#I forget to mention it constantly

[maddie-s-archive]

As someone who has heavy OCD symptoms, it's hard to fully describe just how some thoughts absolutely drill themselves into your brain. Like I consciously know that I'm safe and loved but there's this constant itch of "no that can't be true because believing it is Wrong somehow". Like you have to feel these awful feelings because that's the way It's Always Been and changing that is against the rules.

[cherrywhite]

One thing I love about Hayward in s1 is ya, sure, he's a cop. But most notably, he's not even a good cop. 

Hear me out. This isn't saying Hayward does not have the intuition one would associate with your typical, glorified cop from tv shows (in chapter 40, Hayward is absolutely right in that he immediately figured Carpenter out the moment he spotted her in Marcel's Crossing) and other instances, like chapter 43, shows that he has good reflexes for moments under fire (is the first to notice Brother Philly and co. at the door and pushes Carpenter out of the way). Not to mention that Hayward was on the force since he was 19, and to survive on the force for that long means he surely had plenty of solved cases under his belt, regardless if pressure has slowly built up by the time we're introduced to him.

No, when I say he's not even a good cop I mean in the sense of: he's not good at what cops actually do. 

One of the very first things Felix reminds him is to not "forget his gun this time." Implying that this has happened before, enough times for Felix to sound audibly tired about it (and he does have to go back for his gun at least two times in season 1). When Mr. Finch points a gun at him, he sits on the ground for a conversation. When asked, Hayward is confused as to why Daggler would need a knife when they find Carpenter and Faulkner's abandoned car, the thought of slashing the tires never even crossing his mind. And instead of immediately taking her into custody with no warrant whatsoever aside for his hunch, he sits down with Carpenter for an amicable conversation and a meal; only later showing his hand long enough to warn her that he's a cop and he's on to her. He's a cop and he has the Stink on him; because s1 Hayward is a bad cop. Because he does not immediately resort to violence. 

(And this isn't to dismiss his role as a cop entirely, something we're never fully privy to; chapter 3 alone shows us how his mere position as a cop was enough to cause a death that could have easily been avoided, because that role prevented Hayward from providing Mr. Finch with the actual help he needed.)

Daggler is such a ridiculous, exaggerated character but he's also the picture perfect cop. The Lieutenant-Colonel sends Daggler of all people, when they think Hayward can't solve the case. And, look, we don't really know what Daggler's position on the force is compared to Hayward, but he's clearly trusted enough to be sent, to be the exception to personal gods and keep a rhetorical god. Clearly trusted enough to close the case efficiently. Yes, Daggler is utterly ridiculous when put next to Hayward but that's because Hayward is a bad cop. Daggler is the ideal: he gets results quickly (by losing patience and immediately assaulting the bookseller), he takes perps to court and wins (with the use of The Coiling Speaks, not a liar's god btw), and he knows how to tell a compelling story (because of course Carpenter tried to attack Hayward. And of course the Good Cop shot and killed the Heretic to Protect His Partner). Good publicity all around.

S1 Hayward shows that there is no "good cop;" because being "good" is antithetical to what's expected of cops. There was no way he could continue being good and being a cop, it's why the Stink was beginning to creep up on him. "You're one of them nice coppers." says Mr. Finch. Nice. Not good. Because so-called good cops are probably the first to get sacrificed; because these institutions are not built with morality in mind.

[thelilylav]

The fact that Briar is listed as one of Rosabella's best friends in her profile but Briar's profile barely mentions her..

[clowningaroundmars]

y'know what i've been thinking about lately for no reason at all?

miles42

yeah, yeah i know but. if his 1610 counterpart is a conflict-avoidant-anxious type who keeps running both physically and metaphorically to and from his responsibilities, always acting like he's got everything under control... then, would miles42 be like that as well?

would earth-42 let him do that at all?

by that i mean... i always thought that miles42 would also be the same way, a boy who always tries to sweep things under the rug and pretend everything is totally normal... until i figured that smoothing over important things that need addressing is probably the last thing he would want to do, at least behind the scenes.

he'd put on the happy mask and conceal his pain on the surface, never arouse suspicions. miles42 would undoubtedly be influenced by his uncle aaron of course

but when a dystopian police state comes marching into the streets of your neighborhood, and the corrupt govt ruling over them plunges your family into poverty, there's only so much you can paint over until the cracks really start showing. problems tend to escalate quickly under totalitarian regimes

both miles42 and aaron42 would have to reckon with surviving in a world like that, where every bill that comes in the mail could be their last before the cops come hauling them away to debtors prisons. every infraction against the law established by evil billionaires and ceos could mean prison for life in general. every rebellious act is undoubtedly at the risk of being captured by cameras posted everywhere

miles1610 was able to run away from his problems, at least for a little while at a time. what would a miles who didn't have that option at all look like?

how would he feel, looking at himself from another-- freer, and arguably better-- dimension?

[memoriamp4]

I can't stop thinking about how Astrid says to Hiccup "Figure out which side you're on", and a short while later, after bonding with Toothless, he goes to the cove with the full intent of running away with Toothless. He chose his side and it wasn't Berk or his father, it was Toothless, a dragon that he was taught to fear his entire life. It's really sad to think about the fact that Hiccup had been treated so terribly his whole life that he was going to run away with a dragon that he had known for maybe a month. And it didn't even seem like Hiccup had any difficulty choosing Toothless over Berk/Stoick

[vulpinesaint]

has supernatural faded enough from the zeitgeist that it's normal now. like will it ever be divorced enough from the social context of the Everything to be a regular show from an outside perspective

[vernard]

if i like a dc character enough i should be allowed to move them over to marvel

[icharchivist]

if no one got me i know Sera will always get me. Sera i love you. You'll always be so precious to me.

[leliwardens]

you know maybe it really is for the best leliana never showed up in veilguard because if i had to see her on my screen not being able to talk about the warden i would of started cutting brake lines.

[harvestmoth]

its a few days before but this counts to me

[megkenobi]

Really tired of having to babysit my fucking psychiatrist. How hard is it to properly fill out paperwork? In what universe does filling out a single page out of 4 or 5 qualify as having actually filled it out? This should not be so hard.

[todayisafridaynight]

everyday i constantly think of masato's wheelchair and if that's his only one/main one no wonder he's so pissed at everyone

[bear-cubs-art-things]

hey just a couple things bc my step-dad really pissed my off yesterday and I need this to he out there:

People mature at different rates

And it's hard for autistic people to mature (quickly) because autism is a cognitive disability

Autism is a cognitive disability

[indigo6f00ff]

had fun in my first therapy appointment today

[kuroo-hitsuji]

Bro i really played myself with my trans Solomon hc huh

No visual evidence to subtly include in my art. No top surgery scars no nothin. No one will know but me orz

Fool. Imbecile.

Unfortunately though i will change Nothing bc it makes sense To Me but I will still be sad about it xgmxgmxxfj

[ilovedthestars]

fic writer ask game: 20 and 23?

Thanks for sending in an ask, bardic! (This one is for this ask game)

20. What’s a favorite title for a fic you’ve written?

A lot of my titles are either super generic (i.e. "Deployment Center," my first fic on ao3, which is just a pre-canon missing scene which takes place in the deployment center) or they're a thematically relevant phrase or word from the fic itself that i thought summed it up well enough to be used as a title. The latter ones are more interesting, although I think often people don't notice (or at least don't comment on it) when the phrase comes up in the story.

Acceptable Mission Cost is probably other people's favorite of my titles! In fact i think i chose that as the title because when i shared the first chapter on discord, that was the phrase people picked out and had Emotions about. The title gets called out in comments pretty often, which i think is a sign that it's working well with the fic. I'm happy with that.

I think my secret favorite, underdog answer for this is what happens to rogue secunits. It's a really short snip that i archived from a discord conversation, and i didn't have a title so i just pulled a line from the fic, but i think I picked a good one. I think it's clever the impression the title gives you vs. the impact when that phrase actually appears in the fic. No one has ever commented on this, so i don't know if it's actually clever, but i like it XD

23. How do you choose where to end a chapter (if you have multi-chapter works)?

I really like dramatic chapter endings! Cliffhangers, twists, or just a cool sounding line of dialogue right at the end. (This is probably apparent for anyone who's read the most recent few chapters of Old Unit, Young Unit, where i just kept doing dramatic twist ending after dramatic twist ending lol.) I've mentioned before that I'm not great at dramatic beginnings, and most of my first lines are pretty boring, but I like to stick the landing, so to speak.

Idk, I think i just have a chapter length that generally feels good to me (somewhere in the ballpark of 1-5k words, often around 2-3k). When I hit that wordcount I'm usually ready for either a natural end to a scene (when i'll try to end it on some kind of engaging emotion or tense moment of reflection from the narrator or something) or a dramatic moment that makes for a good cliffhanger. (My chapters do tend to get longer and longer as multi-chap works go on, lol. I haven't figured out a way to keep them more consistent.)