#[only•one•of•us•is•getting•out•alive] || important

[squipa]

baby, i want some of your love

aka how you healed him

———

jason todd wears glasses now.

jason never really took care of himself after dying. his body was so hopelessly out of rhythm, everything slightly wrong and out of place. his bones creak underneath his skin, his muscles, which had nearly rotted and decayed, could never quite figure out how to relax. sometimes he’d forget to breathe, or blink, the actions no longer involuntary, and before you? he didn’t have it in himself to care. his health had fallen to the least of his worries.

but you were always so worried about him. you noticed things about himself he hadn’t even realized, how he winced when he chewed with the left side of his mouth, how he squinted at street signs whenever you went on walks, how his muscles were always tense until you massaged them into relaxation. you pointed them out, pouting whenever he’d shrug it off. to him, it was nothing, he was used to the pain, the inconvenience; he didn’t consider his own wellbeing important enough to pay any mind to.

to you, it was torture. watching the man you loved so dearly treat himself with so little care had you ruined. all you wanted for him was happiness and safety, for him to have what he had given you so freely, what he guarded himself from so intensely. he didn’t realize how much you cared until he noticed how much you finally pushed him to treat himself better.

“i scheduled you a dentist appointment.” you said, matter-of-factly setting down a few documents in front of him begging his patient history. he looked up to you, eyebrow raised, entirely confused. you answered his question before he could even think to ask it. “you wince when you chew.”

he wouldn’t say no to you. despite his disdain regarding the idea of a check up, he went. you came with him, fiercly speaking a language of medicine he didn’t understand. when he left the dentist, you gave him a lollipop. “i’m not five.” he ate it anyways, savoring the taste between strawberry-stained lips as you drove him home.

he stopped noticing when you made him appointments to get shots, or when you subtly slipped the card of a dermatologist behind the picture of you he kept in his wallet. he started actually caring about what he did to his body— gut health and all that. yes, he was jacked, his body had been built like a machine ever since it had patched itself back together in the lazarus pit, but he couldn’t remember the last time he ate a piece of fruit.

he didn’t realize how much better he felt until dick pointed it out for him. “you got glasses?” he asked, pointing to the thick black frames that sat on the bridge of his nose.

he nodded. he does wear glasses. he has silver caps on two of his teeth. he has a nice layer of body fat covering his muscles because he eats three well-balanced meals a day. he has a standing appointment with a chiropractor every other wednesday at two, and another with a therapist on mondays at one. he gets a checkup every six months and goes to the dentist every four, he’s been to the dermatologist three times in two years, he has all of his shots up to date, he takes vitamins in the morning and he sleeps at least five hours every night.

he cares about himself. he puts effort into making sure he stays healthy— and at first it was for you. only for you, to ease your constant worry about him. but now it’s second nature, your guiding hand has healed him, made him want to stay alive and healthy and whole, not for just you, but for himself.

the moment the realization washes over him of just how much you’ve given him, he rushes home and tells you in no less than a thousand ways just how grateful he is to have your love.

———

[thisliminalspacedaydreams]

Hey, so sorry to come back to beat a dead horse but. that last comment got to me

If you take care of the smallest detail in your fandom art, that's incredible. It's still free. Should be. Should remain. The comments and kudos and engagement are so, so great, but, and I don't know how to stress this enough,

YOU NEED TO ENJOY WHAT YOU ARE DOING WITHOUT THEM.

You need to be okay engaging in fandom without guaranteed feedback. Is it fair? No. Was fandom created by freaks, for freaks, who wanted to make things for each other anyway? Yes.

I 100% understand the people saying they are writing/creating for the passion and posting for the engagement, but ao3 has already changed so much that this isn't guaranteed anymore.

A lot of newer users think something's going to come out of their work... recognition, validation, opportunities, but anyone who got any level of "fame" are worse for wear: the moment your cringy (I say with love, fandom should be cringe, fandom must remain cringe, praise cringe) fandom work goes boom into the world and outside of the bubble of freaks it was meant for, it becomes content.

That content gets treated with the same terrifying detachment everything else online gets, and it's a nightmare.

I understand the (now deleted) comment comes from a place of frustration, but you're misunderstanding the point.

I am talking about the space, not about devaluing art or labor. I'm saying "this space where things can just exist for free should be protected," not "artists should never be paid."

Not everything online that requires labor should be monetized.

Ao3 (a platform for sharing should happen without forced monetization) is important and rare because it doesn't force anyone into the consumerist mindset. The only goal of ao3 is to share. That's it.

Artists absolutely deserve the choice to ask for compensation. Outside of fandom. Inside fandom? Nope (imo).

Fandom is supposed to be one of the last places where you can give something without it instantly being turned into a product or a target, and even this is dying.

But still, I fight for this stupid, amazing, NECESSARY website. Fans (whether you're makers or readers or lurkers) deserve spaces where they can enjoy and share without being trapped by algorithms and ads and money.

By the way, a lower number of engagement doesn't reflect the quality of the work.​ It depends on the fandom size, the subject matter, how dead your dove is, how alive the fandom is.

If your mindset is, "The truth is: the problem is not who wants to be paid for the work they do, because even the fan's work remains WORK, you worked on that work, you used your time, your skill, you spat blood etc… Nope, YOU are part of the problem, normalizing free work instead of normalizing a salary for artists", then as I so eloquently put it before, it's NOT FOR YOU. Go seek money elsewhere.

GO seek money ELSEWHERE. Go to Tiktok, Youtube, Instagram, Google ads, the REST OF THE FUCKING INTERNET IS THERE FOR YOU TO MAKE MONEY.

Leave my free ao3 and my thousands of hours of free written creation alone.

And god forbid if I ever see you lurking in my comments again saying you have seen "embarrassing works against some noteworthy works" you don't deserve an ao3 account you don't understand what fandom is at all and I'm sorry for you.

Fanfic is a free hobby.

It's one of the last few things we can have as a society that's free. You can engage, for free. People give you things (art, stories, etc), for free.

Don't buy into the consummerism just because it's everywhere else.

You don't have to consume everything you interact with. You don't have to use things, just because they exist.

You're allowed (still, for now), to have things that are enjoyable for free.

Do you realise how insane the world is? We don't have many places where we can just be, for free anymore, but ao3 is. Did you notice we don't have ads in ao3? We don't have pop ups? Where ELSE do we not have that?

Where else can you just go and not have to wait for a commercial to be over or for ads to be on the sidelines?

I don't think the younger people understand, but the whole of internet used to be like this. YouTubers would do Youtube for free, just because. You couldn't monetise your internet presence before.

Ao3 is like a little preserved corner of the internet where the old internet used to be, and it's being attacked by people who do not understand that free things are allowed to exist without judgment.

Please don't ruin this for us.

Some of us need it.

[genevievefangirl]

Wow. So Dead Boy Detectives has been out for a full year, huh?

I've seen a couple of other people make posts like this for the anniversary, but when I sat down to write one, I initially found myself at a loss as to how to properly convey what this show means to me.

I have been in fandom spaces for over 14 years now, and I can confidently say that DBDA has changed me more than any other fandom. At this point it is *more* than just a show. It has become a major part of my life.

After over a decade of only reading fanfic, DBDA is the show that inspired me to finally put pen to paper and write my own. I never thought I would be a writer (always thought I would be terrible at it, honestly), but Edwin/Charles awoke something in me, and now I can't picture myself not writing. I have written over 100k words since June and have no plans to stop.

Because of DBDA, I have met countless new friends (both here and on discord) that are so important to me. To those of you reading this, know that I literally cannot imagine my life without you in it. You bring me joy every single day, and I hope that our relationship gives you just as much joy as it gives me.

And I would be remiss if I did not mention the entire DBDA Haunt discord community directly. Never in my life did I think I would be a mod on a discord server. Ever. But the community that has formed on there is such a happy place for me. It hasn't been perfect (god knows I have made mistakes and learned a lot along the way), but every movie night, fanfic brainstorming session, and shenanigan-filled day on there has brightened my life considerably. All of you are amazing, and we have DBDA to thank for bringing us all together ❤

So happy anniversary DBDA! Thank you to the cast, crew, and everyone who made the show what it is. Thank you for creating a show that speaks to us and makes us feel loved and supported.

And thank you to the entire fandom that has made the DBDA community what it is. If you ever wrote fanfic, drew fanart, made fanvids, created gif sets, wrote meta, commented on someone else's art, or even just hit the like or kudos button, YOU are what makes this community great. Fandom is about contributing. Fandoms stay alive because people keep creating and people keep engaging with those creations, and I plan on sticking around this fandom for a long time.

I hope we get to see more of DBDA someday. But even if we don't, it has made my life a million times more fulfilled. I love it, and this fandom, so very much.

You're all amazing, Gen💙

[shiroganeryo]

DGM 254: Allen's Helix (long post)

⚠️First of all, I’ll be tagging this under DGM spoilers so if you have somehow stumbled upon this even if you’re avoiding spoilers for Chapter 254 (or the most recent DGM talks as a whole), this is your warning to turn back now!

All images from translated chapters are courtesy of Kougeki Scans, Mangainn and Mangastream. The raws for Chapter 254 have been kindly provided by a friend of mine 😌

In the most recent chapter, we get a glimpse of a good number of people within Allen's Helix - which also counts as Lavi Sr's Helix, since they have been combined, merged into one.

But who are these people? Interestingly enough, we've already seen some of them before.

Let's take the obvious ones out of the way first:

There's a reason why "The Earl" is stated in quotation marks, more on that in a bit.

We see the group divide into two sides - Nea's side and Lavi Sr's side. This gives us an idea of their allegiance - which clan they belonged to or partnered with, Noah or Bookman.

Another thing that's important to note is that since the Helix of Life is fueled by, as described by Lavi Sr, lives touching lives, this doesn't inherently mean all of these people are dead. While death intrinsically results in returning to the Helix, some of these people might have had their life energy sucked back into the Helix but managed to survive (similarly to what happened to Allen).

Which is very interesting when we take into account the oddities that surround Cross' aging. It's also surprising to see Road in there, given that she's the eldest Noah alive who hasn't reincarnated unlike the others who were all slain by Nea 35 years ago. Mana, too, is currently alive as the Millennium Earl.

I'm not here to discuss these details, especially with how little we know about how the Helix of Life works exactly as of now, but it's something interesting to have in mind.

Bookman

The small person standing next to Lavi Sr could be none other than Bookman himself. Not only his adorably smol figure is very recognizable to us, he appears in the panel as he is remembered by Lavi Sr, his son.

(from The 253rd Night: If It Is Indeed Fate, We’ll Meet Again Someday, Part 1)

We've seen this appearance of Bookman many chapters ago, and while a lot of people theorized that was, indeed, a younger-looking Bookman, we had no canonical confirmation of his identity until recently.

(from The 218th Night: Searching for A. W - "D")

"The Earl"

It's curious that the Millennium Earl is seen here; because this isn't the Earl himself, but the golem suit. Thanks to an official DGM art exhibit, it's been known to us for a while now that this appearance of the Earl isn't his actual appearance but, rather, a suit that conceals his true body: Mana.

(from The 219th Night: Searching for A.W. - He Has Forgotten Love)

The suit and Mana are two separate entities, hence why it's important to note how both appear within the Helix as separate entities as well.

When empty, we usually see the suit and Mana separately (as in, Mana not being inside wearing it, as seen above).

Similarly to a puppet with no strings to control its limbs, the empty suit's most discerning feature is its long, dragging sleeves that omit its hands.

(from The 233rd Night: Saying Goodbye to A.W. - The way of the three)

Since Mana is there with his younger appearance, I can only assume this means Nea's side within this Helix has been affected by both Mana and the Millennium Earl, the suit representing the Earl whilst Mana represents himself the way Nea remembered him.

I've considered that golems can also have their energy sucked into the Helix since Timcanpy is there as well, but the Earl played a key role in Nea's death - it didn't happen out of Mana's own volition; it was the Millennium Earl's memory, Adam, that took over and killed (more like, consumed) Nea.

(from The 219th Night: Searching for A.W. - He Has Forgotten Love)

When we see it play from Mana's memories, he remembers the Earl as the empty suit even though the paneling suggests that the current Mana is inside, watching as his younger self holds a dying Nea in his arms, because he, Mana, and the Millennium Earl are one and the same even though their consciences are not.

Hoshino has consistently used the long, dragging sleeves omitting the hands as a visual, symbolic way to separate their consciences and identities apart: Mana, Nea's twin sibling and Mana, the Millennium Earl, host of Adam. Therefore, the suit being in the Helix together with Mana was to be expected - but it's still important to note that they represent two different entities in this context.

Other people in the Helix

There are two people who were very familiar to me in this ensemble. Firstly, the person who's standing next to Bookman:

We have seen this person before; their back was facing us, but the braid, the ring tied to its end, the clothes and more importantly, the staff, confirm it's very much the same person.

(from The 253rd Night: If It Is Indeed Fate, We’ll Meet Again Someday, Part 1)

They were grouped with Nea, Mana, Bookman and Past!Allen in this panel, hinting that this character holds great importance to the plot. The fact that they're holding the staff previously seen in Lavi Sr's possession is no small detail either - this staff has been sneakily shown in the background more than once, and we all know Hoshino loves showing important details as if they're small, unimportant things until their actual relevance is revealed.

(from The 253rd Night: If It Is Indeed Fate, We’ll Meet Again Someday, Part 1. Note the staff conveniently there but still partially hidden by speech bubbles.)

We still don't know what this staff is - if it's a weapon, a heirloom, or just something that folks from the Bookman clan own in general. I'm more inclined to think it's a heirloom because it doesn't feel like mere coincidence that this person is always depicted with the staff, and Hoshino made a point on showing (albeit a tad secretively) that Lavi Sr. also had this same staff.

Interestingly enough, in Vol 26's Discussion Room, when asked about his fighting skills and what he's most skilled with, Lavi mentions bōjutsu - a martial art that consists of fighting with a short staff (a bō); the term translates literally to "staff technique". In Viz Media's English release, this has been incorrectly translated as "cudgels".

This seems to imply the staff is a weapon, but it's also possibly a heirloom passed from one Bookman Jr to another. If that's confirmed to be true in the future, this person might be the one who was the previous Bookman Jr before Lavi Sr, or equally as important as an apprentice of sorts for Bookman.

Looking at their silhouette at first, I believed it to be a male (wide shoulders, rectangular body), but after talking to my friends and observing the silhouette on the panel below, I'm more inclined to think it's a woman (curvy, thin waist in comparison to the men's wider silhouettes).

Nothing is set in stone yet since we're unable to take a better look at them and they could still be a man, but it would be very interesting to have a former female Bookman Jr or something of the sort. And even though we still don't know who this person is, we can tell for sure that they're very important.

On to the next person. Needless to say, from this point on, everything I say is entirely speculative so please don't take it as the ultimate truth.

This man almost last in line, to me, holds a significant resemblance to a man who was present during current Lavi's birth (seen on The 253rd Night: If It Is Indeed Fate, We’ll Meet Again Someday, Part 1).

His face was conveniently omitted and it feels like a deliberate panel layout construction choice from Hoshino rather than it being accidental. It was briefly seen in another panel, albeit rather obscured:

We know it's the same man because like in the panel where his face is hidden, there's a child next to him, holding onto his clothes.

That being said, the man in the Helix also resembles this other man, who also was present during Lavi's birth and next to the man whose face was hidden:

We see his face in the next panel, as he's the one standing next to another, elderly-looking man:

And his face was shown previously in the same panel that showed the other man's face as well:

I'm at a loss for this one because the man seen in the Helix wears a bandana with long straps tied at the back of his head. While the second man shown above does wear a bandana, there are no long straps at the back, whilst the first one seemingly does not wear one and we never see his back to know for sure.

However, the choice of having his face hidden from us raises way too many suspicions for me to let him pass, and their overall features like hair style look similar enough to talk about both men.

On to the next person: the man next to Road and Timcanpy.

This is of course just speculation since we have never seen his appearance, but my folks seem to theorize this man could be Cyrus, Katerina's brother. He's briefly mentioned in The 214th Night: Searching For A.W. - Awakening.

Not much else is known about him.

And then, to wrap it up: the person next to whom we believe to be Cyrus and Timcanpy.

From the clothes and silhouette, we can safely assume it's a female. We don't know who this woman might be, but considering she's standing on the side of Nea (the Noah/Campbell Mansion group), she could either be Mother, Cross's former patron, or Dr. Joe, part of the Campbell staff in the present day.

Even though the hairstyle is different from her current one, I'm inclined to think it's Mother because of the shawl, albeit somewhat younger due to the time this event takes place; she would have been in her 50~60s or so by then.

(from The 249th Night: Saying Goodbye to A.W.)

Mother seems to be intrinsically involved with the whole thing, seeing how she not only helped Cross care for Allen when he first took Allen in, but she also knew Allen should head to the Zoogle Bookstore for answers, and carries immense guilt for what's to come, indicating that she knows very important things that took place in the past.

(This one is still, to me, one of the most impactful sequences in the entire manga: Mother, the usually unfazed one, begging for God's divine retribution to befall her just as it did for Cross for what's about to befall Allen. From The 249th Night: Saying Goodbye to A.W.)

That woman in the shawl from the Helix might not be Mother after all, but with how major her involvement is, it feels odd not to have her present there; so this assumption is worth a shot in my opinion.

As for the other people not covered in this post, they just didn't feel as familiar, may or may not be "placeholders" without enough distinguishing features, or aren't people we'll get to know in due time. Everything is possible.

As always, any and all additions to this post are welcome since I'm not infallible and may have missed something; just please keep it civil and lighthearted. And here's a reminder to take the second half of this post with a grain of salt since it's all speculation on my part!

A big thanks to the folks in my friend group who spark the most interesting of discussions and to you for reading until this point! 😊

Long time no see, and let's all look forward to the next chapter in July.

[girlacticrailroad]

friendly rivalry deep dive part 10

The end of Episode 4 is staged like a classic romantic betrayal. The lovers grow closer, emotionally and physically. They spend the night together. But just when it seems they’ve reached a new level of trust, a terrible secret comes to light, shaking that trust to its foundations.

I bring this up because Episode 4 is the one that’s drawn suspicions of queerbaiting, due to the infamous dream kiss. And I get it. At first glance it could pass for bait—it’s the only “proper” kiss in the series, happens early, and it’s not even real??

But the kiss isn’t the only thing that’s romantically coded in this sequence. Everything is.

That’s not to say the queerbaiting concerns are invalid. I also had my doubts. I remember being especially worried in the second half, when the plot drifts away from Jae-yi and Seul-gi’s relationship. If FR had a different ending, this scene could easily qualify as bait. For some it might qualify anyway.

For me, with the context that the ending provides, this dream feels like the opposite. This *is* a queer story, the dream says, and we’re meant to read it that way. There will be zigs and zags in the plot, but no backtracking. No “and they stayed *best friends* forever <3” twist ending. Jae-yi and Seul-gi’s relationship is the heart of the show, and after this episode, the attraction on both sides is hard to deny.

(For what it’s worth, Hye-ri has also made it abundantly clear that she approached Jae-yi as a queer character.)

Anyway. I’m getting ahead of myself. Because there’s a *lot* more to this sleepover than just a horny dream.

One tiny scene I failed to mention in the last entry: It’s easy to miss because it’s about three seconds long, but after Tae-joon puts on a record in his spooky white office, Jae-yi stops by the hospital and hears the music playing. What’s going on here? I think this is when Jae-yi decides to invite Seul-gi to spend the night. She seems to have reason to believe her dad will be occupied for a while, so she can sneak Seul-gi into the house undetected. This is important because she doesn’t want him to know she’s “interested” in Seul-gi—in any sense of the word. And indeed when she does bring Seul-gi over later, Tae-joon is nowhere to be seen. Ominously, neither is her mother, or her sister.

Jae-yi lives in the kind of modernist mansion that isn’t designed to look pretty, but to signify wealth. I don’t think we ever actually see the exterior of the building, but we do see the the massive imposing security wall outside. (More armor—this time for a house.) This place exists to keep money in and people out. The vibes are so alien that it comes as a shock, to Seul-gi and to us, that another living creature is around—specifically, Jae-yi’s pet dog, Je-yun.

Dog #2 alert!! That’s right, this is the first dog we’ve encountered since the first scene of the first episode, the one that turned away from Seul-gi’s dog treats. I wonder if that could be significant????

Interestingly, Je-yun is immediately associated with Jae-yi’s absent sister, Je-na. (They kind of have matching names, too, although I’d have to check the hangul to be sure.) When Je-yun comes running out of Je-na’s room, Jae-yi introduces the dog as “Je-yun, my sister.” Seul-gi is surprised to learn that Jae-yi has a sister (a human one), as this is the first she’s heard of Je-na.

Jae-yi is almost comically vague about the situation with Je-na—she seems to not know whether she’s alive or dead. At this point we can guess that part of Jae-yi’s mission might be trying to figure out what happened to her.

In this house oppressively devoid of personality, Jae-yi’s room is a kind of sanctuary. It looks like a person lives there. Her skateboards are on display on the wall, and she has a bookshelf. It’s also blue—Jae-yi’s symbolic color—and has an underwater motif. To explain the decor, Jae-yi tells a story about a time she went on a scuba diving trip, and felt at peace under the water.

Of all the moments of connection, real and imagined, that Jae-yi and Seul-gi share this episode, their conversation about the scuba diving trip might be the only one that involves zero artifice or trickery. For once Jae-yi is telling the whole truth, and you can tell her guard is down. When she lied earlier about being a Lucid Fall fan, it was a lie calculated to make Seul-gi think that she and Jae-yi had something in common. This story isn’t constructed that way. On the surface, it only highlights their differences. Jae-yi is privileged: she’s gone on trips, she’s been scuba diving. Seul-gi’s never even learned to swim, because no one was there to teach her.

But despite living completely different lives, the story brings them closer together. Seul-gi understands how Jae-yi felt. They both know what it’s like to feel alone, and they both understand the yearning to be comforted. They’ve both been so deprived of love that they’ve had to find peace in their solitude.

When Jae-yi isn’t busy planning ten moves ahead, she trips and falls headfirst into real intimacy. She and Seul-gi are similar in ways her rational mind, for all its brilliance, never even considered.

The lesson Jae-yi *should* learn from this interaction is, if she wants to make the cute transfer student her gf, she needs to chill the fuck out and relinquish some control. When they're just being themselves, they have an instant and powerful connection.

Unfortunately she shatters the moment with her own machinations. Because this stunt with the dog and the princess dress? This shit is *definitely* planned. She even finds the exact same fucking dress from the missing poster! It’s so on-the-nose that Seul-gi should be suspicious, and probably would be, if Jae-yi hadn’t been working overtime to gain her trust.

But an artificial ploy like this one can’t build a real connection. Seul-gi opens up even more, telling the story of her abandonment, but Jae-yi doesn’t relate to Seul-gi’s story the way Seul-gi related to hers. She’s held back by the role she has to play. The pat reassurances she offers aren’t given any weight by the script—these are throwaway lines that never matter again.

While Seul-gi bares herself completely, Jae-yi remains hidden.

Look at our girl. These are not the eyes of someone who is happy with their life choices. Hye-ri’s performance is subtle but I think you can see Jae-yi’s disillusionment. Her smiles are forced now, when before they were geniune. Once again, everything is going according to plan: Seul-gi has fallen for her final trap. She’s worn down all this girl’s defenses. But so what? Was it worth it?

Then she does something interesting: she admits that she lied about being a Lucid Fall fan. Is this the sign of a guilty conscience? You can almost see the idea of confessing everything flash through her mind. But of course if she did open up here for real—“Heyyy so actually I already knew you were abandoned, because I stole your records, and then I bought that princess dress from your poster online and trained my dog to drag it into my room, so you would tell me what I already know, because, you see, my dad…”—she would sound completely unhinged. Seul-gi would never trust her again!!

Jae-yi is trapped in her own web of manipulation. Her worst habits, instilled by her father, are like another layer of armor that she can’t remove, isolating her from everyone.

Because if she revealed herself and her lies...who could ever love her then?

So instead of exposing herself that way, she strips in front of Seul-gi while making some, ah, intense eye contact. I’ve seen this scene contrasted with her prologue, saying she’s symbolically taking off her “armor” here, wanting to be vulnerable with Seul-gi. I agree that she does want that, but to me this feels more like an act of frustration. Seul-gi thinks they’ve grown closer, but Jae-yi probably feels more distant than ever. After carrying out her scheme, she grows restless and starts undressing quickly, ending the conversation before it has the chance to deepen. It’s as if she’s trying to substitute that ruined connection with a different kind of intimacy. But again it’s one-sided: Seul-gi quickly looks away, flustered.

And then…..it’s dream time baby.

First of all, I have to say that a horny dream is MUCH more effective in this episode than a real kiss would be. Jae-yi coming on to Seul-gi right now, after messing with her in the extremely devious way she just did, would be fucked-up even by Jae-yi standards. It would push her from antihero into pure villain territory, while playing into icky predatory lesbian tropes. For both characters, this scene makes more sense as a fantasy.

And, as a fantasy, it’s great. This post offers a breakdown of how the dream is constructed from bits and pieces of Seul-gi’s waking life, like real dreams are. And it’s a fantasy that makes sense for Seul-gi. It’s thrilling but safe. She’s vulnerable, naked in an unfamiliar place, but it’s a luxurious and relaxing environment. She’s in water, but not submerged. She can breathe.

Water has been associated with isolation for both Seul-gi and Jae-yi. Seul-gi is first abandoned by the ocean, and every time we’ve seen her in the water since, she’s been alone.

But when Jae-yi disturbs her privacy, it’s a welcome disturbance. Sharing the water, her solitude, is new, and she’s nervous, but she’s into it. For the first time she wants to let someone into that space. And the person she wants to be with her there is Jae-yi.

When Jae-yi kisses her, she’s really into it.

This is crucial character development for Seul-gi. Up till now, Jae-yi has been pretty ummmm…….“queer-coded,” shall we say. We don’t know her true intentions towards Seul-gi, but there’s not really any heterosexual explanation for her behavior. Seul-gi has been more reserved. When Jae-yi hugged her in Episode 2, she was triggered, and clearly not feeling it. Since then she’s become more tolerant of Jae-yi’s affection, but we haven’t seen her yearning for it either. Probably because it’s been like two days, and this bitch is a lot to process.

At Jae-yi’s place, despite her scheming getting in the way, they become closer than ever. They have a moment of real connection about the scuba diving trip. Jae-yi confesses to a lie—a minor one, but still. Seul-gi opens up about her past. Jae-yi strips. Not all of this is real progress, but Seul-gi thinks it is, and now all these strange new feelings are swimming around in her brain. She’s probably been oblivious to her attraction until now. But now…?

A dream sequence fits the style of the show perfectly. The camera has shown us Seul-gi’s inner world several times already, and there’s no more efficient way to show how she’s processing these powerful emotions, especially the ones her conscious mind might be reluctant to admit. We don’t have time to wait around for Seul-gi to take the “Am I gay?” online quiz. We want to know what she’s feeling now.

But the dream does more than just tell us how she feels—it forces her to confront those feelings. When Seul-gi wakes up, it’s a literal gay awakening. She can’t hide from the truth anymore. She looks over at Jae-yi sleeping beside her and gulps, like the hopeless fucking goner that she is.

Which makes what comes next even more devastating. Having just realized she’s thirsty for the coolest girl in school, she’s now going to learn that the coolest girl in school has been lying to her face all night—and miiiiiiiiiight just be a little bit bizonkos.

She climbs out of bed, goes to the bathroom, and takes a box of sanitary pads from the cupboard. We’ve seen this box before, earlier this episode, when Jae-yi passed one to A-ra at the restaurant. This box doesn’t seem to contain drugs, though, or any other surprises.

On her way back to bed, Seul-gi notices a message on Jae-yi’s phone. She’s being contacted by Na-ri, the mysteriously missing student, who sounds frantic. Uh oh. Turns out Jae-yi might know a little something about what happened to her—and maybe a little something about Seul-gi, too?

This brings me to my final question about Episode 4: Why the hell isn’t Jae-yi’s phone locked? You mean to tell me that this girl who stores her true feelings in a top-secret offshore vault in the Seychelles doesn’t even have a passcode?

It might be pure convenience. For the next episode to work, Seul-gi needs to find the info Jae-yi has on her. She can’t do that if she has to sit there typing in every possible combo of six numbers for 73 consecutive days like she’s been attempting with her dad’s phone.

Maybe I’m giving the writers too much benefit of the doubt, but could there be some self-sabotage going on here? Does Jae-yi want Seul-gi to learn the truth? It’s hard to say, and even harder to say how conscious she might be of that desire. 

At the end of Episode 1, when Jae-yi is mean to Na-ri for no apparent reason, I said it felt like an indirect confession to Seul-gi: You might think I’m a sweet girl, but think again.

Seul-gi has seen some glimpses of that sweet side of Jae-yi, or thinks she has. But when she opens the phone, she’ll be confronted again with a darker reality. I’m not sure if it was intended, but I can imagine a world where Jae-yi leaves the phone unlocked as another kind of indirect confession, or a form of apology—or maybe she’s just careless because she’s distracted by guilt. (Or, again, maybe the writers just couldn’t think of any other way to have Seul-gi uncover Jae-yi’s secrets.)

So...was any of that sweetness real, or was it all just a cruel facade? In Episode 5, Seul-gi will start trying to get to the bottom of it.

[janejennyojeny]

Watched it today, my take is that black mirror portrays our world in an enhanced way. Subscription to stay alive will be there in the near far future. Greed is the plague of our times. Human life worth less than a buck. The part when rivermind representative introduces the couple to another premium package revealing that the most premium one's features are used at the expense of "common subscription" users time, health, wellbeing? made my blood BOIL. Such a great representation of huge corporations. I do hate billionaires I think they lack moral compass. What do you mean you have billions of dollars stacked somewhere and you use it only for pleasure, luxury or to make more money? What the fuck do you mean you hoard it just cause you can. This kind of money could change hundreds of thousands of lives, and you just sit there, at the very top, giving 0 fucks about anyone else but yourself. Moreover, this kind of money is impossible to obtain with a clear conscience - meaning that empire like that was built on the lives and hands of an army of other people who got a dogshit paycheck out of it at best. This is so crazy to think about and so, so, so depressing. We are all a part of this system and it makes me sick, we are in a black mirror episode already, open your eyes and see just how fucked up everything is. They say ignorance is bliss, the more years pass the stronger that statement becomes because the more you know the more likely you are going to loose your fucking mind at how unfair, disgusting, twisted everything is. This makes it that much harder to appreciate the small and good in the world. If we take it as ying and yang its not 50/50 anymore, I do not think it ever was. The bad is more than a half, you can see it in people you meet, in the street you live on, the news, whatever political situation is in your country, state of the earth and environment, fucked up prices of just LIVING. WHAT DO YOU MEAN THE FLAT COSTS MY WHOLE PAYCHECK? Everything is so fucked and it's getting worse each day. I would really like to stay positive but fuck, man. Sometimes it is just impossible to do, being indifferent to all that is impossible when you actually see the pain around you or are affected by it. Empathy is gone, take a random person on the street and ask them what they think about homeless people, people affected by war in the Ukraine, oppressed minorities. Ask about whatever subject that needs empathy to understand and grasp. This will tell you all you need to know. What the fuck do we do? I have no fucking idea. The urge between giving up and fighting back flips back and forth. I do not think there's that many people who feel the same way for the revolution to start. They make it so YOU FEEL SMALL in comparison to their big ass everything. If you're a threat to their big wealth you're gone. Suicide with 6 gunshots to the back of the head. You get it. People do not quite get the "eat the rich" movement. They do not know how serious it is and how dangerous that elites decide on our lives. We are nothing to them. Just a statistic. I wish things could be different. Placing this brick as an act of rebellion, talking about it to people I know as an act of rebellion. Changing people's minds bit by bit as an act of rebellion. Speak your truth even if they look at you like you're crazy. Add your fucking brick. Speak up in important matters, sign petitions, donate to legit organizations, be on the lookout for manipulation and brainwashing, minimize your damage, do not be scared, spread love and awareness, support people that deserve it, do not give your views, likes, support to internet clowns who send the wrong message. People guided by greed do not deserve respect, recognition, praise. People who seek power do not deserve it. People who put billionaires on the pedestal are delusional. "You will own nothing and you will be happy". I could go on and on but the most important thing is: fight the good fight, it will ALWAYS be worth it.

I had another 5 paragraphs to write but tumblr won't let me. I think ya'll get it.

subscription-based brain, memories stored in the cloud. making them say ads without even knowing it. slowly decreasing their awake (streaming) time unless they upgrade to the next tier, and making their current tier more and more useless..... black mirror we're so back

[majimaisms]

UMMMMM HELLO. FIRST OF ALL. IDK ABOUT YOUR WRITING BUT THIS IS 100% ACCURATE TO HIS PORTRAYAL IN THE GAMES. i will share some thoughts under the cut, i totally agree with everything you've said, i'm just building on your arguments

His survival is a moral need.

this is making me crazy. yes, absolutely, until saejima got out of prison, keeping himself alive was a moral imperative for majima just so he could give saejima the option to kill him.

i find it interesting, though, that he still fights very recklessly even before saejima gets out of prison. but i think he only pushes himself to those extremes when he thinks it's in service of a worthy cause, and this often comes in the form of helping kiryu

which also explains to me *why* kiryu plays such an important role in his life, because he's literally *another* person he can die for, and not feel like he failed saejima for doing so. because of how similar they are, how they share the same moral code, he knows on some level that saejima would approve of him dying to help kiryu

When you consider that the hannya is a spirit of a wronged/hurt woman, it makes sense that Majima follows those ideals and her sense of justice. Whatever they do to you, do it back and worse. It's only right that he allow this same justice to be carried out unto him.

i love that you've identified this as hannya morality. sooooo true. he absolutely sees it as "eye for an eye" -- if saejima lost 25 years of his life, then it's only fair that his own life gets cut short as well

I've described him as feeling like a ghost puppeting the corpse of a young man, left to die in Anagura.

i've described him as a taxidermied animal possessed by the hannya! we shake hands. he IS a ghost in every sense of the word. and i am fascinated by his relationship to his body because of this, because i think this is partly *why* he's such a control freak about it. it's just another resource to be managed for him, because he's *using* it

Majima manages it, he doesnt fall over dead, he doesn't let himself die. He keeps going even when, realistically, someone with his issues in his situations would absolutely crumble. He loses everything, multiple times and to increasing severity. The fragility of anything thst could comfort him never leaves his mind. He's always got one suitcase in his hand and he's always ready to leave or be left. But he's still alive. And he doesn't want to be.

this is so so so true and i am always baffled as to *how* he's doing it. he is genuinely so much more well-adjusted than any person in his position has right to be lmfao. but i also think this is something that makes him an excellent narrative foil to kiryu, who *also* doesn't want to be alive, but finds the solution in dying for other people. majima's love for people is what keeps him going, and kiryu's is what drives him into an early grave. and yet they both can't die, and so they are both stuck in this suicidal limbo together. and majima recognizes this in him, and tries to be for kiryu what saejima is to *him*.

it's literally majima recognizing his own values in kiryu, and trying to provide for him what saejima provides for himself: a reason to stay alive. and for people like them, even *that* has to be done for other people's sake. except majima is not like saejima, he can't *inspire* people the same way saejima does. because he cannot be open or earnest emotionally. so the next best thing is to prop himself up as an antagonist and play these stupid games instead

one of my long-standing hcs? ideas? for majima is that it would be so cool if rgg had him outlive everyone. because i think it's so perfectly in line with his arc and themes. it's literally the worst punishment for him, his worst nightmare. EXACTLY like kiryu, but where kiryu's curse is that after trying to kill himself for decades, it was his body that turned against him and did it for him, majima's curse is that after all those years of trying to stay alive for saejima's sake, he just got too good at it. he can't die. in this way their arcs would be sort of be the inverse of each other's too, where kiryu's "want to die but can't die" is the first half of his life, majima's is his second half

If you could elaborate on the health freak isms I would leave my estate and stocks to you in my will, because jeemers is, to me, the epitome of someone who survived for one reason (jeemers' being saejima (to kill him?? So normal of him)) and then, now that the moment has passed, Can't Stop Fighting To Survive even though they don't genuinely want to anymore

*rolls up sleeves* ok. so this is the main one

but there's a bunch of stuff that like... implies he's. generally hyperaware of his health especially with how *often* he brings up stuff like this. putting it under a cut bc its long

i think his obsession with exercise and having an active lifestyle is not because it lets him be a better fighter or because he's vain about his appearance, though i do think both of those things contribute to it -- i think it's because he worries about his future health. "you'll turn into a big pile of mush when you get older" like hello. are you ok. majima is all about *investment* so this is just his way of investing in himself to save himself headaches in the future. and it's not like... abnormal for a person to be conscious of this like it's healthy and everything i just. don't think majima *can* be normal about it, especially considering how RECKLESS he is about his health when it comes to everything else. it's not just the way he fights, it's the fact that he smokes and drinks like crazy too. and i think he approaches it as a balancing act, with a "work hard play hard" sort of mentality. but at the end of the day he does not live like someone who cares about his own wellbeing, and yet he takes care of his health like this? THATS not normal to me

and there's of course the. which i think hes especially weird about because he denies that he has any problems with his sight just before he says that. he's like. my vision is fine i only have a missing eyeball thats it. think im getting farsighted though. which OBVIOUSLY doesnt count as having problems with your vision, because, yknow. because it just. doesnt. dont worry about it. and he says this about getting eye surgery too

and then there's this. which

like this sounds like SUCH a stretch i know but its still interesting to me that he has a mental catalogue in his head of "health problems a person can potentially experience" ALONG WITH how to get treatment for it ("they got clinics for that kind of thing"). like hes just gathering info about that and like. its kept in a mental archive for him to access later. "i saw something on tv about that" and you remembered. because it was important to you.

similarly it stood out to me that in the first screenshots, he talks about the biological mechanism behind the health benefits, so it seems like he actually reads about this stuff, like it's way beyond a surface-level interest. (unrelated but i also thought it was interesting that he mentioned "dioxides" in kiwami when talking about climate change)

also i think these are worth mentioning here

because i think it really shows how *aware* he is of like. dangers and how he takes precautions against them. and worries about other people not doing the same. yes i know this is literally everyone in the world ever, everyone is like this, BUT. again, he's like this *despite* being SO careless about his own safety!!!! like. WHAT is going on there. it's because i think fighting is an exception for him where he *allows* himself to be reckless about this. because he isn't any other time

and i think even this line about his hair which is saying something about how *particular* he is about his appearance

*can* translate into a similar attitude about his health too, like it may seem like a stretch but when you look at the big picture he is absolutely like. neurotically *thorough* about "body maintenance" stuff

theres a lot more lines you can view through this lens of. being really fussy about his body/health/appearance. but i dont think those count as "evidence" so much as like, stuff that makes sense in the big picture. obviously lots of people who are normal about their health couldve said any of these things in conversation but the conversations with saaya end up revolving around these topics *because* majima can't stop bringing it up. so instead of seeing them as isolated lines i think its useful to think of it in terms of. what does majima *prioritize* in life, in his thinking, what does he like to *talk* about. and this is what he literally cant shut up about. so

also this is firmly in hc territory but i can absolutely see majima as like. a hypochondriac who is very strict about his diet and exercise as a way to gain a sense of control over his anxiety about his health. not to mention the "payback" aspect of it all, for the year of torture he endured in the hole where he had absolutely no agency over his own body

anyway. hope this was insightful!! also. if you want to elaborate on your thoughts about majima being someone who cant stop fighting to survive. please feel free im v interested

[into-the-milgramverse]

I wish I could also write out something about Shidou, but like, my opinions are shaped based on combination of other people's takes, and it feels as if everyone kind of just stopped analyzing him after people figured out that his crime is related to asking the families of brain dead patients for permission to use the organs of said brain dead patients. After that, no one really went to look into his character deeper, he kinda just got boiled down to as "oh, a surgeon guy", "guy with family", "guy who takes organs", "guy who wanted to be guilty sooo bad and then got innocent twice in a row".

[mothmanns]

WHY THE DOCTOR AINT TWLL ME LITHIUM CAN MAKE YOU PUKE

[spaceistheplaceart]

okay yay some people wanted to see it! so here they are :)

soo the basic idea of the AU was that Flora receives a sword that's meant to turn her into a magical girl- but Layton is wary so offers to investigate it with her. He picks it up first, and because of this he gets most of the magical power while Flora is designated to sidekick, despite her being the one meant for it.

The magic bases their appearances off of a theme unique to them- Flora's being an apple/a butterfly because 1) Golden Apple and 2) flying creatures often represent freedom or the desire for it, and after being locked up for so long she wants that.

Layton's is death, because he is a man made out of nothing but grief and pieces of the people he's lost.

These themes are incredibly important because the whole AU is basically like.... IMO Layton leaves Flora behind a lot because she's representative of a dying wish, which Layton in canon is so fucking weak to. He will adhere any dying wish, to the point where he'll kill a piece of himself to make space for it. Claire says to be a gentleman? That's his whole personality now. Randall says be an archeologist? Fuck everything else, he's that now. So Flora's father says to protect her... he will! But it's different, because she's a PERSON. He can't fully control her like his other dying wishes, and that causes him stress and also fucks with her life too. Through the the magic shenanigans he learns that despite keeping her alive, he IS failing her because her father's last wish was for her to be safe and happy... and she's not happy with Layton constantly leaving her behind and somewhat isolating her because of his weird grief complex.

By taking the sword, he took her freedom and power from her, even if it was accidentally. In addition, she can only transform if he's transformed- because she's the 'sidekick'. He doesn't even fucking want to be a magical girl he just doesn't want her to have the power because then that means she'll be in danger and he doesn't trust her!!! but he needs to learn how to.

So in the end, he gives her the sword that was meant to be hers, allowing her to be independent with her powers and use them as she sees fit, even if it's to fight off danger and get into peril. She gets a new outfit when she receives the full power, but I haven't designed that yet.

and now a bunch of unfinished sketches for this AU!

the moment they first unsheathe the mysterious sword!

He pulls the sword out of the hollow in his chest

the sword leaves a trail of blood-looking ooze wherever it slices. only when it's wielded by layton though </3

a very sad flora :(

that's the AU! let me know what y'all think im happy to discuss it ^^

who wanna see designs for a magical girl PL au i made.

i was gonna wait until i had it super formatted but.... i just wanna get it out there hehe

[arolesbianism]

Oh and to be clear with my beastieball team building I have gone into the game basically completely blind so I am just working off of what I've seen within the game for hypothetical team building

[sheisoverhere]

Peeta Mellark is an integral member of the four D12 victors. He is literally the sunset on the reaping! How is this not clear? I’ve never wanted to report people for bad literary analysis more and I’m only half joking. It has forced me to commit a cardinal sin: analyze in anger!

1. Him being chosen by absolute accident is the point. Not only does he represent every single other tribute who simply gets chosen because they live in a messed up country but he represents how even with some odds being in your favor (older siblings, merchant family, being white, being popular, etc.) you are still very likely to be victimized by the oppressive structure of Panem.

2. When Haymitch says, “But she was smarter than me, or luckier” - the luck is all the people around Katniss who created the circumstances for her to lead a successful revolution (her father teaching her to hunt, the arena having woods, Rue healing her with leaves, Thresh not killing her, Haymitch consistently giving her support, her mother teaching her aspects of medicine, on and on and on) and Peeta is the number one, most important part of her luck in the first book. She has someone in the games actively putting her life before his… are you kidding? There is legitimately no better luck than that.

3. Even if we take Katniss out of it, Peeta is so impactful as a victor because most of his scenes would not be cut/doctored. What’s there to edit out? Instead, the viewers get a full view of him loving a girl so selflessly, using trickery and strategy instead of violence, keeping himself alive through art, joking on literal death’s door, and sharing so much of himself with the audience it becomes harder for them not to see him as a real human boy. How rare do you think that is for the games? Haymitch and LGB are caricatures of themselves in the games, playing roles that flatten them down. Even Katniss becomes one dimensional on screen without Peeta (and Rue, of course). It is also heavily implied that he does not kill anyone during the games (in a straightforward way) and even if you count Cato or the girl from 8 or even foxface, it’s never him hunting them or seeking out a kill - again how rare do you think that is to see on screen for Games viewers?

4. I didn’t think this needed to be said but: Katniss dies without Peeta in the first games. a) she goes for the bow and dies in the bloodbath; b) she is hunted and killed by Careers; c) she is killed by game makers because there’s no love story angle to keep them from just burning her entirely; d) she dies from tracker jacker stings or Cato because Peeta doesn’t defend her or tell her to run… I could go on…

5. But even if she does win and wins alone - the victory means as much (I would argue less than) any other rebellious victor winning, certainly less than Haymitch’s win. The biggest rebellion for their games is that two of them win! This is legit the only thing that distinguishes them from any other sympathetic, kind child who would have won the games. Like if Haymitch or Finnick or Wiress winning isn’t jarring enough for the Games to end… why do you think Katniss killing Peeta and winning solo would be? It would not.

6. And finally, I cannot stress this enough: There is no peaceful end to the rebellion or the trilogy without Peeta. “Peeta’s a whiz with fires” (HG) for a reason! Collins, over and over, shows us how fire can get out of control and destroy even those who are innocent and who you love (Gale, Beete, Peeta’s family, Haymitch’s family). If everyone really burns, there’s no one to clean the ashes. The reason not everyone burns is because of people like Peeta who can coax the flames in a way that is nurturing and consistent. I mean…. “Peeta fashioned some kind of incubator” is such an obvious detail. Those goslings don’t hatch without Peeta, life does not go on in peace and joy without Peeta.

It is no coincidence that when Maysilee says Lenore Dove got the “jump on us all” (in being a rebel), she is referring to LD using orange paint to make protest art!

We must stop pushing Peeta Mellark out of the narrative! He is literally the sunset on the reaping!

[booasaur]

Something really amazing happened in France, and I think it'd help us in the US to learn about it. Forgive the long read, but I think this is genuinely great both because of what happened and how.

So as some of you might have seen, in a decision historians will debate for years (mostly to figure out just WTF he was thinking, even though he is alive right now and can be asked), the French president, Emmanuel Macron, currently in power and THREE YEARS before the scheduled election, seeing the far right rise in popularity decided to dissolve the assembly and hold snap elections.

577 seats were up for grabs. Remember that number. Since half of that is 288.5, 289 seats are needed for a majority.

The first round happened last week and boy, was it bad. The far right made HUGE gains. It won or was in first place in so many races. And Macron's party ended up third!

Overall, this is how things ended up after the first round:

Far right bloc: 33%

Left bloc: 28%

Macron's centrist party: 20%

Conservatives: 7%

The way the French system works is that if a candidate gets over 50% of the vote, they win outright, and some of the far right did manage that. But, many races went to a runoff.

Immediate projections after were that the far right bloc might win anywhere from 240 to 310 seats, a catastrophe.

A shameful swing to the far right leading to the first time they'll be in power since the 1940s? Yes, but maybe not??

This is where things get interesting.

Unusually, a lot of these runoffs are 3-way, instead of a simpler 2-way choice. And in pretty much every case, that helps the far right.

So on June 30th, the night of the first round, this is how things went down:

Immediately, the left parties put out the call: anywhere they were third, they withdrew and their voters would go over to whoever was running against the far right candidate. Their goal: form a "republican front" to block the far right. The far right cannot get 289 seats.

Macron's bloc was not so...motivated. Different people put out different instructions: in some places, if they were third, they should drop out, but only to help the center left, not far left, in other places, see how far you are, only then drop out, that kind of thing.

The conservative party simply said they won't drop out and won't give their voters instruction either way in races they're not involved in.

Late night developments:

More people in Macron's party are now beginning to realize the situation and starting to coalesce around whichever candidate can beat the far right one. Prime Minister Gabriel Attal, from Macron's party, says clearly the priority is to block the far right. BUT, some Macron spokespeople on TV say they'll form a coalition only with the center left and conservatives, splitting the left bloc if needed. Some individual Macronists still saying they won't drop out, even if there's no hope of winning.

Lol.

So, now July 1st:

Only half so far. In one race, where the sister of Marine Le Pen (the far right leader and the face of their movement) was leading, the third place Macronist refused to bow out.

Excellent quote from another Macronist:

Perhaps realizing the same thing, that Macronist in the race against the Le Pen sister now drops out.

In some places, third place Macronists are dropping out DESPITE Macron bewilderingly telling them NOT to?

Halfway through the day:

Of the 311 3-way or 4-way runoffs, the number is down to 135 because of these candidates dropping out: 121 Left, 56 Macronists, 1 conservative.

Oh, there was this, in case people had any doubts about how terrible the far right are:

And to show the selflessness of the left:

July 2:

The deadline to decide if they want to stay in a runoff is today.

A dozen new third place Macronists who said they'd stay in have now dropped out. One got a call from both the PM Attal AND Macron to drop out, signalling the dawning understanding of the importance of this moment.

Even some conservative party members are now backing the left candidate who faces the far right.

A Macronist who had 30.55% of the vote in the first round and came in third to the far right's 33.11% and left's 32.73% and who would have been tempted to stay has dropped out.

The deadline to stay in or not has now passed.

Look at these far right shenanigans!

Macron still being a freaking loser:

July 3rd:

In the end, of the 311 3- or 4-way run offs, only 91 left. Some polls come out that have the far right getting between 190 to 220 seats.

July 4th:

New polls say the balance of the voting itself isn't transferring between the left and center and predictions have risen for the far right, now predicted to get between 210 and 250 seats.

July 5th:

New polls again, left voters now predicted to do better transferring vote to the centrists, decreasing the far right projections again.

However, scandalous reporting emerges: while Attal was trying to fend off the far right, Macron was not only NOT taking the far right seriously, he was undermining efforts to defeat them. His team shrugged off the first round results and celebrated a BIRTHDAY as the results were still coming in?

July 6th:

A few runoffs happened yesterday, nothing much unexpected, some left and center wins.

July 7th:

The day of reckoning. At this point, the expectations are that the far right won't come close to that 289 number but could still easily have the most seats.

GUYS.

It's over and the left are in the lead!

A LOT of cases where a leftist or centrist was 2nd in the first round and now won.

Amazing:

SO many lessons to take from this.

First, you have to vote! You have to. You can't do anything without voting. The freaking French, who'll protest for anything, are showing up to vote. If you're trying to achieve any kind of result and it's not going to happen by January 2025, you have to vote now.

But just as importantly, the left and center (and even conservative) parties made very key decisions. They were all lucky that Attal, who Macron chose, saw the big picture, bigger than indeed Macron could. A stupid selfish centrist leader could have still ruined everything if it were up to him.

TL;DR: After a disastrous first round in the national French elections where the far right was on the cusp of taking power, the left and center formed a strong coalition and through the power of voting and unity, overcame the far right AND their selfish centrist president to win.

[bredforloyalty]

i had a good day i like having things to do but unfortunately i have just remembered i am insane</3

[prlssprfctn]

Jason, who starts gaslighting his family members by saying that All Blades were always a thing and that they just didn't take him seriously, once they found out about it.

Bruce, frustrated: If you yielded a magical sword in the past, I would know, Jaylad.

Jason: Jesus fucking Christ, I told you, I don't use it often, since it uses my soul. But I did mention that I have it!

Dick: You did not!

Jason: I said that Robin gives me magic! I said I *am* magic!

Bruce: That's—

Dick: But—

Bruce and Dick, turning to Damian helplessly: Your verdict?

Damian, who got already paid by Jason (price was two sneaked in rabbits): That's true. Mother said Todd had always had them. He only ever was sent to All Caste because he needed to be taught how to use it correctly. Didn't Dulcra say that you were the chosen one, Todd?

Jason, intentionally irritated: Exactly! Thank you.

The rest of the family: ●○●

Bruce, sitting in the Cave, in the middle of his 300th existential crisis: I— If Jason is the chosen one, was I technically wrong in our argument?

Dick: ...I can't believe that this is what takes you to accept that you were wrong, and not the fact that— Dunno, he is your son— And you kinda failed him—

Tim: On the more important note, should we call Jason Harry Potter now or something?

Stephanie, snickering: Jason... You are a wizard!

Bruce, sniffling: He did like these books as a child. Perhaps it was his way to try to tell us the truth.

Dick: Damn... Once we were arguing, and I told him that he had no magic... How foolish I was.

Jason, pressing phone to the shoulder, while cooking: ...And now they are staring at me, like I am about to do the whole Enchantix transformation, lol

Talia: I admit, that's amusing. Damian did a great job at supporting this circus.

Ra's voice on the background: Enchantix? What is it? Had that boy found ANOTHER magical device plot?!

Talia: ...Do you think I am too old to pull the same move you did on my father?

Jason: Nah, it is never too late to trick your dad. Get his ass.

Talia: You are absolutely correct.

Talia, screaming to Ra's: He did, father. It is related to the constant cycle of being brought back alive.

Jason, turning around to Damian, who is playing with rabbits on his couch: Prepare, little gremlin. You are about to testify falsely again, this time to your grandfather.

Damian, snorting: Two golden fish and one parrot.

Jason: I will warn your mother.

Tim, with Excel Chart open: Okay, so we figured out that he has All Blades, strange version of immortality, quick recovery thanks to Pit... What other magic Jason can have we don't know about it yet?

Cassandra: Cooking?

Stephanie: ...I think he is just a normal person, Cass.

Dick: NO, no, listen, it is one thing to cook normally, another to be trusted by Alfred.

Duke: ...You are reaching, guys. I think he is just a good chief.

Bruce: He always makes me laugh.

Tim: That's not— B, no one laughs, but you, so what kind of magic power is that?!

Duke: Listen, y'all, what if he sees ghosts?

Everyone: (pauses)

Stephanie, hitting Tim on the shoulder: WRITE IT DOWN, WRITE IT DOWN—

Tim: I am putting it in the "unclear" column, but good idea, dude.

Alfred, glancing at all of this sceptically: Dear Lord, this family is not your brightest soldiers...

[celestial-kestrel]

It's that time of year again where Mari Lwyd starts to be talked about and shared around and an INCREDIBLY misleading post gets shared a lot. As someone who grew up with Mari Lwyd I wanted to clear some things up.

Also hello, if you are unaware who Mari Lwyd is. This is about the Welsh tradition of the horse skull who visits houses during the Christmas to New Years period in Wales asking for alcohol.

First off and probably the most important one:

Mari Lwyd is not a cryptid!

I can not emphasise this enough. She. Is. Not. A. Cryptid. There is no story or mystery about a ghost or zombie horse roaming the Welsh valleys. She's not even supposed to be a ghost or a zombie. It's just a horse skull on a stick with a guy under a sheet. She's a hobbyhorse and a folk character used to tell Welsh stories and keep songs alive. When people spread the misinformation that she's a cryptid, it's the equivalent of saying Kermit the Frog is a cryptid.

She is actually only one character in a wider cast of characters who go door to door or, in more modern times, pub to pub. The cast of characters can change town to town and village to village but there are some common ones I see time and time again. The Leader, the Merryman, The Jester and The Lady are just some I see regularly. Punch and Judy used to be more popular a few years ago but I haven't seen them in a while as their tradition has mostly fallen out of popularity. In most cases, almost the whole cast will be played by men. Even the characters are considered and referred to as female. Though this again depends and varies by which group is partaking in the Mari Lwyd tradition.

This point also goes onto my second point,

Mari Lwyd does not rap.

I think this comes from a very common misunderstanding of what rap is vs spoken word. Rap is a very specific style of music originating from the African American communities of the USA and has it's own structure and motifs unique to it. It's a lot more complex than people give it credit for as a style of music and just flippantly assign anything similar to it as being rap. If someone is talking fast or reciting poetry, it is not rap. Or anything that is an exchange of words between two people is not a rap battle. Mari Lwyd does not do rap, actually something that gets left out of these posts is the fact Mari Lwyd does not even speak. It's actually the Leader, who does all the speaking and song based banter between the house/pub owner for entry. Mari Lwyd just clicks her mouth, bites people and bobs her head around.

I think Mari Lwyd is a really beautiful and unique part of Welsh culture. She's not actually as wildly celebrated as a lot of the posts make her out to be. Actually, I think most Welsh people themselves learn about Mari Lwyd through the internet as well. Her popularity is increasing thanks to the drive of local groups wanting to keep the traditions alive and a renewed desire to document Welsh traditions before they're gone. Which is why it's such a shame that she's turned into something she's not to earn horror points on the internet. I think this is why it bothers me so much to see the misunderstandings of the culture and the folk tradition. Mari Lwyd's origin is very hot debated as well as how long it's been going on for. But I think it's thanks to a lot of traditions like this that the Welsh language and our stories weren't lost forever. Welsh culture is recovering as is the language. But it's still in a very fragile place. I think it's why it's important to document and correct information when it's spread.

Anyway, if you want to see the tradition in action, here's a lovely video from the Cwmafan RFC going to one of the pubs for charity. It includes the song exchange with the pub owner for entry and the whole pub singing and joining in once Mari Lwyd and the rest are inside.

As well with another video from St Fagan's showcasing the more traditional and door to door form with the larger cast.