155 years of history. They lost to a team who sat out two of their players because they might be needed this coming weekend in a different comp. Don’t like it. Split the AFL reserves from the VFL. And the SANFL…

18. Great to see Glenelg, another historic club in this country, win its first flag in 33 years. And yes they were playing Port Adelaide, their biggest rival, but half the opposition Sunday were Port Adelaide’s reserves, not SANFL players, so it’s a similar story. Great for the Bays to get up, but let the SANFL Magpies be just that, and then Port and the Crows can have separate reserves teams playing reserves footy.

19. Speaking of Williamstown, feel for Willie Wheeler. Just a knockabout VFL footballer who had the win on his boot twice in the last term, so to lose by under a kick is devastating.

20. Still not bothered by trade chatter. It’s all glorified brainstorming and suggestion permeating from the Herald Sun lunch room. When something remotely close to an actual story emerges I’ll get interested. Until then I’ll pass on Ralphy and Sammy and Jay-Z getting far too eggplant about what boils down to guesswork or stuff they dreamt about the night before when their partner slept at her friend’s house once again.

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dontbeallupinmyfriesdawg · 7 years

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A/N: Again for Angie @thetourguidebarbie . This sucks I’m just warning you and on top of that it’s super long but I hope it’s at last readable. Part two to this. (Background Klaroline)

The difficulty with Jeremy is that he’s so fucking contrary. You tell him to go left he goes right. You tell him to head straight he goes right back the way he came. Tyler likes to think he’s reasonably perceptive, sure he’s no Sherlock Holmes but he can tell immediately that Jeremy doesn’t like him. After all, he’s a jock and pretty decent looking if he says so himself. He’s spent the majority of his life having people at the very least pretend to like him. Even guys on the team he was enemies with would plaster on a smile if If Tyler announced an after game party at the Lockwood mansion and cracked open a keg or two.

Jeremy is an entirely different kettle of fish. It’s very obvious that not just him but most of the art class were silently judging him and wondering what the hell he was doing there the moment he walked into the room and the guy who was apparently not their teacher Shane, barked at him to hurry up and find a seat. Even when everyone else had lost interest and had stopped gawking at him he could still feel Gilbert's eyes lingering on him. Burning into a patch of skin on the side of his neck and when he turned to look; sure enough, there Jeremy was, staring.

Jeremy’s soft, brown and watchful eyes are disconcerting, to say the least. He hates the suspicion Jeremy puts him under, especially when they start Mikaelson’s stupid project together. It’s like being in the 4th grade all over again, back before he started doing team sports. Back before he knew how to share or be remotely nice to anyone who wasn’t Matt and wouldn’t put up with his crap. Back when most people only knew him as the Mayor’s, spoilt, knuckleheaded son; whom they expected to be involved if something went wrong. That’s what Tyler felt. Jeremy’s lingering expectation every time they were in a room alone together. Like Tyler was going to drag him into a bathroom and give him a swirlie at any given moment.

Tyler knew full well that Jeremy had expected him not to even care about the project in the first place and leave him to do all the work. What Jeremy didn't know is that he could never even if he wanted to. Mikaelson would know for sure and between them, they had a sort of unspoken deal which Tyler both resented and was grateful for. See, he actually enjoyed art. He sacrificed a lot for it considering it’s a class he takes twice a week, with a teacher who he (and most people) hate; he's only marginally good at it and having to put up with whatever Jeremy’s problem is every time he gets anywhere near the guy.

But having his father more of less disown him because of his choice to do something other than play college football and goof around for the rest of his life or become a politician and well… goof around for the rest of his life; was about so much more than just a college degree. It was about being able to make his own choices and actually live the way he wanted instead of being around trapped under his father’s thumb. The good news was, that his parents had already liquidized his trust fund and any other bonds from relatives, stuffed in his pocket on his birthdays (instead of actual useful gifts that a child would use) and he also had his life savings. The bad new was not only did he have to live off of just that but he’d also have to pay off a massive wad of student debt one day since his father point blank refused to pay for him to study (in his own words) some ‘airy fairy subject, for pansies’.

Save for his lack of funds, it didn’t bother Tyler in the slightest that his dad hadn’t so much as called him to see if he was still alive since he’s left for Whitmore. What did sting, however, was that he hadn’t had a single conversation with his mother since October. A rushed phone call where Carol had been very obviously trying to keep her voice down (presumably so as not to wake his dad) while rushing through motherly small talk (“Are you eating?” “How is the food?” “Have they put you to stay somewhere decent?”) which was followed by a long pause and a tearfully whispered “I love you,” before his phone went dead. Even now he can’t be certain whether he dreamt it or not. In the end, he reasoned that couldn't be angry with his mother. He understood that it wasn't as easy for her to escape as it was for him.

Circumstances considered, he’d began rationing his meals and only eating and drinking the bare minimum in order to keep himself from passing out, so as to save money. It got so bad, that Tyler would only agree to attend parties just to get his fill of the mandatory snacks that were laid out at the host's house and almost always never eaten, only to be bypassed in favor of the alcohol sitting next to it. If Tyler was feeling really desperate he stuffs some of it in his pockets or his knapsack and live off the junk food he managed to collect for the rest of the week.

Because Whitmore was in the ass crack of nowhere and all the jobs on campus were taken, the only work he could find was at the only gas station for miles and it was a night shift. The days he didn’t have classes were fine. He slept in and his roommate Chris - whom Tyler was certain was some sort of angel sent from the gods - was quiet and possibly the least obnoxious person Tyler had ever met, plus he never asked Tyler his business. The days he had class, however, were a nightmare. He was almost always late and ended up falling asleep halfway during whatever Mikaelson (and occasionally Shane, if he bothered to come in) were saying. Of course, Mikaelson had noticed and would routinely threaten to kick him off the course.

For once in his life though, wasn’t as if Tyler didn’t care but since his fifty something boss at the gas station refused to give him earlier hours his hands were tied. In all fairness, he gave in his assignments (albeit late) and along with Jeremy and about two other students in the class, Mikaelson did not appear to completely hate what he produced.

That didn’t prevent the conversation that occurred about three weeks into the second term when Tyler woke up from his sleep to find the art room empty and Mikaelson hovering over him wearing less than amused expression. In his hands, he held up a piece of paper. In Tyler's lethargic state, he squinted up to read what it said but Mikaelson slammed it down on the table before he could get the chance.

“Dude,” Tyler complained shoving his fists against his eyes and rubbing the sleep away.

“Give me one good reason I shouldn’t kick you off of this course,” Mikaelson snapped in return, his glare steady and unwavering. “And make it convincing, ‘dude’”

Tyler blinked down at the letter on the table which read: ‘Request for student study termination’. He let out a long suffering sigh and regarded Mikaelson with an expression of defeat.

“If kicking me off is what you want to do then there’s nothing I can do to stop you,”

Mikaelson narrowed his eyes at him for as moment before pulling up a chair and sitting down in front of him.

“You enjoy taking this class,” He didn’t phrase it as a question.

“I guess,” Tyler nodded.

“I don’t make guesses Lockwood. I make educated assumptions based on talent and dedication. Surprisingly enough, you’ve got the talent and I suppose the fact that you’re even bothering to drag yourself here every week and snore and salivate all over the desk instead of in the comfort of your own dormitory, shows some form of dedication.”

Tyler just blinked at him and decided to ride it out just to see where Mikaelson was going with this.

“I’m giving you an extension on all assignments I give out, with the proviso that in your own time you complete any work I’ve set during class that you’ve slept through, are we clear?”

Tyler knows better than to ask why. Even if he’s dying to and simply nods his head and gets the hell out of here before Mikaelson’s coffee high wears off and he changes his mind. Sure it means he’ll have to sacrifice some of his precious sleeping time during the week but at least it’s something. The next day Mikaelson stuffs a finance form in his hands. Apparently, even though Whitmore doesn’t have a football team, they have a track team who are taking late applications for scholarships. Which means bye bye to crappy midnight shifts at the gas station.

Somehow he’s still tired like all the time but since he’s not working crazy hours and is actually having fun and making friends, it’s actually starting to feel like he has a life again. Tyler doesn’t feel that familiar sense of rage just bubbling under his skin like anymore - which may have had something to do with not seeing his father in two months - and it feels good.

He get’s kicked out of art class and his scholarship is revoked and he has to fly back to Virginia and grovel at his father’s feet just to move back in the house. He doesn’t have any plans for the future, he has no idea what he’s going to do with an art degree or where he’s going to live after college or do to pay off his debt (male stripping was starting to look appealing) but at least if he’s still in school he has time to figure it out.

Which is why he wasn’t going to let Jeremy and his I-was-alternative-and-edgy-before-it-was-cool attitude prevent him from achieving the only thing that Mikaelson requested of him in order to keep his life together. So he puts on his grown up hat and decides to be the bigger person in the equation (although in real life Jeremy’s got at least half a foot on him which bothers him to no end) and resolves not to allow himself to be irked by Jeremy’s sarcasm or snide comments or those little smirks that appear on his face when something inexplicable about Tyler amuses him for whatever reason and just get on with Mikaelson’s project in as little time as possible.

What he doesn’t expect is to actually enjoy himself. Tyler is downright disturbed actually when one night, randomly, Jeremy makes a joke about Mikaelson needing to attend a twelve step program for Henley addicts and he actually laughs. It isn’t the last time that evening or the entire stretch of the time they spend together for that matter. Tyler gets the feeling Jeremy is equally as disturbed by this as he is. What’s more, Jeremy's still irritatingly cautious. Tyler always has to start the conversation first so as to show Jeremy he’s not going to bite him and if Jeremy does it, he broaches the topics of conversation with caution, edging around Tyler from a distance like a hunter circling a wolf.

It’s only on the last night they have before the deadline does he actually feel like they’ve gotten somewhere.

“You know you don’t actually suck at this,” Jeremy remarks, pulling the lid of a glue stick absent mindedly.

“Suck at what?”

“Art,”

“No but you really suck at this,” Tyler retorts.

“What?”

“Compliments. Conversation. Should I go on Gilbert?”

Jeremy snorts out a laugh and they fall into a comfortable stretch of silence which is revolutionary considering a number of awkward pauses they have to endure during the beginning.

“You don’t actually have to call me that,” Jeremy speaks again.

“Gilbert?”

“Yeah, I have a name,”

“So do I,”

Nothing got on Tyler's nerves more than being referred to as ‘Lockwood’ save for during sports. Lockwood was an old plot of land on the border of Mystic Falls, Lockwood was the name of the town's Mayor and countless over pompous asshole relatives of his father he wanted nothing to do with. He was just Tyler and he liked it that way.

“I only call you Lockwood because you call be Gilbert,” Jeremy points out.

“Okay, fine Jeremy.” Tyler says rolling his eyes and glaring at him when another one of those smirks crosses over Jeremy’s face.

“You're impossible you know that?” he says.

Jeremy sighs and leans back against the wall because they’re working on the floor in Tyler’s dorm room.

“Well you only have to deal with me for a couple more hours, anyway,”

Tyler feels a pang in his chest he’s unable to explain when Jeremy says that.

Neither of them knows how to this day. But they end up working through the night. Just as they're about to call it a night they have a brief squabble about something and nothing; a minor detail that Jeremy’s convinced needs to be fixed and Tyler is pretty sure needs to be left alone. Then he has a brain wave about something when he goes to the bathroom and suddenly they’re revamping their entire project.

Because his body’s used to soaking up as much resting hours as possible it’s Jeremy who shakes him out the near coma he’s in, the next day and alerts him to that fact that they're not just late for Mikaelson’s class but it’s nearly over. Tyler feels his blood go cold and all he can think about is yelling or choking out Jeremy because this is so obviously his fault and why the hell couldn’t he just leave the stupid thing alone when he asked him to. But when he turns around and see’s Jeremy scurrying around for his shoes and his ridiculous hair that should have been cut weeks ago flopping in his face. All he sees is a kid just as scared shitless as he is.

Disturbing realization number two: not only is spending time with Jeremy not awful but he may actually like the guy.

So like the grown up that he’s turning out to be, Tyler calmly suggests that they both take a shower, separately - although in hindsight he’s unsure why he feels the need to stress that - and then go and kowtow as convincingly as they can to Mikaelson in hopes that he won't kill them both. In spite of the odds being heavily against them.

Their saving Grace is unexpected. She appeared in the form of a blonde and leggy English teacher. Professor Forbes. As they anticipated, the class is over by the time they manage to get upstairs to the loft. Jeremy starts murmuring that they’re dead and making self-deprecating jokes about the lack of people who’ll be present at his funeral. Meanwhile, Tyler is attempting to figure out a sob story that sounds anywhere near better than ‘Jeremy and I overslept, sorry’. He nearly screams at the sight of one of Professor Forbes’ trade mark cardigans he spies through the window, contrasting with the gray Mikaelson’s adorning that day.

“What are you staring at?” Jeremy hisses at him.

“We’re saved,” Tyler replies almost giddy with happiness as he watches what looks almost passes for a smile for on Mikaelson’s face as Professor Forbes gestured wildly with her hands as she spoke to him.

Jeremy craned his neck trying to see whatever it was Tyler did but eventually, he just sighed in exasperation and gave Tyler an expectant look, waiting for him to tell him.

Tyler let out a put upon sigh as if the explanation was obvious and gestured towards Forbes and Mikaelson through the window.

“Do you see that?” he asked. “That’s Professor Forbes,”

“Okay…” Jeremy said, still staring at Tyler as if he’d lost it.

“Mikaelson has a serious crush on her. He’s always in a better mood if he speaks to her before class.”

When Jeremy just stares at him he adds.

“C’mon man, this is common knowledge,”

Jeremy raises an eyebrow.

“I’m just shocked that a guy who manages to sleeps his way through every class has the time to monitor Mikaelson’s love life.”

He’s about to say something back when the door to the classroom opens and Professor Forbes walks out with Mikaelson in tow. Mikaelson spots them over her shoulder while she’s talking. The look he gives them is strong enough to turn them into stone. Professor Forbes must have noticed Mikaelson’s lack of attention because she turns around to see them both staring at the ground, looking pathetic, fruitlessly attempting to garner sympathy from Mikaelson who’s practically seething.

Tyler hears Forbes whisper something to him. But he only makes out the words “I have to go,” and “Be nice,” somewhere in there before Professor Forbes struts past them down the hall.

Mikaelson sighs and pinches the bridge of his nose a conflicted coloring his features. It’s really obvious that he wants to yell at them.

Jeremy opens his mouth to utter whatever cock and bull excuse he’s managed to conjure up while they were standing there. But Mikaelson just lets out a noise that can only be described as something inhuman like a growl and holds out his hand.

“Hand it over,” he bites out. Jeremy pulls the project folder out of his satchel and timidly gives it to him. Mikaelson snatches it and gives them a look which pretty much makes up for any screaming or profanity they were spared from. They take that as a sign and take off down the hall.

Suddenly, just like that, it’s awkward again. They continue down the hall for several minutes before either of them speaks. It’s not as if either of them has anywhere to be. Tyler’s completed any and all class notes from last lesson and Mikaelson was merciful enough not to set anything else along with the project so it stands to reason that he and Jeremy should just go their separate ways. They were never really friends in the first place, right?

However, just as Tyler is about to excuse himself Jeremy surprises him.

“I need coffee,” he states, coming to an abrupt standstill just outside of the library. “Feel like getting one with me?”

When Tyler looks uncertain he adds jokingly.

“We can debate about how many diary entries a day Mikaelson fills with sad poetry about Professor Forbes.”

There’s no logical explanation behind it. But he agrees.

About a month later his dad actually visits him under the guise of giving Tyler’s life choices a chance and being supportive when actually it turns out his only purpose for visiting was to lecture him on what a failure he is and give Tyler the chance to change his mind and transfer to Ohio State to do what he wants. He tells his dad where he can shove it and it feels great at first but then super terrifying but the good thing is that he’s not alone during all of it.

A year later he fractures his ankle and he’s hysterical that he’s going to lose his track scholarship. But someone visits him in the hospital every afternoon and brings him snacks and teases him for being such a freaking baby over a minor injury. He heals eventually but most importantly he doesn’t go through it alone.

Five years later he’s broke and living in the city. He’s a barista and still has absolutely no idea what he wants to do with his life; his roommate's a slob who eats all his cereal and leaves his art supplies everywhere and still calls him Lockwood just to piss him off. But all of that’s okay because he’s not alone. And oddly enough; he’s happy.

1k followers, send me a ship along with fic or headcanon prompt

#jyler #jeremy x tyler #jyler fanfiction #jyler fic #tvd #the vampire diaries #jeremy gilbert #tyler lockwood #fanfiction #klaroline #klaroline fanfiction #1k followers

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sugrmottas · 5 years

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why do you think people hold his cheating against blaine tho?

uhhhhh double standards???

maybe more like quadruple standards actually...

okay so like, fucking everyone in that show cheats, almost. rachel and finn both do (finn makes a fucking habit of it), so it’s not like our leads are our moral high ground. kurt doesn’t, though the whole chandler thing still squicks me out and i don’t totally remember how the mercedes/sam/shane thing went down but i don’t think she cheated either, so perhaps our secondary leads are more our moral high bar.

but let’s do a quick stroll through our main characters: quinn cheats (twice), puck helps both quinn and rachel cheat (which ties into his issues with finn more than anything i think but That’s A Different Talk), santana helps someone cheat (canonically she only helps brittany on artie, but i wouldn’t be totally surprised if there were other instances), brittany cheats (once i think?), sam cheats (once? i think? i might talk about that too here), hell tina cheats. mike helps someone cheat. jake cheats, too. so like, blaine isn’t an outlier here.

what makes him different is that we see him actively regretting it. puck, quinn, rachel and sam all show some regret over their actions but we don’t have episodes dedicated to them being sad. and i think that’s the issue, which is the worst thing -- blaine feels bad and he’s demonised for it. of course, it didn’t help that the fandom already didn’t like him and anti-klainers (which were just as plentiful as klainers back in the day) seemed to side with one boy over the other and i always saw more kurt supporters than those who sided with blaine, which like. i get. we knew kurt more, we went through his struggles with him -- we met blaine post-sadie hawkins, post-recovery, he was already well-adjusted (...ish) so there was less to grab onto if we wanted to connect with this character.

but that leads to this: blaine cheats because he’s being emotionally neglected by his partner, which isn’t a Good Thing and i’ll never say it is. but it’s not like he’s cheating for fun -- he’s alone and hurt and has tried to reach out but is rebuffed at every point. blaine cheats and immediately tells kurt (which is rare for glee actually, sam’s the only other person who came forward immediately and i think puck comes forward about rachel pretty quickly) and like, i don’t understand people who say darren criss is a bad actor (*points frantically at his emmy*) because the scene where he tells kurt the truth is genuinely heartbreaking. blaine looks fucking disgusted with himself.

and at that point, kurt’s definitely valid in pushing blaine away -- he doesn’t want to hear blaine’s explanations, nor should he have to. it’s all too new, too fresh, too volatile. they can talk another time.

except they don’t?

and that leads us to the next four episodes, where blaine struggles with his sense of self -- he doesn’t have closure on his relationship with kurt, because kurt wouldn’t talk to him. and so much of blaine’s identity is tangled up in kurt (which is an Issue obviously) that he just... loses himself. there’s definitely a point to all those metas where blaine coming to mckinley was a major step back for him as a character and we really see that here, and i think that might be where all the hate comes from? we see the fallout from blaine’s perspective, the Bad Guy of the situation (they’re both bad guys imo but it be like that sometimes) so people struggle to empathise with him. also kurt emotionally neglecting blaine was REALLY brushed over because while we only see two episodes of it (and it wasn’t shown in-depth or anything) blaine experienced at least a month of it (i lean towards more because we voted our class representatives two months into the school year but i know things are different) which doesn’t help matters.

i know people get annoyed with the “blaine probably has a mental illness” line of thought but there’s definitely something there -- kid joined 27 clubs, became senior class president and took over a nationals-winning glee club in his senior year. he was also salutatorian (i mean i’m sure he would’ve been bumped if artie and tina sorted out their issue but he still got second-highest marks in the class even if he technically ranked third). there is no way that kid didn’t have something leading him into mania (i have a lot of stock in the bipolar!blaine theory can u tell).

but if there is something there (ryan even admitted he thought blaine might have depression but there is so much more there), i think that explains his actions a lot. it doesn’t excuse them of course, but explanations are important.

anyway, people already hated blaine. this just gave them a canon reason to fire against him.

also, since i said i’d talk about it: sam cheats on mercedes in s5 and it’s shitty and our girl deserves better, but sam tells her immediately. i remember fucking nothing about how that conversation went, but it ended well. the fandom didn’t fire back against sam anywhere near as much as they did blaine (which leads us into a weird talk about how they [the fandom] will fight for kurt but not mercedes but i prefer to look it as the outcome of samcedes’ conversation was more positive), but i definitely remember people using that against him -- while people like brittany, quinn and tina got off without much flack.

(i also don’t really remember finn getting much shit over it but??? i feel like i just missed it???)

so not super sure what the fuck happened there (outside of pre-existing baseless hate for the characters but it’s not like people had a reason to love quinn pre-puck revelation so??? idk???). i do find it interesting though. i never really got why people hated blaine and sam so much when they were genuinely kind-hearted males, something sorely lacking from our tv screens at the time, but... idk, people just wanted to hate, i think.

like people blame them for the downfall of glee but lmao bitch??? that’s on the fucking writers??? chord and darren didn’t storm into the writer’s room and demand writing quality go the fuck down, chill out.

okay so rounding back to klaine again because i have fucking Thoughts on this mess: i do genuinely think that should’ve been the end of them. blaine would learn how to be by himself (which is a huge issue for him, i always found help! a way too fitting song when i took away the context-- my independence seems to vanish in this haze) and kurt would learn to take responsibility for his own shortcomings (which he never did which, thinking about it, may be why at the end of every watch-through i walk away not liking kurt despite fully enjoying him whilst watching the show) and they’d go be very happy.

i’ve mentioned my endgames for them before so i won’t talk too much about it but i don’t really think they’d ever be friends (so many fanfictions have them stay friends post break-up and??? what). kurt’s trust in blaine is too fractured and for blaine, kurt is an ugly reminder of a sad part of his life -- there’s too much history there. they play nice, of course, at reunions and parties and all that, but they never talk much. one day blaine will say i’m happy you’re happy and kurt will smile and say well, i’m happy that you’re happy too and that will be the end of it. elliott will come up and give kurt a big kiss and blaine will leave to go find sam (or sebastian? my endgames are shifting, i think). it’s not an apology and it’s not forgiveness, but it’s as close as they’re ever going to get.

#on that last point: i know sam had some weird moments in s5 #but they were really ooc imo??? so i kinda ignore them lmao #old dog new tricks is the only 5b episode that actually matters for sam n that's the tea!#asks #Anonymous

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