I’ve seen people talking about Ben potentially hiding the fact that he’s gay and pretending to have a girlfriend as well as the counter argument that it wouldn’t make sense for him to hide it from the camp fam especially Yaz knowing that they (and especially her) would accept him, but I would keep this in mind, Ben’s biggest struggle in JWCC is his sense of personal identity. He’s never really felt secure in it; we see this especially when they get on mantahcorp island and he feels as if he’s reverted back to his old self rather than the hammed up island man persona he was playing up on nublar. We do see he eventually comes to terms with being “Ben”, but obviously those problems could’ve manifested in other ways such as struggling with his sexuality (please get this kid a therapist). So while yes, he knows the camp fam would accept him if he was gay, it’s more of a struggle within himself rather than a fear of getting rejected.

puppet kids

competitive bitches just say shit that hits different

I hc wash and south (and by proxy, north) as all being ODSTs prior to pfl and one thing I really like about hcing them as such is that it adds another layer of depth to why they were all chosen to be a part of the recovery force.

ODSTs are a special forces unit within the marines, and they're generally used as force amplifiers and in high risk or sensitive operations. two such scenarios include the recovery or recapture of personal and high level assets behind enemy lines, as well as deep reconnaissance and intelligence gathering. ODSTs are also used in politically sensitive operations, which pfl was following the crash of the moi.

so basically, who better to be on the recovery force than former ODSTs who already have a background doing the kind of work that would need to be done?

this also adds to some of the tension between north and south as well imo, as while they're a great team who are capable of working together they clearly have two very different skillsets—south is not portrayed as someone who has the patience necessary for long reconnaissance missions, and part of the reason why team b failed so spectacularly is because two snipers and an intelligence operative are not a good choice for a smash and grab mission. had north been replaced with south things would've probably went way better for them, because south is actually fairly similar to wash in her "get in, get it done, get out" mentality, though where wash comes off as more methodical and is willing to take that "wait and see" approach, south throws caution to the wind and has a "we'll cross that bridge when we get there" approach.

this is probably why wash and south were (on paper at least) going to get eta and iota—south would've benefited greatly from having an ai that was afraid and anxious as it would force her to slow down and think things through more, and wash getting an ai that was happy and cheerful would force him to loosen up a bit and be less high-strung and serious.

Just something I had to put on YouTube and now all of you will see it here too lmao.

[The Guardians are playing a team sport]

Mantis: Sorry you didn't get to be on the same team as Nebula.

Peter: ...Have you ever played a game with Nebula?

Mantis: No.

Peter: Have you ever been trapped in a steel cage with a wolverine?

[Meanwhile, on the other side of the field]

Nebula, chasing Kraglin: I SAID FASTER! DO YOU NOT KNOW THAT WORD? IT MEANS "MORE FAST!!!"

..... what if it actually means something?

No, no, I'm reading in way too much into it. It's just the way it's drawn... but what if I'm on to something?

....

... hey, does anyone else notice the three little boxes on the corner of each 'puzzlevision card' in the SMG4 banner????

The only people who benefit when black people and jews are divided are white supremacists

so funny thing with your dont look back thing, nearly all the political allies of Leia and folks, generally like VERY few that we know are actually directly democratic. like Padme former job could count sorta, but how democratic MONARCHY would work.... although Darsana could be a mostly democratic on via his Senatorship. found it funny cause Bail is like assigned by the queen and padme is hers as well, which fair, Senator is a really bad term for what they are, diplomat would be the better term.

I mean, I've thought a lot about how the Senate is ostensibly a democratic body when actually there is no planetary regulation to how they "elect" their senators.

I've ultimately decided to not go down this specific route for the fic, but arguably, the Republic is...not a government. They don't have anyone to enforce their "laws." The GFFA is huge. Like, I cannot stress this enough, taking the loose shapes of government for countries and slapping it down as a framework for how tens of thousands of planets are "ruled" by a "democracy" was always, at its core, bullshit. The Empire, with it's huge military and aggressive enforcement couldn't prevent the Alliance from camping out on abandoned planets, which, we know as residents of this good earth, is more than enough space to develop multiple entire civilizations. Frankly, as horrifying as it was, the Death Star was about the only logical conclusion space fascists could come to for a total control endgame. (That or implanting chips like the clones had but whoops, the past won't exist until 15 years after the future, so...)

That isn't to say that the Republic, or something like it, wouldn't exist and serve a purpose. Having a forum where people in disparate governments agree to things like trade rules and enforce them by, say, refusing to trade with people not in the group, or at worse rates, could definitely explain a Republic sized coalition of planets/planetary systems. They could even develop things like anti-slavery agreements, taxes dues, a group of negotiators loyal to the "Republic" instead of to individual planets or systems for theoretically unbiased diplomacy.

But yeah, if you notice that Leia's views on democracy don't match Padmé's assertions from AotC and RotS(released post 9/11 guys, Anakin's character was not the only casualty of that time), it is 100% because she was going to be the hereditary ruler of a planet and had no problem with that.

Keep in mind that democracy, in many ways, is more effective the more direct it is, because even self-interested politicians have to give you what you as a majority want if they have to win each of your individual votes. But that is incredibly hard to organize and maintain. Especially because the elected officials figure out really quickly they don't want to be beholden to so many contradictory interests.

And the more indirect a democracy becomes, the more your welfare relies on the innate charity/sense of responsibility of your representatives. Yes, as people who weren't voted into office, Padmé and Bail don't actually answer directly to their people. Padmé's on a bit thinner of ice because she's appointed by a directly elected queen, so Jamillia has motive to oust Padmé if she threatens Jamillia's re-election. But Bail? Our favorite, made it through most of the Empire, stuck to his guns, initiated the Rebellion, raised his baby girl right? Yeah, no, he's a nepotism boy, and everyone would have been screwed if he didn't have the moral and ethical fortitude of mountains.

Jesus I wonder why Enid looks like she’s about to rip someone’s head off. Like girl has the straight face, lips pressed, body half turned and all.

OH this actually gives me an idea that Enid is actually really competitive. Winning games, being number one, things like all of that. She tried to hide it but when it comes down to it she is playing hard and the bitchiness comes out and the most beautiful colorful spectacular way.

ie playing dirty, the smirking, THE CURSING, tricking people, and just being smart and strategizing because she needs and will win. (Maybe it’s because she can’t transform and so she has to show herself in some way that she is still *good* or she just has so much pent up agressision from not transforming that that’s where it comes out)

But either way Enid loves games. She lives and breaths games and will try to act calm but can and will probably became a slight lunatic to win because she must win.

How the hell did this all stem from ONE picture of Enid? I don’t know, but Wednesday would definitely love seeing Enid like that. She would never admit that though, even dead her lips are sealed.

Growing up in a competitive household can really affect so much of how you view relationships as an adult. I don't think we realize exactly how our parental bonds and dynamics really sticks with us into adulthood, but if you grew up in a household where you had to constantly compete for your parents time, love, affection, or just were straight up neglected these things, then you grow up with the looming effects of the dysfunctional system you grew up with constantly interfering with every relationship you encounter, platonic, romantic, and otherwise. Your inner critic becomes that of your parents voice, constantly. Your parents got drunk every day? You're competing against the alcohol. They're telling you the substances are more important than you. They're also telling you that you are the reason they're suffering. You internalize that. Your parents yelled at you every day? You're competing against their expectations of you. They're telling you they want you to be more like them. They're also telling you you will never be "good enough" no matter what you do they will never see you for who you truly are, because they are so fixated on what they want you to be. They made you feel guilty every time you opened your mouth even for the simplest of things? You've learned that in order to survive you've got to hide the most important, wholesome, and vulnerable parts of you. And this is dangerous, because they tell you you are the problem for having these needs but it's not like these needs go away. So you look for it in other people. It opens us up for the predators and abusers who can give us that "affection" to keep us hooked. And we won't leave, because we need it so bad it's all we can get. But these dynamics are also dangerous because we grow up internalizing all of this pain thinking that every single interaction we have is going to treat us the exact same way our parents showed us how to interact with other humans as a kid. So we fawn. We pretend to be interested in people and things they like as a mirror so they'll easily like us, because we had to fawn to our parents as kids. We fight. We get loud and aggressive when we feel threatened that our control is being taken away, because we never had control as kid nor the safety to express ourselves in a way that wouldn't get us killed by our parents. We flee. We run away when our true selves are being perceived because it triggers the deeper wounds of our parents constantly cutting us off. And we freeze. We stay paralyzed in relationships that are harmful to us because we literally have no other conception of how we would like to be treated outside of competition and abuse, because this is the groundwork our parents have laid for us to know. It becomes like a home for us. And it's incredible how this is the basis of so so so many symptoms of personality disorders, that we very rarely get talked about from therapists and mental health awareness up until very recently. This is why trauma informed therapy makes all the difference in the world for personality disorders-- because our childhoods really do hold the answers for all that we've been through. And you deserve the same amount of compassion to work through these things as anyone else in this world.

You DO NOT have to have good craftsmanship to be a good cosplayer and have a great time cosplaying! But if improving your craftsmanship is something you're interested in, you may benefit from learning a bit of creative theory. In this video, I've simplified this very broad topic into some starter steps, so check it out and learn how you too can "get good!"

one of my comp friends just got fucking the theory-y to ring for him

i guess theory-y just rings in IM?????? what????????? thats like having fucking lady gaga as your substitute music teacher, i am shaking?????????????