#'I'm just so independent men don't know how to handle that'

[thatfanfictionchick]

"I'm not like OtHeR girls I'm a tomboy who likes shots and beer and carries my own bag and loves my dog more than other people."

Cool so you're like pretty much everyone else with worse taste in alcohol. Congratulations.

[scara-writes]

orange juice

Beta Female Reader x Y! Omega Male

Beta X Omega I rarely seen those so why not. Let us make it more spicy by making the lead yandere. I still don't understand some concept in omegaverse so... I'm gonna make my own rule lol.

Just a heads up, grammatically errors incoming. Not proof read. Anything that is in this fiction does not meant to offend anyone. That is why it's called fiction.

CW: yandere, cursing, mention of killing.

MINORS DO NOT INTERACT

(THIS IS REPOST BECAUSE I REALIZED THAT SIDE BLOGS HAS LIMITED ACCESS SO I MADE A NEW ACCOUNT ;∆;)

"H-hello!" You turn around to see a familiar face visiting your spa. His pretty purple eyes were eccentric the way it brightened up when he saw you acknowledging him. It's the pretty boy you've saved last week from being pick on by the Alphas.

He was surprised that a beta like you actually didn't get intimidated by the presence of them. Well technically you did, but you pretended to be a police officer showing your fake badge and that 'back-up' is on their way to apprehend them when you noticed they were not buying your bluff at first, thankfully the Alphas that were hovering on him retreated. It was kinda funny they weren't intimidated by you until you held out a fake badge that could get them in trouble by their own law.

That idea was dumb but most people always fell for your trick, though you might get in trouble someday for the false identity which is why you only use it for emergency. Long story short, your aunt taught you this for survival in this dog water society.

At first, the pink haired male glared at you, you could careless about him since you were getting annoyed by the fact that they are giving a ruckus outside your spa and its driving away your customers. You don't want your boss finding out about this. The Alpha who guards outside the house is still taking care of his wife, so all the responsibility falls onto you the only beta employee present the rest are omegas because the other betas and alphas employees has different schedule. You were the 'strongest' among the employees inside.

You stare at the omega for a second.

The heck did you do? Why's he glaring at you?

You mentally shrugged before turning around to go back to your shop, not waiting for him to whether or not he should thank you.

A sudden angry shout from him made you pause from your tracks, "You are the same as those men earlier! I-I don't need you to save me!"

You turn to him with a deadpan look. "What are you on about?"

"Y-you think omega's are powerless and need to be protected, that's why you saved me, right?!" You can see he was quivering a little bit, his eyes are starting to show disgust look towards you. "Y-you think we don't need a jobs or—or we just need to sit still and look pretty—to be use like an incubator!" You can feel in his voice that his emotions must have been bubbling out seeing that his talk is becoming incoherent.

You scratched your head and sigh irritation, "Calm down dude. First of all, that is how Alphas that are 'leading' the society viewed omegas which is bullcrap and I don't believe in that, People who thinks like that need to check their brains in the nearby hospital. Also, I believe everyone can be independent and take care of themselves long as they can, I could careless about what the society says they can't control my life. True, omegas may be weak in nature against others but that doesn't mean all of them are weak or they are only used to look pretty for giving an offspring, they can be independent too if they wanted to. Second, you probably know how to handle them seeing you are very composed earlier but this loud noise is giving me a headache and my customers are leaving because how noisy it was. Now, If I offend you in someway well then I apologize. Bye." You gave him a small lazy wave before turning away not waiting for his response, quickly strolling back to your parlor.

So here he was, late at night. You in a closing hours shift since you are the only masseuse left in the parlor on work except your friend who was waiting for you in the employees room clock out for the work and playing, from the game he just downloaded in his app called something impact. Gin san impact? Gone wrong impact? Whatever it was you were hooked when you saw it earlier and will probably download it once you got home.

"Ah yes, welcome." You acknowledge him, awkwardly. You didn't expect him to meet you on your work. He trudges towards you requesting for service menu. You quickly handed him the said item on what were on the lists of your parlor was offering for customers, telling him to sit down while he read the list of services. He skims around the menu for a few seconds before pointing at the service list and you wrote it down; Shockingly, you witness the stranger you met a week ago was going for too many services.

"Oh umm... We are 2 hours closing in. So I think I can only do the first three." You told him. He gave you an 'oh' before agreeing he will try the others the next time when he visits.

"Do you have a partner?"

He was surprised at your sudden question. So you cleared your throat."It's.... In our protocol to ask our customers...and We know that it is personal question."

You can tell he was weirded out but he told you he doesn't have one. You muttered alright and went ahead to take the menu from him. You put them back on the rack as you walk pass him to put the sign close from the glass entrance before going to a cabinet to carry a towel and some thin white cloth for him to change. You wrote his room number and guide him to his room.

He stood up and follows you.

Through out the walk you can feel him staring at your move, making you feel a little tense as the walk in the hallway of doors feels like forever.

You twisted the knob before letting yourself inside first. He smiles at you and walk inside, you gave him the items you brought earlier telling him to change and knock on the door when he is ready.

That's weird, last time you met him. He was very resentful and now he was being smiley and friendly to you. You don't mind at least he was tolerating you for now.

You closed the door behind you putting on surgical mask since some others weren't comfortable smelling their pheromones.

You heard a knock and a small 'I'm ready' and you go in.

He was sitting down. His top were bare, abs were shown on his frame except for his lower part since it was covered by the thin cloth you gave earlier, you can definitely see how smooth his skin was—no scars just a little bruise on his left thigh which is something you definitely won't asked, you quickly look anywhere before he catches you staring at him. The towel were neatly folded along the clothes he wore earlier at the other table.

The pink haired omega was looking at you and he did caught you staring but you don't know that. A small smile escape on his lips. You cleared your throat and lit up three incense candles for relaxation and turn on a relaxing music, you went on the other side of the room where the sink was and washed your hands, sanitizing it using your own towel. You look back at him to see that he was still gazing towards you. He was still sitting, you assumed this must be his first time going to a spa or massage parlor since he should be already laying on his stomach or he must be waiting for you to give him an order since he ask for three different types of session. "You should lay on your stomach so we could start now."

"Why are you wearing a mask?"

You stop applying oil on your hand at his question before resuming again. "...both parties might not be comfortable when a pheromones were smelled."

"Oh."

There was a silence between the two of you.

"I'm going to start now." He nodded, doing what you'd asked earlier and close his eyes. The small round stones were place on his spinal before proceeding on messaging him with your oily hands.

The first few minutes were the same awkward atmosphere except for the jazzy music on the background, Both of your hand slides to his shoulders, wrapping around and gave a small squeeze. You hear him whimper.

"S-sorry!" You shrugged his apologize saying that is normal for customers.

"I umm didn't say thank you when you saved me last week..."

He continued,"sorry for bothering you with your customers."

"Don't mention it. I actually didn't plan on going outside if it weren't for my coworkers since like I mentioned last time you can handle them pretty well." You bit your tongue inside since you don't know how to talk back when someone compliments you or apologize to you. You only wanted to let him know that

He must have noticed that so he continued, "...I didn't catch your name earlier."

You answered him,"It's (Y/n)..."

"(Y/n)." The way your name rolled on his voice makes your body feel a little bit weird.

"(Y/n), huh.. that's a weird name for a beta." You blink at him before chuckling at him. "You're weird. It's a normal name."

He giggled. "My names Luke."

"Your name doesn't suits you." You teased him before telling him to turn around so you can do second session.

He obliged scoffing at you as he lay back down on his back. "H-hey! Luke is pretty cool name."

"I never said it wasn't, I said it doesn't suit you."you gave him a smirk which he pouts. He look cute when he did that.

"The badge you'd shown were fake wasn't it?"

Ah shit, someone noticed it. No use of hiding it then.

"..uhh..yeah, I use it only if things goes out of hands."

The two of you talk for a bit laughing resuming the second session until it was time for his third and final session which is to massage his face.

"Is this your first time... Ummm..doing service for omegas?" His voice were small but you didn't notice he was anticipating at your answer. You hummed thoughtfully before answering. "Hmmm.. not really... I get omegas as my clients but I guess I would say this is the first time that I could finish my sessions with them."

He seemed confused which made you continue, "Ummm... Most partners of theirs were jealous and would almost instantly attack us, telling us that we shouldn't touch them, but we know that we were only doing our job as masseuse so. Of course, the customers paid us of any injuries or damage properties as well as others, we don't blame them, and it was starting to get out of hand.... Since, we don't have any other choice, we hired an Alpha to stop any ruckus. I would lie if I said I don't want to hit one of my clients' unreasonable partners."

"Oh..." You noticed his reaction when he got your question earlier about his status.

"He already went home though. He excused himself just earlier, his spouse needed him so we let him go now." You tell him. He must have realized there was no guard around earlier. Just you at the receptionist counter.

".. What's your thought about Alphas?"

"nothing much, regardless how some of them are uhh... unreasonable when it comes to greed. I'm pretty sure not all of them are all like that."

He didn't respond but you caught him rolling his eyes before closing them. He muttered something but you didn't quite catch it.

You slide and pressure your oily hands on his, you heard a purring, making you look around the room in confusion. Was there a cat somewhere?

You scan your eyes around the room for a bit more only to register that it was actually coming from him.

A little heat coming from your cheeks but you squash it down the feeling as it was inappropriate, it was good thing you were wearing a mask before he can see your reaction.

You didn't do anything about it and continue your work. Luke on the other hand felt euphoric, your hands were doing the God's work. He hasn't tell you what he felt when you save him from the bunch of alpha's trying to court him. He was grateful—no, he wasn't grateful; he was lightened up the fact you view omegas like a normal person and not dehumanising or infantilize them—considering you are a beta and has nothing to do with omega but still! He just felt happy that he wasn't the only one who has that kind of perspective.

You cleaned him up with a towel, you noticed his eyes were half dazed as if he was relaxed, you told him that he can now change back, as you blew off the candle and turn off the jazz music, washing your hands again and drying it off with your own towel. You put the other materials back to where they belong and look at the timer to see you over time. You opened the door and twisting it open to see your friend/co-worker.

He was pouting.

The pink haired male saw him through the doorway before you close the door behind you, and starts talking with your friend. His purple eyes realise he was an omega.

He felt a little pang from his chest.

"Hey, I thought you said you are going to clock out once it hits midnight~!" Tyrenn whined out. He tried to help you carry the items you were holding but you refused as the both of you struts back to the employees room, "He's the last customer."

You threw the towel and the cloth at the hamper before stretching yourself up. "Man, I'm tired." He threw you a bottle of orange juice and you catch it, twisting the cap open and drink a little bit before clocking out of work. You grab your bag and change at the changing room with your casual wear and goes outside from the employees room only with your co-worker. He tells you that you're gonna be excited on what he discovered on the game he played earlier while the both of you starts trudging at the main lobby where the counter was.

Luke was waiting, his eyes brightened up when you arrived. he waited to give you his money but your friend who was clinging at you took it from him, thanking him for accepting your service, putting them at the cash register before locking it.

He lick his dry his lips before turning to you, "Umm...thanks again. The service was great. I-I'll see you next time. It was nice meeting you." He smelled the scent of orange juice that you were holding. It was half full, there were some in the corner of your lips.

Tyrenn grabbed the bottle from your hand and you let him drink it as you start conversing with your last customer.

You nod at him, noticing he was a little taller than you. "Likewise. Should I call you a taxi? It's already past midnight."

He shook his head, smiling. "No it's fine! I live few blocks away from here." He put his left hand on his pocket while the other one was slowly pulling the glass door where he comes in.

"Oh, Be careful. I just heard that there was a serial killer roaming around this time at night killing Alphas. That doesn't mean you should be careless about it. You might never know when the killer change their mind on killing the others." You warned him. The pink haired male nodded again, smiling even more when you're worried for his safety. Tyrenn waved him a goodbye before talking to you again about the game he played earlier as he clings even more to your arms. Luke's eyes slightly twitches at the scene.

"Yes, yes I will! Thank you again!" He walked out of the parlor smiling. When he is few blocks away from the spa, his smile disappear.

He might change his mind on killing your friend though.

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

want more of him? Tap here

[kookies2000]

We all know this scene when Puss faces his past lives.

Spoilers

I'll be honest, something was disturbing in this scene when I first saw it. I'm rewatching the scene and trying to put my finger on it. Then it hit me. That Tik Tok comment I saw that said the Lost Souls were acting like the sins from the Bible. The connections people made from this film and toxic masculinity. This scene right here is oozing with toxicity and masculinity.

Before I go any further, I would like to say that I am not down-talking men. I'm analyzing this scene as a Mexican woman.

Anyways, here are some traits in toxic masculinity.

Self-reliance - Men believe they have to do all the work and handle everything by themselves. Independent at all times, they need no one. They believe doing things by themselves will make them successful in life. Being vulnerable will cause the man to be ridiculed. That's Puss throughout the film.

Promiscuous - There's nothing wrong with having sexual relations with others. If it's your thing, it's your thing. But there is such thing as too much of a good thing. Being flirtatious is ok, healthy even, but when it becomes very frequent or an obsession, it can lead to problems in forming long-term romantic relationships. Puss in a nut shell.

Being violent and dominant - Most men believe they have to be strong, physically mostly. So they take risks in life and try to beat others in their own game. Taking risks can be a way to demonstrate dominance. This can include gambling as well. Or dangerous sports. The cause of some of Puss deaths. Not to mention Death pretty much gave Puss a reality check. Puss isn't as strong as he thought he was.

And a big one, refusing to seek help when struggling - self-explanatory. Men try to be emotionless and never seek intimacy with others. Especially with other men as it's seen as a weakness.

All these traits are displayed in this scene. At first, it's fun for Puss because he remembers how much fun he had in his past lives. All the parties, lovers, drinks/food, adventures, risk-taking, everything. But once the adrenaline wears down, Puss knows it's time to leave. But of course, the Lost Souls don't let him. They try their best to convince him to leave Perrito and Kitty and get his lives back. They straight up tell him he doesn't need them and he's better alone. But at this point, Puss already formed a bond with Perrito and is reconnecting with Kitty. He remembers his regrets and this is what makes him determined to go back.

I guess the Souls notice this and start to ridicule Puss for being so vulnerable. Which is something I pointed out already in self-reliance. Men get teased and made fun of if they show even an ounce of vulnerability. Men can't have intimacy with their friends, let alone friends who are men. Men can't be held down by marriage. It sounds over the top but it does happen. I've seen it happen in the past in my household.

Men are also pushed to be physically and emotionally strong. Which is what Puss was trying to do as well. He didn't want to be afraid. He didn't want help and was a lone wolf. He refused to seek help when struggling. Thankfully for him, Perrito was a very determined guy. He followed Puss and helped him become more vulnerable and to open up more. Fixing his relationship with Kitty and becoming fiends.

So yeah, this scene was something alright. Puss was already developing at this point of the film. And then they made him face just how toxic he was being in his past lives. It almost felt like torture for him. But this is an important step in developing into someone better. You have to face your past some time and realize your mistakes so you don't make them again.

Ps, Antonio's voice acting here was incredible. Voicing nine different Puss while making each one unique. From the tone of voice to personality. He deserves some recognition for this scene.

[imagined-rubbermen]

There's a lot that no one ever tells you about acclimating to becoming a rubber drone. Granted, everyone that used the Dronification Kit can't really talk about it, and most of them won't communicate just because their "master" forbids, or something. The lack of needs wasn't hard to get used to, if anything that's a lot of worries off my back. But no breathing? No talking? The lack of bodily functions felt alien. At least I could still see and hear, even if I lacked the body parts to do so. But my hearing and vision was so clear, so crisp, that it was overwhelming. The combined sensory deprivation and amplification was a lot to handle, so I did what usually helps me; I took a walk.

It was raining that night, and the rain kinda helped calm me down. I could differentiate each droplet hitting my new rubber skin, and it drowned out my anxiety. The increased sensitivity was a godsend now, and I savoured it. As I walked, my movements became more simplified, rigid, focused, yet flexible, softer, pliable. I assumed that's my flesh and bone turning into rubber now. The ideas in my mind about how to use my new body made me feel like my blood was pumping, even if I lacked such.

When I got home, I went to the bathroom to dry off. However, the rain made me so smooth, I got a little carried away. I relaxed and felt myself up right on the spot. I rubbed myself all over, my tightly defined chest, my smooth helmet like face, even my crotch. That last one was the biggest surprise, I didn't have anything down there. No shaft, no balls, no anus. There was a weird lock imprint on my bulge, but other than that, I really liked it. I knew I'd love being a featureless rubber drone.

Eventually I felt the sensation of climaxing; the rush, the release, the exhaustion, but I didn't come. After all, I didn't need human anatomy to pleasure myself. The best part? It took almost no time at all for my new rubbery, smooth, elastic body was ready for round two, and I went again, my body squeaking alone on the bathroom floor. After climaxing again, I let myself fall asleep on the bathroom floor.

It's weird now, my life that is. So many people think I have a "master" or an "owner" but instead I'm the master of my life. I'm made of rubber now, and if anyone gives me any issues, they can barely hurt me, while I show them what I can do. Now I have complete control of myself, my emotions, my body, my life. My libido is ready to fire on all cylinders whenever, and I can feel myself for hours sometimes, and can easily stop. I was like a machine, although I kinda am.

Of course, I saw an opportunity, and sometimes sell my "services" to lonely men that need that sexual satisfaction of an object. Of course they know I'm in charge, and getting into a fight with a rubber drone is not something I'd advise (although some of those guys really liked it, so what do I know?). I'll let them play with me. Some guys like to smell and lick me, like how I would play with rubber drones before I became one. Some guys would try to fuck me, although without any orifices, their shafts rubbed against me until they came. A few beat me, which I kinda liked, probably cause my rubber body would bend and twist with ease.

Mainly though I've found myself being kind of a therapist, letting men air out their emotions out. Sure, a few were still in the closet, and few were still a virgin. For those men, I went the extra mile. Of others, they'd just talk. I guess being a gay man can be isolating at times, like how almost no rubber drone I met seems to be independent. Unsurprisingly, being made of rubber meant I was comfortable to hug and cuddle, and in those moments, being a rubber drone is really worth it.

From that, my life is perfect now. The strangest thing is that I don't need clothing anymore. My body is so featureless that I don't feel naked, like my rubber skin is a suit anyways. Even when I do wear clothes I tend to mainly wear plain, oversized clothes, mostly gym stuff. However, sometimes at night I'll walk alone in the nude, just me and the night air. And when it rains like that first night I was a drone, it's so... Perfect...

It's not for everyone, maybe not even you. But if you still want to experience it, I'd suggest a gimp suit first before getting a Dronification Kit. Or if you just wanna find out what a rubber drone is like, I'm $50 hour.

[dk-wren]

It's been a hot second since I've watched Buddy Daddies (aka I'm long overdue for a rewatch), but when I went to find something to watch tonight, I guess the site saved what I was on last time. And that just happened to be episode 2 of Buddy Daddies. So I thought, why not watch this?

And I had a very, very delayed realization/thought: the reason Kazuki and Rei kept trying to leave Miri home alone is because that is how they grew up.

Now, I won't deny there's other valid arguments too. Last minute plans may have prevented them from finding a babysitter. This then leads to the next question of if they would know where to find a babysitter on such short notice and who they could trust (since again, Rei and Kazuki are both hitmen and at this point in the series, do not appear to have close connections with anyone else they could reach out to). And of course, both Kazuki and Rei are first time parents, with them only having Miri in their care for less than 24 hrs the first time they leave her alone in the apartment.

There's definitely some comedy in two men meeting their match with a little girl. However, I think both of their upbringings (Kazuki in some sort of orphanage/foster care and Rei at Suwa Manor) caused Kazuki and Rei to quickly learn how to be independent and look after themselves from a young age. While both men probably acknowledge their childhoods weren't exactly normal or standard, because Miri has been in their care for less than a day, I don't think either of them understand at that point what it really means to be a child, to be carefree, and to play (especially since Rei's line in the sub is "You chose a poor cover" = using strategic/tactical language, not reflecting how Miri was playing a game). Over the course of the series, Miri will show her papas what each of those mean, but again, those moments haven't happened yet.

For Kazuki and Rei, it was probably a normal occurrence for them to be left alone at this age. So, based on their own experiences, and the fact that Miri made it to the hotel by herself, they likely assumed Miri could handle being alone for an hour or two. I don't think Kazuki or Rei intentionally acted careless, they were just making decisions off of the information available to them. But, as the series progresses and Rei and Kazuki spend more time with Miri, they will grasp more and more what it means to have a happy childhood and how to provide just that for Miri. If that's the case, then I'd argue it serves as a nice connection to Rei and Kazuki's conversation in ep. 12 on the drive to Suwa Manor, where they ask each other if they believed in Santa when they were Miri's age. And, with each of them acknowledging how Miri has yet to waver in her belief of Santa for the entire time they've been a family, possibly just my interpretation, but this could be one (of many) ways the duo finds empowerment during the showdown at Suwa Manor since they both have something worth protecting.

[women-of-malevolent]

I genuinely don’t mean this from a place of malice, and do think the podcast both has a history of handling its women characters poorly and would like if it were better in that aspect. But I don’t understand the specific criticism of the work having a running theme of “male characters uncritically sacrificing their daughters.” (Key word uncritically.)

The titular Bella episode directly forces Arthur to confront the idea that him and Larson are similar, that the callousness they showed to their loved ones is intentionally paralleled. I don’t think it’s something the story is unaware of, and I’d hesitate to argue that Arthur (or Daniel, later) is presented as being in the definitive right. (In this regard.)

I don’t think you have to love the prevalence of the concept in the narrative, but I do think some of your critique feels like you’re taking the worst interpretation you could from the story and arguing that because the characters themselves don’t actively stop the plot to condemn it (and honestly, they do sometimes) it means the actions are presented as wholly value neutral. Some of your analysis feels like you’re starting from a conclusion and working your way back.

I want to reiterate: I really enjoy most of your critiques, and it’s refreshing to have someone in the fandom both document female presence in the podcast and speak candidly about its flaws. I’d honestly love to know if/why you disagree, either with regards to intentionality or necessity of inclusion.

Hello! Thanks for writing in!

I'm not sure which post you're referencing where I said the daughter-sacrifice theme was uncritically portrayed? Because I don't think it is. The story portrays daughter-sacrifice as varying shades of terrible, graded according to intent. These less-than-ideal men keep hurting the women they should have protected.

My problem with the daughter-sacrifice theme is the same as my problem the rest of the show: it's exclusively about men. Daughters aren't people, they're glass sculptures for men to carry for 18 years, and what those men do with that piece of glass in that time tells you about the character of that man.

Who are Addison, Faroe, Emily, Samantha, Murdered Daughter Of A Senator, fuck even Sarah, if you take away the men who hurt them? Looking at just the text of Malevolent, none of the liveplay games lore or headcanons etc, there's little to nothing to these girls.

You're not invited to spend time inhabiting any woman's life like you are with Arthur (or John, to a significantly lesser extent). You can, and I do, but it feels like reading against the text because their lives are boring, horrible, difficult to parse, and they usually end in childbirth or femicide. It's fucking miserable!

The men are trapped in the same bleak, violent story, and a lot of them die graphically and onscreen, but most of them also get some combo of moments of triumph, personalities, voices, independence, quirks that narratively make that violence go down smoother. (Also smoother because there are so many fun and fascinating male characters)

Also, honestly, I don't enjoy how the theme is explored. It feels shallow and lame to me. I personally, as a listener, don't feel like this specific story has ~earned~ (in my personal, idiosyncratic, things-I-like-in-fiction, subjective assessment) exploring the horror of femicide when 1) there are zero normal, living female characters (Marie is very close, but no cigar); 2) all it seems to really say is basically… murder is bad (sometimes) (usually?) (sometimes, at least), and it's extra bad when men kill their dependent women?

Standard disclaimer that it ain't over 'til it's over, what we got is not great so far but it ain't over

Thank you again and I'd be so happy to continue this conversation if you want!

[muskmelon-enjoyer-199x]

found my old douk-douk from many years ago! that carbon steel is looking a little rough. gonna give him a little TLC.

when I bought him, these were like 25 bucks. Now they're 36 bucks.

ramble under the cut

Douk-Douks have an interesting history. A French dude named Gaspard Cognet wanted to capture the pocket knife market in the French Pacific colonies (specifically in Melanesia). He needed a marketing draw that would boost brand recognition and catch local eyes, though. This was in 1929, so he went to the library and found this in an illustrated dictionary:

...and he was like "wow, this is a thing from an island in Melanesia so obviously all of Melanesia will love my knife if I put it on there. It must be important if it's one of the only Melanesian things in the dictionary, right? Even though my target market is mainly in New Caledonia, im sure they will will all recognize this niche figure from one culture from one peninsula on one island on the opposite end of Melanesia and that this isn't going to come off weird or cause misunderstandings--"

except he totally didn't say that. The dictionary probably just said "fierce melanesian spirit thing" and had a cool drawing, and that was good enough for Gaspard. He was, after all, a white guy trying to market products to black people he had never met who lived as his country's colonial subjects on the other side of the planet. I doubt he considered the differences in their respective experiences and cultures at all. If he did, he probably would've made some different choices.

Anyways, the product flopped. It did, however, succeed in French possessions in Africa. People seemed to like them as work knives, and apparently they were sharpened into razors as well.

One promotional photo shows hunters from an unspecified "pygmy" culture kneeling around a bongo carcass with knives and a sign reading "The Douk-Douk Among the Pygmies." Most of the men look a bit disinterested. They are all wearing the same shorts and t-shirts, and the knives are shiny and new. It's honestly a very strange and contrived picture. There's a lot going on here.

During the Algerian War of Independence, the FLN supposedly would hammer the lips of the handles together to convert them into fixed-blade knives. Some French guys online say that they would cut informers' noses off and stabbed soldiers in the Casbah with them. I'm sure the war was brutal, but I don't know if this story about the douk-douks is actually true. It gets repeated a lot online (especially by sellers), but the only actual source I can find is an untranslated memoir by a French guy.

(The title of this memoir is "Il était une fois mon Algérie à moi: Biographie," which translates to "Once Upon a Time There Was My Own Algeria: A Biography." It seems to be self-published. We are clearly dealing with some reliable stuff here!)

This is a consumer product that was made to sell to lower-income people in overseas colonies. How do you even tell where the history ends and the marketing and weird colonial mythology begin? I don't know what is really true except that people bought it and used it. I wonder if there are things written about it in languages I can't read or even struggle through. That would be the really interesting stuff!

It's a neat little knife, regardless.

[rf-times]

Hello. I saw your post on tradwives and I wanted to ask a question. I am an aspiring tradwife and an ex-feminist. And I'm genuinely curious about what you said. I respect your opinions and understand you want the best for women and yourself too.

Do you believe that what you said applies to most tradwives or just white tradwives in first world countries? Additionally, in my personal experience, I did not have a working mother but I was pushed into university even when I knew I couldn't handle it. Isn't it better for women who cannot handle the competitive job world to become a tradwife? Particularly if they're naturally submissive, like housework and submitting to someone who can make their decisions for them? I have talked to really good traditional men who are good people and their masculinity consists of being strong and protective men instead of the abusive ones feminists think they generally are.

That's not exactly one question so apologies for that. I mean this all in good spirit and I genuinely want to know. Have a good day!

On the contrary, women who feel overwhelmed and scared by the world, who just want a nice protective man to look after them, and who have people pleasing tendencies and feel incapable to handle independence, are the women who are most vulnerable and susceptible to abuse. If your motivation for becoming a tradwife is that are scared of independence then what leverage do you have if the men you rely on to look after you fail you in some way? If you cannot handle independence you will find it so much harder to be able to leave.

What exactly do you think abusive men look like? Do you think they announce themselves to everyone in any given circumstance? You say you've spoken to really good traditional men, how well do you know them really? How well do the women who get abused by their partners know their men? Abusiveness is virtually never obvious and manifests in many ways across a relationship, as does negligence which is how so many women who are supposedly being 'provided for' end up bearing the full brunt of managing a household and finding that if they are ever sick or need anything, their husbands leave them.

I don't believe in 'natural submissiveness', especially in women. I myself am soft-spoken, have trouble asserting myself and often fall into people-pleasing patterns including a lifelong struggle with subconsciously and consciously pleasing and coddling the men around me. Many women are the same, is this a natural fixture of our personalities that we should just fall into and let men decide things for us? Or is it a response to social conditioning and a brutal world designed to undermine women's confidence in ourselves and our ability to participate in society as equals so that we rely on men? I encourage you to look beyond your fears and insecurities to see what you're really capable of.

What I've said about tradwives applies to places where women have more choices and expectations to participate in the external economy/workforce and are told they could potentially succeed in capitalism in their own right. Because it is a different thought process for women who are given no opportunity or expectation to be defined beyond wifehood and motherhood. The very notion of 'tradwife' is western centric, as its all about returning to so called 'traditional' roots.

[kamesama]

— match-up trade: jjk.

for @jae-pudding › match-up trades › i think it's safe to say i made up my mind fairly quickly, but it was a close call between two characters... i'm not gonna keep rambling; i hope you like it!

your match: gojō satoru.

mischievous pranks. learning new things. the most random trivia casually shared throughout an outing. matching clothes. simple-looking but expensive gifts. taste of mint and ice. grunge. polaroids kept in phone-cases, wallets or nightstand's drawers. sunglasses. takeout. paint splattered across a pure white canvas. selfies portraying bright smiles, taken on a whim. men's labello lip balm. squeezed citrus. being eager to speak even with mouth full. conversing well into the night and realising it's 2am. movie nights; salt on your lips and body under a blanket. video games with vhs filter.

there are plenty of similarities, such as the most obvious affection for the mischief as your lips struggle not to arch into a grin whilst some poor unfortunate soul's tongue stumbles over words — or the lack of thereof. the hunger for mental stimuli is clearly present, and gojō satoru would so very love to satiate it. or at least attempt to, for such starvations are oftentimes a pull of gaping bottomless holes.

a potential for acquaintanceship is clearly present, along with the smallest tidbit for some friendly rivalry, or a partnership in crime. it starts with a knowing glance thrown across the room, followed by the nod utterly drenched in understanding before all chaos breaks loose — your words braid together perfectly, fitting like puzzle pieces to form a proper, believing story. it is very likely that yūji ends up victim to your schemes — megumi had long learned not to trust whatever symbiosis occurs between you and gojō-sensei.

but it wouldn't be gojō satoru if he didn't nick a nerve or two; all your similarities aside, this man makes for a far messier phenomena than you could ever hope to be. watch him arrive late to an appointed date, his posture outlined with leisure and with a shameless smile on his face. he makes up for it, though, confident that he could bribe you with your favourite snack or sweet. or his charm, if need be. perhaps a little exasperating, but it wouldn't be a match if it ticked all the boxes, now would it?

yes, he is skilled in everything he tries, but that brings with it an unshakable confidence. should you wish to explore a new place, visit some exotic spot or try something completely insane, gojō would very well be your partner in crime. true, he may whine and pout here and there, but would he say no to something interesting and exciting? never. in fact, he may just come like a whirlwind and suggest you join him on his newest 'that-came-out-of-nowhere' trip. and trust me, he can be very persuasive himself.

there is a lot of space. akin to a cat, gojō sometimes displays fragments of clingy behaviour, but he is more than content with any distance you may desire. he is not tied down by some conservative view of handling one's emotions or expressing their feelings, so there's a sense of respect and understanding towards the ways you digest yours. gojō can stand his own ground, for independence seeps from his very pores. that being said, satoru does not embody an image of someone that you could dislike, for he is witty, capable, and knowledgeable. he may not look like it, but he is a good listener; as someone without all too many hobbies, gojō would adore to at the very least hear you speak of your own interests. go on, tell him how bothersome and insistent weeds in your garden seem to be.

and speaking of digestion, you better believe that satoru indulges you and your cravings — whether they include that itch for knowledge and something new, or a desire to try out that delectable option on the menu of a new restaurant. if anything, you may find satoru eye you as you erase the attribute of 'famished' off your name. there is something cute about it, he says, don't mind me, keep eating.

other matches: nanami kento.

thank you for reading!

— kamesama.

[lazaruspiss]

i would actually love some nightwing recs from you

Aha! You activated my trap card <-(completely forgot how public they are with their nightwing obsession) (ps: i also talked nightwing recs here too <3 i simply love to talk about my baby boy)

My "area of expertise" is mainly Nightwing 1996, so that's where most of my recs come from. There was also Nightwing 1995, which was more of a test run for 96. I think it had 4 issues total? It's not bad, just not noteworthy either. I've been working on a big spreadsheet of info for 96, including trigger warnings, but im only like. 15 issues in. hashtag pain and suffering. Issue #1 already has a woman being threatened, I have it down as "attempted rape" in my list, and that kind of sets the tone for what you need to be able to handle to read everything in that series.

The biggest downside is that it's all pre Damian :( son boy i miss u and i wish u were in better comics. Tim is funny tho. The first arc in 96 is great scene setting, and Tim shows up in #6 to be a lil stinker :3. We establish Dick's goals, motivations, etc, as well as what the state of Blüdhaven is and who our main baddies are.

It's all a bit heartbreaking in retrospect. Dick fails. He wants to be more independent and remove himself from Bruce's shadow, Blockbuster is established as the big bad for him to bring to justice, and he wants to make things at least a little better for the people of Blüdhaven.

He ends up dragged back to Bruce by an invisible leash, he technically beats his main villain but only in the absolute worst way after losing everything (and continues to lose more after, losing things he didn't know he had), and Blüdhaven is destroyed.

Dick loses. It's a bad end. A tragedy even. And yet, because of the nature of comics like DC, his story continues. It continues in crossovers and fan service and whatever else might sell. His most personally meaningful story ended prematurely for fucking War Games. sorry I know I just complained about this but cmon.

There were some good storylines after that! But I'm still bothered by the fact that the Tarantula arc was cut off after like, 2 issues. Road to Nowhere (#94-95) really did go nowhere. But the concept was there and it had the potential to be a decent story about an abusive relationship.

Mobbed Up (#108-111), Renegade (#112-117), and Brothers in Blood (#118-122) are some of my favorite arcs, all post Blockbuster. But after those I kind of lost interest. Annual #2 also came out sometime after all those, and I can't stress enough that it is absolutely not worth reading. It was written an illustrated by men, reduces Babs and Kori to nothing more than romantic partners, and completely misrepresents older stories. They literally retell older Dick/Babs moments, but without anything that could make their relationship at all complex or questionable to the consumer. Dick saw her as a sister, but rather than use that as a sign of closeness and respect they cut out all reference to that entirely because god forbid relationships have any nuance nowadays. Annual #1 was alright. I think it came out in the first or second year of the 96 run, and it's a nice self contained murder mystery one shot that showcases Dick's workaholic habits, his want for a family, and his tendency to try and change himself to makes others happy. He also comes off as very accidentally arospec. There's a moment where he tries to get a woman to stay with him by saying things like "but I could learn to love you" and if that wasn't me everyday throughout my middle to high school years than I don't know what is.

Outside of 96, I wanna point out The Search for Ray Palmer: Red Rain. Which may not be a Nightwing story but is absolutely a Bruce & Dick story (with vampires!) I haven't actually read much of the original Red Rain because. Dick's not really in that one. The Ray Palmer spin off however has Dick hunting down his parents' killer: one vampire king, Bruce Wayne. If you find those posts about Dick initially being a vengeance hungry 8 year old interesting than this is about as close as actual comics get. In the main timeline, yeah, Dick wants revenge, but because he's 8 and really just going through it rather than being genuinely bloodthirsty he's very easily talked out of it. In the Red Rain universe there is no comfort. He's alone, and grief consumes him. Bruce killed his parents for that very purpose, because he wanted Dick to be consumed by grief and hopelessness like him. Getting Dick to be like him and getting Dick to be obsessed with him was kind of his entire goal from the moment he laid eyes on him. Bruce's main presence up until the end where he shows up is shown largely through Dick's hunt, through Dick's obsession. Bruce wanted them to be inseparable and he very much succeeded in the end. By the time Jason and crew cross paths with them it's already too late. Everything is as Bruce wanted it to be. So a yandere vampire brudick au, basically.

There's also Outsiders 2003, which I keep meaning to read but haven't quite gotten to. Dick leads another team, but Donna just died so he's even meaner and cagier than he usually is.

gah. i really wanna finish that nightwing spreadsheet. i'll probably post it once i finish the 1996 section, or at least get it caught up to where it stops before crossing over with war games.

i've made a lot of these but theyre just things that i eventually wanna read, the dick grayson one is really the only one with anything in it rn <-(one track mind. and that track is called blorbo)

[unhingedhearties]

Sometimes A Photo Is Just A Photo

Erin and Ben are apparently back in Canada and were hanging out with Chris and his girlfriend/ fellow Hallmark actress.

Let's see how the infants handle it.

The "I'm Done With The Show" brigade is still stalking WCTH related posts.

"Damage Control". Boy, I hope a certain group of Hearties don't latch onto that phrase and repeat it over and over on this post like they tend to do when they can't come up with an independent thought.

This feels like it should be common sense, but don't ever "love" someone you've never met with "all your heart".

Oh look who it is. foxyinspiration right on cue to prove she doesn't have a thought in her head. Sadly I've already referenced the movie Screamers on this blog so I've got nothing besides hoping she ends up like Private Ross.

God forbid a woman do anything, right? Seriously, you're going to look at a photo where Ben's making a face like that but focus on Erin laughing "too hard".

Also, there are still people who don't believe Erin and Ben are a couple. Amazing.

37 freaking responses. Ugh… let's break these down. Without cheating, guess how many times they claim "damage control".

Private people are never allowed to go out with friends or show up in pictures on someone else's social media site. Are Chris and Julie actually private people or has the unhinged section of the Hearties fandom driven them to be more reserved and distant on social media? Just my opinion-thanks for your feedback though.

Some sanity prevails.

I try really hard to not make comments about people's grammar. I come from a large family of people who's first language isn't English. I learned English at a young age but it's still my second language. I get it. Having said that, what the hell are you trying to say? Also, judging by your profile picture, you're a middle aged woman. You are way too old to be speaking in hashtags. Grow up.

I don't know, maybe one of these two couples are new parents and have a small child at home that limits where/when/how they're able to go out? Maybe one of these two couples live in another country and only meet up when they have a movie that's filming near the other couple? Maybe… wait a minute. Hasn't Chris been in group pictures with Erin and the other actors? I don't obsess over the actor's personal lives so I don't know when he started dating Julie, but maybe they weren't together at the time so that's why she's not in those pictures. No that makes too much sense. Surely the reason Chris and Julie haven't been in a lot of photos with Erin and Ben is because… something to do with their character arcs from the last five seasons… but those seasons had different show runners… Look, none of this makes sense right now but I'll figure out a way to make it work. I'll start with my own conclusion and work backwards to justify it.

Stop making sense, you're upsetting the zoo animals!

Damn, I might be clairvoyant. markrymill said almost the same thing I said. Aaaaaaand of course she ignores all those points to accuse Erin of hiding comments. If Erin was actually wasting her time hiding comments, why are yours and all the other mindless parrots comments still visible? Maybe they got reported for being spam or harassment.

Say the line, Bart!

"a Governor's position that doesn't even exist in Canda!" Oh no! A historical inaccuracy in When Calls The Heart!? Wait, are we in favor of that or against it? Fans keep changing their opinion on that point. And like any of the people watching WCTH care about Canadian history. "Supposedly given a hero's arc yet he doesn't get the girl?" Women are just trophies for men to collect. Lucas is set up to maybe have an actual exciting storyline where his character does something for the greater good of society, but who cares. He didn't get the pretty decoration. It's amazing that these people will complain about the quality of the stories and writing but then say dumb stuff like this. Chris might have the chance to do something really good with his character besides look over a balcony and sip tea from a dainty cup but his own fans want to stop that.

Listen up Team Smooth-Brain. I want you to follow along so grab a safety pencil and a circle of paper: For this to have been set-up, Erin would have had to fly out to Canada, taking Ben with her. She would have then had to call up Chris and Julie, hope that neither of them were working that day, convince them to not only go out to lunch, but tell them to get a baby-sitter for their however many months old baby. Instead of picking a restaurant with decent lightning she picked this florescent nightmare for her staged photo. She then told everyone to smile, took the photo, and posted it to her Instagram page to… what exactly? What was her plan to control people's reactions? Because the people who are fine with WCTH were going to write the same generic "lol so cute to see you guys be friends" comments they were always going to write and the people who stomp their feet like toddlers who didn't get the toy they wanted were going to write the same "this is all fake damage control trying to control the narrative Chris is being forced at metaphorical gun point to smile in these photos" CSI bullshit they post on every one of her photos.

I hear Chris was offered a roll on a new show called Grease: Rise of the Pink Ladies. He should quit WCTH and devote all of his time to that instead.

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!! :D

"they are trying to manipulate us again. Not gonna happen 😢" I didn't know Hallmark had MKUltra agents on their marketing team.

#AnyoneButNathan

I hope When Calls The Heart gets another show runner and I hope they break Elizabeth and Nathan up and pair Elizabeth with a woman. Any woman*. I hope this show keeps going for however many seasons it takes to get a lesbian relationship with a major character.

*Except Fiona or Faith because those two are destined to be together and you can't convince me otherwise.

"Erin you're posting too many Kevin photos. It's rubbing salt in the wounds of heart broken Lucabeth fans who have PTSD just like those people currently in warzones and it's totally not tone-deaf of us to say that." "Erin you're posting all these photos of Chris to try and manipulate us into watching the next season. It's very cruel and sadistic of you." "Erin you're not fooling anyone by posting both Chris and Kevin photos. We're not falling for your damage control."

[mellometal]

Hi-hi! I have a new group to show you!

I've found some K-Pop groups and soloists who are openly LGBT, and even talked about some of them on here before.

The first one I talked about was Lady, who was the first and only K-Pop girl group made up of all trans women. That post EXPLODED. I'm grateful for all the love that post received.

The most recent one I've talked about is LIONESSES, the first and only (so far) K-Pop boy group made up of men who are openly LGBT, the members are all hidden except for their leader, and one of the members is a drag queen! They're also the first and only boy group I've stanned. (There's a boy group from first gen who I like only because of their discography. I might make a post about them at some point, but it's not easy to find a ton of information about the group itself because of their name.)

I've mentioned that I couldn't find any K-Pop groups, idols, or soloists who are trans men or nonbinary. Well, that has since changed! They are a newer group (they just debuted a couple months ago), and they're the topic of this post!

The group's name is QI.X. They’re the first idol group in Korea with all the members being openly genderqueer as a whole! (I really hope that paints an accurate picture. I don't know how else to explain it. 😅 Please don't hurt me. /srs)

Here they are! From left to right: YOURA, Maek, Prin, and jiGOOK

This is Prin. They're the leader of the group, main vocalist, lead rapper, main dancer, the youngest, and they're nonbinary! They're also vegan!

This is jiGOOK. He is the oldest in the group, the lead vocalist, and main rapper. They are a genderfluid nonbinary trans man. Sometimes they identify as genderless. He is a drag artist and has three cats!

This is Maek. They are the second oldest in the group, the main vocalist, and lead rapper. They are genderqueer. They were friends with Prin pre-debut. They're working at a trans rights organization in Korea called "JOGAKBO" and work at the Seoul Disabled People's Rights Film Festival.

This is YOURA. They are the third oldest in the group and a lead vocalist. They're currently questioning their gender identity and don't want to label themself as of right now. They majored in acting, but they're also interested in traditional arts, music, and movement.

Here's a couple more pluses: They’re independent AND all of them are adults! (Reason why I bring up the second part is because there are way too many minors in the industry and it makes me so uncomfortable. One of my ult groups does have a member who's like seventeen, but the rest of the members are adults. The youngest member of said ult group is not my bias. My biases in that group are all adults.)

Here is a video of them performing their song "Lights Up":

Their social media handles:

Twitter: @ QIX_Official

Instagram: @ qix_official

TikTok: @ officialqix

Their YouTube is in the video!

Have a good day, everyone! 💕

[needys-diary]

Why Doflamingo Donquixote is My Comfort Character:

Beware incoming opinion, not incoming argument. This will pertain to me personally. Plus I'm lowkey venting lol

In reality, Doffy is a well-crafted villain and being in a romantic relationship with his canon character would most likely be toxic because of his puppeteer-tendencies and so forth. In reality, if I were to magically be in the One Piece world I know for a fact that his character would never go for me, but I can dream, right? That's what being a fangirl and fantasizing is all about right?

Ok, so, why would Doflamingo be anyone's comfort character? Many reasons, in fact, he's one of my favorite overall villains. His character and way of handling his business, his kingdom, and being a King, is kind of inspiring to me, even if it is from evil intentions. Doflamingo knows what he wants and he gets what he wants, even if he has to make it happen, to charm or persuade a person or kill for his will to happen. Doflamingo is very organized about how his whole organization worked and he manages it very well. Although he is very controlling and very dominating and perhaps frightening and intimidating in person, there's aspects to his character that you just don't see in men anymore.

In general I mean, I'm not trying to cap all men or anything. It's just I've seen certain marriages and couples in my family and in my life where the wife is willing to support the husband but now is just doing all the work. Like mentally, emotionally, spiritually, even physically, like being the "head of the household" and handling everything because we're so strong and independent, like yes but no. If I have to act like the husband and the wife in any marriage to the point where I'm so stressed and overworked and feel like I'm by myself then what's the point in marrying anymore? Women cant drop down the their gaurd anymore because everything is expensive, and there needs to be 2 acting husbands in order to survive. I get that. But at the same time theres families where the wife feels like shes alone in this, and im not talking about physically or economicslly, like every household is different, its kinda hard to explain...Im single and never been married so I may be wrong or whatever. I admit I don't know what it's like to have a husband, this is just what I've been witnessing.

So what does this have to do with Doflamingo? It's just comforting to think about him when I'm stressed or feel alone. Like, Doflamingo being a King, I imagine him taking care of everything and just imagining this big enormous dominating character taking whatever is bothering me or stressimg me out and making it go away to make me relaxed or happy is comforting for me. It's something he would do for his Doflamingo Family, for example. Imagining Doflamingo taking care of me is a huge stretch because he is very prideful, I mean I'm happy to take care of him. I'd be happy to support and take care of a man who knows how to manage his life, his business, and is a (more or less) good authority over me. Because I don't care how strong and independent of a woman I am, I ideally need a man to be able to take the weight off of me and say "Good job, I'll handle the rest.", "Don't worry your pretty little head about this." Like, I hope this makes sense.

Im sorry to say that I'm not equipped for the same stress that men go through, that people go through in general. Like, I'd breakdown and neglect myself because I just don't know how to handle anything anymore. Sometimes I just wanna quit and be at home, like being a housewife, cleaning, cooking, parenting, etc. is a big job on its own. And now I have a whole job on top of that because the USA is depriving our energy, focus, money, and mentality? Just being single and living is hard for some people. If marriage changes nothing then there's no point, youre roommates at this point. I just feel like the meaning of marriage is slowly losing its purpose and emotional and spiritual meaning.

It's very comforting to know that, not just Doflamingo, but any fictional villian who "loves you" would burn kingdoms for you, kill people for you, do anything to make you smile. All you have to do is give them your attention and love, just sit on their lap or shoulder and look pretty. They're handle all the deep down and dirty work.

I'm not saying I'm looking for a Doflamingo in my life, romantically, but sometimes life is just so difficult that I feel like I need one, yuno? Can doffy use his strings to manipulate the bad things in my life? Make my problems go away? Lol, so, yea. When you're stuck in a hole, u go for the extreme to make yourself feel better. That's just, how I cope sometimes.

So maybe it's a little OOC, but this is just my experience. You don't have to agree with me. I may be wrong. Either way it's comforting for me and Idk lol.

(Wrote this last night and never posted it cuz I knocked out)

[gothicprep]

i think what people kind of missed in their analysis of what's colloquially understood as the anti-sjw to far-right radicalization pipeline is that it was more of an issue of saturation than anything else. usually the theory goes like "these recommendation algorithms will show you stuff that's further and further to the right because you watched two cringe compilations".

here's what i think is really going on, using an anecdote where I Cringed as a jumping off point:

two summers ago, when everything was still shut down due to covid, and racial justice was a hugely reported on issue in the US because of the floyd protests, there was a lot of buzz around diangelo's "white fragility" and i remember thinking, "huh. guess i'll find it on zlib and page through this because i have nothing else to do". and i have to say, it was honestly just a terrible read. it's whacky, insubstantial, and repetitive. one part that sticks out pretty clearly to me is diangelo talking about how white women would cry during her training meetings and white men would voice annoyance with her, and her interpreting that information as "i'm good at my job and correct. people are reacting poorly because they can't handle the truth."

i'd gone in having read enough to know that this is unrepresentative of most philosophical and historical writings on racism in the united states. it's just one really weird, narcissistic exercise by someone who seems to think that systemic racism in the US is a product of individual white people in the corporate class not wetting their own pants enough. so much for "systemic".

but if you don't have context like that, and you're overexposed to repeated, poorly-articulated analysis that talks about systems while never mentioning anything in the realm of policy... i think this socializes you into being reflexively suspicious of the language associated with progressive political goals, even when it actually is being used properly.

rec algorithms, of course, have a relationship with this. but it's probably more that over-consuming anything can have disastrous effects on your sense of scope, enabled through algorithms, and they seek out the worse shit independently, rinse and repeat.

[positivelybeastly]

Evil beast got sinisterized. Easy peasy, clean explanation. I feel like he absolutely should be sinisterized by his auto-resurrection stunt (no hope to stop it! Didn’t even know it was a problem!)

Just say he got sinisterized early on off panel working with the corrupted dna (or through experiments with resurrection)

"Ahhhh, still banging on the old 'it's not poor Henry's fault!' drum, are we? Let's face it, dearest grey face, he was skidding wildly off the rails long before this delightful process of resurrection was put in to place - the only shame is that he's decided to be so frightfully boring in his shuffling off of his moral coil."

"Honestly, he could stand to be so much more joyful about his work. He's slowed his roll recently, of course, but I'm hoping he goes after another country soon."

I feel like I might have actually just responded to your thread on Reddit? This is how I would implement a similar solution to this problem:

"Beast died on a mission integral to Krakoa's founding in the gap between Rosenberg's X-Men and HoX, becoming the trial run for resurrection.

All of his back ups were corrupted by Dark Beast still being alive when everyone else thought he was dead, so he comes back weird, and no-one quite knows how to handle it because this is the first time they've really done this. He subconsciously identified the one back up that wasn't corrupted (the Avengers back-up) and lined things up so X-Force would kill him, only having partial control of his actions."

This works a bit better than the Sinisterisation just because Sinisterisation appears to really fuck with your personality and make you act more like Sinister, which . . . . I mean, Beast has certainly stolen parts of his M.O., but he's not as dramatic or as fun as Sinister.

This also makes Hank more heroic and tragic by virtue of having died for Krakoa before anyone even knew about it, as well as explaining why the memories didn't get spotted as immediately strange when his mind was read by Jean in X-Force. They would, after all, still read as the memories of Henry McCoy, rather than Henry McCoy + a desire to wear capes and extract Summers family genetic material.

I feel like it's also important to draw a distinction between what Beast has been doing vs. resurrection - one requires the Five and is more 'natural,' whereas Beast's method is just wholesale scientific cloning with memory engrams.

They appear to share similarities, which is why Sage is able to just jam the Cerebro back up that's presumably compatible with Krakoan resurrections into a Beast clone not created by the Five, but I don't think they're 1:1 the same. I don't quite remember how Sinister polluted the Five's resurrection protocols, but I don't think it makes a ton of sense for it to have affected a seemingly completely independent cloning operation way over in the Pointe/wherever Beast was hiding all this shit.

[zorkaya-moved]

" i’m scared of ending up alone. " elin having a moment after too many wine bottles probably

@avaere

Didn't they speak of how jealous others were of their independence? It seems no matter what they do, they cannot win. Or maybe, this is payment for their freedom and independence in the world that cannot handle such existences as them. As they lay sit on the couch, Zarina's hand is wrapped around her friend's waist, keeping the brunette close to herself and letting her hide her flushed face into the crook of her neck. This closeness isn't something she denies or pushes away, she welcomes it, actually. Elin brings a sense of normalcy not many let her relish in, a friendship born from circumstances and surprises she'll keep a treasured memory in her mind.

They smoke, they drink, they discuss their lives. They act like they don't have a life outside this, a life where they don't exist yet or don't dive into yet. A side to themselves they don't yet show, but they are comfortable. Well, Zarina is comfortable in this state. It makes her breathe easier, but she notices how she doesn't sense much changes in her state. Tipsiness remains but she isn't drunk enough to ramble, instead remaining quieter while keeping Elin close. Her body is still colder than her friend's, the brunette feels so warm and Sokolova wants to cuddle against her. Both out of safety and out of comfort alongside the body heat. But she needs to ensure the woman next to her doesn't throw up after drinking so much.

They are the envied ones, they are the ones who other women and men get jealous of. They gleam like stars and they drive themselves into melancholy when the lights are off and they understand that life is a shitty place, but they still find nice things in it. Fairness to those who they deem worthy.

"Maybe I should let you meet my team..." The woman thinks out loud, thinking about the men and women on her team that might catch Elin's attention. Then again, it's not something she enforce. It's just a possibility to see if maybe they'd be good friends too. They're always traveling, though. Busy and not, all depending on the season and when deals must be checked and improved. Zarina hugs Elin closer, leaning her head against the other's and closing her eyes. "I'm scared of that, too."

She admits her concerns in a whisper, knowing all too well that she'd let go of those she cares about if it means their happiness. The world she lives in is a dangerous one, from weapons to drugs to extortion to blood spilled. Arms dealers aren't living the dream life despite richness and luxury, there is a never-ending threat but that's why she relaxes against Elin. In her company, the silverette can drop down the guard for a moment. They can be just two women in a world that continues to roll, not caring who it will kill and who it will give a road to. Corpses of the struggling will give path to those who abuse and kill. Such an unfair world, but they live in it and they can find something good in it. Right?

"Well, I'll keep you company if you keep me company when we're both lonely and sad. If I'm not on a business trip, I'll come over to..." She stops for a moment, thinking about all possibilities. Maybe one day her 'business trip' will end up with a bullet in her head and she won't be back at all. "...to hang around, poke fun at you being such a sad wet cat." Zarina chuckles, not meaning the sarcastic nickname for this one moment. "If you want to rant, go ahead. I'm listening, Elin."