#I should have put that in the random fact

[lyricwritesprose]

Philosophically speaking (and speaking as someone who is proooobably neurotypical but has autistic children as well as a strong tendency to end up as the Token Neurotypical Friend in an autistic group), small talk basically functions as a way of saying, "You are a person and so am I. We have identified each other as people and exchanged a brief People Ritual. Hello, fellow person! I may or may not ever talk to you again, but it feels good to acknowledge your existence and I hope that you, too, are a little less lonely knowing that you have made contact with another person." It's like seeing the lights of another ship when you're out on a boat at night. It doesn't directly matter that they are there, but gosh, it's sure a nice thing that there are other people in this universe.

To that end, small talk usually focuses on things that a couple of random human beings may have in common, and the above list is a pretty good one. You can, for example, generally assume that people in your vicinity are experiencing the same weather ("Man, it's a nice day, I know we needed the rain last week but it's good to see the sun again"), the same calendar ("Hey, happy New Year!"), the same general surroundings and local environment ("Do you think they'll ever get done with the construction on I-40?") and so forth. If you cannot safely assume that people are having the same experience of something—"So, like, I feel that Bernie has a point with some nuance on the whole H1-B thing but it is super surreal to see him on the same side as a bunch of idiot MAGAts who think that nuance is probably a Chinese plot"—then you do not put that stuff into small talk. (You have no idea what your small talk partner thinks of Bernie, H1-B, MAGA, China, or for that matter nuance. Too many possible failure points—avoid, avoid, avoid.)

You also want to avoid things that your small talk partner has or may have basically no experience of, which is one place where autistic people sometimes trip themselves up. "So I feel that the Virgin New Adventures in the Doctor Who expanded universe fell much too far on the side of making the Seventh Doctor a scary and near unbeatable chessmaster, when in fact his TV presentation leans far more towards whimsical, Sylvester McCoy is a strongly physical actor who was clearly playing things silly a lot of the time and that's backed up by the costuming and the fact that for heaven's sake he plays the spoons . . ." Nope. This IS a discussion that will be of deep interest to people who share your interest, but not when your conversational partner is scrambling to catch up with what is a Doctor, why are there seven or more of them, and why should I care.

Your goal here is not to inform. Your goal here is not to debate. Your goal is to establish a point of commonality. You are a person and so am I and this is how we experience our world together. And speaking as a neurotypical who struggles with loneliness due to physical disability—it can be really good, getting that little reminder that there are people in the world who are out there experiencing the same weather and the same traffic and the same days and nights.

I'm trying to figure out a good way to say "you really should actually learn the basics of small talk" with sounding like I'm biased against autistic people.

[ignoringmyexams]

Imagine a jason that comes back to gotham, and establishes his criminal empire, all while (accidentally, hes still under the influence of the forbidden apple flavored kool-aid) helping the little guy. The bats are freaking out, trying to figure out who he is, but they cant, ots almost like he is a ghost (jason is competent, and knows how to go inder the radar). Then imagine him planning the attack on tim in the titans tower, but being informed by one of his goons about a deal black mask is doing. He shows up just in time to save tim, as he is being sold to the highest bidder. The sheer anger of seeing a kid like tim go through the same stuff he did while he was out on the streets breaks him out of the pits influence (the fact that tim is a rich kid, with no self preservation, hits jason even harder). He realises that putting tim permanently on the bench will help no one, and that sacrificing children in a crusade is not something that is unique to batman.

He saves tim from black mask, but simply drops him off by the manor. Tim is unconcious, and has no way of explaining to bruce that the red hood saved him, and so batman assumes the red hood was the one to hurt him. This makes him increasingly paranoid.

At the same time jason is realising how he can use his power to help the people of gotham (all while keeping up the crime lord front ofc), and jason makes the red hood a beacon of strength and hope for the gothamites, in a way that batman never could with his scare-tactics. The gothamites are helpful, and listens to him, and rallies aroumd the red hood if they need anyting done, from bullying a corrupt politician, to helping parents clean up a playground.

Jason finally has a support network and a community around him of gothamites and goons, and so he lets his guard down a little. Big mistake. Huge.

Batman catches a glance of his face in some random surveillance camera, and (as the paranoid, slightly mentally unstable individual he is), figures out who the red hood is, and automatically chooses to look past the good that hes done (yknow, significantly lowering crime rates, bringing a larger sense of unity to the city, cleaning up the streets, cleaning up after batmans big fights with his supervillains that destroy the city), and automaticalmy assumes he must be a bad guy, if hes not following his rules.

I can imagine batman telling the batkids to STAY AWAY, so ofc they do the opposite, and while batman assumes the red hood is evil incarnate, the rest of the batkids have a civil relationship with him. Nightwing goes on missions with the red hood, red robin trades intel with him, spoiler comes to him for advice on how to handle being a family disappointment (something the red hood gives suspiciously good advice for, almost like he knows how it is to be a batkid), robin keeps throwing jabs at him, that the other heroes dont know how he gets away with (damian and jason know eachother from the league, i will die on this hill, they love eachother), all the while bruce is growing increasingly worried for their safety (they dont understand why, after all, batman hasnt told them who the red hood is)

The thing is, batman is not the only one who has seen pictures of the red hoods face.

Joker wants to recreate jasons death, and make sure it sticks this time, with batman watching as extra entertainment. And so he plots.

Batman is constantly fighting the red hood, showing up to spoil his plans, and even going after his goons to send a message. He grows increasingly more violent and angry as jasons actions towards others dont reflect how batman thinks that they should be. He sees glimpses of his sons compassion in the way he helps others, and this doesn't mach up with how bruce assumes jason would act after coming out of the pit (because of course someone, probably tim, would figure out that was what happened to him), and even worse, jasons death did not make him violent and bitter (outside of the pits influence), as it did to bruce. And so he has to come to terms with the fact that his son has become better than him, without his guidance.

Jason doesnt even retaliate, just throws the batman off his scent, or fights him off. He is never overly violent, to bruce it just seems like batman is an annoyance to him. And he is right. Jason is simply tired of dealing with a father who obviously doesn't accept him, and has decided to end all hope of ever coming back to the family. Even the batkids notice how uninterested the red hood is towards batmans threats.

Although jason is no longer a regular human, he is still not infallible. He ends up getting so hurt that he has to stay off the streets for a while. And things get bad. People have simply gotten used to how safe the streets have become, and so the chaos that comes with a missing red hood comes as a shock. Batman is focused on fighting his self appointed nemesises, and going on missions to space with the league. The batkids and red hoods goons try to pick up the slack, but they dont have the knowledge, trust from the people, or the firepower to make up for the loss of the red hood. So jason has to return before he is fully healed. The pain hes in makes him slower (because he wont take any drugs for it), and so someone manages to get a hit on him.

He wakes up in a warehouse, tied up with batman.

The joker has the time of his life beating the shit put of jason infront of bruce. Harley quinn has even more fun using her competence as a psychologist to make these two emotionally stunted men actually realize how the other is feeling.

The joker finally has had his fill of demonstrating to batman how he hit jason with a crowbar, and leaves them to be blown up. Bruce is trying to alleviate some of his own guilt complex by giving jason a lecture, and blaming him for dying. Jason is simply fed up and bored.

The bomb goes off.

Jason is still alive. He forces himself out of his restraints. Apparently gotham wasnt finished with him yet, and so he could already see a way out of the now burning warehouse. He feels numb. His red helmet had come off at some point, and he shoves it back on. Jason then turnes to bruce. He too is okay, but unconcious.

The batkids arrive at the warehouse, scared shitless, because their dad, and the red hood who they now (because of damian) know is jason, are both in the raging inferno. Word of what has happened has also reached the citizens of gotham, who surround the warehouse in respect of their (assumed dead) red hood.

Everyone stares as a figure emerges from the fire, limping as they carry someone over their shoulders. The glowing eyes of the red helmet is a bright contrast to the soot and dried blood covering the red hood and batmans bodies. The red hood grunts in stoic pain as he lowers batmans body to the ground infront of nightwing and the batmobile.

Jason turns around and leaves. Either to murder the joker (and help a cat out of a tree), or to go home, treat his wounds and curl up on his lumpy sofa and finish his jane austen book. You decide.

The city no longer belongs to batman, its people have chosen the red hood as its protecter. It depends how mentally unstable bruce is, and how much the batman persona has taken over his life, but the control of the city being taken away from him either gives bruce the break to heal, and eventually reconnect with all of his sons, or it breaks him completely, and lead to an all out war against the red hood. Idk.

[itsgivingmami]

One bed trope? Plus hear me out…reader has a nightmare

31- Rhea Ripley

Sorry this took actual years, was slacking for holidays😅 she’s a long one troops. I wish thee luck. Comments, notes and reblong always appreciated

   “your sweet speaking and lovely laughing—oh it

puts the heart in my chest on wings for when I look at you, a moment, then no speaking is left in me”

Rhea fucking loathed Canada. Going up to cross the border always instilled an overwhelming dread and irritation any time of the year, but especially bloody winter. Snow the first couple times not having it growing up was magical, until she came to realise that it freezes your hair and your never really comfortable in a winter jacket just cold but somehow sweaty at the same time. To this day she fails to understand why anyone would revel in living inside a fucking ice cube for months at a time.

    Her feet felt wet in her boots as she over heated in the smallest hotel lobby she's ever seen, in its defence it may be the crowd of wrestlers and crew packed into the small space of this- where even the fuck were they? Her eyes glanced to you to ask but seeing your furrowed brow staring at your phone made her pause.

    "All good?" Nothing about this is really great, but at least they're safe. They had emergency landed at the nearest available runway to combat the incoming storm and though she doesn't mean it; she considers braving that more appealing than being stuffed into a room with a random person from the company.

       "Trying to get you a refund for the other hotel," She wants to tell you not to worry about it, she'd hardly notice the charge anyhow but doesn't want to come off like she's show boating her wealth and allows you to continue to do, well, your job.

    "Apparently we're all grouping up," she hears from somewhere and signs in relief at least bringing her assistant with her guaranteed she wouldn't be with a stranger. She let out a yawn, eyes watering as she scanned the room. Her colleagues look the same as her, exhausted, ready to lay down and not super excited about the situation they'd ended up in.

    The next hour is a blur of shuffling and key distribution, it's nearly one in the morning by the time someone hands her a key card. You're next to her on the love seat with your knees pulled up resting your head on a hand, eyes closed.

    "Hey," she gently touches your knee and your dark eyes flutter open, Rhea feels bad waking you but if you two can at least get to a room she knows you'll be comfier. She's recently hired you as a personal assistant and with the recent travel stretch she could see the new experience taking its toll. She finds seeing you tired harder than she expected but ignores the way her chest tightens "We've got a room,"

    "Oh sorry," you quickly throw out and she shakes her head, you'd been constantly apologetic since your first day. It was something she'd learned was just a habit and focused on the fact that you'd seemed to finally stop calling her ma'am and celebrated that small victory. "Didn't even realise I'd dozed off," Rhea grabs the strap of your bag from the small coffee table as you lift your glasses onto your head and rub your eyes.

    "We've been awake for too long we should both be dozing," Rhea answers quickly as you go to mention your bag and turns towards the hallway. You take some faster steps to catch up with her long stride along the awful pattern carpet, the amber lights illuminating the way until finding yourselves in front of a chipping burgundy door. She slides the key into the lock and it changes from red to green with an echoed click. Rhea pushes the handle and the door swings open, her eyes look for a chair to place your bags on but her gaze stops on the middle of the room where a single queen size mattress sits. "Bloody hell," Rhea swears under her breath, you come in the room behind her, you both stare at the bed in silence.

     "I'll take the fl-" you stop mid sentence as Rhea stares at you, despite working for her over a month now you still found her in ring and out of ring personality lines blurry. You'd seen first hand what she could do angry in the ring and had made it your soul mission to make sure you'd never make her upset.

     "We can share I'm not that high maintenance," Rhea explains and chuckles which does little ease the tension weighing down around you both. "If I ever get that far up my own ass you oughta punch me,"

"That definitely seems like a breech of my contract," you joke back with an airy giggle. Did you have to keep bringing that up? The fact that she was technically your boss as she definitely she not be having certain types of thoughts about you in general.

"You should grab a shower first, get rid of any left over chill," Rhea tells you keeping her back turned as she drops tour bags onto the end of the bed. The only bed. You want to offer it back, she does have a match but she gives you that stare again. It's overwhelming but comforting, the way she refuses to put herself over you.

   "I won't be long," you assure you and she smiles tightly at you and you practically sprint into the room and shut the door.

    "Take your time," Rhea answers to the empty room, hers legs giving out as she sits on the bed. She hears the pipes squeak as the water turns on and she finally relaxes for a moment. Mentally her chastising herself that she needed to get it together if she was going to make it through this.

     Rhea thought she was used to this feeling by now. She had seen your face or heard your voice every single day for the last thirty days and each time it happened was a test of patience, a lesson in self control and slowly it had been getting easier. Or well, she thought so. Maybe it was the setting, an older hotel with soft lighting. An eye to the snow storm in this god awful country. Maybe it was the fact that the whipping winds outside and blowing snow make this feel separate from the real world. The world where you're only her assistant, the world where she has to get up for the gym in six hours, the world where she's unsure.

   She huffs and stands back up walking away towards the window before turning and staring at the mattress. Was it getting smaller? Her strong hands rake through her hair, no longer bothering to keep let fringe styled forward, she unpacks her phone charger and something to change into ignoring the pit in her stomach and the voice screaming that no matter how normal she tried to make this, it was definitely something new.

"Rhea?" Her inner turmoil is cut off when you call her and she spins around quickly. Confusion painting her face as she stares at the cracked bathroom door, light and steam coming through, "I- Uh, could you pass my bag please?"

Oh. OH. She froze for a second as her brain caught up and moved to grab your bag which was sure enough left behind on the bed. She lands a foot from the door,

"I've got it here," she watches as you peek around the door, wet hair pushed over on shoulder, water droplets shining in the light on your face.

"Thanks," you murmur staring up at her and quietly slink back behind the door. Rhea stands in place watching the air where you just were and swallows thickly. That confirms it, she's screwed.

You're feeling a similar way when your left alone in the room, barely having said more than a sentence to Rhea as you'd traded to embarrassed that she had seen you in a towel and more embarrassed by the fact that you wouldn't mind showing her more. The thoughts pop up before you can stop them placing the blame on the jet lag but deep down you know it had nothing to do with it. Feeding yourself a convenient excuse just like you had every day since starting your employment.

Staring at her hands? No no you were admiring her tattoos or even her jewellery. She'd offer the pieces to you when she caught your gaze and you'd turn her down politely, between not wanting to give her any reason to think you were imaging about all the activities you could day dream while looking at her fingers move and the fact that she wore silver when you preferred gold it seemed like a safer choice to not accept her gestures. It was dizzying to you that the person who could make you cower with her stare could be so kind hearted.

Between the flying, the arguing with the airline company and being cold for hours your body is starting so fight back, clawing for sleep and you pace back and forth. Staring daggers at the bed for its inability to magically split in two and how comfortable it was looking as you grew more exhausted.

“No: tongue breaks, and thin fire is racing under skin

and in eyes no sight and drumming fills ears”

     Rhea nearly melted when she saw you asleep on the bed your phone tumbled beside your slack hand and you breathe softly. She's grateful that your unconsciousness had saved her from doing the which side dance. Carefully stepping towards you she gently pulls the sheets from under your legs, freezing when you adjust and murmur at her before settling again. Rhea lets out a breath and pulls the covers up your body. She flips the lamp on your side and it turns off with a metallic clank.

    Staring at the empty spot beside you she starts to breathe heavier and stalls by going to check the door that locks automatically and close the curtains. A yawn bubbles up as she's wandering around and her eye lids are getting heavier with each second. Her body moves to the bed as if it's calling and she pulls the covers back on her side before sitting down. Shes sure she looks ridiculous moving a slowly as possible and freezing with every sound.

       Rhea watches you peacefully, the soft light from under the door and the moon outside casting a heavenly glow on you. There's a part of her that feels like a creep watching you and she stares up at the ceiling for a moment. You scare the shit out of her when her your foot hits her calf, followed by a quiet whimper. Her eyes widened as she looked to you, your face scrunched in distress.

     "Hey," she whispers to you softly as her hand lightly hovers over your bare shoulder, still hesitant to touch you especially like this. Your body jerks in place again and she watches your hands curl into tight fists. "Mhm you'll hurt yourself," she tells you but you don't hear her and your unconscious body shakes. Rhea reaches for your hands trying to prevent harm, your skin is clammy on hers and she swallows thickly in fear. "Wake up for me,"

“and cold sweat holds me and shaking grips me all, greener than grass”

    You're not sure if it's the terror your sleeping brain is causing, the assertiveness of Rheas voice or feeling her nails in your hair but your eyes snap open and you gasp loudly. Desperately clinging to the nearest thing you don't even realise you've got a wrestler level trap hold on her body, or that you're holding her at all. You take in air in short shallow breaths, vision a blur of black that is Rheas clothing and warm tears.

    "It's me it's Rhea," she cooes to you, the grip you have on her holding strong and it urges her to pull you closer. "You're safe,"

      Your mouth opens to speak but nothing except a choked cry comes out, you feel Rhea pull you upwards allowing more air into your lungs as she pulls your arms over her muscular shoulders.

    "Can you hear me?" She asks and you nod against her chest, a heavy hand rubs your back and it's comforting to you both as she feels your breathing slowing. "Good girl," she says relieved. You two sit in silence for a while, small residue hiccups leaving you.

    "Th-thank you," peeling your fingers from her feels like glue as your back straightens, your arms feel like stone as they fall from her to your sides. "I had a nightmare,"

      "Yeah I-," Rhea covers her mouth with her hand not allowing the chuckle to come out, "I figured,"

     "I don't usually have those," you rasp, eyes trained on the sheets below "I don't even remember,"

   "Exhaustion and sleep deprivation make them more likely," Rhea explains, voice lowered as guilt floods her, "I pushed you too far I'm sorry,"

    "No you didn't I made the decision I'm a grown woman," you affirmed and Rhea groaned. You tried to scoot backwards but she reaches for your fore arm.

    "Yes a woman," Rhea agrees, you watch her carefully. "A woman that I can't pretend I'm not falling for, assistant or not I just can't pretend," her eyes meet yours, her gaze stronger than you'd ever seen it as you stay locked to her. "That I don't want you,"

You find yourself speechless as her confession echoes in your ears. Biting the inside of your cheek to make sure you're actually awake before you move your arms back around her shoulders and pull her flush against you. She pulls your body to straddle her as you hug tightly, getting as close as possible to each other.

"I want-," you stutter out finally finding words, as her arms fold against the small of your back. You pull back to come face to face with her, you teary eyes looking into hers. "I want you too,"

720 hours worth of self control build up had crumbled within the raven haired woman holding you, her lips find yours as you let out a gasp of surprise before your lips meld together and she swallows your small noises. Rhea tastes like tooth paste and her lips claim yours, you smile against her lips feeling her tongue ring hit your lip and she takes the opportunity to explore your mouth.

Your stomach feels like it’s floating as Rheas hands run your body, now that she finally has you she’s forgotten what it was like to have distance between your bodies. She occasionally separates from your lips allowing you to breath each others air as she places soft kisses on the sides of you mouth and your chin. She cups your jaw and uses her thumb to wipe the drool that fell from your mouth before gently pulling on your bottom lip. You watch her eyes stare hungrily at her action and the moment your lips snaps back up she’s in your mouth again.

“I am and dead—or almost”

~

“That emergency landing was the shits,” Damian complains as he plops down next to Rhea, who’s sitting in the middle plane seat despite you telling her you could take it.

“Punks a fucking beast of a snorer,”

Rheas hand squeezes yours, pressed between your two bodies and the seat. She looks to you for a moment and grins before turning back to Damian.

“Fucking awful,” Rheas tells him but can’t hide the grin on her face,

“Just intolerable,” you add smiling.

“I seem to me”

Sappho- Fragment 31

[chaos-in-deepspace]

Zayne's Chocolate Incident (Discussion)

Aight so this is spoilers for the newest 5-Star Banner for Zayne, but felt I should discuss it since I've seen some discourse about it that I've been seeing. If you don't mind spoilers or have already seen it, then you can continue under the cut.

So I've been seeing two different things being brought up about this, and it's:

MC not telling Zayne it was alcoholic chocolate and how horrible that makes her.

Zayne pretending to be drunk (or how the fuck did this man get drunk) discussions.

Let's start with the 1st one!

MC not telling Zayne about the chocolate

People are making it out to be super problematic, as if MC was trying to get Zayne drunk for amusement, or maybe it's just the fact that there was alcohol in the chocolate and she didn't tell him.

I dunno if y'all have ever had alcoholic chocolate, but for the most part...you eat it for the flavor. In fact, the alcohol content in it is so low it's laughable. It would be impossible for someone to get drunk off a single chocolate unless they were an actual toddler (hell a toddler would probably be fine). Not to mention chocolate contains both sugars and fats...two things that are known for helping you sober up when drunk.

In essence, you're eating the chocolate for the flavor alone. The taste of the alcohol in the chocolate can help accentuate the flavor and it's good. Unless I had a friend allergic to chocolate or didn't drunk due to religious reasons, I probably wouldn't bat an eye at it.

To put it into context, one piece of chocolate contains about 1.8% alcohol in general. An average shot of alcohol is 40%. I could probably eat 20 of those chocolates and maybe feel a slight buzz...if that. Pair that with the sugar and fat content of it, it makes it even harder to get drunk off of it.

This is probably why MC didn't say anything about the chocolate. You're eating it for the flavor, not the effects, and Zayne likes sweets. It's common knowledge in this fandom. I'd probably offer it to him too because hey, it's a different type of chocolate that won't be giving you negative effects like getting drunk.

Not to mention Zayne originally only took a bite of the chocolate, and managed to realize it had alcohol in it. He then proceeded to continue eating it, which probably meant he was also aware that this kind of chocolate is made for enjoyment not getting drunk.

Hell MC was fucking shook when Zayne ended up getting drunk from said chocolate because she clearly didn't think it was possible, and the proceeded to take care of him with a bit of teasing on the side (something he's also done a bit of when MC was drunk).

At the end of the day it's up to your opinion if MC not telling Zayne it had alcohol makes her a horrible person, in my opinion it doesn't. She knew he didn't have religious reasons and he wasn't allergic, and she didn't think it was possible to even get tipsy over a single chocolate.

Now for the second part:

Zayne getting drunk

It's a trope. It's a trope people. In fact it happens in K-dramas pretty often from what I've heard from those who watch them. They wanted to find a believable way to get the composed Zayne to get drunk. None of us can really see Zayne actively drinking since he's made it clear he doesn't, but he ain't gonna turn down chocolate.

I also don't believe Zayne was lying or playing up the drunk part. Again it was to fit a trope. They wanted to get Zayne drunk for the card, so they made him drunk. Same reason we got the cat banners. They wanted the men to have cat ears and came up with a random thing. Same reason we got the Wander in Wonder event. They wanted an excuse to put them in unique clothing that's outside of the norm.

It's for tropes.

Also these are fictional characters in a fictional world.

I think with having said that, it's kinda cleared up the case of the alcoholic chocolate. Realistically Zayne wouldn't have been drunk, even if he's a lightweight beyond lightweight, it just isn't plausible. He got drunk because he's a fictional character and that's what the devs wanted. If he was sober it wouldn't have made for a very exciting card.

[cosmicjoke]

Ackerman Relationships and Why Comparing Them is Invidious and Pointless:

It really, really pisses me off when people say the relationships between Kenny and Uri, Levi and Erwin, and Mikasa and Eren are "the same", that they're meant to parallel and mirror each other, because it's always this agenda driven stupidity of trying to "prove" some preconceived idea that they've already decided is the objective truth. They love to claim that the "Ackerbond" is real, that it's their blood that makes them loyal, or some magical bonding process unique to Ackerman's that makes them this way, all as a means of proving that either, a. Levi was "in love" with Erwin and put him above humanity, or b. Mikasa was really the hero all along because she was able to "let Eren go", while Levi supposedly wasn't able to do the same with Erwin.

I mean, never mind that Levi very literally let Erwin go. They never consider how it was this moment in the story, Levi letting Erwin die, that set the example for Mikasa to eventually be able to do the same with Eren. God forbid they acknowledge that Levi served as a mentor figure for all of the 104th and that they all learned from him, including Miksasa, and became better and more enlightened people through their association with him. You know, like any young person should from their association with an adult. These people also never seem to be able to answer what it is about letting Erwin die that actually benefited Levi, but I digress.

They always do the same, stupid thing, resort to the same, idiot argument, quoting a single, vague answer given by Isayama in a random interview about how Levi and Mikasa are like "knight" figures, and using that as some kind of irrefutable proof and evidence that Levi's relationship with Erwin is meant to be exactly the same as Mikasa's relationship with Eren. The thing about this claim that's so irritating is that, as usual with these sorts, they completely ignore this little thing called context, again, to push their agenda. They quote Isayama, and think that alone is all one needs to understand the dynamic between these six, different characters, completely foregoing consideration of the actual events of the story, or the fact that Kenny, Levi and Mikasa are all distinctly individual, characters, who's reasons for being loyal to their respective "people" are unique to them specifically. They completely ignore their individual personalities, they completely ignore the unique circumstances and reasoning behind their loyalty, and simply reduce it down to "Ackerman bonding, lol". It's so fucking stupid. Not only has Isayama himself debunked this notion in an interview (one which these people conveniently ignore when talking about this), but it was debunked within the story itself by Zeke. There is no Ackerbond. There is no magical link or bond between Ackerman's and anybody that's dictated or related in any way to their heritage or blood.

Levi, Mikasa and Kenny have individual, unique relationships with other characters, and those relationships are defined by their individual personalty traits and the unique circumstances surrounding the formation of those relationships. It has nothing to do with any of them being Ackerman's. It has nothing to do with their blood.

So I'm going to go over each of these situations, and lay out why it's an invidious comparison between all three of the Ackerman characters, and how it leads to misconceptions and wildly off the mark interpretations when one approaches analyzing these characters with the assumption that they're meant to "be the same".

Let's start with Kenny and Uri.

People love to present this idea that Kenny was "in love" with Uri (lol), again because it pushes their agenda of trying to prove Levi was in love with Erwin, either because they're incapable of viewing Levi through anything but a shipping lens, or because they want to paint Mikasa as somehow superior to Levi by claiming she was able to let go of the love of her life, while Levi wasn't. Kenny wasn't in love with Uri, though, and wasn't beholden to Uri through some magical bonding process driven by his Ackerman blood, the same way Mikasa wasn't beholden to Eren and Levi wasn't beholden to Erwin through any such magical connection, either. Kenny was "loyal" to Uri because he considered Uri to be the ultimate embodiment of power and believed it was that power that allowed Uri to be compassionate. Kenny knew he himself was a bad person, and he wanted to know what it felt like not to be. He wanted to know what it felt like to care about other people. He mistakenly believed that what made Uri a compassionate person was his power, and so he decided his own, best chance to become like Uri was to do his bidding in the eventual hope that it would present him with a chance to become a Titan himself. That's literally the reason Kenny worked for Uri. It wasn't because he was in love with Uri. It wasn't because "Uri was his person". It wasn't even because he cared about Uri. Kenny didn't care about anyone but himself. Something manifest in the very fact Kenny sought a way to feel compassion. Because he couldn't. And his inability to grasp on any level what compassion actually is or where it comes from is proof of this in and of itself. Kenny aligning himself with Uri was because he knew if he worked for the royal family, he would be able to get closer to finding a way to steal the power of the Titans. That's it. That was Kenny's reasoning. It's why he continued to work for the Reiss family even after Uri died. He was pursuing his goal of becoming the ultimate power in his misguided attempt to be a better person. Do I even have to lay out how the reason behind and nature of Kenny's relationship with Uri is completely different from Levi's with Erwin, or Mikasa's with Eren? I shouldn't have to.

Okay, now onto Levi and Erwin.

I've talked enough about Levi's relationship with Erwin that I don't have to go into great detail here. But just like people love to do with Kenny and Uri, and for the aforementioned agenda, they also love to say Levi was "in love" with Erwin, and they often use this claim to paint a picture of Levi as a selfish person who was willing to "sacrifice humanity" for the love of his life. Blah, blah, blah. I've gone over this a million times, so I won't do it again. I'll just lay out the actual reason Levi was so loyal to Erwin. It wasn't because he was "in love" with him, it was because he believed in Erwin as a leader. He saw Erwin as a superior person to himself because he believed Erwin was able to see something he couldn't, that he had a vision that Levi didn't, and that, as a result, he was someone worth believing in and following as a leader. He saw Erwin as capable of leading humanity to victory over the Titans. It's important to make this distinction, though. He didn't see Erwin as essential to saving humanity (we know this because Levi was twice willing to let Erwin die to save Eren), but he saw him as someone capable and important in that fight, as someone worth following because he had what it would take to make victory possible. He let Erwin die, he felt safe in making that choice, because he also believed in Armin the same way. He believed Armin had the capability to become a leader for humanity. Levi's loyalty to Erwin had nothing to do with love or personal, romantic feelings. It had nothing to do with obsession or blind devotion. It had nothing to do with a personal dream or desire to be with Erwin. It had to do with trusting in Erwin's judgement as a leader and believing that following him could both lead humanity to victory and also allow Levi a means by which to help people himself. Erwin showed Levi a path by which to help others, and so Levi chose to follow his lead and allowed Erwin to utilize his strength toward that end. That's it. That's Levi's relationship with Erwin in a nutshell. That's why Levi was loyal to Erwin. Again, I shouldn't have to explain further how totally different this is to either Kenny's relationship with Uri, or Mikasa's relationship with Eren.

And finally, Mikasa and Eren.

Mikasa is in love with Eren. That's the nature of their relationship. Mikasa feels this way about Eren because he saved her life and gave her a new family after she'd lost her own. Mikasa followed Eren, not because she believed in him as a leader, and not because she thought being around him would gain her power or help her become a better person, but because she had a personal dream of them ending up together in a romantic relationship. She had a personal dream of Eren returning her affections and them getting to live happily ever after, as a family. It's that simple. Mikasa joins the Survey Corps because she cares about Eren more than anything or anyone, and is willing to do whatever it takes to protect him, including imperiling her own life by joining the most dangerous division of the military. Mikasa's relationship with Eren is what so many people mistakenly think Levi's relationship with Erwin is. Mikasa is willing, for almost the entire story, to kill anyone or destroy anything if it means keeping Eren safe. I've already laid out how entirely unlike Levi's relationship with Erwin this is. Levi was always willing to let Erwin die if it was necessary to the mission of the Survey Corps. Mikasa wasn't able to do the same with Eren until the very end of the story. Why? Again, because unlike Levi with Erwin, Mikasa prioritized Eren over humanity. Levi joined the Survey Corps to fight for humanity, not Erwin. He fought for humanity under Erwin's guidance, to be sure, but it wasn't for Erwin. It was for humanity. Mikasa joined the Survey Corps to keep Eren safe. She joined the Survey Corps for Eren. Again, I shouldn't have to explain further why this makes Mikasa's relationship with Eren incomparable to either Kenny's relationship with Uri, or Levi's relationship with Erwin.

It completely takes away any complexity or individuality from these characters when you group them all together and say they're all meant to be alike, or meant to be a mirror of one another. It robs them of their individual personalities and motivations and reduces them down to some monolithic avatar on which to project your own, personal desires and fantasies. It ignores their individual characterization and circumstances within the narrative of "Attack on Titan" all in the name of confirmation bias. You want Levi to be in love with Erwin, well, then, you have to compare his relationship with Erwin to Mikasa's with Eren, or Kenny's with Uri, and say all three were rooted in the "blind devotion" of love. You want Mikasa to be "the real hero" of AoT, then you have to also claim Levi was in love with Erwin so that you can then compare his supposed failure to let Erwin go with Mikasa's heroic sacrifice of Eren in the end. These people aren't looking at these characters with any kind of objectivity. They approach their understanding of them with their minds already made up about who they want them to be and what they want to personally believe about them and the story, and then twist their actions to fit their preconceived notions, instead of assessing these characters on an individual basis, considering their individual personality traits and motivations, or their circumstances within the context of the story itself, and then forming an opinion on them.

You can't compare any of their situations, because all three situations and all three characters are completely different to each other. Kenny's relationship with Uri is nothing like Levi's relationship with Erwin, or Mikasa's relationship with Eren. Levi's relationship with Erwin is nothing like Kenny's relationship with Uri, or Mikasa's relationship with Eren. Mikasa's relationship with Eren is nothing like Levi's relationship with Erwin or Kenny's relationship with Uri. Why? Because these three characters aren't the same people. They have completely different personalities from one another, completely different motivations, completely different outlooks and completely different circumstances they're facing. It's not fair to any of them to claim they're all alike, all driven by the same thing, or the same purpose. It reduces all of their characters to something they're not when you do that. It robs all of them of their essential core as characters. It makes them boring.

You have to assess all of these characters individually, on their own terms, with consideration to their unique personalities and motivations and circumstances. If you can't do that, then you aren't ever going to be able to form an accurate understanding of who any of them are.

I'm sure that one moronic Mikasa stan that keeps coming into my inbox will see this, so I dedicate this post especially to you, asshole. Maybe one day you'll learn to love your favorite characters objectively and without having to tear other characters down or grossly mischaracterize them in some pathetic attempt to make your fav look better. But I kind of doubt it. In the meantime, have fun continuing to delude yourself.

[k1nky-r0b0t-g1rl]

It feels kinda weird knowing that you are more meaningful than i will ever be

Feels like every other person is like that, honestly

More... real, perhaps.

There isn't really a point to this, but i figured you should know how...better you are, and how your influence spreads wider than you'd think

I envy the people that truly know you, but i will never be deserving of becoming one of those people. There's no changing that fact.

But thank you anyway, for all that you've done, and for all that you are. Truly, thank you.

thank you but this isnt really the compliment you think it is

im sorry you're struggling and i know what thats like but i am just a random girl on the internet, im just a person. Dont put me on a pedestal it's not healthy.

I dont have any more meaning than you do, im not special or more deserving of love. i hope that you can get to a place where you can see the love and meaning in yourself and accept it from others as well <3

[ariadne-karloff]

Random headcanons

Food.

Creed doesn't have a lot of control when eating: he eats like it's the first time in ages, and could be the last. He basically inhales the food, actually enjoying it only after he's eaten enough and or feels safe. He could keep eating indefinitely if you put food in front of him, no restraints, no shame, just a void to be filled. His healing factor helps him battling the nausea and the too full part. If he's by himself, he then nap the hell out of all that food. The presence of food, even still alive, gets him sidetracked and he needs to refocus on the task at hand.

Sleep.

He sleeps curled up, or half curled, with his head on his arms. If he's sleeping with someone, the someone becomes a teddy bear. He secretly loves being the small spoon but it's very difficult to find someone big enough. But with his past lovers they found a way: he stays face down and they sleep literally on him. Apparently it was Mystique the first to think of it, but Victor remembers someone else, heavier than her, and with the scent of clear waters and snow and forests. He runs hot, but if he can, he sleeps hidden in blankets, still trying to banish the cold he felt when he was in the cellar and during the first winter he was alone outside.

Mental Health.

The Canon: He never left that house, as he said himself. There's the mini "Spider-Man. Punisher. Sabretooth: Designer Genes" where he basically says he has PTSD. In another one, "It comes with the claws" (it's a Daredevil issue if I remember well) it seems he's not completely grounded, and he doesn't know what to do with people (and specifically women. He takes one and he's very gentle and careful but doesn't know what to do with her).

The headcanon: his mental health is highly challenged because of his upbringing. When he was prisoner in the cellar, he lost a great part of his ability to understand people and the notions he had, leaving him extremely late in what a person should know or feel. He basically lost roughly 3 years (old 90s canon). The solitary confinement is torture and he's been closed there for ages, plus the father hurting him and withholding food. So, yeah, he's weird and has a LOT of problems. Since he tried to get help but people said he didn't deserve it, he chose to be not conforming and accept that "normals" will never accept him for what he is, but he push it in their faces.

He def has ADHD and he's not in tune with emotions. As a defensive mechanism he shares false facts about his misdeeds to create a different picture of himself, and this is the same reason behind some of his taunts.

His Mother

As you may have read on my stories, his mother tried to protect him. She couldn't help him because of the abusive husband, and also cultural setting, but she loved him dearly, and tried to do all that she can. She gave him all the food she can hide from her husband and also blankets or things to keep him warm, and she talked to him. She also cleaned him and his small place, trying to keep it as clean as possible. One of his most treasured memories it's her using warm water and a soft cloth to clean him, and then letting him sleep a bit on her. Her arms were the safest place on earth for a long, long time. So yeah, I'm following the canon in which he spared her, after killing his father. She kept him safe even knowing he was completely deranged and out of his mind. She would have kept him with her, but Victor was restless and needed to get away from everything and go deep in the woods.

Queer.

He def isn't straight and he also is "age blind". For the "not straight part" it's the comics fault. He's queer coded to the bone. In some issue he's pictured like one of those "bisexual evil characters", but nothing is clearly stated (as it's pretty common).

Clean.

He can't stand being dirty. He washes as soon as possible, and he does that even when running free in the Canadian forests. He wouldn't have a strong scent because it's dangerous and helps finding you. Many people think he stinks because he doesn't smell of chemical products, and also after battle who would smell like flowers?! No one.

He's an asshole.

Absolutely an asshole. He's snarky, pushy, talks too much about the wrong things, tries to boast himself and he's too loud. He also tends to vanish up north without saying anything to anyone to recharge his batteries. But kids weirdly feel safe with him, so probably he's not so bad. Even if he sometimes says he eats them for fun (like the cats, he doesn't eat them, there's not enough to eat, not even as snacks)

[stxrslutrestored]

small rant incoming

I’m honestly losing all the joy in writing and I can pinpoint exactly why, and maybe I’m about to be a little mean.

barely anyone on my blog knows how to engage and or request.

I post multiple fics in a week and I am lucky to get ONE ask let alone an ask about the concepts that I put out there in my fics.

I think some people fail to understand that this is meant to be a two way thing. the only things remotely close to requests I get are “can u write” and then it’s just a type of sex paired with a character.

NO. I need actual concepts to work with, I need you to give me an actual scenario. it’s obvious that some people sending these requests do not understand that I’m a real person who cannot just pump out fic after fic about the same thing over and over again.

not to mention the fact that nobody seems to get that these are supposed to be discussions. if I say “I want to talk about ___” I DONT mean I just want to write a fic about. I mean I want to hear what you guys have to say and what u think and bounce off of that! I want to have conversations that last more than one ask.

and all of this “can u write” “I think u should write” is also exhausting. just say the concept. because half the time I see these things and think that could be a great conversation but it just feels downright demanding even if it’s meant in a nice way.

maybe this is bitchy and a horrible thing to say but honestly if it continues this way and I continue getting such little engagement and so little actual answerable asks, I WONT WRITE ANYMORE.

and if ur someone who likes to actually converse with writers PLEASE come here u are desperately needed.

I mean it when I say I feel no sense of community on this blog apart from a few mutuals.

Im tired of feeling like a mindless bot, who only interacts with other mindless bots, who needs to pump out meaningless and repetitive stuff just to be even a tiny bit appreciated. ITS DRAINING.

mind you my point will be proved when this post is liked by three of my mutuals and one random bot account

[hintcoined]

we need to talk about the end of this case because what

[my-thoughts-and-junk]

i have to think about chilchuck and laios forever

[hotsugarbyglassanimals]

even though i feel like i can confidently tell when a piece of art is generative A/I, i really don't feel inclined or really even justified calling someone out for it due to the precedent it sets - especially when artists who DO make their own pieces get caught in the crossfire for being inexperienced or making the choice to be more free-form when it comes to character design / consistency...

[tigger-png]

his damn pupils dilate when he looks at her

there is something kinda delightful in this small detail or is it just me idk...

[dragons-and-yellow-roses]

My sibling brought home a stray cat? I'm deeply allergic to cats?? Why did they bring home a stray cat??????? I'm left with more questions than answers.

[quibbs126]

I kind of want a dragon Cookie to ship Dark Choco with

I don’t think any of the ones we have right now really fit, I mean in the future

[seven-thewanderer]

…I kinda wish I could just.

mentally transfer all the info of my Strayed!Au telepathically to my device & to yall

[alien-insomniac-05]

Bitches be like “go get a job” or “welcome to adulthood, now suck it up” but don’t realize that jobs are underpaying hells that overwork the fuck outta you, this is especially the case for autistic people. I don’t care if “everyone’s gotta do it”, it’s still a hell lol

I don’t wanna career I just want enough money to pursue hobbies and shit meanwhile most jobs now in days won’t day you a livable wage and require 1000000000 years of experience.

“Oh you have a bachelors degree you paid 5 figures for? Too bad. Go get a specialization in something or go work in McDonald’s LOL”