#I get that people enjoyed using them but they're kind of crap and I wish they didn't get the most attention

[grahminradarin]

Hi hey hello. I've been watching Miraculous since September, and I just finished.

WHAT THE FUCK IS WRONG WITH THIS FANDOM?

That finale was amazingly well-made. I definitely get why people were disappointed, but there's no way that's everything. The writers who made the rest of the season so good are not capable of writing something this confusing and unsatisfying, unless it's on purpose. This story isn't done.

There has been a lot of focus in the season on class dynamics, but in the last couple of episodes they really start bringing this theme of how people deal with power to the forefront

With Ladybug and Chat deciding not to do anything against Chloe because it's not their responsibility even though they have the power to do it, everything with Lila, the increasingly reckless and harmful ways Gabriel is manipulating people because he thinks he gets to decide what is good for others, Gimmi complaining that no one ever summons them to tell them anything good and only summon Gimmi to use Gimmi's power.

And the thing that brings it together: Marinette's speech right at the end, just before Gabriel makes the wish, when she says the power is only valid when it's used for the greater good of other people.

And then the statue of Gabriel. Right after all of this, a statue commemorating the man who refuses to use his power for the good of others. The dissonance is on purpose. This story is thematically incomplete, and I think the London special will finally wrap it all up.

What does the fandom come away from this talking about? How interesting this all is and wondering how it gets resolved? No. The fandom on the subreddit (and some of them on Tumblr) say "The villain won without consequences! This is bad writing!" and "Why is Marinette not telling Adrien he's a sentimonster?".

I just. How do you watch that and come away with your biggest concern being "Marinette didn't tell Adrien the truth"? How do you not see that it's so much bigger than that? That's not one dangling plot thread, we're looking at an unfinished garment and complaining that the edges are fraying.

And a good portion of the fandom cannot for the life of themselves see the loom and the people working it still going. I don't know how to stretch this metaphor any further, but I cannot believe that anyone would look at something so blatantly incomplete and still treat it like it's the entire picture. It's a microcosm of a bigger issue with the fandom, which is, as far as I can tell, that this fandom wants to watch a different show. Seasons 4 and 5 are so vastly different from seasons 1 and 2, and I think the people that came here to enjoy the first two or three seasons but hated the later ones are angry with the show for not following the traditional kinds of stories in the genre.

This show isn't trying to be an episodic or somewhat serialized story about love squares and middle school nonsense. It's a deep and varied exploration of what being a magical girl does to a 14 year old (in addition to many other things), and it's not pretty. The show is trying to say "this was terrible for everyone, and it shouldn't have happened, but it did, and here's how". And most people didn't want that, which is fair. But it doesn't mean the show is badly written, nor does it mean the writers hate certain characters. It pisses me off that a show this well made, with so much time and effort and care, is constantly dismissed as a badly-written, disorganized piece of crap that people only like ironically. Something this well made deserves a more neutral presentation to let people form their own opinions, and it deserve appreciation for the innumerable things it does well, especially in later seasons and the specials.

In summary, Miraculous isn't bad. A vocal part, maybe even the majority, of the fandom just wanted something else based on the first 3 seasons, and hasn't realized it because they're so devoted to hating on the show. And it deserves a much better reputation than it has.

[my-castles-crumbling]

Hey! It's gc anon, as you've so named me, here's your update! (very confusing...)

Also, good luck on your new job! Wishing you luck 🫶🫶

So, I don't know if I clarified this in the first ask, but the 3 people in my class who were in the friend group and chat were NOT active in the crap talking, i just know they were in the chat. It was only Jacob and two other people. I suppose it's also important to note that those three ppl (the shit talkers, ima call them the Plastics bc mean girls is iconic) are completely gone from the school I attend where we all became friends. I will never see any of them again. Anyways, back to the point.

I was nervous going into that class and seeing them all, even not truly knowing what they specifically thought. It was odd though. They all greeted me like normal, and then right in front of me were talking about the hangout they had without me, not even trying to hide it. That was kinda weird flag one. By the end of the class I decided that I was going to ask them what I did to the Plastics and/or the rest of the group, and I would say that I saw the messages off of someone's lockscreen. So that's what I did.

And when I tell you they were shocked and appalled. Like shocked. Like this guy:🫢

They said that they were told by the Plastics and thought that I didn't want to be friends with them... that I was "stepping away and making other friends." For context...these ppl were my best friends, like my whole world last year. They said they hadn't read the gc (not really suspicious as none of them were normally on insta, which is where the gc was) and they had no idea what it's about. They were also adamant that the Plastics had not given them any context. It would explain why they would talk about the hangout in front of me, assuming they thought I didn't care.

Frankly, I don't know at this point. They could be lying to save face (we're all in theatre, and I know they're all very good actors, so I can't leave it out of the question even though I find it unlikely) or they could be sincere. I'm leaning towards sincere however because when I walked into class today, the second day, they were all very eager to talk to me and joke around, even getting us in "trouble" a couple times for talking too much. They seemed to enjoy my company.

I'm not sure of anything at this point, I am very bamboozled, but I've sorta made some half baked decisions.

1. All the Plastics are no bueno and I won't affiliate with them at all. Which, if you recall, is very easy seeing as the three of them are gone from my vicinity.

2. The three people in my class seem safe, but I'm not going to get in deep friendship with them again, because they could be lying. Why they would, I don't know, but I also know to not trust things as they seem when it comes to teenager drama.

3. At this point, I still don't know what I did, and I've decided I don't wanna know. That is not my problem, and if I knew, I would probably obsess over it and take down my mental health. I have a total James Potter complex where I want everyone to be happy but forget to take care of myself, so this is me trying to put my sanity first.

I don't know if this completes the gc anon saga, but it looks like it's done for now. I'll update you if there's a major update I suppose.

Thank you for being kind, you deserve all the good things this world has to offer, truly.

Ciao!🫶

Hi!

I think your decisions (1, 2, 3) are perfect. It sounds like you know yourself and the other people involved pretty well, and I'm proud of you for handling this all well! Keep me updated if anything else happens!

[pokejstor]

Letter found in Canalave City Archives

Letter found in Canalave City Archives.

Part of the Sinnoh Historical Society Digital Database

Professor Amo of Naranja-Uva Academy (posted while studying abroad)

Letter found in the Canalave City archives, presumed to have been brought in in old Jubilife as it mentions the city when it was once a village.

During my studies abroad, I was delighted to find many records of ancient Hisui-including the incident in which a tear in the sky opened up, and dropped some poor soul into the ancient past it would seem. This person seems to have left behind a letter, and I've tried my best to document it though the words seem a bit smudged-I am going off what I've been able to translate-oddly enough instead of the native tongue of the area, the writer seems to be more used to modern Unovan, or something similar? I'll have to investigate this further.

'Dear Professor,

Do not weep for me. I know, I know-the kid suddenly goes missing after going up to mount Coronet for the second time after dealing with some emotional crap-don't worry, I didn't do anything stupid. It overjoys me to say, it's quite the opposite-..I'm going home. 

Which-brings me to the gut-wrenching reason behind this letter. This means-as much as I may want to-for fear of screwing with time and space, I can't bring my team with me-my beloved partners, friends, companions-must remain in Hisui. I've written down instructions-I hope you'll understand and follow them.

- Take King to Unova, if you can. I'm sure he would love to meet other Samurott and perhaps could even settle down, raise a family there-with others of his kind. He may be a variant-but I feel they'll accept him with open arms!

- Let Amor fly free-I feel that the age of Alphas are almost at an end, and I wish for her to feel freedom-perhaps seek out other Togekiss herself! Or-..Well, I have a feeling she'll be looking for one in particular...

- Kyoya? Let him free to reunite with his pride. I'm sure they'll be happy to know their son has returned a hero, and hopefully an inspiration to all other Luxray!

- Vinnie-i hope he'll stay in the village. He was named after a friend of mine, and as a Gengar he-comes pretty close to the real deal, personality and all! I feel he'll be a great watcher and caretaker of children-even if it may take some getting used to.

- I leave Khan to you-Infernape are a fascinating species to work with, and I think you'll enjoy seeing what these wonderful pokemon are capable of-I've heard in my own time they're wonderful companions for trainers just starting out!

- Arial-as a mere Starly she expressed intrest in the market-and I believe now, fully evolved, she may be able to offer her services at last as a delivery pokemon! It could potentially make exporting and importing shipments much easier, and I know you, of all people, might be interested in finding out if this could be useful to the village!

As for myself-I've made peace. I admit I'm going to miss you all-I hope a certain warden will be able to make the journey back home as well, hopefully sooner than later. As for me-Tell Rei I said goodbye, and I wish I could have done it in person. Tell the Commander that I leave my uniform as it should be-folded in my quarters should anyone need it. And-...should a certain merchant ever return-..could you tell him that I wish we meet again somehow? It may seem impossible but-well-I fell out of the frickin' sky, so Arceus knows what's actually impossible at this point. Just-..tell him that I wish things could have ended better. 

..And finally we come to you. You took me in when I needed someone to lean on the most. You stood by me, even when hardly anyone else would-..Thank you, Professor. I know this may be goodbye-I'm not going to 'Sugarcoat it' as they say in my era-..I'm gonna miss you. But I know you-us dreamers gotta stick together! And so I leave you with something an old friend left me with.

If you have a dream? Make it come true. If anyone can, It's you..! Until then? ..Farewell.

Signed,

Your Student'

The date of the letter was too smudged to read-but this seems to be referring to whoever it was the rift spat out into ancient Hisui. Could this person perhaps be walking among us now, returned home as the letter suggested? I'll have to research this further.

[akihabaradivision]

ARB Birthday Special: Nikki Yoshie

~~ May 13th ~~

"Games have so much freedom. You can go anywhere you want."

Login Lines:

"A click here, a click there, and... done. I now control over 99% of the finances from Norinchukin Bank here in Tokyo. Now then, send and... transfer complete. You're welcome, Diabla. ...Hmm? An email? Probably just another subscription. ...Wait. It says... 'Happy Birthday, Nikki.'"

"...Oh right. Today is my birthday, isn't it? ...Peh, not that I really care, to be honest. It's just another day, to be honest. ...But I guess I may as well make an effort to be joyful."

Voice Lines:

"I've gotten a lot of emails and text from my friends and fans wishing me a 'happy birthday'. I question how most of these people have gotten my number, but I suppose that's what happens when you're famous, I guess. Still, it's kind of ironic that so many people like me now when they didn't give a crap about me when I was younger.

"My mom and dad called. They both wished me a 'happy birthday', which was nice, I guess. They asked if I wanted to go out today, but I told them it was fine since I know they both have work. They still sent me some cash and paid off my rent for the next month. I keep telling them they don't have to do that, but... well, it keeps cash in my pockets, I guess."

"I called my younger brother after I was done speaking with my parents. He was glad to hear from me. I asked him how things were at his school, but... he didn't elaborate, which is a sure sign that he's still having problems there. I may have to call in one of those favors that Scorpion Den owes me and find out who it is exactly that's giving him so many problems."

"Keiko? What are you doing here? ...I just figured you'd be too busy with your manga and schoolwork to visit. ...Let me stop you right there: if this is another attempt at trying to get me to join university, then the answer is 'no', it will be 'no' again the next time you ask, and any other time after that. ...Whatever. Did you come all the way here on my birthday to say that?"

"A gift from you? I shudder to imagine what it is. ...What the heck are these? Workout bands? Keiko, in what universe would make you think... ...Uh-huh. Fine, I'll take them, but don't count on me using these things, or not giving them away the next chance I get. ...Blame yourself for giving me a crappy gift."

"Hmm? Oh, hey Criss. What are you...? ...Criss, you have exactly three seconds to let go of me before I hurt you. One... two... thr... I don't care how long we've known each other. If you know me so well, then you also know full well that I don't like being touched, not by anyone. ...Yes, I'm quite fine with being a 'meanie'. Now, if there's nothing else..."

"Oh, a present? Gee, what could it be? ...Oh, a... a handheld retro arcade machine? Hmm... well, I do enjoy playing old games some of the times, I'll admit. ...Yes. Yes, I do like it. A lot. Thank you, Criss. Really, this is... this is nice. I'll definitely use it. ...Criss, I said I don't..." *Sighs* "Fine, you can get one hug. No more, understand? ...Okay, that's enough. Now, let go."

Keiko Lines:

"Hey Nikki, happy birthday. ...I put my work on my manga on hold for a bit. And as for my schoolwork, I already completed it. You know, speaking of schoolwork, have you given any thought to..." *Sighs* "Fine, but I'm telling you: you are wasting your life away by not taking advantage of this opportunity. Someone with your smarts could do a lot at school."

"Anyway, here. Happy birthday. ...They're workout bands. Now before you start complaining, hear me out first. You probably don't know this or care, but sitting for long periods of time in the same position can give you very bad hip and back issues. If you do, at least, ten minutes of hip flexor exercises with these bands, they'll eliminate most standard gaming-induced hip and back pain. ...Look, just try them out once, okay? ...You'd sell a gift that I went out of my way to get you? Why am I not surprised, Nikki?"

Criss Lines:

"Nikki! Happy birthday! ...Come on, let me hug you a bit longer! ...Okay, okay, fine! Sheesh, we've known each other for a long time, Nikki. You should be used... Ugh, you're such a meanie, Nikki! Anyway, happy birthday! Yeah, I noticed before you seemed upset cause one of your favorite sites where you play arcade games was shut down, so I bought this. ...Aww, no problem, Nikki! I'm glad you like it! ...Yay! Hugs!"

[welcomingdisaster]

Fingon for the ask game if that's still going/you still want to!

YES thank you. "most guy of all time" (The Lost Road and Other Writings, "Quenta Silmarillion", §94)

one aspect about them i love

oh i love absolutely every action he takes in the silmarillion. honestly i read some characters (maglor, for instance) as semi-aware of the fact that they're living in a tragedy, and he's almost... genre savvy in the wrong way? if this was a different kind of story everything he does would pay off. doomed romance/epic hero trapped in a revenge tragedy. love that for him.

one aspect i wish more people understood about them

hmmm i've got a couple. (a) i don't think he's an unwavering force of extraverted optimism the way the fandom often seems to think? like, that bitch is traumatized and regretful with the rest of them, he's just choosing to cling to hope despite it all. (b) i am a hardcore russingon shipper but i do wish i saw him with motivations that extended past maedhros more often in fic. i don't like the take that he killed at alqualonde just because (or even mostly because) of his feelings (romantic or platonic) for maedhros, or that maedhros was the motivation for his leaving aman.

one (or more) headcanon(s) i have about this character

i think he has a ton of random crap in case he ever needs it. this is partly because they marched across the grinding ice with insufficient tools and supplies and partly because he's a magpie. has a LOT of different knives. carries several quills and inkwells on him at all times. stuffs any extra seeds leftover from planting into his shirt pockets. he sees hurin use a tobacco packer, and, despite not smoking, kind of feels like he needs to have one.

i think he has a very pronounced set of gallows humor delivered very cheerfully. very expressive, very outgoing, very prone to wild parties with finrod or hurin or a&a, so it almost doesn't register that he just said something very off-the-wall or bleak.

Tiny visual headcanon compilation: messy handwriting, curls, brown eyes, lip piercing, can't think without pacing.

one character i love seeing them interact with

ohh man well. you already know i love fingon/maedhros. i also really enjoy him with any of his siblings (i think i imagine he gets along a lot more easily with aredhel and has a complicated intense relationship with turgon), his father, most of his cousins. honestly just gonna take him to the elf park and let him off leash i love it when he hangs out with people

one character i wish they would interact with/interact with more

angrod and aegnor! we learn that they were friends, but they don't really interact much in the actual book, and we're kinda left to guess what the dynamic was like.

one (or more) headcanon(s) i have that involve them and one other character

i see people writing him and maglor as at-odds with each other a lot but i personally think they were decent friends. not super close, but similar in age and perfectly happy to hang out if the opportunity struck.

i think he was very close with his father, probably closer than any of his siblings. fingolfin's iciness and his general warmth probably seemed contradictory to people who didn't know them well, but they were both mostly fronts to hide their true feelings. i think fingon probably brought out a rarely-seen playful side in his father.

to add on to that: i think fingolfin and maedhros have a very similar dry/bleak/flat sense of humor, and fingon feels very at home around it.

i go "gil-galad son of oropher" as my personal headcanon (or, recently, mostly towards "gil-galad and finduilas are the same person"). so i don't think he was gil-galad's father but i think he corresponded with gil-galad a lot via letters. and perhaps gil-galad did come to see himself, both before and after his death, as a sort of spiritual successor -- a scion not of blood but symbolically

[ereborne]

Book asks: 3, 4, 11 please :D

3: What's something you read recently and wanted to argue with (either with the book or the author or the fans)?

I won't name names, but okay--so there's a project I'm working on for a friend of mine, where he sends me books and I read them and tell him what genre they fall into, if they're more magical realism or urban fantasy or paranormal romance or what. And that means that occasionally, I get an email that opens with "you won't enjoy this one, but". And let me tell you, when he says that. He's Right. I read this fucking book. This godforsaken novel. Dystopian future, incredibly generic heroman MC and his incredibly generic love-interest-only lady and their incredibly tertiary comic-relief best friend are the only people left who can perceive magic, comic relief friend dies early in the story and we are left absolutely humorless, can we restore magic (and by magic we mean human connection and emotion and also the literal ability to throw fireballs) to this soulless corporate nothingland, will our struggles ever matter, will we persevere. And I persevered! I trudged through this concrete-colored dystopia for pages and pages. I dragged myself bodily through this entire miserable experience in pursuit of that ages-old question, if the magic is governed by technology do we deem it a scifi or fantasy novel. The magic was all gathered into one object through a ritual by a coven (fantasy) but the object is essentially a PalmPilot (scifi) and you use it to make wishes (fantasy) but before they're granted you have to read through a terms and conditions and waive your rights to complain (scifi). You'd think this could be a fun thought experiment, or at least a neat concept to evaluate. No. If the monkey's paw ran on a macOS, it would still not be as convolutedly dickish as this thing. But being a shit story makes it something I want to throw out the window, not necessarily something I want to argue with. Being genre-non-compliant makes it something I might want to debate, except for how I very much just threw it back at my friend with a final label of "however your system lists A Wrinkle In Time". But no, what I'd like to speak words with the author over is: None of it mattered. So much searching for human connection and emotion, and the love interest has a reclusive richboy cousin who's kind of smug and offputting but she loves him anyway, he's her last remaining family member, towards the end of the book it looks like maybe they can put a spell together, they just need a third person to make a coven, let's go recruit the cousin! Family magic! Legacy! Emotional payoff! We're fools. No emotional payoff allowed in this mageless wasteland. Cousin has had the Monkey's PawPilot the entire time and has been wishing the world onto an ever-shittier trajectory in exchange for, I shit you not, tax breaks. And we fix this by killing him (this is an emotionless practical decision on MC's part, even Love Interest doesn't cry) and taking the PawPilot and wishing to go back in time not to prevent the condensing of all magic into an evil Apple device but instead just to keep it out of the shitty cousin's hands. Because obviously it's better off in the hands of its original owners, The US Government. And, crap cherry on this shit sundae, knock-on effects of this timeline divergence will keep the MC and Love Interest from ever meeting. So yeah, I'd argue with that author. I'd fight him in a gravel lot. Who does that good a job equating magic with human connection with emotion with color with prosperity, and then resolves the story by turning all of the above into a WMD for the Fucking Feds? I'm gonna feed him his own knucklebones.

4: What are your top 3 comfort reads? 11: What's a book you've recently re-read?

Oh man, I got so mad. Sorry about that. Comfort reads it is! And actually these are the same answers, because I've been rereading my favorite comfort books all week, because my mom's been in my house. She's gone now, but the books are still out on my bedside table. These are the ones I reread most recently out of the lot, and are the literal top three* of the comfort book stack:

Agnes and the Hitman by Jennifer Crusie

The Blue Sword by Robin McKinley

Sorcery & Cecilia or: The Enchanted Chocolate Pot by Patricia C Wrede

*This is without counting Silver Borne by Patricia Briggs, which is a very good book and part of one of my favorite serieses, but is really only in the stack, and in fact always on top, because every time I walk by I pick it up again, and the book falls naturally open to a line I read and reread like a mental touchstone: "Pack is for comfort when you hurt."

[strangeshutter]

˚ ༘♡ ⋆｡˚ dear diary: half return

Okay so it's been a little while, but I'm still here. I only really have this account on my laptop because having it on my cell phone makes me nervous for some reason? I'm unsure. But, it's late at night and no one is around and I find myself eager to write something into the vastness of the internet, never to be read more than once by some stranger of two.

A brief update: I can't tell if I feel better. I've started doing things to my body to cope, but it never seems to fully be enough. I continue to think at least once a day about killing myself, but only really when I'm fully alone and have no one to distract myself with. I hate to be so dependent on others, but truthfully I can't find it in myself to just be a normal person who can be alone and still enjoy time. I constantly need distraction and interaction or else I start to go down this pipeline of feeling like shit and wondering if the world would be a better place without me. I still feel unfit for society, I still see no future, I still wish that I won't wake up the next morning when I sleep at night. I find myself wondering if my peers understand that at all. I feel bad when I open up about it and try to say just how bad it is, as if I'm yanking for some kind of attention, That's never been the case, I actually feel like maybe the reason I talk so much about it is so they'll be less shocked when or if I ever actually disappear from the world. Sometimes I don't think they'd care, but also I kind of think thinking that way is selfish or ignorant?

On the brighter side, I have been feeling a little happier when I'm around them all lately. We've been doing some more simple shit that only really requires being in each others company, which we never used to do because it's a little corny to just sit silently on the phone with each other. I used to hate being on the phone with people for long spans of time, mostly because I'd run out of things to say and then get gradually ore annoyed by the silences. However, with this specific group that I've been friends with for around two years now, I find it so easy to just be around them and not worry about being silent. For example, with the last person that I was this close to, I would go quiet on the phone and he'd immediately start assuming I was upset or tired of him, then made me feel like I had to baby him to make him feel better about it. Now, I can be playing games with my friends and mute and they don't mind at all. For a good while, we would play Stardew and I would just go out of nowhere and they'd immediately just know I was taking a verbal break to be on my own even while playing the same game as them. It's almost refreshing to just be quiet after talking for hours about random crap.

I used to feel that I couldn't be myself with this group, but as of these past few months, it's gotten easier and easier to let loose and say what I want about what I like without feeling badly. They've even started watching shows I like with me just to tag along and make jokes. I think everyday I feel better and better about living as long as they're around. But that really only drags me back to the whole being dependent thing. I wish I could be alone and happy.

I think that's all the bullshit I have the energy to spew for the night.

[kierancampire]

Percy Jackson spoilers.

I was so excited to watch the show but I think I honestly dunno if I can continue watching it. I've got 8:30 minutes left of episode 3, yet to watch episode 4. But god it's just pissing me off constantly! I know it's for younger audiences, but some of us grew up reading and loving the books! I wish there was something for us older fans! And I get it can't mirror the books exactly and it needs changes, but god I am so absolutely fuck sick of the show telling you everything and not leaving you any time to guess anything or to sit with anything! It just spells out and screams everything at you! And the changes it makes are crap!

Sally telling Percy everything instantly, Luke telling Percy the Annabeth and Thalia story, Grover telling Percy that Hades has his mum, Annabeth telling Percy that Grover was their protector, Medusa instantly telling them who she is, now Percy is immediately telling them the prophecy in full that he heard!?! What the fuck is up with this show and subtlety!?! It's leaving no complexities to the characters, it is leaving no mysteries, and it is making such huge and shit changes! Like the first Dodds fight, except oh wait, they didn't fight, Percy accidentally stabbed her. Or like the fight where Percy discovers his powers, except oh wait, that never happened either as Annabeth pushed him in a lake. Or like how the Furies show they are really formidable on the bus and they have an almost deadly encounter, except oh wait! That never fucking happens and just a queue of 4 people is apparently enough to stop a high ranking monster! Medusa was barely anything! The monsters aren't scary and have posed no threat because all they do is stand there! The Minotaur was impressive and intimidating, that's it! Then they just are constantly arguing and bickering over nothing, and they're accusing Percy of being scared and defensive when they keep starting on him, firstly he wasn't acting differently at all? So that feels out of nowhere? And of course he's gonna get defensive when they keep fighting him? They've had no kind moments together, just fighting and accusing!

Like, I will try episode 4 once this is done, I will give it a go. But if this show shows one more thing then instantly explains it, or explains a thing before it is even shown or mentioned, honestly I'm dropping it! I just do not get why they wrote it in this way where they do nothing but explain EVERYTHING in the first 3 episodes, and leave nothing for suspense! Especially when it completely goes against the story and characters! The characters in the show are so fucking flat! You are getting spoon fed EVERYTHING, even before you/Percy really know anything about it, like Thalia, they are so one dimensional and bland because they're extracting all the substance! Or like in Mr. D's case, none of his threat is there, Gabe's a pushover, Luke hasn't really shown any anger at the gods, Annabeth hasn't shown any sadness about her arrival, Grover hasn't shown any upset about his past, Percy wasn't allowed to secretly hope to save his mum, they characters have no depth! The show has written them so one note, and anything that could be deep, it just instantly explains or tosses aside! Also, I know he's a kid, but Grover's actor ain't the greatest, and just adding on everything else. If somehow people are enjoying this show, good for them, I'm glad. I was so excited to watch this and was really looking forward to it, especially with how more book accurate it was meant to be. But it's like they're actively going out of their way to ruin the story by removing all the fights, all the excitement, all the mysteries, all the depth, then replacing it with non-stop bickering. The movie did quite a few things better and no one should be saying that.

Edit: LIN-MANUEL MIRANDA IS FUCKING HERMES.

[owlheartt]

I posted 2,776 times in 2021

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#you better listen to me or i’ll come to your house and i’ll whisper all the wonderful things about you in your ear at night so ya sleep well

My Top Posts in 2021

#5

So I felt inspired to do some sketches! Sorry for the poor lighting,, I’m not at home and don’t feel like waiting lol

Anyways! These are some presents for mutuals (:

First one is @ccinochai’s sona and Error by @/loverofpiggies

Pink small Dream by @calcium-cat

Rapid and Ember by @lunex-the-cat

Cat Ink and Error by @micc0ro

Angel by @zombiedoodlesstuff

Hope you guys enjoy the doodles,, might do some more later :))

131 notes • Posted 2021-08-16 22:53:08 GMT

#4

That last image is hands reaching for grilled cheese,, I know it’s bad.

First/previous/next

140 notes • Posted 2021-08-25 20:08:31 GMT

#3

Done based on this post by @calcium-cat

The poses are kinda awkward but considering this is the most characters I’ve successfully put in a single image (and they’re not just standing next to each other) I’d say I did pretty well :)

Anyways now that I’ve finally finished that I can go back to today’s plan which was writing even though I accidentally spent a lot of today on this drawing

150 notes • Posted 2021-07-14 21:51:13 GMT

#2

The expression meme

(Aka part 1/2)

Here is the outfit meme and here is the instructions/rules post

Feel free to use! REBLOG, DON’T REPOST!!!

236 notes • Posted 2021-06-01 16:25:20 GMT

#1

The outfit meme

Part 2/2

Expression meme here and instructions/rules here

Feel free to use!!! REBLOG, DO NOT REPOST.

446 notes • Posted 2021-06-01 16:26:09 GMT

Get your Tumblr 2021 Year in Review →

[olderthannetfic]

"I can like a lead OC. I'm just going to judge them by the same standard I use to judge original work. If you rise to that level, great. If you don't, I'm not going to enjoy your OC taking up too much page time." Isn't that a bit weird considering that we're still talking about amateur authors in most cases? I don't get why so many ppl a re so hostile when it comes to oc's (I am aware that people read fanfic for the reason that they want to read about the canon characters. I don't have a problem with that, I do too.) But many ppl in some fandoms seem to be almost personally offended by the idea of oc's. Somebody made an effort. I think this whole oc thing is taken way too seriously.

Almost nobody cares about background names that are made into someone more present in a story which is almost the same thing as an oc. So weird. I'm not a writer but I'm sad for the people who try to create something and then are treated like they did something really offensive.

--

No, it's not weird at all. You're conflating two completely different things:

Will we enjoy this fic as a reader?

Is the fic objectively acceptable to write?

I read fic for entertainment. When I'm looking for something to read, that fic is competing with Netflix and the stack of books next to my bed. The fact that it's amateur is irrelevant: I'm spending my precious free time on it, and if it's not fun, I'll spend my time on something else. Plenty of fic readers won't care about proofreading as long as the fic has their favorite dynamic. Others will. The exact things that make a fic enjoyable vary by reader, but "more fun than whatever's in my Netflix queue" remains.

I don't care if people write OCs. They're welcome to write whatever they like. But they aren't entitled to everyone liking their fic any more than writers of my NOTP are.

"I don't want to read this" is not hostility or a moral judgment.

The fundamental truth is that if you make up a character—yes, including a walk-on from canon to whom you're giving a personality, which routinely cause wank even if you haven't seen it—you have to do the work to make people care. When I read about canon characters, canon already made me connect with them. When you start from scratch, you need to equal that canon, get me to care, and then carry on from there.

This isn't a value judgment: This is how reality works. Canon gives you something to stand on if you're using major elements from it. If you strike out on your own, you have to do more work.

The thing that's offensive is not OC fic, for which there are plenty of fans, but whinyass writers crying that people don't like their really cliched and bad quality leads. The OC fic that is popular operates like pro art in the sense that a major character generally needs some flaws and balance, and you have to set things up to make your reader invested. If it's a pure power fantasy, it needs to be written in a way that invites the reader to share in the mary sue. Romance as a genre does this frequently. The romance novelist is inviting the reader in. The book is aspirational and escapist for both writer and reader.

A particular kind of inexperienced writer, however, tends to write the type of mary sue that is theirs and not yours. It's very much about "Worship my OC! Worship my OC at the expense of everything else in canon!" (Or the original writing equivalent thereof: these bad characters are certainly not limited to fic.) It's not wish fulfillment for the reader: it's the reader being expected to serve the writer's wish fulfillment. That crap is offensive.

I like OC fic fine. I don't like terrible writing or entitlement.

[takamishinko]

footprints and doubts

this is the longest piece we’ve written so far and it drained the living crap out of us :,D but hope u guys enjoy !

pronouns: gender neutral 

warnings: nothing really other than jealousy, angst, and crying, self thought cheating

a/n: r/n is region name btw

________________________________________________________________

honestly you found it hard to believe that little ol’ you from r/n could befriend let alone become someone important to ajax. the great tartaglia, 11th of the fatui harbingers, his name itself could strike fear into anyone. yet here you were, standing next to him with your hands intertwined with his at the lantern rite festival. you would give the world to him if you could, you loved him so much. he was so different from your last significant other who had been unfaithful towards you. 

‘you’re just too boring.’ they had told you apathetically. you frown thinking about it.

you felt ajax gave your hand a small tug, "hey y/n why don't we go over there? looks like chef mao is cooking up something good." he spoke with a cheery grin on his face.

you snap back into reality as you felt his hand pull you out of your thoughts. you gave him a terse nod and the two of you made your way to wanmin restaurant.

after waiting a while in line, the two of you were next. chef mao looked up and practically shat himself at the sight of the male next to you. 

“hello y/n! i hope you’ve been enjoying the festival, " chef mao spoke nervously, his eyes gliding to the male next to you, “y...you too sir childe.” he sputtered out. right, ajax was the one who tried to destroy liyue not too long ago after all. you shook your head, right now you were with ajax, not childe.

"woah woah woah. calm down chef, you know that’s history now. besides, i’m just here to enjoy the festival with y/n." ajax assured, sheepishly rubbing the back of his head.

you gave the chef a slight smile and spoke,"don’t worry chef. i’m sure he doesn’t have plans other than being with me tonight." you teased. 

the chef sighed in poorly concealed relief and returned to his usual self as he took your order. ajax ordered the specialty for today, the crystal shrimp. after a small wait, the two of you waved chef mao goodbye after he gave you two your food. the warm dish let out puffs of steam and glistened under all the light of the lanterns due to it's crystal clear skin, there were 4 in total, the wrapping for each was folded into the shape of a flower. they were so pretty, you almost felt bad for eating them. 

sitting down on a nearby bench, the two of you enjoyed the crystal shrimp while making small talk. the crystal shrimps were delicious themselves but it felt better to enjoy them with someone you loved. 

after finishing the food, you and ajax had a great time. you guys played a few rounds of theatre mechanics, ruijin was pleased at how skilled the two of you were and rewarded both of you with hefty prizes. upon bumping into zhongli, the three of you decided to enjoy some tea with him. after bidding farewell to the funeral consultant, the two of you released some xiao lanterns and watched as they floated into the night sky. 

feeling a bit tired, the two of you then decided to relax and take a walk instead of participating in games. as you and your boyfriend were strolling around the harbour, something, or someone caught his gaze. you look over to where his eyes were trailing to.

oh.

a beautiful young lady dressed in a white dress with a cecilia tucked into her golden blonde hair and a puffy companion floating by her side waved at ajax. her smile brighter than the sun and her movement as graceful as the moon. her honey glazed eyes shone with familiarity and glee at the sight of him.

of course you recognized this girl. she was none other than the otherworldly traveler, lumine. she fought alongside the liyue qixing and even the adepti to defeat the great osial. the people of liyue spoke about her often, everyone knew how she had also earned the title of honorary knight in mondstadt and defeated one of the four winds despite her young age. 

you were once again brought back into reality when ajax spoke, "hey babe ill be right back okay? i wanna catch up with lumine real quick." 

you felt his hand leave yours, the warmth dissipated with it. you felt an uncomfortable feeling bubble up as you watched your boyfriend run to someone else, leaving you alone by yourself to stand in the sea of lanterns and people. 

it didn't feel right.

you stayed in place with a dejected look for a while waiting for ajax to return but he was taking a while so you decided to go check what was going on with him.

"-but then teucer decided to do it anyway!” you hear ajax’s boyish voice ring out with amusement.

as the blond and the redhead laughed together. you couldn't help but think about the two looked enchanting with each other.

you shook your head and decided to make your presence known. "ajax-" 

ajax perked up, "oh! babe sorry to keep you waiting let me introduce you. lumine this is my partner y/n!" ajax exclaimed with a cute grin.

you gave lumine a small wave and spoke with a polite smile, "it's a pleasure to meet you lumine." 

"it’s nice to meet you too y/n.” lumine replied cheerfully.

now that you’ve got a better look at the blonde, she's so much more beautiful than you could have ever imagined. 

her velvety blonde hair fell gracefully, her porcelain skin was practically glowing without a single visible blemish, her golden eyes shone with beauty that rivaled cor lapis. to wrap it up, her short stature was presented with grace and poise. all in all, everything about the blonde was nothing less than perfection.

everyone loved her and you could understand the reason behind it very well. gorgeous, kind, and righteous, the hero of every region everyone respected. you couldn’t help but wish you were like her instead of your boring self, without a vision, without any standing out achievements either…

you started to space out while the two started up a conversation again, thinking about the feelings you were currently having. why were you feeling like this?

"hey babe we should get going! it's getting late." the voice of your lover broke you out of your thinking.

you were overthinking a lot today huh. "oh. we probably should get going then." 

"bye ajax! bye y/n! it was really nice meeting you." lumine said with a pearly smile gracing her features. she then walked off to find her floating companion who was near a food stall inhaling dish after dish of food.

wait.

ajax..? he wasn’t childe or tartaglia to her, but ajax. you didn't know how to feel upon hearing the real name of your boyfriend slip out of the blonde. you knew how secretive ajax could be when it came to his family and personal life so the fact that lumine knew his real name put a feeling of unease within you.

the way home was pretty quiet, you didn't want ajax to notice that you were feeling off. you felt so guilty for having these feelings about him and lumine but you couldn’t help it. your last relationship had practically trampled on your ability to trust others, you could never tell if someone was lying to you or being truthful. you contemplated telling him how you felt but you decided against it, you’ve never been great at expressing your feelings after all. however, after a while of him blabbing about random topics, you couldn’t curb your curiosity any longer and realized you wanted to know more about your lover's relationship between him and lumine.

after a while of peaceful silence, you let out a small breath, "hey ajax?"

“yes y/n?" 

"who is lumine… to you?"

ajax perked up at the sound of the blonde's name, "lumine? she's a good friend and a formidable opponent of course. it's been a while since i’ve fought with someone who could keep up with me on the battlefield!" ajax spoke with enthusiasm.

you felt a twinge of pain shoot into your heart at the tone that your lover used when speaking about the blonde. did he speak like that when he was talking about you? 

"oh… i see. she must be a very powerful person then." you replied with feigned glee.

ajax noticed that you were in low spirits, "why? is something wrong?" he questioned with slight worry.

"no! i'm alright. i was just curious because you two seemed… close." you lied. you weren't ok, but you didn't know how to tell him. probably because you didn't even know why you felt such-

envy 

that was what you were feeling. not petty jealousy or sadness, you were envious. envious of lumine. her beauty, her strength, her personality, everything. the feeling consumed every inch of your body and dyed you green. your insecurities swallowed you up and spit you out, rendering you vulnerable against the little demons that poked at your thoughts.

when the two of you got home and freshened up, ajax practically passed out the second he lied in bed with you. on the other hand, you stayed wide awake, stuck thinking about the way lumine and ajax interacted. the smiles, the laughter, the fond looks they gave each other plagued your mind, rendering you unable to sleep. after a while of staring blankly at the ceiling, you groaned and carefully lifted the sheets to not wake your lover and got out of bed to make yourself a cup of tea. you used the tea leaves you bought from pops kai, the calming properties of the tea always helped you when you felt down. 

"they're just friends, don't overthink it, just friends, just friends." you whispered to yourself, trying to give yourself a sense of reassurance. after finishing the tea you got back into bed,  it was hard but you eventually fell asleep next to your lover.

next morning, you were woken by the sound of your boyfriend walking around in the living room doing something. it was only around 7am so you were wondering why up so early as he usually woke up at 8. you groggily walked out of the bedroom.

ajax noticed you and smiled fondly at the cute sight of you rubbing your eyes. "good morning babe, did i wake you up? sorry about that, i was just getting ready to go train."

"oh. by yourself?" somehow, you had a feeling of where this conversation was headed.

"no, with lumine, we made a deal yesterday to go to yaoguang shore today to fight some ruin guards and hunters for materials!" he chuckled.

lumine. lumine

the name echoed in your mind like a mantra. you were aware of his weekly spars with the blonde but today would be the second day he went out with her this week. a part of your heart told you to stop him, another part told you to let him go. in this internal battle, you chose the latter and let him go. after all, who were you to stop him? it's not like you could be the one to satisfy his thirst for battle, only someone like lumine could.

you were having a day off due to the lantern rite festival, but to be honest it's not like you needed the money. with the amount of money ajax had he could probably support you and your next 4 generations. with your spare day, you decided to clean up the house because it was a bit messy due to teucer playing around the day before. 

while cleaning up you found a spare xiao lantern that teucer was supposed to release when he came over. since you had spare time you decided to set another lantern yourself, it would be a waste to not use it after all. as people say, during the lantern rites, put your wish into a lantern and set it into the sky for it to become true. 

"i wish to stay with ajax, till death does us apart." 

you only hoped he felt the same way about you.

you put the note in the xiao lantern and set it off into the sky, you watched with sentiment as it floated away towards the clear blue sky.

you had a hard time focusing on the task you were doing for the rest of your day so you decided to take your mind off things and go take a look around liyue harbour to see if there was anything worth checking out, or buying. 

liyue harbour contained the usual, the fragrance of grilled tiger fish wafting from the stand next to where you would usually buy your groceries, the kids messing around near the boats, and you even met xiangling who tried to offer you her new recipe of jade parcels but you kindly refused. 

after that you went to give the adorable little pharmacist, qiqi, a visit. she was under the  cashier stand like usual, you gave her a little pat on the head and asked for the usual medicine you buy for ajax. 

you then bumped into zhongli, who was also strolling around. the two of you chattered about the festival and other shenanigans before bidding each other farewell. the amount of history about liyue and its traditions the man was familiar with would never fail to surprise you.

there wasn’t really anything left for you to do in the harbour so you started to head back home. not far away from the liuli pavilion you saw a familiar redhead talking to the owner of mingxing jewelry with a shorter figure standing beside him. 

upon closer inspection, you noticed it was ajax with someone else at a jewelry shop looking at the items. it was none other than lumine standing next to him. you watched as lumine picked out a piece of jewelry from the stand that would look so well on her. the gem glowed it’s colour under her smile and looked more fitting than ever. weren’t they supposed to be at yaoguang shore?

without second thought ajax bought the jewelry in lumines hand and put it in a gift bag with a look of tenderness. your heart dropped to the pits of your stomach, you felt as if the world was crashing down on you. your breathing quickened and your heart palpitated at alarming rates. every little insecurity that was planted in you had finally finished blooming. was this really going to happen to you a second time? was once not enough for the entertainment of the gods?

that was when he saw you, standing only a little bit away from him holding the items you purchased for him and the fresh groceries you were going to use to cook dinner for him.

ajax’s eyes widened in surprise upon seeing you, “y/n!? why are you he-” he was tense, you noticed, just like your ex-lover when they were caught.

you tried to regulate your breathing and spoke, “stop.” you managed to say, cutting off ajax before he could finish his sentence. he flinched at your dull tone.

“y/n! i know what you’re thinking but i promise we were just-” ajax hurriedly tries to explain.

“don’t. i think i've seen enough childe.” he frowned at the use of his moniker. 

your lips trembled, water collecting at the bottom of your eyes. ‘don’t cry. don’t cry, don’t cry.’ you repeated in your head, you didn’t want to appear weak in front of the two. your ajax who you loved so much, who you cared for so much, who you were planning to spend the rest of your life with, is now buying jewelry for someone else after lying to you.

“i was foolish this entire time, of course. instead of someone like me, a visionless nobody you would choose her over me. you’re just like-” your voice cracked as you forced the words out of your tightened throat. 

“y/n it’s not like that! please just let me explain!” ajax pleaded urgently. he hated that you were talking bad about yourself.

after gaining a smidge of composure you decided you couldn’t be near the two, “no need childe, i understand. now if you’ll excuse me, i'll be on my way.” you muttered and brushed past the two. 

“wait y/n!-” he reached out to grab your arm before the blonde next to him stopped him.

lumine sighed and spoke up after staying silent, “let them go for now. leave them alone for a bit, they need some time to think. it’s understandable why someone would be upset if they saw their lover with someone else like this.” she comforted before patting him on the back.

“yeah. i guess you’re right...” ajax murmured with a crestfallen look. he regretted not communicating with you, otherwise this wouldn’t have happened. he should’ve cleared up any suspicions you had and reassured you. he knew about how you weren’t confident due to your last relationship. gods, he felt like he was worse than your dirtbag of an ex.

you walked towards your home slowly trying to process what just happened. your tears already ran dry and you didn’t think more were able to escape from your eyes. the fading sunset seemed so blurry yet peaceful. somehow, instead of walking home, you ended up near yaoguang shore which happened to be the spot you and ajax would go to often. his name brought bitter feelings back as you remember the events that just happened but you took a deep breath and sat on the sand across from the shore. you listened to the sound of the ocean, the waves dousing the sand it touched. you took notice of the starconches laying on the sand. 

feelings of melancholy welled up inside you. these are ajax’s favourites. the blue shells reminded you of his eyes. his lovely eyes were the blue of the waves of the sea, they crashed into you and pulled you into them. you could spend all day swimming in the infinite hues until you drowned.

you buried your head onto your knees and let out a pained cry you’ve been holding in. here, where no one can find you, where no one can hear you. only the ocean will hear your troubles and worries, you hoped it could wash them away and you could forget about them forever. you sat there in peace by yourself for what felt like hours.

you sighed and decided that you should get going, but to where? you didn’t want to see ajax if he’s even going to be there at all. maybe you could crash at zhongli’s place…

 just as you were about to leave you heard a familiar voice behind your back. “y/n!” it was the man you loved, ajax, sprinting to you with the same gift bag he was holding in his hands at mingxing jewelry. 

you turned around to look at him. your hair was flowing in the wind with the sunset behind your back. to ajax it was the most beautiful sight he had ever seen in his life. 

“i knew you’d be here.” ajax spoke with relief.

you looked away from him not knowing how to feel right now about your “lover” and stayed silent.

“y/n. i swear it wasn’t what it looked like, i would never do that to you. lumine and i really don’t have anything going on in between us, i chose you as my partner and i plan on keeping it that way for the rest of my life. in fact,” ajax murmured while opening up the gift bag he was holding. it was a bracelet with a fine piece of noctilucous jade in the middle with cor lapis fragments decorating the border of the blue gem. the jewelry wafted with fragrances, the morning dew smell from a qingxin, the classical smell of the harbour from a silk flower and lastly the everlasting aroma of violet grass.  

“do you like it? lumine and i picked it out for you at mingxing jewelry for our upcoming anniversary. i just wanted her opinion on what to choose for you. this was one of the most beautiful pieces that they had. i heard it took a super long time to make, oh! the jade in the middle will also make the bracelet glow in the dark! pretty cool huh?” ajax smiled as he lifted your wrist to put it on you.

at a loss of words, you lifted your head up at the male and gave him a soft smile, “thank you ajax… i love it, it’s perfect in every way possible.”

“just like you.” the redhead spoke fondly with a grin on his face while softly stroking your hair.

“oh shut up you flirt.” you tried to hide your smile as you both giggled on the beach with the sunset dripping behind you two. 

after a while of being engulfed in ajax’s arms you spoke, “ajax, i want to apologize for jumping to conclusions about you and lumine. i..you know about how i find it hard to trust people sometimes but it was unfair for me to do that to you, i know you would never cheat on me.” you spoke, hugging him tighter as if he would leave if you get go. 

“y/n. don’t you dare think for a second that i’ll leave you for someone else ok? you’re the only one in this world that i want and it’s staying that way. i don’t care if you’re visionless, or if you don’t have any achievements whatsoever. i still love you so so much.” ajax exclaimed as he buried his head into the crook of your neck.

you felt a certain warmth as your face flushed. how did you end up with someone as perfect as ajax. you lifted his face with your hands and pressed your lips against his. he deepens the kiss and your heart melts.

“thank you ajax. i’ll always be by your side too, no matter what happens. my love for you has no ends.” you speak with pure affection as you nuzzled your face into ajax’s soft yet firm chest. 

ajax feels his face heat up and he quickly speaks, “c’mon now, let’s go home, i can’t wait to taste your cooking after running around all day today.”

the two of you walked together on the beach, hand in hand, leaving footprints and doubts in the sand.

________________________________________________________________

special msg from my dear editor: hey lol - @kamihara​ , my works wouldn’t be nearly as good if it weren’t for them so go give them a follow please :)!

[wolves-in-the-world]

okay so if i wanna get real high and watch a single lethal weapon episode with no context, what would be the most batshit (in a fun way) one to watch?

anon it is genuinely VERY funny how completely unqualified I am to answer this question, but I'm going to make an attempt anyway. please also use your best judgment.

if the Council of Martin Appreciation wishes to weigh in on this (or anyone else sees I've made some mistakes), have at it! no-pressure tapping @onyxbird & @darkfinch so they know it exists.

(reblogs closed, but they're weighing in in the replies & also there's this, please listen to them over me <3)

—

okay. so. my recommendation is none of them!

that said, clearly this is a thing some people can watch (at least in parts) without sustaining significant emotional damage, and we've been talking about it being fun because it can be fun, especially with accurate expectations and proper warnings.

("don't do the thing" is obviously crap advice next to "here are the risks of the thing so you can make an informed decision.")

this is the internet and you're on anon, so: if you're under eighteen, it's cool that you're here and no hard feelings, but I'm not comfortable advising on, like, any of the drugs-related part of this. if you want to check out the episode-specific content warnings here, that's okay! that's good info to have! otherwise please respect my wishes and disregard the rest, because I really cannot advise on this.

—

if you're over eighteen, then hi! you asked me, so you're getting excessive caution. them's the breaks, I'm afraid.

1) anon, if being high can make you fragile or exposure to any of these themes can make you fragile, or if you don't for sure know the answers to those questions, or you wish to help me sleep soundly at night, please have a trip sitter or at least a trusted friend nearby. I don't know if people actually have trip sitters for this kind of thing, but they seem sensible.

2) my tentative recommendation, because I found it fun and finch survived it and enjoyed it while very sleep-deprived, is 2.7 Birdwatching!

THAT SAID I've seen, like, three and a half episodes so there may be a better one. this is what finch recommended to me though, more or less, and it is a Sleep Deprivation Antics episode, which seems appropriate.

viewing tip A: for the love of all that's holy don't let the next episode autoplay. I don't know anything about it specifically, but just… if you do, there be monsters. the second half of season two is very unkind. I'm not even planning on watching it.

viewing tip B: the birds are specific to that episode, not a general lethal weapon motif.

viewing tip C: if you want a gentler ending to the episode, stop watching after the cosy suburban scene with eggplants in, very near the end. you'll see a very obvious change in lighting.

viewing tip D: if you want gentle martin content after, here is the coffee clip again, here is onyx's fic, here are my babysitting thoughts. (trust me, harper's adorable.)

3) GENERAL CONTENT WARNINGS for the ep, I will put more specific spoilery ones at the end so they can hopefully be scrolled past (or press J on desktop to skip past this post) if you don't want them:

suicidal ideation (this is a big one)

past abuse (also a big one)

gore and body horror

significant food/grossness intersection

some sleep deprivation & flashback-ish unreality stuff

also, this is a Cop Show with Cop Antics, violence, killing, dead bodies etc, just to state the obvious for a sec.

4) honestly, my advice remains to not watch it like that. cc's portrayal of fucked up shit is visceral and believable enough (in a show that's callous and careless enough) that I'm not sure I can recommend any of this. but, best judgment, informed decision-making etc etc. and you know more about the 'watching stuff while high' aspect than I do.

(I told you you were getting excessive caution.)

birdwatching is, however, a Pretty episode and the first glimpse of CC in it… actually I do need to post that too. [edit: done.] I utterly adored him in that moment. if you watch it, I hope you enjoy it, and feel free to come yell at me about it if you want to!

####

SPECIFIC SPOILERY CONTENT WARNINGS (non-exhaustive)

####

ABUSE: horrid flashbacky nightmares to martin's father, also if I recall correctly a flashback to a physical confrontation involving a gun and his father's face when he was a child. his father seems to have physically and emotionally abused him.

GORE AND BODY HORROR: martin's father in his dreams is missing a piece of his cheek, like an open wound from a shotgun blast. it doesn't seem to bother him.

also, if I recall correctly, someone's finger is deliberately severed.

FOOD GROSSNESS THING: at one point martin's father convinces him to eat a meal and after taking a bite martin sees it contains the missing piece of martin's father's face and starts retching.

SUICIDE: the nightmare version of martin's father tries to convince him to kill himself and dream-martin smiles, puts a gun to his own chin and pulls the trigger, waking up. it's emotionally visceral & affecting.

FURTHER EPISODE SPOILER REGARDING SUICIDE: martin does not, actually, shoot himself while awake.

####

####

[xuyaa]

Age gaps

Ahh... I dread this but I'll speak anyway. I keep seeing people have a problem with big age gap couple in fandom. Now before your nostrils all fluff up let me say this, if you can't have an open mind or too fragile for my input please take your leave. This would be wasted on you.

About age gap on fandoms couple (canon or crack) I personally have no problem as long as both parties consent (without child grooming or forced relationship aspect) and considered legal at the start of their relationship and the legality here is not referring to our modern standard but on the couple's world and time. I'll try to explain but it might get long and boring but if you're still okay, continue.

I'll give an example, during the age of samurai if the situation permits like Uesugi Kenshin they can join battle at age 13 and there are still other examples of other famous child samurai. We call it child now because time change but during that time they were considered an adult once they enter battlefield. Why? They already trained years prior to kill and to protect their lord. Example of this in anime would be Himura Kenshin from Rurouni Kenshin. His first marriage was when he's around 16 and that was an acceptable age at that era since he was considered adult at age 14. So even though I find it icky if modern day teenager marry at that age, I can understand Kenshin's situation. If I'm still okay reading about him killing people around at even younger age I'm not gonna complain about him wanting to marry (although it's not that simple white and black for him).

You get what I'm trying to say?

More example of the acceptable norms in past era. During certain era in certain place like for example Victorian England and prior, 14 year old boys and 12 year old girls are passable for marriage depends on whether the family want it or not as it's more political than anything else. Same in China for example during the Manchurian Dynasty 14 year old girl is considered adult enough for marriage. And usually the age of the husband is always older by few years up to few decades (officials and emperor). But of course over time all of the above would change. Not by much maybe? Depend on the country I say.

Still we can't just hold the old days custom and norms on our modern day standard that would be akin to the present you calling your two or three year-old self a moron for defecating and not wiping your own ass. Or like when you do something stupid at your young age (pick whatever stupid situation that you have take as a lesson. Done?). You just didn't know better back then but now you do and from your failure you learn, although it would be better if you learn from other's lesson but I say pain is an effective lesson for oneself. Would you rather have that memories of your lesson be removed or ignored? I wouldn't. I don't know if I might do the stupid thing again just to find out whether I can or not. Same as this this whole age gap, young age marriage in the past and present in some customs thing. Don't erase the fact, don't gloss it over because people have and can still learn from them. My grandma married at young age and I came to be as the result of her choice.

Have you ever seen high schooler called Robert D Jr handsome? I've seen it recently on youtube. They call him very handsome and another video talked about cool and handsome senior male models. I've scrolled through the comments and no one seems offended that these high school girls simping for male old enough to be their granddad. These girls called them daddy and commenting how hot they are and the comments either agree or saying the girls reactions are cute. Huh... reverse the situation if these old models commenting female korean idol for example and calling them cute or hot what would people think? "creepy" "pedobear" even though senior female might think the same lines, heck maybe even we think the same lines. See the double standard people use? Maybe not everyone, but the loud ones are there. They're so loud I don't even know if they're majority or minority. I have celebrity crush too when I was young and as it happen, he's my father's age and to be frank, I would not mind an older partner if said partner is compatible and emotionaly mature. My sister is 17 years younger than her husband and they turn out well because her husband is matured enough to understand her ups and downs emotion back when they're dating, even before. Are all men mature emotionally as they became older then? No, just as not all oranges is sweet. My sister is 10 years my senior but she's more bratty than I am sometimes. Is it wrong of my bro in law to be with my sis?

Oh you're just trying to defend pedophilia anywayヽ(`Д´)ﾉ.

No stupid, I'm trying to make you think. I don't accept pedophilia, shotacon or lolicon. My sis is old enough to be called spinster when they go out. Anyway, when you follow a certain series, try to see it from their era and custom's perspective. Some era is okay with 16 year old marrying. Some tribes in Asia allow marriage between cousins while others and the majority of the world frown upon them. That's just how they see and do things. For me as long as both side consent without pressure and not in the case of 'parents sending their child for marriage without their input' thing I'm okay to leave that alone, I'm pretty much sure we're on the same page there. I hope.

So, just as when you come to another country, you adhere to their rules and norms or you have no right to complain if they deport you out for not learning beforehand and breaking their rules. Or when you have a guest come to your home and they suddenly start demanding you to do stuff their way, you should kick them out if not slapping their face. Or if you want to be kind, explain how you do things in your home and hoping they would understand and respect it.

I'm jumping around but see what I'm trying to say? I'll get to another anime example.

In Naruto for instance, they became genin at 12 and killing people left and right. People are okay with that right? Yeah well, since it was soo popular I suppose... besides it's pretty glossed over in both manga and anime. But the same people that's okay with children killing left and right, would they be okay if suddenly the mangaka put in story about one of the chara going on seduction mission? If it's carried out well as in the chara being bamf, maybe no problem. But if things went south for the chara? I'm sure there will be outrage, especially if that's a female chara or worse if it's one of the main like Sakura. See? People hold the characters, the series and the mangaka to their own convenient double standards. Back to the age gap when shipping, I pick Naruto as example because apparently Sakura was just so shippable that people actually ship her with Kakashi and even Madara and she makes easy example. Don't ask me why she's shipped with Madara and I don't ship any of the two with Sakura. Anyway, if Sakura is mature enough to choose to kill as a teenager (and don't give me crap about Sakura never killing on screen. Their line of work involves lots of death and she's been through war) she's mature enough to decide her romantic partner even if it's suddenly Orochimaru(ㆆ_ㆆ) (did they even exist?). You can say her taste is terrible because he's an asshole but don't say it's gross cause the age difference because apparently Orochimaru can just rejuvenated to new body and be as good as a babe (I wish I could too). Anyway saying it's about age on these kind of chara is just straight up lie on people's part. Another example I can think of atm is snk. I've seen people against pairing the 104th with the veterans because of age gap. Now I'm not trying to be rude, but hear me if you please. The whole 104th are trained child soldiers and they're killing titans and even humans. You're all okay with that? If you still follow the series far enough and liking it maybe you enjoy seeing the action sequence, drama and intrigue? The fact that you still come back to the series after this long proves that you're still okay with all the gores and blood spilled with all the glorious child soldier most of all. They become soldier because of circumstances you say? I'm glad you think so too! Although I must point out, the 104th did CHOOSE to be soldiers (just as Naruto and co choose to be ninja). They could be farmers or thugs for all we know. All the soldiers in snk choose their occupation, thay all trained and decide to join the Survey Corps, in fact the only one that join reluctantly in the first place is the former thug although he continues in the end. That aside, their circumstances certainly are different than us don't they? They don't even know a car and blip exist before Marley... They must have a whole lot of different mindset and norms than ours too for a civilization whose life are about survival against titans that's 100 years behind than other civilization in their world. Ever think of that?

Seeing modern day teenage in romantic lights are indeed hard as I'm sure the majority can't even survive without their gadget and parents' money. I certainly can't at that age. Immature. Even those in their twenties and thirties are immature these days. But now when one of those child soldier who have a whole lot of different mindset and maturity level is being shipped with older chara, you're against it. Okay. Maybe it's indeed easier for you to see 15 year olds regardless of their profession to commit act of violence and even kill than to love... (does that sounds okay to you?)

...I'm not saying killing mindlessly is alright because it is NOT. But that would need a whole lot different threads and time to spare and maybe someone else can do it or already done it before me.

But here's the good thing, even when the ship starts when they grow and at the modern legal age of 18 and 19, or even far above like centuries, it's still not okay for some people to ship them. I don't mind if it's your preference and you don't go disturbing other's corner when they don't even enforce their ship as words of god and even acknowledging that 'yes, maybe it's not canon and just our bits of fun' but sometimes it got to the point of belittling those who do ship age gap couple and treat them like a criminal in need of help or wishing them death. Seriously? Yes. People are that immature.

If you don't like a ship because you think your own is better, fine. Do your thing in your corner but don't go to other people's corner just to talk shit without even knowing why they ship what they ship. Most of this ship is just in our head in the end, and even if your ship is canon it does not make you any greater in real life.

I can't think of anything else to say now, but thanks for reading with open mind. ◝(⑅•ᴗ•⑅)◜..°♡

Now before anyone waste their time typing out comments, I refer to my first paragraph. Here's some imaginary flower for you all🌷

Apparently I'm not clear enough so I fix my wording. I'm here not defending minor and old people relationship but age gap couple who happen to be aged up to acceptable age despite their profession. Here's some choco🍫

[star-anise]

I don't know if this is crossing boundaries to ask so feel free to ignore, but do you have any advice for someone with rejection-sensitive dysphoria, an intolerance for ambiguity and a history of social ostracization / access to the In-Group being dependent on Some Unsafe Shit for figuring out where one stands with an online social circle? Like, if one really feels like they're being neglected / put on a shelf, but doesn't know how to address it without receiving platitudes that it's not

(insecurity ask cont.) Really that bad / wasn't intentional / sure they still LIKE one they just kept happening to be busy at the time - etc. Basically figuring a way through the situation if one doesn't want to do what the Anxiety wants, which is cut run and self isolate, but doesn't find the allistic normative reassurance of "oh no we really do want you around sweaty : )" reassuring or helpful in the least.

This is a live topic of discussion in my friend-groups, since my close social circle is like 95% people with a history of being bullied, serious brainweasels* around social shit and rejection, ASD and/or ADHD, and seriously geeky social skills. So my response is not like, “We have a Method! It works! I’m patenting it!” nearly so much as “Um... this is what seems not to have exploded too badly so far.” And I’m answering this publicly rather than privately because other people have useful things to contribute too. 

*(Brainweasel = little nasty thing that eats your brain)

(Like seriously if anyone DOES have A Method I’m all ears because I still do the self-isolation self-destruct way too easily)

Anyway. THE GOOD STUFF (which got really long):

I’ve personally found that it helps to make it really clear to people that if something is wrong, I want to know. I literally say, “My personal definition of Hell is when I think I’m having a happy fun time with a friend who is enjoying themselves, but in reality, I’m annoying them and they secretly resent me for it. Please don’t put me in that situation.”  It’s kind of the opposite of asking for validation--it’s trying to reduce my own emotional hypervigilance, and also shifting the burden of dealing with the problem to the other person. Now, if they find me annoying, they have to do something about it--either spend less time with me, or let me know what’s up.

Asking for things and saying “No is an okay answer!”

Being open about my wants and needs while also letting people know how much I’m willing to compromise. “I don’t know what anybody else is feeling, but for dinner I have a mild preference for pizza,” or “I’m in the kind of mood where I basically want someone to talk to about this creative project for an hour in a really intense, informed, and interested way that also doesn’t step on my creative vision’s toes, or I don’t want to talk about it at all. So unless someone really wants to talk about it, how’s the weather?”

If you can find people who are geeks about feelings and have done a lot of introspection and can be very honest, and basically didn’t think that Twitter thread about asking friends for consent for emotional labour was a bad thing? That’s probably going to help, since when you’re all in the middle of dealing with moderate-to-severe brainweasels that is the kind of wrangling that needs to happen.

Hacking into Dialectical Behaviour Therapy, if you can do it. I’ve had to explain to several people now: DBT is fundamentally about trying to unlearn you from a system of If I Only Behave A Certain Way, Life Will Finally Work Out, to having a more flexible, more adaptive set of skills that you can see in a kind of pro/con fashion and decide which of life’s sucky parts you’d rather deal with because it gets you your preferred set of upsides. The problem is: DBT kind of presents itself as a system of If You Only Behave A Certain Way, Life Will Finally Work Out! So especially for my Autistic friends, doing DBT, while useful, involves considerable arguing with the system, deciding which of it works for you and which of it doesn’t, and hacking it apart and rearranging it in your own idiosyncratic way. This isn’t actually failing to do DBT, it’s using the methods DBT teaches you on DBT itself. 

Finding a therapist who can treat baseline-neurodivergent LGBTQ+ nerds with complex trauma IS difficult, but not impossible. Not every therapist can do it. (I personally am considering giving up finding one in my city, and making use of the temporary relaxation of restrictions on distance practice across jurisdictional boundaries thanks to COVID-19 and phoning up my old therapist a province over.) If you can’t get a personal recommendation, I recommend literally cold-emailing about a half-dozen likely suspects from Psychology Today or Theravive and asking them, “Do you have any training or experience in treating [geeks/adults with complex trauma/queer people/whatever has made therapists act like cats with boots on around you before]?”

To wildly veer back to your original question

Imagine something that someone could do for you that would make you feel warm and loved. Something that would take a minute or less to do. When you’re feeling unloved, say “I’m feeling down, could anyone do [this thing] for me?” That’s literally why I ask people to show me cat pictures--I have times when I feel sad and alone and like the entire world hates me, and that’s a VERY big feeling for anyone to step in and fill, so instead? I ask for cat pics.

This, I should add, required going back into my trauma memories and deprogramming the origin of my Nice Things Are Evil Poison If I Asked The Person To Be Nice To Me brainweasel. Which is part of why I’m so insistent on asking people not to put me in my personal Hell situation.

Like, sometimes with my clients, we literally create a restaurant menu of Things People Could Do If They Wanted To Be Nice To Me, ranging from cheap $5 items like cat pics and memes to $200 bottles of wine that would be getting married and taking out a mortgage together. Sometimes we talk Love Languages just to go through several different sensory modalities. Then, if creating that menu wasn’t scary enough, they start telling their friends what’s on the list. “I really like things with dragons on them” or "I love to know when somebody’s thinking of me even when I’m not there” or “I really wish I had someone to watch movies with”. This reduces the cognitive load if somebody wants to reach out to you but doesn’t know how.

Relatedly: If you’re in a bad mood and doing something to self-regulate, you might consider letting people know what’s going on. People who are merely being civil might interpret “I’m feeling terrible about myself today” as “You are now socially obligated to blow smoke up my ass”; moderating the statement with a positive attempt to make things better, like “I’m focusing on my shoes a lot today because I feel like crap but they make me happy” or “I’m going to go try to shake this awful mood with Netflix” removes that pressure because it’s a problem with a built-in solution, so they’re not socially impolite if they ignore it. If people want to be emotionally closer to you, it opens the door for them to either ask about your problem, or contribute to your solution (”Oooh, I do like those shoes”) (”Have you seen this new series?”).

Okay so

Here’s the other thing

When you’re used to the one being rejected, you can spend SO much energy trying to make relationships work, and when they don’t, you just kind of shut down and fall over

What if (if you scraped together enough spare Cope) you said to yourself, “Whatever is going on--whether it’s them, or me, or whatever--I am not getting my needs met, so I’m going to back away from them a bit and focus on finding something new? They may not be evil or bad, but I’m going to downgrade them on my priority list.”

Like I’m just saying: Think about it. Every once in a while it’s possible it isn’t your fault, but the other person... just isn’t up to being the kind of friend you need right now, and no effort of yours can improve them at this time, so you’re going to let them shape up if they can but start focusing your attention elsewhere.

I realize that’s like the social equivalent of asking a homeless person to dip into their savings and start a business. But, just... sometimes you just need better friends.

Okay, it’s 2am and I’ve run out of ideas. Anyone else?

[imekitty]

If you're interested, I'd have a suggestion for a DP oneshot: it takes place in a classroom, with only Danny and Paulina in it since they're retaking a test they failed. Unfortunately for Paulina, she still doesn't have a clue about the right answers; Danny, on the other hand, having spent a lot of time studying, knows exactly what to do and is almost done. But just as he's about to put his signature, Paulina walks up to him and sweetly asks him what he would like to do since there's still ...

So I know you sent more asks basically giving an entire outline from start to end. However, because I like more freedom when writing, I’ve decided to go with the premise of Danny and Paulina in detention together to get help for a failed test and create my own story. I encourage you to write your full idea yourself if you would like to see it! :)

----------

“Danny, why are you still here?” asked Sam as she shut her locker. “Lancer’s gonna be mad if you’re late for detention.”

Danny groaned. “You’re right. I’m going.”

“Good luck, dude,” said Tucker. “Text us when you’re done and we’ll meet you at Nasty Burger or something.”

Danny grumbled agreement and headed to Lancer’s classroom. Lancer gave him a dull stare from behind his desk as Danny reached the doorway.

But there was another student sitting at one of the front desks, a student who escalated Danny’s heartbeat.

“Paulina?” Danny stammered. “Am I interrupting something? Should I wait outside?”

“No, Mr. Fenton,” said Lancer. “Miss Sanchez also failed our most recent test, so I’m giving both of you some extra help.”

“Hi, Danny,” greeted Paulina, her voice sweet and sultry.

“Hi.” Danny felt stuck in the doorway but forced himself to walk into the room. “Sorry, I just didn’t expect to see you here.”

Paulina laughed. “Well, I can’t say the same about you. This is exactly where I’d expect to see you.”

Danny took a seat next to Paulina. “I don’t actually get detention that often, you know.”

“Yes, you do, Mr. Fenton,” said Lancer, turning to face the whiteboard and write notes with a fresh blue marker. “You currently hold the record for most detentions received in a semester.”

Danny blushed. Paulina giggled softly.

Lancer began drawling on about some poet who died but Danny could barely pay attention. Oh, he certainly tried, but being so close to the most beautiful girl in school was really hurting his concentration.

He stole glances at her out of the corner of his eye. And one time, he swore he could see her looking at him as well.

After lecturing for some time, Lancer assigned a few independent practice exercises from their textbook and disappeared out into the hall. Danny could hear the voice of another English teacher in the school and knew Lancer would likely be talking to her for a while.

Danny looked down at his textbook. He was supposed to answer questions about poetry devices or some other thing he still didn’t really get. He had no idea why English was such a pain in the ass. He definitely didn’t know why he had to learn all this crap about poetry, like when was that ever going to help him fight ghosts or do anything actually important?

His gaze travelled down the textbook page to his blank sheet of paper and then across and off his desk to Paulina, who was busy writing. She stopped when she caught him staring at her.

“Can I help you with something, Danny?” she asked, her tone snide but kind.

“Sorry.” Danny sucked his teeth. “So, um… You failed the test too, huh?”

Paulina breathed hard out her nose and sat back in her seat. “Yeah. I didn’t really have the time to study, you know? And I guess I didn’t realize it would be as hard as it was.”

“Didn’t have time to study?”

“Well, yeah. I mean, I’m not, like, stupid.” Paulina chuckled. “I could’ve passed if I just wasn’t so busy.”

“Busy with what?” asked Danny. “Do you and the A-List hang out a lot?”

“Sure, but that’s not what keeps me busy. Cheerleading, for one. We have to practice all the time, sometimes even in the morning. And the mornings we don’t practice, I’m still getting up early to get in a run and some exercise. I’m the cheerleading captain, you know. I have to keep everyone at their best and motivated. Every day, I’m working out choreography for new routines and figuring out new fundraising ideas.”

“Don’t you have a coach for that?”

“Yeah, of course, but I still do a lot. Cheerleading isn’t just some silly girls’ activity, you know.”

“I—I didn’t say it was—”

“I have to make sure everything and everyone is ready for practice.” Paulina pulled back a finger on one hand as she listed off responsibilities. “I have to text all the girls and let them know about changes in our practice schedule or upcoming events. If any of the girls aren’t getting along, I have to try to keep the peace as much as possible so that we’re still a team. I’m also the one greeting visiting cheer squads during games, making them feel welcome at our school.”

“I didn’t know you did all that,” said Danny.

“The coach manages our time and schedule and makes sure none of the girls are failing in their classes, things like that, but I’m the one really communicating with the girls, you know?” Paulina sighed. “But I wish that was all I had going on.”

“You’re busy with other things?”

“Yeah, being as popular as I am, I’m often being asked by teachers and student clubs to do things. Advertising stuff, endorsing student council candidates, making appearances, giving fashion advice for uniforms. And I never turn anyone down, I always say yes.” Paulina leaned back and looked at the ceiling. “Sometimes I wish I could just say no.”

“Why don’t you?” asked Danny.

“Because it’s expected of me. Being popular means doing things to maintain that popularity. If I start turning people down, they’re gonna think I’m a bitch, you know?”

“But you turn guys down for dates all the time.” Danny smiled and propped his elbow on his desk. “Me being one of them.”

Paulina also smiled. “Personal things like that are okay to turn down. I mean like anything to do with the school and clubs. Of course I can’t just date every guy who asks me out. Can’t give the impression I’m easy either.”

She looked ahead at the whiteboard, her smile vanishing.

“I do get a lot of guys asking me out,” said Paulina. “I know it’s just because I’m pretty. But looking this pretty all the time is work too. I have to eat right and watch my weight and exercise and spend half an hour each night on my skin care routine and an hour each morning on my hair and makeup and then touchups throughout the day. I never know when someone might take a picture of me and send it around. I can’t risk ever looking bad.”

“You have never looked bad,” said Danny. “Like ever.”

Paulina’s smile returned. “Thank you. That’s sweet.” She groaned and stretched out her arms. “But I tell you, Danny. I probably only get three to four hours of sleep a night. I’m running on coffee and energy drinks all day long. This detention is really cutting into my time, too. I’m probably gonna be up late finishing all my other homework.”

She continued to stretch. Danny normally might’ve enjoyed watching her but he was too struck by her words.

She only got three to four hours of sleep a night?

But… That was how much sleep he usually got a night.

And yet she looked amazing every day and he knew he was just a pale haunted mess with dark eyes.

“So what about you, Danny?”

Danny blinked. “Hmm?”

“Why did you fail this test?” asked Paulina.

“Oh. Um.” Danny looked up and to the right. “I was also too busy.”

“Oh, yeah?” Paulina tossed a piece of hair over her shoulder. “You do come to class late a lot. Do you have like some sort of astronomy club meeting in the morning?”

“Astronomy club?”

“Yeah, don’t you like space and stuff?”

“Oh. Yeah! I do. But I’m not in the astronomy club.”

“Really? I would think you’d be their president.” Paulina chuckled. “Well, are you in any school clubs, then?”

Danny thought about the meetings he had with Sam, Tucker, and sometimes Jazz about their ghost-fighting strategies. “Not school clubs, no.”

“Any extracurricular activities at all? I know you don’t play any sports.”

“No…”

Paulina pursed her lips. “Well, then what is it that keeps you too busy to study?”

Danny looked off to the side, humming softly to himself.

“I often see you with Sam and Tucker after school at the Nasty Burger. Or on Saturdays at the mall.”

Danny turned back to her. “Well, yeah, we like to hang out after school to wind down. Don’t you hang out with your friends? You don’t do all that work all the time, do you?”

“Yeah, of course! I’m actually scheduled to hang out with them right after detention.”

“Scheduled?”

“Yeah. It’s important to me to make time for my friends, so I often schedule it to make sure it happens.” She tapped open her calendar on her phone and showed it to him. “I even keep Saturday nights free for possible dates, see?”

Danny stared at the empty slot under Saturday and wondered if this was a hint and if she wanted him to ask her to go out on Saturday.

But no way was he about to risk embarrassing himself by asking.

“So do the three of you do something that keeps you too busy to study?” Paulina put her phone back in her lap. “You, Sam, and Tucker, I mean.”

Danny scratched through his mind, raking for something, anything that wasn’t the truth but also maybe not a complete lie. He couldn’t let Paulina think he was just lazy and hung out with his friends eating burgers or walking around the mall all day.

“We, uh… Yeah.” Danny pretended to cough. “We help my parents out with their research.”

“Research?” Paulina scrunched her mouth. “You mean, like, ghost stuff?”

Danny nodded. “We sometimes test out their inventions.”

“That sounds kind of dangerous. Is it?” Paulina narrowed her eyes, appearing to scrutinize him. “Is that why you so often have injuries? Like that bruise by your collarbone there?”

Danny hastily tugged at his shirt collar. “Oh. You noticed that?”

“Yeah. Of course. A lot of people notice you’re often sporting some new cut or bruise.”

“Oh. Well, that’s, uh—”

“I’ve even heard some teachers say they might need to call CPS.”

Danny’s stomach flopped. “What?”

“Yeah, I hear lots of things teachers say since I’m around the whole school a lot.” Paulina shrugged. “But I’ve noticed Sam and Tucker sometimes have injuries as well. So is it from helping your parents out with their ghost research?”

“No, it’s not like that!” said Danny quickly, almost panting with the effort. “We just sometimes test out their inventions, give feedback, strategize on how to catch certain ghosts. Just stuff like that, nothing huge.”

“Ooh, catch ghosts like the ghost boy?” Paulina’s tone changed to almost a squeal. She held her hands near her chest.

“Uh.” Danny swallowed. “Well—”

“If your parents do ever catch him, you must let me know, okay?”

“I—”

“Because then I can get the A-List together so we can find a way to rescue him!”

Danny stared at her. “You’d really do that?”

“Well, of course! The ghost boy has done so much for all of us. He even saved my life once, you know! I could never just let him be captured.” Paulina lowered her voice. “Oh, but please don’t tell your parents that.”

Danny slowly nodded, holding back a smile. “Oh, sure, I would never tell them that. You have my word.”

“Here. You should have my number.” Paulina ripped off a corner of her notebook paper and scribbled some numbers on it before handing it to him. “Call or text me if they ever catch him, okay? Please?”

Danny took the piece of paper from her, feeling like he was in some sort of trance. Did this just happen? Did Paulina Sanchez, the most gorgeous girl in all of Casper High, just give him her number? To her cell phone? Like her personal cell phone?

He very carefully folded and placed the paper in his pocket. “Sure, absolutely. I’ll definitely call you if they catch him.”

She smiled and hummed, such a cute sound that made his heart flitter. But then her smile faded when her gaze travelled to his collarbone. Danny casually raised his shoulder and pulled his arm across his body to cover the bruise.

“So.” Paulina’s pretty full lips smacked. “If those injuries you keep getting aren’t from helping your parents with their inventions, then where are they from?”

Danny could feel sweat forming behind his ears.

“I mean, you’re not really that clumsy, are you?” Paulina chuckled.

Danny also chuckled, not really sure why except that she was doing it and he had no idea what else to do because he couldn’t tell her the truth and yes he was clumsy but no not that clumsy but what else could he tell her?

What would protect his parents? What would protect him?

Her expression grew warier the longer he stayed quiet.

The classroom door opened. Danny and Paulina promptly faced forward and hunched over their desks.

“Sorry I was gone so long,” said Lancer as he reclaimed his spot at the head of the room. “How are you two understanding everything?”

Paulina looked up and smiled, a secret smile Danny could tell was meant for him even though she never once glanced in his direction. “I think we’re understanding just fine, Mr. Lancer.”

Lancer looked over her notebook page and nodded his approval. Danny had no idea why he even bothered to try covering his completely blank page when Lancer came to look over his work.

“Why am I not surprised,” muttered Lancer. He knelt beside Danny’s desk with a sigh. “All right, Mr. Fenton. Let’s do this first one together to get you started.”

Behind Lancer, Danny could see Paulina flash him a smirk before returning to her own work.

He had always thought he was just busier than other students, had more responsibilities and expectations than everyone else. But he didn’t even have extracurricular activities like most students. Ghost fighting was his extracurricular activity. And somehow Paulina and everyone else still managed to do okay so why couldn’t he?

Maybe he really wasn’t that different from other kids his age after all.

Lancer was trying to talk him through something. Paulina was still wearing a small smile as she did her own work.

Danny nodded to himself and focused. He could do this. He could be like everyone else.

[teaveetamer]

Why I hate mega evolution

@angeloftheeasterngate said

PLEASE DO ELABORATE. I liked them as a concept to give some Pokémon like Pinsir some extra love and usefulness, but then they gave half the mega-evolutions to Pokémon that were already popular and strong so they lost me there

So basically:

1) Megas, as a concept, were always going to be unsustainable. If they stuck with their guns and kept introducing new ones every game, then we would eventually get to the point where they just had to give every 'mon in the dex a new mega form (in which case they've de facto created an extra evolution stage). People might piss and moan about Gamefreak taking away a feature from them, but I think megas were a design decision made without a lot of foresight and I 100% completely understand why they got rid of it. I think it was better to rip the bandaid off after one gen than try to keep it up for several and finally have to axe it when it becomes really unsustainable. (See also: Dexit)

You can tell that GF knows this, too, because IIRC Z-Moves were never explicitly stated to be Alola specific but they're so tied to the region's island trials I'm not sure how they would be introduced anywhere else, and they were veeeery careful to point out that Dynamaxing is a specifically Galar thing so we know not to expect it in future generations.

2) I hate how overdesigned most of them look. It's basically just "here's a pokemon you like, but with some extra crap stuck on." Like it's a nitpick but there's very few mega designs I actually enjoy.

This isn't just a problem with megas, btw, I hate the really overdesigned looking Pokemon in general. Picking a Galar starter was painful, trust me, especially with those final forms. And good lord what did they do to poor Litten. Incineroar is dreadful.

3) Like you said, I hate how it basically just became a way to give already popular pokemon more versions to sell to people. Like it was such blatant cashgrabbing to give Charizard not one but two megas.

4) They actually gave megas to some of my niche(ish) faves (Mawile, Banette, Sharpedo, Lopunny), but honestly I wish they'd just given them actual boosts. Either in the form of better stats or an additional permanent evolution, since most of those Pokemon are only one or two stagers anyways. I don't like giving up an item slot to the mega stone and I don't like being forced to use a gimmick mechanic for some of my faves to be actually good. An actual evolution is more permanent and more fun. Heck, I'd even take a regional form like what Farfetch'd got.

Also, even though megas gave some of those less impressive 'mons new life, they still can't compare to some of the already good pokemon they gave another extra boost to.

5) Even though I'm happy Mega evolutions are gone, the good Pokemon that got them are still good without them and my niche faves go back to sucking. Worse still, they're unlikely to get anything else because GameFreak was already like "well you got a mega for two and a half games so ¯\_(ツ)_/¯"

Like losing mega evolution really isn't that detrimental to Charizard or Rayquaza or Mewtwo. But now Banette, for instance, is basically just right back in the same position it was in before Gen 6 happened. Also with Banette it's kind of just twisting the knife, since the Duskull line from the same gen got a permanent evolution in DPPt.