#A person to trust

[danlous]

Ignoring the real possibility he intentionally let himself be caught from the little we know so far Luigi Mangione's case is a fascinating combination of astonishing brilliance and confusing stupidity. This young man plans and executes his assassination and escape with such a meticulous care and calmness that it's suspected that he's a professional hitman. He comes up with Riddler-sque moves like writing his manifesto poetically on the bullets and leaving his backpack behind full of Monopoly money. He carefully wears a mask to avoid being identified but removes it because a woman who was checking him into the hostel was flirting with him and wanted to see his smile. He still manages to escape the most surveilled city in the country in the midst of ongoing national manhunt only to get caught in the middle of bumfuck nowhere Pennsylvania while eating at the McDonalds. Because for some reason he had the same clothes and mask as in New York and was carrying the same gun and suppressor. And when the cops detained him he showed them the same fake id he used in New York. And oh yeah he's a frat bro gym rat who has a masters degree in computer science from Penn but reads stupid self-help books about being on the grind and is 'anti-woke' while being bisexual suffering from anxiety and wanting to end oppressive capitalism. Not even god himself could invent a person like this

[lafayettenossie]

Salvation: a tale of the past (Part 5).

Last time…

"Yes, we mostly drink human blood. Although not all of us do. I, for example, prefer to feed on animal blood. I have more affinity with them… Others go to blood banks and drink bagged blood…" He seemed sincere when he told her this, his green eyes following her wherever she went.

"Yeah… animal blood? And what do you do? You go to a slaughterhouse and buy blood from… I don't know… pig or cow or…" she asked him while holding the gun with her right hand, but already pointing at the ground and bringing the bottle of bourbon to her mouth to take a drink, that was impossible to digest while sober!

"No. Normally, I go to the source to feed myself. I have certain special abilities to… make myself understood with animals and not be considered an enemy." he told her trying to downplay the matter, although it was clear that it was something quite incredible.

Britney smiled after the last drink. She put her service weapon in the holster on her belt. "Are you Dr. Dolittle?" she said sarcastically.

Lafayette shook his head a little. "Well, the book is very good, the movies not so much…" and he gestured with his hand behind the blonde woman.

With a mixture of fear and curiosity, she turned slowly and what she saw made her snort. On the ledge of the terrace where they were, there were at least a dozen cats staring at her.

"Oh, fuck! What a scare! Where… how… what are they doing here?!"

NOLA, Lafayette's Famulus...

"It was them who warned me, the one with the blue eyes and long grey fur. Her name is NOLA, and she's my Famulus, my partner… she knew something bad was about to happen to you and she used the rest of my spy network to warn me so I could get there on time…" he said as he approached the cats, who brought their heads closer and began to purr while the Nosferatu Detective petted them one by one.

"Thanks to them, and other stray animals, I know everything that can happen in the city." He added, staring at Britney.

"Wow… and thanks to her you knew I was going to…" she tried to clarify what had happened to Lafayette while pointing at NOLA. The cat meowed as if answering her, scolding her for what she was going to do until the detective went up to stop her.

The man nodded. "You're a good person, Britney Loup. You care about your job, you want to stop the criminals who kill in the city. That does you credit. There's a lot of corruption in your industry, I'm glad that at least you're a trustworthy person."

"You have no idea what you're talking about, Lafayette… I'm a woman who's just divorced, who's lost custody of her son, who's going to have to go live in her car because I'm not going to have a roof over my head starting tomorrow either… I do my job the best way I know how, but I assure you that I'm not a good person. I drink too much, I get involved with the wrong people, I don't go to church, and I don't find any meaning in my life…" Tears welled up in her clear eyes again.

Britney Loup having a bad moment...

"But you have me. I'll help you in any way I could and that you allow me, of course. And I think we can help each other make this city a better place for us and the people we love…" he said, approaching her with NOLA in his arms. The cat purred, closing her huge blue eyes.

"A deal? Working together?" she replied, wiping away her tears.

"The strange cases you would find I can take care of investigating with my own means, and the more mundane cases that I will investigate may require some daytime help…" It was a quid pro quo, for both of them.

Britney approached and petted NOLA's head. She looked towards where the other cats were and there were none in sight anymore, they had left as quietly as they came! "Okay… But if you're fooling me I swear that…"

Lafayette shook his head. "I don't lie. I don't usually lie unless it's for a greater cause. I was raised Catholic, but over the years I learned to have my own set of values ​​and code of conduct."

Britney Loup lowered her gaze. "Ok. We'll try to make it work, Mr. Lafayette."

"Francis. My name is… Francis. If you want, you can call me that, Detective Loup." she replied, with a slight blush on her pale face streaked with tiny dark veins.

"I'm Britney, or Brit. Call me that in private. I think it would be a good idea for us to get down from here… if someone sees us they might actually call the police and we'd be in a bit of trouble… me at least!" she replied with a slight smile as she noticed the Nosferatu's blush.

"Yeah, let's go…" and gestured for her to go ahead towards the stairs leading down the building…

It was the beginning.

[lastoneout]

I really do miss back when it was considered fucking weird to ask trans people(or anyone who is even a little gnc/has a label you don't understand/is giving you queer vibes)* what their assigned sex at birth is. Like we literally used to roast cis people for this shit, that's legit why the "what's in your pants" meme exists, but somehow we've reached a point where a very vocal portion of the online trans community genuinely thinks you owe people this information so they can make insane generalizations about you and your life and if you refuse that's cause for suspicion and I really shouldn't have to explain how fucked that is.

Interrogating people about what's in their pants is transphobe/terf/transmed shit. "If you have nothing to hide you have nothing to fear" is fed shit. Tbh "you owe me personal information about your body and medical history" is ableist and intersexist shit. Sex and/or gender tells you literally nothing concrete about a person and there is no world where you are owed this information. Can we cut this shit out and go back to judging people by their words and actions instead of what some random doctor decided their body looks like when they were a squishy baby, you know, like normal people? Please??

*It's also wildly intersexist but unfortunately I don't think we've ever reached a point of collectively accepting that it's horrid to ask intersex people unprompted questions about their bodies and medical histories. You are absolutely not owed any of that information for any reason, especially given that medical history typically goes hand in hand with profound trauma due to how normalized medical abuse against intersex people is, and everyone needs to get that through their heads yesterday. If they want to share they can and will, aside from that it's none-ya.

[theshadowrealmitself]

I like to think that Vulcans who come to understand that Humans just can’t try to process emotions the same way as them, it’s just healthiest to let it out in harmless ways, decide that venting and stuff should be taken just as seriously as Vulcan’s meditation time, and will encourage the Humans around them to complain about what’s upsetting them

People who are used to aloof Vulcans who avoid Humans at all cost running into one comforting a Human

“-and then they said my cheesecake was subpar, and they didn’t even bring a dish!!!”

“The purpose of this event was that every participant brings a food item of sorts, correct?”

“Yeah!!”

“And they did not follow this rule while insulting dishes that were brought?”

“Mostly just my dish but yeah >:(“

“How illogical”

“That’s what I’m saying!!!”

[qualityrain]

[somewhereincairparavel]

"jason is a knockoff watered down percy" NO hear me out, jason actually parallels annabeth immensely, sharing SO many similarities with her personality, not percy, in this essay I will-

edit: my full analysis is out now! here

[aces-and-angels]

verified by: 90-ghost follow the ayyad's asmaa: @asmaayyad israa: @esraayyad14* sama: @samaayyad15 *= israa's alt. account @esraayyad18 has been suppressed

dear moots/lovely lurkers,

allow me to introduce you once again to the ayyad's. they are a wonderful family of 8. all of them led beautiful, rich lives-- here are some of their stories:

"I am Asmaa from Gaza-- a lawyer and a graduate of Palestine University... I am 25 years old... I have also been living far away from my fiancé for two years, I cannot reach him because of the increase in the coordination price and the closure of the crossings and borders." "My name is Israa from Gaza. I have always dreamed of becoming a doctor after I finish high school, but what happened in this war, the destruction of schools and universities, the suspension of education because of the war, and the death of many students, made me a girl who lost her passion and only wanted to end the war on the Gaza Strip." "Hello, I am Sama from Gaza... I am 15 years old... I was studying middle school and my educational career stopped completely here in Gaza, our life stopped completely." (the following excerpts were pieced together from posts/messages from asmaa and her younger sisters- israa and sama)

their family has been displaced numerous times. lost friends and loved ones. they don't live through the days- they survive them. no one should suffer through this immense pain on their own. there is power in numbers. please do your part by sharing/donating if you have the means

[ruporas]

need to exist in your warmth (id in alt)

[inkskinned]

you know, you know. no gods, no masters, no kings on pedestals. everyone is fallible. death of the author. you know! you are balanced about your intake of media - you allow the wiggle room, the grace, the gratitude, the skepticism. nobody above criticism.

but still. a weird gut-punch feeling, something akin to betrayal. you read the article. surprise! an author you love is actually: a serial fucking predator.

well, shit. what now. no, you knew he was a person (all people are), but now you're wondering - what have i overlooked by accident? what messages have i internalized that are strange and cruel? and also, like, what the fuck?

his actions lay a thick glaze on top of everything. like each place is now ruined, opaque in a new way. but okay, fine, you've done this before. you knew better, right? you've been betrayed by many a cherished childhood author.

still, this stickiness. fuck. can you pick up that book again. will you read it to your children. you've recommended it to others - will you ever do that again? and of course, of course, no parasocial relationships. you were theoretically above this kind of sentiment. but the artist informs the art, right.

so it's not something as clear-cut as feeling he owed you, specifically (a stranger) better behavior - just that you kind of, in a distant and odd way... sort of trusted him to do better. it's not like a real trust or something speakable, just the faint hope that the product (good books) was a thin representation of the soul. now it feels like the product (good? books?) was a mask. in some small or insignificant way, your previous support of this person lent them power. your money and your time and your laughter.

and the thing is - you have this terrible, echoing sensation. how many times will this happen? over and over. you find out that the singer you love is actually a predator. you learn over drinks that your favorite high school english teacher is in jail for what he did to her. you listen to the news idly and suddenly discover that a woman you used to idolize has been abusing her kids for an actual eon.

what can you touch without the static melting off. you can't even really complain about it too much (you were supposed to know better, and besides, you don't want the same re-split "it's not your fault, love what you love" basic advice), but now it's here. somehow, it feels like - you let him into your life.

it's not that things need to be pure or an artist has to be like, endlessly perfect, mindful. demure. it's more just this terrible truth that has been replayed through your veins so often it feels criminally vain. power corrupts, absolute power corrupts absolutely. did you want any one person to be worth that power?

it's just that he wrote books where he seemed to understand that. he seemed to know about hierarchies and unfair systems and bigotry and privilege. you thought they were books about what it means to struggle. you thought they were about having power and still using it for good rather than for control. he spooned you a narrative of being a good guy, a kind soul. you fucking bought what that fucking monster sold.

maybe that's why they were fantasies, after all.

[zorangezest]

Shockwave somewhere off in the corner with starscream watching this personality swap unfold that he caused somehow

HOLD ON. YOU’RE RIGJT. SHOCKWAVE DEFINITELY CAUSED ALL OF THIS

you inspired me to make this comic why is this becoming an actual au why does this stupid blucking au have lore I’m going to cry

[milktrician]

(what the. who threw a wife plot device in the middle of a peak lord meeting)

i thought about this bit at the end of the airplane extras the other day. bro why are you looking at your coworkers like that rn

[bixels]

I watched Starship Troopers tonight.

[frownyalfred]

thinking about how the Batkids must be SO tired of the Batman hero worship from the other Titans, JL members, sidekicks, etc. there's people literally falling over themselves to meet Batman in a Watchtower hallway, meanwhile they actually know Bruce, and Bruce just made them memorize backup codes to all of their major security systems in the Cave for three hours because Hal Jordan made an offhanded hacking joke at their League meeting earlier that day.

[ash-and-starlight]

life changing field trip in kyoshi island

[chronalshifts]

i think a lot of people are calling viktor’s reaction to waking up changed and then almost immediately leaving for zaun unrealistic and like… yes it would be. for someone whose mind has not been affected by the hexcore. he speaks differently, he hears sky’s voice through its influence, he can no longer feel the cold, or the warmth of jayce’s hug. he walks away from jayce because he can no longer feel the affection that kept them together, and he sees no logical point in remaining when they have no common ground anymore. he might not be a machine externally, exactly, but his mind certainly isn’t human anymore.

[ciderjacks]

thinking again about how much trust he had to have in Laios to recommend his own daughter in case he dies